Forty: Are You Convinced?

With a smack, Zhou Tai'an fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth, his eyes rolling back. His face was swollen and red like a pig's, and he looked nothing like the handsome, dashing young man he had been before.

By now, he couldn't move at all. Every inch of his body throbbed with pain.

"Zhou Tai'an, are you convinced?"

Xia Ping looked down at him from the ring.

"Ahhh! I refuse to accept it! I refuse!" Zhou Tai'an cried out in anguish. He wanted to attack Xia Ping, but couldn't even lift a finger.

Humiliation—this was the utmost humiliation!

He was Zhou Tai'an, a Martial Apprentice Sixth Heaven powerhouse, practically the school's king. He had dozens of underlings and countless admirers, yet he had been defeated with one punch by a bastard he looked down on. To make matters worse, he'd been humiliated like this, his face beaten until it was swollen.

Tell him, how could he stand such an outcome? How could he possibly accept it?!

Seeing Zhou Tai'an so distraught, the spectators around them felt the same way and couldn't help but pity him a little.

"That's too much. Winning should've been enough. How could he humiliate Zhou Tai'an like that?"

"Exactly! Xia Ping's character is terrible. He's a real scumbag."

"Isn't that the truth? They're all from the same school, yet he goes and does something like this."

"He already won, but he still had to ask if Zhou Tai'an was convinced. He's just rubbing salt in his wounds."

The students muttered among themselves, glaring angrily at Xia Ping and thinking he had gone too far.

"Quiet!"

Standing on the ring with his hands behind his back, Xia Ping swept his gaze over the crowd. "If you don't like it, get up here and fight me. I'll even let you use one hand."

He sneered inwardly. Zhou Tai'an had been allowed to humiliate him, but he wasn't allowed to humiliate Zhou Tai'an? Why not? Was Xia Ping just supposed to accept being humiliated because Zhou Tai'an was a top student, handsome, and from a wealthy family?!

What a joke. If someone had the guts to provoke him, they had to bear the consequences.

The students around them fell silent. They could all feel the terrifying aura emanating from Xia Ping. He was like a man-eating tiger, ready to pounce—utterly frightening.

Even a Martial Apprentice Sixth Heaven powerhouse like Zhou Tai'an couldn't withstand one punch from this guy. Xia Ping had swatted him down like a fly, cracking the titanium-alloy ring in the process. Just how terrifying was that?

If ordinary students like them went up against him, he could probably injure them with a single breath. Going up there would be suicide, so no one dared. They all kept their heads down, not uttering a word.

"Anyone? Is there anyone brave enough to fight me?"

Xia Ping stood with his hands behind his back, surveying the crowd, his voice brimming with authority. "You? You? Or you?!" He pointed at the three students who had been shouting the loudest.

At the same time, he sent his spiritual power crashing down on them. The terrifying force enveloped all three, and they immediately felt an overwhelming aura of bloodlust. It was as though a ferocious tiger had charged at them, ready to bite their throats out. The illusion was frighteningly vivid.

They were just ordinary students, flowers raised in a greenhouse. How could they have ever seen something so terrifying? Their resolve shattered on the spot.

"N-no, not me! It wasn't me! Spare me, please!"

The three students screamed, their faces deathly pale with terror. They stumbled backward, trembling all over. Their pants were soaked, and they collapsed into their seats, too frightened to move.

They'd wet themselves?!

The spectators stared in shock. Xia Ping had only glanced at them, and they were already this terrified. Just how scary was this guy? Was he even human?

The students around them shuddered, unable to hide the fear in their eyes as they looked at Xia Ping.

"Spineless cowards."

Xia Ping looked calmly at the crowd. "With skills like that, you dare to challenge me? You sure can make a lot of noise when you're moaning in bed, but when it comes to the real thing, you're useless."

Holy crap! Xia Ping was shameless—and filthy!

The students were so angry their faces turned green. They trembled with rage. They had never seen anyone insult people in public like this. He was utterly despicable, a complete scumbag.

"That's infuriating. Xia Ping really is a womanizer."

"Someone like him is bound to get struck by lightning one day. Just wait and see."

"Winning doesn't make him special. That bastard's got no character."

"Can't someone teach this school bully a lesson? He's too much."

"Flirting with all those decent women and men in public—Xia Ping is definitely a beast."

"After school, let's all sneak up and hit him over the head."

The students were fuming. They wanted to go teach Xia Ping a lesson, but after considering their own strength, they didn't dare move and had to give up.

Instead, they cursed him under their breath, wishing they could bite the bastard to death.

Gao Wan and Yang Wei stared in disbelief. Damn, this guy was practically born to be hated. Maybe he hadn't been deliberately targeting them earlier after all.

The truth was, this bastard's personality was so awful that it was bound to cause trouble.

The students of Class 16 of Grade 12 twitched at the corners of their mouths. They had witnessed Xia Ping's talent for making people hate him. In a way, the guy was definitely a genius.

"Ahem, all right, that's enough arguing." Seeing things take a turn for the worse, the referee hurried forward and cleared his throat a few times before announcing the result. "Zhou Tai'an is no longer able to continue. I declare Xia Ping the winner."

"No! I can still fight! I can still fight! I haven't lost! I haven't lost at all!"

Zhou Tai'an shouted, unwilling to accept it. He would never admit that he had lost to Xia Ping.

"You're so noisy."

With a thud, Xia Ping struck, knocking Zhou Tai'an unconscious with a single slap.

When he was done, Xia Ping dusted off his hands, looking quite pleased. "There, that's better. Now he won't keep making a racket."

The referee was speechless. He couldn't really criticize Xia Ping for doing that. If he hadn't knocked Zhou Tai'an out, the guy would probably still be shouting and making a scene.

"Shameless! Xia Ping is so shameless! How could he hit Brother Zhou while he's down?"

"This is clearly a personal vendetta."

"Brother Zhou couldn't move, so he took the chance to hit him. That's revenge, plain and simple."

"What an utterly shameless bastard, taking advantage of someone when he's down."

"That's too much. He's going to get what's coming to him one day."

A group of students cursed Xia Ping furiously. His actions had infuriated them. They had never seen such a bastard—attacking someone who couldn't even move. He was rotten to the core.

"Get a few people over here and carry Zhou Tai'an away," the referee ordered.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Soon, several students rushed up from below and carried away the unconscious Zhou Tai'an.

A few beeps sounded, and Xia Ping heard the system prompt in his mind: "Hate Points +1, Hate Points +1..."

"Not bad, not bad. I didn't expect to get over three hundred Hate Points this time. I'm only a hundred short of having enough to exchange for the Northern Underworld Body Protection Art." Xia Ping rubbed his chin. "Looks like I'm still not quite there yet."