Daily life of a teacher in the martial arts department

Blue, eerie flames suddenly ignited on the man's fists. He assumed a fighting stance and threw a punch!

A deep blue flame streaked across the air, leaving behind a few sparks. In the instant it dissipated, it seemed as if a current of electricity flashed by.

The fist slammed into the wooden dummy with a loud bang, sparks flew, and lightning flashed.

Popular heroes have their advantages; you can always find various guides for them, allowing you to quickly get started, avoid pitfalls, and rapidly learn various skills. However, correspondingly, everyone knows the kill threshold and combos of these popular heroes.

Unpopular heroes have their downsides. You don't know where to start, no one tells you how to play this hero, and you have to spend several times more time than with popular heroes figuring out the hero's item build, skill points, combos, and passive abilities little by little. But the advantage is...

The moment you flash in and apply Ignite, the enemy has no idea what damage you can deal.

The man withdrew his fist.

Without a doubt, he was Darius.

Just as he was about to throw another punch, there was a knock on the door.

Few dared to disturb Darius at this time.

"Come in."

An unremarkable, forgettable brown-haired youth walked in and smiled, saying, "Good afternoon, Mr. Darius."

“Speak your mind.” Darius clenched his fists, as if communicating with the elements.

"The strategic material warehouse in Coldwind County has been attacked by unidentified terrorists, resulting in the loss of a large amount of minerals. Councilor Watson hopes that Mr. Darius can go to Coldwind County immediately to guard against a possible terrorist attack and to help find the terrorists."

Darius turned his head away expressionlessly.

"Anyone can do this kind of work."

The brown-haired youth politely replied, "But the councilor believes that Mr. Darius is exceptionally capable and could have done it even better."

"...I'll think about it."

"That's your prerogative, so I'll take my leave."

The brown-haired youth took off his hat, bowed slightly, and then left the place.

Darius stretched his neck, and a series of cracking sounds followed.

"What's wrong with that old man? Is he so afraid of not being able to order me around...?"

"What minerals could there be in Coldwind County...?"

"Purple Hua Nong, HT2, White Cloud Sand... and Anti-Isolation Agent?"

"Humph.."

-

An exchange competition, naturally, couldn't be an open competition for the public. Only students from the four colleges and some invited media were allowed to attend. Finally, there was the usual home-field advantage, meaning students could freely come and go as spectators.

Twenty-four students, who were the participants, entered the venue.

Previously, exchange competitions did award points, and to encourage student enthusiasm, winners received various rewards. Later, at some point, that system was discontinued, and even points were no longer strictly calculated. Basically, if you could produce something worthwhile, as long as your performance wasn't disastrous, the school would generally award you extra credits, scholarships, and public praise. As for who won and who lost, that was just a formality.

In other words, what used to be a true battle for honor, a struggle for interests, and a show of force, is now... truly just an exchange and competition among the top talents from various countries, with a deeper sense of friendship.

The rules for the martial arts school are that the four schools will compete against each other. On the first day, two schools will fight one-on-one teams, for example, Seven Stars vs. Morgan. Three people will take turns fighting, and the loser will be replaced by the next person. This continues until the end, but no points are awarded. It's just a matter of who wins at the end and who has more face.

And so on, on the second and third days, until each house had fought against every other house except itself.

On the fourth day, everyone had finished their matches and was familiar with the strength of the other teams. Then, unregulated team battles began. Teams could cooperate, or not; the worst that could happen was getting swiftly defeated and having to return home. The fifth day brought the competition to a close. Typically, a closing ceremony was held... and then, according to tradition, the teacher would take the stage.

Add to that the day it takes to get there and the day it takes to get back, and it's about a week.

Ying Qin Guan and Iris sat in the audience. Ying Qin Guan's gaze swept around, while Iris was drowsy. The host, who was trying hard to speak on the stage, looked like a teacher of an elective course in a junior college, and no one cared about what he was saying.

"Is Teacher Ying looking for someone?" Perhaps because Ying Qin Guan turned his head too frequently, Iris was startled. She opened her eyes with difficulty, as if staying awake was a difficult thing for her.

