One of them was known as Rampaging Dragon, and the other was One Circle!
Not only had the former reached Gate Realm, he could also use the Yellow Emperor's Thirty-six Sword Techniques quite proficiently. He won all seven battles, and among his opponents were NotaRascal and Phoenix Dances in Beautiful Robes. He won against them with an overwhelming advantage. However, he used a very powerful and lethal secret technique…
Rampaging Dragon's identity was revealed in the end by his own dormmates. He was a Junior in the Department of Electronic Business and Commerce. He lived outside campus, and he was a loner. He was currently single.
One Circle's name was rather amusing. It was derived from the one circle tile in Mahjong. He also appeared rather like a circle. He studied foreign languages and loved soccer. He was even a goal keeper. He used an extremely outstanding Iron Shirt, which made his body as hard as stone after he repeatedly struck things to toughen himself in World of Martial Arts.
Even though he had not reached the extent where no weapons could harm him, once he activated that martial art, all his body would seem to have turned to metal. Normal weapons would find it difficult to harm him, and One Circle had relied on the foolish fighting style of injuring both fighters severely to force Brother Tea Words, who was the top dog in South China Martial Arts Ranking Board, to call for a deuce. While he smiled bitterly, both participants entered their next fight. Hence, One Circle's fame grew, everyone began to call him the Number One Tank!
As for Happy, his crisp attacks and movements made others call him the Masked Swordsman. Compared to the former two, the Masked Swordsman was not as domineering or unique, but he was more mysterious than them.
Two of the three dark horses defeated B.u.t.t Shaker and NotaRascal, and one of them forced Brother Tea Words, who was ranked first, to call for a deuce. Not only did this cause an uproar on the forum of the University of South China, but many people came to realize that there were powerful players beside them, and they, who were average, might be the next brilliant stars that might rise to fame.
"After this martial arts tournament, I wonder which of us will be able to rank at the top of the ranking board for the powerful."
"Yeah."
If they wanted to get a good rank, they had to do something about it instead of just talking about it.
*****
One hour later, the first segment of the martial arts tournament ended.
More than three thousand people were eliminated. There were less than nine hundred people in the second segment, and among them, there were fewer than two hundred people who were in Gate Realm. The regulations changed from winning four rounds out of seven to winning three rounds out of five. The system also set a rule that the participants had to defeat three enemies that it would randomly generate. Only when they won all three fights would they earn the right to enter the third segment!
They had to win three rounds out of five!
At the moment the system ended its announcement, Happy saw his first opponent. It took a moment for the woman's face to become clear. When Happy saw her, his lips twitched slightly.
It was her!
Phoenix Dances in Beautiful Robes…
She was the creator of Beautiful Robes Faction and once a comrade of his. He did not think that once he defeated B.u.t.t Shaker, the second familiar face he met would belong to her.
While Happy sighed in his heart, Phoenix Dances, who was tall and had a cold and prideful face, observed him with a complicated gaze. She was dressed in thin white clothes, and her elegant longsword exuded a cold, chilling glare. She looked like an immortal in the wind. She stood tall, and her graceful bearing made it clear that she lived up to the name of South China's Talented Lady. Indeed, no matter where she went, she was the center of attention.
After she fought all seven rounds, she logged off for a while and had naturally heard about the Masked Swordsman Happy. She knew that he was a powerful player who had the ability to compete for the top three, so when she saw the person who had a cloth tied around his face, she knew that she had unfortunately hit jackpot. A barely noticeable crease appeared between her beautiful eyebrows.
Chapter 62 - Teasing Phoenix Dances
"Before you attack, could you take off your mask? Let me see your true face."
Phoenix Dances suddenly spoke the moment the system announced that the battle started. Her voice, which was as mellow as pearls, refreshed the minds of all the people who heard her. It made it very difficult for them to refuse her requests.
Unfortunately for her, Happy had spent some time with her before and was familiar with her mindset, so his immunity to her was incredibly great. He smiled faintly under the cover of the cloth and refused the beauty's request.
"Why?"
Phoenix Dances was a prideful person and refused to accept defeat just like that. She continued asking him, not resigned to not seeing Happy's face.
"I once swore to my clan…" Happy's deep and mild voice instantly stirred up Phoenix Dances' curiosity, but the things he said later made her put on an annoyed look. "... that for the rest of my life, only the woman who can defeat me with her own hands will be able to take off my mask. That woman will be the woman I will love my whole life. So please forgive me for not being able to comply with your request."
When Phoenix Dances heard his words, her originally tense nerves might have relaxed, but she immediately sank into even more frustrated gloom. She scowled.
"Hmph!" How dare he make a fool of her?!
Who would want to be the love of his life?!
'Once I know who you are, you're gonna get it from me!' Phoenix Dances cursed him in her heart. She could not calm her anger.
"Let's fight."
But she did not expect that Happy would be blunt in his mannerisms. With a whistle, his Noble Sword was drawn. He moved like lightning and appeared to Phoenix Dances' left. His attack drew close to her, shocking her into quickly lifting her sword to defend. While she did so, she rebuked him in anger. "Are you a man? You don't act like a gentleman at all!"
