Ma Hai: Ning Chuan Is an Urban Soldier King. I'll Repair the Plank Road in the Open and Slip Through Chencang in Secret

The rain began falling in the middle of the night, pattering steadily until it finally let up at daybreak.

Early morning.

Qingshan No. 1 High School.

Many of the senior-year students had arrived earlier than usual. Spirits were high as they discussed the upcoming selection tournament with great excitement and anticipation.

Not everyone was happy, though.

Ma Hai was thoroughly irritated.

He wanted to lash out.

But in front of Zhang Wensi, he could only hold his temper in check and speak deferentially. "Class monitor, I'll do my best.

"Haven't I been beating Ning Chuan and leaving him injured all this time?"

Ning Chuan deliberately gave himself some injuries so Ma Hai could account to Zhang Wensi.

Of course, Ning Chuan wasn't stupid enough to injure himself seriously.

Zhang Wensi waved a hand impatiently and snapped, "Cut the crap. What good are little injuries that only leave his skin red?

"It's been over half a month, and you still haven't dealt with Ning Chuan!

"He's only at Awakening Stage Four. How hard can it be?

"Don't think I don't know what you're plotting!"

"I..."

Ma Hai opened his mouth, but couldn't voice his grievances.

These past few days, he had been no match for Ning Chuan at all.

He didn't know what body-tempering martial art Ning Chuan had cultivated, but his body was absurdly tough.

Even when Ma Hai punched with all his strength, he couldn't leave so much as a red mark.

Using Mountain-Opening Palm, his strongest D-rank martial art, he could barely inflict a minor injury.

And besides...

Ning Chuan had also mastered an exceptionally vicious combat martial art that Ma Hai could hardly defend against.

At the end of every fight, Ma Hai was left with serious injuries.

He had spent tens of thousands on medical bills.

"Class monitor, please have Uncle Li give me another lesson. I can already faintly sense the threshold of Awakening Stage Seven!" Ma Hai looked up at Zhang Wensi and pleaded, "As long as I advance to Awakening Stage Seven, I'll cripple that brat Ning Chuan outright and make sure he can't even take the college entrance exam!"

Uncle Li was the knight-level martial artist.

"You still dare play tricks on me, you moron!"

Zhang Wensi sneered, turned, and walked straight away.

"I'll deal with Ning Chuan myself!

"Besides, having me at the high Awakening stage is enough for this class. Teacher Su Yun doesn't need a second student to bring her glory!"

Hearing this, Ma Hai's expression turned extremely ugly.

His chance to receive Uncle Li's guidance had fallen through.

As he watched Zhang Wensi walk away, Ma Hai's gaze filled with resentment.

He had worked so hard to curry favor with Zhang Wensi, yet after failing just one task, Zhang Wensi had kicked him aside without even giving him a chance to explain.

"Zhang Wensi, you'll regret this!"

Ma Hai muttered through gritted teeth.

He was no match for Zhang Wensi, nor did he dare provoke him.

But he knew someone who did.

Ning Chuan!

"That guy isn't at Awakening Stage Four!"

Ma Hai was certain of it.

He didn't believe Ning Chuan had gone from being beaten up by him to beating him up because of the progress he had made over the past half month.

That was nothing short of a tale from the Arabian Nights.

After pondering it over the past few days, he had a vague idea of the reason.

Ning Chuan had to be hiding his strength!

He wanted to play the pig to eat the tiger.

Then he would pull off a grand show and amaze everyone with a single feat!

"In previous years, there were people like that. They were heaven-defyingly strong but kept their strength hidden, wanting to charge out as dark horses in the college entrance exam and shake the world. Ning Chuan is probably the same!"

Ma Hai's thoughts wandered.

Suddenly, something flashed through his mind, and a cold sneer appeared on his face.

At eight in the morning, one hour remained before the selection tournament began.

The training ground.

All the senior-year students had gathered there.

The person presiding over the selection tournament was a young man from the police department, in his twenties, with a short buzz cut.

Perhaps because the search for Zhao Weiping was extremely urgent, the young man dispensed with pleasantries after taking the stage and simply went over the rules.

Then he announced the reward everyone had been waiting for.

"As long as you catch the spy Zhao Weiping, dead or alive, the reward is one million!"

The buzz-cut young man spoke.

His voice carried through the microphone.

The training ground immediately erupted in noise.

Qingshan No. 1 High School had no shortage of students from wealthy families, but the money belonged to their parents. At their age, they didn't actually have much of their own.

A flash of heat appeared in Ning Chuan's eyes.

With a million as a foundation, breaking through to the high Awakening stage before the college entrance exam would be no problem.

Onstage, the buzz-cut young man continued without pausing. "Zhao Weiping is guilty of heinous crimes. He betrayed the Federation and caused it enormous losses.

