Crushing Defeat (Two-in-One)

Chen Wu had seen him on the school's famous teachers list. He was Xun Fei, a teacher from the special training classes of previous years.

The moment Teacher Xun Fei entered the classroom, the entire room fell silent.

"Wu Yiming, Zhao Zihan, Zhang Qian, Chen Wu—the four of you, come with me."

Leaving aside how Class 3 reselected its class monitor and study representative after Wu Yiming and Zhao Zihan left, the four summoned students followed him to an originally empty classroom at the end of the third-floor corridor.

At this time, only two people had arrived in the special training class classroom.

Jinlian No. 1 High School had maintained five martial arts classes year-round. Judging by the ranking order, these should have been students from Classes 4 and 5.

Once the four arrived, they each found a seat, and the classroom finally looked a little more lively. Chen Wu still chose a seat by the window in the back row.

After arranging the students from the former Class 3, Teacher Xun Fei went out twice more, bringing back four students and then five students, for a total of fifteen.

In truth, with Jinlian No. 1 High School's strength as a provincial key high school, it would not have been unable to gather even twenty people for a special training class.

Chen Wu guessed that at least five people had chosen to give up the league and pin their hopes on the martial arts entrance exam.

Within the special training class, apart from Wu Yiming, Zhao Zihan, and Zhang Qian—his old classmates whom he was merely acquainted with—Chen Wu did not know a single other person.

According to the requirements of the Governor's Office and the Provincial Education Department, a high school team entering the competition could not have fewer than twenty members.

They were still short five people. Clearly, that was not enough.

But since the school intended to participate in the league, it had surely taken even this into consideration.

After waiting for around half an hour, Principal Li arrived with five students who had evidently received a stern talking-to, along with three boys who were clearly not from Jinlian No. 1 High School.

"Teacher Xun, everyone has been brought over."

"Thank you for the trouble, Principal Li."

"It is Teacher Xun who will have to put in much more effort from here on."

"It is my duty."

After Principal Li gave a few instructions, he left.

Once Principal Li had been seen off, Teacher Xun Fei addressed the twenty students in the classroom. "The original students of Jinlian No. 1 High School should all have heard of me, but for the sake of the newly transferred students, let me introduce myself again. My name is Xun Fei, and I am an eighth-rank martial artist. For the coming year, I will serve as the special training class's homeroom teacher. Now, I will begin roll call."

"Lian Yanfeng."

"Here."

"Yu Xueqing."

"Here."

"Chen Wu."

"Here."

When he called Chen Wu's name, Teacher Xun Fei deliberately glanced at him. Recalling Principal Li's words, he paused for a moment.

After finishing roll call for the original Jinlian No. 1 High School students, he turned his gaze to the final three arrivals and introduced them to the class. "To prevent the special training class from being understaffed, before the school year began, the school recruited three outstanding students from other counties and towns around Golden City."

At Xun Fei's gesture, the three stood up and introduced themselves one after another.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Wang Yunfei. Fifth transformation of Essence Tempering."

Wang Yunfei looked rather amiable, but there was always a coldness in his eyes that kept people a thousand miles away.

"Shen Yang. Fifth transformation of Essence Tempering. I practice a family-inherited external martial art."

Shen Yang was an ordinary-looking boy who made no effort to hide the arrogance in his eyes.

"Tang Jie. Fourth transformation of Essence Tempering. Innate object control."

Hearing Tang Jie's introduction, quite a few people in the class were surprised. Innate object control was not as rare as a special physique, but it was still enough to give him a certain advantage during the preparatory martial artist stage, when everyone was still brawling with fists and feet.

The five transfer students after him were each distinctive in their own way and introduced themselves one by one.

As the homeroom teacher, Xun Fei looked at the twenty-three students before him.

Before school began, Principal Li had already informed him about the provincial league. He understood that his burden this year would be heavier than in any previous year, and he had long since prepared himself mentally.

Thus, Xun Fei said with a stern expression, "After the opening ceremony ends later, everyone should go home and make preparations. Starting this afternoon, the school will assign dormitories for you. Due to the special nature of the special training class, every student will be required to live on campus and may only return home on weekends. Aside from bedding, please make good use of today to prepare your daily necessities."

The moment Xun Fei's words left his mouth, the original Jinlian No. 1 High School students immediately began discussing it.

In previous years, apart from receiving centralized training from Teacher Xun Fei and extra resources, special training class students had been no different from the rest of the school. They commuted as normal.

Who would have thought that this year, it had changed to mandatory boarding?

Before the students could recover from the previous news, Xun Fei dropped another bombshell.

"Also, tomorrow morning, a martial arts competition will be held in the school martial arts hall. Aside from letting you experience the provincial league format in advance, this competition will determine the initial rankings. Your ranking will determine the resources you receive each month, so prepare yourselves."

