Chapter 241: Elephant Bitterness, Meat Mountain

February 21st.

After finishing the grappling and wrestling class, Chen Xiang called out to Li Fei once again:

"Tomorrow, another martial arts gym specializing in wrestling is holding an internal competition. I have already communicated with them, and you can go participate."

"Are there so many internal competitions in these martial arts gyms lately?"

Li Fei asked curiously.

Chen Xiang looked at him and said naturally: "Next month is the martial arts gym ranking tournament, which directly affects the business of every gym, so everyone takes it very seriously. This month, they are all conducting internal selections one after another to choose the most outstanding disciples to compete."

Li Fei nodded: "So that's how it is. I am willing to participate. Many thanks, Mr. Chen."

"Then tomorrow at 1: 0 PM, I will wait for you at the East Gate as usual."

Chen Xiang said to Li Fei.

Afterwards, the two parted ways and returned to their respective dormitories.

That evening, a staff member delivered a package to Li Fei.

This package was sent from Xingcheng.

Li Fei opened the package. Inside, besides some food and clothing sent by Zhang Yuqing, there was also a deep black protective suit with pale red stripes.

This protective suit was naturally not sent by Zhang Yuqing, but was quietly placed into the package by the General Inspection Institute.

To avoid alerting the enemy, the people from the General Inspection Institute could not directly contact Li Fei, so they put the item into the package sent from Xingcheng to deliver it to Li Fei's hands without attracting attention.

Li Fei took out the protective suit and tried it on.

The texture felt somewhat cool, and it was very breathable when worn, not hot at all.

This was a Level 4 protective suit!

The manufacturing difficulty of a protective suit is higher than that of an exotic weapon of the same level, so its value is also a grade higher.

A Level 4 protective suit is equivalent to a Level 5 exotic weapon, meaning the protective suit Li Fei was wearing was similar in value to his Ghost Severing blade.

A Level 3 protective suit can already block handgun fire at close range, while a Level 4 protective suit can block rifle fire at close range!

If a martial master wears a Level 4 protective suit, ordinary gunpowder weapons find it difficult to pose a threat to them.

The current Minister of Military Affairs of the Great Lan Dynasty once said a "famous quote":

"Give me ten thousand Level 4 protective suits, and I can lead an army to pacify the seven Western countries!"

This was, of course, just a joke. Even a powerhouse at the Dao Foundation realm might not be able to obtain one Level 4 protective suit, so how could it be possible to gather ten thousand of them?

This statement was like saying that if one could gather ten thousand Dao Foundation realm powerhouses to form an army, they could sweep across the world.

The Level 4 protective suit Li Fei was wearing at this moment was temporarily applied for by Xia Huan for this mission, primarily to ensure his personal safety.

After this mission ends, Li Fei will have to return the protective suit.

At 1: 0 PM the next afternoon, Li Fei appeared at the East Gate on time.

"Let's go."

Chen Xiang, who was waiting there in advance, did not say much, just like last time. He led Li Fei out of the school gate and took a tram to the Wuyi District.

This district has the most martial arts gyms in the entire city. The gym Chen Xiang was taking Li Fei to today is called the Earth Martial Arts Gym, and its fame in the Wuyi District is second only to the Iron Peak Martial Arts Gym.

After getting off the tram and walking for over ten minutes, Chen Xiang led Li Fei to the entrance of the Earth Martial Arts Gym.

The gym's main gate was decorated in a very grand and imposing manner, with two white jade lions taller than a person on either side of the steps, looking very impressive.

"Mr. Chen, Student Li, please come in."

The Earth Martial Arts Gym had sent someone to wait at the door in advance to welcome Chen Xiang and Li Fei.

Welcoming the two was a fat man wearing a white outer robe and black shorts, with his chest and belly exposed.

This person was covered in fat, and as he walked, the fat on his body wobbled; he did not look like a martial artist at all.

