39: A martial arts arena? I'll stand still, you move yourself!

Tianqiong War God Academy, Martial Arts Stage.

This is the only place in the academy where private brawls... oh no, sparring and exchanges are allowed. As long as you sign a Life and Death Waiver, and as long as you don't kill anyone, any kind of fighting is fine.

At this moment, the area around the Martial Arts Stage was already a sea of people, with even the nearby tree branches filled with students watching the excitement.

After all, Liu Ruyan's earth-shattering "confession" from earlier had already spread like wildfire. Everyone wanted to see just what this Gu Fan, who made the goddess "go crazy," was truly made of.

On the stage.

The Martial Arts Club Vice President, Wang Meng, was like an enraged black bear, bare-chested and revealing granite-like muscles. He was an Anjin Martial Artist who specialized in "Iron Cloth Shirt" and "Stone-Crushing Fist," known in the academy as the "Bulldozer."

"Gu Fan! Come up and meet your death!"

Wang Meng let out a furious roar, the sound waves vibrating so much that the loudspeakers below the stage screeched. "I'm going to beat you until even your mother won't recognize you, to wash away the shame for Ruyan!"

Under the gaze of thousands, Gu Fan finally made his appearance.

He wasn't wearing training clothes, but still that same casual outfit. He didn't have a weapon in his hand; instead, he was carrying... a small folding stool and a bag of melon seeds.

"Coming, coming. What's the rush?"

Gu Fan walked onto the stage, placed the small stool in the center, and even adjusted the angle so his back was to the sun to avoid getting a tan.

Then, he sat down with a thud, tore open the bag of melon seeds, and with a "crack," bit into one.

"..."

The entire audience was silent once again, the atmosphere eerie.

The corners of Wang Meng's eyes twitched frantically. "You... what are you doing?"

"Eating melon seeds, can't you tell?"

Gu Fan spat out a seed shell, looking at him as if he were an idiot. "Aren't you going to hit me? Come on. I'll sit here and not move, let you hit me."

"By the way, seeing how anxious you are, I'll give you ten minutes. During these ten minutes, if I move my butt even once, I lose."

Arrogant!

It was simply arrogant to the extreme!

This wasn't just contempt; this was grinding Wang Meng's dignity into the dirt and spitting on it twice.

Below the stage, Xiao Fan watched this scene and couldn't help but shake his head. "Too overconfident. Although Wang Meng isn't very bright, that brute strength of his is the real deal. Sitting still and letting someone hit you? Even a Huajin master wouldn't dare play like that."

Wang Meng completely exploded.

"Fine! Since you want to die, I'll fulfill your wish!"

"Stone-Crushing Fist — Mountain Splitter!"

Wang Meng roared, and the stone slabs beneath his feet instantly shattered. He charged toward Gu Fan on the stool like an out-of-control tank, bringing a gust of wild wind with him.

That fist, as large as a clay pot and wrapped in pale yellow inner Qi, went straight for Gu Fan's face. If this punch landed solidly, forget his head—even a steel plate would be pierced through.

Five meters, three meters, one meter!

Gu Fan was still looking down for a melon seed kernel, not even lifting an eyelid.

[Ding! Detected intense killing intent and desire for destruction from 'Wang Meng'.]

[Malice Rank: B-Rank.]

[Backlash triggered! Multiplier: Sixty-five times!]

[Defense Mode activated: Absolute Smoothness · Causal Law Deflection.]

Just as Wang Meng's fist was only 0.01 centimeters away from the tip of Gu Fan's nose.

Gu Fan happened to lower his head to spit out a melon seed shell.

It was just this seemingly casual lowering of the head.

"Whoosh—!"

Wang Meng's fist flew past Gu Fan's scalp, the wind from the punch ruffling Gu Fan's bangs.

But that wasn't all.

Because he used too much force and the target suddenly vanished (on a causal level), Wang Meng lost his balance.

What was even more fatal was that the melon seed shell Gu Fan just spat out happened to land right under Wang Meng's right foot as it was about to touch the ground.

A tiny, moist melon seed shell.

Under the enhancement of the Backlash Law, it instantly turned into a super icy surface smeared with oil.

"Sliiiide—!"

Wang Meng felt his foot slip, the level of slickness simply beyond imagination.

"What the hell?!"

He let out a terrified cry in mid-air, losing his center of gravity instantly. His forward momentum turned into a downward spin.

His body performed a 720-degree rotation with a difficulty level of 3.0 in the air.

And then.

"Thud!"

A muffled sound.

Wang Meng didn't fall to the ground.

Instead, because the rotational inertia was too great, his left fist somehow, with uncanny precision and full force... smashed into his own right eye socket.

"Aaaaagh—!!!"

A shrill scream echoed through the Martial Arts Stage.

