In the arena!
Chi Hanfei and ng Yuan faced each other.
Chi Hanfei had a smile on his face: "Junior Brother ng, I didn’t expect us to be in the sa group; it’s really a bit of a pity."
ng Yuan looked at Chi Hanfei, silent.
"The top fifty rankings in the March Martial Arts Competition among the Eight Great Martial Arts Halls are very important to each hall. The higher the rank, the more resources the martial arts hall receives."
Chi Hanfei looked at ng Yuan, confident that ng Yuan was not his match, as the Clear Wind Palm was not sothing the Mantis Fist could compare to.
Disciples from other martial arts halls had a sense of superiority when facing the Mantis Martial Arts Hall.
The purpose of saying this was to hopefully make ng Yuan know his limits. Rather than stubbornly fighting here, it would be better to conserve strength and aim for a top fifty ranking in the losers’ bracket.
The assessnt of the Eight Great Martial Arts Halls is based on a point system.
The fiftieth place gets 1 point, the forty-ninth place gets 2 points, and so on increasing upwards.
The final ranking is determined by the accumulated points from the top fifty rankings of the martial arts hall students.
With ng Yuan’s strength, as long as he remained uninjured, he could securely get into the top twenty.
ng Yuan understood the aning behind Chi Hanfei’s words and smiled: "Senior Brother Chi is right, so is Senior Brother Chi planning to concede?"
Upon hearing ng Yuan’s words, Chi Hanfei’s expression turned cold; he had not expected ng Yuan to be so ungrateful, could he really believe that the Mantis Fist could make him a worthy opponent?
Feeling Chi Hanfei’s displeasure, ng Yuan’s eyes revealed a firm resolve.
Concede? That’s not going to happen.
As a student of the Mantis Martial Arts Hall, he knew other halls always underestimated them, and Chi Hanfei’s condescending tone was just a reflection of the attitude of students from other halls.
But today, he was going to prove to those from other halls that students from the Mantis Martial Arts Hall were not inferior to those from other halls.
At the referee’s signal, Chi Hanfei struck first, his figure flashed, executing the Clear Wind Palm. Since ng Yuan did not know what was best for him, Chi Hanfei would quickly defeat him.
Especially since there was another tough battle ahead; the longer it dragged on, the worse it would be.
Chi Hanfei’s hand moved like a breeze through willow leaves, with gusts of wind, attacking ng Yuan. The mastery of the Clear Wind Palm was exceptionally powerful.
In the face of Chi Hanfei’s attack, ng Yuan did not panic. He took a deep breath, his body moving nimbly like a swift mantis, skillfully dodging Chi Hanfei’s descending palm, and then his fists, like two blades, swiftly targeted Chi Hanfei’s vital points.
The agility of the Mantis Fist was displayed to perfection by ng Yuan.
Feeling ng Yuan’s speed, Chi Hanfei was startled but not worried. He struck again, creating gusts of wind and shadows of palms all around.
Facing the continuous seamless attacks of Chi Hanfei’s palms, ng Yuan’s body remained incredibly agile, weaving through the palm shadows unaffected. Rather, each punch forced Chi Hanfei to involuntarily switch his moves to defend.
In just a dozen or so exchanges, Chi Hanfei was forced to retreat continuously, causing a loud uproar for the first ti in the field.
Both at the Seven Acupoints realm, yet it was the Mantis Martial Arts Hall’s ng Yuan who held the advantage!
Qi He glanced towards the vice hall master of the Mantis Martial Arts Hall, who responded with a smile.
"Mantis Fist at Small Success, the Mantis Martial Arts Hall really kept such a hand hidden."
By now, how could Qi He not see that ng Yuan’s Mantis Fist had already reached Small Success?
While the Mantis Fist’s power was at the bottom among the Eight Great Martial Arts Halls, that referred to the sa stage. The Small Success Mantis Fist had more power than the Clear Wind Palm.
In the arena, as Chi Hanfei delivered continuous strikes, ng Yuan seized a gap and finally stopped evading, launching himself with full power, the Small Success power of the Mantis Fist fully unleashed. His fists were like sickles, heavily striking Chi Hanfei’s chest.
Chi Hanfei’s eyes widened with disbelief, his body flung back several ters like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily to the ground.
The entire place fell silent instantly, everyone was stunned by this scene.
A mont later, thunderous cheers erupted from the Mantis Martial Arts Hall’s side.
"Senior Brother ng is mighty!"
"Senior Brother ng is fierce!"
At this mont, the students from the Mantis Martial Arts Hall were filled with pride, in contrast, the students from the Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall couldn’t believe what had happened.
Both at the Seven Acupoints realm, yet Senior Brother Chi lost!
"ng Yuan’s Mantis Fist at Small Success, Chi Hanfei’s loss isn’t unjust."
Chen Chunfeng shook his head, the Mantis Fist’s power is indeed not equal to the Clear Wind Palm, but that refers to when both techniques are at the sa realm proficiency. The Small Success Mantis Fist significantly increases agility and power, it would be surprising if Chi Hanfei won instead.
Besides the Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall, the eyes of students from other halls beca more ardent with ng Yuan’s victory.
