Chapter 10: Selection Battle
Chapter 10: Selection Battle
(This chapter is free)
Zi Xue looked at me affectionately and said, “Of course I’m willing. But Father only has my sister and me as his daughters. Unless there is no other choice, let’s not take that step, alright? Just endure him a little more—for my sake.”
I sighed helplessly and said, “Improving my strength is inevitable for me, but entering the court as an official is something I’m unwilling to do. I have many difficulties.”
Zi Xue said gently, “Do what you want to do. I won’t force you. Didn’t you say that if it really doesn’t work out, we can still…”
I took Zi Xue’s small hand and said, “Thank you, Zi Xue. With your words, I feel at ease.”
It was impossible for me to serve as an official in the Dragon God Empire. After all, I still carried the blood of the Beastmen. Besides, I was also a spy.
During the following month, in order to truly compete with Li Wa, I reduced the time I spent meeting Zi Xue and devoted myself entirely to training. Zi Xue was very understanding about this. In the current society, there was no woman who didn’t hope her lover would be the strongest.
Finally, on the eve of the competition, I successfully broke through the second layer of the Mad God Art and also learned the second move of the Mad God Fist—Mad Battle Under Heaven.
The improvement speed of the Heavenly Demon Art was astonishing. I was already close to completing the third layer. However, at this stage I encountered an obstacle. No matter how hard I tried, I could not break through. The difficulty was even greater than when I first cultivated the first layer of the Mad God Art.
This should be a bottleneck.
There was no longer enough time for another breakthrough. The competition was about to begin.
Teacher Zhuang stood on the podium and said to the class, “The academy martial competition will begin the day after tomorrow. Now I need to determine the participants from our class. Those who are willing to participate, please raise your hands.”
Perhaps because everyone knew their own strength, only five people raised their hands.
Those five were: myself, Feng Wen, Feng Juan, Huo Xing, and Luo Lei.
The one who surprised me the most was Huo Xing. With his strength, he couldn’t possibly surpass Feng Wen and Feng Juan unless he teamed up with his brother. Yet he still wanted to participate.
As for Luo Lei, he hadn’t been idle this semester. After losing to me during the contest for the top seat, I heard from Feng Wen and the others that he had been training desperately. His strength had increased very quickly.
Teacher Zhuang smiled slightly and said, “Since five students are willing to participate, we will first hold an internal selection. The judges will be all of you.”
Feng Juan stood up and said, “Teacher, I’m the top student in our class. Do I still need to participate? After all, I’m already the strongest in the class. Let the four of them compete, and the winner can join me in representing the class.”
Seriously? Wasn’t her skin a little too thick?
Teacher Zhuang said, “I’m afraid that won’t work. After a semester of effort, everyone has improved to different degrees. I hope the five of you can compete fairly.”
Feng Juan said unhappily, “Then tell us how we’re supposed to compete.”
Teacher Zhuang said, “I’ve already planned the competition events. They will be: strength, speed, and endurance. The students will score you. Each category has a maximum of 100 points. First place receives 100 points, and the rest will be scored according to the gap between them and first place. The two people with the highest total scores will represent our class in the competition. Does anyone have any objections?”
As soon as Feng Juan heard this, she immediately smiled and repeatedly said she had no objections. She was very confident in her strength and speed. Although she was fat, we had all seen Feng Juan’s terrifying speed.
The rest of us naturally had no objections either.
Teacher Zhuang said, “Since everyone agrees, then we will gather at Training Field No. 4 this afternoon to begin the competition.”
Training Field No. 4 again—the place that had sent me to the infirmary the first time.
Just after the lunch break, all the students of Magic Warrior Class Four gathered. Teacher Zhuang announced, “The competition will begin immediately. Participants, step forward. The first event—strength.”
Feng Juan stood at the front with great confidence, clearly determined to win this round.
She said to Teacher Zhuang, “Teacher, tell us how we’re going to compete.”
Teacher Zhuang said, “I’ve already prepared it. God of Space, I request you to teleport the items of the magic formation.”
She waved both hands and drew a golden six-pointed star in the air. The six-pointed star followed her gestures and drifted to the ground. With a flash of light, five enormous iron spheres appeared in the field, each with a diameter of more than two meters.
