Defeating Zhao Yong

The moment Xu Ziming's voice rang out, the entire spectator stand erupted.

His movements were truly dashing, and paired with that face of sword-like brows and starry eyes, his appeal to the high school girls was already maxed out.

Behind the crowd, Shen Xingyue couldn't help but smile at the sight of Xu Ziming.

In the red maple forest, seeing his opponent act so arrogantly, Zhao Yong could no longer hold back; he had practiced a family-inherited blade technique since childhood.

It was called: Seven Kill Blade Technique. Every move carried a dense killing intent, appearing quite terrifying within this small grove.

Yet Xu Ziming was not afraid. Before entering the arena, he unequipped Body Forging Acceleration and equipped the Sword Saint Body Technique brought by Jinghong.

No matter your myriad techniques, I shall break them all with a single sword.

The Seven Kill Blade Technique relied on the momentum and killing intent generated by wide, sweeping strikes. Zhao Yong raised his blade and lunged forward without a moment's hesitation.

"Clang! Clang!" The sound of clashing iron rang out incessantly.

Zhao Yong's wide-sweeping blade technique was steadily received by Xu Ziming, yet competing in raw strength was not Xu Ziming's forte.

In other words, even in his area of expertise, Zhao Yong could gain no advantage.

Sword energy surged, sweeping across the maple leaves and creating a rustling sound. Xu Ziming passively received Zhao Yong's attacks over and over again.

Yet, he never launched a single active counterattack.

"Why does it feel like this Xu Ziming isn't as strong as the rumors say? He's been suppressed and beaten the entire time."

"Zhao Yong has always been in the top ten of the grade, after all. I suppose even Xu Ziming can't handle him."

"I think he's just been bragging; he doesn't actually have any real skill."

Various voices echoed throughout the arena, while the battle between the two in the maple forest remained unchanged.

Zhao Yong felt that although he appeared to have the upper hand and was only a hair's breadth away from defeating Xu Ziming, no matter how hard he tried, he could never quite bridge that gap.

Every time he exerted more force, his opponent would increase his own strength by a corresponding amount.

It was as if... he were intentionally letting him win.

"How is this possible?" He gripped his blade tightly, his heart hardening.

He unleashed every ounce of his strength without reservation, and the resulting Life Energy Level clearly reached 4.0.

As expected, others are also improving; one cannot underestimate anyone, Xu Ziming thought to himself.

On the other side, the killing intent condensed from Zhao Yong's blood and energy solidified on his blade, each strike seemingly aimed at taking Xu Ziming's life.

However, anyone with keen insight could see that he had already exhausted his reserves, stimulating his entire body's potential just to secure victory in this match.

"Have you used all your strength?"

Xu Ziming muttered to himself, and his entire figure vanished from everyone's field of vision.

The maple forest, the small bridge, the stream, the wooden hut...

His silhouette was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is he?" Zhao Yong panted, looking around in panic.

He hadn't gained any advantage from the few collisions where he had exerted his full power, and his mental state was beginning to fracture.

"I'm here." Xu Ziming's voice sounded from behind him.

The next moment, a sword light soared into the sky, piercing through the maple forest, slicing through the small bridge, destroying the wooden hut, and shooting straight into the clouds!

Zhao Yong had no time to react; his entire body was swallowed by the sword light, and he vanished from sight.

The maple forest trembled, fallen leaves swirled in the sky, and a massive air current circled through the grove.

Xu Ziming's clothes snapped in the gale. He gently sheathed the "Jinghong" in his hand, his pair of exceptionally handsome eyes looking toward the sky.

He parted his lips, as if to announce to the world.

"This battle, I have won!"

A massive cheer erupted from the spectator stands. Few people had seen clearly how he did it, and only a handful of those who did realized they would not have been able to block it themselves.

"Since when did Third High School produce such a monster?"

Aside from Shen Xingyue, this thought crossed the minds of every student with Silver-tier strength.

As for Shen Xingyue, she watched Xu Ziming in the arena with great interest. "Finally, I've met someone interesting. I hope life after the class division won't be too boring."

The battle ended, and at the same time, everyone logged out of the Battle Net space and returned to the school.

Now, the way everyone looked at Xu Ziming was no longer the scrutiny from before, but rather a form of admiration.

When the gap is too wide, questioning, slander, and envy all cease to exist, leaving only blind following and admiration.

Xu Ziming had proven his strength with his sword. In fact, no one had yet forced Xu Ziming to use his full strength; at the very least, he hadn't activated his Qilin Body even once.

"I lost. Take the first-place scholarship quota." Zhao Yong's face was filled with unwillingness, but there was nothing he could do.

His homeroom teacher stood to the side, grinding his teeth. Having heard this morning that the position of homeroom teacher for his Sprint Class had been rotated to Ma Mingyu, he already felt a deep sense of distress.

He had been planning to wait until Zhao Yong defeated Xu Ziming before popping out to watch the spectacle and take the opportunity to slander Ma Mingyu.

He hadn't expected him to lose; he had been present just moments ago, and Xu Ziming's strength was already enough to defeat a martial artist who had undergone a standard First Life Transition.

This undoubtedly proved that his record of defeating a True Martial Sect disciple was not falsified.

From this point on, all his schemes had lost their utility.

No one knew his plan, at least not Ma Mingyu, who had already entered the empty classroom at this moment.

"Students of the Sprint Class, assemble! Everyone, come on in."

Ma Mingyu waved his arms and called out, prompting several students who had been hiding in the crowd to rush out, each heading toward the empty room.

Everyone cast a glance at Xu Ziming in unison.

A youth with dyed yellow hair walked up to Xu Ziming with a grin.

"Hello, I'm Tang Xing. Your swordsmanship just now was brilliant; let's get to know each other." After saying this, he ran a hand through his yellow hair as if showing off his flair.

Xu Ziming sized up the youth before him without a trace and gave a slight nod.

"Hello, my name is Xu Ziming."

"Everyone, find a seat and settle down quickly." Ma Mingyu's voice rang out immediately, causing the loose crowd to move with sudden speed.

No one wanted to leave a bad impression on their homeroom teacher.

Just as Xu Ziming found a seat by the window and prepared to sit down, Tang Xing rushed over.

"Haha, brother, I'm sitting next to you."

He hadn't even taken two steps before he felt his arm restrained by a tremendous force.

"No, I'm sitting next to him." Shen Xingyue emerged from out of nowhere, her star-like eyes flickering with an inexplicable seriousness.

Why is she looking for me? In his memories, the only time he had ever seen this Uncrowned King of Third High School was when Dai Fei had dragged him along to discuss her.

Thinking of this, Xu Ziming felt his back break out in a cold sweat.

Wait, this girl isn't looking for trouble with me, is she?!