Chapter 654: Chapter 360_2

The Extreme Martial Ascension Palace’s arena match drew more spectators the more renowned the contestants were, and that young man also seemed to be someone with a bit of fame; quite a few people had come specifically to watch his match.

Xue Jing stepped forward, slowly ascending the platform.

“Hmm? A young man.”

“Never seen him before, must be a newbie.”

“Wonder how strong he is… He’s kinda unlucky, though, just arrived and already up against Luo Feng, who reached the ten thousand six hundredth level last year, then went back to his hometown and vanished, only recently returned… His progress from a year ago got wiped, so now he’s climbing up the levels again.”

“With a year’s time, someone with Luo Feng’s outstanding talent and in the midst of rapid growth, could now reach at least ten thousand seven or even ten thousand eight, right?”

“A newbie killer indeed… Bad luck running into him.”

On the arena, neither of the two spoke.

At that moment, the holographic projections of their names appeared above their heads.

Luo Feng, Xue Jing.

“Hmm? Xue Jing? I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere…”

Some spectators felt the name was familiar upon seeing it.

A prompt sounded, and the match began.

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Then–Bang!

Including Luo Feng and all the spectators, no one managed to react in the instant the match ended.

No one could see Xue Jing’s movements, or know what he had done, but in a moment, his figure appeared in front of Luo Feng, and then the other swiftly flew backwards, crashing into the orange light wall formed by the SC force field, slowly sliding down, and crumpling to the ground.

At the spot where his chest and abdomen met, a deep fist imprint appeared.

“…”

Under the silent gaze of everyone present, Xue Jing nonchalantly stepped forward, extending his hand to place it over the fainted Luo Feng’s crown.

After a while, he withdrew his hand, and like a student tired from reading, closed his eyes.

Ten seconds later, he turned and walked down from the arena, not saying a single word from beginning to end.

“…I remember now.”

Someone among the spectators had an epiphany.

“Xue Jing… He’s the one who got an A+ rating just a few days ago during the first test event!”

“A+ grade!?”

“Oh man, doesn’t that mean he’s at least made a Breakthrough? Perhaps even a Second Breakthrough… That’s the strength to contend for the nine hundred Level Master spot.”

“This ten thousand level was actually his starting floor…”

“Where did this genius spring from… Can’t even tell if he’s of age just by looking at him.”

“I know him, he’s an outsider, quite famous out there. My sister who’s still in elementary school really likes him, spends all day watching his match clips…”

“Luo Feng really is unlucky… A small True Dragon facing the True Dragon…”

“Place your bets, quick, throw all your support behind him.”

…

Inside one of the temporary rest rooms available on every level of the Extreme Martial Ascension Palace, Xue Jing sat in a chair, resting with his eyes closed.

“Xuanling, please arrange the next match as soon as possible.”

He spoke up.

In the floors of the Extreme Martial Ascension Palace, you could advance a level after accumulating three wins, and if over 80% of the support votes from the spectators were approval votes, you could skip levels.

If all matches were victorious in a short period of time, and the approval vote ratio remained high, one could make a significant leap in levels.

“No problem… But, are you okay?”

Xuanling seemed a bit worried as he asked.

“When you touched Luo Feng’s head just now, there seemed to be an unusual strain on your mental state…”

Xue Jing smiled, “Don’t worry… There’s no problem at all.”

Seeing him say so, Xuanling had no objections.

“The next match is already arranged, on arena number 096, and your opponent is…”

In this way, Xue Jing had Xuanling continuously arrange opponents for him to compete against.

Each time, he resolved the opponent in a flash, then inverted the Empowerment process to extract the Martial Arts knowledge from his opponent’s mind.

After completing three victorious matches on the ten thousandth level, with an approval vote ratio exceeding 95%, he directly ascended ten levels.

For an entire afternoon, he continued to win consecutively, absorbing…

By the afternoon, he had already defeated nearly a hundred opponents. Thanks to a large number of consecutive wins and the ratio of praise votes, he had leaped directly to over fifteen thousand floors.

