How Do We Play If This Boss Isn't Nerfed?-Chapter 45: Master

A series of notifications rang out in Lin Ye’s mind.

[Negative Emotion points collected from Xiong Qihong: Anger, grievance, resentment, etc. Total: 850 points!]

[Negative Emotion points collected from Sun Qian: Shock, humiliation, jealousy, despair, etc. Total: 2,200 points!]

[Negative Emotion points collected from onlookers: Fear, awe, etc. Total: 2,870 points!]

Lin Ye checked his mission progress.

In the hour or so since Wang Hao took the stage...

He had already accumulated a total of 8,050 Negative Emotion points!

He was only two thousand points away from the weekly mission’s requirement of ten thousand.

Beyond that, Lin Ye also noticed an interesting phenomenon.

Wang Hao, Shen Junhao, and the others who had actually fought him contributed a relatively small percentage of the Negative Emotion points.

The real mother lode came from the onlookers and Sun Qian, the homeroom teacher of Class One.

’It seems the direct battles are just a catalyst. The most efficient way to harvest Negative Emotions is to crush their pride and shatter their perceptions in the most shocking way possible, right in front of everyone.’

[That’s right! If Host kills his opponent right now in front of everyone, he will receive an even more absurd amount of Negative Emotion points!]

[Do it! Make these adventurers tremble in your shadow!]

Lin Ye ignored the system’s goading and just walked to the edge of the ring to sit down and rest.

Just then, Principal Wang Zhengguo spoke up.

"In this ranking gauntlet, the challenger, Lin Ye of Grade 12, Class Seven, is victorious!"

Wang Zhengguo’s gaze swept across the entire arena, filled with an unquestionable authority.

"Effective immediately, Lin Ye’s school ranking is raised to 10th!"

"The former 10th, 11th, and 12th-ranked students, Xiong Qihong, Zhao Jin, and Wei Feng, will have their ranks swapped with Lin Ye’s original rank, dropping to 84th. I hope you will use this shame as motivation to fight your way back up!"

"Furthermore, according to the rules, all of your cultivation resources for this week will be transferred to student Lin Ye!"

The morning’s combat class continued, but Lin Ye had already achieved his goal.

Just as Lin Ye was about to try and stand up on his own, a large hand pressed down on his shoulder.

"Don’t move!"

"Your bones are broken, and you’re still trying to move around?"

"I’ll take you to the infirmary."

In the next second, Lin Ye felt his body lighten as Chen Meng gently lifted him and put him on his back.

Lin Ye’s heart clenched, and he quickly prayed in his mind.

’System, can you pause the [Healing out of combat]?’

’If these injuries start healing at a visible rate right now, I won’t be seen as a genius today, but as a monster to be dissected!’

[Mechanic: The default status for Healing out of combat is auto-on, but you can toggle it on or off at any time.]

[Current Status: Off.]

Hearing the system’s cold notification, Lin Ye finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Chen Meng carried him on his back, walking toward the infirmary with steady steps. Along the way, they drew countless astonished gazes from the students.

"How are you feeling?"

As they walked, Chen Meng suddenly spoke, his voice low.

"Any thoughts?"

Lying on Chen Meng’s back, Lin Ye fell silent for a moment before answering seriously, "Teacher, I’ve discovered many of my shortcomings."

"Real combat is completely different from sparring on the virtual platform."

The corner of Chen Meng’s mouth curved into a subtle arc.

"Oh? What shortcomings? Tell me about them."

"My Body Technique is too poor."

Lin Ye recalled his fight with Xiong Qihong. He still felt a lingering fear from that helpless feeling of dancing on the edge of death, yet always feeling constrained.

"Every dodge felt like a gamble, relying entirely on my body’s instincts. There was no method, no system to it."

Chen Meng nodded, seemingly unsurprised by this answer.

But his next words left Lin Ye stunned.

"You’re right, but you’re also wrong."

"Your Body Technique is indeed your weakness, but it’s not something that can be fixed by learning a specific, fixed Cultivation Technique."

Chen Meng’s tone grew serious.

"The Body Techniques you can buy on the market in Dongjiang City are all too crude. Learning them would actually be detrimental."

"Once you learn them, you’ll be restricted by their simplistic patterns."

"At this stage, I’d rather have you develop a Body Technique that suits you on your own."

"A path where you don’t need to think, don’t need to imitate—where your body can react perfectly to the ever-changing circumstances of a battle!"

"Later, once your overall strength has grown and you have your own understanding of what a Body Technique is, then you can learn a superior one. By integrating it, you’ll avoid many detours."

These words cleared the fog in Lin Ye’s mind.

He understood in an instant.

’The so-called "no move is superior to any move" doesn’t mean you have no moves. It means you’ve integrated all moves so completely that they’ve become your body’s instinct!’

Sensing the change in Lin Ye’s breathing behind him, Chen Meng added, "Starting tomorrow, we’re changing our training method."

"In our future sparring sessions, I’ll focus on training your defense and evasion."

"I’ll only attack, and you’ll only defend."

"When you can last ten minutes against me, your Body Technique will naturally no longer be a weakness."

Lin Ye nodded.

Chen Meng asked again, "One more question, about your weapon."

"After today’s fights, are you still set on using the staff?"

Hearing this, Lin Ye fell silent.

He had, of course, noticed the staff’s disadvantages.

Against a heavily defensive opponent like Xiong Qihong, his attacks were practically just scraping by.

Even if he had switched the wooden staff for an alloy one, it was still just a long, blunt weapon.

When his own strength wasn’t significantly greater than his opponent’s, its armor-piercing and killing power were simply insufficient.

But he had already invested so much time and energy into his Staff Skill. If he switched weapons now, wouldn’t that be like starting all over from scratch?

As if seeing through Lin Ye’s hesitation, Chen Meng’s voice sounded again.

"The spear and the staff are not so different."

"The staff is the Ancestor of Hundred Weapons, but the spear is the king of them!"

"The foundation you’ve built with your Staff Skill will only make learning the spear twice as effective."

Chen Meng’s tone held an unquestionable confidence.

"If you want to learn, I’ll teach you."

"But don’t abandon your Staff Skill either. It’s always good to have an extra martial skill."

Those few short sentences were like a warm current that instantly flowed through every fiber of Lin Ye’s being.

To teach everything he knew.

At that moment, for the first time, Lin Ye truly understood the weight of that idea.

He also finally understood why, in ancient times, the word "father" was part of the title for "master."

"Teacher..."

Lin Ye’s voice was a little hoarse. A thousand words were caught in his throat, but all he could manage was that single word.

This sudden display of emotion made Chen Meng go rigid, and goosebumps broke out all over his skin.

He immediately used a sharp tone to hide his discomfort.

"Alright! I just see you as promising material, so don’t get any funny ideas!"

"And don’t look at me like that. I’m not asking you to repay me."

"In the future, if you get into trouble outside, just don’t go dropping my name!"