Translator: AkazaTL
Proofreader/Editor: JWyck
***
Chapter 148
This match was, as expected, against Han Lu. The early plot was ordinary, with Mu Tieren and the replicated person fighting fiercely.
Since their physical abilities and powers were identical, such a fight could only end in mutual destruction. Soon, both were exhausted, lying on the ground.
At that moment, the replicated person suddenly vanished, and Han Lu abruptly appeared. This was Su Bei’s first time seeing Han Lu’s appearance: she had a neat, dark blue single ponytail, and her black eyes were like mirrors, clearly reflecting Mu Tieren’s form.
[Because she was very confident in her ability, Han Lu didn’t take extra precautions against the fallen Mu Tieren. If she weren’t certain the replicated person was completely out of stamina, she wouldn’t have appeared so easily.
But as she bent down to end the fight, a sudden change occurred!
Mu Tieren’s eyes snapped open with a flash of red light, as if he had suddenly regained strength. He swiftly moved, grabbing Han Lu’s throat.
Caught off guard by his ability to move, Han Lu was stunned and didn’t react in time, allowing Mu Tieren to seize her vital point.
However, Han Lu wasn’t helpless. Though at a disadvantage, she didn’t give up resisting. She grabbed Mu Tieren’s hand, trying to break free, while lifting one leg to kick at his lower body.
Unfortunately, her counterattack failed. Mu Tieren’s combat skills were excellent, and his strength was immense. Without her ability, Han Lu had no advantage against him and was forced to submit.]
That red light again?
The moment Su Bei saw this, he recalled the red light in Mu Tieren’s eyes during the final exam when he saved someone, as shown in the manga.
Undoubtedly, this was one of his abilities, somewhat like an energy storage ability that could either amplify his strength or give him a sudden burst of energy.
What was this ability like…? Several guesses flashed through Su Bei’s mind, but he set them aside for now.
The bullet comments were also buzzing with speculation about Mu Tieren’s ability.
“I thought Mu Tieren was the least likely to beat Han Lu.”
“What kind of ability is this? It looks so powerful!”
“Everyone has their little secrets.”
“Clutch counterattack—Mu Tieren is pretty cool!”
“It feels like Mu Tieren stored some stamina in advance, but if so, why didn’t the replicated person copy this ability?”
“I think I might have an idea. Old Thief, are you blending this many elements into this manga?”
After the attack track, it was the control track, which likely had the most plot among the five tracks. Unusually, Jiang Tianming, the absolute protagonist, wasn’t saved for the finale but was the first to compete.
However, being first didn’t reduce his spotlight. In his segment, the focus wasn’t on how he fought his opponent but on how Jiang Tianming explained his possession of multiple abilities.
Perhaps inspired by Han Lu, Jiang Tianming used a similar excuse: “Teacher, my ability evolved over the winter break, from [Object Control] to [Ability Control], allowing me to use multiple abilities.”
Seeing this, Su Bei understood why the examiner and opponent came out with such complex expressions. An ability like that was unprecedented. Using multiple abilities without any conditions?
The examiner asked about the conditions for controlling abilities, but Jiang Tianming replied that he hadn’t discovered a specific pattern, only that he suddenly awakened one or two additional abilities, namely [Frost Mage] and [Immortal-Binding Rope].
Regarding [Immortal-Binding Rope], though it was previously said to be an item, Jiang Tianming’s change of story wasn’t an issue. It was reasonable to hide a newly acquired ability out of caution, and his classmates wouldn’t blame him.
Dual-ability or even triple-Ability Users weren’t unheard of in history. The examiner asked if he had only awakened two additional abilities, making him a triple-Ability User.
But to settle it once and for all, Jiang Tianming firmly denied it, telling the teacher he felt he might awaken more abilities in the future, definitely not limited to three.
His confident response shocked the teacher. If Jiang Tianming wasn’t lying, this was groundbreaking news. The teacher immediately produced a top-level confidentiality agreement with both ability and legal weight, handed it to the equally shocked opponent, and said to Jiang Tianming, “Wait here for a bit. I’ll get your homeroom teacher. He needs to know first.” Seeing Jiang Tianming’s ability finally brought into the open, no longer hidden, the readers were thrilled.
“No more playing weak! Our Jiang Jiang is the tiger!”
“Hahahaha, their shocked faces are so satisfying!”
“Exactly! The protagonist is just that awesome!”
“The teacher was quick with the confidentiality agreement.”
