Gambling Battle

As Chen Nan focused on Li Huaming, the onlookers displayed their excellent tradition. Behind the scenes, various small bets had already begun.

How could Li Yu and Xun Xin miss out on something involving money? They had already started setting up their bets.

The bet was: how long it would take for Chen Nan to be defeated.

It was quite wise of them not to make a bet on who would win between Chen Nan and Li Huaming. That was out of the question; no one would believe that Li Huaming, who had been studying for three years, would lose to Chen Nan, who had just enrolled.

Even though Chen Nan was someone who had killed dozens of people outside.

The reason why this didn't have much deterrent effect was, naturally, very clear. For example, if someone could kill dozens of mice, would you be afraid of him because of it?

Of course not, after all, mice were too weak.

Anyone who had studied at the Preparatory Academy for a while knew that when it came to individual combat, ordinary people and Transcenders were incomparable.

Therefore, these children didn't pay much attention to Chen Nan's situation.

Besides not having such foresight, it was also related to their own jealousy.

As soon as Li Yu and Xun Xin's bet was settled, Lu Fangliang approached them, smiling and saying, "Why bet so unenthusiastically? I'll bet ten thousand yuan that Chen Nan will win."

Li Yu said in surprise, "Junior Brother Lu, are you crazy? Or are you deliberately trying to lose some money to us?"

Lu Fangliang sneered, "Just tell me if you dare to bet."

Xun Xin nudged Li Yu from behind, thinking, since the other party made such a suicidal request, why should they stop him? Were they afraid of money biting their hands?

Li Yu thought about it and agreed. Their bet suddenly escalated because almost everyone thought it was a sure win and a no-lose bet, easier than picking up money.

As a result, many of the senior students, who were favored by Li Yu and Xun Xin, also started to bet money, naturally betting on Li Huaming to win.

Seeing this opportunity to win money, they might have initially considered the teacher's feelings, but once someone took the lead, others would flock to it. Instantly, everyone actively placed their bets.

But almost everyone was on Li Huaming's side. Looking at the scene, Li Yu and Xun Xin's side was crowded with people. On Lu Fangliang's side, besides him, there were only Lu Butong and Shen Congyun.

Lu Butong was driven by indignation; he didn't think Chen Nan could win. However, in life, one couldn't always pursue profit and retreat from loss in every situation.

As for Shen Congyun, he was completely dragged into it by Lu Butong.

Seeing such a complete victory, Li Yu and Xun Xin were ecstatic.

Wang Bodan, on the other hand, bet heavily, shouting, "Li Huaming, teach Chen Nan a harsh lesson. If you beat him soundly today, all the money I win will be yours!"

Hearing this, Li Huaming became even more motivated.

Li Yu and Xun Xin also said with a smile, "Given the unfairness of the battle between Chen Nan and Li Huaming, we won't take advantage of others. How about this, the payout for the bet between Chen Nan and Li Huaming will be one to three, what do you say?"

Lu Fangliang said, "One to three? Such a low payout? What, you don't trust classmate Li Huaming? You think he might not be able to defeat Chen Nan? In a situation like this, one to ten wouldn't be a problem, right?"

Li Yu looked at Xun Xin, who nodded, then shook his head. The other party understood. He said, "Junior Brother Lu, we are considering you, we're afraid you'll lose everything you have.

You Nature Masters aren't exactly wealthy to begin with, are you?"

Lu Fangliang glanced coldly and said, "Not only are we not wealthy, but we also have no status."

Yes, so many students could bet so easily without regard for him, Lu Fangliang. Wasn't it because they had no worries even if they offended him now?

What could a Nature Master do in the end?

The senior students coughed a few times and didn't look at Lu Fangliang. Li Yu smiled and said, "However, to avoid discouraging classmate Li Huaming's confidence, I will increase the odds. Chen Nan versus Li Huaming, one to five, how about that?"

Lu Fangliang nodded.

Chen Nan saw all of this, but he remained silent. Although he should be grateful to Lu Fangliang for supporting him now, it was unnecessary for him.

Moreover, it was not yet certain whether he would lose. At that time, Lu Fangliang would be the one taking advantage of him.

The bet was settled, and there was no more nonsense; the battle continued.

Li Huaming began a new round of even fiercer attacks. He suddenly jumped, clenched his fists, and smashed down at Chen Nan.

Chen Nan, having already calculated this move with the AI, immediately dodged it.

His fists landed on the stone ground with a loud crash, causing many cracks to appear.

If this blow had landed on a person, it wouldn't be strange for their bones to break, or even for them to lose their life.

