Chapter 151: Uncomparable even to Fang Ping!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
On the 2nd of January, Tang Feng and Bai Ruoxi brought the team to East Sino Nation Normal University.
East Sino Nation Normal University was situated in the university city. MCMAU was located in the south of the city, whereas ESNNU was on the east side.
...
As they walked into ESNNU’s school compound, Fu Changding was amazed by what he saw.
“Beautiful girls all around me!”
“So what I’ve heard about the pretty girls down south was true! Why aren’t there any in MCMAU?”
“Sheesh, if I had known, I would’ve come to ESNNU sooner...:”
“...”
The guy blabbered nonstop, annoying several of the girls beside him, including Chen Yunxi.
What did he mean there were none in MCMAU?
Was he implying that they were ugly?
ESNNU was a popular school for studying social sciences and martial arts. It was known for its martial science faculty as well as the social sciences faculty.
It was unlike Nanjiang, that only got one to two hundred students a year despite having two universities with a martial science faculty.
Every year, the martial science faculty for ESNNU received thousands of new recruits, almost on par with MCMAU.
On top of that, the intake for social sciences exceeded 5000 students per annum.
With the large population of students, naturally, the number of pretty girls might seem higher too. Undeniably, there were plenty of girls enrolled in ESNNU.
Fu Changding had his eyes wandering all over the place, and Zhao Lei was no different. The youthful beauties in the university far outnumbered those in MCMAU.
Moreover, the girls who studied martial sciences rarely took care of their looks as they had precious little time to waste on putting on makeup or dressing up.
The contrast was plain as day.
...
When the crowd arrived at the ESNNU gymnasium, the screams nearly ruptured their eardrums!
“ESNNU ESNNU, you’re the best! ESNNU ESNNU, you’re the strongest!”
“Zhan Pengfei, we love you!”
“Chen Hongwei, he’s gonna get first place!”
“MCMAU MCMAU they’re gonna lose!”
“...”
Everyone was stunned by the various slogans! Such a scene had never been seen in MCMAU!
MCMAU had 6000 students in total. Everyone had their own business to tend to and did not have the time to watch a battle.
When Fang Ping and the others trained, only the participants were present. There were never any cheerleaders on the sidelines.
It was the complete opposite here. ESNNU had too many of them!
The seats in the gymnasium were filled with people. They were squashed in the building like sardines. More importantly, most of them were girls!
Even in the winter cold, the first-row cheerleaders could melt all the snow away with their hot outfits!
Fu Changding mumbled, “Now this is what I call the southern ladies style!”
Yang Xiaoman clenched her teeth and said, “Stop fawning over the pretty girls already! Don’t you have ears? They’re all taunting us!”
Fu Changding immediately started to disagree, but Tang Feng suddenly said, “Fu Changding will fight first!”
“Eh?”
“We must win fast! We’ll get a crushing victory!” Tang Feng said bluntly. “Only through this way will ESNNU send out their elites up to save face!”
There might be some truth in what he said but Fang Ping thought that the petty Lion Tang was also angry.
The way the students from East Sino Nation Normal University dared to taunt MCMAU... were they asking for a thrashing?
Fu Changding was stunned for a moment but smiled after a quick second. He said, “No problem. Let me teach these ESNNU martial artists not to play with fire. I’ll show them what you get when you use colorful language with us—a slash on the head. I’ll show them shame and all the pretty ladies will be mine...”
“Shut up!”
Tang Feng snapped at him as he saw a martial science powerhouse walking up to them.
Previously, the person who welcomed them was a Rank-4 instructor so Tang Feng did not mind.
This time around, it was a Rank-6 powerhouse; it would be unwise to insult his team in front of him.
“Lion Tang, nothing bad happened to you yet, I see?”
“Old Snake, you’re still alive and breathing?”
“Ha ha ha, I’ll still be here long after you kicked the bucket...”
The two of them acted like there was nobody else besides them. Bai Ruoxi looked impatient and bluntly said, “Didn’t you two just see each other yesterday?”
Her words caught them by surprise, but the Rank-6 powerhouse from ESNNU laughed airily and said, “Is that right? Your girl has a good memory, even I forgot all about it.”
Everyone was in the university city and the distance between them was not a long drive. If this Rank-6 wanted to, he could have run over for a meeting within minutes. It would only be normal for them to run into each other a couple of times.
Old Snake laughed and proceeded to look over to Fang Ping’s side. He nodded slightly toward them and said, “Not bad, I’ve heard that this batch of new students in MCMAU is pretty good. 5 of you... No, by the time the competition starts, perhaps there may be 7 Peak-Rank-1 martial artists!
