Chapter 225: Geniuses Are Merely the Threshold to Meeting Me (Long Chapter)

"Hello, I'm here to sign up."

Li Fei walked to the designated registration area of the arena and handed his student ID to the person in charge.

"The registration fee is 10 yuan, and this is a life-and-death waiver; sign one first."

The staff member responsible for registration handed Li Fei a document.

A single match in the arena requires a 10-yuan registration fee, equivalent to more than a week's wages for an average working-class person.

This is the cost of living at the university; it is simply not something an ordinary family can afford to support.

Li Fei paid the fee, glanced at the contents of the life-and-death waiver, and signed his name on it.

"This is your number tag. Go to the preparation area and wait; you will be called when it is your turn."

The staff member handed Li Fei a tag with "75" written on it.

Li Fei took the tag and went to the preparation area.

It was essentially a lounge filled with many chairs.

At this moment, more than twenty students were waiting in the preparation area. They were all stunned when they saw Li Fei walk in holding the number tag.

"Isn't that the new student?"

"Is that Li Fei?"

"It's him!"

"He just enrolled and he's already at the arena? Is he already a martial artist?"

"He was admitted through a special recruitment; I heard he's already a Body-Breaking late-stage martial artist."

"..."

The crowd was buzzing with discussion.

Li Fei found an empty seat, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest.

Soon, the news of his arrival at the arena spread.

More and more people were rushing toward the arena!

Just as Li Fei thought, what he had displayed so far was only potential, but whether he could truly convert that potential into combat power remained to be seen.

The arena is a very suitable place to test one's strength, so all factions wanted to know exactly what kind of strength Li Fei possessed.

Inside the preparation area, people were being called out by the staff one after another.

The number of competition grounds in the arena is limited, so if many students arrive, they must wait in line.

Ten minutes later, a staff member walked into the area:

"Number 70, Number 75, follow me."

Li Fei stood up upon hearing this.

A young man also stood up with him.

When the other person saw Li Fei, he was stunned for a moment, then smiled and walked over:

"I didn't expect to spar with the famous Junior Li. It's my honor."

"You are too kind, Senior."

"Haha, my name is Ding Huai, a third-year student in the Department of Martial Suppression."

"Li Fei, a first-year student in the Department of Martial Suppression."

The two chatted as they walked out of the preparation area.

Hundreds of people had already gathered outside the preparation area, and they all focused their gazes on them.

Seeing this, Ding Huai turned to look at Li Fei and smiled:

"They are all here to see you."

Li Fei nodded calmly.

Led by the staff, the two walked into a competition ground, followed by hundreds of people.

Matches in the arena are allowed to be observed; this is done so that students can learn from each other and also to prevent anyone from operating behind the scenes to gain points through improper means.

The competition ground is circular, with a sand floor, wooden walls all around, and tiers of spectator stands above.

The layout of this place is indeed very similar to the Qingyuan Fist Stronghold, except there are no private boxes, only open-air stands.

After Li Fei and Ding Huai entered the competition ground, the hundreds of students following them climbed into the stands and found seats all around.

A turnout like this could only be compared to when Wang Fengqing came to the arena to compete.

The instructor acting as the referee was a Qi-Transformation stage martial master. He first let Ding Huai go to the side to warm up, then walked up to Li Fei:

"Hello, student. Please state your implant and the extraordinary ability you have developed, as well as a rough description of your strength, so that I can make timely judgments and rescues during the fight."

If the instructor does not understand a student's strength, he won't know when to intervene to save someone or when to wait a little longer.

Ding Huai came to the arena often, so the instructor was already very familiar with him, but he was still a stranger to Li Fei.

"My implant is a Grade 2 Superior 【Steel Armor】, the extraordinary abilities I've developed are Tyrant Body and Danger Perception, and I am skilled in blade techniques..."

Li Fei gave a rough summary of his strength.

Upon hearing "Grade 2 Superior 【Steel Armor】," the instructor looked at Li Fei with surprise.

After he finished speaking, the instructor nodded:

"Good. Since this is your first time at the arena, I will go over the rules with you."

"Both sides in the match can choose to fight unarmed or use weapons; the weapons used are provided by the arena. Neither side may wear any protective gear, and no items other than the weapons provided by the arena may be used."

