The World's Number One Wave!?

Qin Tianyu looked at the bustling playground, and seeing that not a single person dared to step forward to challenge him, the look of contempt on his face deepened.

"Those who know the times are wise; it seems the students of your esteemed school are quite adept at that."

Principal Tao patted his large belly and let out a scoff, his tone cheerful. "It seems there is no need for tomorrow's challenge match to be held, am I right, Principal Yan?"

Upon hearing this, although there was no obvious change in Principal Yan's expression, his pulse quickened, and his heart began to beat with increasing intensity.

As for Director Xie Feng and the others standing beside him, they were not as restrained; they had the word "fury" written all over their faces.

But everyone was an adult after all; anger was one thing, but one still had to let strength do the talking.

Yet, the entire Imperial University, facing the provocations from Principal Tao and Qin Tianyu of Huajing University, did not have a single student stepping forward to sign up...

"Whew~~"

The playground was deathly silent, save for the sound of the wind whipping against the flags.

"Hahaha, Imperial University is truly worthy of its name; it really lives up to the title of the premier institution!"

Qin Tianyu's words, dripping with heavy sarcasm, and Principal Tao's undisguised, triumphant laughter pierced the hearts of every teacher and student at Imperial University like needles.

Principal Yan felt his temples throbbing, and the heart in his chest felt so heavy it seemed ready to shatter his ribs. He pressed his lips together tightly, needing every ounce of his lifelong cultivation to maintain the last shred of composure on his face.

Director Xie Feng, standing nearby, turned a deep shade of red. His knuckles were white as he clenched his fists at his sides, his chest heaving violently as if he might charge out at any second, yet he remained pinned to the spot by those five heavy words: "let strength do the talking."

Despair and humiliation permeated the air.

Could it be that the great Imperial University was truly going to be humiliated like this by its opponents in front of everyone today, without even a single person to take up the challenge?

"Then I must apply to the higher-ups to cancel the challenge match and announce the results as a forfeit?"

Just as Principal Tao spoke again, full of self-satisfaction, preparing to finalize the cancellation and nail this shame to the lintel of Imperial University—

A clear, steady, and even slightly nonchalant voice cut through the suffocating silence, rising from the center of the crowd:

"Who said no one is signing up?"

The voice was not loud, but like a stone cast into a stagnant lake, it instantly stirred up a thousand ripples.

Everyone's gaze, as if pulled by an invisible thread, snapped toward the source of the sound in unison.

The crowded mass of students slowly parted in the middle, like Moses parting the sea, creating a path.

A figure walked out from the depths of the crowd, unhurried and composed.

The newcomer was tall and straight, his pace steady, with no trace of anger on his face, but rather a calm that bordered on indifference.

The sunlight fell upon him, outlining his clear silhouette.

Ignoring the countless gazes of astonishment, inquiry, or rekindled hope around him, he walked straight to the front of the Imperial University leadership, locking eyes with the bewildered Qin Tianyu and the slightly squinting Principal Tao.

He stood still, his gaze sweeping calmly over Qin Tianyu's face, which was written with contempt, before landing on Principal Yan and the others. He gave a slight nod of acknowledgment before turning back to Principal Tao and Qin Tianyu, repeating his words clearly for the entire field to hear:

"Imperial University, Freshman Class 4, Lin Xia, signing up for the challenge match!!"

Boom! The entire crowd erupted!

Lin Xia's words struck everyone's ears like a bolt of lightning from the blue!

"A freshman...?"

"And from Class 4, the one with the worst aptitude..."

"God, is he crazy... wait, did he say his name is Lin Xia!?"

"Is that the Lin Xia who wiped out the entire field at the freshman competition!?"

"That's him, the guy who was the first to come out of the Artificial Secret Realm!!"

"But the minimum requirement for the challenge match is Level 5, Lin Xia... he doesn't seem to meet it, right?"

The upperclassmen on the playground began whispering and discussing Lin Xia.

