Small Success

"This kid's got some real skill."

Huang Qian, watching from below the stage after Li Fei won his third match, was somewhat astonished.

He wasn't even confident he could beat the opponent Li Fei had defeated in that third match.

"Was he putting on an act before? What was the point?"

Huang Qian found it hard to understand.

His match against Li Fei was next, and he suddenly felt a little nervous.

More than thirty minutes later, Li Fei entered his fourth match, against Huang Qian.

Once they stepped onto the stage, Huang Qian did not immediately launch a fierce assault. Instead, he cautiously probed Li Fei.

After several exchanges, he discovered that Li Fei only knew how to defend. Only then did he dare to begin attacking, though he deliberately held back some strength to avoid being caught off guard by a sudden counterattack from Li Fei.

Li Fei, meanwhile, was immersed in his breakthrough with the Heavenly Star Overlord Body. Again and again, he tried to make his breathing and bodily reactions keep pace with Huang Qian's attacks, so that he could successfully use the Heavenly Star Overlord Body the instant he was struck. Yet he was always just a hair away from the most perfect rhythm—either too fast or too slow.

Three minutes later, Huang Qian threw a low sweeping kick that struck Li Fei's shin.

But it felt as though he had kicked an air-filled tire and was violently bounced away.

The sudden change threw Huang Qian slightly off balance. Li Fei immediately stepped forward and threw a straight punch at Huang Qian's face. Huang Qian retreated half a step and leaned back to evade it, but Li Fei suddenly kicked out, using a Hook Scythe Leg to bring him straight to the ground.

According to the rules, one could not continue attacking after an opponent fell, so Li Fei took two steps back and waited for Huang Qian to rise again.

"This kid is pretty damn strange. Has he trained some powerful hard-body martial art?"

Huang Qian watched Li Fei warily.

Li Fei, however, was delighted inside.

He had finally gotten the rhythm right just now. When Huang Qian's kick landed, he used the breathing technique to drive his Qi and Blood toward the point of impact. His skin tightened and his Muscles swelled—not a moment early, not a moment late—and he successfully used the Heavenly Star Overlord Body to block Huang Qian's low sweep.

The Heavenly Star Overlord Body could not only block attacks, but also rebound force. That was its tyrannical aspect, and why Huang Qian had been thrown off balance.

"Again!"

Li Fei crooked a finger at Huang Qian.

Now that he had succeeded once, his breakthrough was not far off. He could barely wait to try again.

"Fuck!"

Seeing Li Fei act so arrogantly, how could Huang Qian endure it? He immediately rushed forward and launched a fierce assault.

After several moves, he landed a heavy punch on the protective gear over Li Fei's chest. Rather than retreat after taking the blow, Li Fei actively drove his chest forward.

Even through a layer of protective gear, Huang Qian still felt a force rebound into him, forcing him back half a step.

"Again!"

Li Fei stepped forward and shouted.

Huang Qian gritted his teeth and continued punching, but every fist that landed on Li Fei sent a rebounding force back at him. He felt as though he were striking a huge oxhide drum full of springy resilience with all his strength!

After fighting for so long, his opponent was fine, while his own arms had already been numbed by the impacts. Qi and Blood gathered and moved as needed; every part of the body could instantly bear force and rebound it—this was the Small Success realm of the Heavenly Star Overlord Body!

Thus, a strange scene appeared on the stage. Clearly, Huang Qian was the attacker, yet Li Fei forced him to retreat again and again.

At one moment, Huang Qian suddenly stepped into empty air and fell from the stage.

Without realizing it, Li Fei had already driven him to the edge of the stage. His final retreat sent him tumbling down.

"Li Fei wins!"

According to the rules, falling off the stage counted as a loss, so the referee beside them announced the result.

With this, Li Fei claimed four consecutive victories in the group stage.

His Myriad Blood Bead had finally absorbed enough energy and upgraded once more:

Myriad Blood Bead
Level: 3, 1%
Blood Soul: 16

This upgrade increased the number of Blood Souls by four, bringing the total to sixteen.

At the same time, the Blood Soul recovery rate had increased to 1.6 per twenty-four hours.

What delighted him even more was that he had successfully broken through in the Heavenly Star Overlord Body, reaching Small Success.

Hao Yi had promised him that once the Heavenly Star Overlord Body reached the Small Success realm, he could come into contact with Implants.

"Looks like even without the Myriad Blood Bead, my talent in martial arts isn't bad."

Li Fei's face was wreathed in smiles.

A little after eleven in the morning, Li Fei finished all his group-stage matches. He had won six straight and advanced as the top seed in his group.

