Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

  Duan Lian was shocked awake by the phone. He felt his head pound, and his limbs were weak. He could even smell a sweet scent in the air. It was as if half of his mind was awake, but the other half was still tormented by a nightmare.

  He was located in a luxurious, single dorm room, where the spirit energy density was incredibly high. If he slept deeply for an hour or two, he should have recovered his strength.

  This was a strange thing which had never happened before.

  He thought about it carefully and figured that it must be because his nerves were stretched too tightly as he trained madly over the past six weeks. He had also fought fiercely during the tournament between courses, which made him use up too much of his stamina and spirit energy.

  But the tournament had come to an end, and he had already obtained the right to head to the northern battlefield, so his mind relaxed. It was only natural then that it would send warning signs to him.

  Duan Lian grabbed his handphone and checked the time.

  It was 00:35. Who would call him so late at night?

  “Hello?” he asked in a hoarse voice. “Big Brother Duan, Qiu Jie was knocked out in the toilet!” a martial arts course coursemate who was quite friendly with him said anxiously.

  “He went to bathe just now, and he didn’t come back even after more than half an hour passed. I thought that something was weird, so I knocked on the door loudly, but he didn’t react. Then, I kicked it, and I saw him unconscious on the floor while foaming at the mouth. There’s a deep bruise on his neck, and it looks like he was choked by someone until he fell unconscious!”


  “What?” Duan Lian was shocked. “You’re in a four-man dorm, right? Was Qiu Jie alone in the dorm when he went to bathe?”


  “Little Tao and I were here all the time. He didn’t come out, and the bathroom was locked on the inside. No one could have possibly gone in,” he said, “unless they jumped in from outside through the transom in the bathroom. But we’re staying on the ninth floor, and the transom is tiny. Even a girl who is 160cm tall would have a hard time crawling in. Who could have crawled in silently to attack Qiu Jie?”


  Duan Lian frowned. “What happened then? Why did you call me?”


  “While we were preparing to send Qiu Jie to the medical office, we ran into the people from Dorm 608. They were carrying their friend Zhou in a flurry of motion. They were also sending him to the medical office,” he said.

  “I heard that Zhou was training with two of his dormmates. After they ended their training session, while they were on their way back, the two dormmates walked slightly ahead, and around twenty seconds later, they notice Zhou having vanished without a trace. They searched for more than an hour and finally found him in a shrub very far away. He was beaten black and blue and lay unconscious!”


  “That’s……” Duan Lian’s pupils shrank. “Wait. Qiu Jie and Zhou are both people who challenged Meng Chao with me during the day!”


  “That’s right. That’s why I decided to call you,” the coursemate said.

  “Bastard. Could it be that Meng Chao doesn’t dare to face the ten of us head-on so he decided to sneakily follow us and attack us after the match has ended and we’re alone?” Duan Lian was furious. “Hurry up and call the others!”


  He also made some calls. Three challengers did not pick up. The other two had their dormmates pick up their phones.

  Three people were missing. From witnesses, they learned that before ten o’clock at night, they were seen in cultivation rooms or the library. Then, they vanished.

  The other two were discovered under their beds. They were unconscious and had been beaten really badly.

  Two of the students had stayed in dorms with multiple people in one room. They had dormmates sleeping soundly in their rooms, but even when they were shocked awake by the phone call, the muddle-headed dormmates did not know that there had been a fight in their rooms. Or rather, they did not know that their dormmate had gone through a one-sided fight.

  Yet they were all martial artists with incredibly sharp senses!

  Duan Lian could not help but cuss.

  When he made his final call, the person himself picked it up.

  “Zhang Nuo, you have to be careful of Meng Chao. That despicable guy is ambushing us!” Duan Lian said quickly. “You’re staying in a single dorm room too, right? Hurry up and go to a place with a lot of people or come to my place! We’ll go and look for a lecturer together!”


  “Big Brother Duan……” The voice on the other side of the phone was very weak. “My…… My head is really dizzy. My limbs are weak. I think I’m poisoned.”


  “What?” Duan Lian was shocked. “Hurry up and open the door. Call for someone!”


  “Ah!” A pained scream came from the other end of the phone.

  “What’s going on!” Duan Lian almost went mad.

  “Someone…… Someone stuck a semi-transparent layer of monster spikes on my door handle. I think it’s coated in poison as well. I wanted to open the door, but when I held it, my skin was pierced, and it’s numb now.”


