Chapter 5 of 10

Chapter 5

14 min read3,568 words

At the Da Zhou Mansion, the martial arts arena.

Martial arts platforms stood tall, with many young men shouting and exchanging blows on them, their fists and feet generating fierce winds, displaying no small amount of vigor. Below the platforms, there were many onlookers, occasionally bursting into cheers, among whom were not a few young and beautiful girls. Their bright eyes glancing around, they spurred the young men on the platforms to greater enthusiasm, each trying to show off and stand out.

In this Da Zhou Mansion, the popularity of the martial arts arena was clearly very strong.

When Xu Lin slowly climbed onto a martial arts platform, the news that he would be facing Zhou Yuan had already spread throughout the entire arena under his secret manipulation.

"What? Prince Zhou Yuan is going to face Xu Lin?!"

"How is that possible! Prince Zhou Yuan hasn't opened any meridians yet, while Xu Lin has already opened two!"

"This Xu Lin is really bullying people; he must have used some despicable means to force Prince Zhou Yuan."

"..."

When the many students heard this news, they immediately burst out in disbelief. Some of the commoner students were particularly indignant on Zhou Yuan's behalf, as this match was clearly very unfair.

Anyone who had opened their meridians, with each meridian they opened, their physical attributes would improve, with strength, speed, and reaction all far surpassing those who hadn't opened their meridians. It could be said without exaggeration that one person who had opened one meridian could easily defeat dozens of those who hadn't opened any.

Xu Lin stood on the platform, hearing these voices, and merely smiled faintly. Regardless of what others said, after today, the news of Zhou Yuan being thoroughly beaten by him would spread throughout the Da Zhou Mansion, undoubtedly damaging Zhou Yuan's reputation and making him a laughingstock.

As Xu Lin's malevolent thoughts swirled, the crowd surrounding his platform suddenly parted, and a slender young man strolled over.

The young man looked somewhat thin, with a scholarly air, exuding a gentle and refined demeanor, appearing like a frail scholar.

Naturally, this was Zhou Yuan.

Amidst the various gazes of the surrounding people, Zhou Yuan directly headed towards the platform where Xu Lin stood.

"Your Highness." Behind him, Su Youwei, her face anxious, followed closely, clearly still wanting Zhou Yuan to reconsider his decision to face Xu Lin.

"At this point, I can't back down. Otherwise, I'll be seen as a prince who flees from battle." Zhou Yuan smiled at Su Youwei and said.

Su Youwei stopped, her teeth biting her lower lip tightly. She knew that if Zhou Yuan were to bear such a reputation, it would severely damage his standing.

Su Youwei lifted her face, her beautiful eyes gazing at Xu Lin on the platform. In that instant, her eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of sharpness appearing.

"Your Highness, this time it's my fault for causing you trouble. In the future, I won't be careless, and I won't hold back." Su Youwei said softly.

Previously, her loss to Xu Lin was largely due to her not using her full strength. Otherwise, Xu Lin wouldn't even have had the chance to use his source weapon. This lesson taught her that if you don't strike the snake at its vital point, it will turn and bite you.

Zhou Yuan was taken aback, blinking at Su Youwei, and said, "We are friends, and it's only right to help a friend with their troubles."

With that, he stepped onto the platform.

Su Youwei watched his back, smiling slightly, warmth flowing through her heart. Then, her eyes lowered, and she resolved that if Xu Lin dared to injure Zhou Yuan, she would make him know what it meant to be a woman's grudge and revenge.

"Hey, Your Highness actually dared to come. I thought you would sneak back to the palace." Xu Lin looked at Zhou Yuan with a smile, teasingly.

"It seems you have a lot of confidence in yourself." Zhou Yuan straightened his sleeves and said.

"I didn't expect even Your Highness to act rashly for a beauty, but it's a bit irrational." Xu Lin shrugged, clearly seeing Zhou Yuan's impulsive actions as an attempt to win Su Youwei's favor.

"Let's start." Zhou Yuan didn't want to waste words, spreading his feet like an old tree gripping the earth, then gestured to Xu Lin, saying, "You attack first."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding young men and women exchanged glances, unable to understand what Zhou Yuan was thinking. Clearly at a disadvantage, he was still so reckless.

"Since Your Highness wants to lose face so quickly, I won't be polite." Feeling disrespected by Zhou Yuan, a surge of anger rose in Xu Lin's heart. With a cold laugh, he stomped his foot, and his figure shot out like an arrow, his hand clenched into a fist, aiming directly at Zhou Yuan.

His punch carried a strong wind, full of power, capable of cracking a stone.

Seeing the incoming heavy punch, Zhou Yuan did not dodge but instead crossed his arms in front of him in a defensive stance.

However, this stance made the crowd below look on with pity. With Xu Lin's body, which had opened two meridians, this punch could likely break Zhou Yuan's bones.

Under the tense gazes of the crowd, Xu Lin, like a tiger descending a mountain, struck Zhou Yuan's crossed arms with his powerful punch.

