Chapter 54: Battle Begins! Instant Kill!

At 11:42 a. m., Magic City Institute of Esoteric Abilities, Practical Training Building.

On the first floor of the Practical Training Building, there are ten arenas numbered 1 through 10.

This place is specifically used for student sparring sessions or settling personal grudges.

At this moment, the spectator seats around the arenas were already densely packed with students.

Most of these people were freshmen, roughly four to five hundred.

Keep in mind, the total number of freshmen who have reported to campus is only slightly over six hundred.

That means most freshmen have gathered here because of this event.

"Jiangsu Province is an educational powerhouse—fight between the top and second-ranked students will be spectacular!"

"The freshman competition starts after September enrollment; this is the perfect chance to see the provincial top scorer's strength."

"But I've been checking records lately and realized Xu Jingming really benefited from his exam center's location! If they'd been in the same center, Lei Zhou would've been Jiangsu's provincial top scorer!"

"So does that mean Lei Zhou has a higher chance of winning?"

"Not necessarily—after all, Xu Jingming just broke our school's punch strength record."

"Heh, what's a punch strength record? Esoteric ability battles aren't all about brute force. I think Lei Zhou is stronger!"

"......"

Students buzzed with chatter, each speculating differently on who would win.

Among them, many freshmen who had researched the matter believed they'd uncovered a scandal.

They thought Lei Zhou was stronger, and Xu Jingming won the provincial top scorer title only because of his easier exam center.

"Qiu Yun, who do you think has the better chance?"

In a corner of the spectator seats, Song Qiuyun and her roommate Qi Dongxia had also come here.

"Xu Jingming," Song Qiuyun murmured, her red lips moving without hesitation.

Her certainty made Qi Dongxia blink in surprise.

Although she'd only become roommates with Song Qiuyun recently,

she knew Song Qiuyun always reached conclusions after deep consideration.

This was the first time she'd seen her so utterly confident.

"Still, I think Lei Zhou is stronger—he has the upper hand."

Qi Dongxia, though deeply loyal to Xu Jingming's looks,

still leaned toward Lei Zhou in terms of actual strength.

Moreover, she agreed with the rumors among freshmen:

"Xu Jingming did get lucky with his exam center to win provincial top scorer."

Yet Song Qiuyun dismissed this entirely:

"The state mandates that students must take the Wu Ke Gaokao at the same location where they attended junior and senior high.

Xu Jingming may have benefited from his exam center, but he didn't enjoy the rich educational resources of a provincial capital.

He came from the impoverished Jiangcheng—and still claimed the provincial top scorer title, proving his exceptional talent.

If Lei Zhou and Xu Jingming swapped identities,

Xu Jingming, raised in Ning'an City, would still have competed for the provincial top scorer.

But Lei Zhou, raised in Jiangcheng, might not even make the top hundred in Jiangsu Province, let alone compete for top scorer."

Song Qiuyun's beautiful eyes glowed with wisdom.

Beside her, Qi Dongxia froze in surprise.

Of course!

Everyone focused only on the difference in exam centers, ignoring the massive disparity in their personal resources.

If Wu Ke Gaokao in resource-rich Ning'an City was normal difficulty, then Jiangcheng's was hell difficulty!

Xu Jingming rising from hell-difficulty Jiangcheng to claim provincial top scorer

proves his immense strength and potential!

Just as Qi Dongxia grasped this point, a commotion erupted in the spectator seats as everyone turned toward the entrance.

"Xu Jingming's here!"

She quickly turned her gaze to the entrance.

Indeed,

a tall, slender figure walked in against the light.

Xu Jingming's presence was undeniably powerful.

At one meter eighty-nine, clad in a black combat suit, he looked imposing and muscular without a trace of bulk.

His firm, angular face held eyes sharply divided between black and white—clear and piercing.

On his back hung a thick, jet-black spear, its blood-grooved tip gleaming with chilling light under the noon sun.

Merely by entering, his overwhelming aura silenced the entire arena!

