第49章 到帐

The Huachuan High School student wiped the droplets from his face in disbelief.

"You..." His face turned red, then purple, and he looked utterly humiliated.

Although the gap in spiritual power between Qi Refinement Level Two and Level Three was not that enormous, they were all high school students. Losing to someone at Qi Refinement Level Two when he was at Level Three was truly embarrassing.

Losing so cleanly was even rarer.

At the teacher's reminder, he could only lower his head and leave the stage.

As the victor, Jiang Ran was somewhat dazed as well.

"Qi Refinement Level Three is this weak?"

He gradually came to realize that perhaps it was not that his opponent was too weak, but that he himself was too strong.

On the Qi-Absorption Path, every realm was a different heaven. The boost brought by Qi Nourishment Perfection was immense.

In the Grand Ruins Realm, Qi Nourishment was merely laying the foundation and did not count as formal cultivation. The Qi Nourishment Realm had no corresponding spells, only some "crude" martial arts.

But once one reached the Qi Refinement Path, things were different.

Even Qi Refinement Level One could cast spells.

And in Jiang Ran's hands, these beginner spells were like a little knife in a giant's hand, capable of unleashing power far beyond their rank.

"I need to hold back a little." Jiang Ran made up his mind.

Professor Cao's lecture had given him much inspiration.

Using the least spiritual power to unleash the greatest force—if he went all out with his control, Qi Refinement Level Three was absolutely not his limit.

After the first round of battles ended, fewer than two hundred students remained on the field.

The Spell Tournament's format was simple and cruel. It had been elimination from the very beginning, and everyone had only one chance.

"They both won?" Jiang Ran looked over in surprise.

Qi Ming and Zhang Jingjing were both still standing on the field.

At this stage, many schools had already been completely wiped out.

Including Jiang Ran, Pingjiang No. 1 High School actually had three people entering the next round. Such a result was exceptionally eye-catching among all the schools.

Below the stage, the students of Pingjiang No. 1 High School watched without blinking.

As the whistle sounded, the second round began.

Jiang Ran's opponent was from Lian'an No. 3 Middle School in Lian'an City, and was still at Qi Refinement Level Three.

This opponent did not underestimate Jiang Ran again. Right from the start, he cast a defensive spell, then rapidly formed hand seals and waited in stern readiness.

However, Jiang Ran had already lost interest in continuing to play around.

By now, he understood very clearly that his true combat strength had completely surpassed the early stages of Qi Refining.

Continuing to duel these high school students with spells was simply bullying them...

—Splash!

A column of water crashed into the contestant from Lian'an No. 3 Middle School, washing over his entire body in exactly the same fashion.

Jiang Ran waved his hand, signaling for him to leave.

No surprises appeared afterward.

Without exception, Jiang Ran did not need to defend. A single Torrent Technique was enough to easily crush his opponent's spell and secure victory.

Five-element restraint? Before sufficient spell power, it simply did not exist.

No matter how strong a high school student was, they were still just a high school student.

After winning several matches so cleanly and decisively, only the final twenty people remained on the field.

Unexpectedly, Qi Ming had been eliminated, while Zhang Jingjing had made it to the end.

If he kept winning... he might take the championship.

The value of a Spell Tournament championship was naturally far greater than an ordinary gold medal.

Zhang Jingjing happened to look at Jiang Ran, and her gaze became even more complicated.

Since childhood, she had displayed spell talent beyond ordinary people. Later, she had even entered No. 1 High School's spell enhancement class.

In the subject of spells alone, only Qi Ming in the entire school could occasionally compete with her.

No one had imagined that one day, the name Jiang Ran could be linked with the words "Spell Tournament champion."

Anyone with eyes could see that Jiang Ran had been winning through sheer domination.

On the reviewing stand, several figures were murmuring among themselves.

"Elder Liang, should we contact Jiang Ran's school now...?"

Director Liang Wenjun was silent for a long while before answering, "No need. Those born with powerful divine souls may not necessarily go far. He will not get past Yang Zhan today."

"Old Guo..."

Guo Renwu, the principal of Pearl Middle School beside him, hurried forward.

