Martial Soul

The reprimand over the phone immediately brought Zhang Li back to her senses. Sweat beaded across her pretty face.

"Okay, I understand. Thank you, Manager Han." Zhang Li could only keep assuring him as she hung up.

"Dear viewers, the current situation is extremely unfavorable for East District School. After suffering consecutive losses, the scales of victory have already tipped toward West District School."

"If West District School can maintain this momentum, I believe the final victory in this match will definitely belong to West District School." Zhang Li wanted to put in a good word for her own school, but the higher-ups had already spoken, so she could only tell the truth.

The situation seemed to be completely leaning toward West District School.

Su Lin nodded at everyone in the lounge and prepared to step onto the ring.

"Su Lin." Liu Yu suddenly called out. When Su Lin turned to look at her, Liu Yu gave a bitter smile. "Don't force yourself if you can't win. After all, our school will still have a chance at the next Fighting Competition."

For Liu Yu to say something like that, it seemed she had completely lost hope in her team.

He remembered telling his family that he would definitely lead a team into the national Fighting Competition. It now seemed destined to become an eternal joke.

Hearing Liu Yu's words did not ease Su Lin's mood in the slightest. Instead, it became even heavier.

Under everyone's gaze, he walked step by step onto the ring.

When Hu Tianhua saw Su Lin come up, a mocking smile curled across his lips.

"Feeling a lot of pressure? Why not just admit defeat? Everyone starts out as a beginner." The words sounded encouraging, yet they were laced with endless ridicule.

Su Lin recalled his master's words: martial virtue, martial virtue. Before learning martial arts, one must first learn how to be a decent person.

He suppressed the anger in his heart and said calmly, "Sorry for the trouble, but you needn't worry about me."

Seeing that the fish had not taken the bait, Hu Tianhua did not react much. He had only said it casually anyway. He nodded at Su Lin and said,

"Among my opponents, you're the only one with even a little martial virtue. You're not like those two idiots from earlier." Even the referee beside them frowned upon hearing this, considering whether to propose a rule against mocking opponents in future matches.

"I've already used up some stamina. Although I could beat you in this match, I'd suffer some fairly serious injuries, which would be detrimental to my school's next match."

With those words, Hu Tianhua directly declared that East District Academy was bound to lose this match.

Hu Tianhua shrugged. "I concede."

"What?" The moment he said that, the spectators in the stands were left dumbfounded. They had never expected Hu Tianhua, who was riding high on momentum, to actually admit defeat.

"Haha, man, that just shows how ignorant you are. If you know you can't win, then hurry up and concede. Otherwise, you'll just have to wait for your opponent to beat you flat."

"Exactly. Who would go looking for suffering for no reason?"

"But Hu Tianhua could obviously win. Why wouldn't he win this match before conceding?"

"How would I know?"

Perhaps hearing the crowd's discussion, Hu Tianhua smiled and then shouted at Su Lin, "I just wanted to give my teammate a chance to gain experience."

Though he said it to Su Lin, everyone present was not deaf. Naturally, they all understood what he meant.

The mockery Wu Min had directed at West District School earlier was returned to them in full.

In the lounge, the club's official team members flushed red to the ears. They all secretly glanced at Wu Min. Wu Min put away his playful grin, his expression indifferent and unreadable.

Zhao Haiyan and Zhao Feiyan, who had been lying in the lounge, had also awakened. When they learned that they had both lost to the same person, they were so ashamed they wished they could crawl into a hole.

In the stands, after hearing Hu Tianhua's explanation, everyone burst into laughter.

Amid the laughter, Hu Tianhua swaggered off the ring. Su Lin clenched his fists. He desperately wanted to rush over and teach Hu Tianhua a lesson, but if he truly did that,

even his team would be disqualified from the competition.

When he saw another member of West District School slowly step onto the ring, Su Lin spoke first. "Are you going to mock our school too? I'd advise you not to."

Su Lin had thought the man would snap back at him, but the man slowly shook his head instead. "To be honest, with how strong your captain is, your team would have no problem securing a top-five finish."

Fifth place was already an excellent ranking among nine school teams.

"But you should never have offended someone you shouldn't have offended. Now, you can only take last place."

Su Lin frowned upon hearing that and asked tentatively, "Li Hui?"

The man shook his head. Seeing that the other party was no longer making things difficult for him, Su Lin did not continue making a fool of himself. Although one person from the other side had also conceded, they were still one point behind.

Counting on Li Hui to definitely go easy on them, they would have to win two points just to possibly tie.

To win, they would have to take three points. That was practically impossible.

If they lost the first match, then what else could they be but dead last?

The referee glanced at the contestants on both sides and announced, "West District School's Wang Tian versus East District School's Su Lin." At the same time, he blew the whistle in his mouth.

Wang Tian took up a guard stance and charged swiftly at his opponent. Like the previous West District Academy contestants, he did not probe at all and went all out from the start.

Su Lin quickly assumed a guard stance. He knew that if he lost this match, it would mean East District School had truly lost. He did not dare let down his guard in the slightest.

Like most people, Wang Tian used a Taekwondo guard stance. However, Wang Tian did not follow the usual Taekwondo pattern of feinting with a left punch to confuse his opponent before striking with the real killing move of a right punch.

Instead, he viciously kicked at Su Lin with his right foot.

"Th-this Wang Tian actually isn't following the usual pattern."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Doesn't Taekwondo start with a left punch to confuse the opponent, then follow with a right punch to hit them? But Wang Tian is attacking with his foot instead. Did this guy get water in his brain?"

"Man, you just don't understand. The highest realm of martial arts is to strike as one pleases, with profound mysteries hidden within every move."

"To put it simply, it's like dancing. At first, you can only dance one move at a time. But once you reach mastery, every movement becomes integrated into your body and soul."

"As soon as the music starts, you can naturally dance it out. And Wang Tian has reached that realm."

"Damn, that's terrifying. Doesn't that mean Su Lin is finished?"

"Haha, not necessarily. This is a competition, after all. He definitely won't die, but whether he'll lose an arm or a leg is another matter."

"Hahaha, you can't blame Su Lin for that. He's just had bad luck."

In the lounge, Wu Min stared gravely at Wang Tian on the ring and muttered slowly, "I never expected Wang Tian to have already begun grasping the essence of Martial Soul."