  Zhang Nuo’s voice became weaker. “He also…… used monster glue to seal my door shut. I…… can’t go out.”


  His words were followed by a loud thud of him falling on the floor. Then, it was as if great darkness had swallowed up whatever was on the other side of the phone. Not a single sound came through.

  Duan Lian quickly got up. He did not care about his dizziness and immediately put on combat boots he had spent two thousand monster coins to make. The bottom of the boots was inlaid with steel, and he even had sharp blades hidden in them.

  “Ah!”


  Right when his right foot entered his combat boot, he cried out. When he pulled his foot out, his big toe was covered in blood.

  He untied the laces and turned the boot upside down. A dark purple bindii fell out.

  Its thorns shone with a dark green light, and they were covered by a few drops of blood.

  When he looked at his toe again, the blood flowing out was dark green.

  Duan Lian’s eyes went wide, and he wanted to call for help, but his world spun. It was as if the air had been instantly sucked out. He did not even have the strength to grab his phone.

  Duan Lian moved to the door.

  Right after he threw himself forward, he stopped himself and staggered to the window.

  But right after he took two steps, he was tripped by something and crashed onto the floor.

  The crash was very bad, and it knocked out his last remaining strength. He could only gasp for breath like a fish on a chopping board.

  Duan Lian lowered his head with great difficulty and saw a nearly invisible, strengthened spider thread between the end of his bed and the foot of his cabinet.

  While he was sleeping, someone had snuck in without his notice. They stuffed the poisonous Iron Bindii into his combat boots, tied a rope to the end of his bed to trip him, released anesthetic gas into the air, and might have even stuck monster spikes to the handles of the door and the window. Naturally, they would also be poisoned.

  While all of that was being done, Duan Lian was going through a nightmare.

  His skin crawled.

  Compared to the fear he had yesterday when he faced monster controller Wu Wu, who was as crazy as a Ghost Leopard, he was even more frightened now.

  They were both monster-level opponents, but the monster today was definitely even more capable of destroying his mind.

  At that moment, a dissection blade that was as thin as a cicada’s wing landed gently on his neck.

  A ghost materialized above him. His eyes shone with a teasing light, and he bent his body to whisper into his ear with a smile.

  “Duan Lian, I won.”


  Goosebumps broke out on Duan Lian’s skin.

  “Th-this means nothing!” He used anger to mask his fear.

  “If you’re talking about time and place, please think about what Ms. Li and I said this morning. First of all, the rules of the challenge are set by the challenged, but I didn’t specify how big the arena was nor how long the match could last. I only said that both sides have to do their best to completely defeat the other party.

  “That’s why, this is a match that has no limits and will never end. I only love these sort of fights,” Meng Chao said faintly. “If you’re talking about me poisoning you or setting up traps, I remember that the norm in the martial arts course is that we can use any weapon and method of our choice. No one ever specified what sort of weapons we can use.

  “We can choose sabers, swords, daggers, thickened steel, combat boots with blades hidden in them, or guns. Since martial artists practicing the Gun Fighting Style and Machine Armor Style can combine martial arts with guns and machines, why can’t I use my abilities to poison my opponents?”


  “You……” Duan Lian hissed and used every ounce of his strength to say, “How can this be considered the secret of the Ultimate Style!”


  “This IS the secret of the Ultimate Style,” Meng Chao said calmly. “You already know how the other challengers ended up, right? If I hadn’t cleared all 1024 branch meridians so that my senses would become much shaper and I could control every muscle fiber and nerve ending at will to deliver fatal moves in a small space, how would I have been able to quietly get rid of one person why four or more people slept in a dorm?

  “And it would have been impossible for me to carry someone into a shrub in just a few seconds without anything noticing me. I even made sure that he couldn’t make a single sound. It also would have been impossible for me to climb up nine floors and crawl through a narrow transom to where a superhuman was bathing. Then, before he could even react to the situation, I managed to choke him until he fainted.”


  Duan Lian had nothing to say. Even so, he remained stubborn, and his face was full of wildness.

  “The war has changed,” Meng Chao said calmly. “In the past, we had the advantage of fighting on our home turf. We could rest and obtain supplies at any time we wanted. We could release all sorts of dazzling killing moves with electricity effects since we had the support of powerful firepower. I won’t talk about the effects of the attacks itself, but it’s worth it to spend some of the precious spirit energy just to increase morale.

