You Actually Wanted to Kill Me!

Below the stage, a middle-aged man who looked only thirty-five or thirty-six stood with his arms crossed, watching Fang Che walk away.

He chuckled softly. "This kid is interesting."

Fang Che went straight to the Dean's Office and handed in his application for housing outside the academy.

Inside was a bald old man. He looked up in surprise. "You bought a residence beside the Martial Academy?"

He lowered his head and glanced at it again, then suddenly said, "Fang Che?"

He looked up. "The Fang Gongzi of Azure Wave City?"

Then he added, "The Righteous Fang Gongzi?"

Finally, he said, "No wonder he's so rich. No wonder, no wonder. Approved."

Duang!

He stamped it.

After Fang Che received the approval, he felt both amused and exasperated.

The bald old man's sarcastic tone had reached an astonishingly impressive level.

But Fang Che was not angry at all.

The old man's values were upright. He could not treat someone as an enemy merely because that person had mocked him.

Since the matter was settled, so be it if he had to hear a few remarks. Who could blame him for being the villain now?

He leisurely headed home.

He would cultivate for two hours, take an afternoon nap, and give Night Dream a proper scolding before coming back in the afternoon. That should not be too late.

Fang Che left.

But the people around the arena remained lively and boisterous.

Cheers rose from below the stage from time to time. Someone's chosen fighter had won.

It was worth mentioning that in this first match, the people everyone bet on—the top three or top six—basically never slipped up. Yet someone suddenly let out a miserable shriek.

This fellow had a tuft of hair on his face and was skinny and dried-out. Since he had lost too much in previous years, he had bet on ninth place—his lucky number because it was his birthday—hoping for a shocking upset.

As it turned out, the ninth-place contestant was actually quite capable, but his luck was terrible. In the first round, he drew Ding Ziran. With one move, he was beaten until he vomited blood and rolled off the stage.

Thus, someone with a mournful face began bowing and scraping everywhere, borrowing academy points. Unfortunately, no one lent him any.

Wherever he went, people avoided him as though he were a plague god.

The tuft-of-hair fellow stood alone in the crowd, looking utterly forlorn.

Fang Che's performance also sparked heated discussion.

Many people who were clutching their points and waiting to see what happened abandoned Fang Che one after another and chose other contestants instead.

Although Fang Che had won his first match quickly, and had done so barehanded against a bladed weapon, everyone could tell that although Fang Che seemed considerably stronger than Lin Ziqing, he was still inferior to those currently winning on the arena with clean, decisive victories.

Moreover, much of Fang Che's victory had come from psychological factors—his poisonous tongue had angered his opponent into confusion.

Thus, Fang Che's support rate clearly fell.

Of course, there was also a group of girls from the Looks-based Faction who did not care about points and firmly bet theirs on Fang Che!

"Winning or losing doesn't matter. Just for that peerless face, it's worth losing!"

It had to be said that girls who were this completely bewitched by appearances were surprisingly not a minority.

Their main goal was simply to have fun!

That's right, they were just playing.

What were points? The simps had plenty!

On the arena, the contestants continued fighting pair after pair, just as Fang Che had guessed.

By the time he leisurely arrived in the afternoon, they had only reached the forty-fifth pair. Five more pairs remained before the matches were finished.

Fang Qingyun was waiting for him with a mighty procession. Compared with the previous day, the group had clearly grown, with several beautiful girls added.

"Cousin, why did you run off? I circled the arena looking for you eight times!"

Fang Qingyun was a little angry. "This competition is so important to you, yet you didn't stay and watch the others' strength? How could you be so careless?"

"Wasn't Cousin here?"

Fang Che smiled. "You must have recorded all the information for me."

Fang Qingyun snorted and pulled a sheet of paper from his sleeve. "These are all the winners from the previous battles. We analyzed them together."

Fang Che took it and glanced over. Whoa! It was incredibly detailed.

