Wang Zhan watched as she looked ready to explode, but he calmly sat in the driver's seat.

With a BANG, he slammed the car door shut, then lifted his head to look at her, his expression even colder than the woman's had been.

"Now, move to the other side. You're so tough, aren't you? Come on, let me see what you've got. Trying to scare me with your first-place finish in the Martial Arts Academy competition? If I don't teach you a lesson, you'll really think I'm a pushover."

Wang Zhan said coolly. He had considered this possibility before, merely hoping to avoid it.

Now that the woman had called his bluff, he knew he couldn't avoid competing. He might as well lay his cards on the table. As long as he didn't personally fight, acting as a field commander would be no problem.

The woman's imposing chest heaved continuously, her eyebrows shot up, and she glared as if she wanted to skewer Wang Zhan with her eyes.

Wang Zhan looked at her without any change in expression.

"Are you getting in or not? If not, then scram. I don't have time to waste on spoiled brats like you."

The woman suddenly let out a "Pfft!" of laughter, looking at him with endless contempt.

"Fine, let's do this. Let's see how much courage your paper-thin bravado holds. Daring to cause trouble in Jing State? Heh..."

Wang Zhan also chuckled. You'll find out soon enough, he thought.

「At the edge of the Jing State Wilderness Area.」

At this moment, representatives from over a thousand Martial Arts Academies, seven to eight thousand students, Military Department mentors, Martial Arts Academy mentors, local dignitaries, and delegates from numerous powerful families—nearly ten thousand people in total—had all gathered in this massive, temporarily constructed stadium. Yet, it didn't feel cramped at all; instead, it seemed exceptionally spacious.

The Four Greats were so named because they all hailed from Jing State, possessed extensive networks and formidable strength within Jing State, and had received untold resources from the Federation.

Yet, no one could have imagined that the Royal Martial Arts Academy, one of the Four Greats, would suffer such a crushing defeat in this year's Federal Martial Arts Competition. They were left with no dignity, their participating team ejected from the battlefield, and even their earned points wiped clean, firmly cementing their position in last place.

Edward, the Dean of the Royal Martial Arts Academy, while capable of maintaining solidarity with the other three of the Four Greats to deal with the Original Organization and protect Wang Zhan, could not stomach the immense disgrace Wang Zhan had personally inflicted upon the Royal Martial Arts Academy.

Naturally, he wouldn't stoop to bullying juniors directly. He merely used some of his means to secure another competition slot for the Royal Martial Arts Academy. Then, he told them: "If you want to wash away this shame, do it yourselves. Don't always expect your elders to step in after you've been beaten. Never mind whether your alumni, those senior brothers and sisters who graduated from the Royal Martial Arts Academy, can even show their faces. If you students, who only know how to coast on past glories, can't achieve this, then don't you dare claim to be from one of the Four Greats in the future." In short, his words weren't particularly damaging, but the insult was extreme.

So, after the Royal Martial Arts Academy paid a staggering one billion for their hard-won, regained competition slot and constructed an enormous venue the size of dozens of standard football fields, they finally ushered in their home-ground advantage.

At that moment, in the center of the stadium, all the students stood at attention, their eyes bright and focused intently on the high platform before them.

A line of distinguished-looking dignitaries was seated on the high platform, chatting and laughing as they admired the spirited bearing of the talented young people gathered from all regions.

An elderly man with a full head of white hair, an upright posture, and a resolute demeanor, accompanied by a woman with a graceful figure dressed in exquisite formal attire, quietly ascended the rostrum and announced in a loud voice,

"The Federal Martial Arts Competition—Team Extra Time Competition begins now! Please, all team leaders come up and draw your battle number."

After the leaders of each team came forward and drew their respective match numbers from the box held by the woman in formal attire, the Federal Martial Arts Competition—Team Extra Time Competition officially commenced.

The rules were as follows: no time limit. Each team started with 300 points and had three match opportunities. A successful match added 100 points, and the team would directly enter the main competition. Failing three matches meant a deduction of 300 points and direct elimination.

Finally, apart from points earned in the Team Extra Time Competition, the champion, runner-up, and third-place teams would receive an additional 10,000, 9,000, and 8,000 points, respectively. The remaining top ten teams would be awarded points on a similar sliding scale.

It was very fair.

"The first battle, Federal Martial Arts Academy versus Jing State Martial Arts Academy!"

Hanqing, a third-year student from the Federal Martial Arts Academy and a Level Two Warrior who had surpassed his limit value by over 20%, officially entered the match.

Meanwhile, the green field in the arena silently transformed, neatly divided into ten equal sections, allowing ten matches to proceed simultaneously.

However, in contrast to the bustling and fervent atmosphere in the arena, Song Dongming and Sun Kelan from the Chu State Military Martial Academy Team frowned instantly upon hearing the competition rules. They exchanged glances, noticing the uneasy expressions on each other's faces.

These rules are very strange, very unreliable, they thought. The organizers throwing three billion points out there clearly means they intend to fuel war with war, making the strong even stronger.

Logically, this approach might seem reasonable, but it meant that the foundation Wang Zhan had built for the Chu State Military Martial Academy Team was completely nullified, rendered worthless.