  “But in the future, we might end up as a lone army marching away from our home turf. We will be entering the world of monsters behind the fog and will probably have to face existences even more terrifying than monsters.

  “If we only know how to stand around in stances like idiots waiting to execute our attacks, martial artists won’t be any different from large tanks. But creating an armored tank is much cheaper than cultivating a high-ranked martial artist.

  “Ambushing, infiltrating, scouting, assassinating, surveying, and creating chaos is something tanks, cannons, and even nuclear weapons can’t do. This is the value of martial artists.

  “And the real battlefield is in the depths of the fog. There won’t be rules, judgment, boundaries, or ends to fights. The enemy won’t care whether you’re sleeping, bathing, eating, or relieving yourself. Once you’re killed by a despicable method, you won’t have the chance to complain about it to your lecturer. Dying is the only judgment you will face.

  “When you’re in that sort of battle, you have to pay attention to details. Even powerful people who have powerful killing moves might be set up and taken out by surprise by the enemy if they’re the slightest bit careless.

  “The Ultimate Style mainly cultivates the 1024 branch meridians, so it’s the most suited for that sort of battle. This is the logic I wanted to tell all of you who challenged me.

  “Duan Lian, I know that there has been a slight misunderstanding between us during the admission test, but please believe me when I say that I really don’t have any ill will. I really regret that you couldn’t choose an ace lecturer for yourself. As compensation, why don’t we become friends, and I’ll teach you the Ultimate Style?”


  Meng Chao looked very sincere.

  “Bah!” Duan Lian was still lying on the ground. His body was numb, and he was gradually unable to feel his limbs. He was so angry that he lost his mind and could not read Meng Chao’s good intentions. “Dream on! Go to hell with your Ultimate Style! I refuse to admit defeat! Meng Chao, I’m telling you, things haven’t ended between us!”


  “How troublesome.” Meng Chao scratched his head with a troubled expression. He drew closer and said softly, “Then, I have no choice.”


  Whoosh!

  The dissection blade between his fingers turned into lightning, and he cut the artery in Duan Lian’s neck.

  Duan Lian felt pain in his neck, then saw a stream of blood gush out. It rushed out like a sprinkler and dyed half of the room red!

  Chapter 152: C.152 (Title is at the end of the C.because it’s a spoiler)

  Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

  Duan Lian could not believe his eyes.

  A bone-chilling pain spread through his entire body from his throat.

  He felt as if he had fallen into an abyss of death that was as cold as ice.

  He still remained in the position where he fell after tripping over the spider threads. Due to his muscles relaxing and his limbs going limp, he could not tell how much blood he lost nor how deep was the wound on his neck.

  He could only see a pool of sticky blood spreading out from around his neck. Soon, it reached his mouth and nose.

  His chest was damp, and the air filled with a pungent scent of blood.

  ‘He…… He’s mad!’ Duan Lian’s mind was blank. Countless chaotic thoughts appeared in his head, and fear, puzzlement, and regret fought for supremacy in his brain. He just could not figure out what was going on. ‘This lunatic! Demon! Monster! Just why?’


  He wanted to cry, but could not shed any tears. It was too late for regrets. He slapped himself fiercely in his mind and regretted the fact that he did not learn his lesson during the admission test and insisted on provoking a monster like Meng Chao.

  But who would have thought that this monster would descend into such madness?!

  “Do you know why you must die?” Meng Chao brought his bloody right hand in front of him and rubbed it on the floorboard, dragging out a really long bloody trail. His voice was very calm, and he looked as if he had just completed something really minor and common.

  “It’s not because of the grudge we formed during the admission test. I don’t really care about that. Even if you really set me up, it’s fine. Besides, I do prefer using these…… strategies that require wit, not ones that require brute strength.

  “It’s because you’re big and built, yet you’re extremely petty and hold grudges! It has almost been two months since the admission test, but you’re still bothered by it. You’re filled with animosity toward me, and you told everyone that you’re going to teach me a lesson.

  “Many of the rumors about me lacking fighting spirit, not having enough room for growth, and being about to leave the martial arts course were released by you, right?

  “I asked around and learned that you were like this even in high school. When anyone got into a conflict with you, you gave them a lot of flak.