Teacher Zhuang said, “The strength competition mainly tests how much power you can release in an instant. The requirement is to damage your iron sphere as much as possible using only a single strike. The spheres are reinforced with magical barriers. Remember, if you knock the sphere into the ground, it will not count. The sphere itself must be damaged. I will calculate the damage rate for you. Whoever causes the greatest damage wins this round. Do you understand?”
The five of us answered together, “Understood.”
Feng Juan said, “Teacher, let me go first.”
Teacher Zhuang smiled and nodded. “Alright. You may begin.”
Feng Juan tightened her grip on the huge iron hammer in her hands and walked toward the iron sphere. After stretching her body, she gripped the hammer with both hands and began swinging it.
The enormous hammer seemed weightless in her hands. In a short time, Feng Juan’s speed reached its limit, and her figure gradually became impossible to see clearly. The circular blur she created suddenly rose from the ground.
Feng Juan shouted, “Giant Hammer Whirlwind Break!”
The spinning hammer shadow shot toward the iron sphere like lightning.
Boom!
The thunderous crash temporarily deafened everyone. Although the protective barrier was not completely shattered, the huge iron sphere had turned into a hemisphere.
What was strange was that despite such enormous force, the sphere had not been driven into the ground. Truly impressive.
Only I saw clearly what happened.
Just as Feng Juan lifted her body upward, she released a strand of battle energy beneath the sphere, supporting it from below. In other words, she lifted the sphere slightly off the ground. That was why the result looked so impressive.
However, because her strength was dispersed in that process, the sphere did not suffer even greater damage.
Teacher Zhuang said in surprise, “Damage level: 50%. Feng Juan, very well done.”
Sweat appeared faintly at Feng Juan’s temples. Clearly that strike had consumed a lot of her strength.
Hearing Teacher Zhuang’s words, she proudly said, “Of course. Teacher, I earned my position as class leader through real strength.”
She was already acting smug after a little praise.
Teacher Zhuang said, “Who’s next?”
Huo Xing said, “Teacher, I’ll go.”
After speaking, he drew his longsword and walked forward.
I asked Huo Xing’s brother beside me, “What’s wrong with your brother? Doesn’t he know his own strength?”
Huo Xing’s brother watched him walk forward and replied, “My brother has suffered quite a bit recently. He trained a special move. Even if he can’t make it through the selection, he’ll definitely surprise you. Just watch.”
Huo Xing walked toward another iron test sphere, his expression completely different from usual—calm and focused.
He narrowed his eyes, held the sword with both hands, and chanted, “Great God of Fire, please ignite the fire elements around me. Let endless flames become my ultimate armor.”
Red flames began to burn around Huo Xing as he chanted, growing stronger and stronger.
Standing in the center, Huo Xing looked like a god of flames quietly standing there.
Suddenly he shouted, “Break the shackles—Radiant Flame!”
The red flames gradually turned white, radiating intense brightness, almost like light-element magic.
Huo Xing suddenly opened his eyes, which shone with a piercing brilliance.
Slowly, he raised the tip of his sword from below upward. The sword itself was very light, yet in his hands it seemed as if he were lifting something weighing ten thousand jin.
It looked extremely difficult.
I could clearly see his sweat turning into wisps of steam within the white flames.
I said in confusion, “With Huo Xing’s strength, he shouldn’t be able to control such powerful flames.”
His brother leaned close to my ear and whispered, “My brother carries our family’s heirloom—a protective charm called the Fire-Avoiding Spirit Talisman. With it protecting him, he doesn’t have to worry about the flames’ backlash. That’s how he can use magic techniques beyond his normal level. It’s difficult, but still possible. Keep this a secret for him.”
I said, “Why are you telling me? I’m his opponent.”
His brother smiled slightly. “We’re all brothers. Why hide anything? My brother just came to show what he can do. After he uses this move, he won’t have the strength to continue the rest of the competition. He just wants to prove himself. That kid is very competitive.”
At that moment, Huo Xing finally raised his sword above his head. He kicked off the ground and leapt high into the air, shouting, “Radiant Flame Slash!”
