The instant Meng Chao lunged forward, Zuo Haoran shrank back, changing his style of exertion once more—from the utterly forceful "Raging Bull Force" to the power-storing "Dragon Snake Force."
Crack-crack-pop-pop! A string of firecracker-like explosions burst from inside his body, as though a python that had lain dormant for ten years had finally transformed into a true flood dragon.
Even his spine rose high beneath his flesh, like a flood dragon baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, about to soar into the sky.
A savage, excited expression surfaced on Zuo Haoran's face. With a low roar, he flicked his spine and drove out his right fist in a sinister thrust.
Like a steel nail piercing through bone, it stabbed straight toward Meng Chao's ribs.
Before the "Heart Crushing Hammer" even landed, he was already picturing Meng Chao collapsing to the ground in convulsions, vomiting and weeping.
Best of all, when his father had taught him this move, he had also taught him several variations that allowed the hidden force to remain inside the body for a long time. Without the most thorough examination, no one would ever discover it.
Over the next few days, Meng Chao would feel nothing wrong apart from a dull ache in his ribs.
By the time he discovered it, it would already be too late. With no evidence, Zuo Haoran could simply deny everything. Who could do anything to him?
This brat's old injuries had only just healed, and now he was injured all over again. Haha, forget the Undergraduate Program—whether he could even get into a junior college was doubtful!
Zuo Haoran thought smugly.
Then he saw those eyes.
Eyes as cunning as a hunter's, as cold as a butcher's, as savage as a monster's, and as calm as a doctor's.
Meng Chao, with those eyes, seemed to become an entirely different person in an instant.
He went from a high school student to someone returned from the apocalypse.
His method of exerting force also switched from "Ripple Force" to "Raging Bull Force," smoother and more covert than Zuo Haoran's earlier transition.
No, it was not "Raging Bull Force," but the future's "Wild Bull Technique," Master Level!
That was right. The Contribution Points he had exchanged through the future "Ripple Force" these past days were enough for Meng Chao to raise several basic skills by another level. The first one he chose was the mighty, crushing, unstoppable "Wild Bull Technique"!
Zuo Haoran felt as if a wildly charging rhinoceros had slammed brutally into his chest.
Meng Chao's fist was like a rhinoceros horn, its force piercing from Zuo Haoran's chest all the way through his back.
With a crack, Zuo Haoran's spine suffered a devastating blow.
He flew high through the air like a kite with its string cut, smashed through a young sapling, then collapsed crookedly onto the ground like a puddle of mud that Meng Chao had viciously trampled.
"..."
Zuo Haoran stared wide-eyed at the sky in bewilderment.
The sky was still the same sky, but his world was rapidly crumbling.
Confusion, frustration, regret, resentment, pain, hatred—the sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty flavors of life all flowed freely across his deathly pale face.
Like a fish washed ashore by the waves, he opened his mouth wide. He breathed frantically yet could not draw in the slightest bit of oxygen. His upper body burned with searing agony, while his lower body gradually turned cold and vanished from feeling. The utterly opposite sensations made his eyes widen further and further, his mind filled with frenzied, despairing thoughts.
Meng Chao walked over, leisurely wiping away his nosebleed as he casually blocked out Zuo Haoran's sky.
"You—" Zuo Haoran's face was full of venom as he gradually understood.
"Mm, during the test just now, I held back. I only went up there and made a few casual motions." Meng Chao admitted it generously.
"Why?" Zuo Haoran could not understand even if it killed him.
"This is only the Undergraduate First Trial. I had no interest in showing off at such a low-level occasion. Besides, what if I performed too well and you decided not to fight me?" Meng Chao shrugged.
"You did it on purpose. You set me up!" Zuo Haoran's eye sockets nearly split apart.
"That's right. I deliberately came second in the class, took the firearms test with you, and then we could leave the testing grounds together. The homeroom teacher and our classmates all stayed behind, so no one could interrupt our 'sparring.'"
Meng Chao crouched down and sighed. "Still, I gave you a chance. Before we sparred, didn't I say we would stop at the right point and wipe all our grudges clean? Don't disbelieve me—I meant it. If you hadn't been so despicable as to use a heavy-handed move to cripple me, you wouldn't have reaped what you sowed."
"I, I..." Zuo Haoran's face was filled with horror.
The unknown was the greatest fear.
And now, everything below his waist was unknown to him.
"Your spine should have been cracked by the shock, but your internal organs aren't bleeding heavily, so your life isn't in danger. Don't worry."
Meng Chao said, "With Dragon City's medical technology, even a severed spine isn't necessarily incurable. Find a famous doctor and recuperate properly for two years. Recovering a normal person's ability to move shouldn't be much of a problem—cultivation, the Undergraduate Program, becoming a Transcendent, and all that will naturally be difficult. But I think it's better for someone like you not to become a Transcendent. It would be good for both you and society."
"You—" Zuo Haoran began trembling uncontrollably.
In his eyes, Meng Chao, who had swallowed up half the sky, was like a devil wearing human skin.
Yet Meng Chao was telling the truth.