"Tch, my junior's appearance—once he shows his results, he'll knock out even more senior girls."

Liu Ming, who had just taken a seat in the back row of the spectators, couldn't help but mutter to himself.

A great physique and looks, combined with immense strength, would make him the ideal romantic target for every girl at Magic City Institute of Esoteric Abilities.

Of course,

signs of this were already visible in the spectator seats.

Many young girls stared intently at Xu Jingming as he entered; some even pulled out phones to take photos...

"Xu Jingming's rank has increased."

In the front rows of the spectator seats, Lei Zhou keenly sensed the change in Xu Jingming's aura.

"But luckily, I've prepared something else."

Lei Zhou thought to himself.

Having ranked second in Jiangnan Province, he wasn't a fool without brains—he felt he had already won this match.

Especially since the opponent had broken the record just a while ago.

He had confidence to challenge Xu Jingming, so naturally he had prepared his "secret weapon."

"Xu Jingming, deciding just by winning or losing is too boring. How about we add a stake?"

Looking at Xu Jingming walking over, Lei Zhou stood up and said.

"What kind of stake?" Xu Jingming raised his sword-like eyebrows.

"All your academic credits."

On Lei Zhou's still-handsome face appeared an unmasked malice:

"Of course, I'll also put up an equivalent value of academic credits and Daxia currency—the winner takes it all."

"Fine."

Xu Jingming naturally wouldn't refuse a chance to pick up free money.

"Alright, to prevent cheating, we'll both transfer our credits to Teacher Zhou's account."

Combat between psychics is extremely dangerous; if one fails to hold back, causing serious or near-fatal injuries is common.

To prevent students from dying on the spot, the arena area has a teacher with a supportive healing psychic ability stationed there every day.

Today, the teacher stationed at the arena is a female instructor named Zhou Yun.

She is a sixth-rank mid-tier psychic, possessing a B-class supportive psychic ability: Healing Light.

For a battle between first-rank psychics, no matter how fierce, she can still rescue them.

At the same time, Teacher Zhou Yun is also the referee for this match.

Thus, Xu Jingming transferred all 370 of his academic credits to Teacher Zhou.

Lei Zhou, besides transferring 50 academic credits, also transferred 3.2 million Daxia currency.

"Tsk tsk, a bet worth three million seven hundred thousand—what a lavish move!"

"Neither side looks like an easy target; if you lose, it's a heavy blow for either party."

"Having a stake's better—it'll make the fight more exciting!"

"......"

The freshmen in the spectator seats were all astonished by this bet.

On one hand, everyone was just new students; three million seven hundred thousand was already a substantial sum.

On the other hand, the crucial Freshmen Competition was just two months away.

Losing this money, for either side, meant losing a massive amount of cultivation resources!

Their progress in strength would surely fall behind others!

"Both contestants, enter the arena."

After confirming the academic credit transfers were complete, Teacher Zhou spoke.

Xu Jingming and Lei Zhou each stepped onto the arena.

The arena was a 30-meter by 30-meter square; Xu Jingming and Lei Zhou stood ten meters apart, facing each other.

One held a spear, the other a blade.

"Before we begin, I'll reiterate: once either side yields or loses consciousness, the other must not continue attacking.

Otherwise, the match will be immediately halted, and the attacker will face the school's harshest punishment—do you understand?"

Zhou Yun emphasized with a solemn expression.

One of these two was first in Jiangnan Province, the other second.

Injury wasn't a problem, but if either died, it would be a disaster.

Therefore, in actual combat, continuing to attack after a surrender is absolutely forbidden.

"Understood."

Xu Jingming and Lei Zhou nodded simultaneously.

"Good. Prepare to begin."

Zhou Yun nodded and immediately began the countdown:

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"Begin!"

The instant the countdown ended, Lei Zhou, wielding the great blade, let out a low roar:

"Stern Senran Yehuo!"

Boom!!

Flames—pale, ghostly white flames—spread outward from Lei Zhou!

Stern Senran Yehuo, an elemental fire-type A-class psychic ability!