During the match, voluntarily admitting defeat counts as a loss, as does a judgment by the referee. You may use attacks that stop just short of fatal vital points during the match; if you do so, the referee will declare you the winner immediately."

"Whenever the referee calls a halt or interrupts the match, you must stop immediately. Once you are deemed to have maliciously killed someone—rather than being unable to hold back your strength—you will be reported to the entire school and banned from entering the arena from then on. Is that clear?"

Li Fei nodded: "Clear."

Although a life-and-death waiver was signed before the match, the purpose of the Martial University building this arena is to cultivate students and help them break through their realms, not to have them fight to the death.

That is why they arrange for instructors to supervise and have established such rules.

You may accidentally kill someone in the arena, but you cannot kill intentionally!

After understanding the rules, Li Fei walked to the weapon rack on the side and selected a steel blade.

On the other side, Ding Huai also selected a steel blade.

The two walked to the center of the ground, and the instructor acting as the referee stood not far away, holding an iron rod.

"Begin!"

The instructor said.

As soon as the words fell, Ding Huai charged toward Li Fei with his blade.

When Wang Fengqing was a third-year student, she was already a Dao-Foundation powerhouse, while Ding Huai was still stuck at the Body-Breaking stage, unable to break through to the Qi-Transformation stage.

Before entering the Martial University, he was also a well-known genius and the object of everyone's attention.

In the middle school of his hometown, he was first in every monthly exam, and later he was admitted to the Martial University with the top score.

But after entering the Martial University, he realized that in front of true geniuses, he was just one of the common masses.

Ding Huai was unwilling to accept this!

He didn't dare to think about defeating Wang Fengqing, but now, facing Li Fei, who was at the same realm as him, a fighting spirit ignited in his heart.

Even if your realm can far surpass mine in the future, at least for now, I want to defeat you!

Li Fei stood still. When Ding Huai was only three meters away, he suddenly raised a hand, palm facing him.

*Whoosh—*

A large burst of white mist surged out from Ding Huai's palm.

This mist was very cold; it would instantly frost over anything it touched!

Not only that, but this mist also had a hypnotic effect. Once inhaled, an ordinary person would immediately fall asleep, and even a martial artist with vigorous blood and Qi would be affected.

This was the extraordinary ability of Ding Huai's water-attribute implant 【Ice Trace】—Mist Sleep.

The next second, a flash of blade light cut through the white mist and slashed toward Ding Huai.

The force generated by Li Fei's blade kept the mist from getting close to him, and he also held his breath.

Coming to the arena this time, he intended to avoid using the Myriad Blood Bead as much as possible; he wanted to see how his current strength compared to these geniuses of the Martial University.

Ding Huai did not intend to engage Li Fei head-on at this moment; he retreated while releasing "Mist Sleep."

The white mist permeated the ground, quickly enveloping all three people on the field.

The instructor acting as the referee was surrounded by green Qi, using his own Innate One Qi to isolate the "Mist Sleep" from the outside, and remained standing in place without moving.

Ding Huai's "Mist Sleep" could block vision, and the frost could affect movement; most importantly, inhaling it would cause hypnosis. If his opponent chose to run out of the mist's range, he would immediately chase after them. After all, the competition ground was only so big, and he could slowly fill the entire area with mist.

And if the opponent chose to fight him, they would have to hold their breath and endure the constantly condensing frost.

Therefore, the longer the time dragged on, the more advantageous it was for Ding Huai.

*Clang—*

Ding Huai was still caught by Li Fei. Even though his vision was blocked, Li Fei still accurately found him and slashed over with his blade.

Ding Huai could only raise his blade to block, only to have the blade in his hand tremble violently from the immense force, nearly flying out of his grip!

Although the extraordinary ability of the 【Ice Trace】 implant was strong, it provided very little bonus to physical fitness, which resulted in Ding Huai's speed and strength being inferior to other martial artists of the same realm.

While continuing to spray "Mist Sleep" in front of him, he stepped to the left to dodge.

But just as he finished his step, a blade edge was already pressing against his face!

Li Fei seemed to have guessed that he would dodge to the left.

Ding Huai was startled and hurriedly raised his blade to block again.

But this time he could no longer block Li Fei's Rolling Thunder style and had his blade knocked away by a single strike.

The next second, Li Fei placed his blade against his neck.

