Chapter 267 - 267 264 Chickened Out

Chapter 267: Chapter 264: Chickened Out Chapter 267: Chapter 264: Chickened Out Several minutes ago.

Chen Xiaojia was muttering to herself, wanting a chance to enter the arena.

At first, Tang Yu refused.

However, Chen Xiaojia argued with reason, stating that she was the top senior sister in the Martial Arts Hall and that she had the strongest capabilities.

She was right, Chen Xiaojia had absorbed and refined soul power very early, reaching the Awakening third layer.

Now, she had soaked in Body Tempering Liquid several times and also consumed other precious potions.

Despite her strength being only at the peak of Awakening third layer, her capabilities were far beyond that. Compared with other ability users of the same level, Chen Xiaojia’s physical prowess was more than double, her Source Power total was also more than double, and the intensity of her spiritual power was nearly three times that of an ordinary ability user at the same level.

On the surface, she was truly strong.

Yet her actual combat ability was just a dud, and this was also due to her special identity. Without Tang Yu’s request, Shay, Carmen, and others had not forcibly required Chen Xiaojia to participate in training.

Unless the cousin put on a full set of equipment, but after all, it was a “fair” martial arts competition, cheats couldn’t be too obvious, and Tang Yu was about to decline.

Feeling like she was being underestimated, Chen Xiaojia was not convinced, “I lasted five minutes in Endless Mode!”

Tang Yu was taken aback and turned to ask, “You made it to five minutes on your first try in Endless Mode?”

“No, I tried more than a dozen times before I could last five minutes.” She defended herself in a low voice.

Tang Yu paused, feeling increasingly astonished.

In Green Shadow, among the members of the Patrol Team, Endless Mode had another nickname, the Masochist Mode.

Since Endless Mode had no exit option and no end, as time progressed, the number of Demonized Beasts appearing grew more numerous and stronger. For any Awakener in Endless Mode, there was only one outcome.

— Fight to exhaustion.

And often, it was being pounced on by several Demonized Beasts at once, being torn apart, dismembered.

That experience, many members of the Patrol Team, didn’t dare try a second time.

But he hadn’t expected Chen Xiaojia to have attempted more than a dozen times, managing to last five minutes… Tang Yu knew firsthand the difficulty of five minutes, since he had been thrashed in Endless Mode himself.

After thinking for a moment, Tang Yu nodded, “Alright, you can go next.”

Just right, there were still two experience Source Crystals available for use.

…

Initially, Chen Xiaojia had planned to jump directly from the VIP box window, making a splendid entrance, but when she stuck her head out and saw the distance to the ground, it seemed a bit dizzying.

Though it was called the second floor, it definitely had the height of a typical third or fourth floor. After hesitating, she chose to go down the stairs honestly.

Stepping onto the Martial Arts Arena and seeing her opponent approaching with a ferocious look, Chen Xiaojia wasn’t as frantic as the last time against Wang Ran; instead, she felt a hint of excitement.

She stretched out her hand and scattered a handful of seeds.

As soon as these seeds hit the ground, they grew rapidly into green vines that wriggled on the white floor tiles.

The student from One Punch Martial Arts Hall quickly dodged, but these vines, like agile snakes, moved and weaved rapidly to encircle and trap.

Then, the opponent was bound up, and the more they struggled, the tighter the vines constricted, until they were wrapped up like a dumpling, unable to utter a sound, with only broken ‘wu wu’ noises audible.

Moments later, they passed out.

This was probably the quickest end to a match.

On one side was a close-range Awakener, on the other a long-range Elemental Series ability user, yet the close-combatant was knocked out before they could even get close.

This is… even the audience didn’t know what to say.

They were eagerly expecting a high-level Awakener confrontation, but this ended too fast, utterly unimpressive in every step of the process!

A newbie Awakener suddenly asked at the scene, “In the martial arts competition, can we use Special Abilities?”

This remark made some surrounding Awakeners laugh scornfully, “In a martial arts competition, it’s personal martial strength that counts. Now that it’s the apocalypse, do you really think there’s still such a thing as a strictly regulated competition?”

