Chapter 507: Strange Sensation

"Grandpa Qin, how's Jiang Cheng's opponent this time? Is he really formidable?"

Lin Yue looked toward Qin Lao beside her and asked with some worry.

"He is very formidable."

Qin Lao took a deep breath.

Even he felt a bead of sweat form in his heart for Jiang Cheng at this moment.

A Fifth-level Spirit Master, huh.

Even within the city, that's middle‑high‑end combat power.

Although Jiang Cheng is very strong in his own fights, against this person his chances of victory are really hard to gauge.

Hearing his words, Lin Yue's small face became extremely tense.

It turned out, it turned out to be a Fifth-level Master!

Jiang Cheng, can he win?

Suddenly, a resolute look appeared in her eyes.

If he can win, he will definitely win!

"It's him..."

Sitting nearby, Xie Jianfeng's gaze was extremely solemn.

If it were after being eliminated in the past, he would have certainly left, waiting until the final round or the penultimate round to watch; at that time, not only would the competition be very exciting, but the combat process would also be quite enlightening for him.

But this time is a bit of an exception, because he is very curious about Jiang Cheng's upcoming matches and wants to see whether the latter can advance again.

Result...

"Teacher Jiang, you're in trouble now, huh?"

In the last Grand Competition, Sun Tong was almost in the Top Ten; if his luck had been a bit better that time and he hadn't encountered Lin Ziwei, he would certainly have made the Top Ten.

But, to put it another way,

Jiang Cheng reaching this stage with First-level Grandmaster strength is already rare; the Academy Grand Competition has been held many times, and no First-level Grandmaster has ever entered the Finals Round, not to mention a First-level; not even a Second Level has ever done so. Everyone who reaches the Finals Round is at least a Third-level Master.

"Hope Teacher Jiang can win, right?"

Xie Jianfeng muttered, though deep down he didn't hold much hope about it.

Not only him, but the vast majority of those who noticed this also thought the same in their hearts, including Xu Juan.

A First-level Spirit Master and a Fifth-level Spirit Master both wield Psychic Weapons, but the difference in their use of Psychic Weapons and combat experience is huge.

"For someone of his alchemist background, reaching this point is already quite good."

Xu Juan thought to herself silently.

Perhaps someday, when Jiang Cheng's realm rises, he can become middle‑high‑end combat power within the city, though that day is still a considerable way off.

Besides that, there's another exception: Sun Bo.

After seeing Jiang Cheng advance successfully, he felt uneasy and naturally paid close attention to the latter's result in the third round Drawing Lots.

According to his thinking, the opponent Jiang Cheng faces this time should be a very strong one, since after two rounds only the top quarter—45 people—advance to the third round.

But what he didn't expect was that Jiang Cheng's opponent this time turned out to be someone from his Sun Clan!

It's Sun Tong!

He couldn't help but smile.

With Sun Tong's ability, taking down Jiang Cheng would be a piece of cake, even in Virtual Combat where both their strengths are compressed to Level 10.

"What a pity it's not real; if it were real, how great that would be."

He harbored the same thought as Sun Tong.

If it weren't virtual but in reality, using this chance to eliminate Jiang Cheng or seriously wound him would be hard for anyone to object to, given the competitive context.

"Never mind, bruising this kid's spirit a bit isn't bad either."

Sun Bo shifted his gaze; in his mind, Jiang Cheng was already certain to lose.

Less than three minutes after the matchup chart appeared, the first group match began.

The first contestant was Yao Jun, who was the champion of the previous Academy Grand Competition and the most likely to claim first place in this Grand Competition.

His opponent, however, was only a Third-level Master.

"Yao, Teacher Yao, please give me instruction."

On the screen, the man looked at Yao Jun, his voice trembling slightly.

He hadn't expected his luck to be this good this time, drawing the hardest opponent directly.

"Teacher Qian, please give me instruction."

Yao Jun gave a slight smile.

The match ended after a little over a minute, and even the students could see that Yao Jun had held back, not letting the opponent lose so badly.

As time ticked by, Jiang Cheng glanced at the schedule; the match after next was his.

At that moment, he sensed something, turned his head, and his gaze met that of a middle‑aged man.

The man's appearance was very similar to Sun Bo's, so he instantly realized this person was most likely his opponent, Sun Tong.

The latter, seeing this, stared expressionlessly elsewhere.

Jiang Cheng, however, frowned.

It wasn't anger at being ignored.

Rather, for some unknown reason, the first glance gave him a sense of déjà vu, yet he was certain he had never met this person before.

"Strange."

Jiang Cheng muttered inwardly and withdrew his gaze.

Soon after, the two took the stage.

Watching the two leave, voices also rose in the lounge.

"It's actually paired those two together—now there's something fun to watch," a male teacher laughed, clearly enjoying the spectacle and not minding if things got big.

"Yeah, although those two have never had any conflict, Jiang Teacher that day opposed Principal Sun, and Sun Teacher is Principal Sun's brother and a member of the Sun Clan, so he surely bears no goodwill toward Jiang Teacher; once the match starts, he'll surely go all out to eliminate Jiang Teacher as quickly as possible."

"He opposed Principal Sun? What happened?" a pleasant female voice sounded.

"Teacher Lin doesn't know?"

Upon hearing Lin Ziwei's question, almost everyone in the lounge turned to look at her.

Although that matter had spread widely within the academy, not everyone knew it, especially those who often secluded themselves or happened to be on a mission at that time.

Lin Ziwei shook her head, her beautiful eyes full of curiosity.

"Well, it's just a matter of a couple of sentences," someone immediately recounted what happened back then, then summarized:

"Back then, it seemed Jiang Teacher was in the wrong, after all Principal Sun was thinking of everyone—there were extra top‑grade Awakening Pills, so each of us could exchange for more,

but looking at it now, Jiang Teacher's words also make sense—he needs to refine pills on one hand and teach students on the other, leaving only the remaining time for his own cultivation,

if he were to refine more batches of pills, there might be no spare time left for cultivation, so refusing is understandable—he's just too young, his temper is a bit explosive, but it's no big deal."

"Yeah, yeah."

Many around echoed in agreement.

After all, they had seen Jiang Cheng's performance in the first two rounds; saying he hadn't put in hard work behind the scenes was definitely impossible.

(End of chapter)