HIs spear armor hand pierced Fu Chen’s armor and then pierced his skin. The blood dripped down from the armored hand though he didn’t dare to pierce deep. After all, killing was extremely prohibited in this kind of battle.

Just when he was about to smile, his eyes widened.

Drip! Drip! Drip!

The bloody drops fell on his armor and started melting it. While he had successfully attacked Fu Chen, his armor was also getting destroyed with each second.

Bang! Thud!

He didn’t hesitate to pull back his spear and kick Fu Chen up. Fu Chen flew up and landed just next to him. At this moment, Zhu Tan’s armor was almost evaporated and his Martial Spirit had returned back.

Fu Chen also lost his armor but for some reason, his Martial Spirit didn’t shrink back. Rather, it created another dragon scale and covered his wound. It didn’t heal him but it did manage to block the blood flow.

On other hand, Zhu Tan was too exhausted. He had lost all of his stamina and Spiritual Qi as well. During that last attack, the Spiritual Qi that he used to create the rune on his Martial Spirit eye gave him the ability to manipulate his Tiger Armor and also enhance his physical capabilities.

Unfortunately, the battle hasn’t ended yet. In the middle of the stage, Fu Chen slowly got up.

“I— I told you before. Hard work always pays off!”

Bang! “Gah!”

Fu Chen smacked a punch on Zhu Tan’s face. Unlike Zhu Tan, Fu Chen had encountered these kinds of injuries before. And, with the insane amount of stamina that he has, he didn’t pass out or even became useless.

Although he was out of his Qi, it still didn’t matter since he could use his fist especially when his body was still covered with those dragon scales.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang1

Fu Chen kept on smacking Zhu Tan. The anger and hatred inside his heart were fading away slowly but it was also erupting at the same time. Because Zhu Tan was in front of him, unable to fight back.

This was his moment. This was the second thing he wanted for almost a year now. As for the first, it was obviously awakening his Martial Spirit.

Even the audience couldn’t watch as Fu Chen kept on slamming Zhu Tan. He was punching his face, chest, stomach, hands, and legs. But, he was only punching. He didn’t try to break his legs or anything else.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, his body was pushed back and in the flash, a man caught Zhu Tan and brought him away. This man was none other than Elder Zhu. When Fu Chen saw him, he immediately took the battle stance, and at the same time, Xue Le rushed in front of him.

But at this moment, something unprecedented thing happened. Elder Zhu slowly lowered his head in front of Fu Chen and said “Thank you for helping me and my grandson.”

“Today, he lost to you in both the battle and the ideology. Although I have supported his ideology and I will continue to support his ideology, I heavily believe that your ideology is superior to his. Hard work always pays off!”

Whoosh!

The next moment, his figure disappeared as he rushed away to treat his grandson. Although his grandson lost the battle, he still proved something far beyond the capabilities of a genius. It was one of a kind.

When he left, Xue Le instantly turned around as she noticed his Dragon Scales slowly disappearing from his body. Suddenly, she took a step forward and hugged him.

“You idiot, why were you so reckless?”

She couldn’t help but curse him. Although she knew he had trained his body for a long time, she wasn’t sure if it could hold on against the continuous breakthrough. Not to mention, the amount of pain that he has to go through.

“Argh….. Xue—Le, my wound!” Fu Chen barely made some sound and only then did she realize that his wound was still fresh. The Dragon Scale didn’t heal his wound.

“Here, take this!” She hurriedly took out a yellow pill and stuff it inside his mouth. Fortunately, she didn’t kiss in otherwise it would be embarrassing especially since they were in the middle of a massive crowd.

Then, she also took out a soft cloth and wrapped it around his chest.

“Ahem! If you two don’t mind, then can I announce the winner?” Suddenly, the referee elder walked toward them and asked.

Fu Chen nodded his head and the referee elder walked next to him. Then, he lifted Fu Chen’s hand and shouted.

“The winner of the Annual Competition is Fu Chen!”

Roar!

At this moment, thousands of disciples shouted and started cheering him.

“Fu Chen!” “Fu Chen!” “Fu Chen!” “Fu Chen!” “Fu Chen!” “Fu Chen!”

“So, how does it feel to get cheered by so many people?” Xue Le smiled and asked.

“Yes, tell us how it feels. After all, in the history of Annual Competition, this is the first time where thousands of disciples have cheered for a single person.” The referee asked as well.

Fu Chen looked at the crowd, madly cheering his name, saying a lot of stuff some of which made Xue Le angry a few times.

“It feels great.”

[Ding! Congratulation on completing your first quest]

[Your rewards have been delivered.]

At this moment, inside his body, deep but silent changes occurred.

‘Wait, wait, if I breakthrough right now, wouldn’t everyone get suspicious?’ Fu Chen screamed inside his mind.

‘Don’t worry, Host! The level upgrade given by the system is hidden from the outer world. Unless you wanted to show them, it can’t be detected. So, don’t worry and just accept the rewards.’ Ysla’s voice rang in his mind. It was pretty calm for a second but the next moment, she fired up.

‘Do you know how reckless that was? Do you know that you could’ve died? Although you won, you don’t have anything to prove to others. Why can’t you just use the System as you were supposed?’

‘I couldn’t do it, Ysla. During my fight against the genius, I had no choice but to use the system. But, didn’t you hear his words? Zhu Tan said himself that he is not a genius.’

‘What he had achieved is through his own way. Although his path and my path are different. If I had used the system, I would’ve felt the guilt that I could never be washed away from my life.’

‘He achieved all of that through slacking off. So, why couldn’t I do it without the system? Yes, I had no talent and I am eternally grateful for the system to give me such opportunity.’

‘But, when it comes to fighting Zhu Tan, I will never use the system. We are two ordinary people with ambitions walking on two different paths for maybe the same goal in one way or another. In other words, he is my one and only rival.’

Ysla had no words to say. She just kept her mouth shut as a new panel appeared in front of him.

[Your gift has arrived.]

[Congratulation, you acquired the Source Energy of Space Time]

[Item- Source Energy of Space-Time

Type- Energy

Description- A source of space-time energy. It allows the Host to use all kinds of Space-Time Dao Techniques. But, it can’t be transferred to the Host’s current body. Though the Host can merge this source with a weapon or a talent of his own that will never break. Because once it does, then the source will break as well.

Usages- Space-Time Dao Techniques (Changes based on the type of equipment or talent it is merged with.)

Rank- Unknown]

‘Ysla, can you explain this to me?’ Although Fu Chen get the idea, he couldn’t believe it completely. So, he decided to ask her.

‘Host, how about you wait until you merge it with something? Then, you will understand it on your own.’ Ysla didn’t answer.

Fu Chen felt a little bit of sourness in her tone and decided to keep his mouth shut. After all, he doesn’t want to offend her. He just enjoyed the cheering of the crowd as he walked away with Xue Le.

In the Library of the Sect,

“Sect Master, why are you here?” Library Elder asked with confusion when he saw the sect master choosing some of the techniques and arts.

Sect Master didn’t answer at once but rather chose the techniques arts first. Then, he walked out while answering.

“Since Fu Chen displayed such a magnificent talent, I decided to choose and give him the rewards he deserved.”

At this moment, a cold glint appeared in his eyes.