Happy ignored her. He still remembered that once Beautiful Robes Faction was formed, Phoenix Dances brandished her Phoenix Wings Trident in an even more domineering fashion than a man. There were few people in the game who could withstand her attacks.
"Are you a man?!" was something she always said at that time while looking down on all people in disdain, making countless men want to die of shame. It absolutely did not sound as feminine as it did right then.
"HAHAHAH!!"
When he thought of this, Happy felt flames of passion burn in his heart. While laughing, he executed the Eight Trigrams Steps and circled around Phoenix Dances. There were traces of ruthlessness as he executed his Nine Palaces Sword in an agile fashion. When he attacked, his strength only increased and never diminished! He wanted to create a strong impression of himself in Phoenix Dances' heart so that this talented lady who looked down on men would know that he just did not want to bully her in the past.
Phoenix Dances was not Happy's opponent. After a few exchanges, she found herself surrounded by trouble and revealed many weaknesses. A solemn expression appeared on her face, but she did not say anything. Resolution and persistence were in her eyes.
"Surrender."
In the end, Happy did not kick Phoenix Dances off the stage like he did with everyone else besides B.u.t.t Shaker. He pushed Phoenix Dances away with a palm strike and placed his sword behind him. With a graceful air, he stared at Phoenix Dances, who was already drenched in sweat. "You can't win against me."
Even though winning and losing in this sort of tournament was really nothing, Happy was worried that if he kicked her, he would ruin her prestige and destroy her ego. If he made her quit World of Martial Arts, he would commit a huge crime.
"Never!" Phoenix Dances bit her lip while standing across from Happy. She held her longsword and refused to give up.
"Then I'm kicking you off stage."
"How dare you?!" Phoenix Dance
s bit on her lip even harder. Faint sparks could be seen in her eyes, and it was through pure determination that she did not cry. Happy's heart clenched in pain for her.
'This girl… Her pride is simply too great, and she's too competitive.'
He sighed and shook his head in resignation. "Fine, then I'll admit defeat, alright? This is just a competition, is it worth it for you to be so serious?"
Once he finished speaking, he admitted defeat to the system, and under Phoenix Dances' shocked gaze, he turned into sparks as his figure disappeared.
Phoenix Dances raised her foot and opened her mouth. She wanted to say something, but the system notifying her that she had won had already restored her to her best state and chose her opponent for the second round. The sentence at the tip of her tongue was stuck in her throat, and in the end, she could not say it.
*****
But what if he ran into Phoenix Dances again in the future segments? What should he do then?
When he thought of this problem, Happy felt like a huge ball of tangled thread had been stuffed into his head, and he was stuck in it, unable to get out.
His second opponent was rather unlucky.
When he saw that his opponent was the Masked Swordsman, he was so nervous that he quivered, and to make matters worse, Happy was not in a good mood. Before the opponent could even finish delivering his first attack, Happy stabbed him in the c.h.e.s.t in exchange for a light injury to his shoulder.
Before his death, the opponent stared at the wound on Happy's shoulder. His eyes were wide, as if he wanted to remember this. His eyes were full of incredulity and excitement…
"What the heck?" Happy pushed his opponent's corpse away with a palm strike while grumbling under his breath in resignation. "Why are you happy even though you died? You just want me to not be able to vent to my heart's content, huh?!"
He did not know that only B.u.t.t Shaker had been able to injure him throughout the entire tournament. His opponent felt that it was incredibly difficult for him to have been able to injure him and that it was a very glorious moment for him.
Happy had nothing to say about this. His third and fourth opponents were also able to enjoy this unique treatment. With extreme satisfaction and excitement, they lost the fight, but during his fifth round, Happy went up against Puffy God.
Puffy God narrowed his eyes. It was clear that he was incredibly cautious and vigilant. He stood thirty-two feet away, and all sorts of thoughts raced swiftly through his mind.
'What sort of dirty tricks is he cooking up?'
When he saw his final opponent, Happy smiled happily. Right under Puffy God's astonished gaze, he quietly put his sword back into his Universe Bag.
Puffy God was instantly stunned. He did not quite understand why Happy did this.
"Come, Puffy." Happy extended his hands and gestured to Puffy God.
Puffy God instantly felt his vision turn red in anger. 'This guy used a sword against others, but when he's up against me, he put his sword away! Is he looking down on me?!'
"Hmph!"
He huffed indignantly. Puffy God brought out his Nine-ringed Broadsword. Its rings jangled when the metal clashed against the blade. Then, like a huge Maitreya Buddha statue, he closed in on Happy.
But he did not know that Happy had put away his Noble Sword because his accomplishments with his fist techniques were higher than with his sword techniques. When he saw the sparkles in Puffy God's eyes, he knew that this boy had dirty tricks up his sleeve. Hence, he put away his sword beforehand and decided to fight with all his strength right from the start.
Puffy God might be money-hungry, but his abilities were pretty good, and he always fought with his skills specifically countering his opponent's. If Happy did not make preparations beforehand, he would face the possibility of losing miserably!