Wang Meng clutched his eye, rolling frantically on the ground like a shrimp.

"My eye! I'm blind!"

The audience below the stage was completely stunned.

What... what kind of move was this?

Hitting himself? And using an ultimate move to do it?

"Could this be the legendary... 'When I get ruthless, I even beat myself up'?" someone muttered to themselves.

Only then did Gu Fan look up, staring at the rolling Wang Meng with a look of confusion.

"Eh? What happened to you? I didn't even move?"

Gu Fan raised his hands innocently to show his blamelessness. "Everyone saw it, my hands are right here. Why did this guy suddenly start self-mutilating? Could he have been blinded by my handsomeness?"

Wang Meng was in so much pain that tears and snot were streaming down. He struggled to climb up, one eye already swollen like a steamed bun, leaving only a slit.

"A coincidence! It must be a coincidence!"

Wang Meng didn't believe in such nonsense. How could he, the dignified Vice President of the Martial Arts Club, be taught a lesson by a melon seed shell?

"Gu Fan! Don't get too ahead of yourself! Again!"

Wang Meng charged again. This time he had learned his lesson; instead of using his fists, he switched to his legs!

"Divine Dragon Swings Its Tail!"

A vicious whip kick swept toward Gu Fan's waist.

Gu Fan was still sitting, just happening to feel his leg go a bit numb, so he switched to a cross-legged position.

With this change of legs, his knee happened to lift at a subtle angle.

"Crack!"

The shinbone of Wang Meng's leg slammed with extreme precision into the hardest point of Gu Fan's seemingly fragile kneecap.

One must know that Gu Fan was currently protected by the Backlash, and his knee's hardness was comparable to diamond.

"Ahhh!!!"

Another familiar scream.

Wang Meng clutched his shin, hopping back over a dozen meters on one leg, his face pale from pain.

The next ten minutes became the darkest nightmare of Wang Meng's life and the most unforgettable comedy special for the faculty and students of the entire school.

Wang Meng threw a straight punch, but ended up slipping and slamming his head into a nearby pillar, denting the pillar and getting a huge bump on his forehead.

Wang Meng used a grappling technique, but his fingers inexplicably cramped, twisting two of his own fingers into a pretzel.

Wang Meng tried to use the Lion's Roar Art to stun Gu Fan, but just as he opened his mouth to inhale, a passing sparrow dropped a piece of dung with extreme precision, hitting the back of his throat dead center.

"Cough, cough, cough! Blegh—!"

Ten minutes later.

Gu Fan had finished the melon seeds in his hand.

Meanwhile, Wang Meng opposite him no longer looked human.

His eyes were swollen like peaches, his forehead had a massive bump, his nose was bleeding, his fingers were broken, and he was still there dry-heaving incessantly.

As for Gu Fan, not even his hairstyle was messy. He even brushed the melon seed shells off his clothes.

He stood up, put the small stool into the System space, and then walked over to Wang Meng, who was already kneeling on the ground questioning his life.

"Classmate, do you still want to fight?"

Gu Fan's tone was gentle, like a big brother caring for a mentally challenged child. "I see you're quite ruthless with yourself. How about we call it a day? If we keep going, I'm afraid you'll beat yourself to death, and then I'll be blamed."

Wang Meng looked up, and in those swollen eyes, there was no longer any anger, only deep fear.

Wicked! Too wicked!

This wasn't a martial arts match at all; it was like going against the illegitimate son of the Goddess of Luck!

"I... I'm not fighting anymore... waaaaah..."

This 1.9-meter-tall brute's mental state had completely collapsed, and he actually started crying in public.

"I'm not fighting! I want to go home! I want my mommy!"

[Ding! Detected fear-based malice from 'Wang Meng' whose Dao Heart has shattered and who has completely submitted.]

[Malice conversion successful! Congratulations to the host for obtaining a large amount of cultivation experience!]

[Great Dao Returns to One Art is operating automatically... Cultivation increased! Foundation Establishment Stage Middle Stage!]

A warm current surged through Gu Fan's body.

He felt his power had reached a new level.

Leveling up just by being "hit"—this feeling was too great.

Gu Fan looked at the weeping Wang Meng, turned around, and faced the thousands of silent spectators below the stage.

His gaze swept over everyone, finally settling on Xiao Fan in the crowd, who had a complex look in his eyes.

Gu Fan grinned, revealing a row of pearly white teeth, and said loudly:

"Who else?!"

"As long as the price is right, I wouldn't mind playing with you guys."

At this moment, under the afterglow of the setting sun, the youth standing on the Martial Arts Stage with melon seed shells under his feet seemed to grow incredibly tall in everyone's eyes, reaching an unattainable height.

Like a mountain... an extremely unreliable, yet ridiculously powerful mountain.