Breaking Through in Battle

The first four had been decided.

Fang Che, Huo Churan, Qiu Yunshang, and Rain Song.

To everyone's surprise, these three had clearly witnessed Fang Che's invincible move, yet not one of them was willing to give up! According to the rules, Fang Che had to fight two matches.

When Fang Che drew lots, Huo Churan and Qiu Yunshang were both craning their necks, watching anxiously with heads swollen like pig heads.

Rain Song was watching too, but he was completely unharmed—not a pig head.

Fang Che's fair fingers held the slip and gently turned it over.

Two! Fang Che had drawn Huo Churan!

A surging battle intent suddenly ignited in Huo Churan's eyes! He took a deep breath.

Fang Che revealed an extremely friendly smile and said with a grin, "Brother Huo, it's the two of us next."

Righteous Fang Gongzi wanted to use the same trick again, employing the routine he had used against Ding Ziran on Huo Churan.

But unexpectedly, Huo Churan did not fall for it at all. He said coldly and proudly, "Fang Che, don't try to fool me like that idiot Ding Ziran. I don't have time to make friends with you!"

Fang Che had not reacted much to those words, but Ding Ziran beside them flew into a rage. He pressed one hand on his sword hilt and said ominously, "Huo Churan, are you looking to die?!"

Huo Churan retorted forcefully, "You're not qualified to fight me yet. I'll beat Fang Che first, then I'll beat you!"

Ding Ziran took a deep breath. Sharp Sword Qi and astonishing killing intent suddenly burst from his body. Word by word, he said, "You said it yourself. When the time comes, don't be afraid of death!"

Fang Che laughed heartily. "Brother Ding, calm down. Whether Huo Churan will still have the strength to fight you after fighting me is another question."

He pointed at Huo Churan. "We're not making friends—that was what you said. Don't blame me for being ruthless today. Not just today, either. Even in the future, every time I see you, I'll beat you up!"

Huo Churan sneered. "And what makes you think you can?!"

Fang Che flew into a rage. He immediately raised his hand and swore with a clang in his voice, "I swear to Heaven, from now on, every time I see Huo Churan, I'll beat him! Even if I don't see him, I'll take the initiative to find him and beat him once!"

Everyone froze.

Damn, is it necessary to be this ruthless? Fang Che himself was helpless inside.

He couldn't make friends with Huo Churan, but he also couldn't simply beat him to death or cripple him on the arena— the judges would definitely be watching him.

So how was he supposed to deal with this Seed Player from the Three Saints Sect in the future? He had to find a reason.

And Huo Churan's temper was actually this arrogant and explosive, practically handing Fang Che a reason to fly into a rage. Naturally, Fang Che had to follow it all the way through.

See him once, beat him once! Even if he didn't see him, he would create an opportunity to find and beat him! He had sworn it; everyone had heard him.

This couldn't be blamed on him!

Qiu Yunshang said from the side, "Fang Che, leave him alive for me!"

"Sure! But only barely alive."

Fang Che smiled. Although he was smiling, his eyes were cold.

The battle between Fang Che and Huo Churan began.

How should one put it? This battle could be said to be both within everyone's expectations and completely beyond them! Huo Churan brought out his full strength from the very beginning.

Unlike his battle with Xie Gongping, Huo Churan's momentum rose steadily as soon as the fight began, and Blood Mist began to spread around his entire body.

Even his cultivation was rising steadily. The more he fought, the braver he became. By the end, he had already displayed strength equivalent to the peak of Martial Master Rank Four!

From a distance, Huo Churan was clearly dressed in white, yet he seemed to have transformed into a mass of blood-red color.

Blood Mist billowed upward and rolled across the arena. Even the wind could not extinguish it! "This should be a secret technique that burns blood essence to raise one's cultivation."

"After this battle, even if he wins, he'll be weak for some time. Who would have thought Huo Churan had mastered such a desperate technique?"

The two judges looked displeased.

They very much did not want Huo Churan to win.

Anyone else winning would be better than Huo Churan.

His earlier palm technique had simply left people feeling too disgusted!

