Hard-fought Battle

Xiao Ruohan stood on the dueling platform, her emotions in turmoil.

Though she didn’t glance in Chen Feng’s direction, she knew he was watching her.

The memory of Liu Weiwei defeating her opponent in a single move flashed through her mind.

Xiao Ruohan resolved to end her own match just as swiftly—preferably with a single strike.

She refused to let herself appear weaker than Liu Weiwei, her former rival, especially now that the latter had become Chen Feng’s disciple.

Soon, her opponent stepped onto the platform—a young man wielding a long staff.

He smiled at her. “I’ve practiced your Subduing Dragon Palm. Didn’t master it, but I’m familiar with its techniques.”

Those words alone sent a tremor through Xiao Ruohan’s heart.

This is bad, she thought.

When the fight began, her fears were confirmed.

Xiao Ruohan struggled.

She could tell her own physical strength wasn’t inferior to his, yet every attack she launched was barely deflected, most of its force dissipated.

After dozens of exchanges, she was drenched in sweat, locked in a grueling battle.

In the end, she barely secured victory with a desperate move—Hidden Dragon, Do Not Show.

The young man, now knocked off the platform, nodded at her respectfully.

“I studied your martial techniques and still lost. You’re truly impressive.”

But his praise brought her no joy.

All she felt was humiliation.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Chen Feng, Jin Youxi, and Liu Weiwei—all watching her.

Their gazes felt like needles piercing her pride.

Liu Weiwei had ended her match in one move.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ruohan had fought to exhaustion just to force her opponent out.

And this was someone she’d researched beforehand, someone she’d assumed she could defeat easily.

How many other competitors had studied the Subduing Dragon Palm?

How many could resist the allure of a top-tier martial art?

She didn’t know.

All she knew was that every match from now on would be a brutal struggle—perhaps even a loss.

Because her techniques, her prized skills, had been exposed to the world by that damned War God Dojo.

And it was all her own fault.

With a heavy heart, Xiao Ruohan stepped down from the platform.

The moment she did, her mother’s voice rang out.

“Such bad luck! The others got weak opponents, but you had to face someone so strong.”

“Huh? Ruohan! Where are you going?”

Without looking back, Xiao Ruohan walked away.

“I’m going to the restroom.”

Inside, she locked the stall door, sat on the toilet, and clamped both hands over her mouth.

A single, stifled sob escaped, echoing in the empty space.

At that moment, she remembered being eighteen—the day the doctors told her she had inferior bone structure, that she wasn’t suited for martial arts.

Back then, she’d hidden in a hospital bathroom, just like this, crying silently, terrified of anyone seeing her weakness.

But later, she’d mastered an extraordinary palm technique.

She’d won first place in Jiangcheng City’s Martial Apprentice Competition.

She was supposed to shine.

Why did it turn out like this?

……

Watching Xiao Ruohan leave, Chen Feng turned to Liu Weiwei.

“The palm technique she practices is called the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms.”

“It’s a balanced style, offense and defense combined.”

“But its defensive approach differs from the Divine Fist Dojo’s Vajra Fist.”

"The Fist of Indestructible Vajra is a hard defense technique, excelling in physical resilience."

"The Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms are combat forms—offensive when advancing, defensive when retreating."

"But given Xiao Ruohan's current strength, she probably couldn't withstand even two kicks from you."

Jin Youxi immediately cheered:

"Perfect!"

"Let that traitor learn the might of our master!"

Chen Feng secretly felt relieved that he hadn’t taught Xiao Ruohan the eighteenth palm technique back then.

Once the complete circulation path of the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms was mastered, a qualitative transformation would occur.

In essence, knowing the eighteenth move and not knowing it were like two entirely different martial arts.

This time, even Liu Weiwei would be no match for Xiao Ruohan.

Though Xiao Ruohan was an ungrateful wretch,

Chen Feng had to admit her talent for mastering the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms was exceptional.

The morning matches soon concluded.

The master and his two disciples ate three bowls of paper-thin beef noodles for lunch and found a spot in the stadium to rest.

The afternoon matches went smoothly.

Liu Weiwei once again obliterated her opponent in seconds.

This time, however, she deliberately held back, avoiding serious injury.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ruohan endured another grueling battle.

Her mother, as usual, couldn’t resist complaining, even suggesting the matchups were unfair.

"Why does my daughter always get such tough opponents while Liu Weiwei gets stuck with weaklings?" she grumbled.

In her mind, Liu Weiwei was nothing but her daughter’s former subordinate—someone Xiao Ruohan had even once broken both legs of.

How could Liu Weiwei possibly be stronger now? Why was she breezing through her matches?

On the other side, Kane couldn’t help but shudder every time he saw Liu Weiwei annihilate an opponent.

The thought of being on the receiving end of those terrifying kicks—maybe even multiple—left him uneasy.

When the first day’s matches ended, a minor incident occurred.

As Xiao Ruohan returned to her hotel, a fellow substitute disciple from her sect was abruptly taken away by the Martial Arts Association.

The arrest charges included malicious rumor-mongering, defaming the Martial Arts Association, slandering individuals, disrupting public order, manipulating public opinion, and scamming netizens…

Dozens of accusations in total.

Clearly, he wouldn’t be returning anytime soon.

Over the next few days, Liu Weiwei maintained a flawless twenty-win streak.

Most opponents fell to a single kick; only a handful lasted until the second.

Every time she landed that second kick, Chen Feng and Jin Youxi would rush onto the stage to help her down.

Liu Weiwei privately felt relieved that she hadn’t been matched against Kane from the Divine Fist Dojo yet.

But she also regretted not drawing Xiao Ruohan as an opponent.

Kane, too, counted himself lucky for avoiding that terrifying woman so far.

He’d also kept his own twenty-win record intact.

Xiao Ruohan, meanwhile, fought tooth and nail through every match, nearly losing several times.

Yet through sheer grit—and at the cost of injuries—she clung to her own twenty-win streak.

Gradually, the tournament rankings took shape.

Liu Weiwei of the Celestial Selection Dojo, Kane of the Divine Fist Dojo, and Xiao Ruohan of the War God Dojo all tied for first place in points.

The bottom half of competitors were eliminated outright.

By the rules, defeating an opponent also counted as defeating everyone they had beaten, ensuring no rematches against those already bested by a victor.

Thus, the competition entered its final phase: the battle for the provincial top ten, determined by accumulated points.

Xiao Ruohan’s emotions were conflicted.

She longed to face Liu Weiwei again, to defeat her once more and prove herself.

Yet each time the matchups spared her from that confrontation, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of relief.

Based on Liu Weiwei's track record, she reluctantly realized her win rate was alarmingly low.

However, Xiao Ruohan soon found herself distracted from dwelling on this.

According to the tournament's matchmaking system, her next opponent would be Kane from the Divine Fist Dojo—the very fighter she felt least confident about defeating, aside from Liu Weiwei herself.