As the saying went, comparison was the thief of joy.
Look at those guys over there. Every one of them had a smile on his face, and barely a scratch on them.
Then look at their side. They'd nearly been beaten to shit!
Every one of them had taken several hits from Qin Chen.
Their whole bodies were burning with pain!
They exchanged glances, then immediately came to a decision and all edged toward Li Meng.
There was nothing they could do about Qin Chen. Whoever wanted to fight him could go ahead!
They weren't going to cause Qin Chen trouble again!
No problem!
Qin Chen had claimed one spot, and Li Meng's side still had another one~
There was still a chance!
Meanwhile, Li Meng was getting beaten up when the corner of his eye caught the crowd edging toward him. His face turned green.
Wait!
He was only at the Body Tempering Third Layer. What had he done to deserve so many people coming after him?
He'd thought he could hold out even against eight or nine people, but now he really couldn't take it anymore.
He immediately yelled:
"Big brother! Save me!!"
Qin Chen didn't turn a blind eye to Li Meng's plea. Li Meng had called him big brother, so he had to do his part!
Besides, he'd already said that the second spot belonged to Li Meng!
When you took someone's money, you had to help them out of a jam!
Li Meng might not have actually meant to ask him for help; perhaps he'd only been trying to curry favor.
But Qin Chen wasn't about to be so thoughtless. He couldn't let people think their Star Coins had been wasted, could he?
Qin Chen took a step forward, and his figure vanished on the spot. In the blink of an eye, he was in the middle of the crowd.
Then came a series of screams, mixed with dull thuds.
The number of people on the platform dwindled at incredible speed, one after another getting a taste of what it was like to fly.
This time, Qin Chen used far more force than before. The students had no chance to fight back as he slapped them off the Battle Platform.
In less than half a minute, only Qin Chen and Li Meng remained on Number Nine Battle Platform. Everyone else had been cleared out.
They lay on the ground, groaning without pause.
At the same time, an announcement rang out across the Training Ground.
"Advancers have been decided on Number Nine Battle Platform!"
In an instant, the students on the other Battle Platforms paused in unison, astonishment showing on their faces.
Some were so distracted that their opponents seized the opportunity to knock them off the platform, costing them their chance to advance.
On Number Five Battle Platform, Jiang Ruohan knocked away a student in front of her with a palm strike, then looked toward Number Nine Battle Platform.
When she saw Qin Chen, a glint flashed in her eyes.
"It's him!"
She remembered Qin Chen rather well.
Not only because of his strength, but also because he was exceptionally handsome.
Together, those two things naturally made an even deeper impression.
"He eliminated all his opponents so quickly?"
"Looks like you really do have some skill!"
Jiang Ruohan murmured, excitement coloring her eyes.
She hadn't seen Qin Chen take down his opponents. Seeing him and Li Meng standing on the platform, she assumed that the two of them had teamed up to eliminate everyone else.
His strength might be decent, but he couldn't possibly be her match.
She had complete confidence in herself!
After all, she hadn't teamed up with anyone. She'd faced several opponents alone, and the students on her platform were clearly stronger than those on Number Nine Battle Platform.
She'd even eliminated an opponent at the Body Tempering Third Layer.
With that thought, Jiang Ruohan stopped paying attention to Qin Chen and charged at the remaining students on the platform.
"B-Big brother! Thanks!"
Li Meng gasped as he spoke to Qin Chen.
If not for Qin Chen, he really would've been eliminated. Just thinking about it made Li Meng furious.
They'd said it was a free-for-all! Was this supposed to be anything other than a group beating?
They were monsters!
Eight or nine of them ganging up on him had been bad enough, but then another wave had come!
He was only a lowly Body Tempering Third Layer. What had he done to deserve this?
At the same time, he was glad he'd promptly acknowledged Qin Chen as his big brother right from the start.
He knew it!
This was a golden thigh—no doubt about it!
Meanwhile, as time passed, students advanced on one Battle Platform after another.
Half an hour later, the last two students advanced from the final Battle Platform, bringing the first stage of the competition—the group brawl—to an end.
At the same time, the host's voice rang out.
"First of all, congratulations to all of you! After a hard-fought battle, you've finally advanced to the top thirty-two in this Ranking Battle and earned the right to enter the Elite Class!"
At those words, a few of the advancing students broke into happy smiles.
They all had one thing in common: their strength wasn't enough to place them among the top thirty-two, but thanks to the rules of the competition, they'd made it through.
Most of the students, however, looked disappointed.
They hadn't survived the first round's group brawl and were among those eliminated.
That also meant they'd lost their chance to enter the Elite Class and missed out on a month of its benefits.
"Next, there will be a one-hour break!"
"The second round, the elimination tournament, will begin in one hour!"
"All students, please leave the center of the arena!"
Once the students had left the center of the arena, the Training Ground suddenly began to shake. No one panicked, though; this wasn't their first time experiencing something like this.
The sixteen Battle Platforms on the field slowly descended, eventually disappearing into the ground and leaving behind square openings.
The next second, two large sections of the "ground" rose from the openings, filling them in.
Then a huge stretch of "ground" in the center of the arena began to descend. A massive Battle Platform, several times larger than the previous ones, slowly rose from the opening.
The Battle Platform was square, a hundred meters long on each side—more than enough room for students at the Body Tempering Realm to fight freely.
At the same time, a huge pale-blue screen appeared above the Battle Platform.
One name after another appeared on it, all belonging to the students who had made it into the top thirty-two.
When the parents in the stands saw their children's names appear on the screen, they couldn't help but puff out their chests.
As parents, naturally they felt proud when their children achieved good results.
One father, however, wore a slightly grave expression.
On the central platform, Jiang Mu stared intently at the pale-blue screen in front of him.
He'd been watching it for a long time.
The screen showed footage of Qin Chen's recent fight.
"At least the Body Tempering Fifth Layer!"
Jiang Mu said quietly.
As a Star Vein Realm expert, Jiang Mu had a keen eye.
Though the distance was too great for him to sense Qin Chen's cultivation, based on what he saw in the footage, Qin Chen's strength was no lower than the Body Tempering Fifth Layer.
He even vaguely felt...
That Qin Chen was stronger still!
There was no other explanation. Qin Chen had made it look far too easy, as if he were out for a morning stroll, casually slapping one student after another off the platform.
"This time, it looks like Xiao Han's chances of taking first place are in danger!"
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