“How nice it is to have such plentiful resources. It’s no wonder everyone’s jealous of you guys!”
At that moment, the new students of MCMAU consisted of 4 Peak-Rank-1 martial artists. Tang Songting and Zhao Xuemei were getting close so by the time the competition starts, there would be 7 of them.
It was a rarity for a school to produce 7 Peak-Rank-1 martial artists in half a year’s time.
Tang Feng countered, “Even if our resources are plentiful, it’s only because we earned it through hard work!
“MCMAU was established long after ESNNU so why isn’t ESNNU the top school?”
“Hehehe. Lion Tang, why do you make it sound like it was all your effort? The person in front cuts the tree while the person at the back rests on his hammock. Be careful, the guy who’s cutting the tree may accidentally cut the tree at the back!”
“All these trees were planted by the forefathers of MCMAU. Even if we chopped it down for firewood, it is not for anyone else to covet.”
“I think you meant those words for someone else. I’m sure ESNNU isn’t your target.”
Old Snake curled his lips and looked toward Fang Ping and the rest. He asked, “How do you wish to compete at this place?”
Tang Feng directly answered, “It’ll be one on one sparring.”
“Not a turn by turn match? The National Championship is a simultaneous exhibition...”
“There’s no need for that. Let everyone have a chance on stage. I’m afraid that if we allowed one person to go on stage for our side, you guys won’t stand a chance.
“Hehe.”
Old Snake snorted. He stopped the trash-talking and he led the others up to the second floor of the gymnasium.
At that moment, there were not many people on the second floor. There were only 10-odd students and seven or eight instructors.
When they saw Tang Feng on the top floor, some people greeted, “Ruoxi, long time no see!”
“Ruoxi, I’ve some trouble with my sword fighting. When are you free to teach me some skills?”
“...”
It seemed that Bai Ruoxi was more popular than Tang Feng. In a matter of seconds, she had garnered the attention of many mentors.
Tang Feng did not seem to mind. He walked to the other side to sit down and immediately said, “We can talk about the old days another time. Let’s not hold up the time! Was ESNNU always this inefficient in handling things?”
Some of the instructors from ESNNU were unhappy with his remarks but did not retort.
Old Snake tolerated it as well. When he reached the railing of the second floor, he shouted without a microphone, “ESNNU versus MCMAU. The 08 freshmen friendly competition begins now!”
Below the stage, the emcee boomed, “Will the martial artists from both sides come up the stage!”
Fu Changding was already up, carrying his long spear.
He had learned his spearmanship from Luo Yichuan. Since school started, he had not shown his hand in public yet. The last time he had presented his skills was during his mission but it was not in front of Fang Ping or others.
On the second floor, there was a staircase leading directly to the platform on the first floor. Immediately, Fu Changding stepped onto the platform.
On the other side, a short-haired youth from ESNNU walked out.
As soon as he appeared, the audience immediately clamored!
“Zhan Pengfei, we love you!”
“Zhan Pengfei, defeat him!”
“Defeat MCMAU!”
“Go ESNNU!”
“...”
The screams came one after another.
Pengfei wore a thin sword on his waist that made him look exceptionally dashing. He even waved toward the audience below which gave rise to countless shrieks from the ladies.
“How flashy...”
Zhao Lei muttered.
Fang Ping who rarely agreed with him nodded and said, “Let’s see whether his cockiness gets Fu Changding’s attention.”
...
“Magic City Martial Arts University, Fu Changding!”
“East Sino Nation Normal University, Zhan Pengfei!”
The two of them introduced themselves to each other while a Rank-4 martial artist acted as a referee on the stage.
After the two of them bowed, he yelled, “Begin!”
“Hmph!”
As soon as he finished his sentence, Fu Changding’s long spear moved like a dragon, its tip flickering coldly and, in an instant, pointed to Zhan Pengfei’s throat!
Zhan Pengfei was not slow either. His rapier danced like silk in a brilliant swordwork in the air...
...
Upstairs, Fang Ping commented, “Fantastic!”
Zhao Xuemei asked curiously, “The distance between them is probably just two meters. His rapier is one to two meters long... Why the heck is he doing performing swordwork?”
Zhao Lei curled his lips and said, “I thought it’d be the usual ‘mutual study’ type of match—Playing it cool at first and then fighting for real after a while.”
“Is it not?”
“Listen!”
“...”
At the moment, the atmosphere in the gymnasium was effervescent.
“So handsome!”
“Zhan Pengfei, we love you!”
“He’s so hot he’s steaming!”
