Chen Qiong Zhi began announcing the live-combat opponents.
This time, she used AI-assisted messaging to notify everyone to head to designated locations for their matches.
The class's ninety-five students were divided into forty-eight groups. Twelve groups would fight each round, completing the matches over four rounds.
The one person left without an opponent would have to fight Chen Qiong Zhi.
Li Yi's match was in the first round. His opponent was an Evolutionist ranked forty-second, nine places above him.
Zhang Qingjian, whose mech was the D-grade Fire God Series, Flame Crow Mech.
The match would be held at Fighting Arena No. 4 in Zone 8.
Cai Xiaodong's match was also near Li Yi's, so the two naturally headed there together.
During their conversation on the way,
Cai Xiaodong learned who Li Yi's opponent was, and his expression suddenly changed.
"Yi, be careful. Zhang Qingjian entered the ship the same year I did. Back then, just like you, he swept through our top ten and took first place."
"Although his points and records were worse than yours are now, his compatibility is extremely high. His Inherited Skill has probably already started advancing into a Divinity Technique."
Li Yi nodded. "All right. I'll be careful."
"Remember, his fighting skills aren't weak either. Don't let your guard down. That guy is arrogant and vain. If you can't last two or three minutes against him, he'll probably mock you every time he sees you from now on."
Cai Xiaodong warned him carefully. Judging by his tightly furrowed brow, he had probably suffered quite a bit at Zhang Qingjian's hands.
Seeing this, Li Yi simply patted Cai Xiaodong on the shoulder and smiled.
"I also want to see what an Evolutionist is made of. Don't worry. Maybe I can even help you win back some face."
Cai Xiaodong shook his head.
"Even though you really are impressive, you're still a year behind in intensive training. Take it easy. It'd be best if you caught him off guard with your strongest fighting technique before he uses his Divinity Technique, hit him hard, then surrender. That would be the most respectable outcome."
Li Yi did not explain further.
After learning the Quake-Word Technique, his mech combat strength had actually risen by a small tier.
He might not necessarily lose to a Divine Mech piloted by an Initial Evolutionist.
Besides, the gap between Zhang Qingjian and Li Yi's rankings was not that great, which made Li Yi look forward to this live-combat training session.
Before long, the two arrived at Fighting Arena No. 4 in Zone 8.
At either end of the arena stood two enormous steel monsters roughly forty meters tall.
On the left was the Pluto Mech, clad in pure black armor, compact and powerful in build, with huge eyes like an icy prison.
On the right was the Flame Crow Mech, black with red markings, two humps protruding behind its shoulder blades, its slender body bizarrely shaped.
Although they were about the same height,
the Pluto Mech was clearly fiercer to the naked eye, while the Flame Crow Mech looked more agile.
Other fighting arenas already had other Divine Mechs standing to one side as well. Chen Qiong Zhi had apparently arranged for them to be transported over.
"Everyone who is ready may take your positions and begin."
"Remember, don't just brawl blindly. Consciously sense the divinity that exists everywhere inside your mechs, and try to awaken it!"
Chen Qiong Zhi's voice came from above.
Li Yi looked up and discovered a gigantic mech seventy or eighty meters tall. Its colors nearly blended into the cool-toned walls, and if one did not look carefully, one would not even notice the massive Divine Mech.
Damn...
This kind of giant could actually erase its presence so easily. Was that an advanced application of divinity?
Still marveling, Li Yi quickly ran toward the elevator beside the Pluto Mech.
Across from him, Zhang Qingjian seemed to have already dashed up as well, apparently preparing to activate the Flame Crow Mech.
Suddenly, Li Yi came to an abrupt halt mid-run.
Oh no!
He suddenly remembered a very embarrassing problem.
Although he had captured some new memory fragments to digest last night,
his Pluto Mech's activation speed was still rather slow.
By his estimate, it would still take more than fifty minutes to activate.
With no other choice, he opened his communicator, called Chen Qiong Zhi from the supervisor directory in his contacts, and reported quietly.