“So Jiang Jiang can use three abilities now.”
Jiang Tianming’s match didn’t immediately lead to Zhou Renjie and Mo Xiaotian’s battle. Instead, it showed Zhou Renjie’s match against Jiang Tianming. Zhou Renjie had no intention of fighting Jiang Tianming, and after asking about his secret ability, he quickly surrendered.
Here, Jiang Tianming’s inner thoughts were written out, including but not limited to Zhou Renjie’s unnatural movements since the afternoon and how he shouldn’t have surrendered so readily, allowing readers to notice Zhou Renjie’s odd behavior.
After this setup, the plot reached Zhou Renjie and Mo Xiaotian’s battle. Following Mo Xiaotian’s perspective, Su Bei finally understood why their injuries were so severe.
[As the match began, Zhou Renjie swiftly swallowed Mo Xiaotian into his stomach.
Before this, he had asked about his teammates’ abilities, all at Class A level. Not weak, but definitely not enough to handle Mo Xiaotian. So swallowing Mo Xiaotian from the start was the best choice.
This was exactly his initial plan, and he wouldn’t have made so many preparations otherwise.
As Zhou Renjie’s ability hit and Mo Xiaotian was about to be swallowed, Mo Xiaotian had already devised a battle plan. Knowing Zhou Renjie’s ability in advance, which was somewhat countered by his own, it should have been easy to deal with him.
But what Mo Xiaotian never expected was that the moment he was sucked into Zhou Renjie’s stomach, it felt like he was placed on a mountain of blades. His shoes were instantly shredded, and sharp pain stabbed into his feet.
With no other choice, he used his ability to create an air wall beneath his feet, keeping some distance from the ground.
This wasn’t an easy task. Air walls were fine for blocking others, but supporting a person’s weight was difficult. In the future, he might be able to walk on air as if on solid ground, but the current Mo Xiaotian wasn’t there yet.
Just lifting himself slightly off the ground consumed most of his Mental Energy.
Only when the pain in his feet subsided did Mo Xiaotian look down. It was pitch black inside Zhou Renjie’s stomach, with no light, but he could still feel his surroundings.
After groping around, he understood. The fleshy walls of the ground were embedded with countless blades! These blades had sliced through his shoes and dug deep into his flesh.
And it wasn’t just the ground. After more exploration, Mo Xiaotian discovered the entire space was filled with blades.]
The stomach space in the manga wasn’t as dark as Mo Xiaotian saw it; readers could see the sharp blades embedded everywhere. Each blade was set in deep pink flesh, looking extremely eerie.
“What a dangerous place.”
“Mo Xiaotian’s feet are bleeding!”
“Isn’t this Zhou Renjie’s stomach? Why are there so many blades?”
“Jiang Jiang said Zhou Renjie was off… this must be what he meant.”
Mo Xiaotian shared the readers’ confusion. He now understood why those who fought Zhou Renjie today had cuts, but why had Zhou Renjie’s stomach become like this?
What followed was their struggle. In this environment, Mo Xiaotian’s only option was to use air to expand Zhou Renjie’s stomach, forcing him to spit him out.
Zhou Renjie didn’t just leave Mo Xiaotian in his stomach unattended. He released stomach acid while writhing his stomach, twisting the space. Mo Xiaotian stumbled inside, unable to avoid hitting many blades.
At this point, Zhou Renjie wasn’t planning to do anything drastic to Mo Xiaotian and tried to persuade him to surrender: “Mo Xiaotian, just give up. Your Mental Energy can’t hold out long, right? Without the air wall’s protection, you’ll soon be covered in wounds.”
Mo Xiaotian, of course, wouldn’t surrender. While struggling to maintain balance, he earnestly refused Zhou Renjie: “No way. Grandpa said he hopes I can join the Tri-School Tournament. I won’t let him down.”
“How about I give you money? Lots and lots of money, enough to make your grandpa beam with joy.” Hearing this, Zhou Renjie grew anxious, resorting to bribing him.
Thankfully, he said this inside his stomach, unheard by others, or the examiner could have penalized him for a violation.
For most people, this might have worked. Zhou Renjie’s family wasn’t short on money, and for this slot, he likely wouldn’t mind offering a substantial sum. But this was Mo Xiaotian. Not only was his family not lacking money, but even if they were, he probably wouldn’t agree to throw the match.
