Su Xiaoqi spent quite some effort explaining everything that had happened, including his and Zhu Zhuqing's fake relationship, to the chat group.
After reassuring everyone not to worry and promising to update them as soon as there was any news, he exited the group chat.
"Zhuqing, are you still mad? I already explained everything to you just now."
Su Xiaoqi cautiously tugged at Zhu Zhuqing's sleeve. It had taken a great deal of persuasion in the group chat to convince her not to join the battle. Unfortunately, he had ended up getting scolded by everyone else in the group for it.
Zhu Zhuqing slapped his hand away and said coldly, "Don't touch me. Men and women should keep a respectful distance."
"Uh…" Su Xiaoqi awkwardly withdrew his hand and mumbled, "Didn't you just link arms with me a moment ago?"
"Straight man."
Zhu Zhuqing turned her head and snapped irritably. She had just recently learned the meaning of those two words.
"Kid, get ready. It's time to start."
Zhao Wuji's booming voice echoed across the clearing. Everyone turned to look; the incense on the ground had already burned out.
Su Xiaoqi stood up and patted the dust from his pants. "I was about to fall asleep waiting."
Zhu Zhuqing also stood and stepped in front of him. "If I see anything going wrong, I'm jumping in to save you."
Su Xiaoqi smiled. "So you're not mad anymore? I thought you were going to ignore me forever."
"Big talker." Zhu Zhuqing rolled her eyes at him. "After this, we're going to eat. I'm hungry."
Ning Rongrong appeared without them noticing and added, "I want to come too. My treat."
"Su Xiaoqi, good luck!"
"Thanks." Su Xiaoqi smiled at her, then turned to Zhu Zhuqing. "Once this is over, I'm going to eat a lot. Don't be shocked by how I eat."
Meanwhile, Zhao Wuji stretched his limbs and lit a new stick of incense.
"Once it burns halfway, the match ends. I'll let you make the first move. Come."
At this point, all eyes were on Su Xiaoqi—some waiting to see him make a fool of himself, some purely watching for fun, and a few silently cheering him on. But only Zhu Zhuqing was genuinely worried for him.
Without knowing any formal techniques, Su Xiaoqi simply clenched his fists and charged at Zhao Wuji.
Seeing him rush in with no form or finesse, Zhao Wuji smirked, a look of disdain flickering on his face.
As Su Xiaoqi reached him, he let out a shout and threw a punch aimed squarely at Zhao Wuji's head.
"Damn, how is his head so hard?!"
Su Xiaoqi winced and shook his sore hand. Before he could dwell on it, Zhao Wuji's mocking voice rang out.
"Kid, did you forget to eat? That punch couldn't even scratch an itch."
"That was your welcome gift for traveling all this way. Now it's my turn."
"Crap." Su Xiaoqi's heart tightened. He quickly leapt back to put distance between them.
Just then, Zhao Wuji moved—half-squatting to gather power in his legs, then lunging explosively toward Su Xiaoqi.
His speed far exceeded Su Xiaoqi's expectations. With a heavy fist aimed directly at his face, Su Xiaoqi didn't have time to dodge and could only raise his arms to shield himself.
Bang!
It felt like getting hit by a truck. Su Xiaoqi was sent flying backward uncontrollably.
"Xiaoqi!"
"Su Xiaoqi!"
Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong shouted in unison from the sidelines, while Tang San and Xiao Wu didn't react much—this was exactly the outcome they had anticipated.
"Pathetic. That's what you get for overestimating yourself."
Dai Mubai was inwardly ecstatic. Even though he could tell Zhao Wuji hadn't gone all out, that punch was more than enough to destroy an ordinary person. Su Xiaoqi's hands were probably useless now.
"What a waste of my time." Zhao Wuji glanced disdainfully at the collapsed Su Xiaoqi, then looked at Tang San and the others. "Next up. Since the incense is still burning, come on. Same rules as before."
Tang San looked into the distance, smiled, and said, "Teacher Zhao, we might need to wait a little longer."
"Hm?" Just as Zhao Wuji was confused, Su Xiaoqi's teasing voice rang out from afar.
"Big bear, where are you going? That punch of yours wasn't all that impressive."
Zhao Wuji's face darkened. He turned back and glared at Su Xiaoqi. "Kid, if you'd just stayed down, you might've gotten off lightly. That last punch? I only used half my strength. But now..."
"I won't be holding back anymore."
With a wicked grin, Zhao Wuji surged forward with even greater speed.
Su Xiaoqi, trying to raise his right arm, felt a sharp pain shoot through it. Though he had taunted Zhao Wuji, the previous punch had inflicted serious damage. Without the Saiyan bloodline in his body, his arm would've been broken for sure. Thankfully, he had kept enough distance to give himself time to dodge.
In the following rounds, although Su Xiaoqi was thoroughly suppressed and clearly on the losing end, he managed to avoid every punch Zhao Wuji threw at him.
"Hey kid, weren't you all talk just now? Why are you darting around like a flea now? Don't tell me you're planning to stall the clock?"
Zhao Wuji was growing more frustrated. He realized Su Xiaoqi was starting to adapt to his speed. Although the boy posed no real threat, dragging this out might actually let him pass the trial. So Zhao Wuji began provoking him with words and deliberately exposed a weak point to bait him in.
With no combat experience, Su Xiaoqi didn't pick up on the trap. Seeing an opening, he launched an all-out punch at Zhao Wuji.
He had taken enough of a beating. All his pent-up frustration went into this punch.
"Got him."
Zhao Wuji grinned. Just as Su Xiaoqi's punch was inches away, he dodged to the side and countered with a heavy right hook to the boy's abdomen.
He intentionally avoided the head—he didn't want to accidentally kill the kid. If Su Xiaoqi died, Zhu Zhuqing would likely quit the academy, and he didn't want to lose a promising student.
Su Xiaoqi clutched his stomach and spat out bitter saliva as he crashed to the ground.
Zhao Wuji didn't relax this time. He placed a foot firmly on Su Xiaoqi's back and said, "Kid, surrender now, and I'll let you go."
"Cough... cough... In your dreams."
Su Xiaoqi gasped, voice hoarse. Whether as a human or a Saiyan, surrendering to an enemy was never an option.
Zhao Wuji applied more pressure with his foot. "Still got that attitude, huh? Let's see what breaks first—your bones or your pride."
"AHHHHH!!"
The searing pain of cracking bones forced a scream from Su Xiaoqi.
"Xiaoqi!"
Zhu Zhuqing shouted and dashed forward—she couldn't take it anymore.
"Zhu Zhuqing, don't think about saving him."
Dai Mubai had been watching her closely and intercepted her before she could reach Su Xiaoqi.
"Get out of my way."
Zhu Zhuqing's voice was icy cold, devoid of emotion.
Dai Mubai suddenly grabbed her wrist and snarled, "Who gave you the courage to talk to me like that? Don't forget your place."
"Today, I'm going to completely cripple him. I'll break every limb in his body—let's see if you can stop me."
"White Tiger, Possession!"
With his words, three spirit rings—yellow, yellow, purple—rose under his feet. He flung Zhu Zhuqing away with a single motion.
Seeing Zhu Zhuqing slammed to the ground, something snapped in Su Xiaoqi's heart.
In that moment of overwhelming rage, a powerful surge of energy erupted from within his body.
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