CHAPTER 98: CHAPTER 98 MARTIAL ARTIST APEX_1

At the same time, in stark contrast to the excitement of the three referees, the Royal Martial Arts Academy team—whose intermediate Soldier-level beast had been snatched away—had red, bloodshot eyes, glaring fixedly at Wang Zhan.

An intermediate Soldier-level beast was the equivalent of a human level 7 Warrior or above, up to a level 4 Martial Master.

For the Royal Martial Arts Academy team, whose members were all level eight or nine Martial Artists, despite being geniuses among geniuses, dealing with such an opponent had forced them to exhaust all their means. Furthermore, it had taken a six-on-one battle to finally, and just barely, defeat it.

And just when they were about to enjoy the fruits of victory, Wang Zhan showed up again.

"Truly impressive. Absolutely breathtaking," Wang Zhan appeared before the members of the Royal Martial Arts Academy with his hands behind his back, smiling cheerfully.

This time, he didn’t need to lie in ambush because these people had all exhausted too much physical strength and posed no threat to him whatsoever.

"It’s you again!" William gritted his teeth, seemingly trying to take down Wang Zhan with his gaze alone.

Being robbed of a lower Soldier-level beast previously was tolerable, since lower Soldier-level beasts were relatively easier to handle! But this intermediate-level one they now faced—the beast core alone was worth 500 points. The difficulty in dealing with it far surpassed that of a lower Soldier-level beast.

If Wang Zhan took this beast, the Royal Martial Arts Academy would have paid a steep price and exhausted all their efforts, only for someone else to reap the rewards.

How could William, a genius with such high standards, accept this?

Seeing Wang Zhan drawing closer, William struggled to his feet. Fighting against his fatigue and weakness, he said coldly, "Friend, I can overlook the previous incident. But if you dare to target this intermediate Soldier-level beast today, I guarantee you will become an eternal enemy of our Royal Martial Arts Academy."

His words were undoubtedly heavy.

Wang Zhan paused, looking at William with interest before his gaze swept over the other five members of the Royal Martial Arts Academy team.

They all looked utterly wretched. Compared to the intermediate Soldier-level beast lying there, gravely injured and on the verge of death, their condition wasn’t much better.

Aside from William, another called Ally also appeared weak, yet her gaze towards Wang Zhan was remarkably calm.

"Well? Leave now, and we’ll let bygones be bygones," William urged when Wang Zhan remained silent.

Wang Zhan shook his head.

"No way. Why shouldn’t I take benefits that are within easy reach?" Wang Zhan raised an eyebrow, a flippant tone in his voice as he chuckled, "Don’t try to pressure me with the name of the Royal Martial Arts Academy. I’m rather timid, you see..."

As his words fell, Wang Zhan went directly to the dying beast and plunged his dagger into its head.

’Strength +2’

’Agility +4’

’Physique +3’

Hearing the familiar prompts in his ear, a satisfied smile spread across Wang Zhan’s face.

This time, the attribute rewards from killing the intermediate Soldier-level beast were noticeably small, even less than from the previous lower Soldier-level beast.

But Wang Zhan knew very well that with this kill, his journey in the Martial Artist Stage had finally come to an end!

Host: Wang Zhan

Strength: 1600

Agility: 1600

Physique: 1600

Charm: 30

Wisdom: 25

Mental Energy: 50

My three main attributes are finally maxed out, and my mental energy has reached a range of 50 meters. Not bad... Wisdom has also increased by a few points. Wang Zhan quickly scanned his new attributes.

After checking his growth, under the murderous glares of the Royal Martial Arts Academy members, he retrieved the intermediate Soldier-level beast core and pocketed it.

Having dealt with all this, Wang Zhan turned his smiling gaze back to William and Ally.

"Tsk tsk. Following you guys for these past two days, I’ve effortlessly picked up 700 points. I’m almost embarrassed."

"You should know that once this competition ends, we’ll be able to find out your identity, right?" William said coldly. "Kid, your standing is too low. There are many things you don’t understand, and I can’t be bothered to explain them to you! But remember this one thing: today, you have thoroughly offended the Royal Martial Arts Academy. After this competition ends, you will taste the bitter fruit."

Wang Zhan shrugged indifferently, then turned his gaze to Ally.

He had already encountered all seven members of the Royal Martial Arts Academy’s team. Among them, only Ally and William somewhat caught his attention. The others might be considered geniuses elsewhere, but in Wang Zhan’s eyes, they were merely average.

"Do you think so too?" Wang Zhan asked with a light laugh.

Ally’s expression faltered; she clearly hadn’t expected Wang Zhan to suddenly question her. She remained silent for a moment, offering no response, and took a couple of steps back.

Seeing this, a trace of dissatisfaction flickered across William’s face, though he said nothing.

Wang Zhan, however, laughed heartily, waved his hand, and turned to leave.

"You’re just participating students; you don’t represent the Royal Martial Arts Academy... And even if you did, like I care who you are! You attacked my people, and you think you’ll get off easy?!"

"You hold grudges, right? What a coincidence, I’m the master of holding grudges. This isn’t over. You just wait!"

With those words, Wang Zhan had already strode far away.

