37: Chapter 37 Li Moran's Challenge

Wang Pingan had just returned to the dormitory, and his butt hadn't even warmed the bed yet.

Buzz, buzz.

His personal terminal vibrated.

He picked it up and glanced at it; it was a message from an unknown number.

The content was very short, only a few words.

"The good show has only just begun."

Wang Pingan's brow twitched. His finger swiped across the screen, just about to delete this spam message.

Beep beep beep!

That same number directly sent a communication request.

Quite persistent.

Wang Pingan tapped to connect, habitually turned on the speakerphone, and tossed the terminal onto the table.

"Who is this?"

His voice was lazy, carrying a hint of fatigue from just escaping the hustle and bustle.

From the terminal came a suppressed, cold laugh, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.

"Hehe... Wang Pingan, my dear classmate, have you forgotten me so quickly?"

That voice.

Wang Pingan's gaze instantly turned cold.

Li Moran.

He didn't speak, just listened quietly.

He wanted to know what kind of tricks this guy, whom he had already ground into the mud and who could barely manage to stand back up, still wanted to play.

"The special admission slot for Xuan Yuan Galaxy First Martial Arts University is quite tempting, isn't it?"

Li Moran's voice carried an undisguised jealousy and malice.

"Do you think you're secure now? That you can already step on me, and everyone else, under your feet?"

"I'm telling you, Wang Pingan."

"In your dreams!"

"As long as I, Li Moran, am around, don't even think about being so comfortable!"

"What you owe me, I'll make you pay back a thousand, ten thousand times over with interest!"

By the end, that voice had turned into a hysterical roar.

From beginning to end, Wang Pingan didn't say a single word.

Waiting until the other side had finished venting, he slowly picked up the terminal and blew a light breath into the microphone.

"Done talking?"

Li Moran on the other end was clearly stunned for a moment.

"If you're done, I'm hanging up. I'm quite busy."

After saying that, Wang Pingan decisively cut off the communication.

He leaned back in his chair, his fingers unconsciously tapping the tabletop.

Li Moran's call was baffling.

He didn't like trouble.

Especially the kind of trouble that had clearly been resolved but was now flaring up again like dying embers.

The next day.

Wang Pingan's suspicion was confirmed.

The internal network of the entire Elite Base exploded.

A pinned and highlighted post had a title written in shocking, blood-red characters.

[The Path of Martial Arts: No Room for Flukes! I, Li Moran, hereby challenge Wang Pingan to a 'Martial Arts Argumentation'!]

The content of the post was written with great emotion and self-righteousness.

Li Moran first expressed deep grief as he elaborated on the hardship and sanctity of martial arts cultivation.

Then the tone shifted, and he began to insinuate that certain people's "virtue did not match their position" and that they had "stolen honor through unorthodox means."

Although he didn't mention Wang Pingan by name from start to finish.

The meaning between the lines was so clear it might as well have listed Wang Pingan's ID number.

At the end of the post, Li Moran formally issued the challenge.

He requested a public "Martial Arts Argumentation" with Wang Pingan, witnessed by all teachers and students of the base.

The conditions for the argumentation were clearly stated.

First, both parties must undergo the strictest drug testing by the Municipal Martial Arts Association to eliminate all prohibited pills.

Second, the entire argumentation process must be live-streamed online and subject to everyone's supervision.

Third, the loser must publicly admit their inferiority and voluntarily renounce all honors and resources obtained as a result, including that incredibly precious qualification for the Special Recruitment Training Camp!

This post was like a depth charge.

The entire Elite Base was in an absolute uproar.

"Holy crap! Li Moran is going to fight Wang Pingan to the bitter end!"

"Do you think Wang Pingan really used drugs? That breakthrough he had mid-battle was indeed a bit fishy."

"Hard to say... on the path of martial arts, what kind of genius haven't we seen?"

"Now there's a good show to watch! Doesn't matter if he used drugs or not, we'll know after a fight! Whether it's a mule or a horse, let's take it out for a walk!"

Jealousy, suspicion, schadenfreude...

All sorts of emotions fermented wildly in the forums and every corner of the base.

Many people actually had a grudge held deep inside.

They admitted Wang Pingan was strong.

But in their hearts, they were unwilling to accept that someone from an ordinary background could be so much stronger than themselves.

Now Li Moran had stepped forward.

He gave everyone an outlet.

A chance to pull that high-and-mighty genius back down from his altar.

For a time, public opinion was almost overwhelmingly demanding that Wang Pingan accept the challenge.

