Before long, the post about Zhou Shuming teaming up with people from the Light Institute who disliked Lan Yu to challenge him was trending on Pearl Academy's campus forum.
Even students who usually paid little attention to this sort of thing had grown interested.
It had the same feel as the time the great demon Mo Fan took on two hundred opponents by himself during the Beast Fighting Tournament at Green Campus.
However, Zhou Shuming's side had only thirteen people, though every one of them was an Intermediate Mage. They were still formidable enough to be several stories tall.
Of course, this challenge wouldn't count toward the academy rankings. It was purely a personal grudge between students.
The academy neither stopped nor encouraged this kind of personal feud.
The reason they didn't stop it was to let students fight, improve their combat abilities, and settle their personal grudges at the same time.
The reason they didn't encourage it was simple: they were afraid a fight might get out of hand and create a new grudge.
"Man, you're something else. You even accepted Zhou Shuming's challenge."
Zhao Manyan walked toward the Green Arena with his arm slung over Lan Yu's shoulder, looking like he was just there to enjoy the show.
"This guy annoys me, so he's obviously the one in the wrong!" Lan Yu cracked his knuckles, and they popped loudly.
I examine myself thrice a day: I'm not wrong, I'm doing great, and I deserve this!
Zhou Shuming had made such a big deal of this challenge. Could he have prepared something I hadn't anticipated?
Just to be safe, I'll summon Snow Empress and freeze them all into ice sculptures!
Ding Yumian, Mu Nujiao, Ai Tutu, and the others had also come to watch.
The first two were simply there to cheer Lan Yu on. The rest, besides cheering, wanted to see Zhou Shuming and his group make fools of themselves.
The teacher acting as both referee and safety officer was once again Gu Han, the unlucky guy with terrible luck.
"Friendship first, competition second. Know when to stop, and don't take anyone's life." Gu Han kept it brief; there wasn't much else to say.
Lan Yu, as the one defending his position, was already standing in the arena.
The dozen or so opponents stood outside the arena, unsure who should go first.
Cowards, the lot of them! Zhou Shuming cursed inwardly.
"Cowering like this, how can you even talk about restoring your pride?" Lin Tingyu glanced at them in disdain. "You might as well live in fear forever, you bunch of cowards!"
Lin Tingyu's words left the eleven others who were jealous of Lan Yu with faces that flushed red, then pale. Every one of them looked humiliated and angry.
With that, Lin Tingyu ignored the others and walked straight into the arena.
"Kid, I haven't forgotten what happened last time. Today, I'll make you kneel and beg for mercy!"
Lin Tingyu launched right into his threats, his eyes bulging with fury. Lan Yu could only stare at him in speechless disbelief.
Lan Yu glanced awkwardly at Gu Han, who was about to call the start. "Teacher, I have a question."
Gu Han paused. "What is it?"
"Isn't having them come at me one by one a waste of time? Why not just let all thirteen come at once? I'm in a hurry," Lan Yu said.
His words instantly set the whole arena alight.
"Great! That's the spirit!"
"As expected of the fastest climber in the Light Institute rankings. He should be this bold!"
"Zhou Shuming went to all that trouble to put this challenge together, but now he's scared before the fight's even begun. What a joke!"
"From where I'm standing, Zhou Shuming lacks brains, and Lin Tingyu lacks strategy."
"Hey, are you going to fight or not? Could you show some spirit? Quit standing there like wooden posts! He's told you all to attack together. Are thirteen Intermediate Mages really afraid they can't beat one guy?"
"Thirteen Guardians versus the King of Backing—what kind of dream am I having?"
"..."
"Let's go!" Someone let out a sigh of relief.
They seemed to have known Lan Yu would find it too much trouble and tell them all to attack at once. Sure enough, they'd guessed right.
Then, the dozen or so of them strode into the arena.
"Lan Yu, I admit your Summoned Beast is powerful, but there are thirteen Intermediate Mages here. No matter how strong your Summoned Beast is, it can't withstand a barrage of our magic!" called out a bespectacled student.
Lan Yu turned to him and feigned surprise. "I remember you. You're Zhang Feng, right? What, forgotten how my tiger scared you so badly you wet yourself? And you still dare challenge me?"
"You—" Zhang Feng's eyes instantly turned bloodshot, and he began to pant like a bull.
He could practically hear the taunts and jeers coming from every direction.
"I hope you can keep running your mouth like that!" Zhou Shuming sneered.
"Begin!"
At Gu Han's command, both sides began casting magic.
"Don't even think about summoning! Thunder Seal!" Zhou Shuming raised his hand, purple lightning crackling in his palm.
With a sweep of his hand, a streak of purple lightning, swift as a python, shot toward Lan Yu.
The others attacked right after him, casting Fire Burst, Earth Wave, and Ice Spread—all Beginner Magic.
Beginner Magic might not be as powerful as Intermediate Magic, but it was fast and could be cast in large numbers.
"Trying to interfere with my summoning?" Lan Yu laughed.
Didn't they know his Dark Demon Evil God Tiger had spatial attributes? Even without controlling the stars to cast a Beginner-level Summoning spell, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger could still come out of the Summoning Space.
Still, he had to put on a show.
A silvery Star Map swiftly appeared around Lan Yu. Just as the Beginner Magic spells were about to hit him, an enormous tiger paw suddenly appeared in front of him.
The spells struck the paw and vanished without a trace, like mud sinking into the sea.
The crack widened, and the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's majestic form appeared in the arena—three or four meters tall and nearly eight meters long.
Even without Lan Yu's instruction, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger suppressed his aura to the Great War General level. He wanted to toy with these humans, too.
"Go on. Just don't play with them until they're gone."
Sensing the message the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger sent him, Lan Yu stopped drawing the Summoning Element Star Map. He had been about to summon Snow Empress to deal with this crowd.
He could hardly imagine what expressions they'd wear if Snow Empress appeared.
This was a perfect chance to let the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger test out his newly acquired earth-type ability and the properties of Flowing Swamp.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger slammed his paw down. The entire arena rippled with uneven folds, rolling like waves.
The thirteen students managed to steady themselves, only to realize their legs were sinking into the ground. At the same time, their bodies felt weak.
"Not good, it's poisonous!" someone cried.
They had never imagined that the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger possessed earth and poison attributes in addition to wind and lightning. They'd taken a serious hit.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger knew how to exploit an information gap, catching all thirteen off guard.
Lan Yu crouched on the ground, staring at Zhou Shuming and the others with a deep frown. The longer he looked, the stranger it seemed.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up. I actually became the King of Backing?!
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