Tomorrow! Beat Li Zhanting to a Pulp!

"I remember Lu Jue only ranked somewhere in the seven hundreds in last year's year-end assessment, right? What the fuck kind of strength is this for someone in the seven hundreds!?"

Someone in the crowd was the first to cry out in shock, shattering the dead silence. His voice was filled with disbelief.

"To beat Zhang Tie into this sorry state, even those monsters ranked in the top fifty might not be any stronger!" another person chimed in, reverence in his voice, as though he were truly seeing this quiet classmate for the first time.

"Fuck! Three years ago, I fought Lu Jue over training equipment and even shoved him once. No, my stomach hurts. I need to go to the infirmary!"

A skinny, tall boy went pale, clutching his stomach as he tried to shrink behind the crowd.

"Hehe, let's see how Instructor Li wraps this up. We commoner students aren't so easy to bully!"

"I've been sick of him for ages. Every time I asked him for guidance, he acted arrogant as hell!"

"Good job, Lu Jue!"

"When we practiced boxing, Lu Jue seemed to look at my legs a lot. Does anyone have his Feixin?"

Whispers spread like a rising tide. All the previous disdain and contempt had now turned into reverence.

Lu Jue's image in his classmates' eyes had completely changed. He was no longer a slum student destined for mediocrity, but a dark horse that had suddenly bared its edge.

Those discussions were like needles stabbing into Li Zhanting's face.

His face turned livid, his chest heaving violently. He stared at Zhang Tie, who was curled up on the floor and groaning, then abruptly turned toward the calm-faced Lu Jue, uncertainty flashing in his eyes.

How... how was this possible?

During last month's evaluation, Lu Jue had still been a nobody. Now, he had crushed Zhang Tie, who ranked over a hundredth, in one stroke!

The situation Li Zhanting had personally arranged had become the stepping stone for the other man's meteoric rise!

The result was like a resounding slap across his face!

Lu Jue turned a deaf ear to the discussions around him. He merely looked calmly at Li Zhanting, even extending a hand slightly as he repeated his question without the slightest fluctuation in tone.

"Instructor Li, cash? Or ZhiFuBao?"

Li Zhanting's mouth twitched fiercely.

With so many eyes on him, he had no way to deny the debt. He could only pull out a stack of bills from his pocket and count out the amount.

"Cash!"

Lu Jue reached out to take it, just about to fan the bills apart and count them—

A sudden change erupted!

Li Zhanting's expression abruptly changed without warning, viciousness blazing in his eyes!

"You damned brat!"

With a low roar, he suddenly threw out his right fist, striking Lu Jue squarely in the chest!

The punch was fast and vicious, utterly unexpected!

Lu Jue had no time to make an effective response. He only felt an immense force smash viciously into his chest. With a muffled grunt, his body staggered back several steps out of control.

Yet amid that violent impact, Lu Jue keenly sensed something strange.

Though the other party's force was fierce, it did not seem to have caused him any real harm!

What had truly entered his body and sought to wreck his internal organs was a threadlike wisp of energy that contained terrifying explosive power.

Lu Jue knew that this was the "force" countless beginner martial artists dreamed of obtaining!

But perhaps because Li Zhanting's cultivation had not reached the mark, this "force" was extremely weak.

Although it easily broke through his body's surface defenses, the moment it entered his fat layer, the Hundred Tough Fat Armor talent silently activated. It immediately consumed nearly half its power and rapidly dispersed and divided the force that had originally been concentrated at a single point.

By the time that residual energy reached the muscle layer, its destructive power had already been greatly reduced.

At this moment, Lu Jue only felt his blood and qi roil in his chest, while the struck spot burned with pain. But his muscles, bones, and internal organs were all unharmed!

The Hundred Tough Fat Armor could actually resist and weaken high-level energy like "force" to a certain extent!

Li Zhanting's strength was nothing more than this after all!

He even thought that if he were a little stronger, perhaps he could have turned the tables and killed him on the spot today!

"Tell me! When did you secretly train Hardening Kung Fu?! You've hidden it deeply indeed!"

At this point, Li Zhanting had never expected Lu Jue to remain unharmed after taking his full-force blow. He assumed Lu Jue had barely managed to stay standing only by bracing himself against the wall.

He stepped forward, brimming with menace as he prepared to strike again.

At that critical moment—

"Instructor Li! What are you doing!?"

A furious roar like a thunderclap exploded from the classroom door, making the entire room buzz.

The newcomer was an exceptionally burly man with a scar running across his entire face—none other than Wang Gang, the chief instructor of Fist Arts Class 6!