Names, ages, weapons, estimated cultivation, battle traits, fighting styles, which-ranked contestant they had faced, victory times. Then, in parentheses, suspicions that they were hiding their strength... and so on.

"This is too detailed!"

Fang Che gave it a quick look. There were actually six people who had won with a single move.

They had all done it with the greatest ease.

These six were also currently the six contestants with the highest support rates!

Huo Churan, Ding Ziran, Qiu Yunshang, Xie Gongping, Mo Ganyun, and Ximen Xuri.

"It's basically about what I expected."

Fang Che looked at those six names.

In other words, these six had revealed the least and had the highest support rates. Huo Churan and Qiu Yunshang in particular had each attracted over twenty thousand points!

"How many people have bet on me to win the championship?" Fang Che asked.

"I don't know how many people, but the points bet on you total seven thousand three hundred, putting you in seventh place!"

Fang Qingyun sighed.

"How are there so many?"

"These are all beauty points." One of the big-eyed girls giggled. "I bet eighteen points on you. Who can blame me when our cousin is so handsome?"

"..."

Fang Che was speechless. He had thought his support rate had already dropped. Who would have expected it to remain so stubbornly high?

It seemed this looks-obsessed world was beyond saving.

"Looks like I'll have to keep a lower profile. I'll finish Huang Yifan's task first. My main goal is to mess with people."

Fang Che made up his mind. "As long as I win, that's enough. As for what comes after... we'll see."

The four rounds ended.

Fifty people advanced.

They drew lots again.

Fang Che was still number one and drew first.

When he took it out and looked at it, he could not help freezing.

His target had appeared so soon: Ximen Xuri!

Fang Che immediately recalled the keywords: hidden weapons, Crimson Blood Snake! But the information Sun Yuan had given him listed him as a Warrior Rank Eight.

But Fang Che no longer believed that at all. If he were truly a Warrior Rank Eight, there was no way he could have killed Demon Beasts and seized points from among so many people, all the way to seventh place! This kid was also an old fox hiding in the shadows!

The two stood facing each other on the stage.

"Student Fang." Ximen Xuri wore a white robe and looked rather handsome. He had fair skin, a tall figure that was neither fat nor thin, and a good bearing.

His face was somewhat long, but it was not yet a horse face—at most, it could be called a donkey face.

He clearly understood how to hide his weaknesses. Drawing his chin in slightly, he inclined his head with great poise. "It's quite unexpected that I encountered you this round. I'm sorry, but in a true battle like this, there are no clever shortcuts to take."

The implication was clearly mocking Fang Che for taking first place through trickery.

Fang Che smiled warmly. "As Student Ximen says. No wonder you managed to take seventh place. Your strength truly is extraordinary."

Ximen Xuri's expression slowly darkened. He said blandly, "Fang Che, does your name mean that you've been thoroughly defeated?"

Fang Che smiled faintly, clasped his hands behind his back, and looked down at Ximen Xuri from above. "Student Ximen, I have studied a wide variety of subjects and know a little about interpreting words and names. Your name is rather inauspicious."

Ximen Xuri said, "Oh?"

"Since ancient times, the morning sun has risen in the east. How could the west gate have a rising sun? Your name overturns the Five Elements and Heaven and Earth. You are bound to suffer Divine Retribution."

Fang Che kindly offered, "Why not change your name?"

Ximen Xuri's expression turned cold. "Wherever I am, that place becomes the site of the rising sun!"

Fang Che smiled faintly. "I'm afraid that when your western sun encounters me, I'll knock it down completely."

They had said all that needed to be said.

From the moment they stepped onto the stage, both of them had sensed that they were not cut from the same cloth.

The hostility between them was thick.

Neither had gained the upper hand through verbal attacks, and both remained steady in spirit.

Since they could not tear open a weakness in the other's mind and use it as a breakthrough point, they could only settle things with their hands.

Ximen Xuri flicked his sleeve, revealing a fair palm. He slid his feet forward, gliding seven meters across the floor as though on ice, and struck out with one palm! Fang Che stepped half a pace backward, then pushed off and stepped back in, his black robe fluttering once.