The knockout rounds would not begin until the afternoon, so Li Fei went to the 'Xuan' stage to find Li Tianyu.

When he arrived, he happened to see Li Tianyu defeat her opponent.

The referee announced Li Tianyu's victory, but obvious exhaustion showed on her face, making Li Fei frown slightly.

"How is she?"

Li Fei found Chen Lixin among the crowd and asked.

Chen Lixin's expression was somewhat grave as well. He shook his head. "Bad luck. This group already had two strong opponents, and two more were Chen Lixin's lackeys. Tianyu fought four brutal matches in a row and used up a lot."

Li Fei sighed. "She just needs to win one more match."

The top two from each group advanced. The first round of the afternoon knockout stage would be sixteen down to eight. As long as she reached the quarterfinals, she would earn the title of Excellent Graduate.

"Unfortunately, she won't see it that way."

Chen Lixin said.

At that moment, Li Tianyu walked over to them. Pointing at herself, she grinned brightly. "First in the group—secured!"

"Impressive, impressive."

"Congratulations, congratulations."

The two replied somewhat perfunctorily.

"What, you think I can't do it anymore?"

Li Tianyu raised an eyebrow.

"Let's see how the next draw goes."

Chen Lixin said.

"Tch. I can fight anyone."

Li Tianyu wore a confident look.

Then she looked at Li Fei and casually asked, "How did you do? Did you advance?"

"Yeah. I advanced. First in my group."

Li Fei replied calmly.

"I'm actually starting to want to go to the Military Academy."

Before the knockout rounds began that afternoon, Li Tianyu suddenly said this.

Even now, she found it a little hard to believe that Li Fei had advanced as the top seed in his group.

"That Special Grade Instructor really has some skill. It feels like you've been reborn."

Chen Lixin also looked Li Fei over.

"Yeah, Teacher really is amazing."

Li Fei nodded, crediting Hao Yi for how strong he had suddenly become.

"The knockout rounds begin! First match!"

A teacher from the Conflict Mitigation Department shouted from the stage at the center of the field.

All the afternoon knockout matches were held on this central stage. The first-place finisher from each group faced the second-place finisher from another group, so at the sixteen-to-eight stage, Li Fei did not need to worry about running into Li Tianyu.

Because these were knockout matches, the number of referees had increased from one to four. If neither side could determine a winner within five minutes, the four referees would score the match to decide the victor.

"Third match: Li Fei versus Zhao Li."

Soon, it was the third match, and Li Fei's turn to take the stage.

"Good luck!"

Li Tianyu patted Li Fei on the shoulder.

"Mm."

Li Fei nodded and calmly walked onto the stage.

"I want to see just how strange this kid really is."

Chen Lixin stared intently at Li Fei from below the stage.

He had already received Huang Qian's report and knew Li Fei was not simple, so he was paying close attention to this match.

Yet the fight that followed seemed utterly ordinary. Li Fei only defended and never attacked, allowing his opponent to do as he pleased.

"That's it? You actually lost to an opponent like this?"

Chen Lixin turned to Huang Qian and demanded angrily.

"Young Master Chen, I..."

Huang Qian had no way to defend himself.

Only in the final minute of the match did Li Fei begin exerting himself. He used the Heavenly Star Overlord Body while forcibly enduring his opponent's attacks, disrupting the other man's offensive rhythm through repeated bursts of rebounding force.

Whenever his opponent lost balance, Li Fei immediately used the Hook Scythe Leg. In this way, he knocked his opponent down four times in a row and won the match "narrowly."

With this, Li Fei successfully advanced into the quarterfinals, and the title of Excellent Graduate was in hand.

First, he had successfully broken through and upgraded the Myriad Blood Bead. Now, he had gained the title of Excellent Graduate as well. This time, he had truly reaped a bountiful harvest.

Li Fei glanced at Chen Lixin below the stage. His goal did not end here.

"Looks like he trained a hard-body martial art and took advantage of the competition format. Nothing to worry about."

Chen Lixin confidently made his judgment as well, not considering Li Fei a threat.

Huang Qian had wanted to say that Li Fei's hard-body martial art was far from simple, much more sophisticated than what the school taught. But he opened his mouth, then ultimately said nothing.

The matches continued.

Li Tianyu's match was the fifth. Her opponent was clearly much weaker than she was, and this time, she won without expending much effort. She also successfully earned the title of Excellent Graduate.

Once all eight matches had ended, the eight quarterfinalists drew lots again.

Li Fei and Li Tianyu drew into the same half of the bracket. Fortunately, they were not matched against each other in the quarterfinals. If both of them could reach the semifinals, the Li Family would be guaranteed a spot in the finals.