My Martial Arts Level Never Drops

Chapter 329: Chapter 165: Spotlight

Beside Qin Fang, Xue Yi’s face was flushed red. His muscles bulged, straining his tight-fitting clothes. He was practically leaning forward as he struggled to move, as if walking against a gale-force wind. Each step forward was a monumental effort.

On the other side, Fu Chen was in a similar state. His face was flushed, veins popping on his forehead. A cracking sound came from his muscles... the result of the immense pressure building up.

Qin Fang, however, walked at a steady, unhurried pace.

The large stone on his shoulders now weighed ten thousand jin!

Furthermore, the air before him felt like a mire, making it difficult to even lift his feet.

But for Qin Fang, who estimated his own physical limit to be around fifty-eight thousand jin, this was clearly nothing.

A glint in his eyes, Qin Fang considered just how much of his strength he should reveal.

But the thought was fleeting, and he quickly made a decision...

’Since I’m already being watched, there’s no point in being low-key anymore.’

Thinking this, he simply stopped at the ninety-meter mark, shouldering the large stone, and stood still to watch the others.

’Since I’ve decided to be high-profile, I might as well be a little *more* high-profile.’

He watched as the others continued to advance.

Ninety-one, ninety-two...

With each step forward, the stone on their shoulders grew heavier by another hundred jin!

In the blink of an eye, all nineteen of them had reached the one-hundred-meter mark.

At this point, the weight of the giant stone had reached eleven thousand jin!

”So strong... They’re Huajin Martial Artists, after all. I heard during the last assessment that the weight surpasses ten thousand jin after the ninety-meter mark!”

”Ten thousand jin! Can you even imagine? These people... they’re all monsters!”

The crowd gasped in amazement.

”Huh? Why did someone stop at the ninety-meter mark?”

Then, people gradually began to notice Qin Fang, standing motionless at the ninety-meter mark.

More and more people started to pay attention.

Qin Fang’s expression remained unchanged. He still didn’t move.

One hundred and one, one hundred and two...

Finally, at the one-hundred-and-five-meter mark, with a THUD, Liu Rushi was the first to give out, dropping the giant stone to the ground.

She was panting heavily, her delicate face turning a deathly pale. A look of frustration appeared on her face as she watched the others continue to advance...

’Even among Huajin Martial Artists, a woman’s physical strength is ultimately weaker than a man’s.’

She caught her breath for a moment, then suddenly heard the buzzing of discussion from the crowd. Her ears twitched. Hearing something specific, she subconsciously turned her head to look at Qin Fang.

Qin Fang was still standing there calmly, showing no intention of moving.

Her eyes flickered... She had a vivid memory of Qin Fang.

He was the first person to ever challenge her.

And he did it twice in a row!

Twice in a row, she had been defeated without being able to put up any resistance... It was hard for her to forget Qin Fang.

’...Why has he stopped moving?’

After a moment of confusion, she seemed to figure something out and immediately let out a cold snort.

”Show-off!”

Clearly, she thought she had seen through Qin Fang’s ploy.

’Everyone else is focused on moving forward. By suddenly stopping, he naturally draws the attention of the spectators.’

’It might even attract the curious gazes of those big shots on the Haiman!’

’Obviously, Qin Fang is using this method to attract attention!’

’If you’re going to grab the spotlight like this, you’d better have the skill to back it up! Otherwise... not only will you fail to make a good impression, but you’ll also make the big shots biased against you. They’ll think you’re flighty and useless!’

Liu Rushi sneered, a hint of schadenfreude in her thoughts. ’Does he really think he’s the smartest one here?’

’The one thing big shots detest most is grandstanding, self-righteous people!’

’Fine then. If you’re going to act like this, you can forget about one of the twelve seats!’

Liu Rushi thought with a cold laugh.

Just then, a dull BOOM rang out.

Liu Rushi turned to see Han Wang, who had been in the lane next to her, forced to stop about ten meters ahead of her.

He was panting, his face pale, his expression one of frustration...

...He had made it to one hundred and thirteen meters.

At that point, the weight had reached 12,300 jin. Coupled with the extreme forward resistance, he found it impossible to even take a simple step and had no choice but to give up.

Following that, several more THUDS echoed...

It was Xue Yi, Han Wang, Fan Ze, and a few others, all dropping their stones.

...They had all failed around the one-hundred-and-thirteen, one-hundred-and-fourteen, and one-hundred-and-fifteen-meter marks.

As expected, their strengths were all comparable.

Panting heavily, they glanced at each other from a distance before looking away and staring ahead once more.

Then, Lin Chen was forced to stop at the one-hundred-and-seventeen-meter mark. He let out a long breath and glanced back, his eyes flashing... ’At this distance, I have a shot at one of the twelve seats!’

After that, more and more people began to reach their limits.

Ten thousand jin was essentially the limit for the Mortal Realm. Once at that limit, every additional jin was immense pressure, let alone a hundred jin at a time.

THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD...

One after another, people stopped.

The order was generally from back to front.

At the one-hundred-and-twenty-three-meter mark... Duan Ling of A Courtyard 1 also finally reached his limit. He dropped the giant stone, glanced back, and let out a long breath, his eyes glinting.

’First place!’

’A spot among the twelve is guaranteed.’

’I might even take the top spot!’

He thought to himself...

...Qin Fang had stopped at the ninety-something-meter mark, twenty or thirty meters behind him. With more than ten lanes separating them, and with Qin Fang at the very back of the pack, Duan Ling hadn’t even noticed he was still carrying his stone.

After Duan Ling dropped his giant stone... of the twenty people from A Courtyard, only Qin Fang was left still carrying his.

Qin Fang let out a light breath. He could feel the gazes of the big shots on the Haiman, which had been fixed on him from the very beginning.

At this moment, the buzzing discussion from the crowd grew louder. Some had noticed him standing motionless, but others hadn’t, believing the winner had already been decided.

Qin Fang didn’t linger. With everyone else now stopped, he began to stroll forward.

’Since I’m going to be high-profile, I might as well go all the way!’