Claiming the Top Spot

"Xiao Fei, I couldn't tell before—when did you become as slick as Chen Dog?"

Elsewhere, Li Tianyu, who had been pulled away, asked in surprise.

"I learned it all from Chen Dog."

Li Fei said with a smile.

"Hahahaha! That's what they mean by 'near dogs, one turns black'!"

Li Tianyu burst out laughing.

Chen Lixin rolled her eyes, unwilling to pay attention to this brother-sister pair.

"But after what you did, I absolutely have to take first place today!"

Li Tianyu said seriously.

Not only did she not feel much pressure, her fighting spirit was burning brighter than ever.

"You two, don't blame me for pouring cold water on this, but my cousin has plenty of followers. If I were him, I'd just have the followers assigned to Tianyu's group exhaust her as hard as they could. Then it would be very difficult for Tianyu to make it to the end."

Chen Lixin pushed up her glasses and spoke.

The Graduation Grand Exam began with round-robin group matches, followed by elimination rounds. So, if they encountered a strong opponent during the round-robin stage, the best choice was to surrender quickly and save their strength for other opponents. That was the only way they could have a chance of advancing from their group.

But if Chen Lixin instructed others to deliberately target Li Tianyu, refusing to surrender and fighting her to the bitter end, then even if Li Tianyu advanced from her group, she would not have much strength left for the elimination rounds.

"Damn it, Chen Dog, are all you Chens this black-hearted?"

Li Tianyu cursed.

Chen Lixin shrugged. "If you want first place, then defeat every opponent as quickly as possible."

There were four ways to determine victory or defeat in the Graduation Grand Exam:

First, knock down the opponent more than three times.

Second, the opponent voluntarily surrendered.

Third, knock the opponent off the arena.

Fourth, after five minutes, the referee determined the winner based on both sides' performances.

If Li Tianyu wanted to avoid being worn down, she could only knock her opponents down more than three times or send them off the arena as quickly as possible. Only then could she preserve her chance of taking first place.

"Alright, just watch me!"

Li Tianyu nodded heavily, brimming with fighting spirit.

From beginning to end, neither of them discussed how Li Fei should win. Based on Li Fei's previous performance at school, even advancing from his group would be difficult for him, let alone taking first place.

Li Fei stood quietly to one side, listening without joining the discussion.

He did not mind being underestimated in the slightest.

Next, all the Conflict Mitigation Department students began drawing lots for their groups. Several dozen students were divided into eight groups.

Li Fei was assigned to the "Earth" arena, while Li Tianyu was assigned to the "Mystic" arena.

"What a shame. It would've been better if you two had been in the same group."

Chen Lixin said regretfully.

In his view, if Li Fei and Li Tianyu had been in the same group, Li Fei could have helped Li Tianyu block some opponents, making it easier for her to advance.

He certainly would not have said this about anyone else, but he believed Li Fei would definitely be willing to give something up for Li Tianyu.

Unexpectedly, Li Fei merely smiled. "It's better that we're not in the same group."

"Hm?"

Chen Lixin looked at his friend, feeling more and more that he had changed from before.

"No matter what, good luck!"

Li Tianyu held out her palm to Li Fei.

Li Fei high-fived her. "Good luck!"

For this Graduation Grand Exam, the prize for first place was three hundred yuan. With the additional three hundred yuan Chen Lixin had put up, the total came to six hundred yuan.

To Li Fei, that meant medicine for seventeen sets of Heavenly Star Overlord Body cultivation! He "looked" at the Myriad Blood Bead within him: level: 2, 91% Blood Soul: 12

The Myriad Blood Bead was not far from leveling up. It only needed to absorb a little more energy.

"Then I'll give taking first place a try!"

Li Fei muttered.

He turned and walked toward the "Earth" arena.

Under the morning sun, the youth's gaze was resolute and his posture ramrod straight.

"Next match, Li Fei versus Wang Heng."

Beside the "Earth" arena, the Conflict Mitigation Department teacher acting as referee called out loudly.

Li Fei, already wearing a full set of protective gear, stepped onto the arena.

On the other side, a chubby, fair-skinned little fatty also climbed up.

The other boy's protective gear was visibly too small and stretched tightly over him.

Li Fei knew him. Since his family ran a pork business, people called him Pork Heng. He had long been at the very bottom of the entire grade.

Not bad luck.

Li Fei thought to himself. He quickly assumed his stance and waited for the other party to attack.

Wang Heng had no ambitions for the Graduation Grand Exam. He only wanted to muddle through and get his diploma. He had originally been prepared to surrender right away, yet he had not expected Li Fei to take a defensive posture even against him.

"What's with this? So cautious?"

Wang Heng tentatively stepped forward and threw a punch at Li Fei. Li Fei blocked it with both arms and retreated half a step, still not launching an attack.

"Not fighting back?"

Wang Heng continued probing with several attacks. Seeing that Li Fei never retaliated, he simply let loose, since winning or losing did not matter to him anyway.

Bang! Bang! Bang! On the arena, Li Fei only defended and never attacked, allowing Wang Heng to show off his fists and kicks.