Happy cut close to Puffy God and began to move around him like a maggot attached to his bone. He used the high mobility and attack speed of his fist technique to continuously suppress Puffy God's attacks and all his lures. Happy worked on it with all that he had. In just a few seconds, he displayed an incredibly fierce, proactive, and wild fighting style, forcing Puffy God to a state where he could not execute his skills and could only be beaten.
If Happy was like an assassin when he used his sword—ruthless, direct, and able to hit his opponent's vitals in one hit—then at that moment, Happy was like a grandmaster in fist techniques who could control the entire situation. He was close to him, but Puffy God could not touch him at all. The thought of being able to stand against Happy could not even rise in his head.
"Argh! I'm not fighting anymore! Darn it all! I give up!"
After being struck an unknown number of times, Puffy God had still not managed to hit Happy. He was so frustrated he wanted to cry, but he had no tears. In great distress, he announced his defeat.
Chapter 63 - Fourth Dark Horse
Puffy God might be money-hungry, but he was quite good in other areas. At the moment of his defeat, he uploaded the battle replay online. In a short amount of time, the shock it brought to everyone was even greater than what they felt after seeing the battle replay B.u.t.t Shaker had uploaded.
Puffy God, who was ranked second on the ranking board, had lost for the first time in the battle replay! And he was suppressed during the entire fight till he could not even fight back. What shocked them even more was that Happy had used a fist technique that was the most common low-tier martial art given to all the new people who joined Shaolin Temple—Long Fist.
"That's a lie, right?"
"How did he manage to use Long Fist this way?"
"Tsk tsk, did you see that light? That's Long Fist in Grandmaster Realm!"
"Look at that chain combo. It's different from a normal Long Fist. When he does that, it seems more powerful…"
Plenty of students from the University of South China sat before their computers, regardless of whether they were girls or boys. They were engrossed in the video, and some of the students who were very eloquent even began to speak incessantly to explain each move.
"He used Golden Dragon Stretches Claw to control his opponent and linked it with Consecutive Palm Strikes. There's no way anyone who is hit with that attack can fight back! Tsk tsk, the Warrior Monk's Hand Flip is linked with T-Step, it's amazing!"
"And did you see that skill? The moment Puffy showed a weakness, he was controlled. Even though it was a very minor shift in his legs and a movement of his h.i.p.s, Puffy's balance was completely destroyed, and he lost control of his movements…"
Even Phoenix Dances, Puffy God, Brother Tea Words, NotaRascal, B.u.t.t Shaker, and all the people who were ranked at the top of the ranking board spread the word that they wanted to gather information about Happy and learn of his true identity. They also wanted to become acquainted with him.
There were even some who said that as long as someone was willing to reveal Happy's personal information, some well-known beauties would think of hosting a social gathering in the dorms, which made the wolves boil in excitement!
For a period of time, Happy became a household name in all the dorms in the University of South China. In fact, it was publicly acknowledged that he was the strongest in the martial arts tournament and that he was going to come out as the champion!
As the creators of South China Martial Arts Ranking Board, the Three Lonely Wolves had naturally received inquiries from various departments and people from different floors. However, the trio answered uniformly that since Happy chose to cover his face and not show his true appearance to others, as the protectors of everyone's information, they would naturally not reveal his personal data without the permission of the person in question.
Even though their dignified and ostentatious speech caused many people to regard them in contempt, it also garnered a lot of support from the students! They even spread a rumor saying that the trio's moral fortitude was incredibly great, because they persisted in their stance even when they faced such great temptation! This was an in
credibly difficult feat!
However, the world outside did not know that the Three Lonely Wolves' stance was firm because of Xu Xin and their dormmate, Happy!
Xu Xin had long since asked the Three Lonely Wolves secretly and knew that Chen Kaixin's in-game ID was Happy in World of Martial Arts. Ever since Happy's fame rose, she heard many of the girls in the dorms discuss him. They wanted his identity to be revealed to the public so they could treat him like a blue chip—they wanted to fight for his attention like he was the highest-quality share that they must have. As the department princess of the Computer Engineering Department, Xu Xin felt very displeased.
While she protected Happy's secret, she prepped the Three Lonely Wolves for the pressure that was bound to come. She made them swear that they would not reveal Happy's information, and she even gave them a short lecture on work ethics.
Otherwise, there was no way that the two single wolves of the Three Lonely Wolves would be able to suppress the temptation of a social gathering in the dorms of beautiful girls. If not for Chen Kaixin, they might have long ago cast their dormmate into the mouths of sharks! They might have even stood in a corridor and told the entire university with a megaphone!
"Xu Xin is definitely interested now, and she wants to firmly wrap her hands around our Happy from within our organization."
"Definitely! No, we have to make Happy suffer when he gets back! That brat has it way too easy."
"Seconded!"
The Three Lonely Wolves once again unanimously reached a decision in their small clique.
*****
However, as the second segment ended, another figure who disrupted the harmony of the martial arts tournament appeared!
Another dark horse showed up before the people's eyes!
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