Hearing there would be a martial arts competition, many special training class students rubbed their fists and flexed their hands.

After all, those who had still chosen to join the special training class after learning of the provincial league all considered themselves fairly capable.

Years of bitter training could finally be put to use. How could they not be excited?

After attending the opening ceremony, the special training class students returned home one after another to prepare their things. Chen Wu was naturally among them.

Seeing Chen Wu return before school had even let out, Gu Yuyue asked in surprise, "Little Wu, weren't you supposed to attend the martial arts entrance exam special training class today? Why are you back so early?"

Chen Wu immediately told his sister about the school's decision.

After hearing that he would have to live on campus and could only come home on weekends, Gu Yuyue was reluctant to part with him, but she also understood that this was something she would have to face sooner or later. "Little Wu, then I'll help you prepare your things first."

"Sis, there's no rush."

Chen Wu called out to his sister, who was about to start preparing. "The school has already prepared bedding. I came back this time to give you the contents of the sixth through ninth stages of the Golden Bell Shield, as well as the Dragon-Subduing Divine Palm."

Over the past two days, aside from nourishing the Dao-Demon Battle Diagram in his sea of consciousness and tempering his body with Golden Bell Force, Chen Wu had copied down the Golden Bell Shield manual and the completed Dragon-Subduing Divine Palm for Gu Yuyue.

Afterward, his sister packed a week's worth of changes of clothes and daily necessities into a suitcase for him.

Before leaving, the two had lunch together.

After leaving the residential complex, Chen Wu hailed a taxi, put his suitcase in the trunk, and first went to the Alchemist Association branch to sell the last month's batch of top-grade Qi-Accumulating Pills.

After officially obtaining the status of senior alchemist, he returned to school.

During the afternoon dorm assignment, Chen Wu witnessed just how generous the school was.

They had spent a month in advance renovating the dormitories originally used by teachers for rest into student dormitories for the special training class.

Each of the twenty-three special training class students had a room to themselves.

The room was more than twenty square meters, furnished with a single bed and a desk.

After putting his things away and making his bed, Chen Wu sat cross-legged on it, calming his mind and tempering his body, nourishing the battle diagram as his consciousness gradually entered a state of emptiness.

Within his chaotic sea of consciousness, the Dao-Demon Battle Diagram absorbed the essence of mountains and rivers, and the figures within grew increasingly solid.

The Dao-Demon battle between Zhe Shan Jun and the Buddha-Swallowing Child continued.

Though the Daoist had gained the upper hand, the demon general's cunning prevented the outcome from expanding for a long while.

Among the remaining three Daoists on the Dao side of the diagram, the figure of the ink-blue Daoist began to solidify. With an ink-black qin on his back and a whisk in hand, he stood ready to join the battle at any moment.

The demon general riding a wolf was also unwilling to fall behind. The posture of the demonic wolf beneath him, howling toward the heavens, was fully revealed. It only waited for its master above to take shape before raising the smoke of war once more.

That evening, Chen Wu left his dormitory to eat a nutritious set meal prepared by the school, then returned to sleep.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, Chen Wu rose in high spirits. After washing up and getting ready, he headed to the school martial arts hall, prepared for today's martial arts competition.

Outside the martial arts hall, Xun Fei took attendance. All twenty-three students were present, so he immediately led them inside and announced, "The martial arts competition officially begins. I hope each of you gives it your all and leaves no regrets. This concerns the resources you will receive over the next month."

Many had long been rubbing their fists and flexing their hands, eager to prove the results of their years of martial arts training.

Before this year's reforms, martial arts entrance exam candidates had only one genuine opportunity for combat: the secret realm of the martial arts entrance exam.

Through this opportunity to join the special training class, even if they failed to make it through the city competition, they could still accumulate valuable real combat experience.

Not to mention that they would receive extra resources for the next ten months.

The drawing of lots began. There were twenty-three people in the special training class. Based on the results, they were divided into six groups of four, with the final group having three.

Afterward, the two students with adjacent numbers would fight, and after two consecutive matches, the group winner would be decided.

Since Group Six had only three people, one person received a bye and would fight the winner of the first round within the group.

Chen Wu was Number One in Group Four. His opponent was Shen Yang, who had transferred in only yesterday.

Jinlian No. 1 High School's martial arts hall was enormous, easily accommodating all six groups competing at the same time.

Chen Wu stepped onto the prepared arena, facing Shen Yang, who had arrived at Jinlian No. 1 High School only yesterday.

At that moment, Shen Yang was staring unhappily at his opponent for this round.

Born in a county town, he had family martial arts to rely on and could be said to have fought through the entire county town without an equal.

This time, he had come to Jinlian No. 1 High School, ranked among the top three in the city, thinking he would meet experts. Instead, he had been greatly disappointed.

