15: Chapter 15 Could you be gentler? I'm afraid of pain.

2:00 PM.

The open-air martial arts arena at Jiangcheng No. 1 High School.

The sun was scorching, baking the ground until it was red-hot.

The air was thick with the scent of youthful sweat and medicinal wine for treating bruises.

The final event of the provincial mock joint entrance examination was underway here: combat sparring.

The rules were simple: opponents were drawn in pairs, the winner advanced, and the loser was eliminated.

Any non-lethal methods could be used, until one side admitted defeat or lost the ability to fight.

The stands were packed. Besides the school's own teachers and students, many from other schools had come to watch the excitement, and there were even a few talent scouts holding thermoses.

At the judges' table, Professor Guijianchou frowned while holding the latest student data sheet.

The quality of this year's students was generally good.

For example, that girl named Lin Ya; she was truly a genius. Her Vitality Value had already surpassed the 20 mark, firmly stepping into the threshold of a Tier 3 Martial Artist—a rarity even in the entire province.

Then there was Zhao Tai. Although his character was poor, he had relied on his family's resources to brute-force his way up, reaching a Vitality Value of 11.5, barely counting as a Tier 2 Martial Artist.

There was also a student named Wang Tong, whose Vitality Value had reached 16.8, a not-so-weak existence among Tier 2 Martial Artists. Moreover, he had somehow learned a poison-attribute cultivation technique, making his combat ability extremely strong.

...

In a corner, Jiang You sat under the shade of a tree, his head bobbing up and down.

"It's so hot... I really want to go back to the villa and turn on the AC..."

"Why do we have to fight? Wouldn't it be better if everyone just sat down, drank some tea, and chatted?"

Just then, the referee's emotionless voice came over the loudspeaker:

"Next match: Jiang You from Class 2, Grade 3 versus Wang Tong from Class 5, Grade 3!"

Whoosh—

The entire arena instantly erupted.

"What the f***? What kind of insane pairing is this?"

"Wang Tong? Isn't that the ruthless guy in the top ten of our grade? He's famous for being brutal!"

"Jiang You only has a Vitality Value of 0.8. Won't he get beaten to a pulp?"

"Not necessarily. I heard from my cousin that Jiang You went to the gravity room today and broke the recorder. Maybe he has some skill."

"Forget it. That thing in the gravity room has a high failure rate anyway; it was probably just a coincidence."

In the crowd, Zhao Tai, still wrapped in bandages, revealed a sinister smile.

"Hehe... Wang Tong is a death warrior my dad spent a fortune to cultivate. He's considered an expert among Tier 2 Martial Artists, and his palm strikes are corrosive. Jiang You, let's see how you dodge this time!"

Not far away, Lin Ya also frowned.

She watched the lazy figure walking toward the ring, feeling a strange sense of irritation in her heart.

"Wang Tong is ruthless. If Jiang You were smart, he would just forfeit right now."

...

On the ring.

Jiang You walked up, yawning.

Opposite him, Wang Tong had already assumed his stance.

His hands were a strange, greenish-black color, and his eyes were vicious, like a viper staring at its prey.

The referee glanced at the two of them and waved his hand. "Both sides, bow. Get ready!"

Jiang You raised his hand and looked at the referee with a sincere expression. "Teacher, can I admit defeat? I feel like fighting and killing hurts the harmony, and besides, I'm afraid of pain."

The referee was stunned for a moment.

Before the referee could speak, Wang Tong on the other side suddenly sneered. "Admit defeat? Too late!"

"Once you're on the ring, life and death are up to fate! Weren't you quite arrogant in the cafeteria earlier? Want to run now?"

Wang Tong didn't want to listen to any more of this guy's nonsense. With a violent shout, he lunged forward.

"Black Fiend Palm!"

For this palm strike, Wang Tong used every ounce of his strength. He wanted a one-hit kill and to regain the face he lost in the cafeteria in front of everyone!

The wind from his palm whistled, and the momentum was astonishing!

"Ah!"

The timid girls in the stands covered their eyes.

Below the ring, Zhao Tai grinned viciously. "Hit him! Beat him to death!"

Whoosh—

The black palm, carrying a foul wind, went straight for Jiang You's chest.

If this palm landed squarely, an ordinary person would have at least three ribs broken, and it might even damage their heart and lungs!

Professor Guijianchou frowned; he could see that something was strange. Wang Tong had tried to kill Jiang You from the very first move; obviously, the two had some private grievances.

He was just about to intervene, but everything happened too quickly.

Facing this vicious attack, Jiang You was still there, hand raised, explaining to the referee, "Teacher, look at him, he's so fierce..."

