Daily life of a teacher in the martial arts department

"No need to exert any effort, staying or leaving was already predetermined."

The military had prepared healing mages throughout Ouma, who were originally also tasked with disrupting the ritual in extreme circumstances. However, it turned out that the ritual was simply impossible to disrupt. Fortunately, healing magic could still be of some use, but unfortunately, only a little.

Feng Yunke barely managed to sit up and stopped the mages who were healing him, telling them to go and heal others, because he was destined to die.

The direct cause is insufficient lifespan, while the indirect cause is injury.

The Undying Worm's ability to release its virus and consume its lifespan to heal injuries are both passive, like human metabolism—unstoppable, inevitable, and beyond its control. Therefore, there is no such thing as the Undying Worm peacefully coexisting with its host and not releasing the virus, nor is there any use of its abilities only in critical situations. Even a minor injury, like a superficial wound that would have healed quickly thanks to timely medical attention, will trigger the Undying Worm's powerful abilities, consuming your lifespan to repair the injury.

Feng Yunke's lifespan thus came to an end.

He didn't have much life left to live, and this battle with Ye Jiaofang had burned out all of his energy, leaving him with no choice but to die.

He struggled to his feet and gazed into the distance. His view was blocked by layers of buildings. Although Ying Qin Guan and Ye Jiao Fang had only exchanged blows for a dozen seconds, they had already covered hundreds of meters. Feng Yun Ke, standing here, naturally couldn't see them. But he stared intently at that direction, as if he could truly see that battlefield.

A few seconds later, he looked away and glanced at the people around him.

Ying Qin Guan's strength lies in his ability to turn a losing or even game into a winning one, while Ye Jiao Fang's strength lies in his ability to turn a winning game into a crushing one.

Three top-tier fighters and two peerless masters were all beaten to the point of exhaustion. Among them, the most seriously injured were Feng Yunke and Fei Cun Tan Ying, who bore the brunt of the pressure. Feng Yunke was about to die from exhaustion of his life force, and Fei Cun Tan Ying was not in much better shape. His inner energy was exhausted in the previous battle, and in the end, without any inner energy barrier, he was hit solidly and was almost cut in half.

Feng Yunke felt he had acted too impulsively... After Shen 9 was hit, Hishimura Tan's mental state had been unstable, and she made a small mistake at the end. Unfortunately, she encountered Ye Jiaofang, whose ability to seize opportunities was too strong, and this small mistake quickly turned into a fatal one.

He glanced at it and knew what was going on... the alien internal energy that Ye Jiao had left in Feicun Tan Ying's body had taken effect.

When a martial artist has their own internal energy, the foreign internal energy is merely a comprehensive debuff, very severe—so severe that Ye Jiaofang would rather lose an arm than have Ying Qin Guan's foreign internal energy enter his body. But if a martial artist exhausts their own internal energy and is then injected with foreign internal energy, it becomes a fatal blow, especially now that Fei Cun Tan Ying is seriously injured.

"If that's the case...so be it."

He lowered his gaze and sighed softly:

"An endless cycle of reincarnation..."

Feng Yunke made a decision, said something into the earpiece, and soon, all the magicians and others who remained there left, leaving only him and Himura Tan's Sakura.

Beside them, a few psychedelic lights shone.

Cain, who was watching the battle between Ying Qin Pass and Fei Cun Tan Ying, raised an eyebrow slightly and turned to look in Feng Yun Ke's direction. His view was, of course, also blocked by the towering buildings filled with cherry blossoms. But now he was a genuine mythical creature, a special alien race, and naturally would not be restricted by these things.

"It's over just like that... I wonder if we'll ever see each other again."

He chuckled and shook his head. As he himself said, he did not resent the God of War who killed him and the woman who was suspected to be his lover, for three reasons. First, he was not wronged; second, because of this incident, he became an unparalleled mythical creature, a special alien race; and third, it was simply due to his own personality.

"So... how will this battle end?"

Cain turned his gaze back to the arena, his body becoming semi-transparent, passing through the walls to follow the outcome of the battle, while also avoiding the military personnel who came to negotiate with him.

In the field.

Despite losing an arm, Ye Jiaofang's spirits remained high, maintaining an astonishing fighting will. However, regardless of his mental state, the loss of an arm was an undeniable fact. Despite various methods he employed, he inevitably found himself gradually falling into a disadvantageous position. Nevertheless, he continued to seek opportunities to counterattack, exploiting Ying Qin Guan's injured eyes to manipulate light and launch counter-attacks.

The two fought and retreated, covering hundreds of meters in just over ten seconds, their path filled with distorted light and razor-sharp air currents.

With the secret of being airtight exposed, both sides tacitly stopped using this tactic. The side with the advantage would never have used it anyway, and the side with the disadvantage knew that this tactic could be countered, so they naturally stopped using it as well.

