Chapter 51: No Need

Chen Shu's Thousand Machine Art had already been constructed.

Now, his Spirit Sea contained many solidified Rune Groups; the densely packed runes seemed to shimmer with white light. The white light varied in brightness and dimness, flickering, indicating that some Rune Groups were working at all times, some were in a dormant state, and some were working intermittently.

This Thousand Machine Art was already his modified version.

He had fine-tuned the runes to enhance performance.

He had added several Rune Groups to perfect the functions.

He had modified the preference parameters for casting Spells, making them better suited to his own offensive and defensive habits and personal circumstances.

For example, because his Spirit Sea was larger than others of the same rank and his Spirit Power was more abundant, he had increased the default Spirit Power output for rapid Spell casting by about 50%.

Then, he had integrated several commonly used minor Spells into it.

More formal Spells were relatively time-consuming; he had already integrated Protective Divine Light, Impact Technique, and an unimproved Thunder Method, while Tracer Technique was currently in progress. Chen Shu felt that in a place like Yujing, there would certainly be no situation requiring the high-intensity use of Tracer Technique, so he had pushed it further down the list.

One week later.

The three from 504 went out together.

The Arena that Jiang Lai frequented was located in the south of the city; it was in a relatively remote spot, but still within the city, in the basement of a hotel.

Private Arenas in Yiguo were not considered illegal, but formal Arenas were too restrictive; not only were the fights unsightly, but betting was also prohibited, and there were so many rules that it was annoying.

This Arena was considered half-formal and half-illegal.

As for how formal or how illegal it was, that depended on how tight the wind was blowing recently.

The Arena was circular and enclosed, with a very large floor. A straight line ran through the middle, with one side black and the other white. Before the match, both sides occupied their respective halves, divided into black and white teams, not red and blue.

A ring of tiered spectator seats surrounded it, with the back row reaching right up to the ceiling. One had to hunch over to get in, and could barely see; if one got excited and couldn't help but stand up, one would hit their head.

The air was very stifling.

Meng Chunqiu frowned as soon as he entered, taking two breaths in a row before he adapted.

Jiang Lai then led them to the left, sitting in a row near the middle—neither too high nor too low—a good spot. He explained to them, "There are three duels today, and none of them are exhibition matches. The first one is a duel between two Martial Artists around the Third Stage. I think duels at this rank are the best to watch; if it's lower, the power and speed aren't enough, and if it's higher, they focus too much on power and speed, and the technique isn't enough, so the entertainment value is lower."

Seeing that he was actually wearing a mask, Chen Shu knew that he probably really did have some fans.

"What about the second match?"

"The second match is Fourth Rank, but they aren't considered strong at the Fourth Rank, and they don't have much fame." Jiang Lai paused, "I hope they can give us a Surprise."

"Is the third match the main event?"

"Yeah!"

Jiang Lai nodded heavily, leaning his head closer to them, and said in a very low voice, "Most of the audience is probably here for the third match. In the third match, one is at the peak of the Fourth Rank, and the other is Fifth Stage. Well, we Martial Artists don't have a Spirit Sea like Cultivators; this rank is the result of an assessment, and there won't be any leap-like progress between major ranks."

Chen Shu and Meng Chunqiu both nodded.

Only then did Jiang Lai continue:

"One of them is considered very formidable among the Fourth Rank, and since she is a woman, she has great fame and is a star player. The other, although his record is average, is after all a Fifth Stage, and he usually fights against Fifth Stages."

"Then her strength should have reached the Fifth Stage too, right?"

"Definitely, she just hasn't gone for the assessment yet."

"That's impressive..."

Chen Shu began to feel a bit of anticipation.

The first match began quickly.

Both duelists were quite young; one was slender, the other shorter but sturdier, and their weights were likely about the same.

As Jiang Lai said, Martial Artists at this rank were the best to watch; they had both power and speed, and their techniques could be quite flashy. Even without relying on the power of runes, it was better to watch than the action movies of his past life. Plus, the colorful abilities provided by various runes were even better than the special effects in many fantasy TV dramas from his past life.

They fought very fiercely, with fresh blood flowing.

The place was filled with bloody, primitive, violent beauty.

