Bang!
But this time, he had miscalculated. Guan Ning didn't dodge the thrust, nor did he use the Qingming Sword to block it. Instead, he stepped forward. The Dragon Spear in John's hands slammed into Guan Ning's chest, instantly shattering his combat suit and sending fragments flying. The spear's momentum didn't falter as it drove toward Guan Ning's chest.
John hadn't anticipated this sudden turn of events. When he saw Guan Ning neither dodge nor parry, a flicker of doubt crossed his mind, but it was soon drowned out by delight. This was a stroke of incredible luck! Not only would he get the video, he'd also keep his Ancient Civilization Gravity Room time.
"What a good guy!"
He was filled with gratitude toward Guan Ning. Not only had Guan Ning helped him improve his spear technique, he'd even offered to lose. John couldn't help giving him a Good Person Card.
If Guan Ning had known what John was thinking, he would surely have told him sternly, "You can't just hand out Good Person Cards whenever you feel like it."
As Guan Ning stepped forward, the muscles and cells throughout his body began vibrating wildly. The Dragon Spear had already lost eighty or ninety percent of its force after being slowed by his combat suit. The instant its tip touched the skin on his chest, the vibrating muscles nudged it slightly off course. The farther the spear advanced into his body, the stronger the effect became. In the end, it missed Guan Ning's heart completely, leaving only a gaping wound beside it.
It seemed to take a long time, but everything happened in the blink of an eye. By the time John noticed what had happened to the spear, Guan Ning's Qingming Sword had already swept through an arc and left a long, shallow cut across his throat.
"How did you..." John managed to choke out only three words before he breathed his last.
At the same time, the Challenge Room's emotionless electronic voice rang out again.
"John McClane challenged Guan Ning. Guan Ning wins!"
The same announcement sounded outside the Challenge Room, where the students who'd been waiting for a good show stood in stunned disbelief.
At first, they'd thought Guan Ning wouldn't last a minute against John.
When a minute passed without any news, they figured Guan Ning had done well just to hold out that long.
But then one minute became two, then three... The result didn't come until the thirteenth minute, and it was the exact opposite of what they'd expected.
"Guan Ning won? How is that possible?"
"John's ranked seventy-sixth, his movement technique is Perfect-Level, and his Combat Power Amplitude is High-level. How could he lose?"
"What's with this Guan Ning guy? How is he so terrifying?"
"Wasn't having one Luo Feng enough? Now there's another Guan Ning. Are they trying to make the rest of us give up?"
The entire hall buzzed with discussion.
"Xiao Ning really won? How is that possible?" Zhao Ruo knew how strong Guan Ning was. Even with his superb swordsmanship, his movement technique and force output were still what they were. She hadn't believed he could win. At first, she'd only said those things to save face; she couldn't let him show any weakness. Now that she'd heard he'd won, she couldn't make sense of it.
"Not bad!" Shi Jiang was only slightly surprised. With his current strength, he hadn't considered John much of a threat.
"Is Junior Brother Guan really that strong? Guess I'd better work harder. There's no way I can let him outdo me!" A flash of surprise crossed Luo Feng's mind, followed by a surge of fighting spirit.
"Ugh! That really hurts. I know it's fake, but the pain feels real. Amazing!"
Rubbing his chest, Guan Ning walked out of the Challenge Room.
"Guan Ning! How is this possible? I don't believe it!"
John came out as well, his face full of confusion and disbelief. He couldn't understand how Guan Ning had done it.
Guan Ning ignored him. He was looking at the message he'd just received.
"Student Guan Ning, ID 570417: your Ancient Civilization Gravity Room time has been changed to 3 hours."
Guan Ning smiled when he saw the message. Looking at John, who seemed heartbroken, he noticed that John had just received a notification too. "Here, this is what you wanted. I advise you to destroy it as soon as you've watched it. If it ends up in someone else's hands, don't blame me."
Guan Ning tossed John a black USB drive and added a warning.
Feeling the curious stares all around them, Guan Ning hurried away with Luo Feng and the others.
After getting the USB drive, John cautiously glanced at the people around him, then hurried off too.
Guan Ning had left, but word that a newcomer who'd been at the Training Camp for less than a week had beaten John, a top-hundred student with a High-level Combat Power Amplitude, spread throughout the camp at once.
Everyone quickly learned that the Training Camp hadn't just gained a Luo Feng. It had also gained an even more terrifying genius: Guan Ning!
On the way, Zhao Ruo, Shi Jiang, and Luo Feng pressed Guan Ning for the details of what had happened. He didn't say much, though, and only left them with an enigmatic smile.
Zhao Ruo jumped up and down in frustration, while Shi Jiang and Luo Feng could only look on helplessly.
Guan Ning had become a sensation.
It wasn't just the Training Camp. Countless factions outside had quickly revised their opinions of him.