A white streak of light shot out along his sword like a chain of lightning.
Under the force of his powerful attack, the iron sphere in front of him instantly split into two.
I said to his brother, “That move is really good. The attack power is extremely strong. Unfortunately, it takes too long to gather the energy. If I were fighting him, I would never give him the chance to use it.”
Huo Xing supported himself with his sword, breathing heavily as he asked, “Teacher… what percentage does that count as?”
Teacher Zhuang stared in astonishment.
“Huo Xing, so you can actually use such a powerful magic technique. You broke the barrier and split the iron sphere in two. That counts as 100%.”
Huo Xing revealed a proud expression after hearing her words. Then his body tilted, and he collapsed to the ground unconscious.
His brother quickly ran over and supported him.
Feng Juan curled her lips and said, “Overestimating himself. He didn’t even leave some strength for later. If I had used my full power just now, I could definitely have reached 100% too.”
Feng Wen was the third to go.
His method was simple. He used the spiral sword technique he had once used against me and successfully pierced the iron sphere’s defensive barrier. However, the remaining force was insufficient to damage the sphere itself. Still, because the barrier had been broken, Teacher Zhuang gave him a score of 80%.
Luo Lei went fourth.
He had somehow found another spear. Judging from its appearance, the quality seemed even better than the one he had used before.
His method was similar to Feng Wen’s, focusing on a single piercing point. However, his power was not as refined as Feng Wen’s, and lightning-element magic did not show much strength in this type of test—at least not at his current level.
In the end, he failed to break the barrier and only left a hole in the iron sphere.
Teacher Zhuang judged it as 30% damage.
Finally it was my turn. I walked naturally toward the last iron sphere.
Standing in front of it, I activated the battle energy of the Mad God Art, which had already reached the second layer. My body leapt lightly upward, arriving directly above the iron sphere. I gently struck the sphere with a seemingly soft palm.
(This move was something I learned from my future father-in-law. In the past, whenever I fought, I always created earth-shaking destruction. It felt great, but it never looked as elegant as the way my future father-in-law fought, so today I changed my style.)
The iron sphere was easily pressed into the ground by my seemingly light palm.
Seeing this, Feng Juan burst out laughing and shouted, “Handsome boy, brute force won’t work. That’s useless. You probably didn’t even reach one percent.”
Just looking at her annoyed me. I glared at her and said coldly, “Shut that filthy mouth of yours and watch.”
Feng Juan was about to explode when she heard me insult her, but the scene in front of her instantly stunned her into silence.
The iron sphere that had been driven underground suddenly exploded.
Boom!
A loud explosion blasted a huge crater in the training field. The iron sphere had completely disappeared, leaving only scattered iron fragments on the ground.
What I had used just now was Storm of Fury. I simply condensed the battle energy into a single stream. Wherever it struck down, the power erupted back out from that same point. Under the pressure of the opposing forces of my battle energy, the iron sphere would have been strange if it hadn’t shattered into fragments.
I glared viciously at Feng Juan and said, “Which is harder—you, meatball, or the iron sphere?”
Feng Juan was frightened by my overwhelming aura and quickly stammered, “The iron sphere is harder, the iron sphere is harder.”
I snorted in satisfaction and returned to stand with the others.
Teacher Zhuang looked at me as if she were staring at a monster while announcing, “Lei Xiang—100% destruction.”
While taking care of his unconscious younger brother, Huo Xing’s brother said to me, “Lei, you’re really amazing. Your strength has improved so much.”
I said calmly, “Strength has always been my strong point. What’s surprising about that?”
Teacher Zhuang announced, “The first round of testing is finished. Huo Xing and Lei Xiang are tied for first place with 100% destruction. Feng Wen is third with 80%. Feng Juan is fourth with 50%. Luo Lei is fifth with 30%. If there are no objections, the scores for the first round will be calculated according to the destruction percentages.”
Feng Juan was extremely dissatisfied that she had not achieved a high score in her strongest area. However, with me standing there, she did not dare say anything. She knew I would certainly advance, so she could only fight for the remaining spot.