The Arena here did not keep score; there were only three ways to determine a win or loss—

One side falls and cannot get up;

One side voluntarily admits defeat;

The referee calls a stop in time;

Usually, when the Government is checking strictly, or when they come for an inspection, this Arena wouldn't be like this.

But the prohibition on using weapons remained a red line that could not be crossed.

All contestants fought with their bare hands.

This match lasted about ten minutes; it was truly evenly matched, and it was hard to tell if there was any performative element. The final winner was the shorter but sturdier one.

During the intermission, the venue was filled with noise.

Jiang Lai turned his head to look at Chen Shu: "Brother Chen, do you still want to come and fight in the Arena?"

"No, no."

Chen Shu hurriedly expressed that he couldn't afford to provoke them, fearing he would be beaten to death.

It was better to just enjoy watching others fight.

Someone went onto the stage to clean up the blood, mopping the floor and then blowing it dry, followed by long-legged girls in skimpy outfits who went up to dance.

This was nice to look at.

Next was the second match.

Two Fourth Rank Martial Artists.

There were only six stages for Martial Artists in total, roughly corresponding to the Cultivation Rank.

That is to say, a Martial Artist who cultivated to the absolute peak was roughly at the level of a Sixth Stage Cultivator, unable to compare to High-Tier ones.

Reaching the Fourth Rank was still quite difficult.

It was very hard to reach the Fourth Rank relying solely on one's own practice; generally, one either relied on the power of High-Tier runes or fused with a Beast Bloodline. Anyway, the current internationally accepted Martial Artist rank assessment was like this—as long as your combat power could reach the level required by a certain rank, no matter how you achieved it, as long as you weren't holding something like a Spirit Power Cannon, it counted.

The two people on the stage were both following the rune path.

In Chen Shu's eyes, this match was no longer a contest between two Martial Artists, but a trial of strength between two Modern Cultivators.

Experts watch the technique, laymen watch the spectacle; the High-Tier Runes engraved on the two are similar in performance, but one of them is clearly better designed and saves more Spirit Power.

Martial Artists have not opened their Spirit Sea, so they rely entirely on the small amount of Spirit Power scattered throughout their bodies to support the operation of the Runes; whether it is energy-efficient is very important.

When one side's Spirit Power is insufficient, they naturally lose.

"..."

Chen Shu turned his head and said to Jiang Lai, "When are you going to get Runes engraved? Spend some money on it yourself! Don't wait until your sophomore year. I'll design them for you. I'm not a professional designer, so I might not be able to design the pretty patterns they have on them, but the performance will definitely be much better than what they have."

"Let me think about it."

"Remember to spend a bit more money when the time comes and find a good master, because my designs are truly high-end."

"Got it..."

Jiang Lai replied weakly, not saying anything more.

Chen Shu guessed that he was pained by the cost, so he didn't say anything more and continued to watch the young girl dancing in the Arena.

The third match began.

Having heard from Jiang Lai earlier that one side was female, Chen Shu knew he shouldn't hold onto any wishful thinking.

Where would you find a woman who purely practices martial arts like the "Little Dragon Maiden"?

A Martial Cultivator might be possible.

Sure enough, as expected, this strong woman who took the stage was even sturdier than the "Little Dragon Maiden" in *Kung Fu*; her muscles were not as defined as a man's, but her dimensions were also massive, and she could likely crush Chen Shu to death with one hand.

"Clang!"

The duel was on the verge of breaking out.

"Boom!"

The female Martial Artist's body instantly sprang out like a cannonball.

Almost simultaneously, crimson patterns emerged on her body, flowing like magma.

These patterns quickly flowed onto her arms, and for a moment, her hands were like red-hot soldering irons, emitting a crimson light, and the temperature became extremely high.

The audience instantly boiled over, and the cheering was deafening.

Opposite the female Martial Artist was a tall, sturdy male, who kept dodging.

But the female Martial Artist's speed was truly too fast, and her ability to react and find openings was also very strong; he was grazed by the female Martial Artist's crimson fists a few times, and the places of contact immediately tore open and began to smoke with a sizzling sound.

"Boom!"

A dull, muffled sound rang out.

