Arena Qualification

Dark-purple Thunder Gang, like a mark of destruction, slammed viciously into the Ghost Siren's twisted, blurry body.

There was no earth-shattering explosion—only a shrill scream that seemed to rise from the very level of the soul! The distorted ripples of Spiritual Power around the siren melted away like ice and snow before the utterly yang and unyielding force of lightning, collapsing in an instant. Its body twisted and swelled violently before finally bursting with a soft "puff," turning into countless drifting motes of spiritual light that Lin Feng absorbed in full.

[Defeated a low-tier second-order spiritual phantom beast. Absorbed a large amount of spiritual essence. Spiritual Power +0.5.]

A cool, surging spiritual energy flowed into his mind, refreshing Lin Feng's spirit, which had grown somewhat weary from repeatedly channeling Thunder Gang. His senses seemed to sharpen by another fraction.

He turned to look at the battle on the other side. Zhao Feng had already withdrawn his sword light. The Skeleton Warrior had become a pile of shattered bones, while the two-headed Demon Lizard had been pierced through both heads by a single sword strike. Its massive energy body was slowly dissipating. Zhao Feng stood with his sword in hand, breathing faintly, his face even paler than before. Clearly, fighting two phantom beasts comparable to peak Late Stage Martial Artists at once had drained him greatly.

Their gazes met briefly in the air, and each saw a trace of acknowledgment in the other's eyes. Without a word, they turned at the same time and stepped out of Phantom Beast Alley.

Blinding sunlight replaced the dimness of the alley, and the clamor of voices washed over them.

They appeared at the edge of an enormous circular plaza. At its center stood ten alloy arenas shrouded by energy barriers. This was the venue for the final stage of the qualifiers—the Arena Qualification Battle!

At that moment, several hundred examinees who had successfully passed the first two trials had already gathered in the plaza. Some sat cross-legged to regulate their breathing, while others warily assessed their competitors. An even more direct, naked fighting spirit filled the air.

The instant Lin Feng and Zhao Feng appeared, they drew the attention of the entire plaza!

"It's Zhao Feng and Lin Feng! They came out so quickly?"

"From the looks of them, it seems they went through a fierce battle..."

"Obviously! Those final three guardian phantom beasts weren't pushovers! Passing that fast—their strength is terrifying!"

Exclamations and discussions rang out without end. Many examinees looked at the two with awe, wariness, and a sense of helplessness born from knowing they could never reach such heights.

Ignoring those stares, Lin Feng found a relatively quiet corner and sat down cross-legged, closing his eyes to meditate and recover as quickly as possible from the strain of clearing the trials one after another. Zhao Feng did the same.

As time passed, more and more examinees made it through Phantom Beast Alley. Chen Feng, Zhou Min, and the others appeared in the plaza one after another. Seeing Lin Feng and Zhao Feng, who had already been meditating there, their expressions were complicated, but they too immediately seized the time to recover.

Half an hour later, a majestic voice rang out above the plaza:

"All examinees who have passed the first two trials, heed this! The Arena Qualification Battle is about to begin! The rules are as follows: you will be randomly assigned opponents and compete in single-elimination matches! Win three matches in a row, and you will earn qualification for the provincial martial examination finals! During the matches, intentional maiming or killing is forbidden. Surrender, being down for ten seconds, or falling from the arena counts as defeat! Now, random matching begins!"

Bzzzz—!

The competition tokens on every examinee's wrist lit up simultaneously, displaying their respective arena numbers and opponent information.

Lin Feng glanced at his own information. "Arena Three, first match. Opponent: Li Wei."

He rose to his feet and walked toward Arena Three. Quite a few spectators had already gathered around it—eliminated examinees, teachers from various schools who had come to watch, representatives of major families, and even civilian martial artists.

When Lin Feng stepped onto the arena, his opponent—a tall, sturdy male student in the uniform of some martial arts school, with the aura of an Early Stage Martial Artist—immediately turned extremely pale.

"L-Lucky me... How did I run into a monster like you in the very first match?" Li Wei wailed miserably, his voice full of despair. Lin Feng's performance on the Cloud Climbing Ladder and in Phantom Beast Alley had long since spread, and he was regarded as one of the very strongest contenders.

The referee signaled for the match to begin.

Gritting his teeth, Li Wei let out a roar to bolster his courage. The muscles all over his body bulged as he charged at Lin Feng like a wild bull, throwing a heavy, powerful punch that carried no small amount of force.