"Instructor, my Pluto Mech will probably take over fifty minutes to activate..."
"What do you mean, fifty..."
Inside the cockpit, where she had been preparing to observe everyone's battles, Chen Qiong Zhi's voice paused.
As if recalling something, she slapped her forehead, feeling a little awkward.
That was right. When manually arranging the matchups, she had only focused on whether the opponents were suitable.
She had forgotten to check their activation times.
Fortunately, she was inside the cockpit, so no one could see her expression.
Chen Qiong Zhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said calmly,
"Mm, I know. I know every one of your statistics inside and out."
"Your opponent, Zhang Qingjian, has sharp reactions and a slippery fighting style, which happens to counter your precise and fierce style. The two of you can stimulate the awakening of divinity to the greatest extent as opponents. Although he is an Evolutionist, he only evolved recently. You can fight without restraint."
Although Li Yi felt that Chen Qiong Zhi's assessment was somewhat abrupt and unrelated to his question,
he still patiently listened until she finished before asking,
"Instructor, will my slow activation time delay the matches in later rounds? Should I clear the space for the other groups to begin first? Once I'm nearly activated, could you notify Zhang Qingjian to activate?"
"No need. I have already informed Zhang Qingjian and told him to train on his own first. The other matches have their own arenas. You can focus on activating your Divine Mech."
"Understood."
After reporting, Li Yi finally put his concerns to rest.
Chen Qiong Zhi was unexpectedly easy to talk to. She was nothing like the iron-blooded strongwoman she had seemed before.
In the blink of an eye, fifty-three minutes passed.
The Divine Mechs in the other rounds had already gone through multiple live-combat matches.
Most people had long since entered an overloaded state and been forcibly ejected from their Divine Mechs.
Those who had finished their matches were watching the other mech battles from below.
There were only a handful of people left who still had the strength to maintain a fighting state.
As a result, more than seventy people from the entire Special Selection Class had gathered around Li Yi's fighting arena.
"Let's see what this year's rookie king is really made of."
"This is interesting. The instructor really has ideas, arranging a match between the rookie kings of two different classes."
"An Evolutionist against a non-Evolutionist fighting champion? Let's see whether Li Yi can create another miracle."
"An Evolutionist's reaction speed is far beyond that of a non-Evolutionist. If Li Yi can last three minutes, that would already be a top-tier performance."
"Don't forget, Li Yi isn't an ordinary non-Evolutionist. I think he has at least a thirty percent chance of winning."
"Heh. He'd be lucky to have a ten percent chance."
The person who said ten percent was Zhang Xuqiang.
He wore a cold smile, utterly certain of himself.
Amid the discussions,
BOOM!!!
A thunderous sound rang out.
The Pluto Mech's enormous eyes, as though concealing an icy hell within them, slowly opened.
The Flame Crow Mech opposite it, having received Chen Qiong Zhi's advance notice, happened to finish activating as well. Its dark red eyes opened and met the Pluto Mech's gaze.
Hot and cold air currents collided rapidly in the air, forming more than a dozen small tornadoes two or three meters wide right where they stood.
Inside the cockpit, Zhang Qingjian's lips curled into a seventy-degree smile.
"You made me wait so long. Then I'll return the favor with a grand gift first."
The next moment, the Flame Crow Mech suddenly opened its jaws. Inside its pitch-black mouth, orange flames gathered into a sphere as the temperature soared.
In an instant, everyone standing outside the protective barrier felt a prickling burn against their skin.
"Damn, he's opening with a Divinity Technique!"
"He advanced his Inherited Skill into a Divinity Technique that quickly?"
The onlookers, especially those with high rankings and deep seniority, all had their expressions change sharply.
Zhang Qingjian had been hiding his strength well.
"It's over. Divinity Techniques have a powerful armor-piercing effect. Li Yi has almost no chance of winning now."
Cai Xiaodong's face fell as well, filled with regret.
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