Above the sky,
Yan'an No. 7 High School's Principal, an Outer Scenery Level martial artist, watched Su Nianying, also at the Outer Scenery Level, return to the sky and look down at the school and its ten arenas. Curious, he asked:
"I heard that the student you think highly of, Li Xijun, is about to compete. Why did you come back so quickly after going down?"
He had heard a little about that student's rate of progress. He was an exceptionally hardworking and inspiring genius who had soared skyward after receiving Blood Essence resources, his rise unstoppable.
Earlier, Su Nianying had promised that if he made it into the top thirty in the grade, she would personally teach him blade techniques as his instructor.
Now that Li Xijun's match had begun, he had thought she would go down to the observation platform for teachers and carefully watch his entire arena melee performance.
Unexpectedly, Teacher Su had only gone down for a moment before returning, apparently no longer concerned about Li Xijun's match.
"There's nothing left to watch."
Su Nianying shook her head and said:
"If they followed the previous format, judging only by Blood Essence scores, martial skill scores, and the ten percent bonus for awakening Martial Dao Spirituality, the dozen or so geniuses at the front of the Elite Class could still hold him back."
"After all, Li Xijun started a year late. It would probably take him some time to catch up."
"But in this kind of Cage Melee practical test, only my Sister can beat him. Everyone else is far too far behind him in actual combat."
The moment she finished speaking, a wave of cries rang out from Arena No. 9 below, where Li Xijun was assigned.
The middle-aged principal, whose curiosity had been stirred by Su Nianying's words, turned his gaze toward Arena No. 9, and his expression immediately became strange.
There,
Zhou Shenghao, who possessed the highest Blood Essence Level in the entire arena competition, did not hold back or consider the possibility of being targeted and ganged up on later.
The instant the referee on Arena No. 9 fired the starting pistol,
His entire body exploded forward at 19.1 meters per second, becoming a fierce black blur. In the blink of an eye, he crossed half the arena and swung his blade furiously like an enraged black tiger, aiming straight at Li Xijun.
A martial arts student who happened to be standing in that exact line panicked at the sight and instinctively raised his spear to attack.
But the next instant,
The standard-issue steel spear flew into the air,
Its sharp tip gleaming coldly beneath the sun,
While the martial arts student himself was sent flying with it, his chest caved in and blood spraying from his mouth as he crashed into the protective netting at the edge of the arena like a cannonball.
He was immediately placed on a stretcher and swiftly shoved into a medical pod resembling a freezer.
With that slash, Zhou Shenghao's momentum grew even stronger, as if his savagery had been aroused. He roared:
"Those who block me... die!"
For a moment,
The martial arts students throughout the arena were all frightened by Zhou Shenghao's battle intent and aura, as violent as an enraged beast's.
They hurriedly scattered and gave way, instantly retreating to the edges.
Turning the originally spacious martial arts arena into an absolute stage for the two men at its center.
The spectators surrounding the arena saw the scene with perfect clarity, and almost instantly, the atmosphere boiled over with excited discussion.
"That was insane!"
"With the College Entrance Exam getting close, genius after genius is popping up."
"When I spoke with Zhou Shenghao before, I thought he was too good at social maneuvering and lacked any edge. Who knew he would be this strong in actual combat?"
"Damn, his mastery of the new-style ancient martial art, the Five Tiger Soul Severing Blade, is high enough that scoring 360 points for reaching the third stage of mastery in the College Entrance Exam would be no problem. The Nine Schools Alliance is practically guaranteed for him."
"I want to see how that combat genius Li Xijun blocks this."
"I heard he used a sword to kill that Blood God Cult follower. Let's see his swordsmanship."
Almost everyone eagerly awaited Li Xijun drawing his sword.
But,
The next instant, everyone was dumbfounded.
Faced with such a savage, domineering slash brimming with killing intent,
The boy standing there did not move at all.
He did not even draw the standard-issue longsword at his waist.
He simply raised one hand casually and reached out to grab the sharp Tiger-Head Broadsword.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Quite a few girls screamed and squeezed their eyes shut.
The viciousness in Zhou Shenghao's eyes intensified. The force in his hand erupted once more as he intended to sever Li Xijun's palm and send him flying with the momentum.
"Clang!"
The crisp sound of metal striking metal echoed across the entire arena.
The imagined scene of flying flesh and severed limbs did not occur.
Zhou Shenghao's all-out slash was blocked by Li Xijun with absurd ease.
Forget injuries—his palm had not even been scraped, much less drawn blood!
