He, Qin Chen, Was Nothing Like Jiang Ruohan!

The two traded blows on the platform, but it was clear that Jiang Ruohan had the upper hand.

By this point in the fight, Li Meng hadn't even brushed the hem of Jiang Ruohan's clothes, while she had landed who knew how many attacks on him.

The problem was, even after taking so many hits, Li Meng was still full of life, as if those attacks hadn't done a thing to him.

Li Meng was a textbook case of someone who'd put all his points into constitution.

His speed wasn't even as good as an ordinary Body Tempering Third Layer cultivator's.

But he was tough!

A mighty man's first priority was constitution, and everything else came second. Otherwise, how could he show off his might?

As for Jiang Ruohan, she still couldn't take Li Meng down, and the other man kept bellowing "Mighty!" right in her ear.

Jiang Ruohan couldn't take it anymore!

"Are you done yet? Can you shut your mouth?"

Li Meng paused at Jiang Ruohan's sudden outburst, then broke into a grin.

"No! Make me!"

With that, Li Meng let out another mighty roar, even louder and more forceful than before.

"You're asking for it!"

Jiang Ruohan's eyes turned cold.

She'd wanted to save some energy for the next fight, but Li Meng's toughness had genuinely caught her off guard.

Looks like she'd have to get serious if she wanted to get past this big lug!

Once she'd made up her mind, Jiang Ruohan's aura changed abruptly. She stepped forward and shot toward Li Meng.

"Mighty!!"

Li Meng roared, his eyes blazing with excitement, and swung a fist hard at the charging Jiang Ruohan.

But the result was the same as before: Jiang Ruohan dodged with ease.

"Cloud Dispelling Palm!"

Jiang Ruohan cried out. A faint white mist rose from her palm as she slammed it into Li Meng.

A tremendous force erupted in an instant.

Li Meng felt as though he hadn't been struck by a woman's palm, but hit by a train.

His body shot backward, and a fierce pain surged from the point of impact, making the muscles on his chest twitch.

When Li Meng finally stopped himself, he realized that Jiang Ruohan had somehow appeared right in front of him again.

That familiar palm came crashing toward him once more.

A muffled thud rang out, and Li Meng's body flew backward again.

Then a series of muffled impacts rang out across the platform.

After Jiang Ruohan struck him with yet another palm, Li Meng flew off the Battle Platform and fell toward the ground, marking the end of the fight.

"Hah... hah..."

Jiang Ruohan stood on the platform, panting heavily. Beads of sweat seeped from her forehead and dampened her smooth, long hair.

She felt exhausted. Utterly exhausted!

Cloud Dispelling Palm was a Combat Skill that consumed a great deal of energy, and she'd lost count of how many palms she'd thrown.

That guy Li Meng had been tougher than she'd imagined!

She glanced at Li Meng, who was grimacing on the ground, and felt a little better. Then she leaped down from the platform.

The fight had taken too much out of her. She needed to use a little Money Power to recover quickly.

Not long after the first fight ended, Qin Chen and Zhou Feng came to the Battle Platform together.

Looking at the delicate-looking young man across from him, Qin Chen's expression remained calm.

Zhou Feng, on the other hand, looked grim. He stared intently at Qin Chen, sweat already beading on his forehead.

He was only at the peak of Body Tempering Third Layer. Of course he'd be nervous facing someone at Body Tempering Fifth Layer.

By this point in the competition, every student's cultivation level had been revealed. The highest belonged to Qin Chen, at Body Tempering Fifth Layer.

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On his way through the rounds, Qin Chen had dealt with every opponent in a single slash.

That put immense pressure on Zhou Feng!

But he was at least at the peak of Body Tempering Third Layer, just one step away from breaking through to Body Tempering Fourth Layer.

Surely he wouldn't be taken out in a single slash, right?

It'd take at least two, wouldn't it?

As he pondered, the referee's announcement that the match had begun rang out right on cue.

The next second, Zhou Feng felt a breeze brush past him. He looked up instinctively and saw Qin Chen standing right in front of him, though he hadn't been there a moment ago.

!!!

Zhou Feng's pupils shrank, and he reflexively crossed his arms in front of himself.

The next second, a tremendous force surged into his arms.

The force sent him flying like a cannonball. He sailed more than twenty meters before slamming hard into the ground.

The violent impact to his back sent Zhou Feng's blood surging. A metallic sweetness welled up in his throat, filling his mouth with the taste of rust.

He stared at Qin Chen in disbelief. After a long moment, he gave a bitter smile and shook his head.

"Was the gap really this huge?"

He'd thought he could at least hold out for a little while. Instead, he'd lost in the blink of an eye.

Still, he hadn't been taken out with a single slash. It had been a single punch.

Zhou Feng shook his numb arms, slowly got to his feet, and called to the referee below the platform:

"I concede!"

"Hiss!!"

Zhou Feng's concession made everyone there suck in a sharp breath.

They stared at the figure standing proudly on the platform, their eyes full of disbelief.

They'd thought just like Zhou Feng: no matter what, he should have been able to hold out for a little while.

Especially after seeing how much effort Jiang Ruohan had needed to defeat Li Meng in the previous match.

But everything happening now was telling them one thing.

He, Qin Chen, was nothing like Jiang Ruohan!

For a time, everyone in the stands and on the platform was talking about Qin Chen.

On the VIP platform, the executives from the various conglomerates kept offering Zhang Haoran their congratulations.

"Principal Zhang, what a remarkable genius your school has produced. Congratulations!"

"Same to you! Same to you!"

Principal Zhang replied with a smile.

Everyone: ...

What did this have to do with us?

Wait! Maybe it didn't have anything to do with them now, but it could very well matter in the future.

The executives from the various conglomerates began turning the matter over in their minds.

After Qin Chen finished the first round, information about him had already been delivered to them.

To be honest, when they first saw the report, they hadn't believed it.

It said Qin Chen was a student whose parents had both died, and that his family was extremely poor.

How could someone from such a poor family have reached Body Tempering Fifth Layer in such a short time?

What a joke!

In the early stages of martial cultivation, unless someone's Star Energy Aptitude exceeded ninety, resources mattered more than talent.

Without Body Tempering Fluid, relying on one's own ability to recover from the damage caused by body tempering would take an extremely long time.

The poor studied while the rich practiced martial arts—it held true in every era!

But no matter how Qin Chen had reached Body Tempering Fifth Layer in such a short time, if the report was right about his family's circumstances...

That gave them room to work with!