Running After a Win?

Qin Fen felt a bit apologetic as he watched Zhao of the Mountains and Rivers fade away. The Sky Martial Battle Network had some rules; those who died in combat were incapable of logging back into the battle network for a week. The exception was to buy a Resurrection Stone to resurrect the person ahead of time.

Death. It indicated that one couldn't log into the Sky Martial Battle Network for a week! This was the most crucial factor to why Qin Fen was always hesitating, always unwilling, to fight against others. Losing wasn't scary. Not being able to log into the Sky Martial Battle Network for a week and write drafts for money was scary.

Regal Propria and the others still couldn't believe everything that just happened before their eyes. The Thirteen Fiercely Tempered Grand Guardians was a tenacious art; its defensive capabilities were powerful and dauntless. This, along with the aid of the Armor Pill, had raised Zhao of the Mountains and Rivers's defense power to the limit! The Fist That Cleaves Rock and Shatters Jade was also a martial art that one needed to spend money to obtain. Yet he had been defeated in an instant?

And.... There was something that everyone found even more impossible to understand; Qin Fen used the Shaolin Arhat Fist from beginning to end!

When did the fitness exercise of fist forms possess such crazy power? Everyone had practiced the Shaolin Arhat Fist a bit. They had never felt that this thing possessed power!

Drawing in a deep breath Qin Fen enjoyed the sensation of his hot passionate blood, boiling from the recent battle; it had been far too exciting! It felt like a dream thinking back to it right now!

Qin Fen transfered the ninety dollars into his account and downloaded the recording of the recent fight. Three fights were enough to write a draft.

"THIRTY-SIX HOURS! I WANT ANOTHER ROUND WITH YOU!" Zhao of the Mountains and Rivers, who had just died, logged back in thanks to the help of a Resurrection Stone.

"Another round?" Qin Fen let out a drawn out breath, suppressing the desire to battle that bubbled forth just now. He shook his head lightly, "I'm done fighting for today."

He didn't wait for Zhao of the Mountains and Rivers to speak, choosing to logout with decisiveness. He was scared of being unable to resist the temptation of money if Zhao of the Mountains and Rivers were to bet against and challenge him once more.

Today was already far too unusual enough. He couldn't allow the unusual trend to continue! Qin Fen removed his helmet and gazed at the moon in the sky. He thought about the all magical events that began after school ended; he should go to the hospital and get his body checked up! Swallowing that liquid metal shouldn't cause adverse effects on his body, right?

Forget it! Qin Fen shook his head hard. What if he ended up as a small lab rat, treated as a scientific experiment by the hospital? Then what would he do?

"Shameless! Way too shameless!" Zhao of the Mountains and Rivers yelled and roared in the combat field, "Running after a win! So someone this tasteless exists! Next time I'll hit him so hard that he can't log on to the battle network for a week!"

"That's right!" Regal Propria said, also in a bad mood, "I'll fight him every time I see him in the future! I'll chase him out of the battle network!"

"Propria. Mountains and Rivers. There's no need for you guys to be angry any more. I've already uploaded this matter of the kid running after a win to the official forums...."

"What...." The expressions of Zhao of the Mountains and Rivers and Regal Propria subtly changed. Didn't this mean that even more people would know that they were instantly defeated?

Actually, Zhao of the Mountains and Rivers and Regal Propria were more or less overly concerned in their worries. Two-star warriors weren't really apex-level existences in the Sky Martial Battle Network. People often cast their gazes and attention on higher level warriors. Aside from other warriors with two-star strength, very few people would pat attention to the fight recordings of two-star warriors.

A Shameless Man. Running After a Win! The title of the post carried an intense criticism in its tone. It was akin to a small ocean spray within the vast ocean waters that were the forums. It really didn't set off much of a wave.

There was only one thing interesting about the post; practically everyone who saw this post would make a reply post. The reply rate was over ninety percent.

Of course, the majority of people harbored a high degree of suspicion over the validity of the recording.

"Is it real? Is it fake? This looks pre-rehearsed no matter how I look at it. Otherwise, how can the two sides be this well coordinated?"

"Isn't this the fitness exercise of fist forms? There should be a limit to faking something, right?"

"Can it be a three-star warrior smurfing in this fight?" This argument received the approval a sizable portion of people. In fact, there really were people who would suppress their strength and participate in fights against people of lower strength. But only a very few number of people would do this. After all, everyone came to the Sky Martial Battle Network to raise their own strength and increase their combat experience. They didn't come here to bully others.

Soon this post was linked to the two-star warrior forums. The post earned quite a lot of clicks in this place. It was just that people were extremely suspicious of its validity. It was practically impossible for an instant kill to happen in a fight between two-star warriors. Instant kills in two consecutive fights clearly showed that the post was phony click-bait.

Qin Fen opened the dilapidated desktop computer that he had bought second hand. After he quickly wrote three battle commentaries, he discovered that he didn't possess the sleepiness he normally would have in the past. He should have been tired, needing to rest. Instead, he went for a stroll on the forums in a bit of boredom, a rare action from him. 

Soon he saw the post with him in question and carefully read through all the replies. He also somewhat agreed with the posts that stated their suspicions. Even now, he was unable to understand just how he was able to unleash those strikes with such flowing nature. Though he was confident in beating Zhao of the Mountains and Rivers, it should have taken him at least five hundred moves to eek out a victory.

Qin Fen read around two hundred posts when a jolt went through his mind.

"Outstanding combat awareness! Every moment of time is grasped with the same accuracy as a computer, putting the fist form in skillful use. This is practically the limit of what a two-star warrior can do! If this person is a two-star warrior, then his future prospects are limitless! I'm very interested in fighting with you."

He looked at the poster's ID, Glowing Child of the Wind. Qin Fen felt the name to be a bit familiar. It seemed that he had heard it somewhere before.

Glowing Child of the Wind! That's right! Qin Fen smacked his palms together in a clap. This was one of the top hundred expert two-star warriors on the battle record rankings!

Was it really him? Qin Fen was a bit excited. If he could fight hand-to-hand against one of the top hundred expert two-star warriors, it would certainly be super exciting!

In any case, he wouldn't be able to fall asleep. Qin Fen simply rummaged through and picked out a few fight recordings of the expert two-star warriors to watch.

Wondrous battles between neo martial arts and neo martial arts. Intense fights between paleo martial arts and paleo martial arts. Gorgeous and fierce combat between paleo martial arts and neo martial arts. Round after round of what should have been blood-boiling scenes of intense combat were merely a bit tedious in Qin Fen's eyes. Aside from a few people's fights, Qin Fen was able to know the conclusion of victory and defeat within the first few seconds of clicking open a recording. He would fast forward to the end and see that the outcome fell exactly in line with his predictions.

After correctly guessing the ending of over a hundred of fights in a row, Qin Fen felt puzzled once more. Anyone with a bit of a brain would have a great understanding of his own strength.

Though he never made a move, Qin Fen knew that he wouldn't be weak amongst the two-star warriors ranked in the middle. Even against the top hundred two-star warriors of the Sky Martial Battle Network, he felt that he was on their level of strength; he could fight with them. As for who would win and who would lose, he would only know after exchanging blows. He couldn't say for sure because he had nothing to base off of.

But for some unknown reason, as he watched these recordings, the two-star warriors ranked top one hundred in battle records of the Sky Martial Battle Network didn't seem as amazing as they did in the past.