Although ng Yuan couldn’t be considered a dark horse, his victory proved one thing, this competition would be thrilling.
Who could guarantee that other halls didn’t have students whose cultivation techniques also reached Small Success?
"Junior Brother Lin is truly impressive!"
Fu Jingya praised Lin Chen, thinking that he guessed correctly because of his dissatisfaction with the Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall, rather than truly seeing ng Yuan’s greater strength.
Lin Chen smiled without explaining. He believed ng Yuan would win, not because of any aversion to the Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall, but because the expression of the vice hall master of the Mantis Martial Arts Hall made him think that they might have so hidden strategies.
At that ti, he suspected that ng Yuan might have already reached small success in the Mantis Fist.
Heroes are as nurous as carp crossing the river.
There is no reason why only he could cultivate the Water Cloud Palm to small success. The world does not revolve around just one person.
After praising Lin Chen, Fu Jingya showed a worried expression: "With ng Yuan having reached small success in the Mantis Fist, I fear for Junior Sister Gu’s safety."
At this mont, Group B only had Gu Qingqing and ng Yuan left. After defeating Chi Hanfei, ng Yuan had high hopes for victory.
The main reason was Chi Hanfei’s underestimation of the enemy, which did not cause much trouble for ng Yuan, leaving ng Yuan’s strength intact.
The final battle went as everyone expected, without surprises, and in the end, ng Yuan erged victorious.
Gu Qingqing had given it her all, but unfortunately, ng Yuan’s movents were too agile, truly like a mantis, with jumps and fists as sharp as blades.
Unlike Chi Hanfei, who was knocked out humiliatingly.
During the fight between ng Yuan and Gu Qingqing, in the final mont, ng Yuan withheld his fists. The fists that should have hit Gu Qingqing’s lower body, ended up pushing instead, making Gu Qingqing stagger back a few steps.
Gu Qingqing’s pretty face blushed slightly. She knew ng Yuan had shown rcy.
"You win."
Gu Qingqing conceded readily. Although the competition rules allowed the fight to continue as long as no one had fallen, she didn’t have the nerve to keep going.
"Thank you for letting win, Senior Sister Gu."
ng Yuan clasped his fists, looking a bit embarrassed. He rarely interacted with won and had acted on reflex, realizing his inappropriate action only after striking. Fortunately, his small success in Mantis Fist allowed him to quickly change his moves.
"A win is a win; there is no rcy. You’re very skilled. We can spar again if there’s a chance."
Leaving those words, Gu Qingqing walked towards the Jingshui Martial Arts Hall, while ng Yuan stood where he was, scratching his head, not quite understanding what Senior Sister Gu ant.
Spar?
"Haha, not bad."
ng Yuan returned to the Mantis Martial Arts Hall, where the vice hall master was beaming. Now, let’s see who dares to underestimate their hall.
Most importantly, ng Yuan perford well, and it seed that the female disciple from Jingshui Martial Arts Hall had taken a liking to him.
The Mantis Martial Arts Hall had always been looked down upon by other halls. If this kid ng Yuan could win Gu Qingqing’s heart, it would be a credit to their hall.
There had always been a secret competition among the seven martial arts halls: the more Jingshui female disciples one hall’s disciples could win over, the stronger the hall was considered.
"Hall Master Kong, I have embarrassed the hall." Gu Qingqing returned to the lineup, her face showing a hint of sha.
"ng Yuan reached small success in Mantis Fist, so your loss is understandable. This is just the first competition; there will be another in three months."
"Rest assured, Hall Master. I will diligently train in martial arts so that I can win back next ti."
"Hmm."
Kong Yinglei nodded, as the referee from the Martial Affairs Office announced ng Yuan as the winner of Group B, and Group C was up next.
"Hall Master Kong, Instructor Shen, I’m going up now." Seeing the referee announce the start of Group C, Lin Chen prepared to go up.
"Just perform normally." Kong Yinglei nodded, giving him so instructions.
"Junior Brother Lin, I believe you can win." Fu Jingya clenched her fists to encourage Lin Chen.
"Senior Brother Lin, you’ve got this."
Li Xue and other female disciples also cheered for Lin Chen. Lin Chen smiled slightly, turning to look at the center of the martial arts arena, where the participants from the other seven martial arts halls had already taken their places.
"Thanks to the blessings of my senior sisters, I will give it my all."
As Lin Chen stepped onto the martial arts arena, he drew everyone’s attention, not because the other halls knew about Lin Chen, but because he was the only male disciple of the Jingshui Martial Arts Hall, naturally attracting attention.
On the central arena, Lin Chen glanced at his seven opponents and also noticed the hostile gaze from a disciple of the Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall.
Hmm?
It seems I don’t know this person, so where is this hostility coming from?
Could the Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall’s students consider a traitor for joining the Jingshui Martial Arts Hall?
Ridiculous.
From the beginning, the only thing I learned from the Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall was the Clear Wind Palm; I never took a single resource from them.
Even the Opening Acupoints Pill — when the Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall didn’t accept back then, other halls would have taken because of my master mother’s connections.
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