Although Huo Xing had also scored full marks in the first round, his body was already unable to continue the later rounds, so he could temporarily be excluded from the calculation. Feng Wen had scored 80 points in the first round, which was 30 points higher than her. She could only focus on catching up to him. Feng Juan silently clenched her determination.
Teacher Zhuang said, “Alright, the second round will begin now—the speed competition. From here to the academy gate is just under 1,000 meters. Whoever completes three round trips in the shortest time will win first place. Which student is willing to supervise the far end at the academy gate?”
Luo Lei suddenly spoke. “Teacher, I withdraw from this competition. I’ll go supervise over there.”
After seeing the overwhelming strength I displayed earlier, Luo Lei had completely lost the will to compete with me. He had ranked last in the strength competition, and his chances of advancing were already extremely slim. It was better to withdraw gracefully.
Teacher Zhuang said, “Since you are willing to withdraw, then go supervise at the academy gate.”
The three of us who remained stood at the starting line. With a single command from Teacher Zhuang, three figures shot forward like arrows.
Feng Wen immediately took the lead, with Feng Juan close behind him. I was in last place.
I activated the Flight Technique to reduce my body’s weight as much as possible. Even so, I still could not match Feng Wen, who had practiced wind magic since childhood.
As for Feng Juan, I had no idea how she trained. Her height only reached my waist, yet she weighed even more than I did. Despite that, she moved incredibly fast—like a bouncing meatball.
The three round trips ended quickly.
Feng Wen naturally took first place with 100 points. Feng Juan received 80 points, while I could only manage a pitiful 50 points.
After two rounds, Feng Wen ranked first with 180 points. I had 150 points, and Feng Juan had 130.
The third and final event was endurance.
Teacher Zhuang said, “For the final test, to ensure fairness, I have invited members of the third-year Magic Warrior class to test you.”
She raised her hand and drew a small six-pointed star in the air, which seemed to be a simple spatial magic used for short-distance communication.
Third-year students? How were they supposed to test us?
Soon, nine people walked in from outside. Judging from their appearance, all of them seemed quite skilled.
Teacher Zhuang said, “These are your senior classmates from the third year. They will conduct the final test. They will attack each of you in groups of three. These nine students were carefully selected by both myself and the instructor of the third-year Magic Warrior class. Their abilities are very balanced, ensuring complete fairness.”
Feng Wen asked, “Teacher, how exactly will they test us?”
Teacher Zhuang smiled slightly. “It’s very simple. Each of you will endure attacks from three seniors. Whoever lasts the longest will be the final winner.”
I nearly fainted.
Three against one—and they were all seniors. Only Teacher Zhuang could come up with something like this.
Teacher Zhuang said, “Alright, let’s begin. To ensure fairness, all three groups will start simultaneously.”
Feng Juan gripped her huge iron hammer and charged forward with a loud shout. Her unstoppable momentum actually startled the three seniors assigned to fight her.
Feng Wen was much more polite. After saying, “Please guide me, seniors,” he quickly moved forward.
As for me, I walked forward step by step with solid footing, my entire body emitting a powerful aura.
Two of the three seniors facing me were magic swordsmen. The third used a strange weapon—two large claw-shaped blades attached to his hands.
Seeing me approach, the senior with the steel claws attacked first. With a sharp cry, he soared into the air, spreading his arms like a divine eagle in flight.
The other two seniors swung their magic swords and rushed toward me.
As expected of third-year seniors—their skills were far stronger than those of the students in my class. If it were one-on-one, I was confident of victory. But one against three was another matter.
With a wave of my hand, I launched several ice spikes toward the senior above me, then quickly stepped forward and threw a punch.
The steel claws of the senior above suddenly released two bolts of lightning, instantly shattering my ice spikes. His attack continued unchanged toward me.
Because I stepped forward, however, his attack shifted to my back.
His speed not slowing down surprised me.
Although my punch forced back the senior on the left who wielded a fire magic sword, I was now caught in a pincer attack from both front and back.
Gritting my teeth, I shouted, “Storm of Fury!”
My heavy punch slammed into the ground.
My target was the senior in front of me.