The male Martial Artist bent his left arm to block in front of his face, stubbornly blocking this scorching fist.

Chen Shu looked closely and realized that the male Martial Artist's arm had turned a pale yellow, and the skin texture had become rough; this was not the effect of a Rune, but the reason for the Beast Bloodline he had fused with—Martial Artists have thought of many ways to improve their own combat power, and fusing with a Beast Bloodline is one of the very powerful ones.

Then the male Martial Artist began to counterattack.

He threw a punch.

The Runes covering his arm began to work, actually allowing him to be like a Cultivator, throwing a punch with an extremely strong shockwave that sent the female Martial Artist flying.

"Boom!"

The female Martial Artist's body slammed into the Arena's Defense Barrier, and the originally completely transparent barrier rippled, with white light faintly flickering, revealing the outline of the barrier, proving that its technology was relatively old.

The audience boiled over again.

Many people stood up, waving their arms and shouting, their voices primitive and full of wildness, making the others feel restless inside as well.

But this was not enough to injure the female Martial Artist.

The male Martial Artist also knew this; he only interrupted the female Martial Artist's storm-like posture, then immediately assumed the combat stance of the Shield Guard Technique to face the female Martial Artist.

The Shield Guard Technique mainly uses the forearms and elbows to form a sturdy "shield surface" to protect the head while waiting for an opportunity to counterattack; it is a fighting technique that focuses on defense and counterattacks.

The female Martial Artist began to circle around him, looking for openings to attack from time to time.

Occasionally, they swapped offense and defense.

Chen Shu took out his Mobile Phone, recorded a short video, and sent it to Qingqing.

Chen Shu: Look at others, how sturdy they are, then look at you, skinny as a rail, a little ugly ghost.

After sending it, he stretched and looked left and right.

The audience members who had just stood up sat back down.

The initial exchange of offense and defense between the two was quite good, but now it had become boring; it was almost a contest of their respective combat power values and their ability to find openings. The techniques displayed by the two were very few, and the fighting process was far less intense than at the beginning, just like a professional league game; because their technique was too high and they valued winning and losing too much, it actually appeared to lack entertainment value.

"Let's make a bet."

Chen Shu said to Meng Chunqiu and Jiang Lai, "Meng and I will bet on who wins. Don't say it out loud; type it in the group chat box, and when I say send, we'll all send it at once. But if we both choose the same person, it counts as Jiang Lai losing, how about that?"

"Bet on what?" asked Meng Chunqiu, who was watching with great interest.

"Cleaning the dorm when we get back."

"Why does it count as me losing if it's the same?" Jiang Lai said.

"Just for fun, it doesn't matter. You aren't suited to place bets anyway; it's been going on this long, you must be able to tell who is going to win and who is going to lose."

"Oh." Jiang Lai nodded, "Okay."

"Come on!"

Meng Chunqiu had already taken out his Mobile Phone to start typing.

Chen Shu also started typing.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready."

"Send it."

Two messages appeared in the group at the same time.

Chen Shu: male Martial Artist.

Meng Chunqiu: female Martial Artist.

After finishing the message, Jiang Lai said, "It looks like the one who loses won't be me."

"And it won't be me either."

"And it certainly won't be me!"

The three of them looked at each other.

Then Chen Shu and Jiang Lai looked at each other again; it was this look that made Meng Chunqiu feel something was amiss.

A few minutes later.

The situation was decided.

Although the male Martial Artist's arms had become a bloody mess, he still defended against the female Martial Artist's final wave of attacks, then immediately found an opportunity to quickly shift from defense to offense, closing the distance between himself and the female Martial Artist to within half an arm's length—a distance where the female Martial Artist's style was hard to utilize, but very suitable for Shield Guard Technique attacks.

A series of elbow strikes, with power capable of shattering steel.

The female Martial Artist fell down.

The audience fell silent for a moment—

Female Martial Artists are rare in the Arena, and Fourth Rank fighting Fifth Rank is also rare; everyone hoped the female Martial Artist could win, but unfortunately, a miracle did not happen today.

Immediately, people stood up one after another to applaud and cheer.

Warriors are not defined by winning or losing.

