Chapter 86: Beating Zhu Hong (Part 2)

"I knew this would happen!" Seeing that his three moves were either straightforward or reversed, Zhu Hong was already prepared. As the fourth-ranked student in the entrance examination, he had experienced numerous battles, big and small. Such crude moves initially went unnoticed, but once he was on guard, how could they possibly win? He sneered inwardly, raising his right hand to block the opponent's attack route and protect his vital point. Just as he was about to counterattack, he saw that Zheng Yang's downward-attacking fingers were merely a feint, while another fist had already arrived before him, heading straight for his face.

Bang! Before he could react, he was struck hard. "Damn it, you're despicable..." Stumbling back two steps, Zhu Hong's nose was running and tears streamed down his face. Zheng Yang's punch was much more powerful than Yuan Tao's; one blow left him almost unconscious.

"Despicable? There's no such thing as despicable in battle!" Zheng Yang couldn't be bothered with pleasantries. Having landed a successful blow, he pressed forward, his left hand continuously poking at Zhu Hong's vital point, while his other fist repeatedly aimed for his face. He employed both attacks simultaneously, without hesitation or any moral qualms.

"You..." Every time Zhu Hong tried to block, he found one of the attacks was a feint. After a few blows, his face became even more swollen, and he felt dizzy and disoriented, so frustrated he almost wanted to vomit blood. This is too shameless! Even if you know my vital point, do you have to keep attacking it like this? It's like constantly checkmating in chess—is there any point to it? Is there any sportsmanship? My face is already this swollen, and you're still hitting me... Weren't we going to have a fair duel? Where's the fairness? Where's the justice? And "stopping before injury"... "not harming friendly relations"... Where exactly is your "stopping point"?

"Stop..." Knowing that continuing the fight might lead to death, Zhu Hong suppressed his immense grief and quickly retreated: "I surrender..." He had no choice but to surrender. The opponent knew his vital point and had no warrior's honor, continuously attacking. How could he block that? Before he was injured, he could have relied on his movement technique to dodge and counterattack. But now, his eyes were so swollen he could barely see. If he continued, he feared he would die there.

"Good that you surrendered. Zhao Ya, it's your turn now," Zhang Xuan said. "Please enlighten me!" Zhao Ya walked over, and without waiting for the opponent to object, immediately launched a furious assault. Her attack routine was no different from Zheng Yang's: either the vital point or the face. Zhu Hong cried.

"Alright, Wang Ying, you try too!" He surrendered again, still without a chance to speak, and Wang Ying also came forward. Next, Liu Yang... Soon, all five of Teacher Zhang's students had tormented him. At this point, Zhu Hong's eyes were swollen into mere slits, making him almost indistinguishable from a blind man.

"Alright, pay up quickly. A thousand gold coins per person for us, plus the gate repair, for a total of ten thousand!" Yuan Tao stepped forward. "Ten thousand? There are only five of you, how does that add up to ten thousand?" Zhu Hong was going crazy. "Our gate alone is five thousand!" Yuan Tao said as if it were obvious. "Five thousand?" Zhu Hong's tears flowed freely. This broken gate, you could get five for a hundred gold coins, and they're saying five thousand? You don't have to extort people *that* much!

"If you don't want to pay, that's fine. Teacher Zhang, we'd still like to spar with this fourth-ranked master from the entrance exam. We hope you'll permit it!" Zheng Yang said. "Hmm, when sparring with fellow students, you must show mercy!" Zhang Xuan nodded seriously. "Show mercy? No, that's not necessary... No, isn't it enough if I pay?" Hearing Teacher Zhang readily agree and say the same words as before, Zhu Hong's mouth twitched. How could he dare waste another word? He quickly took ten one-thousand gold notes from his pocket and handed them over. As he handed them over, his heart bled. Although he came from a wealthy background, ten thousand gold coins were practically all his savings from recent years, lost just because he delivered a challenge letter here... After paying the money, fearing that another moment's delay would get him beaten to death, Zhu Hong turned and fled. He had swaggered in moments ago, believing himself superior to all other students, probably never dreaming he would be beaten to such a state here.

"Teacher..." After Zhu Hong left, Zheng Yang, Yuan Tao, and the others looked at Teacher Zhang, who was seated in the center, with expressions of shock and eyes full of admiration! The reason they could defeat Zhu Hong was, naturally, due to his guidance on those three moves. Just a casual pointer allowed them to easily defeat their opponent, as if he knew what martial arts techniques Zhu Hong would use. How did he do it?

***

"Teacher Lu, do you think this Zhang Xuan will accept your challenge?" Elder Hong Hao stroked his beard and smiled. "With Teacher Lu Xun making a move, this Zhang Xuan is definitely in for trouble. His students will eventually be lured away, leaving him as a commander without troops again." "I don't care if he accepts or not. If he dares to steal my students and I don't teach him a lesson, how will I, Lu Xun, maintain my prestige at Hongtian Academy in the future?" Teacher Lu Xun snorted coldly. "That's true!" Elder Hong Hao nodded. Just as he was about to speak, he saw a person with a swollen, pig-like face walk in. "Teacher Lu, please help me..." The newcomer immediately fell to his knees and burst into tears.

"Who are you...?" Seeing the person's completely unfamiliar appearance, Lu Xun was startled. "I'm Zhu Hong..." The newcomer suffered another ten thousand points of damage. "Zhu Hong? Didn't I send you to deliver a challenge letter? How did you end up like this?" Hearing the other person state his name, Lu Xun indeed recognized Zhu Hong's faint features on the swollen face and couldn't help but ask. You just delivered a challenge letter, how did you get like this? "I was beaten..." Zhu Hong's tears flowed.

"Zhang Xuan actually disregarded his status as a teacher and attacked you?" Lu Xun's face darkened, and he abruptly stood up, a powerful aura surging around him. He had already opened dozens of acupoints, making him a true expert of the Acupoint Opening Realm. No wonder he's a star teacher; with such strength, he could easily be an academy elder. Zhu Hong was the fourth-ranked expert in the entrance exam. Although this ranking didn't solely indicate strength, it did mean his combat power was exceptional among freshmen. Zhang Xuan had no senior students under him, so the only person who could have beaten Zhu Hong to this state could only be Teacher Zhang!

"It was... his students... Teacher Zhang... didn't attack!" Zhu Hong was filled with embarrassment. "Students? You mean Zhao Ya, Zheng Yang, and the others?" Since he was going to compete with them, Teacher Lu Xun had specifically investigated and found that the students Zhang Xuan recruited this semester were not too bad. "They ganged up on you? That's not right. Although their rankings aren't low, I specifically guided you, and your cultivation could break through at any time. Even if they teamed up, they shouldn't have been a match for you!" Although Zhao Ya and the others were not weak, Zhu Hong was stronger. In the past two days, he had also put in a lot of effort, and in terms of combat power, he had almost no match below Martial Artist Two. Even if those few teamed up, they probably couldn't defeat him! How could he have been beaten to such a state in such a short time?