Fortunately, even though Wang Zhan wasn't present, the Chu State Military Martial Academy Team had still not been called up to the stage after the first round of ten matches concluded.

「In fact, the moment the Team Extra Time Competition started.」

Wang Zhan was driving the Beetle, cruising unhurriedly through Jing State City, heading straight towards the outskirts, with the woman he had designated as definitely sick in the head—no doubt about it—sitting next to him.

Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a major issue, but one mustn't forget that the woman Wang Zhan had arrogantly yanked from the driver's seat was still sitting beside him.

So this woman, who was clearly unhinged, now had her arms crossed, propping up those magnificent peaks. She made no effort to hide her disdain, openly sneering,

"So this is what you meant by showing me a good time? This is how you'll show me if you're a pushover? Student Wang Zhan, can you tell me why you're so hilarious? Pfft, HAHAHAHA..."

Wang Zhan hadn't intended to engage with this lunatic. He just stared blankly at the somewhat congested road ahead, inching along. But after the woman called out his name, he finally spoke.

"Sometimes, being slow isn't a cardinal sin. Maintaining a measured pace can make the process much more... comfortable."

Hearing Wang Zhan's words, the woman assumed he was teasing her. A cold glint flashed in her eyes, and her expression turned icy once more.

"Are you flirting with me?"

Wang Zhan nodded. "Quite perceptive of you to figure that out."

"You're courting death!"

The woman raised her hand to slap him, but Wang Zhan caught her wrist in a grip so tight it nearly shattered her bones. She immediately ground her teeth and seethed,

"You little bastard, don't think just because your dad is Wang Yidao..."

Little did she know, the instant she called Wang Zhan a "little bastard," he had already turned his head. He glanced at her briefly, a slight smile playing on his lips as he met her cold, deep eyes.

SMACK!

His right hand shot up, a blur of motion, then slapped down hard across her face, leaving a red imprint that quickly began to swell.

The woman fell completely silent at once, but her eyes remained fixed on him, burning with intensity.

Wang Zhan then gently caressed her rapidly swelling cheek, meeting her hate-filled gaze before turning back to focus intently on the road. He said softly,

"I advise you to choose your words more carefully. Although you look pitiable in that red dress today, as I've said before, if you anger me, I don't care if you're a man or a woman—I will strike."

「It wasn't until nightfall.」

At the final checkpoint, a soldier finally noticed this small Beetle, driving unhurriedly but heading out of the city—the wrong direction for safety—and immediately went to speak to the driver.

"Sir, the wilderness outside is quite dangerous..."

He was about to caution Wang Zhan further when his eyes fell upon the woman in the passenger seat and the swollen red mark on her face. His expression froze.

Disregarding Wang Zhan's youthful appearance, the soldier's face turned stern. He ordered Wang Zhan out of the car, then addressed the woman in a concerned tone,

"Sir, please get out of the car immediately. Ma'am, do you need our help?"

To the soldier's surprise, Wang Zhan gently stroked the woman's face, and she didn't resist in the slightest. Then, Wang Zhan said with a deadpan expression,

"Wife, do you think we need their help?"

The hatred in the woman's eyes vanished in an instant. She then clasped Wang Zhan's hand with an adoring look, rubbed her slightly stinging cheek against it, and said sweetly,

"No need, Officer. My husband was just joking with me."

Only after the Beetle passed through the final checkpoint of Jing State City and sped away did the soldier turn around, his face impassive. He remained silent until a comrade asked him about it.

"I don't know whose son from some bigwig family that was, taking a beautiful woman out of the city. I really can't figure it out. That handprint on her face was so obvious, yet she still wanted to be with him."

His comrade sighed and tried to console him,

"Sigh, isn't it always like this? Besides, you can save one, but you can't save them all. Even if she dies in the wilderness, another woman will just take her place. Why get so worked up about it?"

「What the soldier didn't know was that once they left Jing State City,」

the woman violently flung Wang Zhan's hand away and said, her face devoid of emotion,

"You're in deep trouble. If word of this gets out, you're dead for sure. Even if your father returned to the Federation, he couldn't save you."

Wang Zhan, however, narrowed his eyes and asked,

"It seems you don't actually want me to die. So, why did you provoke me in the first place?"

The woman didn't respond.

ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!

The Beetle's engine suddenly roared violently, continuously building power.

It was hard to imagine what this woman's background was for a small Beetle's engine to sound like the turbine of some antique fighter jet—ferocious, scorching, like a bloodthirsty wild beast.

BOOM!

Wang Zhan floored the accelerator and released the clutch.

A red streak, like an untamed mustang, suddenly galloped across the wilderness, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake, resembling lightning in a torrential downpour.

Only occasionally could one hear...

A woman's shrill scream.

At this moment, her face was a mask of hatred, defiance, unwillingness, and rage.

As the little Beetle tore along, ferocious and swift, she seemed to have finally found an opportunity to vent, completely disregarding the person beside her.

She just wanted to open her eyes wide and scream with all her might.

"AHH!..."

Who could say why?

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