Chapter 297: Chapter 247: Messing with the Deputy Army Commander’s...
"Come to think of it, Gao Neng was the one who started this trend! He was the first to beat Wang Nanlin of Beihai Military Academy, which created this whole unhealthy trend!"
"..."
The discussion died down, followed by another silence.
"Cao Qing has reached Tier Six, after all. So let’s use this opportunity to push Gao Neng’s rank out of the top three hundred!" After the silence, Team Leader Zhang finally spoke again.
"Team Leader, you mean...?"
"Cao Qing loses two matches in a row, putting him at rank 300! Gao Neng... 301!"
"Team Leader, are you trying to...?"
"I want to give it one last try. I want to see what Gao Neng plans to do after he drops out of the top three hundred!" Team Leader Zhang gritted his teeth.
"What other plans could he have? You can guess, right? Following the same style he used when he challenged Wang Nanlin, he’ll definitely go challenge Cao Qing right away. If that doesn’t work, at most he’ll challenge Jiang Baibai at 299. Besides that, I can’t think of any other possibility."
"If he really does that, then let him be..." Team Leader Zhang waved his hand dismissively.
"Understood. I’ll update it right away!"
...
「Eastern Capital Military Academy.」
Gao Neng was in his dorm, preparing for the afternoon’s challenges, when the dreadful news arrived.
The Dragon List rankings had been updated!
And he, a supreme talent who had won dozens of matches in a row, had been screwed over by under-the-table dealings and forcibly pushed out of the Dragon List’s top 300.
"A setup! This is definitely a setup!" Gao Neng was almost certain. ’This is some seriously shady business.’
Cao Qing had lost two matches in a row; he was at his absolute weakest right now. According to the Dragon List’s rules, when you get knocked down like that, you definitely drop more than one spot.
Take Wang Nanlin from Beihai Military Academy, for example. He was originally ranked 298, but after getting his hand broken, he dropped all the way to 312.
Yet Cao Qing was forcibly placed at rank 300?
Exactly one spot higher than him!
Although Cao Qing’s breakthrough to Tier Six provided some leeway for this to be justifiable, Gao Neng knew perfectly well there was no way it was a coincidence. He had been pushed out by a hair.
"If this isn’t a setup, I’ll kill Fang Tangtang!" Gao Neng’s brows furrowed for a moment, but they soon relaxed.
’The officials want to disrupt my plans.’
’Not a chance!’
Just as he was thinking this, the door to his dorm was kicked open, and Fang Tangtang burst in like a storm.
’Luckily, he’d only been napping...’
’Gao Neng was wearing pants!’
"Gao Neng! Gao Neng! This is terrible! The Dragon List was updated, and you’ve been pushed out of the top 300! The afternoon challenges are ruined! We’ve lost at least a hundred million!" Even though Fang Tangtang was wealthy, she remained true to her money-making roots.
"I know," Gao Neng nodded.
"So what do we do now? Are you going to fight that Cao Qing? If you are, you need to move fast. The guy’s seriously injured right now, and the lookouts I planted outside said a whole crowd of people at the Eastern Capital Military Academy gates have already switched to challenging him!" Fang Tangtang said urgently.
"Do you want to get into the Dragon List’s top 300?" Gao Neng calmly poured himself a glass of water, then gestured to the chair beside him with a finger.
"The top 300 of the Dragon List? Of course I do!" Fang Tangtang didn’t sit down; on the contrary, her eyes were shining.
"Five hundred million, and I’ll get you into the Dragon List’s top 300. How about it?"
"Bad deal!"
"Oh? You don’t want to get into the top 300?"
"I want in if I can get in, of course, but there’s no need to spend five hundred million. For my purposes, getting into the top 500 has the same effect as getting into the top 300!"
"Then what about the top 200?" Gao Neng nodded slightly. ’Looks like the top 300 isn’t a big enough temptation for Fang Tangtang.’
"The top 200 of the Dragon List?!" Fang Tangtang’s mouth fell slightly open.
"That’s right. Five hundred million to get you into the top 200 and secure a B-rank evaluation. How about it?" Gao Neng said, smiling at Fang Tangtang.
"Two hundred million, tops. But can you really pull it off?" Fang Tangtang was skeptical.
"Of course!"
"How?"
"Because I already broke through to Tier Five two days ago! And Wang Jun, who’s ranked 200 right now, was injured in his fight with Cao Qing!" Gao Neng said with a confident expression.
