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The energy of someone doing strenuous exercise would always be rapidly depleted. That was true even, or especially for martial artists. Five minutes was considered the limit. If they were sparring, Xiang Ning would be a great sparring partner.
Unfortunately, they weren’t sparring.
Luo Lei knew that his opponent didn’t even take him seriously. He thought that he was only looking down and ignoring him like an adult ignoring a child hitting them.
Yes, a child. Luo Lei felt like he was a one-year-old child. He felt utterly powerless.
Looking at the bizarre scene in the arena, some managed to identify the problem while others could only see what was happening on the outside.
“Xiang Ning is too sly. He only avoided and guarded. He’s a chicken for not directly fighting against Luo Lei!”
“What do you know? Luo Lei’s being completely suppressed! Xiang Ning’s so strong that he’s able to dodge all of Luo Lei’s attacks. There’s not even a single hole in his shirt!”
“How can that be? Why could Luo Lei not see what we saw?”
“If he’d stopped sooner, he might’ve been able to find an opening. Now he looks extremely disheveled.”
“Yeah, if you keep dodging there’s no reason for me to keep attacking!”
The crowd murmured. Only Luo Lei knew what was happening. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to stop, it was because he could not stop. He’d realized his predicament in the very first minute and had wanted to risk it all. He had been betting on breaking Xiang Ning’s defense with a relentless attack, or at the very least finding a gap in his defense. He continued his assault for so long but it was fruitless. Instead, all of his attacks were anticipated.
How could he win against someone like this? How strong would he need to be to win against Xiang Ning?
“Can’t stand up anymore? Will you forfeit?” Xiang Ning’s voice floated into Luo Lei’s ears, emotionless. He was questioning him. He wanted to see what the Lode City contestant could do to proceed from here.
Did Luo Lei really want to forfeit? He wanted to, but couldn't. He would rather lose to Xiang Ning in a fight. His instinct was warning him of an impending danger.

“Oh? Do you want to see my strength? Sure. At least you’ll have an excuse when you go back.” Xiang Ning calmly unsheathed his blade.
“Mountain-Splitting Slash!” Xiang Ning used his strongest technique and slashed at Luo Lei’s head. He had used both his Mental Power and Oscillation to increase the destructive strength of the slash. It wasn’t an attack that a tier three martial artist, let alone a sixteen-year-old boy could possess.
He changed the sword's trajectory at the final moment and it landed behind Luo Lei’s back. The arena in front of Luo Lei was in perfect condition, but the area behind him was utterly destroyed. A fan-shaped crater had formed in the arena. Xiang Ning’s attack was no weaker than a tier five bovine-type beast's infamous stomp attack!
Luo Lei bitterly smiled when he saw the damage Xiang Ning had done. It was all he could do when he realized that he could at least justify his loss to his city. He hadn’t been facing a human. He finally understood that he had been the clown all along. When Xiang Ning had said that he couldn’t remember him, it didn’t mean that he really forgot, but it was because he didn’t have the qualifications to be remembered by this human-shaped monster.
The crowd fell silent; only the sounds of the children could be heard. Three seconds later, all of them cheered. It was an epic scene!
“Holy shit! Who said Xiang Ning was a tortoise?!”
“If he’d landed a single hit, Luo Lei would be dead!”
“Luo Lei was too unfortunate to fight against a monster like him!”
“Marsh City is fighting against the heavens!”
“How strong are the leaders of the two teams?!”
The stadium broke into a frenzy as more and more people grew excited. Many of them were busy posting the match on the internet as an outlet for their excessive emotions. They needed to share their excitement.
Various platforms and threads exploded with comments and images of Xiang Ning from different angles were posted everywhere.
“Sorry, only the strong have the right to brag.”
“Sorry. Who are you again? You’re too weak, it’s not worth remembering.”
A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled.
“Excessive? That’s just because you’re too weak for me to notice.”
The previous articles from the reporters had now turned against them. Small city? Not strong? Can’t enter the top five?
Xiang Ning walked down from the stage after the attack. He was no longer interested in fighting Luo Lei; many of the spectators were disappointed.
He was surrounded by reporters once again when he came down.
Xiang Ning gave out a single statement in front of the reporters. “Citizens of Marsh City, don’t worry. We won’t do anything to embarrass you.” He said nothing else, much to the dismay of the media. Rather than gloating and boasting about his strength, he remained silent. No matter how many times they asked, he said nothing else.
Everyone started analyzing what he had said. The previous interview with Luo Lei had tarnished the reputation of Marsh City and his academy, but now Xiang Ning had said he’d done nothing embarrassing. That meant Luo Lei’s previous interview was fishy.
Xiang Ning had also said that he didn’t care about the tier three martial techniques or the million dollars before.
Discussions continued on the various threads, as the match was still in progress. Both Wu Rui and Xiang Ning had won against the other four contestants.
There were one or two opponents that were slightly stronger than Luo Lei, but due to the previous matches, they were unable to properly perform. Xiang Ning easily won against them.
With that, the two-day-long match concluded with both squads from Marsh City obtaining the qualification to advance into the next stage. The other three open positions were obtained by Tranquil City, Heavenly Star City, and Yard City. The intensity of the matches hadn’t been as strong as they thought. Only one person was still recovering from internal injuries, the rest were fine. There would be no issues even if they entered the wilderness to hunt for some beasts after their matches.
Instead of resting, they took the chance to explore the city. There was time that night, after all. Heavenly Star City was also called the City of Eternal Dawn. While it looked like a normal city during the day, its true splendor was revealed during the night.
“Big brother, sister Shiyu agreed to bring me to play around Heavenly Star City. Can I go?” Xiang Xiaoyu was pleading with her brother.
“This
 are you sure you’re okay with this, Lu Shiyu?”
Xiang Ning looked at Lu Shiyu, who reassured him, “Why? Can I not borrow your sister for one night?” She pouted.
Xiang Ning waved his hands and agreed. He arranged his sister’s clothes again and reminded her, “Follow sister Shiyu closely and listen to her, ok?”
“No worries! Hehe.”