As this divine skill was banned, both sides gradually began to inflict effective damage on each other, their inner energy being worn down bit by bit, leading to a war of attrition. Ying Qin Guan's terrifying combat ability came into play, remaining as perfect as a robot, never making a single mistake. Although he didn't have any particularly amazing plays, he still slowly accumulated an advantage, and Ye Jiao Fang's disadvantage was gradually widened, with Ye Jiao Fang unable to find a chance to turn the tide.

At this moment... if Ye Jiaofang wanted to leave, he could still leave, and Ying Qin Guan couldn't stop him.

Ye Jiaofang was a born martial artist, born into this world for martial arts. His intuition was incredibly sharp, and he had already smelled a strange scent... a scent called defeat, which he had never tasted before.

Ye Jiaofang calmly looked up and saw the man opposite him attacking fiercely with a knife. The military explained the use of the Ten Absolute Machines and its mechanisms through a broadcast. Ying Qin Guan quickly got the hang of it. He was already as strong as a monster, and after obtaining this weapon, he became even stronger without any weaknesses. Although Ye Jiaofang also left several wounds on him, after shattering the inner energy barrier, he was basically exhausted and the attacks were ineffective.

"Should I...lose?"

Clang!

Another stab!

The jet-black Tang sword descended with terrifying force, slamming Ye Jiaofang into the ground. The ground within a hundred-meter radius instantly shattered, spiderweb-like cracks spreading and causing the entire earth to collapse... The power of this attack was astonishing. However, the more astonishing it appeared, the more ineffective it was. This was because it meant Ye Jiaofang had perfectly neutralized the force.

Amidst the dissipating smoke and dust, a purple hue filled Ye Jiaofang's pupils. Although he had perfectly deflected the force of Ying Qin Guan's attack, he was still momentarily stunned. But Ying Qin Guan's blade, like Yasuo with no cooldown, slashed down with incredible speed.

Ye Jiao looked into her pupils, and the pitch-black Tang sword gradually filled her field of vision.

Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Heart of Struggle (Part Three)

"It failed?"

"Ah... I have nothing left."

"What a loser."

"I can't argue with that... but can't you at least offer me some comfort?"

"I'm sorry, but you don't need comforting."

"Why do you say that?"

"If a difficulty knocks you down, no one can lift you up. For you, there is only one kind of failure in the world, and that is admitting defeat yourself. Now, that time has not come."

A thousand years ago, in Sakuramansu, low-lying houses dotted the landscape. Poor people, dressed in coarse cloth, worked from sunrise to sunset, leading mundane and monotonous lives. If they had any spiritual solace... it was probably the Kinmei Shrine perched atop Mount Otenjin.

This is considered one of the most famous shrines in Ouma. The former shrine maiden and current chief priestess, Kamiya, is renowned throughout Ouma. Rumors say she can predict good and bad fortune, and has demonstrated several incredible abilities, including seemingly seeing a person's birth date and time out of thin air and accurately predicting a woman's menstrual cycle. The people of Ouma believe she is the incarnation of a goddess. Therefore, at such a young age, she became the chief priestess of the Kamiya Shrine... Of course, the truth is not so simple.

This is halfway up Mount Otenjin, in a deserted meadow. Shenya is dressed in a red and white shrine maiden outfit, which is her usual attire that she has maintained to this day. She sits on the grass with her hands wrapped around her knees, her head resting on them, holding a small blackboard in her hand, and looking at the boy to the side with her face turned to the side.

The boy she was looking at was dressed in linen clothes. He looked to be about ten years old and had a pair of purplish-red pupils. He was lying on the ground with his hands behind his head.

He was an outsider named Ye Jiaofang who came to Yingman to work. He arrived in this country on a ship when he was sixteen years old and stayed here for two years. Not long ago, he tried to start a business, but failed miserably. He lost all his savings from working here for two years and, as he himself said, he had nothing left.

It's hard to imagine that these two people would get along. They have absolutely nothing in common in terms of identity, class, shared interests, and so on. They don't seem like the kind of people who could possibly get along. But the fact is, Master Gonmiya of the Qiming Shrine has taken time off work to come here and keep the other person company.

"You think so highly of me?" The young man named Ye Jiaofang chuckled. "I didn't even know I was this capable."

"That wasn't a compliment about how good you are."

The other party slowly raised the small blackboard.

Ye Jiaofang lost all his wealth, yet he could still laugh. He asked with interest, "What were you talking about?"

"To be precise, I'm talking about your personality."

"Personality..." Ye Jiaofang raised an eyebrow slightly, about to say something, when the voices of the priestesses suddenly rang out not far away.

"Lord Kagami, are you here?"

"Lord Kuji is angry. Please come back quickly, Lord Shinya?"