He didn't dodge at all.

Or rather, his body was too lazy to dodge.

[Internal Chat Group]

[Brain]: "Detected hostile target approaching at high speed."

"Attack threat level: Extremely low."

"Suggested action: Evasion."

[Legs]: "Don't want to move. It's too hot; moving makes me sweaty and sticky. Plus, I ate too much for lunch, can't run."

[Skin (suddenly online)]: "Eh? There are low-level toxins in this palm wind? Disgusting, I don't want him to touch me."

"Since we can't dodge, let's... bounce him away."

"Hardening epidermal stratum corneum, activating high-frequency muscle fiber vibration."

Jiang You stood where he was, even yawning from sleepiness, his chest meeting Wang Tong's palm head-on.

"Bang!!!"

A dull, loud thud.

Immediately after, a bizarre scene unfolded.

The moment Wang Tong's palm struck Jiang You's chest, the scene everyone expected—Jiang You vomiting blood and flying backward—did not happen.

On the contrary, Wang Tong stiffened as if electrocuted, his eyes bulging like copper bells, as if his eyeballs were about to pop out.

A terrifying recoil force traveled up his arm, instantly shattering the bones in his arm.

But to outsiders, the contact between the two lasted only an instant.

Immediately after, in order to dissipate this terrifying force, Wang Tong's body was uncontrollably ejected backward.

It's just that his posture while flying out... was simply too strange.

He first performed an extremely graceful 720-degree backflip in the air, and then when he landed, even though he could have stood firm, he was pushed by an invisible wall of air, causing him to fall backward in an exaggerated manner.

Then he rolled on the ground like a ball for a full seven or eight laps!

Rolling all the way to the edge of the ring!

"Ah——!!!"

Wang Tong clutched his arm, which was actually broken into several pieces but showed no external wounds, rolling wildly on the ground and letting out pig-like screams!

"Ah! My hand! My hand is broken! It hurts so much! Ahhh!"

"Such strong internal energy! I can't take it! I'm going to die!"

The entire arena was dead silent for two seconds.

Then, a wave of boos erupted like a tsunami.

"Boo————!!!"

A boy stood up and shouted, "Fake! Too fake!"

"I study physics! Jiang You didn't even move just now. On what principle did Wang Tong fly out? And an aerial twist? Do you think this is a gymnastics competition?"

Another student was also furious. "Refund! This acting is too exaggerated! Even veteran actors would cry at this!"

"Wang Tong! You're in the top ten of the grade! Where is your dignity? A few rolls and you claim your hand is broken? Not even a drop of blood!"

"Rigged! This is absolutely rigged!"

Someone seemed to see through everything. "I heard Jiang You recently got rich; he not only rides in luxury cars but also lives in a villa. Jiang You must have paid off Wang Tong!"

"Look at Wang Tong's exaggerated behavior; it's obvious he took money to play along!"

"Yeah, I even saw them eating together today!"

Below the ring, Zhao Tai's smile froze on his face.

He looked at Wang Tong, who was rolling on the ground, in disbelief.

"Bought off? Jiang You bought him off?"

"Impossible! Wang Tong is a death warrior of my Zhao family!"

"But... this flying is too fake, right? Jiang You clearly didn't move!"

A terrifying thought suddenly surfaced in Zhao Tai's mind: Could it be that the price Jiang You offered was higher than what my family gave?

"Wang Tong! You traitor!!" Zhao Tai was trembling with rage.

On the ring.

Jiang You looked at Wang Tong, who was rolling on the ground, with a bewildered expression.

He looked down at his chest, then at Wang Tong.

"No... brother, aren't you trying a bit too hard?"

Jiang You scratched his head and spread his hands innocently toward the referee and the audience. "Everyone saw it! I didn't even touch him!"

"He hit me once, and then flew out? This scamming technique is too abstract, right?"

As he spoke, Jiang You walked over to Wang Tong and gently kicked the still-wailing Wang Tong with his toe. "Hey, stop acting; the ground is dirty. That's enough; I don't have money to compensate you."

Wang Tong, on the ground, was truly bitter inside!

His hand was genuinely broken! The bones were crushed into powder!

But because it was shattered by internal energy, there were indeed no external wounds.

Hearing the surrounding insults of "refund," "fake match," and "Oscar-winning actor," he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

"I... I didn't act... it's really broken..."

Wang Tong was crying so hard that tears and snot were streaming down his face, but in everyone's eyes, this was clearly just bad acting, crying too exaggeratedly.

The referee was also speechless.

He had refereed matches for so many years, but this was the first time he had ever seen such "air-based" fraud.