But judging from the situation now, with Huo Churan using such a secret technique, Fang Che was probably in trouble.

With the gap in cultivation, even if he used Saber Performance of Stupa, it would probably be useless.

"Look!"

Under the two judges' astonished gazes, Fang Che suddenly shouted and struck with both fists and palms.

His momentum was rising steadily as well! In an instant, he had also reached Martial Master Rank Four and was clashing head-on with Huo Churan!

Booms rang out without pause!

However, Fang Che's aura was solid, his breathing steady, and his energy flowing smoothly. Clearly, he was genuinely at the peak of Martial Master Rank Four! "Damn!"

"This kid was still hiding this much even after fighting until now! He's so damn sinister—he's almost caught up with the headmaster!"

One of the judges blurted it out.

The other hurriedly coughed. "Ahem, ahem, ahem..."

That judge turned his head and saw Shan Zhang Gao Qingyu's two icy gazes shooting toward him like arrows from far away! He instantly felt an arrow pierce his knee and nearly dropped to his knees.

On the other side, Qiu Yunshang and Rain Song were also fighting as if their lives depended on it.

The battle between these two strangely reenacted the earlier bout between Fang Che and Mo Ganyun.

Every move was a hard clash.

This had been initiated by Qiu Yunshang.

He knew that he had already been seriously injured after fighting several consecutive battles. If the fight dragged on, he might not be able to defeat Rain Song, who had been conserving his strength.

But Rain Song's strength was slightly weaker than his.

So he attacked fiercely, clashing head-on with every move. Trading injury for injury, attacking without defending!

Rain Song was frustrated to the extreme. But his strength was a hair weaker than Qiu Yunshang's. Although the difference was tiny, in this sort of life-or-death battle, the advantage and disadvantage were obvious.

Eventually, after finally finding an opening to draw his sword, Qiu Yunshang unexpectedly swung his long sword in a full circle and used it like a saber, forcing Rain Song back as he delivered nine consecutive strikes.

After nine collisions, both their long swords broke at the same time.

The two tossed aside their weapons and resumed their brutal battle with fists and feet.

Qiu Yunshang's originally refined and composed face had become impossible to recognize. His swollen eyes had narrowed to slits, but his attacks came like a violent storm, one after another without pause.

Rain Song desperately dodged, hoping to conserve his strength and overcome force with gentleness.

But Qiu Yunshang's footwork and movement technique were just as ingenious. Wherever Rain Song dodged, Qiu Yunshang stuck close and pursued him directly, giving him no chance to widen the distance.

He also kept his back toward the edge of the arena, forcing Rain Song closer and closer to the outside.

After a fierce barrage of collisions...

Rain Song and Qiu Yunshang were punched in the right eye at the same time, punched in the right cheek at the same time, and kicked in the lower abdomen at the same time.

They were knocked backward simultaneously.

However, Qiu Yunshang fell onto the arena, while Rain Song let out an enraged roar, flew out of the arena, and landed on the ground with a thud.

He howled at the sky in fury, slapped the ground with both hands, and roared without end.

On the arena, Qiu Yunshang lay there twitching and gasping for breath. His face was so swollen that it was already larger than his buttocks. His eyes could no longer be seen at all, and both cheeks had risen level with the bridge of his nose. Apart from his mouth, which could still be made out as a hole, everything else had swollen flat.

He truly looked rather like a butt.

He continued lying there, laughing loudly. "I won!"

Everyone burst out laughing.

The fight between these two had truly been satisfying.

On the other side.

Seeing that Fang Che had actually withstood his attacks, a vicious glint flashed through Huo Churan's eyes.

"Old silver-tongued bastard! What a damn scoundrel—he actually hid his strength!"

Huo Churan was furious.

In this New Student Competition, as the Three Saints Sect's Seed Player, Huo Churan likewise carried a mission in which only success was allowed, not failure! He had to take first place in the competition, obtain White Cloud Martial Academy's priority allocation of resources, and infiltrate the Guardians after graduation.

He would take up a position, allowing the sect to obtain information from the Guardians at any time and making their operations easier.

This was Huo Churan's ultimate mission.

