Contest for the Spots

A familiar sweet fragrance drifted into his nose, and Chu Ge blearily opened his eyes.

A pair of ridiculously bright eyes met his gaze.

"How did you get into my room?" Chu Ge looked at Xiao Yan, his tone flat.

"To tell you to go to school, of course." Xiao Yan planted her hands on her hips and said irritably, "Do you know what time it is? If you don't leave now, you'll be late."

"I'm not going." Chu Ge rolled over and sat up. "I asked Old Wu for leave. Go on your own."

With that, he went straight to the bathroom, squeezed out some toothpaste, and started washing up.

Xiao Yan followed him, leaned against the bathroom doorway, and pressed him while staring at his back:

"Little bro, what did you do last night? How are you this tired? You didn't even take off your tracksuit before going to sleep."

"None of your business."

"You're definitely hiding something from me!"

Xiao Yan spoke with absolute certainty. "Your dark circles are as bad as a panda's. One look and I can tell you stayed up all night and sneaked out to stir up trouble. Otherwise, how could you have failed to get up today?"

As she spoke, she even looked a little indignant:

"Damn it, you did something that exciting without taking me? Do you even remember I'm your older cousin?"

"I took off behind your back last night, all right? No need to make such a fuss."

Chu Ge glanced back at her, toothpaste foam still clinging to the corner of his mouth. "If you don't leave for school now, you really will be late."

Xiao Yan had wanted to argue some more, but his words immediately brought her to her senses.

"Oh, right, I still have school!"

Without another word, she turned and rushed out, her footsteps clattering into the distance.

Chu Ge had asked for leave, but she hadn't.

If she was late, the teacher would definitely tell her dad. At best, she'd get a scolding; at worst, her allowance would be cut in half.

The four great families had always been strict, especially with their direct descendants. Someone who couldn't even get to school on time couldn't be counted on to accomplish great things in the future.

Facing the mirror, Chu Ge shook his head.

Just as Xiao Yan had said, his dark circles were pronounced, and his face was pale. He looked no different from someone suffering from kidney deficiency.

Anyone who didn't know better might wonder what he'd been up to last night.

Of course, it was his Primordial Force that had been drained. Don't get the wrong idea.

After breakfast, Chu Ge's energy and spirits had mostly returned, and color had come back to his face.

After a night's rest, his Primordial Force was fully restored.

When he went out, he first made a detour to Lakeside Park to discuss compensation for the tree with the management.

He arrived so early that the staff hadn't yet discovered the camphor tree had fallen. After Chu Ge explained what had happened from beginning to end, the corners of the staff member's mouth twitched.

In the end, they worked out the costs. The tree itself wasn't expensive, and with replanting and labor, the total came to five thousand yuan.

Chu Ge transferred the money on the spot, settling the matter.

After paying for the tree, he went straight to the Chu Martial Arts School.

The school's two spots in the East Sea Martial Arts School Competition would be decided through sparring today.

That was also why he had taken leave from school.

As soon as he entered the martial arts school, he came face-to-face with a square-faced middle-aged man.

"Morning, Uncle Wang."

"Little Chu." Wang Jianguo nodded at him with an honest smile. "Have you had breakfast?"

"I have." Chu Ge looked at him. "What's the arrangement today?"

"Everything's ready." Wang Jianguo clasped his hands behind his back. "It'll be one-on-one sparring in a knockout tournament all the way through. The last two standing will represent the Chu Martial Arts School in the East Sea Martial Arts School Competition."

"There are a lot of students here, but most know their own limits. Those who dare compete for a spot have at least ninety layers of qi and blood, and every one of them is skilled among those in the same realm."

"Got it." Chu Ge nodded.

The competition at the martial arts school would certainly be fiercer than the school's class placement exam, but that was exactly the kind of tempering he wanted.

Seeing how calm he looked, Wang Jianguo patted him lightly on the shoulder:

"Do your best."

Wang Jianguo had been working at the Chu Family Martial Arts School since Chu Ge was still wearing split-crotch pants.

He knew better than anyone just how strong Chu Ge was.

He had also heard about the class placement exam. Taking first place with a hundred layers of qi and blood was the real deal.

As he saw it, even if Chu Ge hadn't awakened a trait, he should have no trouble securing a spot as long as he fought steadily.

The sparring soon began.

Unlike the school's class placement exam, the martial arts school's contest allowed weapons.

Of course, only Qi and Blood Realm weapons supplied uniformly by the organizers were permitted, and they were all low-grade.

If someone was confident enough, they could also fight barehanded.

A total of thirty-two people were competing for the spots, and they drew lots for their matchups.

Chu Ge was the first to step onto the stage. His opponent was a tall, thin young man two years older than him.

Chu Ge had seen him a few times on previous visits to the martial arts school.

According to Wang Jianguo, the young man's family was poor and couldn't afford to send him to a martial arts high school, so he could only train at the martial arts school.

That wasn't to say martial arts schools were inferior to schools.

In fact, under the Martial Arts Association's classifications, schools and martial arts schools were on the same level.

It was just that one accepted only young people, charged high tuition, and required an entrance exam;

The other was open to everyone, regardless of age or aptitude, charged low fees, and admitted anyone who could pay.

The Chu Martial Arts School was a case in point. Most of its students were around thirty, and quite a few had reached the threshold of the Bronze Realm.

