Everyone Was Green with Envy

"The match continues," the referee announced again.

Yuan Ruolan hurriedly used her movement technique to widen the distance. Clearly, she did not intend to surrender outright.

Jiang Ping'an did not chase after her to attack either, lest people accuse him of taking advantage.

After the two stood on opposite sides of the platform, Jiang Ping'an said, "I'm going to attack now."

With that, he used the Willow Branching Movement and lunged at Yuan Ruolan.

Yuan Ruolan swiftly condensed seven or eight water arrows and shot them at Jiang Ping'an.

The seven or eight water arrows spread apart, covering a considerable area. Jiang Ping'an had no intention of meeting them head-on, so he quickly dodged sideways.

Yuan Ruolan took the opportunity to cast a high-grade spell—the Kan Water Dragon.

Countless water-element spiritual energies swept in, combining with Yuan Ruolan's water-type True Essence to form a dragon-flood dragon five zhang long and as thick as a water bucket.

Azure water flowed over its entire body. Dragon mouth, horns, whiskers, scales, claws... it had everything, vivid as life.

Roar—

The Kan Water Dragon let out a dragon's cry that made the spectators below the platform's eardrums ache, as though there truly were a Flood Dragon before them.

The next moment, Yuan Ruolan controlled the Kan Water Dragon and sent it lunging toward Jiang Ping'an.

Jiang Ping'an did not entangle himself with the Kan Water Dragon. Relying on the Willow Branching Movement, he dodged its attacks while rapidly closing in on Yuan Ruolan.

In the blink of an eye, Jiang Ping'an had advanced in front of Yuan Ruolan.

Just when he thought Yuan Ruolan would use some martial technique or spell, she unexpectedly surrendered without resistance.

Jiang Ping'an placed his sword against Yuan Ruolan's snow-white, delicate neck. Smiling, she said, "You win."

Jiang Ping'an withdrew his sword and smiled as he cupped his hands. "Thank you, Miss Yuan, for conceding."

He already understood that she had deliberately held back, allowing him to win beautifully.

At that moment, the referee's voice rang out. "Jiang Ping'an wins!"

Somewhat sparse applause rose beneath the platform. Most spectators felt that Jiang Ping'an's victory had come unexpectedly and easily; the match itself had not been particularly exciting.

"It seems I did more harm than good." Seeing how little cheering there was, Yuan Ruolan apologized to Jiang Ping'an.

Jiang Ping'an smiled and gently shook his head. "No, you helped me greatly. I preserved my strength and kept my trump cards hidden. In the next round, I can wait at ease for the exhausted enemy, while my opponent still won't be able to fathom my hidden cards."

"That's good, then. You must win the next round, or I'll lose face." Yuan Ruolan said.

Jiang Ping'an said, "I will."

As they spoke, the two walked off the platform and went their separate ways.

Jiang Ping'an walked toward Princess Bailing and the others. Hong Feng happily came forward to greet him. "Brother Jiang, congratulations on winning and advancing into the top sixteen!"

"Thank you, Brother Hong." Jiang Ping'an accepted the congratulations with a smile.

Princess Bailing also walked over. "Jiang Ping'an, congratulations on advancing. However, if you want everyone to believe in your strength, you'd best win the next round as well."

"Thank you for Your Highness's guidance." Jiang Ping'an smiled and cupped his hands, but Princess Bailing's congratulations did not make him particularly happy.

Princess Bailing turned and left. It was time for her to go to the platform for her own match.

After Princess Bailing left, Zhang Jingtian gave a smile that did not reach his eyes. "Jiang Ping'an, you're quite lucky. I hope your luck lasts forever."

"Not necessarily. The next round will be a true one-on-one match, a genuine clash of strength. Luck won't be able to help you then." Lu Zhaisheng sneered.

Jiang Ping'an did not get angry. Calm and composed, he said, "Luck is also part of one's strength. My luck will keep being good, so just wait and envy me."

Zhang Jingtian and Lu Zhaisheng's smiles stiffened slightly. It felt as if their punches had landed on a ball of cotton, leaving them thoroughly uncomfortable.

They snorted coldly, flicked their sleeves, and headed for the platform where Princess Bailing was about to compete.

Jiang Ping'an said to the bewildered Hong Feng beside him, "Brother Hong, let's go cheer for Princess Bailing too."

"Alright, alright." Hong Feng came back to his senses and hurriedly agreed.

After walking a few steps together, Hong Feng suddenly stopped and said to Jiang Ping'an, "Brother Jiang, I think you should stay and watch the matches of your potential opponents in the next round. I'll explain things to Princess Bailing for you."

"Thank you for your kindness, Brother Hong. But there's no need." Jiang Ping'an smiled and gently shook his head, full of confidence.

The matches progressed quickly. In one morning, each platform had completed four melee rounds, and the next one-on-one round began in the afternoon.

There was no drawing of lots for the afternoon matches, nor would there be any more drawings of lots afterward.

The rules were that on the same platform, the winner of the first melee group would face the winner of the second, while the winner of the third melee group would face the winner of the fourth. After that came the platform finals.