There were indeed more students at the fourth transformation of Essence Tempering than at the high school he had previously attended, but those capable of matching his realm numbered only five.

Even though he had only recently entered the fifth transformation of Essence Tempering, he possessed trump cards that others did not. He was confident he would lose to no one.

And his opponent this time was that "Jincheng legend" he had heard about before school even began.

This person had wasted four years. Whether he had joined the special training class through some fortuitous encounter or by pulling strings through the back door—

Shen Yang was certain that this person was absolutely no match for him.

After the two followed the formal procedure and bowed to each other, the match officially began with a whistle.

Shen Yang charged straight at Chen Wu, leaping into the air and kicking toward his chest. Judging by its force, he intended to eliminate him from the arena right from the start.

Chen Wu's brow creased almost imperceptibly. In the eyes of someone who had spent more than half a month in underground boxing rings, his opponent's kick posed no threat at all.

After easily dodging sideways, he gave a light pat along the momentum, sending Shen Yang flying out of the arena by himself.

Smack—

His certain victory of a kick missed its target, and his butt made intimate contact with the floor, producing a strange sound. Shen Yang sat outside the arena with a dazed expression.

Before Shen Yang could recover from the immense gap of sudden defeat, he merely sat there blankly.

"Group Four, Match One: Chen Wu versus Shen Yang. Chen Wu wins!"

It was only when Teacher Xun Fei, who had been closely watching the activity on the field, came over and announced the result that Shen Yang snapped awake.

Chen Wu, having won, was about to leave the arena when Shen Yang suddenly sprang to his feet and urgently said, "Teacher, I didn't perform well just now. I request another match with Chen Wu."

Xun Fei said flatly, "Student Shen Yang, you only have one chance. A loss is a loss. The next competitors from Group Four, please take the field."

With that, he was about to inspect the other groups' matches.

In his urgency, Shen Yang tried to provoke Chen Wu. "Chen Wu, I was careless just now. Do you dare fight me again?"

Looking at Shen Yang, who refused to give up, Chen Wu sighed inwardly. "Since you refuse to admit defeat, then come."

Having received his agreement, Shen Yang darted back onto the stage and said, "This time, I absolutely won't be careless again. I originally planned to save this move for the finals, but now I'll use it on you."

To wash away his humiliation, he did not hesitate to consume the true qi within his source seed, turning both hands crimson red.

Xun Fei, who had been about to leave, stopped in his tracks and recognized the origin of the martial art. "Hm, Iron Sand Palm at the major accomplishment realm."

"Take this, Chen Wu!"

Shen Yang shouted and charged toward Chen Wu.

Facing his menacing opponent, Chen Wu shook his head almost imperceptibly.

Then, he assumed a bow stance, lowered his hips, clenched his fist, and exerted force. His flawlessly integrated Eight Extremes Fist struck his opponent's chest with even greater speed and power.

With a resounding bang, Shen Yang's body traced an arc through the air at a speed even faster than his charge, landing outside the arena.

Pfft—

Shen Yang spat out a mouthful of blood, his face full of disbelief.

No matter how he thought about it, he could not understand why, even after using the Iron Sand Palm he had painstakingly trained, he still could not defeat someone who had wasted four years of martial arts and only entered high school by pulling strings through the back door.

Xun Fei, who had been watching this side of the arena closely, had his pupils violently contract.

As an eighth-rank martial artist, he could tell at a glance that the punch Chen Wu had used was clearly the basic martial art Eight Extremes Fist, already brought to the consummate realm.

Its speed and power were both perfect.

Xun Fei went over to examine Shen Yang's condition and discovered that he had only suffered minor internal injuries. After taking medicine and resting for two days, he would be fine.

But what truly delighted him was the punch Chen Wu had used to defeat his opponent.

Shen Yang had seemingly been sent flying, yet he had suffered only light injuries. What did that mean?

It meant Chen Wu's punch just now still had strength left to spare.

His evaluation of this "Jinlian legend" rose another level. After entrusting the other teachers with overseeing the martial arts competition, Xun Fei took Shen Yang to the medical room for treatment.

Since they were going to undergo practical combat training, injuries were unavoidable.

Before yesterday's opening ceremony, Xun Fei had announced that all medical expenses would be covered by the school.

The second group-stage match was between two students at the fourth transformation of Essence Tempering.

After an exchange of punches and kicks, the physically stronger student won.

Then came the third match. Chen Wu used clever force to throw that student out of the arena, easily claiming victory.

With the Group Four matches over, Chen Wu advanced early.

With nothing to do, Chen Wu wandered around and watched the matches of the other special training class students.

For most of those present, their greatest combat experience was sparring with their own parents. There was nothing particularly outstanding about their martial techniques.