A burly, tall teenager in a black training uniform walked over with his arms folded across his chest.
The surrounding students quickly made way when they saw him, terrified of blocking his path.
"Move aside, don't block Qiu Zhenghua's way. With these skinny arms and legs of ours, we can't take even one punch from him."
"That teacher who came over from First High School, the one called Wang Hu, wasn't even Qiu Zhenghua's match. His fingers were broken."
"But Wang Hu's a real man. He just covered his hand and left without making Qiu Zhenghua compensate him."
Xu Zhiming finished a round of Coiling Dragon Surging Waves, then lowered his spear and stopped.
His gaze settled on the newcomer.
The boy was tall, even slightly taller than him, with an earring in one ear.
Xu Zhiming heard the students' murmurs.
He turned to look at Wang Hu and noticed that Wang Hu still had his hand tucked inside his pocket.
No wonder Wang Hu had said nothing.
From what these people were saying, this seemed to be because of him?
Xu Zhiming's gaze grew ever calmer, like a bottomless pool.
Wang Hu frowned and walked out of the crowd.
"Qiu Zhenghua, what are you here for?"
"Get back to your Training Room and train."
Qiu Zhenghua sneered.
"Wang Hu, do you think you can protect Xu Zhiming? Have you forgotten how your hand was broken two days ago?"
After saying that, Qiu Zhenghua turned his gaze to Xu Zhiming.
He found Xu Zhiming calm-faced, seemingly without a word to say.
Who was he trying to fool with that act?
Once they sparred, he would see how long Xu Zhiming could keep pretending.
Wang Hu's face turned livid, and he dearly wanted to teach Qiu Zhenghua a lesson.
But the stabbing pain from his fingers brought him back to his senses.
How humiliating.
He still stood in front of Xu Zhiming without saying a word.
Qiu Zhenghua looked at Xu Zhiming.
"You're Xu Zhiming, right? You stole my Training Room, and I'm very unhappy about it."
"So unless you defeat me, I won't give you the key."
"At a martial arts high school, strength is respected above all else. Do you dare spar with me?"
Wang Hu reached out with his left hand and pressed it onto Xu Zhiming's shoulder, stopping him from acting rashly.
He whispered to Xu Zhiming.
"Don't go. He's doing this on purpose—he just wants to provoke you."
"Even I'm no match for him. Go back and improve for a while first."
Xu Zhiming shook his head.
"Teacher Wang Hu, I know what matters most."
"Today, I'll handle the second matter before I leave."
Wang Hu was at a loss. The second matter? What matter?
"No, I'm afraid you'll act impulsively. We should leave. You haven't cultivated a Visualization Diagram yet, so you're no match for him."
Beside them, Meng Tian glanced at Qiu Zhenghua.
"Qiu Zhenghua, spar if you want, but if you dare affect my business, you'll be unable to bear the consequences."
The smile vanished from Qiu Zhenghua's face.
He could ignore Xu Zhiming, a student without any background.
But he could not ignore Meng Tian. Rumor had it that Meng Tian was the descendant of some great lineage.
When Meng Tian had first arrived at school, the woman who had brought him here—
The aura she gave off was at least above level thirty. She was Meng Tian's older sister.
She was at most twenty years old.
A martial artist like that was not someone he could afford to provoke. Even the Qiu Family could not afford to provoke her.
"I'm only sparring with him. How could I possibly hurt him?"
Xu Zhiming shook his head.
Why did everyone think he was no match for the other side?
Though they meant well.
With Vitality Quality doubled, as well as the seventh level of Wind Thunder Fist increasing Xiamen stamina threefold—
His immediate combat power had already surpassed three hundred points!
His opponent's combat power could at most be a little over two hundred.
And Wind Thunder Fist also had long-range attacks.
A few bolts of Thunderbolt would come down, and Qiu Zhenghua would be numbed senseless before he could even get close.
Xu Zhiming exerted a little force and broke free of Wang Hu's restraint.
He stepped forward.
Holding his spear, Xu Zhiming stood before Qiu Zhenghua.
"I cultivated Wind Thunder Fist to the sixth level, satisfying the rules laid down by the authorities."
"Your vitality is strong? Then why haven't the authorities made special rules for people with high vitality?"
"Do you know why? Because your potential isn't as strong as mine."