By contrast, the oldest third-year students at Donghai Martial Arts No. 1 High School were only twenty-two. Their average age was considerably lower than the martial arts school's, yet their realms weren't that far behind.

That was the difference in talent.

On the arena stage, the two stood facing each other.

"Please enlighten me."

The tall, thin young man cupped his fists. The next second, his qi and blood erupted with a roar.

Ninety-nine layers.

Quite a few of the students watching around them let out quiet cries of surprise.

That level of strength already put him in the first tier of the Qi and Blood Realm.

Chu Ge didn't waste words either. His own qi and blood spread out around him.

With a boom, the pressure of a hundred layers of qi and blood swept outward. The students nearby in the front row couldn't help catching their breath.

The difference was only one layer, but anyone with a discerning eye could see the gap in their auras.

"Young Master, do your best!" Xiao Lan, dressed in a white skirt, called out at the top of her voice from the stands.

It was her scheduled day off, and she had come especially to cheer Chu Ge on.

Quite a few people around her also knew Chu Ge. After all, he was the young heir to the Chu Martial Arts School.

Perhaps because they tended to be older, most were composed and didn't shout loudly enough to shake the heavens as the students at school had.

After they saluted each other, the match officially began.

An inch of extra length was an inch of extra advantage, and that saying held especially true at lower realms.

Chu Ge and the tall, thin young man had both chosen spears as their weapons.

The tall, thin young man struck first. Pushing off with his foot, he aimed his spear straight at Chu Ge's shoulder, its tip whistling through the air as it thrust toward him.

Chu Ge's gaze sharpened.

He didn't know much about the young man, nor did he know whether his opponent had awakened a trait.

To keep delay from breeding complications, he had no intention of dragging things out. With a thought, he activated [Instant].

With his speed doubled, he flicked his wrist and swept his spear diagonally upward, knocking the other spear tip aside at just the right moment.

With a clang, the clash of metal rang out piercingly.

The tall, thin young man felt the web between his thumb and forefinger go numb, and his spear nearly flew from his grip.

His heart jolted.

Something's wrong.

How could he be so fast?

There was only one layer of qi and blood between them. By rights, their speed and strength shouldn't have differed by much, but Chu Ge's move just now had been at least twice as fast as his own.

He couldn't make sense of it.

The spectators below the stage also looked puzzled.

It's only one layer of qi and blood. How can there be such a huge difference in speed?

Are Chu Ge's hands naturally fast, or has he awakened a speed-type trait?

No one knew the answer.

The tall, thin young man gritted his teeth and turned his wrist, making his spear tip trace several blossoms as he thrust at Chu Ge's kidneys.

He refused to believe it. He had trained at the martial arts school for so many years; surely he couldn't be worse than a high school student.

Chu Ge stood his ground without moving his feet, relying solely on the motions of his wrist to whirl his spear into an impenetrable wall.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Three sharp rings sounded in succession, and all three of the tall, thin young man's attacks were blocked.

With each block, he retreated half a step, the vibrations through the web between his thumb and forefinger growing stronger each time.

No, it's not just his speed. He's much stronger than me, too.

The tall, thin young man's heart grew heavier and heavier.

How could a single layer of qi and blood give him such a huge advantage?

Little did he know that Chu Ge had only activated double speed and hadn't even gone all out.

Whenever [Instant] was about to enter its second stage at four times speed, he would immediately turn it off and then activate it again.

To Chu Ge, an opponent of this caliber wasn't worth stacking more speed for.

Even four times speed felt like bullying.

He had probed enough to be reasonably sure the tall, thin young man had no trait and couldn't catch him with a trick, so he had no intention of dragging the fight out any longer.

Chu Ge stepped forward and turned his wrist, shifting his spear from defense to a thrust aimed straight at his opponent's wrist.

The thrust was fast and accurate, coming from a tricky angle.

The tall, thin young man's expression changed, and he hurriedly pulled his spear back to defend.

But he was still half a beat too slow.

With a soft pfft, the spear tip grazed his wrist, leaving a streak of blood.

A burning pain shot through him, and he nearly lost his grip on his spear.

"I've lost."

The tall, thin young man stared at the wound on his wrist for two silent seconds, then admitted defeat without hesitation.

He knew his opponent had clearly held back just now. Otherwise, that thrust would have struck his throat, not his wrist.

The difference between them was far more than a single layer of qi and blood.

Chu Ge withdrew his spear and gave a slight nod.

A round of applause rose from below the stage.

"Young Master is so cool!"

"A hundred layers of qi and blood, and that speed is just ridiculous."

"If you ask me, he's definitely getting one of the spots this time."

Wang Jianguo stood beside the stage, smiling and nodding.

He knew it. That boy Chu Ge never disappointed.

Chu Ge walked down from the stage, deactivated [Instant], and went to rest at the side.

For him, that match had been a warm-up at most.

The real hard battles were still ahead.

Hidden dragons and crouching tigers filled the martial arts school; there might even be skilled fighters who had awakened traits.

He needed to conserve his strength and save the higher speed multipliers for the crucial matches.

Chu Ge wiped down the shaft of his spear, his gaze sweeping over the contestants around him.

He was determined to claim one of the martial arts school competition spots.

Even Jesus couldn't stop him.