The name "Lin Xia" was now being tossed around like a punctuation mark in everyone's conversation.

The school leaders, meanwhile, felt their lips curl upward, their eyes brightening with a soft, irrepressible sense of relief.

Regardless of anything else, someone had finally stood up to prove to Huajing University that we at Imperial University are not all cowards!!

But returning to reality, Lin Xia was just a freshman who hadn't systematically learned any combat techniques...

Besides, ever since the incident in the Artificial Secret Realm, the school had suspended leveling for freshmen, so he didn't even meet the most basic requirements for entry.

"Well done!"

Xu Jian wore a look of admiration, staring fixedly at Lin Xia.

Even Zhu Tingyu and Liu Yucheng had glowing eyes.

"Finally couldn't hide it anymore, could you?"

Wu Ziyang chuckled, his expression one of someone who had expected this all along.

When he was in the Otherworld, he had witnessed with his own eyes the scene of Lin Xia killing the monster leader in seconds.

Therefore, Wu Ziyang naturally knew that Lin Xia had leveled up.

The Artificial Secret Realm had its flaws.

It cannot replicate the intensity of a real Secret Realm one hundred percent.

For instance, the reason Lin Xia could defeat a boss while being at a lower level was because the Artificial Secret Realm's research into [Cards] was not thorough enough.

This also resulted in Majin Buu and Vegeta being able to contend with Level 7 wild monsters while only at Level 1.

After all, the person who tampered with the Secret Realm never expected that a Level 1 Awakener would enter with two SSR-grade cards, right?

Precisely because of this, Wu Ziyang was extremely curious: what was the true strength of these two cards belonging to Lin Xia?

And now, there was finally an opportunity to explore this mystery!

Once Lin Xia participated in the challenge tournament, he would have no choice but to reveal his trump cards under the eyes of everyone!

"Hahahaha!"

Qin Tianyu let out a cold sneer, his eyes filled with disdain. "I recall that Class 4 is the worst class at Imperial University every year. You scraps and waste shouldn't come out here to make a laughingstock of yourselves!"

"Principal Yan, oh Principal Yan, have you forgotten to explain the rules of the challenge tournament to this batch of freshmen?"

Principal Tao's three layers of fat on his chin jiggled as he laughed. "The minimum entry requirement for the challenge tournament is Level 5—"

As he said this, the middle-aged man with a potbelly suddenly paused. His brows arched, the corners of his mouth curled upward, and he took a document featuring an image from his briefcase, gently unfolding it to display before everyone.

The paper depicted an instrument quite similar to the breathalyzers used by traffic police in Lin Xia's past life.

The main body of this instrument was a steady metallic gray, appearing both professional and reliable.

It was equipped with a small display screen capable of clearly showing detection data.

What was most eye-catching was the light strip on the side of the instrument, composed of multiple LED lights.

The strip consisted of gray, yellow, green, and red LED lights arranged in sequence, forming a linear band that intuitively reflected the different states of the detection results.

At this moment, the red LED light on the strip was already lit, and it was only one notch away from the "full load" state on the far right!

This red glow, like a warning signal, appeared exceptionally striking.

"Oh right, there is one thing I must formally announce!"

Principal Tao cleared his throat, a look of smugness on his face. His gaze swept over the crowd like a hawk, his voice deliberately lowered:

"Qin Tianyu's newly mastered ultimate skill, [Nether Prison Black Annihilation Wave], has just been certified by the Spiritual Energy Testing and Research Institute as the 'Number One Wave in the World'!—You all had better keep that in mind!!"

He paused, a cold smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth as his gaze locked firmly onto Lin Xia, carrying a sense of threat and intimidation:

"You should know that Qin Tianyu never used such a powerful move in the previous two challenge tournaments. Therefore, in tomorrow's match... if Tianyu fails to control his strength and 'accidentally' injures one of your school's students, the consequences—well, let's just say we take no responsibility!"