Combined with Lei Zhou's first-rank high-tier power, the Stern Senran Yehuo he unleashed possessed terrifying heat.

The temperature of the surrounding air surged sharply due to the appearance of Stern Senran Yehuo!

Spectators in the front rows felt as if flames had scorched their skin.

Startled, they hurriedly moved to seats further back.

"Xu Jingming, the honor I lost to you—I'll take it all back today! Blazing Slash!"

On the arena, terrifyingly high-temperature white flames swept toward Xu Jingming, and Lei Zhou himself took a step forward.

He crossed more than nine meters in a single bound, arriving right in front of Xu Jingming.

Then his right hand rose, and the white greatsword wreathed in flames came slashing down at Xu Jingming with a muffled whoosh!

"What a smooth combo of combat arts! Closing in directly, then unleashing the slash!"

"That should be a combat-art combo of Rush and Blazing Slash, right? He really did release it smoothly."

"Worthy of an A-rank ability—that flame's temperature is terrifying."

"......"

The many freshmen in the audience held their breath, staring fixedly at the scene.

Rush is a very common C-rank movement-type combat art that lets you burst forward a certain distance.

But doing what Lei Zhou just did—following up Rush with another combat art right away—is something many people present couldn't pull off.

That requires an extremely terrifying level of mastery.

And this seemingly simple combo—ninety percent of the people here couldn't take it!

"Worthy of the second place in Jiangnan Province—his fundamentals are rock solid."

Just as the freshmen were marveling at Lei Zhou's combat-art combo, Xu Jingming on the arena also moved.

Crackle, crackle~~~

Accompanied by the harsh sound of arcing electricity, blue-purple Doushen Shenlei first coiled around Xu Jingming.

Like an eggshell, it shut out the grim Senran Yehuo outside.

The next moment,

That jet-black, chillingly cold long spear moved too!

But no one saw clearly how Xu Jingming struck—only felt their vision blur.

Then came a sharp 'Clang!' of Jin Ge, echoing through the venue.

By the time the crowd caught on, that black spear had already blocked the greatsword's slash.

"He... he blocked it?"

"Breaking a combat art with a casual spear thrust—and you can play it like that?!"

"Holy crap? What kind of strength is that? How brutal?!"

"......"

Faced with this scene, the freshmen were all dumbstruck.

You have to understand,

Combat arts fuse the power of abilities and qi-blood together.

Normally, facing a combat art, you'd either dodge outright or use a combat art of your own to parry.

But Xu Jingming was different—he didn't use any combat art at all.

With just that spear, he casually parried Lei Zhou's Blazing Slash!

Put in plainer terms, Xu Jingming's ordinary basic attack directly broke the enemy's ultimate move!

"How is that possible!"

Lei Zhou on the arena couldn't believe it either.

But what answered him was Xu Jingming's calm, low voice:

"Nothing's impossible—you're just too weak."

Immediately after, a heavy thud rang out.

Lei Zhou's body bent sharply into a C-shape, his waist smashed by a sudden massive force.

The endless grim Senran Yehuo lost control under intense pain and vanished in an instant, and he himself was blasted away like a cannonball.

Only after slamming into the alloy cables at the arena's edge did he finally stop, collapsing to the ground limp as a puppet, his face covered in blood.

And at his original position, Xu Jingming, wreathed all over in blue-purple Doushen Shenlei, slowly withdrew his spear.

What had just happened was merely a single whipping strike of his spear.

But because the thrust was too fast, Lei Zhou couldn't react at all and could only be sent flying.

And with Lei Zhou's fall, the audience seats fell utterly silent.

From start to finish of the fight, Xu Jingming seemed to have only thrust his spear twice, right?!

And then... the fight was just... over like that?!

Where's the promised epic battle?!

Where's the promised Lei Zhou who's even stronger than Xu Jingming?!

How did it end up Lei Zhou getting instantly killed instead?!

WTF! Refund!

Huh? No money was charged? Well then, my bad......