The instructor, who had been standing quietly not far away, waved the iron rod in his hand at this moment, generating a gust of wind out of thin air that blew away all the surrounding mist, allowing everyone in the surrounding stands to see the situation on the field clearly.

"Li Fei, winner!"

The instructor announced the result.

Less than ten seconds into the exchange, the winner had been decided!

"A-Rong, what do you think?"

In the stands, Duanmu Weicai asked the attendant beside him.

After receiving the news, he had rushed to the arena at the first opportunity.

Because his intuition told him that Li Fei coming to the arena today would not be as simple as just fighting a few random matches.

Duanmu Rong was not a member of the Duanmu family, but because his natural talent was good, he had successfully tested into the Martial University, and thus was granted the surname Duanmu.

All of his expenses at the Martial University were paid for by the Duanmu family, so he was very clear that his primary duty at the Martial University was not to study, but to serve Duanmu Weicai well.

"Young Master, the weakness of this Ding Huai is that his own strength is too weak; as long as one can defeat him in a short time, his 'Mist Sleep' cannot be brought into play."

Duanmu Rong replied.

"Mm."

Duanmu Weicai nodded.

Naturally, he would not pay attention to these Body-Breaking realm martial artists; hearing Duanmu Rong's assessment of this, he immediately understood that Ding Huai did not count as a difficult opponent, and it was not surprising that Li Fei could defeat him quickly.

"May I ask if I can continue to spar with others?"

After defeating Ding Huai, Li Fei asked the instructor to the side.

This instructor shook his head: "No, you have to go back, re-register, and wait in line."

"No need!"

Just at this moment, a voice came over.

A burly middle-aged man was walking toward this side.

"Supervisor Zheng."

The instructor saluted the other party.

The person who arrived was one of the arena's supervisors, a Force-Refining martial master.

Supervisor Zheng looked at Li Fei:

"You may continue to stay here; from now on, as long as you feel you can still fight, you can continuously spar with others."

"Good, many thanks, Supervisor Zheng."

Li Fei saluted the other party.

He guessed that this should be the intention of the Martial University's higher-ups.

The Martial University side also wanted to see his true caliber.

"You go down; I will act as the referee from now on."

Supervisor Zheng said to that instructor.

A martial master alone was not safe enough, so the Martial University had directly arranged for a Force-Refining martial master to act as referee for the Body-Breaking realm martial artists.

"Yes."

The instructor turned and left.

Subsequently, Ding Huai also left with a dejected look on his face.

Very quickly, a new opponent walked into the arena.

"Begin."

Supervisor Zheng said indifferently with his hands behind his back.

This time, the opponent used a fire-attribute implant, which had strong explosive power and excelled at frontal assaults.

Even without using 【Blood Rage】, Li Fei could suppress the opponent head-on by relying on his martial master-level physical fitness.

But in order not to expose his true cultivation base, he could only suppress his physical strength to the level of a martial artist, using the extraordinary ability of 【Danger Perception】 to parry the opponent's moves.

This battle lasted for several minutes, and in the end, Li Fei won by relying on the advantage of anticipating the enemy's moves.

During this process, he did not use 'Tyrant Body', because the number of times a late-stage Body-Breaking martial artist could use extraordinary abilities was also limited.

He planned to fight many more opponents today!

"Do you need to rest?"

After defeating the second opponent, Supervisor Zheng asked Li Fei.

"This student can continue."

Li Fei said calmly.

"Good."

Supervisor Zheng nodded.

Very quickly, the third opponent entered the arena.

"Is he planning to keep winning all the way through, wanting to break the Martial University arena's highest winning streak record?"

In the stands, Duanmu Weicai muttered as he watched Li Fei, who had already won four consecutive matches below and still showed no signs of stopping.

"His implant is 【Steel Armor】, but in the four matches just now, he only used 'Tyrant Body' twice; this is clearly to deliberately conserve his stamina."

Duanmu Rong, who was to the side, said.

"Interesting, I want to see just how long he can keep winning."

Duanmu Weicai laughed.

The highest winning streak record in the Martial University arena was 25 matches, set by Wang Fengqing during the Force-Refining martial master stage.

Among these, five of the wins were achieved by Wang Fengqing after breaking through to the Dao Foundation stage, relying on a massive realm advantage.