A few minutes earlier, he had received an urgent report from a student saying that Li Zhanting was actually inciting commoner students to fight among themselves. He had rushed over in a panic, only to arrive just in time to see Li Zhanting brutally strike Lu Jue!

"In-Instructor Wang!"

Li Zhanting felt an icy, bone-piercing killing intent lock onto him in an instant. His raised fist froze in midair, and his expression changed dramatically as he hurriedly explained, "I-I was testing student Lu Jue's foundation in Hardening Kung Fu!"

"Testing?"

Wang Gang strode into the classroom, his gaze sweeping like a blade over Lu Jue, who had fallen to the ground, and Zhang Tie, who was groaning nearby. At last, his eyes fixed on Li Zhanting, his voice low yet oppressive.

"You call this a test? As an instructor, you dealt such a heavy blow to a student in front of everyone. Do you know the nature of the consequences this carries?"

On the other side, after Lu Jue noticed that Wang Gang's words clearly favored him, he immediately made his decision.

"Urgh... In-Instructor Wang!"

At just the right moment, he squeezed out an extremely pained groan from his throat. As if all strength had completely left his body, he slowly slid down the wall to the floor, one hand clamped over his chest as even his breathing became rapid and labored.

"I... I'm in so much pain! It feels like my chest is about to explode..."

This sight only added fuel to Wang Gang's anger.

He took a quick step forward, placing his fingers on Lu Jue's wrist to rapidly check his condition.

Yet the pulse beneath his fingers, though slightly rapid from the disturbance in his blood and qi, remained strong and vigorous. It did not resemble the pulse of someone seriously injured at all.

A flash of understanding passed through Wang Gang's eyes. He looked deeply at Lu Jue, but rather than exposing him, he rose with the flow and continued applying pressure.

"Instructor Li, can you explain what exactly happened here? I need a reasonable explanation!"

Li Zhanting's face shifted between green and white. Knowing he would not get away easily today, he gritted his teeth. "Fine, I admit it. I was indeed impulsive and struck Lu Jue. But he's only a commoner student. Instructor Wang, are you sure you want to make a mountain out of a molehill?"

"Making a mountain out of a molehill? Are you sure?"

Wang Gang's voice suddenly rose. "Attacking a student in public is a small matter in your eyes? I'll submit a report to the Academic Affairs Office right now. Your actions must be punished!"

Li Zhanting finally panicked completely. He hurriedly said, "I'll compensate him! I'll pay! Lu Jue, take out your ZhiFuBao! I'll send you twenty thousand! That's enough to treat your injuries. I was impulsive just now, and I was wrong. Let this matter end here, all right?"

"Cough, cough... Instructor Wang, I feel like I really can't catch my breath..." Lu Jue's groaning became several degrees more "miserable."

"Fine, fine, fine! Forty thousand! Forty thousand, all right?! That's the most I can offer!"

"I still have to participate in the Quota Competition in a few days. This injury..."

"Fifty thousand! Any more, and I'd rather you report me!" Li Zhanting felt as though someone had carved a chunk out of his heart. His eyes were even beginning to redden.

That punch had used every last bit of force in his dantian. It was enough to crush any martial artist who had not yet entered force!

He had originally planned to insist that this was a "guidance accident," pay a few thousand in medical expenses, and leave Lu Jue bedridden for two or three weeks, making him miss the Quota Competition outright.

Who would have thought Wang Gang would arrive at just the right time and catch him red-handed, completely ruining his plan?

Fifty thousand was enough for Lu Jue to use a high-grade Healing Pod and recover fully within two days!

What a terrible loss!

"Fine!"

After a long while, Lu Jue on the floor seemed to hesitate before reluctantly agreeing.

"Student Lu Jue, are you sure you want to settle privately with Instructor Li?"

Wang Gang looked at Lu Jue and solemnly confirmed it.

Lu Jue "struggled" to think for a moment before answering.

"If Instructor Li wasn't doing it on purpose... then he definitely did it deliberately! But since Instructor Li is willing to compensate me, I don't want to trouble you on my account, Instructor Wang. I'm willing to accept this arrangement!"

His mind was perfectly clear.

He had vaguely heard before that Li Zhanting's Lineage held considerable status and that he was an instructor with connections.

If he had truly been seriously injured, with Instructor Wang's help, Li Zhanting would certainly have been unable to bear the consequences.

However, his body was not seriously harmed. Going head-to-head would only disgust the other man a little, without gaining him much in practical benefits.

He might as well use this chance to extort a huge sum, then quickly turn those resources into real strength!

Tomorrow, he would use his own fists to beat Li Zhanting until he pissed himself and fled!