Around Platform C, the space below the platform had long since been packed with spectators, a dense sea of heads. Besides the students, there were servants, and the Instructors had all appeared to watch as well.

As soon as Jiang Ping'an stepped onto the platform, waves of hushed discussion immediately surged up from below.

Some asked those around them whether Jiang Ping'an truly possessed a Mortal Body. Others were curious whether Jiang Ping'an had reached this point through luck or strength... and so on.

Jiang Ping'an waited on the platform for quite a while. He heard the referee loudly call several times for a student named "Wu Daoming" to come up, yet Wu Daoming was nowhere to be seen.

Could my luck really be good enough for me to win without fighting? A few strange expressions appeared on Jiang Ping'an's handsome face.

After waiting about the time it took to brew a cup of tea, a servant hurried to the side of the platform and said a few words to the referee.

Then the referee loudly announced, "Wu Daoming has failed to arrive for the match. Jiang Ping'an wins this match!"

Rumble—

The spectators beneath the platform erupted into an uproar, all of them boiling with excitement.

"No way! He can still win by luck at a time like this?!"

"There's no justice! I'm clearly more handsome and dashing than him, so why is my luck worse? I was dragged down by pig teammates in the first-round team match!"

"Life needs miracles, and miracles give people hope!"

"A Mortal Body actually made it into the top eight of the Genius Ranking Tournament. This kind of luck is enough to make one bow in admiration!"

Standing on the platform, Jiang Ping'an could clearly feel countless gazes filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred fixed upon him.

A little helpless, he spread his hands toward the spectators below. He had already been prepared to fight a somewhat serious battle, but alas, luck would not allow it.

Walking down from the platform under the countless envious, jealous, and hateful gazes, Jiang Ping'an wore a broad smile and repeatedly cupped his hands in all directions. "You let me win, you let me win, you let me win..."

Not only did the crowd's envy, jealousy, and hatred fail to subside, it grew even stronger. Some had the urge to rush up and punch Jiang Ping'an in the face.

Jiang Ping'an walked up to Yuan Ruolan. Her expression was somewhat strange. "Young Master Jiang, I truly don't know whether your luck is good or bad."

Jiang Ping'an understood what Yuan Ruolan meant. She was referring to how his opponent in the next round would be stronger and harder to defeat. If he could not win, it would completely cement his reputation as someone who had gotten this far by chance.

"Of course it's good luck!" Jiang Ping'an said with a smile. "At the very least, I've already advanced into the top eight. The rewards for the top eight are not something the top sixteen can compare to."

Yuan Ruolan could only say, "That's true."

After parting with Yuan Ruolan, Jiang Ping'an went to Platform D to watch the matches.

According to the rules, the champion of Platform C would face the champion of Platform D in the overall semifinals. In other words, one person on Platform D would be his opponent.

By coincidence, Princess Bailing was on Platform D.

When Jiang Ping'an arrived beneath Platform D and saw Princess Bailing, Hong Feng, and the others, he walked over.

Seeing Jiang Ping'an approach, Hong Feng asked in surprise, "Brother Jiang, hasn't your match already started?"

Princess Bailing, too, stopped watching the match on the platform and looked at Jiang Ping'an with surprise and confusion.

"Haha, he must have lost! Knocked off the platform in one or two moves!" Lu Zhaisheng could not help laughing.

Zhang Jingtian laughed as well. "Luck, ah, luck!"

Jiang Ping'an smiled. "Yes, good luck really is good. Thanks to the auspicious words of you two, perhaps my opponent was too badly injured to participate. I won another round on 'luck' and successfully advanced into the top eight."

Lu Zhaisheng and Zhang Jingtian's laughter abruptly caught in their throats. Like two geese singing toward the heavens whose long, slender necks had suddenly been seized, their expressions were more miserable than if they had eaten ten jin of dead flies.

The jealousy in their eyes had become too intense to hide.

"That's wonderful, Brother Jiang! Congratulations!" Hong Feng cried happily.

Princess Bailing could not help sighing. "Jiang Ping'an, your luck really is quite good. Luck is a kind of strength too."

"Hahaha, thank you, Brother Hong and Your Highness." Jiang Ping'an laughed, cupping his hands toward them.

About the time it took to brew a cup of tea later, the match on Platform D was decided, and the second match began. Princess Bailing stepped onto the platform.

Without any surprise, Princess Bailing won that round.

With that, the day's matches came to an end.

That day, Jiang Ping'an's name spread to nearly every student's ears. Many students either envied Jiang Ping'an for his good luck, were jealous of his good luck, or looked down on him for winning by luck, and so on.

Besides the matter of Jiang Ping'an's luck, many other pieces of news naturally spread as well, giving the students plenty to gossip about in groups of three or five.

For example, Zhao Zhenming, one of the four students publicly acknowledged as most likely to compete for the position of Chief Student, suffered a shocking upset and was sent flying off the platform by a single palm strike from Jiang Ping'an, the son of luck.

For example, Zhao Jinglian had once again become famous throughout the residence. She shamelessly threw a tantrum in public, loudly declaring that she refused to acknowledge Zhao Zhenming's defeat at Jiang Ping'an's hands.