Breaking through into the Second Realm was no secret. Even Li Ye, who had only known a little about martial arts when he was an ordinary person, had understood the general idea. Those who had started coming into contact with it early naturally knew even more.
Top-tier martial arts were still martial arts, not some earth-shattering secret. There was nothing that could not be shown.
Li Ye also knew that Martial Arts Students were different from ordinary people. No matter how Preparatory Students trained, they were still within the limits of what ordinary people could accept. At most, they were a little stronger and had greater explosive power.
Once they broke through the Dragon Gate, they became "great heroes," soaring high and darting low all day. Ordinary methods of building goodwill were useless on people like that.
He might as well show off a little and make his martial arts school life easier.
Now that someone had delivered himself to Li Ye's doorstep, and Li Ye was feeling somewhat irritated besides, he could settle both matters at once.
Looking at the shocked yet fearful gazes around him, Li Ye nodded inwardly.
The effect had exceeded his expectations. It was simply outstanding.
The principal came back. He had been all smiles when he left, and he was just as cheerful on the way back.
"Ah! It's normal for Martial Arts Students to spar, but you can't pick the wrong time. School has only just started. Even if you don't give me face, you should at least give Teacher Gu Yang face. That was far too heavy-handed. You're all classmates, so try to hold back. And the martial arts tournament is right around the corner. We've lost an important fighting force now."
The principal looked at Xiang Feipeng being carried away on a stretcher, then turned to Li Ye. Though his face had become troubled, he could not hide the smile in his eyes.
A fight?
Serious injury?
That was nothing.
As long as no one died, it was fine. With modern medical care, as long as one was willing to spend money, such injuries could still be treated. They would just need to lie in bed a little longer.
What mattered was not that Xiang Feipeng had been injured and knocked unconscious. Gu Yang had judged that he would need to stay in the hospital for at least two months. What mattered was that he had been injured by one person alone.
The principal knew of Li Ye. As someone who had come up from the preparatory program and arrived already at Three Dragon Gate, Li Ye had caught his attention.
As an ordinary high school, No. 14 Middle School did not have many highly skilled students. Producing someone at Three Dragon Gate was worth paying attention to. At the time, he had even regretted that Li Ye had arrived too late. A year earlier would have been better.
But now, it was not late at all!
He could defeat Xiang Feipeng!
And it had been practically an instant kill. With that kind of strength, their chances in the martial arts tournament were even more secure. Once Xiang Feipeng recovered, No. 14 Middle School's ranking would definitely rise another level!
At that thought, the principal could no longer maintain his bitter expression and nearly laughed aloud.
"I'll go check on Student Xiang at the hospital. Teacher Gu, you educate Student Li. Make sure Student Li understands the severity of the matter."
The principal hurried off again.
Gu Yang sighed and said to the students around them, "All right, go practice. All new Martial Arts Students, come with me. I'll talk to you about Student Li's situation. You wait here for a moment. I'll have a proper talk with you later."
Li Ye nodded. After watching Gu Yang call Deng Hao, Jia Dong, and two others away, he leaned back against his original spot in the corner.
This time, no one dared look at him. Guo Chuming in particular had shrunk his head down like a quail, doing his best to hide behind the other students for fear that Li Ye would notice him.
"Seriously?"
It was still Yao Leden. With disbelief written all over her face, she said, "You actually took the breakthrough route? But you were clearly a Preparatory Student!"
"What? Preparatory Students aren't worthy of it?"
Li Ye smiled. "I built up strength over time, then burst forth in one stroke."
Yao Leden wore an expression that said, Are you treating me like an idiot?
How could someone from the preparatory program build up strength over time and burst forth in one stroke? Their qi and blood had not even solidified.
But the facts were right before her eyes. She had to believe it, since he had defeated Xiang Feipeng.
"You're incredible. That was Xiang Feipeng! He strutted around like he was invincible every day, and even the principal had to coax him when speaking to him. Yet you just smashed him down like that, as easily as shaking out a piece of clothing."
Yao Leden gave him a thumbs-up. "Look at those people. They don't dare look at you, but they must be celebrating inside. Let me tell you, other than you newcomers, only one person here has never been bullied by him."
