Chapter 337: Your Strength Is Not Bad! (Requesting Monthly Votes)

"Crack! Crack!"

"Tap! Tap!"

Another collision—Lei Wen gritted his teeth so hard his lips split, his face twisted from the strain.

His body grew abnormally heavy, bones cracking with every movement.

Like training in a ninefold gravity extreme environment.

His body could no longer hold, his feet sliding helplessly backward.

At that moment, every hair on his body stood on end, a nameless dread surging from his core.

"Shhh~"

Before his eyes, Lin Qi thrust his black great spear forward—piercing the air, as if space itself had frozen.

"It's over!"

He remained at peak condition, his bloodline blazing, terrifying killing aura swirling around his body.

Lei Wen's eyes widened—before him, Lin Qi was utterly terrifying.

"Ssshh!"

His black great spear became a black dragon, tearing through the air as it devoured him.

His mind reeled—he desperately strained his muscles, trying to swing his black war hammer in defense.

Faster!!

Only now did he realize how terrifying Lin Qi was—not only was his strength immense, his speed was equally terrifying.

A flash of cold light appeared before his eyes.

"Puff~"

The spearhead surged forward, piercing flesh—Lei Wen felt his heart erupt in agony, blood he could no longer suppress spraying from his mouth.

"Boom!"

His war hammer fell to the ground—the three-hundred-kilogram hammer struck the pavement, cracking the concrete with a heavy crash.

Lei Wen himself was flung backward, collapsing, his body completely out of control.

He knew—he had lost.

He, Lei Wen of the Bai Ying Federation, had been decisively crushed by Lin Qi of Xia Guo—his pride, his strength, utterly useless against his opponent.

"Lei Wen Madison, your strength is not bad!"

Lin Qi stepped forward slowly, speaking seriously.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Lei Wen on the ground dissolved into nothingness, vanishing into the air.

【Match 3: Lin Qi (Xia Guo) Wins!】

"Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in congratulating Lin Qi of Xia Guo, who has defeated Lei Wen Madison of the Bai Ying Federation!"

"He has advanced to the Top 8!"

Xu Wen's voice echoed throughout the entire arena.

"Clap! Clap!"

The spectator seats erupted instantly into thunderous applause and deafening roars.

"He won!!"

"He won again! Lin Qi of Xia Guo won again—he's truly in the Top 8!"

"He's made history again—Lei Wen Madison, the mighty Golden Hammer, lost to him!"

"Has he really not awakened?"

"Could he have awakened already? How else could he be this strong?"

On the Bai Ying Federation spectator seats, Wims stared in disbelief.

"Lei Wen lost?"

His best friend Lei Wen had lost to Lin Qi?

Other competitors nearby could not accept this result.

And Lin Qi, who had defeated Lei Wen, now seemed even more unfathomable to them.

Meanwhile, back in the teleportation chamber, Lei Wen clutched his mouth and shook his head at the blond-haired Harvey beside him:

"Harvey, you were right!"

"Lin Qi of Xia Guo… his strength is truly terrifying."

"His body is forged like Delta alloy—I clashed with him several times, and he showed not a single wound."

"His strength is even greater than mine!"

"He's definitely not awakened, right?"

He was shattered—his pride, his strength, his defense—all useless against one man.

Even now, Lin Qi's words echoed in his mind: "Not bad."

Harvey, the SS-class prodigy and top new talent of the Bai Ying Federation, frowned:

"He's a formidable opponent."

"Most importantly, he's mastered a Minor Divine Art."

"That means his power will only grow stronger."

"Now, besides Yu Yu Zhuoran of Xia Guo and Viktor of Mao Xiong, we must add Lin Qi to the list."

…

On the Mao Xiong spectator seats, the burly Viktor stared at Lin Qi on the arena, eyes gleaming.

He clenched his fists:

"This is the kind of opponent I want—his strength is immense. I can't wait to fight him and see whose power is greater."

…

High-level spectator seats

In the Bai Ying Federation section, a golden-haired middle-aged man with a muscular build crossed his arms, watching Lin Qi on the arena and sighed:

"What a genius—Lei Wen was already a rare top-tier prodigy."

"And yet he couldn't beat this Lin Qi from Xia Guo!"

He sighed again:

"Why isn't a genius like this one of ours in the Bai Ying Federation?"

…

Nearby, on the Xia Guo high-level spectator seats:

"Liu, this Lin Qi is incredible—he won again!"

"Congratulations! Calling him an SS-class prodigy now isn't even an exaggeration."

The leaders around him looked at Liu Yuanzhang with envy and admiration.

Who could have imagined that a once-average prodigy had now defeated multiple SS-class prodigies and reached the Top 8 of the Global New Talent Tournament?

He even looked capable of contending for the championship. Liu Yuanzhang smiled warmly:

"I'm surprised too—Lin Qi's talent far exceeds ordinary S-class prodigies!"

"When the Dean and Principal return, we'll discuss promoting Lin Qi directly to SS-class prodigy—even without awakening, his current talent is more than enough."

Others nodded—they'd all defeated other SS-class prodigies.

Not giving him the SS-class title would be unjust.

Of course, this is up to Chi Qiong Martial Arts Gym.