Nearly everyone in the arena stared at the sight in utter disbelief!
Zhou Shenghao himself looked as though his soul had left his body. He could only stare blankly with widened eyes at Li Xijun and the blade held in his hand, unable to believe it.
By all rights, he should have continued fighting.
But at that moment, he felt as though the sky had fallen. It was as if he had plunged into a nightmare.
"Impossible... how is this possible..."
"We're both Apprentices cultivating Blood Essence. How can anyone have a physical body like this?"
Zhou Shenghao muttered as if sleepwalking.
Arena No. 9 fell silent at first, but then a thunderous uproar surged straight into the sky.
"Huh?"
"My god, what was that?!"
"How did he take that slash head-on without getting hurt? Is he made of iron?"
"The news definitely got it wrong. I suspect that Blood God Cult member got too bold and tried to challenge Brother Li above his level, only to get utterly destroyed."
Even the Outer Scenery Level principal above was stunned by the sight.
"Th-this is muscles of steel and bones of iron? While his Blood Essence Level was rising so quickly, he actually found time to practice an old-era External Skill?"
"Steel muscles and iron bones, impervious to blades and spears. A physical body at this level would have earned him the title of a master of hard-body training even before the Great Cataclysm."
At that moment, the principal could hardly believe it. He even felt anger toward the teachers from the first and second years.
If you had a genius like this, why didn't you say so earlier? Did No.7 Middle School lack a few Blood Essence Potions?
Otherwise, how could Zhang Haifeng have been allowed to pick up such a huge bargain?!
Just as the principal was lamenting the genius he had missed and the advantage Zhang Haifeng had gained,
The next moment,
Zhang Haifeng suddenly rose to his feet on the teachers' platform and cried out:
"He... he actually mastered it!"
The teachers on the platform were all startled. Prompted by Zhang Haifeng's words, they instinctively focused their attention.
They saw that Li Xijun's left hand was gripping the other man's blade, while his right hand had somehow come to rest against Zhou Shenghao's chest.
"Bang!"
A sudden crisp sound erupted from within Zhou Shenghao's body.
The next instant,
His entire body collapsed limply to the ground,
Like a patch of weeds flattened by an autumn wind, utterly insignificant.
The sight instantly drained the color from the other two teachers' faces.
"True Martial Killing Move - Void Shock! He has completely mastered the True Martial Thirty-Six Forms!"
"Teacher Zhang, your student actually mastered this move? He won't die, will he?"
Even the principal outside the arena had not expected any student in this cohort to master the third move, True Martial Killing Move - Void Shock. He hurriedly used Spiritual Power to pull Zhou Shenghao out.
After seeing that only Zhou Shenghao's internal organs were damaged—which would merely affect his cultivation beyond Blood Essence Level 9.0, without endangering his life—he breathed a sigh of relief and casually tossed him into a medical pod.
Su Nianying, who had likewise examined him with Spiritual Power, could no longer maintain her earlier calm and aloofness. Her cherry lips parted slightly, and her eyes were filled with astonishment.
Because the injury was a little too precise.
It had stopped exactly short of being fatal while still damaging his internal organs enough to prevent him from breaking through to Blood Essence Level 9.0 before the College Entrance Exam.
"He didn't just master it. He has probably reached complete mastery!"
"He has perfect control over the third move, True Martial Killing Move - Void Shock. Even I back then, and my Sister now, have never cultivated it to this level."
Su Nianying confirmed the thought in her heart.
"Compared to his so-called Blood Essence progress, his talent in martial skills is the truly outrageous part."
"I have to keep a close hold on him and make him accept my instruction!"
On the arena,
Li Xijun, still standing in the center, made no move.
The remaining twenty-eight martial arts students gradually closed in from the scattered edges.
Though it looked as though they had surrounded him.
Yet,
The closer those martial arts students came, each holding sabers, swords, spears, or great hammers,
The more they felt as though their whole group had been surrounded by the one person across from them.
None of them dared move, cold sweat soaking their backs.
"Lose or win, let's all go together!"
Someone with weaker nerves could no longer bear the atmosphere. He shouted and became the first to charge forward with his spear.
Once the first person took the lead,
The other twenty-plus students made their decision as well, gritting their teeth and rushing forward together.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
For a time, the sounds of clashing weapons rang without end.
Li Xijun, surrounded and attacked in the center, felt no psychological burden whatsoever and counterattacked without mercy.
