I Became the King of Backing? (Seeking Follow-up Reads, Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Soon, the Pearl Academy campus forum was ablaze with the trending topic of Zhou Shuming colluding with those in the Light Institute who held a grudge against Lan Yu to challenge him.

Even students who usually paid no mind to such matters became interested.

It felt much like the time the great demon king Mo Fan took on two hundred students during the Green Campus Beast Fighting Tournament.

However, Zhou Shuming's side only had thirteen people, though every one of them was a Mid-level Mage—a force to be reckoned with, standing three or four stories tall in terms of power.

Of course, this challenge was not recorded on the academy's ranking board; it was purely a personal vendetta between students.

Regarding such private grievances, the academy neither prohibited nor particularly encouraged them.

The reason they didn't prohibit it was to allow students to battle, improving their combat abilities while resolving personal conflicts in the process.

The reason they didn't encourage it was simple: they feared that in the heat of the fight, real animosity would flare up and breed new grudges.

"Buddy, you're really something, accepting a challenge from Zhou Shuming of all people."

Zhao Manyan walked toward the Green Arena with his arm around Lan Yu's shoulder, wearing an expression that suggested he was just there to watch the chaos unfold.

"This guy makes me irritable, so it must be his fault!" Lan Yu cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing sharply.

I reflect on myself three times a day: I am never wrong, I am perfect, and I deserve everything!

Since Zhou Shuming was making such a grand spectacle of this, could it be he had prepared some unexpected trap?

To be safe, I'll just summon the Snow Empress and freeze them all into ice sculptures!

Also present to watch the match were Ding Yumian, Mu Nujiao, Ai Tutu, and others.

The former two were there simply to cheer for Lan Yu, while the latter few were there to cheer him on and, more importantly, to see Zhou Shuming and his cohorts make fools of themselves.

The referee and safety officer was once again Gu Han, that poor soul with the worst luck.

"Friendship first, competition second. Stop when the point is made; do not take lives," Gu Han said, concise and to the point, with nothing more to add.

As the defender, Lan Yu was already standing on the arena floor.

The dozen or so challengers stood outside the arena, unsure of who should go first.

Cowardly trash! Zhou Shuming cursed under his breath.

"With you lot acting so timid, how can you talk about seeking justice?" Lin Tingyu glanced at them with disdain. "In my opinion, you might as well live in fear forever, you bunch of cowards!"

Lin Tingyu's words made the faces of the other eleven people who envied Lan Yu turn shades of red and green, their expressions filled with shame and anger.

Having said that, Lin Tingyu ignored them and walked straight onto the arena.

"Kid, I've kept the grudge from last time in mind. Today, I'll make you kneel on the ground and beg for mercy!"

Lin Tingyu's eyes were bloodshot as he spat out his threats, leaving Lan Yu speechless.

Lan Yu looked at Gu Han, who was preparing to signal the start, with an awkward expression. "Teacher, I have a question."

Gu Han paused. "What question?"

"Isn't it a waste of time for them to come up one by one? Why don't I just have all thirteen of them come at once? I'm in a hurry," Lan Yu said.

These words instantly ignited the atmosphere in the arena.

"Good! Well said!"

"As expected of the fastest climber in our Light Institute, that's the spirit!"

"Zhou Shuming went to such lengths to organize this challenge, only to lose his nerve before it even began. It's laughable."

"I observe that Zhou Shuming lacks wisdom, and Lin Tingyu lacks strategy."

"Hey, are you going to fight or not? Can you show some spirit? Don't just stand there like wooden stakes. He's letting you all attack together; are thirteen Mid-level Mages really afraid of losing to one?"

"The Thirteen Guardians versus the King of Backing—how did I end up in a dream like this?"

"..."

"Let's go!" someone sighed in relief.

They seemed to know Lan Yu would find it troublesome and would inevitably let them all attack together; sure enough, they had guessed right.

Following this, the dozen or so people marched onto the arena in a grand procession.

"Lan Yu, I admit your summoned beast is strong, but there are thirteen of us Mid-level Mages here. No matter how strong your beast is, it can't withstand our magical bombardment!" a student wearing glasses shouted.

Lan Yu shifted his gaze to this person and feigned surprise. "I remember you. You're Zhang Feng, right? What? Did you forget the time you were scared into wetting yourself by my tiger's roar? You still dare to challenge me?"

"You—" Upon hearing this, Zhang Feng's eyes turned blood-red, and he breathed like an ox.

He could even hear the jeers and mockery coming from all directions.

"I hope you can still run your mouth like that later!" Zhou Shuming sneered.

"The match begins!"

At Gu Han's command, both sides began to channel their magic.

"Don't even think about summoning! Thunder Seal!" Zhou Shuming raised his hand, purple lightning crackling in his palm.

With a wave of his hand, a python-like bolt of purple lightning struck fiercely toward Lan Yu.

The others followed suit immediately, casting Fire Burst, Earth Wave, or Ice Spread—all of them Primary-level spells.

Although primary-level magic lacks the destructive power of intermediate-level magic, it excels in speed and sheer volume.

"Still trying to interfere with me?" Lan Yu chuckled.

Did they not know that his Dark Demon Evil God Tiger possessed spatial attributes? Even without him needing to control stars for a primary-level summoning, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger could emerge from the Summoning Space on its own.

Still, he had to keep up appearances for now.

A lunar star track rapidly manifested around Lan Yu, and just as those primary-level spells were about to strike him, a massive tiger paw suddenly blocked his front.

The primary-level spells collided with the tiger paw and vanished without a trace, like clay oxen entering the sea.

As the rift widened, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's majestic frame, standing three to four meters tall and nearly eight meters long, appeared on the competition arena.

Even without Lan Yu's command, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger suppressed its aura to the level of a Great War General, mostly because it wanted to toy with these humans.

"Go on, just don't play them to death."

Sensing the message conveyed by the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, Lan Yu, who had intended to summon the Snow Empress to deal with this group, ceased tracing his Summoning Element star map.

If the Snow Empress were to appear, Lan Yu could hardly imagine what expressions these people would make.

It was just as well; he would let the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger test its newly acquired earth-attribute abilities and the properties of the Flowing Swamp.

The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger slammed its paw down, causing the entire competition arena to ripple and fold like waves.

The thirteen people on the other side had just regained their footing when they suddenly realized their legs were sinking, and their bodies were losing strength.

"Oh no, it's poisonous!" someone exclaimed.

They had never expected that, besides wind and lightning attributes, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger would also possess earth and poison attributes; they had suffered a massive disadvantage.

The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger knew how to exploit the information gap, catching the thirteen of them completely off guard.

Lan Yu crouched on the ground, frowning as he watched Zhou Shuming and the others; the more he looked, the more something felt off.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. I've actually become the King of Backing?!