After calling Xiao Fan, the elder proceeded to call out a name that surprised not only the crowd but also Ning.

"Disciple Wei Fa!"

At once, the audience became frenzied and excited. They were all hyped to see an epic beatdown, especially since Xiao Fan could be considered famous or rather infamous for things he had done and the number of high-ranking disciples he had provoked.

With Ning's acute hearing, he noticed some guy saying, "The trash is going to die." That made him shake his head. These guys never learn.

Looking at his side, he noticed that Fatty Li seemed a bit worried, so he said, "It will be fine."

"Thanks." Fatty Li felt that Ning was comforting him; he truly was a gentle guy. Even though Fatty Li was confident in Xiao Fan, he was going to face the fifth-ranked disciple in the very first round. Even if he won, he might get too injured to fight others. So, he still had a trace of concern.

On the other hand, Ning was not worried at all as he gazed at the field. If Xiao Fan was truly the protagonist, then he did not have a chance to lose at all, not at this level at least.

Xiao Fan and Wei Fa faced each other ten meters apart, both on the opposite side of the field. Ning saw that Wei Fa took the horse stance, the one which he used in the forest. Xiao Fan, on the other hand, seemed casual, not even putting up a single guard.

"Hey Trash, why are you not getting ready? Have you already lost the will to fight? As expected of the coward," Wei Fa mocked Xiao Fan viciously, but Xiao Fan didn't flinch as if already immune to stuff like this.

"A stance for you? I don't need a stance to deal with the likes of you," Xiao Fan spoke in a tone that didn't have any arrogance in it. It was as if he was saying something inevitable.

Wei Fa got pissed. One must not underestimate the legendary "provoking" physique, after all. Then, Wei Fa did something that Ning considered dumb, extremely dumb. He actually charged at Xiao Fan.

"You are courting death!" Wei Fa ran towards him with an enraged face. Wei Fa was a massive dude, and seeing him charge in such a bullish manner seemed quite scary, but even Ning was sure he could dodge the charge with ease, let alone the protagonist.

As expected, Xiao Fan dodged the punch without much effort and returned a counterpunch to his stomach. Wei Fa's face twisted with pain, but he did not fall down. Instead, he retreated a few meters on the spot before panting.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

If it were Ning, he would have used this chance to chase him down and let out a barrage of punches enough to make it look like some kind of street fighting game, but Xiao Fan didn't show any sign of continuing to attack.

"You have a good defense." Xiao Fan smirked, enraging Wei Fa further.

Meanwhile, the people in the audience were making cliché comments like, "How did that trash become so strong? It's impossible!" and "He even managed to break senior brother's Mountain Stance; it is the highest level defense art of the mortal rank!"

Of course, Ning was already aware of that since he had researched quite a lot, but he still couldn't help but shake his head. Typical tournament audience, always knowing what martial art everyone uses.

"Mountain Stance, huh? What an interesting coincidence," Xiao Fan spoke, hearing the murmurs in the audience, and he did something that astonished everyone except Ning.

"Heaven Shattering Fist, First Form, Mountain Shatter!" Xiao Fan shouted aloud. It seems that the protagonist, for some reason, needed to shout the complete name and the form of the technique.

Well, Ning would admit that it did look pretty cool, but it was quite dumb as well.

Xiao Fan punched Wei Fa with incredible force, and Ning and the others had the illusion of the mountain seemingly falling apart with his fist. Wei Fa flew from the attack so far that he hit the arena walls and became unconscious.

The arena became silent for a while seeing that scene before going mad. Ning heard another baffling thing from the shouts of the crowd.

"That martial art is one of the five incomplete black-rank techniques. It was so fragmented that everyone suffered Qi deviation when practiced. Xiao Fan has somehow learned it."

Ning thought that these guys should really go work in the Martial Pavilion or something.

"Wait! Doesn't this mean me too? I also knew the martial arts the moment it was used." Ning's mind wandered to something weird before he shook off those thoughts.

But seeing the martial arts unleashed by Xiao Fan, Ning added, "I will look for this technique after the competition."

Xiao Fan simply ignored the masses as usual. The elder who was presiding over the competition also seemed a little shocked and forgot to announce the winner. He finally came to his senses as he shouted the result.

"Winner Xiao Fan!" The audience became noisy again, and Xiao Fan just returned to where he was sitting earlier, not looking back.

Ning saw everything transpire and was not dejected that Xiao Fan had defeated Wei Fa. He was a little happy instead. Why, you ask? It's simple.

"Seems like I will have an easier time winning." This guy still wanted to challenge Wei Fa, who was just knocked unconscious by Xiao Fan.

That may seem extremely dishonorable, but Ning never thought so even once. He was the type of guy who used poison attacks, which were considered quite despicable in the first place. The only reason he did not use poison was that it was his trump card, and he preferred to hide this fact as much as possible.

Moreover, he felt that his plan and strength would be enough, and he still had another chance if he suffered a defeat.

With that type of mentality, Ning would obviously not give up such a prime opportunity.

Moreover, didn't they say chivalry was dead?