He leaped into motion like a tiger entering a pack of wolves, casually sending people flying with every punch and kick, leaving them unable to rise after hitting the ground.
In the blink of an eye, the vast arena had been completely emptied.
Only one person remained standing in place.
"Beep—!"
The referee who had entered the arena blew his whistle, announcing the winner of the arena melee.
Li Xijun, who felt that crushing weak opponents was rather fun, walked out of the field with light steps.
But this time, it was not Ye Liuyun waiting for him at the exit, but Su Nianyi, who had come to watch his match.
"I didn't expect you to have grown to this extent. If I didn't use Psychic Power, I would probably be instantly defeated by you too."
Su Nianyi handed him a bottle of fizzy energy water, her violet eyes examining the boy before her from head to toe.
Even with her personality, the scene felt somewhat unreal.
At the start of the school year, he had clearly just been an ordinary good student, abandoned by his superficial brothers and looked down upon by the Elite Class students.
Yet in the span of a single semester, he had already improved to the point where he could defeat every student in the grade except her.
And,
He had even mastered the most difficult True Martial Killing Move - Void Shock from the True Martial Thirty-Six Forms.
Even she could not achieve this level of martial skill talent.
"You helped with this too. Otherwise, my Azure Dragon Heaven-Reaching Method wouldn't have broken through so quickly. I still remember that day clearly."
Li Xijun had always remembered how she had spent an entire day helping him raise his foundational cultivation method to proficiency at the zoo.
However,
When Su Nianyi heard the latter half of his sentence, her thoughts clearly went astray.
Hearing Li Xijun say that he still remembered that day clearly, she suddenly recalled the scene of someone collapsing into her arms and squashing her slime-like chest flat. Her cheeks grew a little hot.
"Y-you don't need to remember that so clearly."
Suppressing the embarrassment that made her want to flee, and somewhat understanding how her Sister had felt before, Su Nianyi brought up the real matter:
"Um... I've already reached Blood Essence Level 9.0. When you have time, just come to my Private Martial Arts Room and teach me how to cultivate Void Shock."
As an officially promoted martial skill, the True Martial Thirty-Six Forms naturally possessed unique advantages.
Mastering the third move, True Martial Killing Move - Void Shock, was highly beneficial for cultivation after Blood Essence Level 9.0.
Other than a martial artist's innate talent, it was basically the only method capable of helping one deeply develop their own potential.
It was only natural for Su Nianyi to make such a request, and Li Xijun was naturally willing to help.
"Then let's go. There aren't any classes after this anyway, just break time. Come on, let's practice in your room."
Li Xijun's decisiveness left Su Nianyi stunned for a moment, but he quickly pulled her directly into the Private Martial Arts Room.
Ye Liuyun, who had just returned carrying two bottles of fizzy energy water, saw the scene, silently sighed, unscrewed both bottles, and drank them himself.
Meanwhile, most of the watching students, such as Zhou Yibai, could only gaze enviously at the retreating figures of the boy and girl.
That day,
Although news that first and second place in the grade had essentially been decided spread throughout Yan'an No. 7 High School,
When the final exam results were posted, most students still came as usual to check their scores and confirm the grade rankings once again.
Ye Liuyun, who had come to look, saw his own name at eleventh place in the grade without any surprise.
With Li Xijun sparring with him every day, not only had his Blood Essence Level improved considerably, but his actual combat ability had improved even faster.
The scene of those students in the arena competition getting beaten until they wailed miserably was simply Ye Liuyun's daily life.
He did not even know how he had endured it.
Thinking of this, the noble Young Master felt inexplicably proud as he continued looking upward.
Likewise, Zhou Yibai saw that he was still firmly in the Elite Class. After seeing that his cousin Zhou Shenghao had fallen out due to his poor score after being instantly defeated, Zhou Yibai secretly rejoiced and looked further ahead.
In the end, one gaze after another gathered at the very top of the rankings:
First place: Su Nianyi
Second place: Li Xijun
Even though they had long been mentally prepared for it,
Even though they knew deep down that it was almost certain,
When Li Xijun's name appeared in second place for the grade,
All the students from Class Six of Senior Year Three who had known Li Xijun since they had been classmates in their first and second years felt complicated emotions rise within them.
There was envy, jealousy, and regret,
But at this moment, everyone knew
That Li Xijun would undoubtedly become the disciple of an Outer Scenery Expert, as well as a seeded contender aiming for the Imperial Capital Two Heavens in the College Entrance Exam.
There was already an insurmountable step between them.
Before you continue