Semifinals

"Really? Why am I having such a hard time believing that?"

Lan Mengqin crossed her arms over her chest, feeling that this was still unreliable. After all, her sister was so beautiful; going home with Chen Ming just like that was far too dangerous.

"I have no worldly desires."

"I don't believe you... you wouldn't happen to be..."

Chen Ming pressed his palms together in a gesture of a monk. Lan Mengqin narrowed her eyes, still unconvinced. Under her intense gaze, Chen Ming spread his hands and said:

"Fine, the truth is I like mature older sisters. I don't have any 'lolicon' tendencies, and I honestly despise those kinds of guys—they should be executed by firing squad!"

Chen Ming crossed his arms, looking as if he had laid all his cards on the table. Dong Qianqiu's eyes widened instantly. Wait, no? You're just saying that out loud?

"No wonder old Chen, you're completely uninterested in Lan and Dong Qianqiu."

"As expected of old Chen, to be able to state his preferences so easily."

"If it were me, I wouldn't even dare to say what my type is."

Huo Tian, Lei Yuan, and Feng Rulang admired Chen Ming even more. To tell a girl you hang out with all the time that you actually prefer a different type—he truly was our old Chen, a role model for us all.

"You scared me to death..."

Hearing this, Lan Mengqin patted her flat chest, looking as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. This reaction left everyone else confused once again.

"Sister Mengqin... what kind of reaction is that?"

A flash of doubt crossed Dong Qianqiu's eyes. This reaction wasn't right, was it? Given Lan Mengqin's personality, shouldn't she be cursing him out for being a pervert?

"It's just... when Chen Ming said he wasn't interested in you earlier, I thought he didn't like girls at all. So it turns out he just likes the mature type..."

Lan Mengqin explained, sighing with a look of disappointment after she finished. Chen Ming's voice suddenly turned sharp.

"What exactly are you disappointed about!!!"

"Hehe, nothing."

Lan Mengqin smiled at Chen Ming, though he felt that her smile carried a hint of something lewd.

Dong Qianqiu was left with a head full of question marks. What did that mean? If he just liked mature older sisters, why were you disappointed?

Chen Ming clenched his fists, gritting his teeth as he glared at Lan Mengqin, but eventually, he broke into a smile and said with a grin:

"Mengqin, I recall we are still in the middle of final exams, right?"

"Yeah, so what..."

Lan Mengqin paused for a moment. Just as she wondered why he would say that, she saw Chen Ming's chilling, hair-raising smile and immediately shivered.

"You... you aren't planning to play dirty during the match, are you..."

Seeing that smile hiding a dagger, combined with the memory of being easily defeated by him last time, Lan Mengqin knew exactly what Chen Ming was planning.

Hearing this, the smile on Chen Ming's face grew even wider. He leaned his elbows on the table, interlaced his fingers, and rested his chin on them, responding gently.

"How could that be? Matches always carry a lot of uncertainty. If you happen to bump into something or get a bruise, that's only natural, right~?"

Seeing that smile, Lan Mengqin grew afraid. She hid behind Dong Qianqiu and pointed at Chen Ming.

"Qianqiu, he's threatening me! Help me beat him up!"

"You two..."

Dong Qianqiu was speechless. How did these two end up at each other's throats? The problem was, she couldn't beat him either.

After lunch, everyone began the afternoon elimination rounds. The competition quickly reached its later stages, and Chen Ming easily cleared the top 100.

His fishing rod remained unsolvable, and the level of Chen Ming's fishing rod had even reached an incredibly high tier.

"One Cast Opens the Heavenly Gate!"

Chen Ming spun around and cast his hook. The hook flew out like a nimble little snake. His opponent tried to dodge, but was caught by the second-stage control of the rod, then violently flung off the Soul Fighting Platform.

Even if you tried to grab the hook, the mechanics of the skill would default to having already hooked you, dragging you away—all one could say was that the code was written that way.

In the top 64, Chen Ming encountered the person who had led the charge against him from Class One. The hook darted out like a spirit snake.

Chen Ming dragged the opponent across the ground for dozens of meters before tossing him off the stage.

In the top 32, the opponent tried to use his martial soul to destroy the hook, but there was a second stage to the move, and he was once again flung off the stage by Chen Ming.

In the top 16, he was still being hooked from fifty meters away and tossed off the stage.

In the top 8 and top 4, Chen Ming encountered Dong Qianqiu. The two met in the semifinals, and neither said much.

To show respect, Chen Ming raised his hand and gripped, and a Wood Spear appeared in his hand. This was a spear condensed from the wood attribute mastered by the Life Tree; its toughness was incomparable to ordinary plants.

Following the referee's command, the two closed the distance simultaneously. Several ice cones were fired by Dong Qianqiu. As they neared, two Earth Blocks suddenly appeared in front of Chen Ming, successfully blocking the ice cones before shattering and retracting.

After the Ice Spear spun around, it swept in with a piercing whistle. Chen Ming raised his spear and thrust it with precision.

Clang!

With a crisp sound, the Ice Spear shattered into ice crystals, and tiny ice petals scattered between them. Dong Qianqiu's pupils constricted, her eyes filled with shock. After snapping back to reality, she dodged the direct thrust and retreated.

"Be careful."

Chen Ming offered a warning, then threw the Wood Spear. Watching the incoming spear, Dong Qianqiu immediately channeled her ice element to form an Ice Spear to block it.

Bang!

After shattering the ice wall, the Wood Spear splintered into pieces and embedded itself around Dong Qianqiu. Just as she let out a sigh of relief, thinking she had blocked the attack, she saw a jade-green light flickering in the eyes of Chen Ming.

What shocked Dong Qianqiu was the purple soul ring circling around Chen Ming; this was the first time he had revealed his soul ring.

The moment this soul ring appeared, the entire arena was stunned—a thousand-year first ring! He was the only freshman to possess a thousand-year soul ring.

Everyone gasped, staring at the figure on the stage with eyes full of shock, completely intimidated by this thousand-year first ring, even Dong Qianqiu included.

"Don't get distracted, little dummy."

Chen Ming clapped his hands together and said with a light chuckle. Hearing this, Dong Qianqiu snapped back to reality. The next second, the branches stuck around her erupted, growing into vines that instantly bound her.

Dong Qianqiu was surrounded by four small trees, their vines intertwining to bind her tightly. She was completely immobilized, her feet even left dangling off the ground.

"Wood Release, Four-Directional Binding."

Chen Ming's calm voice rang out as he walked over slowly. Dong Qianqiu struggled continuously, only to discover that the soul power she was outputting was being drained by these trees. Her face turned pale, and she lost all ability to resist.

"I lost..."

Dong Qianqiu said weakly. Seeing this, the referee announced that Chen Ming had advanced and that Dong Qianqiu had been defeated by him.

After being released, Dong Qianqiu stumbled and nearly fell, but was caught by Chen Ming, who then handed her a small porcelain bottle.

"Drink it. My first soul skill is a recovery-type skill."

Hearing this, Dong Qianqiu nodded slightly. She opened it and took a look; the aura of life energy rushed toward her. After drinking it, her soul power recovered somewhat, and her mind cleared up a bit. It seemed that not only had it restored her mental energy, but it had also boosted it slightly.

ps: The second update for February 27th, totaling 4,000 words.