  “But your family has quite the authority, and they indulge you when you act absurdly. I’m poor, so I can’t provoke you!”


  He sounded troubled and wronged, but when his words entered Duan Lian’s ears, they were even more terrifying than a demon’s whispers.

  “Honestly, time might provide us the chance to slowly wash away the conflict between us, and I wouldn’t have had to use such a bad strategy.” Meng Chao continued speaking coldly. “But we’re about to head to war in the depths of the fog, where there are dangers everywhere.

  “Anything can happen, and we have to be focused at every second. I don’t want to fend against monsters in front of me while fending against you behind me.

  “If your mind suddenly went haywire and you decided to shoot me in the battlefield, I’d die without a grave. And don’t say that it’s impossible. Human thoughts are usually even more unfathomable than a monster’s ill will. Would you have expected that I would suddenly slit your throat?

  “I can’t read your mind, so I can only guess your actions with the greatest malicious intent. Sorry about that!”


  Duan Lian’s eyes were bloodshot, and all he saw was a swaying red in front of him. He really wanted to say “Just because of that? It’s all because of that?!”


  But aside from making gurgling sounds, he could not make any other sound from his throat.

  “Also, due to various reasons, I have to quickly promote the Ultimate Style. I need the students to support me. At the very least, you can’t cause me trouble, but it’s very easy for you to cause me trouble. You also have a lot of chances to do so.”


  Meng Chao seemed to have read his mind based on his expression. “It’s enough once I add these two reasons together. I’m pressed for time, and I have a lot of things I have to do. I don’t have the time to sulk around like a child with you. I gave you the chance to become my friend just now, but you didn’t treasure it. You chose to be my enemy, so this is the only thing I can do.

  “There’s naturally going to be trouble for killing you, but if I set up the murder site carefully and create an illusion of us fighting fiercely and me being at a disadvantage, which led to me panicking and killing you by accident, I’ll have a good chance to escape the punishment of law.

  “Of course, I was the one who snuck into your dorm, so this is going to be really troublesome to me, and your family will definitely not stop trying to take revenge on me. There’s going to be a whole load of trouble.

  “But that’s okay. Regardless of whether it’s the university’s punishment, the judgment from law, or your family’s revenge, all of it will happen later. Right now, I’m standing, and you’re lying on the ground. I’m living and enjoying the pleasure of breathing freely, while you’re about to die. You can only choke in the pool of your own blood. In the end, I won this match, no?”


  Duan Lian’s lips and eyelids twitched. All he could repeat in his head was one word ‘Lunatic, lunatic, lunatic, lunatic!’


  “And in your final moments, let me give you a friendly reminder.” Meng Chao tapped his cheek gently with his bloody hand. “In your next life, when someone like me extends a hand to you and offers friendship with a smile, it’s in your best interests to take that hand firmly.”


  Meng Chao pulled his bloody hand from Duan Lian’s eyes, then retreated into the darkness, and his breathing vanished.

  ‘D-Don’t go!’


  Duan Lian widened his eyes and opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out.

  He wanted to struggle, but he was afraid that his struggles would tear at the wound, which would make him bleed out even faster.

  He could only watch as his blood continued spreading around him in the dark. Cold tears spilled out of his eyes, and they flowed even faster than his blood.

  “Save me, Meng Chao! I was wrong. Spare me! I won’t bother you again!”


  He wanted to shout these words, but he could not make any sound. Pain had already sealed his throat shut, and the gurgling sounds turned into hissing.

  Was it because his blood was gushing out madly from his artery or was it because his windpipe was cut? Whatever it was, it was the sound of his life spilling out of him.

  Duan Lian did not dare continue with that train of thought.

  He felt his vision turning darker and his consciousness fading away. The pain in his throat became dull, as if a beast named Death was eating him inch by inch.

  Duan Lian was continuously eaten up by Death for three minutes, five minutes…… then ten minutes.

  His mind gradually stepped away from despair and filled with puzzlement.

  ‘Why…… am I not dead yet even after I lost so much blood? I even feel like I’ve recovered some strength in my limbs……’


  He gritted his teeth and pushed himself up from the floor.

  When he looked at the blood that covered half of the room, he found it unbelievable. He shuddered and touched his neck, but he did not manage to feel the wound. Instead, he touched an incredibly elastic pouch made of a monster’s bladder or some other organ. It was as thin as a cicada’s wings.