—Luo Shui and Ying Qin Guan boasted a lot while playing cards, including about meditation. Magicians constantly improved and created meditation methods to improve their practice, one of which was called sleep meditation. This method involved hypnotizing the body for a long time, causing the body to meditate automatically while sleeping. However, because the brain feels very comfortable during meditation, the body develops a liking for sleep, leading many magicians to suffer from narcolepsy. This is considered a controversial meditation method.

Judging from the way the irises were behaving, he figured they were probably already a little... you know.

“I’m looking for Darius.” Ying Qin Guan didn’t hide his purpose, but said meaningfully, “I heard that someone has completed the fusion of magic and martial arts and become a true magic warrior. I’m a little curious, so I came here specifically to see him.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Anti-Separation

"Darius...that guy, the one with the black and white dreadlocks. Seriously, what kind of genius hairstylist could create hair like that..."

As Iris spoke, she gestured with her lips and pointed in a direction for Ying Qin Pass.

Ying Qin Guan didn't even need to turn his head to look; just by hearing the black and white dreadlocks, he knew who it was.

—Unless there's another person in this school with such a free-spirited hairstyle.

".."

So that guy... is it.

Ying Qin Guan felt a little regretful. It turned out that he had met this guy yesterday. He should have used the Mind Slash to teach him that he could eat shit but not say things he shouldn't. But it seemed there was no way to do it. Some things were just impossible to explain. Ying Qin Guan came over only to take the opportunity to beat him up, using the old custom as a pretext. He couldn't do much more than that.

He glanced at Darius again, then looked away and turned to the students who were participating in the competition.

"That's not bad."

Ying Qin glanced at the pass and had a good idea of ​​what was going on.

He genuinely didn't understand the magic system, so he skipped it. Among the martial artists, Fu Feihan, Ju Qiuming, and Bing Ning were slightly stronger. The rest were roughly at the same level, capable of going toe-to-toe with Ji Fa San. For students, the three of them, especially Ji Fa Qi, were indeed quite remarkable.

As for Fu Feihan, Ying Qin Guan felt that if he performed well, he could defeat Ji Fa right now. He was incredibly talented, and his moves were unrestrained and imaginative, allowing him to do whatever he wanted without overstepping the bounds, making him impossible to defend against.

These are the top martial artists cultivated by the world's leading superpowers; there's basically no room for them to hide their abilities. In fact, martial artists of the Nephalem's caliber are virtually impossible to train, no matter how much resources you invest. It's like a limited-edition SSR character—you can't get them by spending money; you can only get them through gacha pulls.

The first round of battle begins.

The Seven Luminaries versus Morgan.

Fu Feihan, with his free-spirited nature, chose to take the lead.

Judging solely from their physique and internal energy, the three opponents weren't actually strong enough to be defeated by him alone. If Zhong Hongyu had been controlling Fu Feihan's body, she could probably have defeated the first person, then revealed a weakness and been defeated by the second. However, Fu Feihan defeated two of them in succession, and when facing the third, he displayed a timely "sign of exhaustion," choosing to concede defeat after a few exchanges.

Then Dong Qianlun took the stage, and the two fought fiercely for more than thirty moves. In the end, the opponent ran out of energy and was defeated.

"Not bad, that Fu Feihan." Although Iris Flower was a magician and didn't know much about the level of martial artists, Fu Feihan had defeated two people and still had energy left over when he fought the third one. Clearly, he was not on the same level as the student opposite him.

"It's alright." Ying Qin Guan felt that Fu Feihan's acting when he was exhausted at the end was a bit ridiculous. Experts should be able to tell the difference... but it doesn't matter, as long as the media can't tell.

Afterwards, Bing Ning and Zhen Li clashed. The guy Ying Qin Guan had his eye on was the last to appear, having concealed a considerable amount of his strength. Yet, he still defeated his opponent. Compared to Fu Fei Han, he attracted far less attention, suggesting he's a cunning old fox. But it's unclear what he was planning to do with his strength. Was it for the team battle on the fourth day? Frankly, it's completely unnecessary; there's no reward for the winner. Building his own reputation is the most important thing.

As Ying Qin Guan pondered casually, he realized that Darius had disappeared without him noticing. He looked around but still couldn't find the striking black and white dreadlocks in the crowd.

"Ugh... what's going on? The area around the City of Truth is just as unsettled as the Holy Alliance."