"Wang Pingan, if you're truly capable, don't be a coward!"

"Exactly! Prove it to us! If you're innocent, we'll apologize to you!"

"Not daring to fight means you have a guilty conscience!"

Looking at these comments, Wang Pingan's expression didn't change in the slightest.

A bunch of idiots.

Being used as tools by someone else, yet still over there waving flags and shouting.

"Wang Pingan!"

Instructor Chen Feng, with a dark face, found Wang Pingan, who was doing basic warm-ups in the training room.

"Don't worry about the stuff on the forum."

His voice was kept very low, carrying an unquestionable tone of command.

"Li Moran is just a mad dog biting whoever he sees. The most important thing for you right now is to prepare for the Special Recruitment Training Camp; there's no need to waste time on him."

"I will go handle this matter and give you an explanation."

Wang Pingan stopped his movements. He looked at Chen Feng's serious face and shook his head.

"Instructor."

"Don't interfere in this matter."

Chen Feng's brow furrowed even tighter.

"What do you mean? You really want to fight him?"

"Fight, why wouldn't I fight?"

The corner of Wang Pingan's mouth curled into a cold arc.

"Some flies, if you don't swat them to death, will keep buzzing in your ear and being annoying."

"Li Moran is that fly."

"This time, I'm going to swat him and all those little buzzing flies behind him to death all at once."

"So they never dare to come within half a step of me again."

Chen Feng looked at Wang Pingan's calm yet bone-chillingly cold eyes, and his heart skipped a beat for no reason.

He knew he couldn't talk him out of it.

In this youth's core, there was a beast hidden that was more ferocious than anyone else's.

"Are you... sure?"

Chen Feng hesitated for a long time before finally asking.

Wang Pingan didn't answer directly.

He just turned around and slowly threw a punch at the force tester in front of him.

Thud.

A dull sound.

The numbers on the screen stopped steadily at '430 kg'.

Not a bit more, not a bit less.

It was exactly the power a Peak Mid-Stage Second Rank should have.

But Chen Feng's pupils suddenly constricted.

Because he clearly saw.

When Wang Pingan threw this punch, there wasn't the slightest leakage of vital energy.

All the power was perfectly condensed at the tip of his fist.

This level of power control...

Chen Feng's heart inexplicably settled down.

He nodded, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

That afternoon.

Wang Pingan's personal account posted its only update on the Elite Base forum.

The content was also very simple.

[Li Moran, your challenge, I accept.]

[Time, location, you decide.]

Below it, a line of small text was attached.

[Additionally, verbal stakes are too boring. I'm adding one.]

[Wager: 1000 Low-Grade Spirit Crystals.]

[Do you dare to follow?]

As soon as this update was posted.

The entire forum crashed once again.

One thousand Low-Grade Spirit Crystals!

What kind of concept was that?

That was enough for an ordinary martial arts family to struggle for several decades without eating or drinking!

Even for geniuses like them in the Elite Base, it was a huge sum of money that would hurt their very foundations!

"Crazy! Wang Pingan has also gone crazy!"

"He's betting his entire net worth!"

"Where did he get so much money? Isn't he afraid of losing everything and going bankrupt?"

And at this moment.

In a certain luxury single room in the base.

Li Moran looked at Wang Pingan's response, looking at the words '1000 Low-Grade Spirit Crystals'.

He was first stunned for a moment.

Immediately after.

A surge of wild joy instantly submerged him like a tide.

He couldn't help but laugh out loud.

That laughter was frantic, distorted, and filled with the pleasure of having his great revenge avenged.

"Hahahaha!"

"Wang Pingan, oh Wang Pingan!"

"You really are a fool who doesn't know death when it's staring you in the face!"

"You refuse the road to heaven and break into the gateless hell!"

"One thousand spirit crystals?"

"Good! Very good!"

"I'm not only going to ruin your reputation, I'm going to turn you into a complete and utter pauper!"

He almost impatiently replied with a single word under Wang Pingan's update.

[I follow!]

The night before the duel.

In Wang Pingan's dormitory, the lights were brightly lit.

He sat cross-legged on the bed, with a pile of vital energy-replenishing potions he had "borrowed" from Instructor Chen Feng laid out in front of him.

He didn't drink them.

Just watched them quietly.

On his face hung a playful, determined smile.

He brought up his system panel.

Looking at the balance of over five thousand pay-to-win points and his Peak Mid-Stage Second Rank realm.