He received plenty of invitations, many with very generous offers, but he turned them all down.
He didn't want to join any faction right now. All he wanted was to stay at the Training Camp and steadily improve his strength.
With the two young Tuoshan Deer, he could definitely reach War God Level before August 1, when he'd head to Australia for his life-or-death trial.
That meant he'd have to revise his plans. He'd originally intended to wait until Hong had subdued the Cloud-Touching Vine before going to Mist Island to see if he could draw out Babata. His soul had been steadily transforming, so his Brain Domain Width should be pretty high.
Of course, it was only an attempt. He wasn't counting on meeting Babata, but you never knew. Everyone held on to a little hope.
Now things were different. At the very least, he was guaranteed to become a War God. If he worked hard over the next few months, could he break through to High-level War God?
Could he master the Hidden Edge Sword?
He knew the odds of breaking through to High-level War God were slim, but reaching Mid-level War God was still within sight. After all, Luo Feng's 100-billion bounty was still there. He needed to put that matter on the agenda too.
With all the Training Camp's ancient civilization equipment and Feng Mu's guidance, four months would be enough to master the Hidden Edge Sword Technique. By then, his movement technique would be Perfect-Level, his swordsmanship complete, and his force output would naturally soar to four times its original level.
Even his defense would improve greatly, raising his chances of survival. He might even get a share of the Spirit of Vegetation on Mist Island. The rewards would be enormous.
Of course, all of that was just Guan Ning's daydreaming. Making it happen would take hard work.
With such "ambitious" goals in mind, Guan Ning's motivation to train only grew stronger. To make the most of his resources, he drew up an extremely strict training schedule.
On odd-numbered days,
He would train for eight hours in the imitation Gravity Room, at fixed times arranged by Feng Mu.
He would spend three hours in the Ancient Civilization Gravity Room, divided into nine sessions of twenty minutes each, all after his evening session in the imitation Gravity Room.
He had one hour of allocated Trial Tower time and one chance during his first month. The timing was flexible, and a failed attempt would end the session. Guan Ning split the allocated hour in two, using thirty minutes on the evenings of the 18th and 27th. He scheduled his first-month bonus for the 9th, at a fixed time: noon to 1 p.m.
On even-numbered days,
He would hunt as many monsters as possible to improve his points, climb the Black Dragon Ranking, and earn more time in the Gravity Room and Trial Tower.
With a clear plan in place, Guan Ning trained even harder. When he was focused on training, time seemed to pass faster. In the blink of an eye, April 28 arrived.
At 11:16 p.m., Guan Ning returned from City 1001, travel-weary. After exchanging his monster materials for points and money,
he turned his gaze to the Black Dragon Ranking: "NO. 86 Guan Ning (570417)."
"Look, Guan Ning's back! No wonder he beat John. He's already climbed to eighty-sixth."
"Only five geniuses in the Training Camp's history have broken into the top hundred during their first month. The earliest was twenty years ago, and the most recent was eight years ago. Four of them were War Gods, and the other had even gone Beyond War God. I can hardly believe it!"
"And it's not just him. That Luo Feng guy has made it to eighty-second too."
A few Black students shouted when they spotted Luo Feng.
Thanks to Guan Ning and Luo Feng, the top of the Black Dragon Ranking was buzzing with activity. Nearly every student in the Training Camp had come, and even more than a dozen War God instructors had shown up. A new student broke into the top hundred in their first month only once every four years on average. This year, two had done it at once, naturally setting the whole camp alight.
When Guan Ning heard Luo Feng's name, his eyes lit up. Sure enough, above his own name he saw Luo Feng's rank: "NO. 82 Luo Feng (570403)."
"Only eighty-second? Still a long way to go. Just wait—you're all in for a shock."
Guan Ning looked around at the noisy crowd with a smile. He knew what Luo Feng's final ranking would be.
"Xiao Ning, we're over here. Hurry up!"
Zhao Ruo suddenly spotted Guan Ning in a corner and called out excitedly.
She could hardly believe she was witnessing such a shocking moment: two newcomers who'd only been at the Training Camp for a month had both broken into the top hundred. There was no precedent for it since the camp was founded. She didn't know whether it would happen again in the future, but she knew this moment would be etched into the Training Camp's history, shining brightly.
"Guan Ning?"
"Guan Ning's back?"
"Where is he?"
The crowd stirred. Everyone knew which was more interesting: the rankings or the people themselves.
Everyone turned to look toward Guan Ning. When he heard Zhao Ruo's voice, he had a bad feeling. Sure enough, the crowd fixed their burning gazes on him, and his face began to flush.
Zhao Ruo saw his expression and realized she'd caused trouble. She stuck out her tongue, then covered her face, too embarrassed to look at anyone.
Guan Ning shook his head helplessly, nodded to Shi Jiang beside Zhao Ruo, then pointed at his Communication Watch and left.
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