The iris on the side spoke again. Ying Qin Guan turned around and found that she had pulled out a newspaper from somewhere and was reading the news.

Where did you get this newspaper?

"I brought it with me when I left this morning." Iris yawned and said, "I knew there would be all sorts of boring moments."

—After the martial arts battle ended, the host came to speak again. Although his ramblings were quite good, ramblings are still ramblings.

Ying Qin Guan glanced at the headline news: Hanfeng County had been attacked by unknown terrorists, resulting in the loss of a large amount of precious minerals.

"I don't know if these thieves are stupid or wicked," Iris said lazily. "How do they plan to leave here with such a pile of minerals?"

-

"Having failed to cleanse the filth and remove the foul-smelling lungs, we have no choice but to take a risky approach."

"But it's too difficult for just the two of us. When we broke through that defensive formation, it seemed like some kind of magic locked onto us. I suspect there will be pursuit afterward..."

"There was nothing we could do. Three of us died during the siege of Himura Tanzaku, and we didn't have any extra men left. If we hadn't been beaten by the Nephalem and bedridden for months, we probably would have died in that battle too. So you could say it was a blessing in disguise."

"...That guy's strength is indeed outrageous. The two of us ambushed him, and we were beaten half to death, while he only suffered minor injuries. But what's with that Himura? He almost wiped out our entire execution department..."

At the mouth of a river with a swift current, the two stood by, throwing bag after bag of precious minerals into it.

Without a doubt, they were the terrorists who attacked Coldwind County and stole a large amount of ore.

And now, they are throwing away the ore they risked their lives to seize.

Their sole objective was to seize the anti-detached ore, but during the raid, they couldn't possibly take only that; they had to take as much as possible. However, carrying so much ore, they had no chance of leaving the City of Truth and its vassal states alive.

Therefore, we can only discard it as it is now.

It seems foolish—stealing things they don't need and then throwing them away, but the other party will eventually discover them... But there's no other way; every bit of time they can buy is precious. If it's discovered they're plotting to steal the alien mine, that would be disastrous.

Anti-isolated minerals are the future trend, but countries around the world are still unsure whether this trend will actually materialize. If someone is found to be only interested in anti-isolated minerals... for example, like when Cao Cailan and Jiu Yi went on a blind date and she said, "I only like time-space killing," it would be tantamount to self-destruction.

There are plenty of smart people out there; figuring out their origins shouldn't be too difficult. After all, when it comes to world-leading technology, only the now-extinct Black Dragon Empire truly stands out.

This nation, which was destroyed a year ago, still casts a shadow over countries around the world. Its mixed-race people, post-natal modifications, super full-coverage armor, weapons of war, and their research on their ancestral alien race are all chilling.

The more we realize the terror of the Black Dragon, the more grateful we are for the emergence of the nameless swordsman from Southern Qin. Perhaps in a few decades, his historical status will be on par with the God of War.

The two threw away all the ore, leaving only the anti-isolated ore.

"I really want the storage ring from the novel. I wish such a thing really existed."

"Hmph... Even Wang Qiushui has no clue, he can't make it at all. Don't even think about it for the next thousand years." Another person touched the anti-isolated ore in the bundle and exhaled a breath of turbid air.

"How do we get out of here?"

"Through the Mach Forest"

"Through the Mach Forest?!"

"Yes."

"Damn it, do you think the City of Truth is stupid? With this thing in our hands, we can't take planes or ships, and there's only one road we can walk on. I originally thought the organization would arrange for someone to pick us up... but now that we're really going to have to cross the great forest, the City of Truth will definitely send people to guard us!"

"The Mach Forest has complex terrain, making it difficult for the army to enter. Even if there are people guarding it, they can only guard the exit at most... The organization will send someone to meet us. Enough talk, let's go."

Chapter Thirty-Nine: A Platypus Can't Live Without a Mouth

"Bullshit...this school doesn't even have a board game arcade!"

After the morning's competition ended, Ying Qin Guan had a meal, said goodbye to his students, and started wandering around (searching purposefully). After wandering around for most of the day, he finally had to ask the students around him and was forced to confirm the terrible news.

The Academy of Truth does not have a board game room.

Ying Qin Guan's impression of the school took a sharp turn for the worse. How could a proper university not have a board game room?!