Seeing this, Ye Jiaofang said, "Go back quickly... What? I thought you really had time, but it turns out it's like this too."

Shenya stood up and patted her thigh.

"I thought you'd say something like, 'Ah, how touching! Lord Shinya actually skipped work for someone as insignificant as me! I must repay Lord Shinya by working like a slave...'"

Ye Jiao put down the stick and read aloud, "Ah, so touching... I forgot the rest."

"You can forget even an open-book exam? Get out of here!"

After quickly leaving behind a sarcastic remark, Shen Ya hopped away to the side, only to be discovered by the shrine maidens, allowing Ye Jiaofang to escape... If it had been discovered that Shen Ya had been with him during her disappearance, who knows how much trouble that would have caused.

Ye Jiao lay there for a while, then suddenly came to her senses.

"Oh no... I came here to borrow money from her."

Ye Jiaofang's business failed, and debt collectors took everything from him. Now he's penniless, evicted from his rented room, and struggling to even eat. He originally planned to borrow some money from Shen Ya, at least to find a way to survive. But in the end, he couldn't find the opportunity to ask... no, perhaps he didn't want to. He's already in such a sorry state, hasn't he?

He sighed, got up, and started to get down. It was getting late, and if he didn't go down the mountain soon, he might run into trouble.

By the time Ye Jiao returned to the city, it was already late. Fortunately, there were some lights in the city. Although this era didn't have a particularly rich nightlife, there were still some activities... of course, only for those with plenty of money.

Ye Jiaofang had only eaten breakfast all day and was now starving. The aroma of snacks wafted from the street from time to time, coming from the pushcarts along the street: oden, fried skewers, wontons, and other local specialties.

"I don't know what to do..."

Perhaps to escape these things, Ye Jiao wandered around aimlessly and unknowingly returned to his rented room. He had lived here for two years and returned here every day. Although he did not intend to come back today, he still followed his instincts and came here.

Ye Jiaofang sighed and was about to leave when a hesitant voice came from the other side.

"Ye Jun?"

Ye Jiaofang was slightly taken aback and looked up.

A young girl emerged from the shadows of the house. She had long hair tied in a single ponytail and draped it over her shoulder.

Upon seeing Ye Jiaofang, her face lit up with barely suppressed joy, and she said:

"I heard you were scammed and the creditors came to your door. I was worried, so I came to check on you. The creditors actually took all your things... I've been looking for you all day, but I couldn't find you. I had no choice but to wait here for a while, thinking you might come back... Are you okay? Are you hungry? Do you want to get something to eat? Do you have a place to stay? What are your plans for the future? I'm sorry."

She suddenly realized she had talked too much. Even her mother wouldn't keep asking her questions like that. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she lowered her head, whispering, "Um...am I being a bit long-winded?"

"No...you've come at the right time, Qingyi." Ye Jiao took a few steps forward, grabbed her hand amidst her exclamation, and said earnestly, "I have a favor to ask."

"Yes...yes." The girl seemed to have misunderstood something, a blush creeping onto her face. She swallowed hard, losing her usual composure, and stammered, "Please...please speak!"

Ye Jiaofang said, "Please lend me some money."

"..?"

Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Heart of Struggle (Part Four)

Kimura Kiyoi, the nineteen-year-old daughter of the owner of Kimura Rice Shop, studied abroad and is shrewd and calculating, but she never mistreats her workers. Ye Jiaofang used to be a worker for them. Half a month ago, he felt he had saved enough money, so he resigned, hoping to make a name for himself. Obviously, he didn't have the talent. In just half a month, he lost all the money he had earned over the past two years and even incurred a large debt.

Ye Jiaofang didn't borrow money to pay off his debts, of course. Although the other party did have the money, he only borrowed some for food and lodging. He planned to find a way to make up the rest himself.

The two found a shop nearby. Ye Jiao hadn't eaten all day and was already dizzy from hunger. Fortunately, he was a very self-disciplined person and didn't make any impulsive purchases.

"Would you like something to eat?" Ye Jiaofang turned to look at Kimura Kiyoi, guessing that the other party might have been waiting for him for quite some time.

Kiyoi Kimura nodded and sat down to the side.

"Yes, please give me a bowl of thousand-year-old ramen."

While waiting for their food, the two started chatting. Ye Jiaofang spoke first, asking, "Did you wait there for a long time? I'm sorry to have worried you."

He spoke very frankly, just like when he borrowed money, without any embarrassment.

Kiyoi Kimura shook her head, a hint of worry in her eyes, and said, "That's not important... Anyway, what did you do today? We couldn't find you anywhere. Everyone thought you couldn't handle the blow and committed suicide."

Ye Jiaofang was somewhat surprised and said, "Do I look like someone who can't handle setbacks?"

"Of course I don't think so... but you were indeed missing for a whole day. What did you do?"

"Well...it's not important."