Hearing that, Li Ye looked toward the cold-faced beauty resting against the wall nearby. She looked over at him as well. Li Ye smiled and nodded, offering a greeting.
"How many people at our school took the breakthrough route?" Li Ye asked curiously.
"How many? Two and a half."
Yao Leden held up three fingers, one of them bent halfway down. "See that big guy? Yang Jie. He's at Fifth Dragon Gate and practices the Thirteen Great Protectors Iron Body Golden Bell Shield. His body-tempering can withstand blades and swords head-on, but his martial art can only be considered average. He's only halfway down the Adamantine Gate route."
"Xiang Feipeng, the one you just beat, supposedly practices a martial art that leads directly to the Divine Movement Gate. His Lightness Skill is excellent. I didn't expect you to catch him."
"Then there's Fu Chuxue. She's even more formidable. She practices a top-tier family martial art that supposedly leads directly through three gates."
Three gates?
And she was already at Eight Dragon Gate?
Li Ye looked over in surprise. Her realm was much higher than his.
There was always someone stronger beyond the strong.
Li Ye had never believed that he could be invincible like this. Martial arts were still just martial arts; it was not as though others had none. Pan Zhengyang had said his master used to hang him up and beat him, but Director Pan himself had never been invincible to begin with.
If he had been invincible, would he still be serving as director in little Ningjiang City?
Still, Li Ye had thought that he should at least have no problems at this school. Yet now, there was a great mountain towering above him.
"Someone like her must have schools fighting to recruit her, right?"
"Of course. The principal of Ningjiang No. 1 High School comes over every few days and offers incredible terms, but she isn't tempted in the slightest. I heard she only came here because the principal and Fu Yan used to be good friends, and she came for that favor. In any case, someone like her can practice martial arts anywhere."
Yao Leden looked envious, then asked, "By the way, do you practice the Divine Movement Gate too?"
He had caught Xiang Feipeng so easily, so he was clearly not slow.
Li Ye thought for a moment. "I practice the Adamantine Gate."
Yao Leden's eyes widened. "Huh?"
She looked Li Ye up and down, even reaching out to poke his arm with a finger. Then she looked toward Yang Jie's iron-tower-like frame in the distance, her face full of disbelief.
What body-tempering expert did not have the build of a fierce demon or savage god? How could one look as normal as Li Ye?
"Really. You'll get to see it when there's a chance," Li Ye said. "Martial arts just have different emphases. Mine also includes a bit of Lightness Skill."
The moment he had made his move, he had realized that if they truly fought, he might not necessarily be able to catch Xiang Feipeng so easily. He had mainly taken advantage of striking quickly.
Xiang Feipeng had not reacted in time. Once Li Ye caught him, he had no way to break free.
"You're no fun. I kindly warned you just now, and I wasn't even going to ask what martial art you practiced," Yao Leden said gloomily.
But she did not take it to heart. She immediately smiled again. "Now that you beat Xiang Feipeng, the main fighter position is open. It'll definitely be yours. Your martial art is so good that our ranking will surely climb in this tournament. Then we can choose a better training location."
Martial Arts Students were very practical about this. As long as one was strong enough, it was not much of a problem even if one acted outrageously arrogant, because one could genuinely bring benefits.
Li Ye had understood that from what Yao Leden said earlier.
Then why should he keep suppressing himself? Take down one person, become the main fighter, and all the resources and benefits would come rolling in.
He had made no progress for nearly half a month. He wanted to rely on the martial arts program's resources to improve himself further. Otherwise, with his aptitude, progress would be impossible.
"Even someone at Eight Dragon Gate can't improve the rankings? With a martial art that breaks through three gates, she should be very strong, right?" Li Ye asked.
His own martial art, which could break through three gates, already let him run roughshod once he trained it. Fu Chuxue at Eight Dragon Gate should have been even stronger.
"The overall ranking."
Yao Leden said, "Fu Chuxue ranks first in Ningjiang City, but the people beneath her aren't good enough. What use is one first place alone? We're a school, not an arena."
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