After entering the gym, Li Fei encountered many people along the way with similar builds, all of them fat men weighing at least 200 jin.

These people were all students of the Earth Martial Arts Gym.

It was not that the Earth Martial Arts Gym specifically recruited fat people, but that after becoming official students of the Earth Martial Arts Gym, they would all become fat, because this gym uses the Earth-type implant 【Elephant Bitterness】.

【Elephant Bitterness】 causes the fat on a person's body to increase, making them constantly gain weight, and the extraordinary ability of 【Elephant Bitterness】 happens to require the use of fat.

For a martial artist using 【Elephant Bitterness】, the more fat they have on their body, the stronger their strength.

After passing through the front courtyard's training ground, Li Fei and Chen Xiang were led by that student to a pavilion in the main courtyard.

At the other's gesture, Li Fei took off his shoes and walked barefoot into the pavilion.

The floor of the pavilion was paved with rattan-black wood; this type of wood has excellent shock absorption and is sufficiently hard, making it very suitable for practicing wrestling.

After Li Fei walked into the pavilion, his gaze was immediately drawn to a "meat mountain" directly in front:

This was a super fat man whose physique far exceeded that of an ordinary person!

Just sitting there, the person's height already exceeded two meters, even more massive than Li Fei's physique in the "Tyrant Body" state. If they stood up, they would likely be over three meters tall!

This was the first time Li Fei had seen someone with such an exaggerated physique.

This person was also wearing a white outer robe and black shorts, with his chest and belly exposed, his skin fair and tender, and his round belly looking like a large drum.

"Distinguished guests have arrived, I apologize for not welcoming you sooner."

This "meat mountain" spoke, the voice grand, making the entire pavilion hum!

"Gym Master Che is too polite; it is we who are intruding."

Chen Xiang took the lead in cupping his hands in salute to the other party.

This "meat mountain" was named Che Haochuan, the Gym Master of the Earth Martial Arts Gym, a Qi-refining martial master at the peak of the Qi Transformation realm.

Li Fei had obtained detailed information about the other party from Lu Mengyang last night.

According to the General Inspection Institute's assessment, Che Haochuan's strength could be ranked in the top ten among all Qi-refining martial masters in the entire Datong Prefecture!

"You are Li Fei?"

Che Haochuan's gaze shifted to Li Fei.

In an instant, Li Fei felt as if an invisible giant mountain was pressing down on him!

He looked straight at Che Haochuan without changing his expression and cupped his hands in salute:

"Li Fei greets Gym Master Che."

"Worthy of being the legendary genius famous at the Martial University."

Che Haochuan laughed, his eyes squinting into slits, looking like a Maitreya Buddha.

As he laughed, the mountain-like immense pressure instantly vanished into nothingness, as if it had never appeared.

"I already know the purpose of your visit. Teng Zhe, you go first and spar with this genius from the Martial University."

Che Haochuan looked at a student on his left.

On his left and right sides, three students were sitting cross-legged, all of whom were Qi-refining martial masters.

From this point, one could see that the strength of the Earth Martial Arts Gym was much stronger than the Gladiator Gym Li Fei had visited a few days ago.

The student named Teng Zhe slowly stood up and first bowed to Che Haochuan:

"Yes, Master."

This was also a fat man over 2 meters tall and covered in fat, though he only appeared somewhat "slender" when standing next to Che Haochuan.

Teng Zhe walked to the center of the pavilion, facing Li Fei.

"In today's sparring, you can use your extraordinary ability and innate Qi to compete with them in wrestling techniques."

Chen Xiang said to Li Fei.

Li Fei nodded and first took off his dark blue jacket.

This was the Martial University uniform.

Underneath the jacket was a set of black martial arts attire, also issued by the Martial University, which had excellent flexibility; even if Li Fei entered the "Tyrant Body" state, it would not tear the clothes.