"Let the children of the Yushu Class participate in next year's Spell Tournament too."

"If something deserves to be fought for, then fight for it. We cannot let a competition hosted by our Pearl Middle School always make outside schools shine."

On the field, Jiang Ran stared blankly at the thick earthen wall.

His opponent was Yang Zhan, a top student from Pearl Middle School.

Qi Refinement Level Three, and at the peak of Qi Refinement Level Three at that. This was already the strongest opponent he had encountered.

"No..." Jiang Ran had a headache. "How am I supposed to fight this?"

Perhaps because his previous matches had been too dazzling, Yang Zhan went all out from the very beginning.

At the peak of Qi Refinement Level Three, fighting an ordinary Qi Refinement Level Two.

This guy had actually cast the Level Five spell, Earth Wall Technique, across ranks right away.

Thick earth surged from the ground, protecting Yang Zhan tightly within like a city wall.

"Go ahead, Student Jiang," Yang Zhan said in a deep voice, tossing out a ball of yellow spiritual light as he spoke.

—Level Four spell, Rock Technique!

Good lord, this guy was taking things far too seriously. Every move was a cross-rank spell.

Helpless, Jiang Ran cast a Wood Thorn Technique.

The wooden thorn slammed fiercely into the rock. Though it had the advantage of elemental restraint, Yang Zhan's spell level and spell power were both superior.

Amid a huge crash, the two shattered and dispersed, seemingly evenly matched.

Yang Zhan merely snorted coldly, leaped onto the earth wall, and sent another Rock Technique crashing down from above.

Jiang Ran frowned and responded with another Wood Thorn Technique.

"Should I go all out?" He hesitated inwardly.

Jiang Ran's advantage was obvious, but so was his weakness. He had only learned the basic spells in the Five Elements Spellbook and had never studied those higher-level spells beyond the curriculum.

Yang Zhan was using nothing but advanced spells, and his cultivation had already reached the limit of Qi Refinement Level Three.

No matter how one looked at it, this guy had already reached the ceiling for high school students. He was a genius fully capable of challenging the top ten prestigious schools.

Certainly, if Jiang Ran erupted with his full strength, he could bring all his power to its utmost and was absolutely confident he could defeat his opponent.

But if he really did that, it would be equivalent to completely exposing himself.

His spells and cultivation were inferior in every aspect, so how could he defeat his opponent despite such a vast gap?

Jiang Ran did not want to invite trouble for himself. He was weighing whether there was a better way.

The main point was that when Pearl Middle School had explained the rules earlier, they had mentioned the reward details. Aside from medals, winners could receive prize money, and the higher their ranking, the greater the prize.

If possible, Jiang Ran naturally wanted to follow the money...

Clusters of rocks rained down, fierce beyond compare. Any other student would probably have surrendered long ago.

Yet Jiang Ran relied on the seemingly feeble Wood Thorn Technique to withstand the falling rocks again and again.

"Jiang Ran..." Yang Zhan could not hold back any longer.

"Student Jiang, do you only know how to dodge?"

As Pearl Middle School's "Pearl Star," Yang Zhan naturally had his pride.

Seeing that Jiang Ran did not answer, he no longer wanted to drag things out.

He leaped into the air, his hands forming seals at an even faster speed as countless streams of gray-yellow earth energy gathered frantically.

Level Seven spell, Mountain-Cleaving Technique!

Yang Zhan was about to display the pride belonging to Pearl Star and utterly defeat Jiang Ran.

Meanwhile, Jiang Ran suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Ding...

His phone rang.

At first, he did not pay it any mind and was just about to cast a spell.

But notification sounds rang one after another.

Jiang Ran's heart stirred, and he secretly glanced at his phone screen.

[Pingjiang Bank card ending in 0715, 15:22 income (transfer from Ten Thousand Arts Trading Center): 31,000 yuan. Balance: 76,328 yuan...]

[Pingjiang Bank card ending in 0715, 15:22 income (transfer from Ten Thousand Arts Trading Center): 900 yuan. Balance: 77,228 yuan...]