Chapter 500: Taking the Stage

The unlucky ones aren't only Xie Jianfeng.

At this moment in the lounge, many people wore mournful faces, sighing continuously.

Some people were similar to Xie Jianfeng, being only Level One or Second Level Masters, yet they drew Level Four or Level Five, with Level Five or Sixth-level Grandmaster as opponents.

Even more extreme, some drew the few who are widely recognized as having the most Hope of winning the championship.

If the previous situation still allowed a slim chance of a lucky victory, the latter situation was almost hopeless, seeming to have no choice but to concede from the start.

Some teachers of Level Three and Level Four Masters slightly breathed a sigh of relief.

Even they didn't want to face those few in the First Round of the qualifiers; if possible, they'd prefer to meet them in the later rounds, or simply have those few encounter each other early, so that they would have a chance to enter the Top Ten.

The crowd didn't have much time to prepare.

Because the first day required completing three rounds of qualifiers to determine the spots for the finals, a quarter hour later the two teachers of the first group stepped onto the stage.

"Teacher Zou, go!"

A boy shouted hoarsely.

Inspired by him, dozens of surrounding students also shouted.

The students of the other teacher, seeing this, also let out cheers, and the atmosphere of the whole venue was instantly ignited.

"Teacher Zou, please give me instruction," another teacher said with a wry smile.

"Teacher Guo, please give me instruction," Teacher Zou smiled faintly.

He is a Level Five Force Master, while his opponent is only a Level One Force Master; although here everyone's strength is compressed to the same realm, the outcome seems hardly in doubt.

Of course, one cannot be careless, otherwise a slip in the gutter could lead to defeat, and for the next year they'd have no chance of holding their head up in the academy.

When the countdown ended, the two immediately engaged in combat, the clashing of weapons rang continuously, and the students all held their breath, eyes wide on the screen.

In the tenth round, Teacher Guo failed to block and was pierced through the chest by a blade, prompting a collective gasp from the audience.

"Sorry."

Teacher Zou said it softly.

It's not that he didn't want to hold back, but everyone's strength is equal; if he held back, he might be defeated himself, so he could leave no room.

And this battle, to ensure fairness, set pain perception to one hundred percent; in other words, being killed here feels no different from being killed in reality.

Fortunately, everything is virtual, so even if killed, nothing happens.

Soon, the two emerged from the Virtual Storage.

"Are you okay?" Teacher Zou asked proactively.

"I'm fine, I'm fine; as expected of Teacher Zou, my skill is inferior," Teacher Guo said with a wry smile, and stepped down together.

"Teacher Zou, you're so impressive; it was only a few seconds and the battle was over?" At this moment, the students watching below seemed to wake from a dream.

"Teacher Zou is a Sixth-level Force Master; if it were in reality, it would be even faster."

"Indeed, Teacher Guo also did his best."

While the crowd was discussing, the two teachers of the second group walked onto the stage, exchanged a few words before the battle, and then began fighting.

Then came the third group, fourth group, fifth group…

Contrary to expectations, a fight that might last dozens of minutes usually ended within a minute; occasionally an evenly matched duel lasted two or three minutes, and the eventual winner also paid a considerable price.

Fortunately this is a Virtual World; whether injured or killed, it has no real impact, at most adding an unhappy memory.

In the lounge, watching the battle on the screen conclude, Xie Jianfeng stood up from his seat, his expression somewhat heroic.

"Teacher Jiang, I'm going."

"Alright, go ahead," Jiang Cheng encouraged.

Hearing that, Xie Jianfeng's face again showed a wry smile.

Go ahead?

If we can get through without any slip-ups, we can thank Heaven and Earth.

But even knowing there's no chance of winning, he still goes up, since a reputation for backing out at the last moment sounds bad.

Soon, Xie Jianfeng and a man with thick eyebrows stepped onto the stage, and the cheers of encouragement rose again.

The battle began.

The man named Fangguo raised his right hand, and several sharp earth spikes erupted from beneath Xie Jianfeng's feet; fortunately the latter moved quickly, dodged them, and simultaneously charged forward.

Everyone understood that against an opponent who uses ranged tactics, only by closing the distance could one have a chance to win; otherwise the opponent's attacks would keep coming, and a single miss would be fatal.

Seeing this, Fangguo showed no sign of panic; his right palm kept rising, and earth spikes kept sprouting from the ground as if they were free.

Xie Jianfeng concentrated fully, watching the ground while constantly changing direction, successfully dodging one spike after another, but at the eighth spike his reaction lagged, and a spike pierced his thigh, blood gushing out.

"Ah!"

On the screen, Xie Jianfeng let out a howl.

The students watching the match all held their breath; some girls were so frightened by the scene that their faces turned pale.

"I concede, Teacher Xie."

Fangguo said apologetically.

He also knew it was painful, but there was nothing he could do; this is his fighting style.

Soon, the two left the Virtual Cabin; Fangguo stepped forward, but Xie Jianfeng waved his hand and said first, "Teacher Fang, you don't need to apologize to me; on the contrary, I should thank you. Besides, this is just a contest, nothing more."

Fangguo smiled and said nothing more.

After returning to the lounge, Xie Jianfeng sighed; although it was expected, he still felt unwilling.

"Teacher Jiang, it's up to you now; I wish you success in defeating the opponent and entering the Second Round."

"I accept your kind words, Teacher Xie," Jiang Cheng said with a smile.

In fact, his turn came quickly.

Only unlike others, after he stepped onto the stage, the cheers of encouragement were pitifully few; at first there were some, perhaps after shouting a few times, they felt...

Of course, there are exceptions, such as Lin Yue; although she was embarrassed and her face turned red, she still persisted.

On the other side, there were quite a few cheers from the opponents, making the scene look a bit awkward.

Although that is the case, many people had still heard Jiang Cheng's name, and upon seeing Jiang Cheng himself appear, they all started whispering to each other.

"Jiang Cheng? He is that Refining Alchemy practitioner? The Refining Alchemy practitioner who stood up to Principal Sun?"

"Is it him? I remember that in our academy there is only one person named Jiang Cheng, no second one."

"He looks quite young, about the same age as us, huh?"

"Really! Many of the upperclassmen are even older than him!"

(End of chapter)