Anyone Else Want to Challenge Me?

Hearing this, many people rubbed their hands together eagerly. The new student who had asked Wang Dong a question earlier looked especially eager to give it a try.

There was also Le Ping, who had reached the third Qi-Blood Pass and recently made some progress with Pao Fist.

Looking around, he felt like there was no one else worthy of the challenge.

"Meng Chuan."

At Teacher Luo's call, Meng Chuan answered and walked onto the ring.

Le Ping closed his eyes, already prepared to meet the challenge.

"Hey... Huh???"

He wondered if he'd heard wrong. How could it be Meng Chuan?

When Wang Yue heard Master Luo call Meng Chuan, he didn't react at first. He stared blankly at Meng Chuan, unsure what to say.

"Master, I'm not convinced. I want to challenge him."

Before Le Ping could react, the new student was the first to challenge Meng Chuan.

"Yang Ping of the Tongbei Fist, second Qi-Blood Pass."

"Meng Chuan, third Qi-Blood Pass."

"Holy crap! You broke through to the third pass?"

Yang Ping blurted it out, and the other students looked just as incredulous.

"Junior brother, be careful."

Meng Chuan warned him, then drove off the ground and charged toward Yang Ping.

Yang Ping didn't even have time to react before Meng Chuan's fist stopped in front of his face, lightly tapping his forehead.

To avoid hurting him, Meng Chuan had held back and stopped at that light tap.

"Thank you for letting me win, junior brother."

Only then did Yang Ping react. He smiled wryly and returned the salute with clasped fists.

"Thank you for going easy on me, senior brother."

Then he quietly walked off the ring.

Meng Chuan knew he wasn't the only underage student in the martial arts school to reach the third Qi-Blood Pass. Le Ping had also made it, so he called out:

"Anyone else want to challenge me?"

"I'll do it."

Le Ping leaped onto the ring with a Sparrowhawk Somersault.

He was astonished by how quickly Meng Chuan had advanced. When they last tested him, he hadn't even reached the first stage, yet in just a few months he'd broken through to the third pass. Still, Le Ping was confident he could win.

Le Ping encouraged himself inwardly:

"I've spent longer building my strength at the third Qi-Blood Pass, and my boxing forms are much more practiced. I'll be fine."

"Do you think Meng Chuan can win this time?"

"I doubt it. They're both at the third pass, but Brother Le's foundation is clearly stronger."

"But Meng Chuan's pretty fierce too. I don't know why he hasn't been around lately, but he used to be incredibly strong—the little prince of Guoyi Fist."

Le Ping struck first.

He put everything into his opening attack. Closing in on Meng Chuan in an instant, he sent a straight punch upward at a sixty-degree angle.

His fist roared through the air. If you listened closely, you could hear six sharp cracks. It was the Sky-Piercing Cannon, aimed straight at Meng Chuan's head!

Meng Chuan wasn't the least bit afraid. He stared at the fist right in front of him without even blinking.

He was far too familiar with Pao Fist. Using the Cun Step, he traced a semicircle with his right foot and turned sideways to evade the attack. Then, borrowing power from the twist of his waist, he swung his left fist toward Le Ping's face.

Le Ping reacted quickly too. He raised his right arm beside his ear and blocked the punch.

Even though he'd blocked it, the impact still rang out with a bang! He stumbled sideways.

"Meng Chuan's reflexes are ridiculously fast! Every attack flows into the next, one after another without a break."

"That explains it. Who said Meng Chuan was taking advantage when he sparred with Sister Ru? See that? He was training his combat skills."

Le Ping steadied himself and quickly adjusted his stance. He drew his right arm back above his earlobe and held his left arm upright in front of him, fist turned upward.

He reset his stance, his expression grave.

"Again!"

"Good!"

Meng Chuan was getting into the fight too. He wanted to go all out and enjoy a good match with Le Ping.

As soon as he finished speaking, Meng Chuan bent forward and drove himself into a sudden lunge, closing in on Le Ping in an instant. Before he even arrived, the sound came first!