During the martial artist stage and the martial master stage, no one had been able to win more than 25 consecutive matches.

After all, the Martial University was not just any place; every student who could enter here could be called a genius.

They received the best guidance at the Martial University and obtained resources unavailable to the outside world, so their strength was naturally far superior to martial artists from the outside!

Sparring within the same realm, winning a few matches was easy, but winning over a dozen was difficult, let alone 25.

Time passed bit by bit; after more than thirty minutes, Li Fei had already won eight matches in a row.

He still had no intention of stopping.

More and more people learned that Li Fei was continuously sparring with others in the arena and rushed over one after another.

At this moment, the stands surrounding the arena where Li Fei was located were already packed with people!

It wasn't just students from the Martial Arts Department who came; many instructors also arrived, including Professor Wen Ke, who was responsible for conducting Li Fei's aptitude test.

Under the witness of hundreds of people, Li Fei defeated his opponents time and time again.

A second-grade superior 【Steel Armor】 was a high-quality implant even at the Martial University; Li Fei, relying on the two extraordinary abilities of 'Tyrant Body' and 'Danger Perception', plus the fighting style personally taught by Hao Yi, was already rarely matched among his peers.

Moreover, Li Fei had come all this way and had even killed Dao Foundation stage powerhouses; both his experience and his mindset were far beyond what these students in the Martial University could compare to.

Therefore, he had won fifteen matches in a row without even using the Myriad Blood Bead, defeating a crowd of geniuses entirely by his own efforts!

In the stands, the crowd of students became increasingly silent.

They had once been like Ding Huai, all of them the proud children of heaven in their respective hometowns, leading far ahead of everyone else all the way.

But at this moment, watching Li Fei continuously winning on the field, they had to accept a fact.

A fact that Wang Fengqing had once proven, and now it was Li Fei's turn to prove again:

Geniuses like them could only obtain the qualification to spar with the other party, eventually becoming a link in the other party's shining winning streak record.

You are the only person in your town with the aptitude for immortal cultivation, successfully taken in by an immortal master, cultivating smoothly all the way, continuously breaking through realms, leading far ahead of the other disciples in the sect, becoming the pride of the sect, and finally successfully ascending to the Immortal World.

Yet such a you, in the end, were just one of the one hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals fighting against a certain monkey.

There is always a higher mountain; Li Fei had understood this principle in his previous life.

What made him feel fortunate was that in his previous life, he was only 'one of the one hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals', while in this life, he would likely live more brilliantly than a certain monkey!

In the arena, he had already completed a seventeen-match winning streak.

"His mindset and experience are both perfect; this Li Fei is actually even more invincible than Wang Fengqing was back then!"

In the stands, Duanmu Weicai sighed with emotion.

Having good talent and a fast breakthrough speed was actually nothing remarkable; after all, it was just a gift from the heavens, just good luck.

The true place where a martial artist's praise should be earned was in battle.

Being cut by a blade would hurt, would cause fear, and would disrupt one's mindset; this was human nature. Being able to overcome these weaknesses of human nature and use the calmest posture to fully exert, or even super-exert, one's strength—

Such a person truly possessed the potential to become a powerhouse!

And Li Fei had demonstrated such potential in these dozen or so battles.

"A-Rong, go and register."

Duanmu Weicai suddenly said to Duanmu Rong beside him.

Duanmu Rong was startled: "Is the Young Master wanting me to spar with Li Fei?"

He was a peak Body-Breaking realm martial artist, ranked seventh on the martial artist combat power list!

"Yes, always winning against mediocre opponents, how boring that is to watch."

Duanmu Weicai smiled.

Duanmu Rong: "But if Li Fei wants to spar with me, he still needs to win a few more matches."

His arena points were 33; if Li Fei wanted to spar with him, he needed at least 23 points.

Now Li Fei had won fifteen matches in a row and had 15 points; he needed at least eight more consecutive wins.

"He will keep fighting; you go register first."

Duanmu Wei said.

"Yes."

Although Duanmu Rong was unwilling in his heart, he still stood up and left.

Over the next half hour or so, Li Fei defeated nine more opponents, bringing his winning streak to 24!

He was only one win away from tying Wang Fengqing's winning streak record, and Li Fei's streak was achieved through continuous combat, whereas Wang Fengqing's had been intermittent, taking nearly a month to complete.

