The moment Xu Ziming's voice rang out, the entire audience erupted.
His move was simply too cool. Paired with that handsome face, with its sharp brows and bright eyes, he had every high school girl swooning.
At the back of the crowd, Shen Xingyue couldn't help smiling when she saw Xu Ziming like that.
In the red maple grove, Zhao Yong could no longer stand his opponent's arrogance. He had practiced a family blade art since childhood.
It was called the Seven Kill Blade Technique. Every movement brimmed with murderous intent, making it terrifying in the little grove.
But Xu Ziming wasn't afraid. Before taking the stage, he had removed [Body Forging Acceleration] and equipped the [Sword Saint Body Technique] granted by Jinghong.
No matter how many techniques you have, I'll break them with a single sword.
The Seven Kill Blade Technique relied on the force and killing intent unleashed by broad, sweeping strikes. Zhao Yong raised his blade and charged without hesitation.
Clang! Clang! The clash of metal rang out again and again.
Xu Ziming steadily parried Zhao Yong's wide, powerful strikes, but strength contests weren't his forte.
In other words, Zhao Yong couldn't gain any advantage even in the area where he excelled.
Sword Qi crisscrossed the grove, sweeping through the maple leaves with a rustling sound. Again and again, Xu Ziming passively accepted Zhao Yong's attacks.
Yet he never launched a counterattack.
"Why does it feel like Xu Ziming isn't as strong as the rumors say? He's been getting pushed around the whole time."
"Zhao Yong's always been in the top ten of the grade. I guess even Xu Ziming can't beat him."
"I think he was just bragging all along. He's not actually that strong."
All kinds of voices rose from the arena. In the maple grove, the two fighters' battle continued just as before, without the slightest change.
Zhao Yong felt that although he seemed to have the upper hand, and was only a hair's breadth from defeating Xu Ziming, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't close that tiny gap.
Every time he put in more strength, his opponent grew stronger by just as much.
As if... he was deliberately holding back for him.
"How is that possible?" He tightened his grip on his blade and steeled himself.
All the strength in his body burst forth without restraint, and his Life Energy Level clearly reached 4.0.
As expected, the others are getting stronger too. I can't underestimate anyone.
On the other side, the killing intent forged from Zhao Yong's blood and energy seemed to solidify around his blade. Every strike looked ready to take Xu Ziming's life.
But anyone with enough strength could see that Zhao Yong was holding nothing back. He had unleashed his full power, all to win this match.
"Have you given it everything?"
Xu Ziming murmured, then vanished from everyone's sight.
The maple grove, the little bridge, the stream, the wooden cottage...
He was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is he?" Zhao Yong panted, looking around in terror.
Even after several full-force clashes, he hadn't gained any advantage. His confidence was starting to crumble.
"Right here." Xu Ziming's voice sounded behind him.
The next instant, a towering beam of sword light surged into the sky, cleaving through the maple grove, slicing apart the little bridge, destroying the wooden cottage, and shooting straight into the clouds!
Zhao Yong had no time to react. The sword light swallowed him whole, and he vanished from sight.
The maple grove shook. Fallen leaves whirled through the sky as a massive current of air swept through the woods.
Xu Ziming's clothes snapped in the gale. He gently sheathed Jinghong, then raised his exceptionally handsome eyes to the sky.
His lips parted, as if he were about to announce it to the world.
"I won this fight!"
A tremendous cheer erupted from the audience. Few had seen how he did it, and among those who had, only a handful knew they couldn't withstand it.
"When did Third High School produce a monster like this?"
Every Silver-ranked student except Shen Xingyue had the same thought.
As for Shen Xingyue, she watched Xu Ziming on the field with interest. "I've finally met someone interesting. I hope things won't be too boring after we get sorted into classes."
The battle ended, and at the same time, everyone left the Battle Net space and returned to the school.
Now, when the others looked at Xu Ziming, their gazes were no longer scrutinizing. They were filled with admiration.
When the gap was too vast, doubt, slander, and envy all vanished, leaving only blind devotion and admiration.
Xu Ziming had proved his strength with his sword. In truth, no one had yet made him use his full power. He hadn't even activated his Qilin Body once.
"I lost. You can have the first-place scholarship." Zhao Yong's face was full of unwillingness, but there was nothing he could do.
His homeroom teacher was standing nearby, grinding his teeth in frustration. That morning, he had suddenly learned that Ma Mingyu had become the homeroom teacher of the very Sprint Class he had hoped to lead, and it had left a bitter taste in his mouth.
He had even planned to wait for Zhao Yong to crush Xu Ziming, then come out and enjoy the show while taking the chance to disparage Ma Mingyu.
He hadn't expected Zhao Yong to lose. He had been there just now, too. Xu Ziming was already strong enough to defeat an ordinary Martial Artist who had undergone one Life Evolution.
That also proved beyond doubt that his record of defeating a True Martial Sect Disciple hadn't been faked.
From then on, all his schemes were useless.
No one knew about his plans. Ma Mingyu certainly didn't. At that moment, he had already entered an empty classroom.
"Students in the Sprint Class, gather up. Come on in, everyone."
Ma Mingyu raised his arm and called out. Several students who had been hiding in the crowd hurried over and headed into the empty classroom one after another.
Everyone couldn't help glancing at Xu Ziming as they passed.
A young man with dyed blond hair walked up to Xu Ziming with a grin.
"Hey, I'm Tang Xing. Your swordsmanship was amazing just now. Let's get to know each other." After speaking, he ran a hand through his blond hair, as if showing off his flair.
Xu Ziming unobtrusively sized up the young man in front of him, then gave a slight nod.
"Hi, I'm Xu Ziming."
"Find yourselves a seat and settle down quickly." Ma Mingyu's voice rang out at once, and the scattered crowd swiftly got moving.
No one wanted to make a bad impression on their homeroom teacher.
Xu Ziming found a seat by the window and was just about to sit down when Tang Xing rushed over.
"Haha, buddy, I'm sitting next to you."
He hadn't taken two steps before he felt as if some enormous force had locked his arm in place.
"No. I'm sitting next to him." Shen Xingyue had appeared from who knew where. Her star-bright eyes gleamed with an inexplicable seriousness.
Why is she looking for me? In his memories, the only time he'd ever seen Third High School's uncrowned king had been when Dai Fei dragged him into a discussion about her.
At the thought, Xu Ziming felt his back grow damp.
Wait, is this girl here to cause trouble for me?!