"What fierce power!" Chen Nan marveled inwardly. It seemed that these Transcenders were truly not to be trifled with.

However, although Li Huaming was fierce like a young tiger, his only weakness was his large movements, making him appear clumsy and slow.

With the help of the AI system, Chen Nan had no problem dodging the opponent's attacks. If Li Huaming was only at this level, it would indeed be difficult to defeat Chen Nan.

Chen Nan was well aware of this, and his immediate goal was observation.

Chen Nan was not yet very familiar with Transcenders like Li Huaming, who clearly belonged to the Basic Power User class. By fighting him, he could gain some insight.

Activating his eye ability, he could see Li Huaming's body temperature.

He saw that the guy's body, like a crab in boiling water, was turning redder and redder in Chen Nan's infrared vision. But the red color didn't deepen beyond a certain point, indicating that the temperature change had its limits.

However, besides exercise, what else could cause Li Huaming's body temperature to rise so much?

As Chen Nan pondered, the answer appeared on his retina: nuclear radiation!

It was this thing. Chen Nan could see that Li Huaming's body was constantly absorbing this energy. And deeper still, Chen Nan could imagine: these Basic Power User Transcenders absorb nuclear radiation energy from the environment and then use it to power their movements.

This way, the strength their bodies could generate would be incredibly powerful.

At the same time, Chen Nan could also see that Li Huaming's body was covered by a thin layer of light, like a membrane. He figured it was a shield formed by the agitated nuclear radiation energy.

However, it wasn't substantial enough to provide any real protection for Li Huaming.

All of this was discovered by Chen Nan's AI Eye. Ordinary eyes would have a hard time noticing these details.

This led Chen Nan to discover a problem:

Could this Li Huaming be like the Hulk, getting stronger the more he fought?

After all, he wasn't using his own strength in combat; it all came from the radiation energy in the environment!

It seemed like a war of attrition wouldn't be effective against him.

This was going to be difficult.

And something even more troublesome was about to happen.

Among the spectators, the ones who were anxious were Li Yu and Xun Xin, who had been so confident earlier.

Seeing how incredibly skillful Chen Nan's evasive movements were against Li Huaming, their confidence in the bet began to waver. If they lost this bet, the odds were one to five!

Not only would they not make any money, but they'd also lose a significant amount of their own. It would be worse than losing their parents.

So, Xun Xin came up with an idea, and Li Yu immediately shouted, "This constant dodging is passive avoidance! If Chen Nan doesn't attack within the next thirty seconds, he'll be considered defeated."

This rule did exist, and it wasn't Li Yu "using his seniority to bully someone." Unfortunately, this rule was applicable in duels between evenly matched opponents. What was happening now was clearly an elder bullying a junior, so applying it here seemed inappropriate.

As soon as Li Yu finished speaking, Lu Fangliang frowned. While he admired Chen Nan's footwork, he knew it was impossible for Chen Nan to attack and defeat Li Huaming.

The reason he bet on Chen Nan to win wasn't for the money, but solely for Chen Nan himself.

But with Li Yu saying that, he was afraid Chen Nan—

"Plop!"

"Oof!"

Just as Li Yu finished announcing and before his mouth had fully closed, while Lu Fangliang's worries were still running rampant, a highly dramatic scene unfolded.

Li Huaming inexplicably tripped and fell to the ground, almost creating a large, character-shaped crater.

Li Yu's mouth fell open, his eyes wide, completely bewildered by what had happened. The others gasped in surprise. Lu Fangliang covered his mouth, looking utterly shocked.

Li Huaming, groaning, got back up and roared, charging at Chen Nan again.

Chen Nan, with his hands positioned front and back, as if embracing a sphere, stood with his feet slightly apart. His entire demeanor had changed.

He exuded a sense of natural cosmic movement, of circularity and convergence, possessing a feeling of wholeness.

Lu Fangliang's gaze narrowed. Xu Xiaojing, who was observing secretly, also focused intently. Both of them knew deeply that this Chen Nan was by no means a simple individual.

They watched with bated breath, eager to see what unique methods Chen Nan possessed.

Li Huaming charged forward, and the surrounding onlookers held their breath. Chen Nan suddenly slipped his right foot, performing a near perfect split as he moved, timing it perfectly to pass between Li Huaming's legs.

Then, Chen Nan reached up and performed a "monkey stealing a peach" move, barely grasping anything.

It was said that if an egg wasn't squeezed hard, but merely held, an average adult couldn't crush it.

Chen Nan refused to believe it. He'd squeeze two at once and see if they'd break!