High-level martial arts: Starting with a heart of steel, stats crush everything.

In fact, Wei Zhen had already seen this "explosive" news long before Chen Mo even mentioned it.

"Zhao Dehai, Zhao Dehai, I shouldn't have waited. I should have dealt with you long ago..."

Wei Zhen was furious. Chen Mo was fighting for Taizhou here, and he was stabbing him in the back.

If Wei Zhen hadn't already figured out why Chen Mo was expelled from No. 1 Middle School, she might have actually believed his nonsense.

To put it bluntly, it was hard for him to accept that the underachiever he once looked down upon had suddenly become a hero in Taizhou City.

Just as Wei Zhen was pondering how to deal with Zhao Dehai, his phone suddenly rang.

Wei Zhen felt a headache coming on as soon as he saw the caller ID.

"Mayor, I already know that Zhao Dehai has smeared Chen Mo. This matter should be handled as it should be, and I agree to it."

"Old Wei, do you think I don't want to deal with Zhao Dehai?" The mayor of Taizhou sighed.

"When we brought people to his door, the place was empty, leaving only Zou Shuhua and Zhao Qian lying in the ICU."

"You guys be careful lately, Zhao Dehai might come up with some dirty tricks to deal with you."

The mayor is now quite concerned about Chen Mo; he's a golden brand for Taizhou.

"I'll handle the debunking; I'll calm this down."

"Old Wei, your task is to take good care of Chen Mo and make sure that no outside influences affect his match."

"Do you understand?"

The mayor's tone was quite serious, which showed how much he took the matter seriously.

"I understand, but it's best to deal with this as soon as possible, otherwise it will have a very negative impact on Chen Mo."

Wei Zhen was well aware of this; he had to shield Chen Mo from all external problems so that he could focus on the competition.

Moreover... backstabbing is the kind of behavior that Wei Zhen hates the most.

This is why he wasn't in Taizhou. If he were here, he would have crippled Zhao Dehai by now.

"I've already started using some connections, and the higher-ups are taking this matter very seriously. I expect a debunking article will be released soon."

Wei Zhen hung up the phone after talking with the mayor for a while.

He had just hung up the phone when a brand new article debunking the rumor popped up on his phone.

[How could the principal of a prestigious high school personally cultivate a peerless genius? What untold secrets lie behind this?]

[School bullying? No! Chen Mo's actions are called anti-bullying!]

[Shameless! The principal of a high school in a certain city openly slandered a national competition participant and fled to evade punishment!]

A flood of rebuttal articles began to circulate wildly online, and the rumors were quickly overshadowed before they could gain any traction.

Wei Zhen also breathed a sigh of relief. He now only hoped that this matter would not affect Chen Mo's performance tomorrow.

That's the quarterfinals and semifinals! You can imagine the pressure Chen Mo is under right now.

"Damn Zhao Dehai, don't let me catch you..."

...

The following day, as another round of fireworks exploded, the eight contestants entered the venue simultaneously.

Apart from Chen Mo, the other seven contestants are all seeded players.

Each of them is extremely powerful, with an average martial artist level of late level four, and each of them has mastered at least four martial arts techniques.

Good morning, everyone!

The narrator's passionate voice rang out, stimulating everyone's senses.

"Today! This is the most exciting moment of this year's National Youth Talent Championship!"

"After the quarterfinals, it's time to fight for a spot in the final!"

Let's wait and see!

"Let's see who makes it to the final and wins this year's championship!"

Amid cheers from the audience, a large screen descended from the sky.

"It seems the matchup list is finalized. Let's cheer for the eight strongest geniuses in the nation!"

He turned off the microphone and took a sip of water infused with Malva nut.

"Commentator, the top ten of this year's popularity ranking have been released. Do you need...?"

A staff member walked over with an A4 sheet of paper, but before he could finish speaking, the paper had disappeared.

"Of course, this is a super trending topic, we definitely need it."

The commentator glanced at the popularity chart in his hand and then froze.

"No way..."

The commentator rubbed his eyes, somewhat unable to believe the authenticity of this popularity ranking.

Gu Feng, the strongest genius of the human race, was ranked third, while Yang Zuo was only ranked fourth.

The second place went to Ma Wanglin, who was eliminated yesterday, whose popularity completely overwhelmed Yang Zuo and Gu Feng.

As for the first...

"Do people vote with their feet these days...?"

The commentator was somewhat puzzled as to why Chen Mo, a level two martial artist, had taken the top spot on the popularity chart among all the level four and five martial artists.

"But that's good too, at least it's generated a lot of buzz."

The commentator smiled slightly and turned the microphone back on to explain the upcoming match.

As expected, today's quarter-final match results were as predicted, with the organizers continuing the previous "Tian Ji horse racing" matchmaking method.

Gu Feng and Yang Zuo will each face a relatively weak seeded player, which will ensure that their trump cards are not revealed before the final.

Chen Mo is facing off against Chu Xuan, the last remaining member of the Five Colors Team.

The final match was between a level 5 early-stage martial artist from southern Beijing and a level 5 early-stage martial artist from Tianjin.

The two are evenly matched and are expected to fight for a long time, so the organizers scheduled their match for the last game of the morning.

As the whistle blew, Gu Feng began his battle.

The Taizhou City family and friends group watched Gu Feng's battle on the arena with rapt attention.

"Mom, do you think my brother can beat Gu Feng?"

Chen Yi's initial attitude of "doing her best" has shifted to "my brother might actually win the championship."

"I don't know, but I feel that Gu Feng is really amazing."

Xu Liu shook her head. As an ordinary person, she couldn't tell who was stronger or weaker. She only knew that her son was the best.

"My son is just as good; he's already in the quarterfinals."

Chen Li, on the other hand, had complete confidence in Chen Mo.

Putting everything else aside, at least the Chen family of three is no longer worried about Chen Mo's safety.

"Your son, your son, is like Xiao Mo didn't crawl out of my belly."

Xu Liu pinched Chen Li, and his whole family...

No, the entire city of Taizhou is proud of Chen Mo.

"Yes, yes, yes, you've worked hard, my wife~" Chen Li immediately retorted, smiling and kissing Xu Liu.

"Shameless! There are so many people here!"

Xu Liu quickly pushed Chen Li away, a blush rising on her cheeks.

"Tsk, so affectionate..." Chen Yi pursed her lips, thinking how cheesy this couple was.

Not only the Chen family of three, but also the relatives and friends from Taizhou City were in a very relaxed atmosphere.

Everyone was no longer anxious; Chen Mo's performance had given them plenty of confidence.

At least, Chen Mo won't fall before the semi-finals.