Li Fei first folded the jacket in his hands neatly and placed it in a corner, then turned and walked to the center of the pavilion to stand opposite Teng Zhe.

"Earth Martial Arts Gym, Teng Zhe."

"Wu'an University, Li Fei."

The two bowed to each other.

"Please!"

As the words fell, the floor of the pavilion trembled. Teng Zhe's fat body erupted with astonishing power, rushing out at a speed that did not lose to Li Fei at all.

The next second, the two collided fiercely.

Bang—

Both of their hands grabbed the other's arms simultaneously, and then their respective innate Qi surged out from their palms.

Innate Qi is not as condensed as physical force, so under normal circumstances, it can only be unleashed through close-contact methods; the only exception is True Qi.

Because True Qi is sufficiently pure and can be more condensed, it can perform long-range strikes at short distances, such as Li Fei's blade aura and Cao Yiqing's flame flying spikes.

Setting aside True Qi, wrestling and close-quarters grappling are actually the martial arts that can best bring out the advantages of innate Qi at the martial master stage.

Earth-yellow aura surged out from Teng Zhe's palms; this was Earth-elemental Gang Qi, both thick and fierce.

Just as the Earth-elemental Gang Qi was about to surge into Li Fei's body, his physique suddenly expanded outward, his figure becoming the same size as Teng Zhe's, only not as "wide" as the other.

The timing of Li Fei's "Tyrant Body" activation was excellent, causing Teng Zhe to fail to get a firm grip on his arms, while the Earth-elemental Gang Qi was also shaken away by the "Tyrant Body."

Taking this opportunity, two streams of Geng-metal True Qi sprayed out from Li Fei's palms, turning into two sharp blades that pierced into Teng Zhe's arms!

Teng Zhe's Earth-elemental Gang Qi intertwined with the thick fat in his body, forming a special "protective armor" that obstructed Li Fei's Geng-metal True Qi layer by layer.

The 【Elephant Bitterness】 implant has two extraordinary abilities; one is "Thick Armor," which uses fat to form a protective armor, greatly increasing one's defensive power.

While using "Thick Armor" in coordination with Earth-elemental Gang Qi to block the Geng-metal True Qi, Teng Zhe continued to launch attacks.

Streams of earth-yellow aura spread from his palms toward Li Fei's entire body.

Advanced wrestling techniques all require coordination with innate Qi or physical force to be executed; innate Qi and physical force act as an invisible lock internally, which can lock the opponent's body.

Externally, they were like invisible hands that could pull and drag an opponent.

Teng Zhe could not break through Li Fei's "Tyrant Body" for the time being, so he chose to use Earth-Qi of Wutu to drag Li Fei.

Bursts of dark golden energy erupted from Li Fei's body, resembling steel blades, severing the Earth-Qi of Wutu that was coiled around him.

But his speed in controlling the True Qi of Gengjin was still a step too slow; his center of gravity was forcibly shifted, and Teng Zhe seized the opportunity to exert force with his hands and feet simultaneously, violently throwing Li Fei away!

Bang—

Li Fei slammed heavily onto the wooden floorboards.

"One round!"

Teng Zhe shouted loudly at Li Fei.

It meant he had won the first round.

According to the rules of the martial arts contest, if he could throw Li Fei down for three consecutive rounds, he would win the match.

Li Fei quickly stood up from the ground and charged at Teng Zhe again.

The two collided once more.

This time, Li Fei no longer took the initiative to attack, but focused all his attention on controlling his True Qi of Gengjin to grapple with Teng Zhe's Earth-Qi of Wutu.

It was as if the two were simultaneously controlling dozens of invisible hands to trade blows.

Li Fei was indeed inferior to Teng Zhe in terms of technique, but he had the "Tyrant Body" to bolster him, allowing him to continuously shake off the Earth-Qi of Wutu coiled around his body surface.

After all, Earth-Qi of Wutu was not yet true force, so it would easily disperse.