Therefore, the record Li Fei set was more valuable than Wang Fengqing's!

"Do you wish to continue?"

Supervisor Zheng asked as usual.

Li Fei nodded.

Up to this point, he had already used Tyrant Body more than thirty times; based on the late-stage Body Breaking realm cultivation he displayed, he could use Tyrant Body at most a dozen more times.

Li Fei intended to use these "final" dozen or so Tyrant Body activations to break Wang Fengqing's record and go a few steps further!

He stood in place, quietly waiting for his next opponent; when this person entered the arena, gasps of surprise erupted from the surrounding stands.

This was followed by a wave of discussion.

The person who entered was none other than Duanmu Rong.

As the seventh-ranked fighter on the Martial Arts Combat Power Ranking, he naturally had some fame in this arena.

In truth, from the bottom of his heart, Duanmu Rong did not want to fight Li Fei at this time, because it carried the suspicion of taking advantage of someone's precarious situation.

Winning would not be glorious, and losing would be even more shameful.

Unfortunately, he did not have the authority to make his own decisions and could only follow Duanmu Wei's request to enter the arena and spar with Li Fei.

"Third-year student of the Weapon-Stopping Department, Duanmu Rong."

Duanmu Rong held a long sword and bowed to Li Fei.

"Senior, please."

Although Li Fei did not know that Duanmu Rong was a master on the Combat Power Ranking, the pressure the opponent brought him was stronger than all previous opponents, so he became a bit more serious.

"Begin."

As Supervisor Zheng's voice fell, Duanmu Rong left an afterimage in place and charged toward Li Fei at extreme speed!

Swish—

In an instant, a gale blew, and the powerful wind force was almost enough to lift an adult off their feet!

The implant Duanmu Rong used was the mutant wind-attribute 【Wind Feet】, and one of its extraordinary abilities was the ability to create gales.

Besides that, 【Wind Feet】 gave him movement speed far exceeding that of an ordinary person.

Relying on "Danger Perception," Li Fei struck with his blade in advance to block this thrust from Duanmu Rong.

When Duanmu Rong's first strike missed, he immediately changed direction, circled to Li Fei's side, and thrust his sword again, repeating this process.

Every time he swung his sword, it was with the wind, while Li Fei's blocks were against the wind; if not for "Danger Perception," Li Fei would not have been able to block Duanmu Rong's sword in time.

Duanmu Rong's movement speed became faster and faster, and the wind force he created grew stronger and stronger.

On the arena floor, a dozen afterimages surrounded Li Fei, as if a dozen Duanmu Rongs were attacking Li Fei with their swords at the same time!

The second extraordinary ability of 【Wind Feet】 is "Long Wind," which allows Duanmu Rong to possess increasingly faster movement speed over time and create even stronger wind force.

"Long Wind" certainly had a limit, but before this limit was reached, Li Fei had already been forced to use "Tyrant Body," relying on his formidable defensive power to block Duanmu Rong's thrusts head-on.

Every time 【Wind Feet】 activates an extraordinary ability, there is an interval, but after three years of study and tempering at the Martial University, the current Duanmu Rong could complete a "breath exchange" in an instant, making it almost impossible for anyone to catch his "weak period."

Looking at Li Fei, if he were to circulate the Geng Metal True Qi within his body, he could maintain "Tyrant Body" indefinitely, but that would expose his realm, so he had to "exchange breath" every dozen seconds or so, ending the "Tyrant Body" state.

Yet, according to the current trend, once he ended "Tyrant Body," he would immediately be wounded by Duanmu Rong.

Duanmu Rong had watched so many of Li Fei's matches previously that he had already figured out Li Fei's bottom line; he estimated that in at most two or three seconds, Li Fei's "Tyrant Body" would end.

At that moment, he would decide the outcome in one fell swoop!

Since winning was not glorious anyway, he wanted to win as beautifully as possible.

Swish—

He thrust his sword at Li Fei from the side again.

But this time, his sword was not blocked by the rock-solid Tyrant Body; instead, it pierced right in.

"Hmm?"

Duanmu Rong was somewhat surprised.

But the next second, the soft muscles became rock-solid once again, locking the section of the sword blade that had pierced in tight!