Just as my Mad God Art battle energy was about to erupt beneath his feet, he seemed to sense the fluctuation of energy and quickly leapt upward to avoid the attack.
The force of my Storm of Fury scattered forward. Although he dodged the main strike, he could not avoid the aftershock.
The ground exploded violently, and the surging energy mixed with debris rushed forward, engulfing both the senior I had forced back earlier and the one who had leapt into the air.
Both of them desperately swung their magic swords to block the incoming force and debris.
Although this Storm of Fury achieved good results, I was struck by the senior behind me.
The moment his steel claws hit me, I twisted my body to disperse most of the force while activating the Heavenly Thunder Armor Technique outward through my Mad God Art battle energy.
Sharp energy sent a stabbing pain through my back, followed by numbness.
Ah—his attack carried lightning attributes.
I groaned and turned around, grabbing toward his steel claws. The senior was extremely agile. Though surprised by my defense, he reacted instantly. After landing his strike, he immediately leapt back into the air, perfectly avoiding my counterattack.
I snorted angrily and cast Flight Technique on myself. My body suddenly became much lighter.
With a tap of my toes against the ground, I rushed forward toward the two seniors who were still struggling against the aftermath of my Storm of Fury.
Although the two magic swordsmen were not weak, they still could not completely withstand my previous attack. Both of them had suffered minor injuries.
My greatest advantage was my powerful battle energy. I had to defeat two of them before they could surround me completely.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go according to my plan.
The senior flying in the air rubbed his claws together and sent a bolt of lightning crashing down.
By the time I noticed it, it was already too late.
The lightning struck my body precisely, and the intense numbness caused me to lose consciousness for a moment.
At that critical moment, the Heavenly Demon Art within my body displayed its power. A cool sensation quickly spread throughout my body, allowing me to recover in a very short time.
At this point, I looked extremely miserable.
The clothes on my back had been torn by the steel claws earlier. After being struck by lightning, most of my clothing had turned black and scorched, and my hair stood upright.
The two magic swordsmen stepped forward.
One of them said, “Junior brother, surrender. Although you’re strong, you have no chance against the three of us working together.”
I glanced sideways at Feng Wen and Feng Juan.
Both of them were still fighting.
Feng Wen was extremely cunning. Taking advantage of his wind magic, he refused to clash head-on. Instead, he relied entirely on his agile movement to play a game of chase with his opponents.
Feng Juan’s side was far more terrifying. She swung her giant hammer like a mad tiger—no, a tigress—creating a powerful whirlwind. The seniors facing her could not deal with her easily.
If I surrendered now, I might be eliminated.
That was impossible.
I still had to challenge Li Wa. How could I surrender so easily?
I snorted coldly.
“Come on. I will never surrender. Storm of Fury!”
Another heavy punch struck the ground.
The two seniors in front immediately retreated rapidly, trying to avoid my monstrous attack.
But they had guessed wrong.
This attack was not meant for them.
It was meant for the senior behind me—the Thunder Eagle, as I had secretly nicknamed him.
After electrocuting me earlier, he probably thought I would surrender. He hadn’t expected me to remain so stubborn.
Just as he prepared to attack again, the ground beneath him split apart and a surge of battle energy rushed toward him.
At the same time, I spun around and charged toward him along with the advancing energy.
At the critical moment, the Thunder Eagle senior displayed impressive skill. Retreating backward while flying, he chanted:
“Summon the divine thunder of the heavens, draw upon the urgency of the earth—appear, Wall of Azure Thunder!”
A wall of lightning instantly formed in front of him. The crackling thunder barrier not only neutralized my battle energy but also prevented every fragment of debris from passing beyond it.
While he was blocking Storm of Fury, I had already arrived. I threw a heavy punch straight at him. Because my fist was wrapped in the battle energy of the Mad God Art, and because his Azure Thunder Wall had already exhausted itself while resisting my previous attack, it was easily pierced by my strike.
The senior crossed his claws in front of his chest, trying to block my punch. I snorted coldly as my battle energy burst out instantly. With a miserable scream, the senior was blasted away by my punch. He probably wouldn’t be able to fight again for several days. I had already held back—otherwise, even if he survived, both of his arms would certainly have been crippled.