In this way, Li Fei's defense could be considered as solid as a fortress.

After the two stalemated for seven or eight seconds, Teng Zhe suddenly let out a shout, the fat all over his body trembling violently, and then his strength surged, instantly overpowering Li Fei!

This was the second extraordinary ability of 【Elephant Suffering】—Fuel Burning.

Exchanging fat on the body for immense strength!

Seeing this scene, the other few martial arts hall students present were somewhat surprised.

Today's match was merely a routine sparring session; there was absolutely no need for Teng Zhe to use "Fuel Burning." After all, the fat on his body was a finite resource, and it would take time to accumulate it again.

The Ranking Tournament was next month; why was Teng Zhe doing this?

Slap—

The sudden, immense power broke the balance, and Li Fei was thrown away again.

"Two rounds!"

Teng Zhe roared at the fallen Li Fei, flames seemingly burning in his eyes.

Behind him, Che Haochuan, who had been wearing a smile on his face the whole time, frowned slightly.

Li Fei stood up from the ground again.

He continued to charge at Teng Zhe with a calm expression.

This time, he did not defend, but instead fully erupted his True Qi of Gengjin to pierce into Teng Zhe's body.

While using "Fuel Burning," Teng Zhe's defensive power would naturally decrease.

Teng Zhe ignored everything, letting the two strands of True Qi of Gengjin pierce into his arm, penetrating layers of fat, and finally stabbing into his bone!

He let out a cry of pain, yet he further urged the "Fuel Burning," and strands of earth-yellow Earth-Qi of Wutu surged out from his entire body, then coiled around Li Fei.

Li Fei used his "Tyrant Body" to shake off one strand of Qi, but another immediately coiled up, wrapping him into an earth-yellow cocoon.

The next second, Teng Zhe violently lifted Li Fei up and then slammed him heavily toward the ground!

Boom—

The floor of the arena shook again; the wooden boards made of rattan-black wood were smashed until they cracked and caved inward, forming a small pit.

"Three rounds!!"

Teng Zhe grabbed Li Fei's arm with one hand and pressed down on his chest with the other, pinning him firmly in the pit, and roared loudly.

Li Fei looked at his opponent with a calm expression: "You won."

Hearing this, a strange expression of both crying and laughing appeared on Teng Zhe's face. He stared fixedly at Li Fei and finally sneered:

"So the genius of the Martial University is nothing more than this!"

"Teng Zhe!"

At this moment, Che Haochuan spoke, his grand voice filled with anger, echoing throughout the entire arena:

"Enough!"

He did not understand what was wrong with his disciple today, but the Martial University was not something a mere Earth Martial Arts Hall could afford to provoke; he had to speak up to stop Teng Zhe from saying anything more excessive.

Fortunately, although Li Fei had been smashed quite miserably, he did not appear to be seriously injured and could still be salvaged.

Just as Che Haochuan was thinking about how to salvage the current situation, Teng Zhe suddenly did something that none of the people from the Earth Martial Arts Hall present had expected:

The hand he had pressing on Li Fei's chest moved upward, grabbed Li Fei's throat, and squeezed with force!

Wrestling experts would specifically train their finger strength, and furthermore, Teng Zhe was currently in the "Fuel Burning" state; such finger strength could even instantly deform steel!

"Stop—"

Che Haochuan, who had been sitting motionless, changed color abruptly. He struck a palm toward Teng Zhe, and a strand of earth-yellow force transformed into a large hand, reaching out to grab Teng Zhe.

Swish—

On the other side, Chen Xiang, who had been watching the battle quietly, also moved. He stepped forward and threw a punch.

Likewise, a strand of earth-yellow force transformed into the shape of a flood dragon, tearing toward the front.

But this force was not aimed at Teng Zhe; it collided with the force Che Haochuan had unleashed.

PS: I think I've caught the flu; my condition is very poor, so only one update today.

(End of this chapter)