“Special Abilities are also a type of personal ability. If you say it’s unfair, then you can only blame your own weakness… and besides, ordinary Wood Series Ability Users aren’t this strong, whether it’s the growth speed of the vines, their tenacity, or the speed of control over the vines, they’re far beyond what an average ability user could manage. That’s also why she was able to win so easily.”

On the field,

Chen Xiaojia looked at her hands and muttered, “So weak, could it be an act?”

She paused, then looked towards Liu Shan and the Awakeners behind him, “Who was it… you’re next, right? Come on…”

The called-out Awakener looked at the stage where someone was tied up into a ball, with the spikes on the vines piercing through his skin, and the originally sturdy person was now drained to skin and bones…

An Awakener with Fifth Tier strength shivered violently. He wanted to rush up there but hesitated for a moment, unable to step forward, and couldn’t help but throw an elusive glance at his master, Liu Shan.

Liu Shan was silent for a long while before finally speaking, “We’ve lost this martial arts competition, let’s go.”

He turned and walked away, his steps a bit heavy.

Two guards from One Punch Martial Arts Hall quickly ran up to the stage and carried away the student Chen Xiaojia had untied.

The other guards, either carrying or shouldering, took away the injured and the dead students one after another.

It could be said that without these guards, how they would get back was a problem in itself.

…

…

After leaving the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, Liu Shan instructed the Fifth Tier Awakener student to lead the others back to the Martial Arts Hall first, while he himself entered a teahouse opposite the Extreme Martial Arts Hall and took a seat in a private room.

He drank cup after cup of tea, a bit agitated.

Coming here, not returning with the others to the Martial Arts Hall, was not about escaping.

Soon after, three Awakeners arrived in the private room at intervals of three to five minutes.

After seeing that everyone had arrived, Liu Shan put down his cup, “Did you bring the things I asked for?”

“Brought it, brought it.” The leading person across from him said, taking out what seemed to be fragments of handles and metal skins that looked like parts from a piece of equipment, from his pocket with great care.

“This is what you wanted, equipment parts from the Extreme Martial Arts Hall. We couldn’t take out the complete ones, could only resort to this tactic—pretending to break them by accident, then secretly taking some out.”

As he spoke, he passed over a small fragment.

Liu Shan took it, examined it in his hands, and tried to press it forcefully. The broken section revealed some intricate patterns, “What are these intricate patterns for?”

“That’s a tough one for me, you only asked me to bring some materials. Oh, and because we damaged the equipment at the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, we were asked to compensate three hundred Source Crystals, about that…”

Liu Shan grew impatient, “Reimbursement, it’s all on me. Come to the Martial Arts Hall tomorrow to find me. Three hundred Source Crystals, plus the payment for this mission, I will pay you all at once.”

The leader of the Awakeners grinned, “Boss Liu is truly generous. If there’s any task in the future, we brothers will be at your call.”

As he spoke, he felt a bit of regret.

He had casually raised the compensation from two hundred to three hundred. Had he known, he would have targeted more expensive equipment, but then he felt a bit downcast. With his Fourth Layer strength, he couldn’t even destroy most of the equipment in the Martial Arts Hall. This piece was the result of a long search.

The three Awakeners left one after another.

Liu Shan looked at the fragments on the table, thinking about the additional three hundred Source Crystals he had to pay, and grew increasingly agitated.

“Should be able to get reimbursed by the boss, right?” he murmured, a hint of regret in his eyes. “These materials should be able to decipher the secrets of the equipment at the Extreme Martial Arts Hall. If not, this round, we’ll have a huge loss.”

With today’s experience, he had a premonition that if One Punch Martial Arts Hall couldn’t quickly decipher the secrets of the training equipment, its downfall was only a matter of time.

“Luckily, our Martial Arts Hall has a profound foundation. Even if the business of ordinary students is affected in the future, the Martial Arts Hall still has connections with the City Defense Army. The City Defense Army’s Awakeners regularly come to the Martial Arts Hall for advanced training; with this income supporting us, the Martial Arts Hall might still have a chance.”

Just then, Liu Shan turned his head and saw through the window across the street. At the gate of Extreme Martial Arts Hall, it was bustling with excitement. A group of Awakeners in Security Team uniforms was carrying several boxes of items into the Martial Arts Hall.

“What’s going on there?”