"Therefore, the Donglin Administrative Region General Police Department announces that any senior-year student who can capture him and bring him to justice may attend the Mountain and Sea Genius Training Camp!"

At those words, the audience fell silent for a moment before the place exploded in an uproar.

Ning Chuan couldn't help feeling his heart beat a little faster.

Since the Twin Martial Star War a thousand years ago, national borders had ceased to exist in the high-martial world, and the tens of billions of humans across the globe had formed a single Federation.

Administratively, the Federation was divided into ninety-nine regions.

The Donglin Administrative Region, to which Qingshan City belonged, was one of them.

Each region held its own independent college entrance exam.

The Mountain and Sea Genius Training Camp was a training base for senior-year students established by the authorities of the Donglin Administrative Region to prepare them for the college entrance exam.

Its resources and strength were extraordinarily formidable.

It ranked first in the Donglin Administrative Region.

Even the lowest-ranked students who graduated from there entered prestigious schools among the Federation's top ten.

Half of its students could even get into Galaxy University.

One had to know that even an official martial artist wasn't guaranteed admission to Galaxy University.

That showed just how formidable the Mountain and Sea Genius Training Camp was.

"I want to sign up!"

"Me too!"

"I'm taking Zhao Weiping's dog head and stepping through the gates of Galaxy University!"

Shouts rang out one after another across the training ground.

Amid the noisy crowd, Ning Chuan remained quiet, his eyes lowered slightly.

He was pondering what the buzz-cut young man's words meant.

Capture him and bring him to justice.

Did that mean doing it alone?

Or would assisting the police be enough?

The way things stood, the police department probably had the final say.

Students like Lu Mengyue, whose families had deep connections, could assist in the capture and attend the Mountain and Sea Genius Training Camp through their ties to the police department.

Someone like him, on the other hand, would probably have to catch Zhao Weiping alone.

Zhao Weiping was an official martial artist!

At that thought, the heat in Ning Chuan's heart cooled.

Same as before. I'll just do my best; there's no need to force it.

Ning Chuan thought to himself.

Onstage, the buzz-cut young man pressed his hands down, signaling everyone to quiet down. "Students who wish to participate in the selection tournament should sign up on the west side below the stage and fill in your personal information for subsequent submission."

The crowd filed toward the west side of the stands.

Tempted by the Mountain and Sea Genius Training Camp, even those who had originally been uninterested signed up.

Nearly a thousand people entered the selection tournament.

They would all compete for ten spy devices.

That made the final outcome even harder to predict.

After all, even someone at Awakening Stage Nine couldn't withstand a siege by hundreds of people.

Ten minutes later, west of the raised platform.

"Wait!"

Ning Chuan had just emerged from the crowd after signing up when someone called out to him.

He turned and saw Ma Hai striding over.

Ning Chuan's eyes lit up. "Cut the crap. Transfer today's money first."

He couldn't keep the end of his coaching job secret for long.

Even if Lu Mengyue said nothing, the news would naturally spread once she stopped driving him to school.

While Ma Hai still didn't know, he would squeeze whatever money he could out of him.

No matter how small a mosquito was, it was still meat.

Besides, according to his agreement with Ma Hai, he received 2,500 yuan a day.

That was no small sum.

"Forget about the money!"

Ma Hai sneered and said mockingly, "I've found another way forward. I don't need to suck up to Zhang Wensi anymore, so say whatever you like to Lu Mengyue. You won't get another cent out of me!"

He couldn't let Ning Chuan know his relationship with Zhang Wensi had fallen apart.

Otherwise, it would be hard to sow discord.

He wanted Ning Chuan to teach Zhang Wensi a lesson for him without even realizing it!

"How can you be so dishonest?"

Ning Chuan curled his lip.

He said nothing more.

Going around Ma Hai, Ning Chuan searched the crowd for Zhang Wensi.

Compared with the paltry sum in Ma Hai's hands, Zhang Wensi was the real prize.

If he could pull it off, he might be able to make another windfall!

"Wait a moment!"

Seeing this, Ma Hai grew a little anxious.

This wasn't how he had expected things to go.

He hadn't even put his plan into action, and Ning Chuan was already leaving!

Ma Hai hurried after him, blocked his path, and said with certainty, "I know how strong you are!"

"Huh?!"

Ning Chuan's expression froze.

How did Ma Hai know he had advanced to Awakening Stage Five?

Actively sensing another person's cultivation level was an ability only official martial artists possessed.

The next moment.

Ning Chuan realized he had misunderstood.

"You might be able to fool others, but you can't fool me. I've fought you more than ten times.

"Your strength is at least at Awakening Stage Seven!" Seeing Ning Chuan's expression, Ma Hai grew even more certain of his guess and said with a sneer, "You've deliberately hidden it, probably because you want to amaze everyone at the college entrance exam!

"And while you're at it, leave a deep impression on Teacher Su!

"That approach is far cleverer than Zhang Wensi's!"