Seasoned in countless battles, Ma Ran could use a thousand different methods to beat Wu Di into the ground.
Here, a word of praise had to be given to Black Rock Martial Way.
Although its upper limit was very low, Ma Ran had to admit that Inner Qi was a good thing!
Wu Di had reached the Second Stage of Inner Qi. He was mediocre in every other respect, but his ability to withstand blows was genuinely impressive.
Tough and durable.
"Why did they suddenly start fighting?"
The members of Caolu Academy, who had originally been waiting peacefully in the small auditorium, rushed out one after another, ready to break up the fight.
Caolu Academy was an officially registered organization, and fighting was a serious violation of discipline that would incur severe punishment!
If the nature of the offense was bad enough, they might even be expelled!
So the two of them had to be separated as quickly as possible!
When everyone came out of the small auditorium and saw the scene, it seemed that Ma Ran was beating up a child single-handedly.
Ah, this...
Then it was fine.
Break up the fight?
This could not even be called a fight!
They were all cultivating Black Rock Martial Way. What was wrong with having a friendly spar?
Without communication, study, and the collision of ideas and practice, one would only make no progress by working behind closed doors!
That was how an Inner Qi Cultivator should be!
With more sparring and more Actual Combat, one would not become the sort of Zhao Kuo who only knew how to talk about warfare on paper.
The members of Caolu Academy, along with He Nanguang and Liu Huadie from Fulan Academy, all quietly waited on the sidelines.
Every last one of them was a complete hypocrite.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang...
The friendly spar was over.
"That's enough for today."
Ma Ran brushed the dust off his uniform. After vibrating his Inner Qi to ensure that not a speck of dust remained on his hands, he smiled and said, "I acknowledge your courage."
"If you have time in the future, you can come spar with me often."
"You're welcome anytime."
Wu Di sat sprawled on the ground, panting heavily.
Only after a while did he manage to struggle to his feet.
With two black eyes like a panda's, Wu Di had been beaten until his entire body was swollen.
He wore a stiff expression and was extremely unhappy.
He looked as though the whole world owed him money.
Normally, someone who looked unhappy all the time would easily be isolated and ostracized.
Unless they wanted something from him, no one would be willing to stay with someone overflowing with negative energy.
But now...
The members of Caolu Academy all expressed their understanding of Wu Di. Some even felt a little sorry for him.
After all...
A normal person definitely could not smile after being brutally beaten.
If they could, then there was definitely something wrong with them mentally.
Although Wu Di was furious, he was someone who accepted his losses.
With his eyes swollen into two narrow slits, Wu Di staggered over to Ma Ran.
"Men become acquainted through fighting."
He held one hand behind his back and said indistinctly, "From now on, you're my... big brother."
Ma Ran was far stronger than him and had the qualifications to take the dominant position in their friendship.
It was not as if Wu Di could not find excuses.
For example, he could say that he was exhausted from traveling and suffering from culture shock, while Ma Ran had the home-field advantage of Caolu Academy.
But Wu Di disdained making excuses.
A loss was a loss!
Weakness was weakness!
A loser had no right to make excuses!
Ma Ran was genuinely stronger than him, crushing him in every aspect!
Although their displayed speed and strength were about the same, Ma Ran's experience, techniques, and combat awareness were simply on an entirely different level from his own!
The gap was far too great!
Even if they fought another hundred times, Wu Di judged that he would not have the slightest chance of winning!
Thus, Wu Di was completely convinced.
He put both hands behind his waist and stood proudly beside Ma Ran, looking like a little lackey.
Not far away, Liu Huadie and He Nanguang were surprised to discover that the members of Caolu Academy seemed to have a...
fairly good first impression of Wu Di!
Getting beaten had benefits like this?
No!
Rather than saying this was a benefit of getting beaten, it would be more accurate to say...
Under Ma Ran's high-pressure coercion, Wu Di, who was hated by both humans and ghosts at Fulan Academy, had finally revealed the likable side of his personality.
The troublesome child Wu Di...
had been saved by a beating.
His situation at Caolu Academy would definitely be much better than it had been at Fulan Academy!
If the interaction between Ma Ran and Wu Di was a coincidence, then it was nothing special.
But if all of this had been within Ma Ran's calculations...
Liu Huadie and He Nanguang exchanged looks and simultaneously sucked in a cold breath.
Hiss...
Could anyone really calculate things to such an extent?
Wait!
Something was wrong with this person!
Liu Huadie suddenly came to her senses.
"He just said that he only used the Inner Qi from two acupoints, equivalent to one-tenth of his power..."
How long had Ma Ran been practicing Black Rock Martial Way?
He had already filled twenty acupoints?
Sixteen acupoints corresponded to the Fourth Stage of Inner Qi, didn't they?
The friendly spar between Ma Ran and Wu Di had now been turned into a video file and uploaded to the Dajiang app, triggering heated discussion.
"This young man said he's already filled twenty acupoints. Is that true?"
"Other than him, who could tell? The current bioenergy detectors can't precisely measure the specific amount of Inner Qi, either."
"According to the intelligence, Ma Ran really did reach the Fourth Stage of Inner Qi long ago."
"His combat skills... are truly outstanding! Concise, efficient, and ruthless. If he had wanted to, that kid named Wu Di would have been killed dozens of times already."
"It's worth mentioning that Ma Ran's Academic Power is extremely strong. He handed in every subject of the entrance test early and still got full marks."
"He's that impressive?"
"That's nothing! I heard that he used only an hour to deduce five hundred and twelve acupoints with the help of the Black Rock Stele, and even verified them afterward."
"???"
"That news is too fake! I also heard that he advanced to the Second Stage of Inner Qi within that hour... Even if he created the Black Rock Guidance Technique, Caolu Academy needs to make him a star, but they wouldn't fake things to this extent, would they?"
"When I first heard news about Ma Ran, I reacted just like you. Unfortunately, all of it—including the information everyone just added—has been proven true."
"I looked into Ma Ran's background too. Sigh... Sometimes, you have to admit that the gap between people is greater than the gap between humans and monkeys."
"This young man's talent is pretty frightening. A cultivation genius, creating his own cultivation method, fighting as if he were divine..."
"If Ma Ran had been born in the birthplace of Black Rock Martial Way, he might have become a grandmaster who founded his own school."
"That's excessive praise. Isn't this just trying to destroy him with praise? The Black Rock Guidance Technique is only a minor trick. It can't be considered a self-created cultivation method."
"In the current Inner Qi cultivation system, everyone follows the same path. There's no such thing as an 'inner cultivation manual,' and every bit of progress is hard-won! Get your mindset straight!"
"All right... I admit that my mindset was a little unbalanced. It's embarrassing to say, but Ma Ran's contributions are indeed greater than mine."
At this point, President Huang Weiguo locked his phone screen, raised his head, and looked toward Ma Ran.
The phrase "Star-Clutching Moon" inexplicably surfaced in his mind.
Four or five days ago, that cold, stern young man who radiated an aura warning others to stay away had unknowingly become an irreplaceable key figure in Caolu Academy.
There was no need for a speech to sway people's hearts.
Nor did he need to be approachable and constantly ask after everyone's well-being.
Ma Ran was like a cold magnet, causing the members to gather around him involuntarily, like iron filings.
Bang!
The staff finally carried the heavy lead-alloy box onto the stage.
Huang Weiguo immediately rose and strode to the microphone. In a ringing voice, he announced, "The minimum standard test for superpower awakening begins now!"
I've been getting up pretty early these past two days, hehehe...
Before you continue