Chapter 110: My Name is Zhang Ze, the Sharpest Blade in the Pack

In no time, only about a hundred of the seven or eight hundred students remained standing in the central area.

As things stood, the Logistics Department was the most likely to reach its full quota first. On the other side, in the blue zone, the Tactical Department was still far from its 120-person capacity, save for the Hu brothers and a few others. And that was not even mentioning the Martial Arts Department’s zone; apart from Zhang Ze and his companions, no one had dared to enter.

It was not that the remaining hundred students were truly afraid of Zhang Ze; they were mostly just watching, waiting for Li Zixing to make the first move. After all, he had been the loudest, hadn't he? Why not let the two of them clash first?

...

In the observation room.

"This kid is interesting," Zhao Jinghong said, eyes locked on the screen, a smile breaking out as he spotted Zhang Ze.

"Hmph." Chang Chenghu, the head of the Logistics Department, looked on with disdain. "If you ask me, he's too flashy. I doubt he’ll ever become a true powerhouse."

"Heh." Seeing the disagreement, Xue Zhenshan chuckled lightly. "It’s too early to say whether he’ll be a powerhouse or not. I’m more curious about his actual strength. If you have the strength to back up your arrogance, that’s just self-expression. But without it, you’re just making a fool of yourself."

The other instructors nodded in agreement.

...

"Zhang Ze," Li Zixing barked, seeing that the situation had stagnated. "Do you think no one can beat you?"

"Heh." Truth be told, Zhang Ze looked down on Li Zixing. "Whether I'm good enough or not, why don't you take two steps forward and find out?"

Li Zixing didn't back down. He stepped forward.

Zhang Ze hadn't expected his shouting to actually intimidate these hot-blooded youths. He decided he might as well use Li Zixing for some practice. He was puzzled, though—Li Zixing was only a second-grade martial artist with a cell strength of three or four hundred. There were plenty of people stronger than him; why was he being so jumpy? Was he really that eager to throw his life away?

...

There was no time for nonsense. Zhang Ze walked slowly toward Li Zixing.

*Bang!*

They clashed the moment they met. Zhang Ze let Li Zixing land a punch squarely on his chest, then said coldly, "Look at that, I didn't even feel it."

"You..." Li Zixing knew Zhang Ze was strong, but he hadn't realized he was *this* strong. In his mind, even if Zhang Ze was better, the gap shouldn't have been that wide. Clearly, he was mistaken.

"Get lost." Before he could finish his thought, Zhang Ze raised his leg and delivered a sharp kick. The thrust-kick was one of the few martial techniques Zhang Ze had mastered. Combined with his cell strength of nearly eight hundred, the impact on Li Zixing was devastating.

The crowd watched as Li Zixing was sent flying with a single blow. He hit the ground hard, struggling several times to rise but failing. That was the price of trying to act tough in front of Zhang Ze. He was down for the count.

...

Without sparing another glance at Li Zixing, Zhang Ze surveyed the hundred or so students in the central area. These were the ones he and Qi Lijun truly had to face. Most of them were at least second-grade martial artists; it was unlikely anyone lower would even consider the Martial Arts Department.

Zhang Ze glanced at Qi Lijun beside him, as if asking if he was ready. Before Qi Lijun could answer, someone called out.

"I say, you two..."

Two figures walked slowly toward the front. They were familiar faces: Fang Ying from the Liuqing Martial Arts Hall and Cheng Ren from the Changxing Martial Arts Hall. Fang Ying wore a mocking smile. "Brother Zhang Ze, are we good enough to catch your eye now?"

...

It was clear to Fang Ying and Cheng Ren that Zhang Ze and Qi Lijun intended to take on all hundred of them at once. Naturally, they had no intention of playing by Zhang Ze's rules. No matter how strong Zhang Ze was, could he really defeat a hundred people? They saw right through him: Zhang Ze was just using them to show off and gain the attention of the instructors and department heads.

*We won't play along,* they thought. *Fang Ying and Cheng Ren aren't losing to you. Let us in first, and you can play whatever games you want after that.*

They weren't the only ones with this idea. Soon, Qian Xiaoming, Jia Zhengyi, and others stepped forward. The implication could not have been clearer.

...

In the observation room.

"These little ones are quite something," Xue Zhenshan said with a smile.

Zhao Jinghong responded, "These are the ones who passed the martial arts hall assessment in early August. They all live in Building 4 of the Dragon Lake dormitory area."

Xue Zhenshan nodded, enlightened. Chang Chenghu, who had been critical of Zhang Ze, chimed in again: "Didn't this kid brag about testing others? In my opinion, he'd only be worth something if he could take down all of them!"

The other instructors were speechless. It was obvious that Fang Ying and the others were formidable. Chang Chenghu clearly just wanted to see Zhang Ze and Qi Lijun beaten to a pulp.

...

Zhang Ze was being pressured by Fang Ying and the others. Should he let them into the red zone? Qi Lijun was hesitant, but Zhang Ze had already made up his mind. *I want to show off! If I don't beat you guys too, what’s the point? Bullying the weaklings in the back is boring.*

"I don't think you guys are all that," Zhang Ze said, stepping forward toward Fang Ying and Cheng Ren, his voice dripping with arrogance.

Cheng Ren was taken aback. In his eyes, Zhang Ze was just asking for trouble. "You want to beat us all? Don't make me laugh!"

"Zhang Ze, I think you've lost track of your own strength!" Cheng Ren mocked.

*Bang!*

As Cheng Ren finished speaking, they moved in sync. After a dull thud, both Zhang Ze and Cheng Ren retreated several steps. Cheng Ren looked relaxed. "So you've reached the third grade too."

"Hmph." Zhang Ze felt that Cheng Ren was always trying to steal the spotlight.

Zhang Ze had stopped wearing his protective gear. He was being much more cautious now. Through his system interface, he knew that not only Cheng Ren but also Qian Xiaoming had broken through to the third grade. And Fang Ying’s cell strength of 499 was nothing to sneeze at, either.

Zhang Ze put on a show of indifference, pointing at the hundred or so students behind him. "Are you lot too scared to move? Do you really want us to rush in and beat you idiots up as a group?"

"Damn it!" "You're too arrogant!" "Brothers, let's take them!"

A hundred people—most of them second-grade martial artists—erupted into a frenzy and charged at Zhang Ze and Qi Lijun.

Qi Lijun felt like crying. He was still only second-grade! He knew better than anyone what it felt like to have a hundred second-grade martial artists charging at him.

But Zhang Ze was pumped. Why was he so confident? Was it his third-grade cultivation? His eight hundred cell strength? No. It was his twenty thousand wealth points—an almost endless supply of pills to instantly restore his strength.

"Cheng Ren, you idiot! Just wait, I'm going to take you down!" Zhang Ze shouted, charging straight into the crowd. This was the smartest move. If he faced Fang Ying and Cheng Ren head-on, he’d be beaten to a pulp. But in the chaos of the crowd, he only had to face three or four people at a time. With his superior strength and ability to recover, he had every confidence he could hold his own.

"Cheng Ren, you idiot, I'm right here!" "Fang Ying, you're slow—come and hit me!"

Zhang Ze wove through the crowd, knocking students down one by one. The core fighters like Cheng Ren couldn't even touch him. Whenever they got close, Zhang Ze would slip back into the throng. The hundred new students, instead of helping defeat him, became his human shield.