Chen Lin sat in the classroom.
He watched as another student from the neighboring class was called to the principal's office.
"That's strange, why haven't they called me yet?"
Chen Lin was a bit puzzled.
The principal had already made such a big fuss, gathering all the teachers.
Why, after several hours, had he still not been notified to go to the principal's office?
"Oh, right, Su Hong, are you sure you're not going to watch the underground boxing match tonight?"
"I heard that many classmates are going together, and even Chen Shan and Li Tu from the genius class said they'd go to watch."
Chen Lin suddenly remembered, looking at Su Hong.
"Definitely not going."
Su Hong refused.
Just then, the class bell rang.
"I'm leaving first."
Su Hong quickly grabbed his backpack and ran out of the classroom.
Two hours later, night fell.
Su Hong arrived in front of a black building.
The basement level here was the site of the underground boxing match.
At this moment, the entrance was bustling with people.
Su Hong had already changed his clothes and was wearing a mask.
He walked into the building, and after explaining to the security guard that he was there to compete, the security guard let him through.
He took the elevator down to the basement level.
As soon as the door opened, a wave of heat assailed him from inside.
Piercing heavy metal music, colorful neon lights, laughing Warriors, lightly dressed women serving drinks everywhere...
Su Hong was unaccustomed to this environment, covering his ears as he looked around, quickly finding the registration point.
There was a sign here, listing the times for some arena matches and the prize money for winning.
Su Hong looked up.
For the Martial Apprentice arena, winning one match would earn one thousand blue star coins.
For pre-martial artist, winning one match would earn five thousand blue star coins.
For First Order Warrior, winning one match would earn ten thousand blue star coins.
Not only that, but if one won the championship in the Martial Apprentice arena, there was an additional reward of thirty thousand blue star coins.
Currently, there were over forty people registered for the Martial Apprentice arena.
"If there are only forty-odd people, I'd only need to fight about six or seven matches in total."
Su Hong's gaze fixed on the thirty thousand blue star coins, and he licked his lips.
"A bit too little."
The martial arts registration fee was thirty thousand.
The family's rent was still short by over eight thousand.
His younger siblings' tuition fees...
Adding up all the miscellaneous expenses, it would easily be around fifty to sixty thousand.
Moreover, this didn't even include his Aunt's treatment costs.
"Too little?"
Just then, the person at the registration desk chuckled.
"Your voice sounds quite young, not old at all, but your tone is quite big."
The speaker was a charming young woman.
"If you think you can win the championship, you can choose the 'arena defense' mode, fighting all the way through alone!"
"Oh?" Su Hong became interested.
"If it's the arena defense mode, will the prize money change?"
The young woman blinked; she had originally just thought this person was too ambitious and wanted to retort a few words, but she didn't expect this young man to actually look interested.
"Yes, in arena defense mode, if you can defeat everyone, the final prize money will be doubled!"
"However, the rule of getting one thousand for winning a match will no longer apply."
"Simply put, if you choose the arena defense mode, you either defend until the end to get the money, or if you lose midway, you won't get a single penny."
"Understand? Do you want to compete?"
Su Hong nodded.
Seeing this, the young woman took out a participant's tag and handed it to Su Hong.
"You can go test your vital energy now."
The young woman pointed to the left.
"Wait."
Su Hong pointed towards the vital energy testing machine.
"What's going on there?"
He saw a First Order Warrior who had just finished testing, holding the exact same tag as him.
"Oh, all participants have the same tag; there's no difference."
Su Hong frowned: "In that case, wouldn't it be..."
Before he could finish his sentence, the young woman laughed.
"I understand what you mean; Warriors with high vital energy cannot downgrade to fight in the Martial Apprentice arena. As for Martial Apprentices who want to fight pre-martial artist or even Warrior arena, if they're not afraid of death, then it's up to them."
Upon hearing this, Su Hong nodded thoughtfully.
He then went to wait for his vital energy test.
The young woman watched his retreating figure.
Her eyes flickered.
She called someone over.
"Go place a bet for me; bet on this person to lose."
"Ah? Sister Wang, is this person very weak?"
Sister Wang, the young woman, said irritably, "Nonsense! His voice sounds so tender, and he's clearly not familiar with the rules, obviously a student from some school competing for the first time. Why wouldn't you pick up free money?"
"Holy crap, then this student is guaranteed to lose! I'll go place a bet too... my one month's... no, three months' salary!"
......
"85 points of vital energy."
Su Hong's vital energy test was complete.
A staff member walked over.
"Hello, please follow me to the changing room first."
Seeing Su Hong seemed a bit puzzled, the staff member explained, "Some Warriors who come to compete don't want to reveal their true faces, so we provide special masks and headwear here."
"How thoughtful," Su Hong thought to himself.
Soon, he arrived at the changing room.
His gaze searched the wall.
Finally, his eyes settled on a Niu Tou Ren (Minotaur) head cover.
"This head cover is interesting!"
Su Hong took it and put it on, ensuring his vision was not affected.
Then, shaking the two horns on his head, he walked to the waiting room for the Martial Apprentice arena.
As soon as he stepped in, he heard a bang.
He turned his head to look.
He saw a group of Martial Apprentices gathered around a combat power testing machine, shouting excitedly.
People were constantly testing their combat power.
Su Hong observed for a while.
He found that, not including himself, there were fifty people in total.
Their combat power values generally fluctuated between 1000 and 1200.
"As expected of those who dare to fight in underground boxing matches."
One must know that these were all Martial Apprentices who hadn't reached 90 points of vital energy!
Their normal combat power was around 800.
But here, none were below one thousand.
"If I had come with my previous Vajra Fist at the 'subtle' stage, I would have been at the bottom."
Su Hong sighed with emotion.
However, things were different now.
After observing quietly for a while, Su Hong felt a sense of calm.
Just then, the arena opened.
The Martial Apprentices all walked towards the arena.
Suddenly, a Niu Tou Ren (Minotaur) directly surpassed them, flying onto the Martial Apprentice arena.
"I want to fight in arena defense mode!" Su Hong said loudly.
The scene instantly fell silent for a moment, then quickly erupted into a frenzy!
"Holy crap, tonight is so exciting? Someone's already going for arena defense mode!"
"I haven't seen this Niu Tou Ren (Minotaur) before, he looks really strong!"
The audience exchanged excited remarks.
Chen Lin, Chen Shan, Li Tu, and other students were all dumbfounded.
"What is arena defense mode?"
"It's like this..." Someone nearby explained.
After listening, Li Tu and the others were all instantly shocked.
"Holy crap, fight all the way through? This person is too arrogant!"
Chen Lin excitedly waved his fist.
Then he thought of something and muttered softly, "Su Hong, oh Su Hong, it's really a pity you didn't come today. You'll probably regret it so much tomorrow that you won't be able to sleep!"
The audience was lively, but among the Martial Apprentices preparing to enter the ring, looking at the Niu Tou Ren (Minotaur) on stage, all their faces showed anger.
Choosing arena defense mode undoubtedly meant he believed he could defeat everyone and have the last laugh.
This was the greatest insult to the other participants!
"I'll take you on!"
A burly middle-aged man jumped onto the stage.
"Friend, first time here, acting so..."
Before the big man could finish his sentence, with a bang, he was already kicked off the stage.
"Next!"