The astonishing speed of his ascent attracted the attention of countless people.

Extreme Martial Ascension Palace, floor 15736.

“Bang–”

With a single strike, his opponent was plastered against the wall and then crumpled to the ground.

Xue Jing approached the unconscious opponent, squatted down, and placed his palm on the other’s crown.

“Still one hit, another one-hitter!”

“No matter how you prepare, it’s useless–it’s just an overwhelming crush of speed, power, and technique from start to finish!”

“When is he going to actually have a real fight? Each match ends instantly with one hit; I’m getting tired of watching this!”

“That’s not Xue Jing’s fault, you can only blame the weakness of the opponents… But why does he always touch the opponent’s head after fighting?”

“Maybe it’s some cultural ritual from his hometown, something to show respect for life?”

“…I punch you to death and touch your head to show respect for life?”

On floor 15736, among over a hundred rings, only the one where Xue Jing was competing saw the number of spectators at full capacity.

This was because many people, upon hearing about this youth who had achieved an A+ rating in an event, became curious. They descended from their own floors and followed him to witness Xue Jing’s climb with their own eyes.

Xue Jing, as always, didn’t speak. After stepping down from the ring and returning to the temporary rest room, his figure swayed slightly as if he was somewhat unsteady.

Unsteadiness… such a thing happening to Xue Jing was hard to imagine, indicating just how bad his current condition was.

“Xue Jing… are you really okay?”

Xuanling’s voice, full of concern, sounded in his ear.

She was constantly scanning Xue Jing’s body data and detecting his mental state through the electromagnetic signals emitted from his brain… the more she detected, the more alarmed she became.

Xue Jing’s mental burden at this moment was so great it was unfathomable, nearly identical to the state of a Limit-Breaking Grandmaster-level master who practiced martial arts until they became deranged.

It wouldn’t surprise her if Xue Jing went insane in the next second.

“It’s nothing… don’t worry.”

Xue Jing rubbed his temples with both hands.

Countless martial arts knowledge clashed and scattered madly in his mind… opening his eyes, within his field of vision, innumerable black matchstick figures were practicing various techniques everywhere.

On chairs, tables, windows, beds… they were all over the place.

“I’m about at my limit,” Xue Jing thought to himself.

He didn’t push himself any further but instead told Xuanling ‘let’s stop arranging opponents for now, I need a rest’ and then lay down on the bed in the temporary rest room.

Assuming the Nirvana Lion Resting position, Xue Jing had a peaceful expression, undisturbed for the briefest of moments.

…

Xue Jing, as always, didn’t speak. After stepping down from the ring and returning to the temporary rest room, his figure swayed slightly, as if he was somewhat unsteady.

Unsteadiness… such a thing happening to him was hard to imagine, revealing just how poor his condition was at the moment.

“Xue Jing… are you really okay?”

Xuanling’s voice, full of concern, sounded in his ear.

She was constantly scanning Xue Jing’s body data and detecting his mental state through the electromagnetic signals emitted from his brain… the more she detected, the more alarmed she became.

Xue Jing’s mental burden at this moment was so extreme it was almost unimaginable, nearly identical to the state of a Breakthrough Master Level expert who trained in martial arts to the brink of madness.

She wouldn’t be surprised if Xue Jing lost his mind in the next second.

“It’s no bother… rest assured.”

Xue Jing massaged his temples for a while.

A myriad of martial arts knowledge violently collided and darted through his mind… upon opening his eyes, his range of vision was full of countless black matchstick figures practicing all sorts of maneuvers.

On chairs, tables, windowsills, beds… they were everywhere.

“I’m nearly at my limit,” Xue Jing thought to himself.

He didn’t endure any longer, instead telling Xuanling ‘let’s stop scheduling opponents for now; I need to rest,’ and then lay down on the bed in the temporary resting room.

Assuming the Nirvana Lion Resting position, Xue Jing’s expression was serene, undisturbed for even a moment.

…