The fight grew more heated, though perhaps only Zhou Renjie was truly enraged, while Mo Xiaotian was just stubborn. Regardless, the battle intensified. The manga alternated between Zhou Renjie’s and Mo Xiaotian’s perspectives, showing both were suffering greatly and soon on the brink of collapse.
On the surface, Mo Xiaotian appeared more injured, his blood-soaked wounds glaringly obvious, making his condition seem dire.
Until Zhou Renjie’s stomach exploded with a “bang,” everyone realized Mo Xiaotian hadn’t been taking hits passively—he had been attacking with full force too.
Seeing their battered state in the manga, Su Bei couldn’t help but sigh. Their injuries were even worse than Ye Lin had described. For ordinary people, they’d have died on the spot.
The examiner watching this outside the arena was dumbfounded, never expecting a first-year exam to escalate to this level.
He immediately let out a sharp whistle, urgently calling Ye Lin, who was prepared in advance, to the rescue. Ye Lin wasn’t there for them but for the upperclassmen, who, being stronger and more impulsive, often fought recklessly and got seriously injured.
Who would’ve thought they’d need her for first-years first?
Only then did the bullet comments become active again.
“Holy crap! That scared me!”
“I didn’t dare breathe just now, afraid one would kill the other.”
“What kind of deep grudge is this?”
“Zhou Renjie is too… and Mo Xiaotian is also…”
“Wait, where did all these blades in Zhou Renjie’s stomach come from?”
“Others are having playful fights, but you two are actually battling for real.”
“Hug the teacher quick—I think he’s about to break.”
The monthly exam ended here, followed by the aftermath. Zhou Renjie and Mo Xiaotian both went to the hospital, inadvertently dodging the academic exams—a “blessing in disguise” for Mo Xiaotian, though not for Zhou Renjie, whose grades were solid.
The next segment showed Meng Huai and Lei Ze’en discussing the incident.
[Lei Ze’en got straight to the point about Zhou Renjie’s secret: “That kid was ruthless to himself, swallowing blades to enhance the attack power inside his stomach.”
Hearing this, Meng Huai sneered: “Should I thank him for his skillful execution? If he’d messed up even slightly, he’d have been sent to the infirmary right then, and we wouldn’t have this mess.”
Lei Ze’en sighed and shook his head: “They went too far this time. I think it’s related to their families. Maybe we should talk to their parents.”]
So that’s it! After reading this, Su Bei understood. No wonder Zhou Renjie suddenly had a new attack method—it was from swallowing blades, embedding them in his stomach. He was truly ruthless to himself. Leaving aside whether his stomach was fine, swallowing blades must have tortured his throat.
This method was definitely a violation, but there was some wiggle room. The blades were ordinary objects, so Zhou Renjie could claim he had pica and ate them compulsively, which wouldn’t be entirely indefensible.
Ultimately, the teachers went easy on him, though Zhou Renjie himself probably didn’t see it that way.
After revealing Zhou Renjie’s secret, the focus returned to the students. The exam results were freshly announced, with Zhou Renjie and Mo Xiaotian as the biggest highlights.
The following plot was familiar to Su Bei. Zhou Renjie, seeing he got second but missed the competition slot, felt indignant and went to argue with the teacher. The teacher pointed out his cheating, forcing him to give up pursuing the matter.
The manga ended with a Class S overview. While everyone chatted, Zhou Renjie sat alone in the shadows, hinting at his potential descent into darkness.
No need to check the bullet comments—Su Bei went straight to the forum. As expected, though everyone had their moments in this chapter, most posts were about Zhou Renjie.
Even readers new to manga could sense something bad from that final scene, let alone seasoned fans.
Su Bei clicked on a related post.
《Is Zhou Renjie Going to Turn Dark?》
[Fisherman’s Song at Dusk No.0: It’s pretty obvious now—Zhou Renjie will turn dark. Thinking back, it’s not without foreshadowing. His personality was always at odds with the others, so turning dark and joining the antagonists is a decent choice.
But I’m curious what he’ll do after turning dark. They’re all students, so aside from causing trouble during outings, what else can he do? Also, if he’s just getting back at Mo Xiaotian, fine, but if it affects others, that’s pretty unreasonable.]
[No.1: Seeing how Qingqing messed with him before, I feel like even if he turns dark, he’ll be a comedic villain.]
[No.2: Sigh, I really don’t want anyone to turn dark…]
[No.3: Honestly, though Mo Xiaotian is better suited for the competition, it’s pretty harsh for Zhou Renjie to get second and still miss the slot.]