This turn of events was very sudden, and Duanmu Rong's reaction was also very fast; he forced himself to pull the sword out, but he was still affected and was half a beat slow, allowing Li Fei to grab the sword blade with his left hand.

Li Fei grabbed the sword blade with his left hand and swung his blade toward Duanmu Rong with his right!

Duanmu Rong had no choice but to abandon his sword and retreat.

"Whoa—"

A gasp of surprise erupted from the stands.

The students did not expect that Duanmu Rong, who had just held the upper hand, would be forced to abandon his sword in the blink of an eye.

Having lost his weapon, he had basically lost this match.

"Not bad."

Wen Ke, who was watching the battle, nodded.

Sitting beside her was a professor, one of the three professors who were preparing to open a new course specifically for Li Fei.

"Using danger perception to judge the opponent's attack point and thus setting a trap in advance—not bad. Whether it's his on-the-spot reaction or his use of extraordinary abilities, it's all quite good. This kid looks like he's been guided by a master."

The male professor beside Wen Ke commented.

"Have you decided what to teach him?"

Wen Ke asked softly.

The male professor smiled: "No rush, let's wait and see. If this kid can polish his heart-intent power in this arena and break through his realm sooner, I can guide him in the use of Innate One Qi, which is what I am best at."

"Mm."

Wen Ke nodded and looked back at the arena.

After losing his weapon, Duanmu Rong did not continue to struggle and waste time.

That would appear too undignified, so he decisively conceded.

"Li Fei wins!"

Supervisor Zheng announced.

With this, Li Fei had completed 25 consecutive wins, tying the record left by Wang Fengqing!

"To be able to train 'Tyrant Body' to the realm of combining hardness and softness, my loss is not unjust. I admire you!"

Duanmu Rong walked to Li Fei and bowed to him with cupped hands.

The characteristic of "Tyrant Body" is to be rigid and overbearing, but just a moment ago, Li Fei was able to first make his skin and muscles soft, then instantly recover.

This kind of control made Duanmu Rong very impressed.

"You are too kind."

Li Fei also bowed to Duanmu Rong with cupped hands.

In fact, his ability to possess such strong control was related to his "Breaking Heart Obstacles" cultivation method; by using "Breaking Heart Obstacles" to break through to the Qi Transformation realm, his control over the 【Steel Armor】 implant could be this strong.

Come to think of it, he was taking advantage of his realm.

"Do you wish to continue?"

After Duanmu Rong left, Supervisor Zheng still asked Li Fei this question.

Li Fei still nodded to him: "This student wishes to continue."

Supervisor Zheng looked at him deeply, a smile appearing on his face:

"Good."

Soon, the twenty-sixth opponent appeared.

This time, the opponent was no longer a master on the Combat Power Ranking; Li Fei took a few minutes, used "Tyrant Body" twice, and defeated the opponent again.

With this, the winning streak record of the Martial University arena was rewritten by Li Fei to 26 consecutive wins!

He still had no intention of stopping.

Witnessed by hundreds of students and lecturers in the arena, he began to create a new legend:

27 wins, 28 wins, 29 wins...

The afternoon sun was bright; in the eyes of many, Li Fei, who was winning streak after streak, seemed as dazzling as the sun!

It was not until the 33rd opponent was defeated by Li Fei that he took the initiative to say to Supervisor Zheng:

"This student will stop here for today."

Supervisor Zheng nodded at him:

"Good, go back and get some good rest."

"Many thanks, Supervisor Zheng."

Li Fei bowed and then walked out of the arena step by step.

Not until he walked out of the arena did the stands erupt in a roar!

33 consecutive wins! This was the new winning streak record for the Martial University arena.

And this was 33 consecutive wins achieved without a moment's rest, fighting people continuously!

It is unknown how many years it will take for such a record to be broken.

Not long after Li Fei left, the Combat Power Ranking hanging on the city wall of the arena was updated.

This leaderboard is updated once daily, and this is the latest update of the martial artist combat power ranking.

Sixth on the combat power ranking—Li Fei, 33 points.

At the Chengmenkou, many people gathered below, looking up at the leaderboard above.

Countless students rack their brains but still cannot make it onto this leaderboard, yet Li Fei achieved it with ease.

Stepping into the arena today.

Today, I shall ascend the combat power ranking!

PS: This chapter is a two-in-one.

(End of this chapter)