  Incredibly sticky bioglue covered one side of the pouch. After great difficulty, he tore it off his neck.

  Contained in it was a liquid similar to blood. There was a small tear on it, and when he pressed the pouch, blood gushed out.

  “This is……” Duan Lian was dumbfounded.

  Click!

  Someone turned on the lights, and the room lit up. It was as if he had returned from hell to the land of the living.

  Meng Chao crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned against the wall while staring at him with a grin.

  “Sorry about that, Duan Lian. I played a harmless prank on you. You won’t mind, right?” Meng Chao put on a sincere, friendly, and hearty smile.

  “The blood is fake. Your throat wasn’t cut. But you did suck in pores that have very mild hallucination effects. The bindii that stabbed your toe also had highly-effective muscle relaxants and nerve numbing agents extracted from monster poison. Then, when I ‘cut’ your throat, I stuck the pouch on you and injected some biopharmaceutical drugs that cause great pain and disrupt your senses. That’s all.”


  “You……”


  Duan Lian had been hovering at Death’s door. He alone knew what it felt like during the ten minutes just now. His limbs were still weak, and he no longer had the courage to be angry.

  “We’re fated to be coursemates, you know? Unless it’s completely necessary, why would I do something so cruel?” Meng Chao said. “But I really do want to resolve the conflict between us. It’s better to get rid of enmity than deepen it, you know? We’ve been going on and on about something so small for two months. Do you really want to keep that grudge for a whole year?

  “Now, let me be frank. I believe you know my personality. We should put an end to the matter during the admission test, don’t you think so?

  “Duan Lian, as a compensation, why don’t we become friends, and I’ll teach you the Ultimate Style?”


  Meng Chao walked over and smiled sincerely. He stared at the artery on Duan Lian’s neck, and when he extended his hand, it was the bloody hand.

  Duan Lian stared at his hand and did not dare to look into his eyes. Even so, he still shuddered.

  He gulped with great difficulty and extended a trembling hand to grip Meng Chao’s lightly.

  “That’s good.” Meng Chao sighed in relief. “That’s the best outcome. If I really had to kill you, there would be a lot of things I had to do, and it’d be so troublesome!”


  Duan Lian was speechless.

  “Hahahaha! I was joking! You know I was joking, right?”


  Duan Lian was even more speechless.

  He had just gone through a terrible shock and had temporarily lost his ability to think.

  “I’m not someone who likes to put up an act. It’s meaningless to hide my strength when I have abilities and can strike you in the face when you come to me aggressively and provoke me. But if I did it, you’d just end up with even more loathing and bring out more of your family’s power to fight against me, and I’d just be striking you in the face repeatedly. It’s meaningless, don’t you think?

  “It would be better to do what I’m doing now and let you see my true face so that we can prevent further misunderstandings and conflicts from happening. It’s perfect this way! We can achieve harmony!

  “Now, we’re friends, so help me out. Tomorrow, go to Ms. Li and tell her that you lost the challenge and accept your defeat wholeheartedly. That won’t be a problem for you, right?

  “Among the ten challengers, you’re the strongest, and you’re ranked the highest. If you take the lead to admit defeat, no one else will say anything about it.”

  Duan Lian still said nothing.

  But before he could even think about it, he had already nodded like a chick eating grain.

  “That’s great. Problem solved. I’m leaving. Sleep tight!”


  Meng Chao left Duan Lian’s room with light footsteps.

  As Duan Lian stared at the blood that came out of some unknown monster on his floor and smelled the pungent scent, he wanted to cry, but no tears came to him. How was he supposed to “sleep tight” in this sort of environment?!

  Three seconds later, Meng Chao pushed the door open and entered again.

  Duan Lian’s door could lock automatically on its own, but he had somehow managed to open it without making a sound.

  “By the way, I almost forgot to tell you, but I smeared Poisoned Arrow Lizard’s venom on your toilet seat. It might just be a thin layer, but it’s colorless, odorless, and transparent, and the venom is very strong. If you get in contact with it for ten seconds, you’ll be numb for an entire night. If you want to poop, remember to use alcohol to wipe off the venom.”


  This time, Meng Chao truly left.

  Duan Lian remained sitting on his bed like a cracked stone statue. While all sorts of emotions raced through him, he lived through the longest night of his life.

  Turning Animosity Into A Friendly Relationship