Yet in Lin Feng's eyes, whose Spiritual Power and strength far surpassed his opponent's, the punch was riddled with openings and slow as a snail.

He did not even use a martial skill. He merely raised his right hand casually, striking after yet arriving first, and precisely seized Li Wei's wrist. Then he gave it a light shake.

Crack! A faint sound of dislocation.

"Aah!" Li Wei screamed. He felt an irresistible, ingenious force travel through him, and his entire arm dislocated in an instant. He was spun halfway around on the spot, completely losing his balance.

Lin Feng gave him a casual shove.

Li Wei rolled off the arena like a tumbling gourd, spinning head over heels and landing in a daze.

The entire venue fell silent for a moment.

"Arena Three, Lin Feng wins!" the referee announced loudly.

Too fast! From beginning to end, only two or three breaths had passed! Many people had not even seen how Lin Feng made his move!

"He... won just like that?"

"They're not even on the same level!"

"He's too strong! There's no way to fight him!"

An uproar broke out below the arena. Those examinees who had still harbored a sliver of hope, thinking they might rely on luck or gamble everything on one desperate fight in the arena battles, felt their hearts turn half-cold. Before such an absolute gap in strength, all skill and luck were futile.

Lin Feng stepped off the arena expressionlessly and returned to his corner to continue meditating, as though he had merely done something utterly insignificant.

In the next two matches, his opponents were a Mid Stage Martial Artist genius from another city and an assassin-type examinee skilled in speed.

The results were without suspense.

Against the Mid Stage Martial Artist genius's storm-like barrage of attacks, Lin Feng threw only one punch—Thunderclap Break! The Thunder Fist, fused with the second level of force-channeling technique, blasted his opponent, body and protective true qi alike, straight off the arena and knocked him unconscious.

Against the extremely fast assassin, Lin Feng did not even move his feet. He merely used Electric Light Finger to fire at range. Three condensed finger-arrows sealed off every one of his opponent's attack routes, and the final finger strike landed precisely in the crook of the opponent's knee, making him drop to his knees and surrender.

Three battles, all won through absolute superiority and overwhelming force! Altogether, they took less than five minutes!

When he won his third match and the token on his wrist lit up with the green glow signifying advancement, the entire Arena Three area fell into a strange silence. Everyone looked at him as though they were looking at an inhuman monster.

Elsewhere, top geniuses such as Zhao Feng, Chen Feng, and Zhou Min also easily secured three consecutive wins with overwhelming momentum and advanced successfully.

After winning, Chen Feng swept a gloomy glance toward Lin Feng's direction, clenching his fists tightly. Clearly, he had regarded Lin Feng as someone he had to surpass.

Zhao Feng, meanwhile, walked toward Lin Feng of his own accord for the first time after advancing.

"Your lightning is very strong." Zhao Feng's voice remained cold, but it carried a trace of excitement at encountering a worthy opponent. "In the provincial finals, I look forward to fighting you with everything I have."

Lin Feng opened his eyes, looked at the young man before him whose bearing was as sharp as a sword, and nodded. "I'm looking forward to it too."

There was no needless talk. Both of them saw burning battle intent in the other's eyes.

As the final match ended, the list of those who had advanced was finally confirmed. A total of fifty-three people from Jiangnan City had successfully broken through and earned the right to participate in the main Jiangnan Province martial examination! Aside from Lin Feng, Third High actually had Cold Edge and two other students who usually kept a low profile advance as well, setting the best record in the school's history!

Mentor Li Zhenhai was so emotional that tears streamed down his old face.

On the podium, Lei Lie looked over the candidates who had advanced. His gaze lingered on Lin Feng for a moment before he gave a slight nod.

"The qualifying rounds are over! Congratulations to all candidates who have successfully advanced! The provincial martial examination finals will be held ten days from now at Starfall Arena in the Provincial Capital! I hope you will continue to strive forward and bring glory to our Jiangnan Province!"

The resounding voice proclaimed the end of the qualifying rounds.

Some cheered and leaped with joy; others were downcast and heartbroken.

Standing amid the crowd, Lin Feng gazed up at the sky. The Provincial Capital's Starfall Arena... there lay an even greater, even crueler stage.

He felt the surging power within his body, as well as the increasingly condensed True Meaning of Thunder.

The real challenge had only just begun.