At the instant starlight seemed to shimmer faintly, he had already crossed two zhang. He likewise extended his right palm and struck.

Boom! Their palms collided, producing a muffled impact.

The black robe and white robe fluttered simultaneously, and both of them retreated three steps.

The two referees on the stage exchanged a glance, admiration in their eyes.

That palm strike had been deliberate, meant to test the other's strength. The key point, however, was that neither had used their full power! Fang Che had used the strength of a peak Warrior Rank Nine, while Ximen Xuri had used the strength of a Martial Master Rank One.

On the surface, they appeared evenly matched.

Ximen Xuri's expression sank.

He spun around, and a small whirlwind suddenly appeared where he stood. His entire body transformed into a blur as he surrounded Fang Che and unleashed a storm of attacks.

Fang Che fought with solid, steady moves and never greedily pursued merit. He merely raised his cultivation to the Martial Master Rank One realm, countering each move as it came, attacking three parts and defending seven.

In an instant, black and white spiraled together on the arena, impossible to separate. It was as though a Taiji diagram, half black and half white, had suddenly appeared.

Ximen Xuri occupied seven parts of the offensive and could be said to have seized the absolute upper hand. Yet his heart grew heavier and heavier.

He could not break through the other's defense.

Fang Che's defense was practically flawless. Moreover, every collision allowed him to feel the rebound. Ximen Xuri's heart grew even heavier.

His opponent's cultivation was definitely above his own! Although he appeared to have the advantage, he would certainly lose if this continued! The moment his opponent counterattacked, he would be finished.

Everyone saw Ximen Xuri holding the advantage and suppressing Fang Che, but only Ximen Xuri, who was caught in the fight, understood. He was actually the one who had truly fallen into a disadvantageous position! I have to win! I can't let this brat pretend to be a pig while eating the tiger!

Once he had made up his mind, a white shadow flashed. He flipped through the air, his white robes spreading like a white crane appearing overhead. With a turn of his body, three streaks of cold light shot out.

It was precisely his ultimate hidden-weapon technique.

"Take this!"

Only after throwing out the hidden weapons did he shout to warn him.

The two referees secretly shook their heads. They had already rejected nine-tenths of their opinion of Ximen Xuri's character, yet they were prepared to rescue Fang Che.

Fang Che clearly looked as though he had not expected it. He dodged in panic and barely avoided them.

But seven more streaks of cold light flashed through the air. Behind those seven streaks followed three nearly imperceptible rays of darkness.

Three dark rays: one pair aimed at the glabella, one pair at the dantian, and one pair at the heart.

Soul Snatching Needles.

Anger appeared in the referees' eyes.

This was a killing move! It was merely a competition between fellow students, with no enmity between them, yet a killing move had appeared! Fang Che flipped sideways, and with a sharp clang, drew his blade from its sheath, seemingly bursting with uncontrollable rage.

Clang, clang! Two three-edged nails were knocked away. His body swayed repeatedly, then suddenly burst through the gaps between the hidden weapons.

The blade light suddenly blazed, as though a sun had appeared on the arena, bright enough to dazzle the eyes.

"Despicable!"

Fang Che roared, and blood erupted across the stage! Ximen Xuri let out a shrill scream as one arm, along with half his shoulder, fell into the dust.

Fang Che already had his blade held horizontally against Ximen Xuri's throat. Perhaps unable to control his fury, his arm trembled slightly as he shouted hoarsely, "This is only a competition between fellow students! You actually wanted to kill me!"

Fang Che stomped on the wound of the severed arm lying on the ground. Flesh and blood immediately became a mangled mess. The pale palm opened, and a handful of steel needles that had already been clenched in its grasp rolled out! The entire arena fell silent!

On the stage, Fang Che's body trembled slightly, his face filled with aggrieved fury.

He looked as though he had suffered the greatest injustice in the world.