But everything had to begin with taking the championship.

Thus, Huo Churan was determined to win this championship! He let out a loud shout.

Huo Churan suddenly retreated three steps, then abruptly drew his saber. Blood Qi spread across the entire blade, radiating a grim aura. Like a violent gale, he charged forward!

At that moment, Fang Che also gave a light shout, and his body suddenly shot upward.

When he was in midair, he suddenly let out a long howl.

Everyone was visibly moved and looked up.

Because this long howl did not seem intentional. It was more like the pull of his aura had caused it to burst forth. And generally, when such a phenomenon occurred...

Sure enough, Fang Che's body suddenly shook in midair.

A stream of aura spread out in a hazy cloud.

"Holy crap!"

The several thousand people at the front uniformly uttered two elegant words understood throughout the worlds.

He had broken through! Fang Che had actually broken through to Martial Master Rank Five at a time like this! This was a major threshold!

Breaking through in the middle of battle; withstanding the enemy's frenzied attacks while squeezing out his own potential and forcefully breaking through! And he had broken through in the decisive battle for the championship! He had created a legend at White Cloud Martial Academy!

After breaking through, Fang Che's body continued rising.

His slender body seemed almost to glow beneath the sunlight.

Amid his long howl, Fang Che rose to the peak, then folded his body and plunged downward! From a height of more than ten zhang, his descending speed transformed him into a shooting star!

The saber light came first, like lightning suddenly cleaving downward!

In the blink of an eye, accompanied by a sharp wind rushing into his face, it arrived before Huo Churan.

With a clang, the vicious saber strike slammed directly into Huo Churan's saber! Huo Churan had already built up his momentum to its limit, yet the blow hacked him back with a miserable cry. He leaned backward and slid away with a swish, a thread of blood appearing at the corner of his mouth.

With a single saber strike, his internal organs had already been injured! But Fang Che did not land, nor did he stop.

Instead, he borrowed the force of his descent and charged forward wildly.

Another saber strike!

With a clang, Huo Churan's long saber spun into the air! He staggered backward, spitting blood.

"You brought this on yourself!"

Fang Che roared and tossed his own saber upward as well.

His right fist shot out like lightning and smashed into Huo Churan's left eye socket. His left hand followed, driving another vicious punch into the right eye socket.

A punch landed squarely on the bridge of his nose.

The crisp sound of breaking bones was heard clearly by everyone near the arena, making them shudder.

Blood sprayed violently, like a hammer smashing into a watermelon.

Huo Churan let out a muffled, suppressed howl as his nose was crushed flat!

As his head jerked backward, Fang Che grabbed his hair and yanked him forward.

As a handful of hair scattered in his grip, his knee slammed fiercely into Huo Churan's dantian.

Boom, boom, boom—he drove his knee in seven times! Crack, crack, crack... The continuous sound of ribs breaking came from his soft flank.

Huo Churan's body curled up like a shrimp, his feet leaving the ground as he was sent flying.

Smack! A slap struck his right cheek, turning his face aside. Just as several teeth flew from his mouth, another slap struck his left cheek and snapped his face back. The teeth on both sides shot toward the right simultaneously!

Fang Che spun in midair and delivered a side kick straight into his chest.

Crack, crack, crack...

Five or six ribs broke in succession! Huo Churan drifted unconscious toward the foot of the arena, already lost in a faint.

Fang Che's face was as cold as ice. His body shot forward, his fist clenched, every knuckle sharply defined.

"I'll beat you to death!" Fang Che roared furiously. "How dare you insult me!"

That was not merely something he said. He truly intended to do it.

If no one stopped him, killing Huo Churan outright would be fine too!

He had laid the groundwork for so long. It should be all right to beat him to death, right?

After yesterday's update, I thought for a long time about the matter of passing on the message in Chapter Twenty-Three.

The fact that the Guardians had been unable to uncover the matter of the Five Elements Spirit Gu for so long was indeed somewhat hard to explain.

As for this section, I've racked my brains trying to find a way to make it logically consistent based on the content that has already been published.

But I still can't make up my mind. Please help me think of something too.

After I revise it, read it over again.