Just then, two lines of information had appeared in his field of vision:
You have severely injured ordinary citizen Zuo Haoran. This may save the lives of a great many soldiers far in the future. Contribution Points +99 The future cannot be predicted, and fate is full of waves and twists. Changes aimed at the distant future contribute less to present civilization. Only by grasping the present can one create the future.
"Yeah."
Meng Chao thought, I crippled Zuo Haoran. He won't be able to enter the Undergraduate Program or become a Transcendent, so he won't possibly be responsible for the defense of an entire front line, flee at the critical moment, and cause the deaths of many soldiers.
But that is only one possible future.
Speaking of the butterfly effect, my rebirth has already changed too many things. Who can say what will happen in such a distant future?
So there are Contribution Points, but not that many. It's still not as immediate and effective as teaching future martial arts to Elite Citizens.
With that thought, Meng Chao swept Zuo Haoran with a pitying glance.
Could it be said that he had saved the class monitor?
Though Zuo Haoran had suffered grave injuries and might never become a Transcendent in his life.
Looking at it another way, he might also never have the chance to become a traitor, be scorned by thousands, and be nailed forever to the pillar of shame.
Living an ordinary life as an ordinary person in Dragon City, which was flourishing day by day, might not be such bad luck.
No matter what, the grudge between him and the class monitor had been settled. Meng Chao no longer had the slightest interest in Zuo Haoran.
"Lie still. I'll go call the school doctor. Oh, right—you can't move anyway." Meng Chao headed out of the grove.
Zuo Haoran finally spat out blood.
His formerly handsome, righteous-looking pretty-boy face was a complete mess of tears, snot, and blood.
Meng Chao had only gone halfway when he suddenly turned back.
"I nearly forgot something."
He patted and felt around Zuo Haoran's body. Very quickly, he pulled a recording pen from his pocket.
Meng Chao whistled. "Look at that. Our great class monitor really learns fast. You learned how to secretly record people too, huh?"
Crack!
He crushed the recording pen, carefully gathered every component into his own pocket, then searched Zuo Haoran again to make sure he did not have a second recorder before leaving in satisfaction.
Zuo Haoran fell into utter despair. Apart from desperately smashing his head against the soft sandy ground until he was filthy and disheveled, there was nothing else he could do.
Ten minutes later.
Not only had the school doctor arrived, but so had the homeroom teacher, Devil Yan, the director of studies, Principal Sun, and every student from Class 6 who had just finished the test.
The bloodshed deep in the grove left them all stunned.
The students sucked in cold breaths. The homeroom teacher was frightened out of his wits. Devil Yan's brows were tightly furrowed, his face black as charcoal, while the director of studies flew into a rage so intense that he nearly had a heart attack.
Even Principal Sun, who had been dozing the whole time, rarely opened his tiny eyes and let his gaze circle Meng Chao and Zuo Haoran several times.
"This is lawless—simply lawless! How could you dare beat someone into such a state?"
The director of studies was nearly maddened with rage. Looking at his severely injured biological nephew, he wanted nothing more than to tear Meng Chao alive. "Discipline Office, hurry and restrain this troublemaking student! Wang Longjun, is this how you teach your students? Is this, is this even a student? He's practically a murderer, a criminal, a, a—"
He was so angry that he kept hiccuping. Personally leading two teachers from the Discipline Office, he charged at Meng Chao aggressively.
The homeroom teacher wanted to stop them, but could find no reason to do so. He could only rub his hands and pace around in circles. "What are we supposed to do? Meng Chao, you were far too impulsive!"
The students looked at one another, all speechless.
Yes, the class monitor had said some excessive things. Even if the two of them had fought until their heads bled, they would have been willing to speak for Meng Chao, unafraid even before Principal Sun and the director of studies.
But using such a heavy hand that he broke someone's spine was going too far, wasn't it?
Of course, some were also puzzled. "How did Meng Chao suddenly become so fierce? He even managed to cripple the class monitor?"
The person involved, however, remained calm and composed. He stood with his arms folded, unconcerned even as the Discipline Office teachers approached, merely taking two steps back.
"What, are you still thinking of resisting?" the director of studies demanded sternly.
"Meng Chao, don't make one mistake after another!" the homeroom teacher hurriedly said.
"No. Going to the Discipline Office is no problem. With things having escalated to this extent, I do indeed bear responsibility that I cannot shirk."
Meng Chao spoke unhurriedly. "But some evidence still needs to be presented before everyone. Otherwise, someone might destroy it in secret, and we wouldn't even know—Teacher Yan, I trust you the most. Please look beneath the small trees around here that have cloth strips tied to them. I set up eight ultra-high-definition miniature cameras in total. They should have captured the fight just now clearly from every angle. One look will reveal exactly what happened."
Everyone froze slightly.
The director of studies was somewhat dumbfounded. "Why did you set up cameras?"
Meng Chao smiled. "The class monitor and I weren't fighting to settle personal grudges. We were simply sparring in martial skills and hoping to improve together. The class monitor is so formidable, and chances to spar with him are rare. Naturally, I had to record it from every angle, all three hundred and sixty degrees, so I could study it carefully afterward and improve my results.
"Don't teachers often record everyone's cultivation and battle videos to analyze our mistakes? What's wrong with that?"
Before you continue