“...”
Fu Changding on the opposite side was obviously a little bewildered as he wondered what was happening!
‘Why the fuck isn’t he defending?’
Adhering to Tang Feng’s instructions, he held back his spear attacks but it was still powerful enough that it would not be easily defended by any random person.
Obviously, Zhan Pengfei was not taking the brute-force offensive route. He had two choices at that moment: either to pull away or use his body technique to get closer to Fu Changding for close combat.
The rapier was a lithesome and elegant weapon which meant it would be harder to make a full-power attack. Seeing his opponent was showing no signs of evading, Fu Changding thought, ‘Is he not going to block me with his rapier?’
It was not a two-handed longsword either!
‘Unless he had mastered this weapon?’
Fu Changding was now a little wary, but his longspear was still pointed toward Zhan Pengfei. ‘It doesn’t matter whether he’s a master or not. I’ll find out once we clash!’
At that moment, Zhan Pengfei started to wield his rapier in a defensive stance. Just as Fu Changding expected, he was going to shield himself with his rapier!
Of course, it was not merely a defensive move. Zhan Pengfei’s rapier circled the tip of the spear and exerted force on it. He wanted to use his rapier to push Fu Changding’s spearhead away. The defense was just a facade for his real move beneath it...
However, it was no use merely relying on imagination!
Zhan Pengfei jerked for a moment but it did not cause any effect. Fu Changding’s spearhead was still pointed straight, with no sign of being diverted.
At that moment, Zhan Pengfei lost his composure and retreated hastily!
However, he forgot that Fu Changding was not a dead body. Every time this spear moved, his body would move as well!
When Zhan Pengfei stepped back, Fu Changding followed. The long spear was no longer merely jabbing; the shaft was shaking and along with it, the spearhead vibrated violently!
Zhan Pengfei’s rapier suddenly trembled and almost came off his hands!
“How dare you guys look down on me!”
Fu Changding was furious. The moment he tested the waters, he found out that his opponent was weak!
Fu Changding was a gifted student, ESNNU had some nerve to send such a weakling up on stage with him. They had clearly underestimated Fu Changding!
In his rage, he suddenly had a Vitality outburst. The spearhead trembled dangerously once more, and at that moment, it shook so hard that Zhan Pengfei gave in and dropped his rapier.
Fu Changding’s wrath had not subsided. He flicked the spearhead which caused the rapier to fly straight out. In an instance, the rapier shot out toward the pillar of the platform like an arrow and embedded itself in it, shaking violently.
Fu Changding aimed away from his opponent’s throat. As the spear shaft trembled with the spearhead pointed away from his throat, it struck the side of Zhan Pengfei’s neck loudly!
A crisp snap sound resonated!
Zhan Pengfei moaned from the pain and he could not see anything. His body staggered, almost falling while Fu Changding’s long spear trembled and he bent into an arc once more.
There was another snap, as it hit the other guy’s cheek this time!
A line of blood appeared on Zhan Pengfei’s face in an instant...
Fu Changding did not bother taking another shot. Instead, he turned around and stepped down from the stage. His expression was ugly and the entire gymnasium quieted down immediately.
...
Second floor.
Tang Feng frowned, and said with a little anger, “ESNNU would allow this sort of student to come on stage? Are you insulting us?”
It was quiet on ESNNU’s side.
After some time, Old Snake slowly said, “Sorry, we... we didn’t expect...”
Bai Ruoxi furrowed her brows as she said, “Everyone, please, this isn’t a performing competition!”
Sure, Zhan Pengfei’s swordwork dance was a sight to see and it would have been apt if it was a performance show.
However, what sort of competition were they having now?
This was supposed to be a warm-up match for the upcoming National Championship!
Many of the instructors’ faces of ESNNU turned red. Of course they knew what this competition was.
They should know well enough that it was no place for showy performances!
Even so, Zhan Pengfei was not the weakest and another possible factor was ESNNU’s lack of good fighters. They had underestimated the opponent this time!
Moreover, it just so happened that Fu Changding used a pole weapon. Furthermore, he was among the best in MCMAU while Zhan Pengfei was nowhere near the top in ESNNU.
Regardless, a top freshman in ESNNU would not necessarily be a high profile if they were in MCMAU.
Zhan Pengfei was approximately two or three grades below Fu Changding
If comparing by strength, even the weakest in MCMAU, Li Zhaoxu, would probably stronger than Zhan Pengfei. Obviously, someone of the caliber of Li Zhaoxu was no match Fu Changding. In essence, it would be more of a massacre than a match!