Listening to Xu Zhiming's words, Qiu Zhenghua's defenses shattered.
The smile on his face slowly faded as fury churned in his heart.
He had not expected that not only had he failed to provoke Xu Zhiming, he had instead been humiliated by him.
Zhang Wei stepped forward, reaching to pull Xu Zhiming back, when a tremendous force landed on his shoulder.
He turned around and found Wang Hu pressing down on his shoulder. He forcefully shook his shoulder, but it did not budge in the slightest.
Wang Hu watched Zhang Wei's movements, puzzled.
"Teacher Wang Hu, what are you doing!"
Zhang Wei's tone was somewhat urgent. What if Xu Zhiming got hurt?
This was the critical stage of his sprint. An injury would affect Xu Zhiming's vitality growth.
Wang Hu withdrew his left hand and patted Zhang Wei's shoulder.
"I used most of my strength just now, yet I couldn't hold Xu Zhiming down. I felt like he broke free with only a little force."
"I suspect his Vitality Quality far exceeds everyone else's."
Zhang Wei opened his mouth, then turned back to look at Xu Zhiming amid the crowd.
He knew Wang Hu's strength. With vitality above seventy, and after cultivating an E-grade martial arts Visualization Diagram, his Vitality Quality was also much stronger than an ordinary person's.
Yet Xu Zhiming had broken free so easily?
Qiu Zhenghua stared at Xu Zhiming.
He truly did not know where Xu Zhiming's confidence came from.
Could it be that Xu Zhiming was confident he could defeat the strength Qiu Zhenghua had displayed last month?
A scholar absent for three days should be viewed with new eyes—this saying was extraordinarily fitting in the martial arts world.
Recently, his C-rank Family Martial Art had broken through. His combat power could increase by one and a half times, along with doubled Vitality Quality.
With a full-force strike, he rivaled an ordinary person with two hundred and fifty vitality.
If he dared call himself second, only that monster Feng Li dared call herself first.
"Xu Zhiming, do you dare spar with me?"
"If you don't, hurry up and kneel to admit defeat."
"Your vitality isn't even as high as my shoe. There's no shame in admitting defeat."
Meng Tian swept Qiu Zhenghua a glance.
Arrogant. But those words were pretty good—they were his now.
He could use that line when he got back.
Xu Zhiming ignored him.
His gaze landed on Wang Hu.
"Teacher Wang Hu, which hand did he injure?"
Wang Hu was stunned.
What confidence, kid.
After thinking for a moment—
"Both hands. He used force to break them."
Xu Zhiming shifted his gaze to Zeng Hao.
By now, Zeng Hao had recovered some of his strength and was back on his feet.
"Zeng Hao, which hand hit your eye?"
Zeng Hao opened his mouth, then decided to trust Xu Zhiming.
"His right hand."
"But I think it would look better if they were symmetrical."
Xu Zhiming nodded.
"Lead the way. To the sparring grounds."
Qiu Zhenghua listened to Xu Zhiming's supremely confident words.
He was putting on far too much of an act.
"I'll make you kneel down and sing Conquest."
Some of the girls' gazes drifted back and forth between Xu Zhiming and Qiu Zhenghua.
"Wow, why do I feel like I've fallen for Xu Zhiming? Can he let me have a turn next time?"
"Standing up for his teacher, standing up for his classmates! That's what a man should be!"
"But Xu Zhiming has already made such bold claims. Who knows if he can pull them off?"
"If he does, that'll be the greatest act of swagger in history."
Xu Zhiming followed Qiu Zhenghua to the school's sparring grounds.
It was very simple—just a square plot of land.
Wang Hu, Zhang Wei, Zeng Hao, and the others stood together, watching Xu Zhiming nervously, terrified that something might happen to him.
Meng Tian, meanwhile, stared coldly at Qiu Zhenghua.
If Xu Zhiming was injured and could no longer help him temper his vitality—
He would call his sister and have her stand up for him.
Qiu Zhenghua dared ignore what he had said. When the time came, he would have to pay the price.
Within the crowd—
A man with an empty right sleeve held a long spear in his left hand, with a bottle of red liquid hanging from its tip.
Faintly, one could smell the pungent scent of fresh blood.
"Damn it, I searched all over for you, and you'd run off to Yunshui Second High School."
"I arrived at just the right time. Let's see how good that kid's spear fundamentals are."
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