“Really?” Wu Rui sighed deeply, his heart filled with melancholy. He quickly adjusted his mindset and turned his loss into a driving force to get stronger!

“Nah, probably not.” Xiang Ning thought about it before speaking.

Wu Rui was just about to say something when he was almost choked to death by Xiang Ning’s statement.

“You got stronger, but so did I.” Xiang Ning felt that his words were correct. He still respected Wu Rui as a rival even though they had some unpleasant memories. A lifelong rival was worthy of his respect. The stronger Wu Rui was, the more strength Xiang Ning would have to exert. Only then could he match Wu Rui’s strength and obtain more experience. If Wu Rui was capable of increasing his power in the spar he would have had to open the third gate.

The other participants didn’t understand what Xiang Ning was thinking. Instead, they were looking at a legendary scene: the victor was standing while the other was lying down after being defeated. The scene where Xiang Ning held out his hand to pull Wu Rui up was forever etched into the memories of the participants. It was straight out of a fairy tale!

“This is the true shackles of fate.”

“I now know that I was in the wrong.”

“Hahaha! I understand now! Being strong doesn’t mean that you become stronger on your own, but having a rival to challenge you. True strength is becoming stronger alongside your rival!”

“That’s right! We need to be the ones chasing or being chased. Do we improve ourselves just to become stronger and kill beasts? No! We do so to become the best version of ourselves!”

“This is the birth of a legend! Teacher Xiang Ning!”

When Xiang Ning pulled Wu Rui up, the other participants bowed to him. “Teacher Xiang Ning, thank you for teaching us a lesson! We’ll forever remember this in our hearts, thank you!”

Xiang Ning was taken aback by their reactions. Wu Rui, on the other hand, was revealing a smile full of pride and satisfaction. He was happy to become Xiang Ning’s rival. From then on, he will be the only one who’s capable of standing by his side and challenging him!

Anran clapped as she observed the scene unfolding before her. It was magnificent! Just like a legend, Xiang Ning from Qiling Academy and Wu Rui from Hanwu Academy were both students with bright futures!

“Hahaha! I’ll be able to improve myself as long as you’re strong. The moment you stop improving is the moment I’ll surpass you! Prepare yourself! I won’t let you go until I’m dead.” Wu Rui was laughing happily as the knot within his heart had disappeared. What had replaced it was an obsession to surpass Xiang Ning.

Xiang Ning had no clue what was happening. What the heck? Why’s everyone clapping? Was our spar that extraordinary? Also, why are you guys calling me teacher? When did I teach you a lesson?

The spar between Xiang Ning and Wu Rui had finally come to an end. The other participants were also influenced by their fight and decided to teach what they had learned from Xiang Ning to their friends. They were excited to tell the world what had happened!

All of them forfeited. Thus, Xiang Ning became the only person that could get close to Annot.

Anran had been worried at first, since Marsh City was small. How could there be any strong martial artists below the age of eighteen? But now she understood. People on mother earth were in constant danger—how could they not be strong since they were always fighting against beasts? She came to the only plausible conclusion.

Xiang Ning was still confused when he was thrown into the recovery capsule. While his wounds looked serious, they were merely superficial. There was no need to use even a drop of recovery fluid. Still, there was no reason for him to refuse. He absorbed the recovery fluid and healed his external wounds.

Later, he put on his shirt and pants as he pulled his wet hair back. It was a mature look for him. Anran walked into the room and stared. Hmm, to think that he’s somewhat handsome with this hairstyle. He looked average with his previous hairstyle.

“Hmm, not bad. Your face gets a pass, but somehow you are still lacking in manliness,” she commented.

Xiang Ning didn’t know how to respond. Hey! What do you mean I’m not manly enough?!

“Alright, come with me.” Anran led him to an elevator.

Xiang Ning turned and looked at her over his shoulder. To be fair, she was pretty, but her attitude was weird. He decided to let it go since she had complimented his looks.

She pressed the button to head up to the highest floor.

“Fa—I mean, I greet the dojo master.” Xiang Ning almost called him father-in-law when he remembered the night they had first met.

“Master Fang, I’ve chosen the candidate. You can bring in the person you’ve chosen,” Anran said.

“No need. Since you managed to invite Xiang Ning, there’s no reason for me to bring in the person I chose.” Fang Zhenyuan was a sly fox! Because the issue at hand was too important, it was imperative that he obtained the trust of the people of Azura. Luckily he hadn’t needed to do much, but still used a small trick to raise Xiang Ning’s potential and reputation by saying that. How could the person that Fang Zhenyuan had chosen to be weak? When he said that there was no need to bring in the other person, not only was he implying that Xiang Ning was stronger than the other candidate, but he was also indirectly saying that Xiang Ning wasn’t a person they could invite as they pleased.

As expected, when Anran heard what Fang Zhenyuan said, she took another glance at Xiang Ning, her eyes filled with satisfaction. This was the person she had chosen. While it would be a bit cheap if she said it out loud, she was the one who had chosen Xiang Ning in the end, making it look like her insight was sharper than Fang Zhenyuan’s. She was secretly happy.

......

When the two of them walked out of Thunder Dojo, Anran brought Xiang Ning into a black car and started briefing him. The contents were more or less the same as Lu Shiyu had said.

He was still baffled. Annot? Isn’t she the one I saved yesterday? Why is there such a large gap between what I’ve seen and what Anran’s saying now?

Soon, the car stopped at the central hotel.

“Annot, come say hello to the person you were looking for.” Anran turned and saw Xiang Ning’s exasperated face.

“Really? Where is he?” Annot knew that Anran wasn’t alone, so she had hidden. She came out only after she heard that Xiang Ning was there. Even though she had only met him once, she instantly recognized him and flashed a rare smile. “Hey, we meet again!” 

MC becoming more and more famous I see