This was still a match between strong individuals.

Many spectators left their seats and rushed toward the Arena; even though the fight had already ended, they still shouted for the female Martial Artist to stand up, while simultaneously throwing money toward the white side of the Arena.

"Let's go."

Chen Shu patted Meng Chunqiu on the shoulder: "If Brother Meng really doesn't know how to do a deep clean..."

He paused as he spoke, and facing Meng Chunqiu's slightly expectant gaze, he pursed his lips and said, "You can find a tutorial online to learn."

"..." Meng Chunqiu was silent for a moment, "A bet is a bet! I will definitely clean the Dormitory until it is spotless!"

"Brother Meng wouldn't be calling a cleaning service, would you?"

"... Naturally, I would not!"

"Brother Meng is generous!"

"... That goes without saying."

"I admire you, I admire you."

"..."

The three left the venue and took the subway back to University City.

There happened to be a supermarket at the subway entrance, so they went to buy quite a bit of fruit and snacks, and after coming out, they scanned for shared bicycles, filled the three bike baskets to the brim, and rode toward the school.

They also happened to add three more bicycles to the school.

Heroic behavior.

But just as they were entering the school from the south gate, they saw from afar that someone had suddenly fallen from one of the buildings on the outermost edge of the south district Dormitory.

"Boom!"

This person landed on the road outside the dormitory area, only a few dozen meters away from the three of them.

"Ah!!"

Screams came from that direction.

Jiang Lai also widened his eyes, pointing a finger forward, looking at Chen Shu, then at Meng Chunqiu: "Brother Meng, Brother Chen, it looks like someone jumped off the building."

"..."

Chen Shu didn't say much and immediately accelerated, riding over.

The south district is the female dormitory; this is a girl.

The dormitory heights vary; this building is seven stories at its highest. When the girl landed, her back was facing down, her body twisted into a strange shape, and blood slowly began to spread across the concrete floor. Her chest was still heaving, and her eyes were open, revealing a pale face marked with bloody scratches from tree branches.

There were only a few people nearby, at a loss for what to do.

When Chen Shu was very close to her, he decisively abandoned his bicycle, letting the goods scatter all over the ground, and quickly vaulted over, standing before the girl.

At this sight, he froze.

He still had a deep impression of this face—

Wang Yi.

It was only at this moment that he learned she was from Yujing Academy; no wonder she could get such a precious interview opportunity before even graduating.

Chen Shu had no time to overthink; he leaned over and crouched in front of her. At this time, it was best not to touch her, so he only applied the life-sustaining method from the emergency rescue protocol, using Spirit Power to maintain her vitality.

People gradually gathered behind him; some dialed the emergency number, and others called the school hospital.

It will be fine once the teachers arrive.

Chen Shu thought to himself.

In this world, medicine is naturally advanced; as long as the brain isn't smashed on the spot, even if all the internal organs are damaged without exception and the heart has stopped beating, plus massive blood loss, as long as it is within half an hour, they can all be easily saved.

Chen Shu saw her open her mouth, staring blankly at him, but she couldn't make any sound.

He couldn't even make out the lip movements.

Chen Shu sighed inwardly, and while placing his hand on hers to maintain the flow of Spirit Power, he distracted himself to look into her eyes and speak to her:

"There was no need for this.

"How could it come to this.

"What could be so serious..."

He didn't actually know the specific reason; clearly, she had seemed so happy after her interview last week, so why was she like this now.

But it is also unnecessary.

Only after having died does one know the preciousness of life, and know how to distinguish the weight and importance of all things.

It is not to say that one absolutely cannot quit halfway through this game of life; one can, when you have experienced the ways of the world and still feel disappointed and bored with this world.

Aside from that, it is all unnecessary.

Whether it is a trivial matter like being harassed by debt collectors, or having reached a dead end due to some other reason, your future is boundless, you are young, only twenty-something years old; how long is the remaining hundred-plus years of life, and how many hurdles are truly impossible to cross?

I do not know if she heard it.

The school doctor arrived.

The school doctor took over from Chen Shu, used a more advanced emergency aid method, communicated with Chen Shu for a moment, and then lifted her onto a stretcher and left.