"This Li Fei is really trash. He's actually getting suppressed by Pork Heng. Compared to his sister, he's worlds apart."

Someone below the arena mocked.

His name was Huang Qian, one of Chen Lixin's followers.

Chen Lixin had instructed them to target Li Tianyu with everything they had, but had given no special instructions regarding Li Fei. Huang Qian had originally considered targeting Li Fei as well to curry favor with Young Master Chen, but seeing how pathetic Li Fei was now, he immediately felt that picking on him would lower his own standing.

Four minutes passed quickly. Wang Heng was already panting heavily, drenched in sweat.

Yet his face was full of excitement, because he had never fought so enjoyably before. Li Fei was simply the most qualified human punching bag, and he was having the time of his life.

Just as he stepped forward to throw a straight punch, Li Fei suddenly turned sideways to evade. His left hand seized Wang Heng's wrist, and he stepped in to close the distance. His right leg swept low like a sickle, hooking Wang Heng's calf.

Then Li Fei exerted force with both hands and feet at once.

Smack! Wang Heng immediately lost his balance and crashed heavily to the ground.

"Hook Scythe Leg?"

Wang Heng recognized the move. He quickly got back up and attacked again.

But this time, Li Fei still dodged with ease and brought him down in almost exactly the same way as before.

"Why did he suddenly get so strong?"

Wang Heng could not understand. After getting up again, he did not throw another punch. Instead, he abruptly bent forward and lowered his body in a shooting motion, intending to use a takedown on Li Fei and drag the fight into ground grappling.

He had held the initiative the entire time before, so if he could just drag things out a little longer, he would win this match.

But his body was too bloated. Every movement seemed like slow motion in Li Fei's eyes. Li Fei took one step back and easily avoided the lunge.

Then Li Fei stepped to Wang Heng's side and delivered a vicious low sweep, knocking Wang Heng to the ground again.

Three times.

After Wang Heng got up once more, Li Fei took the initiative to attack. He threw punches from the front to split Wang Heng's attention, while his feet unleashed two consecutive low sweeps.

The first kick destroyed his balance; the second sent him crashing down again!

"Li Fei wins."

The Conflict Mitigation Department teacher beside them announced.

"Ah."

Wang Heng sighed, feeling it was a pity.

He felt that he had been just a little short of winning.

After getting up, he shook Li Fei's hand and said with complete sincerity:

"Brother, we've got to spar more in the future. Fighting you feels unbelievably good!"

Li Fei: "..."

After one match, the Myriad Blood Bead's level had risen by 2%, becoming level 2, 93%.

As for the expenditure of Blood Souls, it was practically negligible.

That little fatty hit too lightly.

Li Fei grumbled inwardly.

After waiting more than twenty minutes, Li Fei faced his second match.

This time, he repeated the same trick, still choosing to take hits at the start.

This process allowed him to absorb other people's energy to the greatest extent, while also helping him practice the Heavenly Star Overlord Body.

Compared with impact-resistance training in a "static" setting, using the Heavenly Constellation Stance to withstand damage in an actual fight was much harder, because an opponent would not wait for him to adjust his breathing before attacking.

Once Li Fei could achieve "Qi and Blood gathered, moving at will," he would have reached the Small Success realm of the Heavenly Star Overlord Body. He would be able to circulate his breath in time and use this art in real combat.

This Graduation Grand Exam was perfectly suited to be a session of practical cultivation for Li Fei.

Just like the previous match, Li Fei did not begin to fight back until the final minute.

This opponent was stronger than Wang Heng, so Li Fei forcibly withstood the opponent's attacks and used an extremely forceful method to execute the Hook Scythe Leg, knocking his opponent down four times in a row and claiming victory.

This time, the Myriad Blood Bead absorbed 4% energy, becoming level 2, 97%. It was drawing closer and closer to leveling up.

The group assigned to the "Earth" arena had seven people in total. Li Fei still had four matches to fight, so there was a high probability that the Myriad Blood Bead would level up.

In the third match that followed, Li Fei encountered a formidable opponent.

This time, he did not dare wait until the final minute to counterattack. After his opponent attacked for two minutes, he began fighting back, meeting offense with offense.

After cultivating the Heavenly Star Overlord Body, Li Fei's resistance to blows had increased greatly. Combined with the Myriad Blood Bead sharing the damage, his opponent could not shake him at all.

Anyone who had been in a fight knew what it felt like to face an opponent who could not be shaken no matter how hard he was hit, who would not even retreat half a step.

That oppressive feeling was overwhelming!

With such a huge advantage, even though Li Fei's martial skills and physical qualities were inferior to his opponent's, he could still win with ease.

He repeatedly used the Hook Scythe Leg to attack his opponent's lower body. In the end, before time ran out, he knocked his opponent down four times and won the match.

After several matches, Li Fei felt that he had vaguely touched the threshold of Small Success in the Heavenly Star Overlord Body. The Myriad Blood Bead, meanwhile, was only 1% energy away from leveling up.