You struck me with lightning, so this is repayment in kind.
All of this happened in the span of a lightning flash. By the time the two seniors using magic swords realized what had happened, the Thunder Eagle senior had already slammed heavily into the barrier-covered wall of the training field.
Once he was dealt with, things became much easier.
Just as I was about to continue fighting the other two seniors, Teacher Zhuang’s voice rang out.
“Lei Xiang, stop. You’ve already won.”
I froze for a moment and turned to look.
Feng Juan’s giant hammer had already been knocked away, and she was sitting on the ground recovering her breath. Feng Wen was not much better off. His clothes were just as scorched black as mine, and he had lost quite a bit of hair as well—though he wasn’t struck by lightning, but burned by fire.
It turned out that while Feng Wen had been dodging, he had been thinking that he was already guaranteed first place. No one could hit him. As long as he lasted until Lei Xiang and Feng Juan were defeated, he would succeed.
But his evasive fighting style angered his opponents. They left two people to keep him occupied while the third senior—who specialized in fire magic—used a magic staff to amplify a high-level wide-area fire spell. Feng Wen was immediately taken down.
The moment he was defeated happened to coincide with the moment I blasted the Thunder Eagle senior away. Seeing that I had already secured victory and fearing that I might get injured, Teacher Zhuang immediately stopped the test.
The one who suffered the worst injury was the unlucky Thunder Eagle. After announcing that Feng Wen and I would represent the class in the grade competition, Teacher Zhuang immediately used water magic to treat him.
The two seniors who had fought me walked over. The one who used the fire magic sword said, “Junior brother, your skills are really impressive. Even the three of us working together ended up in such a miserable state against you. It seems the champion of your grade will definitely be you.”
Their formidable strength had earned my respect. I replied politely, “That’s only because the seniors went easy on me. As for the Thunder Eagle senior, I’ll have to trouble the two of you to explain things to him later. I truly couldn’t hold back my strike.”
The two seniors looked at each other and smiled.
“Thunder Eagle—that nickname actually suits him quite well. His name is Pu Rui. He’s the strongest among us. Since the two of us are weaker, we were grouped with him. He’s also the one representing our class in the grade competition. If there’s a chance later, you two will still face each other. Don’t worry—he definitely won’t blame you. He loves making friends with people who are strong.”
I said worriedly, “Will his injuries affect his participation in the competition?”
One of the seniors replied, “No. That guy’s bones are tough. Besides, Teacher Zhuang is treating him. He’ll definitely be fine.”
Aside from Feng Juan, who stormed off angrily, the rest of the students came over to congratulate Feng Wen and me.
Even Luo Lei came over and said to me, “Lei Xiang, I admit that I’m not your opponent yet. But be careful. I’ll continue training. One day, I will defeat you.”
I smiled slightly and replied, “I’ll be waiting anytime. Actually, that Thunder Eagle senior’s skills are worth studying. If I hadn’t been lucky, I might not have been able to defeat him.”
Luo Lei’s eyes lit up after hearing my words, and he immediately turned and left.
Teacher Zhuang dismissed the others and called Feng Wen and me into her office.
She smiled and said, “Well? Didn’t I say my judgment was sharp? I knew the two of you would defeat the others.”
Feng Wen said with a bitter smile, “Teacher, advancing wasn’t easy at all. Look at Lei Xiang and me—we look like two charcoal men.”
Feng Wen and I looked at each other. Seeing how miserable the other looked, we both burst into laughter.
Teacher Zhuang said, “Alright, stop laughing. I called you here mainly to teach you some combat techniques.”
So she was going to instruct us in martial skills.
Feng Wen and I immediately became serious. Teacher Zhuang continued:
“Feng Wen, do you know why you lost today in the final round?”
Feng Wen said blankly, “Their magic was too powerful, and it was an all-directional attack. I couldn’t dodge it.”
Teacher Zhuang shook her head lightly.
“No. The reason you lost is that you still aren’t fast enough. Today I’ll teach you three words. If you can fully comprehend them, you will be able to remain undefeated.”
Feng Wen asked excitedly, “Which three words?”