Many leaders of Cang Qiong University are also high-ranking officials of Chi Qiong Martial Arts Gym—only they can approve the promotion to SS-class prodigy!

…

Xia Guo spectator seats

"Qi Ge is insane—he won again!"

"He's this strong without using a Minor Divine Art—is he aiming for the championship?"

Wan Ming sucked in a sharp breath.

"Xiang Long, are you still competing with Lin Qi?" Xia Sister Lian smiled.

Xiang Long, nearby, fell silent—he too was stunned, having been eliminated long ago.

!

But now Lin Qi hadn't just reached the Top 8—he won easily.

He smiled bitterly inside, recalling Lin Qi's words: "Without special abilities, you're nothing!"

He suspected that even without the ban on special abilities, he still couldn't beat Lin Qi.

Yu Yu Zhuoran nodded silently—he now had another rival for the championship.

…

On the Cang Qiong Sixth College spectator seats, Lin Qi was teleported back—met with thumbs-up and stunned exclamations.

Everyone was nearly numb—unconsciously, they'd already reached the Top 8.

Is he really going for the championship?

"Ssshh~"

At the thought, everyone sucked in a sharp breath.

Lin Qi, meanwhile, recalled his battle—Lei Wen was strong; the Level 9 Disaster Beast, Titan Ape, possessed immense power.

But he's still no match for me.

His punch power is at most 8,000 kilograms!

He's far behind me in strength, and even more so in speed.

As for martial skill, there's nothing to say—he's broken through to mid-third rank, but still falls short of me.

Overall, in physical attributes and martial skill, Jinjia Jinjia Laiwen is nowhere near me; the fact that he can trade blows with me for a few rounds proves he's not weak.

…

The round of 16 matches continue, each one spectacular.

Only clashes between SS-class geniuses are the real feast of the Global Freshman Championship.

Only in such matches can millions of geniuses witness what true high-level combat looks like.

Match 4: Victor of the Bear Nation advances!

Match 5: Alex Freck of the Sunset Nation advances!

Match 6: Yu Yu Zhuoran of Xia Guo advances!

Match 7: Erica Schmidt of Germany advances!

Match 8: Javier Wright of the White Eagle Federation advances!

Wang Mingxi of Shan Yu Shanyu Wuda was eliminated by Javier—he's a mentalist.

He had no advantage at all against Javier and was ultimately defeated and eliminated.

On the spectators' bench of Shan Yu Shanyu Wuda, the usually cheerful Wang Mingxi looked somewhat disheartened; smiling and shaking his head at his classmates' comfort:

"This is my limit!"

"For mentalists, virtual combat is just too disadvantageous."

"This also proves how powerful Lin Qi is!"

"I have no idea how he got this far."

The other classmates nodded; they all eagerly wondered how far Lin Qi would go—semifinals, or stopped at the quarterfinals?

…

Less than half an hour later, all eight matches ended.

The round of 16 was over; the eight quarterfinalists were now confirmed.

Among them, Xia Guo held three spots, drawing sighs from many spectators.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the quarterfinals."

"Let's congratulate these eight competitors—they've successfully passed the eighth round and reached the ninth, becoming the eight strongest!"

Xu Wen pointed to eight virtual figures on the ninth level of the pyramid.

"In the upcoming ninth round, only four competitors will advance to the semifinals."

"They will also each receive a prize of one hundred million Xia Guo credits."

As soon as he spoke, the audience erupted—though they all wanted the hundred million credit prize, it was far beyond their reach, nearly impossible to win.

In comparison, they cared more about watching elite combat.

"Enough talk—let's begin!"

BOOM!!

Xu Wen waved his hand; eight crimson orbs flew from his palm, descending from the sky to land on the black chessboard.

The orbs exploded into eight Level Nine Catastrophe Beasts: Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor, Quake Dragon Elephant, Crimson Flame Bird, White Gold Demon Tiger…

These nine-level catastrophe beasts became the chess pieces, forming four match pairings, then transforming into eight virtual figures.

Behind them loomed spectral shadows of the Level Nine Catastrophe Beasts—as if the beasts themselves were battling on the battlefield.

Lin Qi instantly saw his own White Gold Demon Tiger—among the eight quarterfinalists, he alone cultivated the White Gold Demon Tiger Evolution Art.

【Match 1: Yu Yu Zhuoran (Xia Guo) vs. Alex Freck (Sunset Nation)】

【Match 2: Lin Qi (Xia Guo) vs. Miyamoto Genichiro】

【Match 3: Javier Wright (White Eagle Federation) vs. Erica Schmidt (Germany)】

【Match 4: Victor Christopher (Bear Nation) vs. Kong Kong Ruoxuan (Xia Guo)】

…

Lin Qi instantly saw his opponent—the sole SS-class genius from Sakura Nation: Miyamoto Genichiro.

His strength also ranked among the top five.

After reading the match chart, he knew this was a competitor who would reach the semifinals.

The system had deliberately avoided matching the four competitors who had mastered minor divine arts in the quarterfinals.

It was meant to reserve them for a clash in the semifinals.

Miyamoto Genichiro was destined to be eliminated in the quarterfinals—nothing could change that.

At the same moment, the other eight quarterfinalists reacted differently upon seeing the match chart.

…

(End of Chapter)