Furthermore, the ability gap between them would be too big to even consider it!
Just a moment ago, the cheers below the stage were deafening but with the result of the match, even the instructors of ESNNU had a hard time accepting it.
Old Snake took a deep breath and turned to face a bunch of students with the same expression while he said in a low voice, “Chen Hongwei, you’re up next. Try and make something out of yourself, will you? Humph!”
Evidently, Old Snake was gasping for air as well!
They had already anticipated a loss but not to this extent! They had to find a way to redeem themselves from this embarrassment!
Tang Feng glanced at Chen Hongwei without a word, but on his face, he showed a smile.
His display of rage had provoked ESNNU to reveal their hidden elites. This way, there was something to be gained from the training.
If the next guy was just another Zhan Pengfei, what was the point of even bringing Fu Changding and the others to come here?
“Jin Lei, it’s your turn next.”
Jin Lei was not tall, neither did he bring any long weapons. Instead, he wore a pair of fighting gloves.
All he did was nod slightly, got up and walked toward the stage below.
...
On the second floor, as soon as he got upstairs, Fu Changding muttered, “What the hell, what a waste of my energy...”
“That’s enough!”
Tang Feng knew the people from ESNNU were in a foul mood so he decided not to provoke them further. His earlier insult was enough to teach them a lesson, but if he egged them on further, things might take a turn for the worse.
On the stage below, Jin Lei and Chen Hongwei had already begun to fight.
This time, the cheers from the ESNNU were not as enthusiastic as before. Everyone was probably still in shock from the previous match!
The beloved Zhan Pengfei ended up losing miserably in no time. Moreover, his beautiful face had been disfigured.
Most people would have a hard time accepting it!
At that moment, even if Chen Hongwei and Jin Lei had put up an impressive fight on the stage below, there would be no enthusiasm from the crowd.
However, when they saw Chen Hongwei getting the upper hand after a while, the spirits of ESNNU’s students came back up!
Meanwhile, Fang Ping and the others ignored the crowd. They were busy listening to Bai Ruoxi’s analysis.
“Chen Hongwei has already reached Peak Rank-1. He should be using weapons by now but he’s not. He’s probably hiding some of his strength.
“Of course, if he used his entire energy’s outburst, it would be of the same caliber as Tang Songting’s
“He’s likely among ESNNU’s top two or three students. There’s a possibility of him joining this year’s National Championship even if he’s not part of the first team.”
While Yang Xiaoman looked at the stage below, she whispered, “Is the first team of Eight School Alliance this strong?”
Bai Ruoxi laughed, “My analysis is merely based on the students I know. The real thing might be different from what we expect. When the time comes, we’ll see whether he gets into the first team. This is just my estimation.”
Yang Xiaoman nodded slightly and chuckled, “If the Eight School Alliance’s first team is of this caliber, who knows, maybe one of us can defeat five opponents in a row before losing to the sixth!”
“It’s good to have confidence but don’t be too cocky. Eight School Alliance definitely have their final secret weapon. Among the Eight School Alliance, Sino Nation Martial Arts University is the strongest while East Sino Nation Normal University fares the worst.”
Bai Ruoxi added, “Of course, if you compare how often they go to school to you guys, and the fact that you don’t laze around at all, it’s easy to dismiss them.
“But the martial artists from Eight School Alliance aren’t students that don’t go to school. You’ve yet to see most of them!”
During their conversation, Jin Lei grasped his chest, unable to stand after being kicked by Chen Hongwei.
After checking the situation for a bit, the referee announced that Chen Hongwei had won and this time, the cheering from ESNNU returned with interest louder.
“Next round, Li Zhaoxu. After that, it’ll be Xu Yikai’s turn. Lastly, it’ll be Tang Songting to suppress them!”
“Instructor...”, Yang Xiaoman said, sounding disappointed, not for herself but for Chen Yunxi. Chen Yunxi would not have a chance to go on stage for the warm-up match.
Tang Feng bluntly said, “It’s her own fault for not fighting for it. Therefore, she has no right to go up! All the freshmen that are Peak-Rank-1 or twice-honed Peak-Rank-1 in the entire Sino Nation are judged on their bone-honing and Vitality. She is already one of the best but does not give her all during the match. These kinds of people are uncomparable even to Fang Ping!”
“Fucking hell!”
Fang Ping was pissed. ‘What did I do to you?’
‘What do you mean uncomparable even to me!’
‘When have I ever not given my best during a match?’
‘Among all the MCMAU freshmen, has anyone else defeated more Rank-2 martial artists more than?’
‘Lion Tang has gone too far!’