Dominate the Super Bowl

```

Another training session had ended, but the players of the Crimson Tide Storm hadn't immediately left, instead clustering together, cheeks flushed and voices raised passionately as they argued. It seemed as though any second, sleeves would be rolled up and fists would fly.

Listening closely, it became clear—

They weren't gearing up for a brawl, but rather, they were heatedly defending Li Wei.

This season, Li Wei's exceptional performance was clear for all to see, dominating the ground offense of the Crimson Tide Storm with an unexpectedly powerful debut, not at all inferior to last year's Derrick Henry.

However!

It was precisely because last year's running back had just won the Heisman Trophy, that this year's expectations for running backs were particularly harsh. Until now, Li Wei's odds for the Heisman Trophy were still trailing behind Jackson's, currently ranked second.

In response, the players of the Crimson Tide Storm were indignant and could barely contain their fury.

"Come on, let's play a game!"

Humphrey threw down the gauntlet.

"Us against Louisville, Li Wei against Jackson, let's have a head-to-head match to settle the score once and for all, so all those experts will shut up," he said.

"I'll give Jackson a proper welcome, let him experience firsthand the century-old defensive techniques of the Crimson Tide Storm. It'll be absolutely refreshing, an experience he'll never forget."

Boom!

A wave of laughter ensued.

Then Humphrey saw player number twenty-three, Li Wei, slowly getting ready to leave and called out, "Li Wei, what do you say, ready for a game?"

Humphrey had meant to ask Li Wei if he wanted to have a straight-up arm-wrestling match with Jackson. Explore more stories at empire

Unexpectedly, Li Wei just stood there for a moment, then silently started rolling up his sleeves and looked at Humphrey lazily, "With gloves on or off?"

Humphrey's muscles tensed, and his smile froze, as he waved his hands dismissively, "No, no, not like that, let me explain..."

But the crowd around, who loved stirring up trouble, chanted one after another, "Humphrey! Humphrey! Humphrey!"

Humphrey's face turned the color of beetroot as he tried to signal to his teammates:

Do you beasts have amnesia? Have you forgotten Li Wei is trained in mixed martial arts?

"Li Wei, we were just discussing the Heisman Trophy, what are your thoughts?"

The teammates watched as Humphrey chickened out in seconds and teased each other with nudges, but Humphrey didn't back down, meeting their gazes with a challenge of his own: if you're so capable, you do it.

Then one by one, they all clammed up and looked up to the sky—

Li Wei was indeed a beast, pure and blue-blooded.

Normally, in regular team trainings, players would be divided into groups, each group focusing on different drills, rotating between them, and occasionally engaging in internal competition to see who could do more, last longer, and perform better.

Over these three months, Li Wei had pretty much gone through all the drills, experiencing and challenging each one, some he even repeated several times.

Don't be fooled by Li Wei's consistent sleepy demeanor, giving off the impression that a gust of wind could blow him away; once training commenced, he transformed completely.

Not to say that Li Wei always won; after all, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, and different drills required different skills and strategies. Li Wei, as incredible as he was, wasn't a Versatile Warrior, at least not yet; but there was something in Li Wei's character, a relentless ferocity, that set him apart.

He always persisted that little bit longer.

At the end of each training session, regardless of winning or losing, it was indeed exhausting. Either you were crushed by Li Wei, or he pushed you to your absolute limit.

Just look at those hulks on the defensive line.

Even though strength and contact were always Li Wei's weaknesses, now after practice drills with the defensive line, Li Wei himself would be battered and bruised, but those hulking linemen would be sitting on the ground, eyes vacant, like two-hundred-pound babies.

Beast!

```

With a single look, Humphrey calmed the ruckus.

Li Wei acted as if he hadn't noticed their exchange of glances, "No thoughts."

Humphrey didn't buy it, "What do you mean, no thoughts?"

Li Wei once again confirmed with Humphrey with a look, and Humphrey kept waving his hands and smiling apologetically, so Li Wei could only shrug regretfully and pull his sleeves back down.

"It means just that, no thoughts. These are just odds, not actual votes."

"Isn't the most interesting thing in competitive sports to defy the odds, to turn the impossible into possible, and then make everyone go crazy together?"

Humphrey blinked, wait a minute, why did it feel increasingly odd the more he thought about it, was it just him?

However, Li Wei didn't stop. He turned and walked towards the locker room, throwing out a line nonchalantly, "Instead of having time to read supermarket tabloids here, why not go to the library and study? Are you sure there aren't any issues with your final exams? Dear college students."

One second, two seconds—

A chorus of groans, life is tough!

A major feature of the NCAA is that academics can't be neglected.

First, apart from training, students have to attend regular classes, and there is a minimum weekly attendance requirement; to make sure that classes don't clash with training, every university arranges a special time in a designated space for athletes to complete their attendance hours without slacking off.

Secondly, there's a minimum GPA requirement, which can't be below 2.0. In truth, this means just passing every course, but for some athletes, it's still a tough challenge.

In the blink of an eye, the NCAA regular season was nearing its end, and the season was about to close, which also meant that players needed to pick up their forgotten student identities and prepare for the final exams before Christmas.

Compared to training, this was true hell.

Li Wei, always addressing the most inconvenient truth.

Of course, not all players struggled with academics; but that didn't mean they were all willing to sit quietly in the library and study.

The scene was quite brutal.

However, before Li Wei could get far, he noticed a figure lurking behind the bleachers like a mole in the corner of his eye.

Didn't they know that the space beneath the bleachers was hollow and one could see right through it?

And these big guys, no matter how they tried, couldn't possibly hide themselves there.

Li Wei was somewhat exasperated—n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

After the game against Louisiana State University, Li Wei noticed that the progress bar at the bottom of the training system page was almost full, and indeed, after today's training, it reached 100%. The system alerted him that he had another chance for a card flip, and he was about to start spending money on it.

So, should he honor others' good intentions, pretend he had not seen this group of moles, and leave, first checking out what rewards the card flip would bring?

"You go," "You," "I'm not familiar with him"...

There was rustling and chattering, and seeing the moles at it, Li Wei couldn't bear to watch. He cleared his throat softly, indicating their cover was blown.

Thud.

A figure was pushed out—

Howard.

Tight End, a big guy with dreadlocks, now stood in front of Li Wei in an awkward posture, like a child bursting to pee but too afraid to tell an adult.

"OJ." Li Wei showed a smile.

Howard's name was one of the few Li Wei could remember because OJ, an abbreviation for Orange-Juice, was the nickname everyone used for him in the team. Nobody really remembered what those two letters originally stood for anymore.

Howard took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and with a pained expression as if resigned to his fate, bellowed, "Please, please help us with tutoring! Thank you! And sorry!"