The cannon blast exploded beside Le Ping's ear. It was six cracks in a single punch, just as powerful as Le Ping's.

Le Ping's eyes filled with astonishment. He couldn't believe how Meng Chuan had mastered Pao Fist in such a short time.

Pao Fist was fierce and forceful; you couldn't block it head-on.

But Le Ping hadn't mastered any advanced footwork, so he could only abandon his stance and roll across the ground, barely avoiding the blow.

Meng Chuan still wanted to practice Pao Fist and improve his proficiency, so he didn't take advantage of Le Ping while he was down.

Once Le Ping got back up, the two continued to fight at close quarters.

Liu Ru often sparred with Meng Chuan and fed him moves, so she could naturally tell what he was thinking.

"Meng Chuan's won. That kid..."

"He's made so much progress. It's like he's become a different person. Could he have awakened a special trait recently?"

Liu Ru genuinely felt that Meng Chuan had changed too much. She felt even less certain about whether she could become the master's personal disciple.

In the blink of an eye, Meng Chuan and Le Ping had exchanged over a hundred moves. With every step he took to build momentum, Meng Chuan's punches grew more powerful, and his training clothes rustled as he moved.

The crowd couldn't help shouting:

"Damn, now this is a real fight! Just watching it is thrilling!"

Le Ping felt that every punch Meng Chuan threw was heavier than the last. He was about to lose the ability to defend himself. He hurriedly blocked the next punch, then retreated to catch his breath.

The time was right. Meng Chuan didn't give him the chance.

He swept his right leg high in a whip kick, cutting off Le Ping's retreat. Then he twisted his waist and hurled himself into the air, following with a second-stage spinning back kick from his left leg that sent Le Ping flying off the ring.

Le Ping sprang back to his feet with a kip-up. There was no resentment on his face; he could tell Meng Chuan had held back.

"I lost. I didn't realize you were this strong now."

Meng Chuan smiled.

"Winning or losing once doesn't mean much. We'll fight again next time."

Le Ping wasn't a sore loser. He'd mocked Meng Chuan earlier during the Qi-Blood test because he'd been petty, but now he was thoroughly convinced by his defeat.

"Good. I gained a lot from this fight. Once I improve my footwork, we'll fight again!"

Meng Chuan returned the salute with a smile, then looked toward the people below the ring and called out:

"Fellow senior brothers, anyone else want to challenge me?"

He didn't feel very tired after that fight. For most of it, he'd just been using Le Ping to test out his moves. He was still in good shape and could take on two or three more Le Pings without a problem.

After a few moments, no one stepped forward to challenge him. They'd all seen what Meng Chuan could do. Among the martial arts school's students under eighteen, there really wasn't anyone who could beat him.

Just then, Luo Guanyun stepped forward and announced:

"Since that's settled, we've decided on the contestants for the underage division: Meng Chuan!"

Everyone applauded. Meng Chuan's strength was there for all to see, and they were convinced.

Meng Chuan patted his chest.

"Thank you, everyone. I'll bring honor to our martial arts school."

Luo Guanyun continued:

"And now, I'd like to announce that I've taken a new personal disciple."

As soon as they heard that Master Luo had taken a personal disciple, the people around them began buzzing with discussion.

Some of the veteran students had been there for two or three years, but had never seen Master Luo take a personal disciple.

Some students wondered to themselves:

"Instructor Liu Ru is the master's registered disciple, and she's the strongest. Could it be her?"

Liu Ru was even more nervous. She'd always wanted to become the master's personal disciple.

She'd hinted at it to the master many times, both directly and indirectly, but he'd turned her down every time.

She felt she had no chance and guessed that it was probably Meng Chuan, so she looked toward him.

"Ah, what good is having strong Qi-Blood? Deep down, I know the truth."

Luo Guanyun announced:

"From this day forward, Meng Chuan will be the first personal disciple of my Qianyuan Thunder Movement. Many people have seen how hard he's worked, and everyone has witnessed his potential and strength."