The Advantage Was His

Before long, everyone on the platform had formed three small groups, with Li Meng and Qin Chen standing apart.

Each group had around six to eight people.

They watched the others warily, hostility in their eyes.

Everyone here was their competitor, including their "temporary teammates."

But they only needed to worry about eliminating the latter once their group was the last one standing.

Until they had eliminated everyone else, they were united against the outside.

Suddenly, a voice rang out across the platform.

"Everyone! I think we need to join forces first and eliminate those two loners!"

"Otherwise, if we eliminate each other first, they'll just sit back and reap the rewards!"

"You all know who they are, right? One's second on the Wild Ranking, and the other's fourth!"

"If we both end up badly hurt, we won't stand a chance against them!"

The speaker was an ordinary-looking man, and at that moment, he was staring intently at Qin Chen and Li Meng.

His eyes were full of wariness!

Hearing his words, the others couldn't help looking over at the two as well.

After a moment of silence, they exchanged glances and made their decision.

Two groups moved toward the other group, one coming up on either side.

All of them turned their eyes toward Qin Chen and Li Meng.

They said nothing, but their actions made their stance clear.

Qin Chen merely glanced at them and paid them no further attention.

Two against twenty. The advantage was his!

Sometimes, having more people didn't help. The strongest among that bunch was only at Body Tempering Layer Two.

Honestly, saying they'd go down in one punch was giving them too much credit!

"Heh. The Wild Ranking really is wild. Nothing but trash!"

Li Meng couldn't help chiming in from beside him.

Ever since Qin Chen had defeated him last time, Qin Chen had shot up to second place on the Wild Ranking.

That ranking alone showed how worthless the Wild Ranking was!

In Li Meng's eyes, Jiang Ruohan, ranked first on the Wild Ranking, wasn't even fit to carry Qin Chen's shoes.

What kind of nobodies were they, thinking they could rank ahead of his boss?

He was afraid his boss would knock Jiang Ruohan down with one punch and make her squeal!

The King of Body Tempering Layer Six!! Did you think he was joking?!

"Contestants, please get ready. The competition is about to begin!"

The familiar voice sounded again from the loudspeakers around the arena.

Almost everyone's expression suddenly turned serious. The joking stopped, and they became completely focused.

A few breaths later~

"Now, I announce... the competition begins!"

The instant the announcement ended, everyone on all sixteen Battle Platforms sprang into action, fighting in a chaotic melee.

On Number Nine Battle Platform, the twenty or so people didn't hesitate for a moment. They charged straight at Qin Chen and Li Meng, yelling like madmen.

"Just what I wanted!"

Li Meng roared.

"Boss, let me test these guys' mettle!"

Before he had even finished speaking, Li Meng charged forward.

The muscles on his bare back, shaped like the character for "fierce," gleamed dazzlingly in the sunlight.

Li Meng's cultivation was still the same as it had been a few days ago. He was at Body Tempering Third Layer and hadn't broken through to Body Tempering Fourth Layer.

That was normal!

Qin Chen knew all too well that the further one advanced, the harder it became to break through.

He had been cultivating day and night for the past few days, and had only just reached Body Tempering Fifth Layer yesterday.

His cultivation conditions were practically the best imaginable.

When he practiced the Burning Meridian Merging Spirit Art, it absorbed a huge amount of Star Energy in an instant. His absorption speed was no slower than that of the top geniuses—in fact, it was even better.

The side effect reversal of the Seven Injuries Fist was like having an unlimited supply of Body Tempering Fluid, and it restored the body even better than the fluid did.

On top of that, his Star Energy Aptitude kept improving, significantly increasing how efficiently he absorbed Star Energy.

Even with all three advantages combined, it had still taken him several whole days to break through to Body Tempering Fifth Layer.

It really was a bit difficult!

As for Li Meng, though he was only at Body Tempering Third Layer, that was nothing to Qin Chen. But against those ordinary students, he was a human tank.

Nearly twice the size of an ordinary person, he barreled into the crowd and immediately sent the first few people flying, slamming hard into the ground.

The others were startled, but not one of them showed any sign of backing down.

The allure of joining the Elite Class far outweighed their fear of Li Meng.

The crowd spread out. Half surrounded Li Meng, while the other half went after Qin Chen.

Watching the minnows charging at him, Qin Chen slowly drew the D-Grade Combat Saber he had bought for a hundred thousand Star Coins.

After fighting Liao Fei last time, he had taken the lesson to heart and hurried to buy a saber on the Star Net the very next day.

In just one night, he had naturally trained Shaking Mountains City Destroying Saber to Grand Completion.

Shaking Mountains City Destroying Saber wasn't flashy. It had only one move.

One saber strike could destroy a city and shake a mountain!

That claim was certainly exaggerated, but that was the art's philosophy.

It cast aside every other consideration and pursued sheer destructive power!

With Shaking Mountains City Destroying Saber at Grand Completion in hand, Qin Chen now dared to take on even a Body Tempering Eighth Layer Martial Artist.

Of course, that only applied to ordinary Body Tempering Eighth Layer Martial Artists. Those who could challenge opponents above their own level didn't count.

There was no way he was drawing his saber now just to unleash Shaking Mountains City Destroying Saber on these people.

With their puny bodies, they'd be dead for sure!

He wanted to practice his saber skills.

Because Shaking Mountains City Destroying Saber had so few moves, even training it to Grand Completion had barely improved his saber skills at all.

As for his saber skills, he had six of his seven apertures open—and the one that remained was completely blocked!

So he definitely needed more practice.

Qin Chen leaned slightly to dodge one person's attack, then smacked him with the flat of his saber.

The man went flying at once. Qin Chen stayed right where he was, knocking away one attacker after another!

But these guys were pretty tenacious. As long as they hadn't been knocked off the platform and eliminated, they'd struggle back to their feet despite the pain, all for that one-in-a-million chance.

Still, they might have been desperate, but they weren't stupid.

After repeatedly failing to get within a meter of Qin Chen before being smacked away, they finally learned their lesson.

The saying that enough ants could kill an elephant was true enough. But the problem was, there clearly weren't enough ants on their side to take down Qin Chen, the elephant.

Since that was the case...

They all turned their attention to the other battle.

Li Meng was being mobbed by that group, and had long since lost his initial momentum. He was completely on the defensive.

Li Meng was indeed stronger than them, but the gap wasn't all that great.

Facing two or three people at once, or even three or four, was still manageable. But facing eight or nine at the same time...

That was asking too much!

He wasn't Qin Chen. He didn't have such monstrous fighting strength.

The students who had gone after Qin Chen looked at the students surrounding Li Meng, then looked back at their own side.

They were on the verge of tears!