Only the six from the Royal Martial Arts Academy remained, looking at each other in dismay.

"Ally, why did you step back just now? Were you scared?" William looked at Ally coldly.

"No, I just felt it was unnecessary to explain anything to him." Ally shook her head slightly, clarifying, "That fellow is very powerful, no weaker than either of us at our peak. I didn’t think it was necessary to provoke him when we were all so depleted."

"But he dared to disregard the Royal Martial Arts Academy..." William frowned deeply.

"So what?" Ally suddenly chuckled. "He doesn’t seem like the type to make empty boasts. I suspect we’ll meet him again soon."

"If he dares to come again, I’ll personally disable him! I’ll do it even if I have to face punishment afterward!" William said in a deep voice. "Next time, I’ll make him taste regret."

"Hmph, let’s hope so."

...

It was barely past noon when Wang Zhan returned to the Melted Cave.

Seeing Wang Zhan back, the other six teammates looked somewhat perplexed.

"Why are you back so early today?" Song Dongming asked.

"It’s nothing. I managed to piss off that bunch from the Royal Martial Arts Academy. I reckon there won’t be much to gain today, so I came back," Wang Zhan shrugged and explained.

Defeating an intermediate Soldier-level beast had left the members of the Royal Martial Arts Academy utterly spent. Though prideful, they weren’t foolish; they likely wouldn’t attempt any more hunting for the remainder of the day.

Given this, Wang Zhan decided to return early and begin attempting his breakthrough to the Warrior stage.

After casually eating some snake fruit and roasted rabbit meat, Wang Zhan turned to the other six teammates. After a moment of contemplation, he asked Sun Kelan, "Ke Lan, are there any weaker beasts among the Soldier-level ones in this area?"

"Yes," Sun Kelan nodded, then asked, "Are you going to take us hunting, Captain?"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the Melted Cave immediately gathered around.

"I’m not going with you; you’ll go on your own," Wang Zhan shook his head. "After witnessing a group of level eight and nine Martial Artists from the Royal Martial Arts Academy take down an intermediate Soldier-level beast, I believe the six of you, working together, should have no problem handling a lower Soldier-level beast."

"You’re not going, Captain?" Zhou Weiya asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

"If I’m there, you’ll just feel secure, and it will defeat the purpose of this training exercise," Wang Zhan shook his head. "Besides, this is a team competition. You can’t really expect to rely on me for everything, can you?"

At these words, everyone was speechless.

The truth was, Wang Zhan’s previous performance had been so overwhelmingly dominant that they had subconsciously come to depend on him as their pillar of support.

"Alright then. Ke Lan will lead the team this afternoon, and you will follow Song Dongming’s commands during combat! Before dark today, you must bring back a Soldier-level beast core."

Wang Zhan patted Song Dongming’s shoulder. "Get yourselves ready and head out."

After such a clear directive, there were naturally no further objections.

Soon, Song Dongming and the others left the Melted Cave, following Sun Kelan to find their hunting target.

Meanwhile, Wang Zhan wasted no time and immediately began his cultivation, striving for a breakthrough.

In the days before arriving in Oceania, Wang Zhan had consulted Duan Kun about breaking through to the Warrior stage.

According to Duan Kun, upon reaching the Warrior stage, mental power ascends to a level of importance equal to physical strength. This is unlike the Martial Artist Stage, which primarily emphasizes the body.

To enhance my mental power, I’ll start with the Five Thunder Deity Refinement Method. Wang Zhan’s consciousness slowly sank into silence.

Unconsciously, arcs of electricity began to flicker around him. With him as the epicenter, Spiritual Energy from a radius of nearly a hundred meters began to surge towards him like a vortex, being absorbed into his body.

Wang Zhan’s aura began to churn subconsciously.

...

At the same time, the three referees in Ao City also happened to notice Wang Zhan’s situation.

"Huh? Is he trying to break through to the Warrior stage?" King Xiong was quite surprised. "This kid is only eighteen, right? All told, it’s only been a little over half a year. Truly astonishing."

King of Thunder and King Xing had already told King Xiong a great deal about Wang Zhan.

Because of this, King Xiong knew that Wang Zhan had only achieved his breakthrough as a Martial Artist after starting university.

"Breaking through to the Warrior stage during university isn’t rare, but daring to do so in the first year—he is indeed an exception," the King of Thunder nodded. "Indeed, many geniuses can complete the Martial Artist Stage in about a year. However, for someone like him, who is not only about to break through to Warrior but has also pushed his own limits to such a high degree—that’s unprecedented."

"He must have some secret, right? No matter how talented, this cultivation speed is too exaggerated," King Xiong mused, curious.

The moment he spoke, King Xing and the King of Thunder shot him cold glances.

"Don’t look at me like that. I was just making an offhand comment, I have no ill intentions," King Xiong quickly waved his hands. "For those of us at the forefront of humanity, who doesn’t have a few secrets?"

Hearing this, the King of Thunder chuckled, then his expression suddenly froze.

"What’s wrong?" King Xiong and King Xing asked, curious.

"I just remembered, Wang Zhan’s father is Wang Yu."

"Wang Yu? Which Wang Yu?"

"Wang Yidao!"