Chapter 290: Invisible Threat, Another Promotion (2)

Xu Kuang completely failed to notice Lu Jing's arrival, still earnestly doing his warm-up exercises.

Zhugeqing, standing nearby, saw Lu Jing approach and hurriedly said, "Lu Jing, what a coincidence! Xu Kuang's opponent is the troublemaker from the cafeteria today—I suspect the organizers fixed the draw!"

Lu Jing frowned slightly; the opponent's strength was clearly greater than Xu Kuang's—even Xu Kuang in peak condition might not beat him, let alone the injured Xu Kuang now.

"If you really can't win, just forfeit when you get on stage—their side is stronger; losing isn't shameful."

Xu Kuang stopped his warm-up, looked at Chang Xiangyang on stage, and said, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing—I'll exchange a couple of moves with him first, and if I truly can't beat him, I'll forfeit. This guy was arrogant this morning; I really want to give him a beating......"

After Xu Kuang finished speaking, he recalled Chang Xiangyang's slanderous words about Lu Jing in the cafeteria, and his fighting spirit flared up.

"Alright, don't aim for victory—just do your best."

Lu Jing stopped urging him, merely patted his shoulder, and said in a calm tone, "I'll be watching from below while you fight him; if Chang Xiangyang dares to go all out, I'll find him after the match and settle it."

Xu Kuang: "......"

"Haha, this morning Lu Jing lifted Chang Xiangyang like a little chicken into the air, scaring him so much he wet his pants!"

Zhugeqing laughed heartily.

The warm-up ended, and Xu Kuang stepped onto the dueling platform.

Lu Jing then used his mental power to send a message to the distant Chang Xiangyang: "If you win, I'll come find you—weigh the pros and cons; even if you beat me, you still won't take the championship, right?"

The voice sounded clearly in Chang Xiangyang's ears, making his expression change drastically.

He looked around and saw Lu Jing wearing a gentle smile.

After his expression shifted for a moment, Chang Xiangyang wanted to reply to Lu Jing with a few words, but lacking Lu Jing's voice-transmission ability, he could only give up.

Although he felt stifled inside and wanted to give Xu Kuang a thorough beating to vent, the pressure Lu Jing exerted on him was so great that his legs trembled whenever he saw him.

The image of Lu Jing lifting him with one hand, eyes blazing like fire, lingered in his mind and would not fade.

"Whoosh——"

Chang Xiangyang exhaled deeply, a bitter smile rising in his heart.

Thinking of himself, the esteemed second senior brother of the Tai Wu Martial Hall, being frightened into this state by a student nearly ten years his younger—if word got out, he'd probably be laughed out of his teeth.

This sense of fear made the scene before him feel unfamiliar, as if he were dreaming.

"Mu Fu Martial University's Xu Kuang versus Tai Wu Martial Hall's Chang Xiangyang!"

At the referee's command, neither combatant launched an attack; instead, they slowly circled the platform.

"Cough cough!"

Lu Jing stood below the stage and coughed loudly several times.

On stage, Chang Xiangyang, whose expression had just returned to normal, suddenly turned deathly pale.

Xu Kuang seized the opportunity, pushed off the ground, and surged forward.

The heavy broadsword he bore on his shoulder came down hard toward Chang Xiangyang.

Chang Xiangyang's pupils contracted slightly; he drew a long sword and barely managed to block the strike.

While Xu Kuang couldn't retract his broadsword in time, Chang Xiangyang seized the moment to slash downward with his long sword, aiming at his opponent's legs.

At that moment, a cold snort from Lu Jing seemed to echo again in Chang Xiangyang's mind.

Instantly, cold sweat drenched his back, the speed of his long sword slowed, and Xu Kuang easily dodged it.

The two fell back into a wary stance; Xu Kuang's expression grew somewhat strange, and after this exchange he realized the opponent's strength might not be as formidable as he'd imagined.

Perhaps victory really was possible!

Little did he know, Chang Xiangyang's off‑form state was entirely due to Lu Jing down below.

Chang Xiangyang was so angry his teeth felt like they'd shatter, yet he could do nothing about it.

Lu Jing merely coughed a few times from below—surely one couldn't say he was disrupting the match?

Ten minutes later.

On stage, only Xu Kuang remained, standing there panting.

Meanwhile, the stronger Chang Xiangyang lay on the ground, hand raised in surrender.

"I forfeit, I'm not fighting anymore, I'm not fighting!"

Chang Xiangyang scrambled to his feet, glared fiercely at Xu Kuang, and snarled, "Kid, it's not that I can't beat you—today you just got lucky. Of course, don't get too cocky; with your skill level you won't go far!"

Afterwards he glanced at Lu Jing below the stage, muttered curses, and walked off the platform.

In the stands, Wu Tianlei's face darkened as he muttered, "What a waste, completely useless!"

Wu Tianlei had originally intended to use Chang Xiangyang to discipline Lu Jing's classmates, but instead he ended up being schooled by them.

"I won!"

Xu Kuang happily raised his hand and ran down the platform.

The atmosphere below instantly heated up, as members of Mu Fu Martial University swarmed over to congratulate him.

At the same time, the spectators watching the match sensed something was off.

"What's going on? I feel Chang Xiangyang isn't using his full strength!"

"I noticed too—it looks like he's holding back. Are the Tai Wu Martial Hall and Mu Fu Martial University on good terms?"

"Cut the crap—you don't know what happened this morning in the cafeteria? Mu Fu Martial University's Lu Jing almost came to blows with Wu Tianlei!"

"Really? If that's true, shouldn't he have gone all out?"

"Maybe he got hurt from the beating this morning and can't perform—didn't you see the video? Just now on stage, Chang Xiangyang was given a thorough thrashing by Lu Jing, scared enough to wet himself......"

The discussion grew louder, with more people joining in.

The Tai Wu Martial Hall crowd sitting in the stands also heard these rumors.

Chang Xiangyang returned to his seat, lowered his head and dared not speak, his face flushing red then white, unsure what to think.

Hall Master Wang Weikang glanced at him, gave a cold snort, and said, "Look at your worthless self—after getting hit, your first thought isn't how to strike back, but to cower like this—what kind of conduct is that!"

Chang Xiangyang shrank his neck and remained silent.

He actually wanted to fight back; at first he thought Lu Jing was just a greenhorn, but the moment he was caught in his hand clamp, Chang Xiangyang thought of death.

Master, Chang Shi-di got injured this morning, it's normal he didn't perform well," Wu Tianlei said with a smile: "Tomorrow is the last day; as long as I and Lu Jing aren't eliminated, we will definitely face off; then I'll slap his mouth to vent your anger, Elder.

Chang Xiangyang, seeing Wu Tianlei defuse the situation for him, glanced at him gratefully.

Wang Weikang nodded, "Hmm, what you said is correct; tomorrow's match is what really matters—whether our Taiwu Martial Hall can win the championship depends on you......

At Bakufu Martial University, everyone's morale was high.

Great, our Bakufu Martial University actually has two people advancing to the third day's schedule—this is unprecedented!

NieZhenghao chuckled and said: "Rest early today, adjust your condition to the best, and welcome tomorrow's decisive battle!