Thud!

A low sound echoed, and as expected, Zhou Yuan's feet skidded several meters on the ground before he barely managed to stabilize himself.

Ah!

A cry of pain erupted, but it wasn't from Zhou Yuan, but from Xu Lin, who had just delivered the powerful punch.

Everyone stared in shock. Xu Lin clutched his fist, crying out in pain, his entire fist red, as if he had struck steel.

"You! What did you hide in your sleeves?! Despicable!" Xu Lin, tears almost streaming from the pain, roared at Zhou Yuan.

The surrounding gazes also turned to Zhou Yuan in surprise. Could the prince have used some trick?

Amidst the murmurs, Zhou Yuan slowly lifted his sleeves, revealing a complex light pattern on his arms. The pattern emitted a faint black light, spreading and covering his arms, making them look like black iron, incredibly hard.

"This..."

The students were shocked, and someone suddenly exclaimed, "That's the Iron Skin Pattern the lecturer taught us!"

Everyone realized it was a source pattern!

Su Youwei, who had been tense, now relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief, and said, "So, Your Highness can already inscribe source patterns on his body."

"You, you actually inscribed a source pattern on your body?!" Xu Lin, also recovering, looked at Zhou Yuan's black source pattern on his arms, disbelief in his voice.

Though he had seen Zhou Yuan inscribe the Iron Skin Pattern on a jade board earlier, inscribing it on the body required a deep understanding of human acupoints and meridians to avoid injury. Thus, inscribing a source pattern on the body was far more difficult than on a jade board.

But while they couldn't even inscribe a source pattern on a jade board, Zhou Yuan had already begun applying it... The gap between them was truly vast.

"Do you really think I'm helpless just because I haven't opened my meridians?" Zhou Yuan smiled.

Xu Lin's face turned ashen, feeling a mix of anger and humiliation, and he coldly said, "Do you really think a single Iron Skin Pattern will help you win today?"

"Let me show you the difference between someone who has opened their meridians and someone who hasn't!"

"Open Meridians!"

With Xu Lin's shout, a faint light appeared around his body, dust swirling at his feet, and the source energy in the air flowed into his body with his breath.

Whoosh.

His clothes billowed, rustling in the wind.

A faint light appeared on his skin, and everyone could feel Xu Lin's aura surge.

The students' faces changed, as they could sense the source energy flowing through Xu Lin's body, enhancing his strength and speed.

Amidst the serious gazes of the students, Zhou Yuan also focused on Xu Lin, muttering, "Two meridians..."

"You let me attack first, so this time, it's my turn."

As he spoke, Zhou Yuan stomped his foot and charged at Xu Lin.

"Arrogant, your speed, strength, and physical attributes are less than a tenth of mine, and you still dare to attack?" Xu Lin sneered, seeing Zhou Yuan charge.

"Is that so?"

Zhou Yuan's lips curled into a smile.

In the next moment, a faint light appeared around his ankles, and light patterns spread out.

Whoosh!

Zhou Yuan's body seemed lighter, his speed increasing dramatically, charging like a cheetah.

"That's... that's the Light Body Pattern!" Someone with sharp eyes saw the light pattern on Zhou Yuan's ankles and screamed.

As they screamed, Zhou Yuan, now close to Xu Lin, suddenly shook his shoulder, a faint light emanating from under his clothes. Though it wasn't clear, everyone could feel the brute force in Zhou Yuan's punch.

"Brute Bull Pattern!" More screams followed.

Iron Skin Pattern, Light Body Pattern, Brute Bull Pattern!

Even Su Youwei couldn't help but cover her mouth, her face full of disbelief, as Zhou Yuan had activated three source patterns in quick succession.

This meant that Zhou Yuan had mastered all three source patterns taught by the lecturer and applied them to his body.

Thud!

Under the gazes of the crowd, Zhou Yuan's powerful punch, enhanced by the three source patterns, struck Xu Lin with incredible force.

Thud!

With the help of the three source patterns, Zhou Yuan's speed, strength, and physical attributes were now on par with Xu Lin. When the punch landed, Xu Lin felt a massive force, and his body flew off the platform, landing heavily on the ground.

Outside the platform, the previously noisy crowd fell silent, all the young men and women staring at Zhou Yuan in disbelief.

No one had expected this outcome.

On the platform, Zhou Yuan slowly retracted his fist, the light patterns on his arms fading as the energy was depleted.

He rubbed his wrist, then jumped off the platform, reaching into Xu Lin's chest and pulling out a jade token, the symbol of a place in the final exam.

"Can't even defeat someone who hasn't opened their meridians, you shouldn't embarrass yourself in the final exam." Zhou Yuan smiled at Xu Lin, who was staring at him with a mix of shock and anger.

Hearing this, and feeling the mocking gazes of the crowd, Xu Lin's heart ached, and he couldn't hold back a spurt of blood, then fainted.

He knew that from tomorrow, he would become a laughingstock among the students of the Da Zhou Mansion...

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