[No.4 replying to No.3: Why don’t you mention his cheating? Swallowing blades to injure his opponent—that’s ruthless and vicious.]
[No.5: When will shonen manga ditch the darkening trope?]
[No.6: The OP said something wrong—it’s not just Zhou Renjie who’s out of place. I feel like Li Shu and Su Bei are pretty out of place too…]
[No.7 replying to No.6: Support Su Bei going villain.]
[No.8 replying to No.7: Support!]
[…]
[No.33: Do you guys remember the foreshadowing Old Thief left? In the maze different space, they were all sent to a dream castle, and Jiang Tianming and Zhou Renjie were the last to wake up, not remembering what happened.
I suspect Zhou Renjie was already contacted by the “Black Flash” organization then. After he turns dark, “Black Flash” will step in to fully recruit him.]
[No.34 replying to No.33: !]
[No.35 replying to No.33: !!]
[No.36 replying to No.33: !!!]
[No.37: I think No.33 makes sense. This also answers the OP’s question. Zhou Renjie’s biggest grudge is probably against the academy. Joining “Black Flash” and working for them would perfectly align with his goals.]
[No.38: “Black Flash” really knows how to stir things up.]
[No.39: Here’s a wild theory—what if Zhou Renjie was already being controlled but didn’t realize it? Like Feng Ling said, “Black Flash” can alter personalities, subtly pushing Zhou Renjie to darken. That’s plausible, right?]
[No.40: Your guess is freaking me out!]
[No.41: My god, if that’s true, could Jiang Tianming be gradually influenced too?!]
[No.42: I thought it was odd too. Even if the slot was that important, he wouldn’t try to kill a classmate, right? Now it seems he might really be influenced.]
[No.43: Zhou Renjie is such a tragic guy.]
[No.44: So now it’s up to the protagonist group to bring him back to the light?]
[No.45 replying to No.41: Don’t scare me! If Jiang Jiang’s ability gets influenced, that’s a huge problem.]
[No.46 replying to No.45: Jiang Jiang is the protagonist. No matter what, he’ll be fine. Don’t worry too much.]
[…]
[No.121: So, does this mean the Class S mole could be Zhou Renjie? Following No.39’s theory, he was hinted at early on, doing things beneficial to “Black Flash” without knowing.]
[No.122 replying to No.121: The timeline doesn’t match. The Class S mole appeared during their first monthly exam team battle, but Zhou Renjie’s issue happened after the monthly exam in the different space.]
[No.123: So that means Class S has two moles, including Zhou Renjie, and there’s another among the “Endless Ability Academy” teachers???]
[No.124: Damn! Suddenly feels like “Endless Ability Academy” is on shaky ground, infiltrated like a sieve…]
[No.125: If they catch one mole, can’t they interrogate them to find the other?]
[No.126: Why does everyone seem like a good guy to me? Is there really a mole?]
[No.127: I already have a suspect for the mole, but I don’t want to believe it. If that mole is really him, everyone will understand what I mean.]
[No.128 replying to No.127: Noted. I’ll come back to check if you’re right when the mole is revealed.]
Reading this post, Su Bei nodded thoughtfully. The post had a lot of content. He hadn’t considered that Zhou Renjie’s personality might have been influenced, but after their discussion, it seemed plausible.
Initially, Zhou Renjie was sharp-tongued but not murderous. This time, he felt noticeably obsessive. Even with family pressure, risking his life was extreme.
Now, it seemed possible his personality was influenced, like Feng Ling’s parents. “Black Flash” amplified their minor obsessions, guiding them to make mistakes.
This was the terrifying part of “Black Flash”’s control—those controlled didn’t realize it, gradually falling into their trap.
If so, Zhou Renjie wasn’t entirely without redemption. An influenced personality could be seen as controlled, and actions under control could be forgiven. Most importantly, he had been with the protagonist group for so long, unlike Mo Xiaotian, who was a mole from the start.
It depended on how the author would handle it, but barring surprises, this was likely something Mo Xiaotian and Si Zhaohua would deal with. Zhou Renjie’s issue wasn’t closely tied to others, mainly between those two. If it involved Su Bei, he’d address it then.
Exiting the post, Su Bei looked for other useful threads. He noticed Mo Xiaotian seemed to “disappear” in this match. He wondered if anyone had caught his issue.
Thankfully, there were readers willing to analyze the plot and foreshadowing. Just one page down, Su Bei found what he was looking for.