School Fighting Tournament

"What is it?"

Xia Ping blinked at Jiang Yaru.

"There's something I need to tell you."

Jiang Yaru said, "The school is holding a martial arts tournament in three days. Each Grade 12 class gets ten spots, and one of ours was originally Yang Wei's. But the police arrested him, and he won't be getting out anytime soon, so I wanted to ask if you'd like to take part in the School Fighting Tournament."

As she spoke, her expression turned rather strange. It seemed Yang Wei had been arrested because of this guy. Thinking about it, Yang Wei had been a model student, but he'd never expected to get on the wrong side of this troublemaker and ruin his reputation.

Who knew what Yang Wei would be like after he got out of prison?

"The School Fighting Tournament?!" Xia Ping's eyes flickered.

He had heard of the competition. It was an annual school martial arts tournament, and nearly all the outstanding students in the school took part. The winners received prizes.

Of course, the school's prizes were nothing special. What mattered was that the top ten in the School Fighting Tournament would qualify to represent 95th Middle School in the citywide high school fighting competition.

The competition brought together the strongest students from every middle school in Tianshui City and drew the attention of countless spectators. The prizes were generous, too. Winners might even get the chance to train in the military and improve their strength.

Every year, students who had the chance to showcase their formidable strength in the Tianshui City high school fighting competition had a high likelihood of getting into Yanhuang University.

None of this had anything to do with Xia Ping before, so he hadn't paid much attention. But things were different now. Perhaps he could use the competition to earn more Hate Points and increase his strength.

"If I represent the class in the School Fighting Tournament, won't the others object?" Xia Ping asked Jiang Yaru.

"They definitely won't."

Jiang Yaru shook her head. "You beat Xiong Batian and showed everyone what you can do. With that kind of record, I'm sure your classmates won't object."

That was only natural.

A person's martial arts strength was proven by their record!

Whoever you could defeat showed how strong you were. Xia Ping had been thoroughly ordinary before, with nothing to set him apart. But recently, he'd beaten Xiong Batian on the Flying Dragon Platform. That was a record to speak for itself.

Even in Class 16 of Grade 12, there weren't many students who could beat Xiong Batian. So no one could object to Xia Ping representing the class.

Even if someone did object, all it would take was a simple question: "Can you beat Xiong Batian?" They'd have nothing to say.

But Jiang Yaru still found it unbelievable. Xia Ping had always been so ordinary, with nothing special about him, yet he'd quietly advanced to the Martial Apprentice Fourth Heaven and even beaten a powerhouse like Xiong Batian. It was just too strange. What had happened to him?

"Fine, I'll do it," Xia Ping said at once. There was no way he'd pass up an opportunity like this.

"Great, I'll put your name down."

Jiang Yaru nodded, but couldn't help asking, "Xia Ping, I've noticed you haven't been paying much attention in class lately. What have you been doing?"

"Nothing much. Just writing a novel," Xia Ping replied casually.

Writing a novel?!

Jiang Yaru's eyes widened as she stared at Xia Ping in disbelief. As far as she knew, this guy was a literary idiot who fell asleep if he read for more than three minutes. How could he know how to write something as sophisticated as a novel? And that wasn't all. How had this rascal advanced to the Martial Apprentice Fourth Heaven so quickly? What on earth had changed about him?

Soon, she noticed a page projected above Xia Ping's desk. A thought struck her, and she asked, "Could your novel be published on Penguin? Is that one yours? What's it about...?"

With a slap, Xia Ping immediately closed the page. Putting on a stern face, he said, "What it's about is none of your business. You should go back and study instead of getting in the way. Got it?"

His expression turned strange. If Jiang Yaru found out what kind of novel he was writing, she'd probably want to eat him alive. He had to keep this under wraps.

"I'm getting in the way?!"

Jiang Yaru was furious at those words, and half her pretty face flushed red. "Why, you—Xia Ping! You beat Xiong Batian and now you're getting cocky? You even think I'm in your way? You think you're all that now?"

Ever since they were children, she had always been one step ahead of Xia Ping. She got excellent grades, excelled at every sport, and was the school belle. She had always been the one who complained that Xia Ping was in her way. He had never complained that she was in his.

But now this rascal was getting bold. He actually dared to say that Jiang Yaru was in his way. The nerve!

"It's not what you think. It's hard to explain. Anyway, you wouldn't understand the novel, so there's no point telling you." Xia Ping wanted to get rid of Jiang Yaru as soon as possible. If they kept talking, things could get out of hand. He really couldn't let just anyone read his novel, especially a woman.

Wouldn't understand?!

Those words made Jiang Yaru even angrier. She was one of the top ten students in the whole school, and her Chinese scores were among the best. What novel could she possibly fail to understand? She could even translate a bit of classical Chinese.

Obviously, this rascal had beaten Xiong Batian and gotten carried away. He thought he was above everyone else, and that was why he'd said such arrogant things. He didn't even take Jiang Yaru seriously.

Fine!

If he didn't want her to read it, she'd go read it anyway. She'd see what Xia Ping had written that made him so smug and arrogant.

Jiang Yaru had made up her mind. She wouldn't just read Xia Ping's novel; she'd read it carefully and write a review, too. She'd criticize his writing and knock some of the smugness out of him. He needed to learn some humility.

There were plenty of capable people in the world. He wasn't the only one.

"Teacher Bai Rong? That should be the name, right? But the novel's title sounds pretty refined. Is it about school life? Is it about the bond between a student and a teacher? Or is it a touching story about a teacher's hard work educating students? Maybe it's about office politics at a school. I didn't think this guy was so sentimental. He's even started writing literary fiction."

Though she'd only glanced at the page, Jiang Yaru had excellent dynamic vision and profound martial arts cultivation. She'd memorized its contents in an instant. Nothing escaped her.

Thinking this, she glared fiercely at Xia Ping and returned to her seat.

"She finally left." Seeing that Jiang Yaru wasn't going to press him, Xia Ping breathed a sigh of relief.

If Xia Ping had known that Jiang Yaru not only planned to read his novel but also wanted to write a review, his expression would probably have been priceless.