"So, you’re planning to challenge Wang Jun?"
"Exactly!"
"But if you do that, won’t your true strength be exposed? There are still eight days left. Are you done making money?" Fang Tangtang didn’t quite understand.
"Have you forgotten? The Dragon List rules have changed."
"The rules changed... You mean..."
"I can camp at rank 300, and I can also camp at rank 200. The only difference is the caliber of the challengers!" The corner of Gao Neng’s mouth lifted into a slight smile.
「Ten days ago.」
Fang Tangtang had once asked him a question.
Money, or the evaluation?
As a grown-up, he naturally wouldn’t bother with such a childish choice. Because he wanted it all: the money *and* the evaluation.
’So, how to achieve that?’
’Simple. Use the first part of the time to make money, then wait for the last moment to strike like lightning!’
"Oh, right! How did I not think of that?" Fang Tangtang’s eyes lit up, but she quickly thought of something even more terrifying. "Wait, Gao Neng, did you just say you broke through to Tier Five?!"
"You’re only just realizing that now?" Gao Neng was a little speechless. ’Didn’t our conversation already move on to the Dragon List rules? Why are we circling back to this?’
"Ah! You actually broke through to Tier Five?! That’s impossible! Ah... I can’t take it! I thought I was so amazing for breaking through to Tier Four Mid Stage, but I never expected you to already be at Tier Five!"
"Oh? You broke through to Tier Four Mid Stage?"
"Yep! Pretty amazing, right?"
"It’s decent. Not a waste of all that Spring of Life you drank." Gao Neng nodded. He wasn’t too surprised; after all, Fang Tangtang had drunk a considerable amount of the Spring of Life.
’Thinking about it, though...’
’...two other people came to mind.’
’Shen Ning’Er drank the Spring of Life too. I wonder if she’s broken through yet?’
’And then there was Lin Ying!’
’Although Lin Ying was only ranked in the 200s right now, after his last battle, Gui Zian had actually hinted to Gao Neng that Lin Ying had already broken through.’
’But after his breakthrough, Lin Ying hadn’t challenged anyone else.’
’Looks like... Lin Ying is waiting too. Waiting for the final battle to decide it all!’ Gao Neng understood that once the new Dragon List rules were announced, the real fight would absolutely take place in the last three days.
’That would be when things got most intense.’
’He was waiting...’
’Lin Ying was probably waiting too.’
’Even Shen Ning’Er might be waiting!’
’After entering Tier Five... my cultivation speed has slowed down. It’s not as fast as it was in Tier Four. Tier Five requires magnetizing all the bones in the body. At my current pace, with eight days left, breaking through to Tier Six is impossible. Tier Five Late Stage will also be very difficult. However, reaching Tier Five Mid Stage is something I can aim for!’ Gao Neng calculated silently.
’If I can reach Tier Five Mid Stage...’
’...what’s the highest rank I could challenge?’
’Of course, it was a bit early to be thinking about that. The most pressing matter right now was to take advantage of Wang Jun’s injury and go after him.’
’And then...’
’...camp at the 200th rank for another six or seven days.’
’The people on the Dragon List ranked between 200 and 300 were far wealthier than the crowd currently at the gates of the Eastern Capital Military Academy. After all, these people were the true elites from the sects and prominent families.’
"By the way, what sect or family is this Wang Jun from?" Gao Neng hadn’t actually looked into Wang Jun’s background in detail, because he had Fang Tangtang, his own personal walking encyclopedia.
’Once you have someone to rely on, you get lazy.’
’Well, to put it another way, one should make the best use of a person’s talents.’
’Couldn’t let Fang Tangtang’s talent go to waste.’
"Huh? It’s written clearly on the Dragon List. Wang Jun is one of us, from the Military Department. Specifically, the Eastern District Military Department, the one closest to us. Remember that Vice Commander Wang we saw last time in the Eastern District Fortress? Back then, Chen Yichuan had gone out with Grandpa Shen, so Vice Commander Wang was the one in charge of the battle against the Three Races Alliance Army. This Wang Jun is his son!" True to her reputation as a walking encyclopedia, Fang Tangtang spilled Wang Jun’s entire background the moment she opened her mouth.
(I rewrote this Chapter twice, so it’s late! I was thinking about writing another one... but nah, I’ll make it up tomorrow!)
