Chapter 35: A Draw

The crowd surged around the battle stage, yet at this moment, it was deathly silent.

Everyone stared, dumbfounded, at the observer who had blocked Song Yunfeng’s attack, then looked at the hourglass that had completely run out.

The battle here had been so intense that they hadn't paid any attention to the passage of time, but upon snapping back to reality, they realized the time was up.

At this moment, they suddenly understood that while Song Yunfeng had previously wanted to exhaust Li Luo’s Qi, he had completely failed to realize that Li Luo was also stalling for time.

When the hourglass ran out, the match had no winner; according to the previous rules, this would be judged a draw.

In other words, the match between Li Luo and Song Yunfeng ended in a draw.

And this outcome was beyond everyone’s expectations.

Because from any perspective, this match should not have ended this way; the disparity in strength between Song Yunfeng and Li Luo was massive, so in the eyes of many, this match should have been a crushing victory for Song Yunfeng.

No matter how Li Luo struggled, it would be difficult for him to gain any advantage under the hands of Song Yunfeng, who possessed a seventh-grade resonance and a resonance power level that had reached eight imprints.

But what was the result?

This match, which in their eyes should have been a near-total crushing, was forcibly turned into a draw by Li Luo.

At this very moment, they looked at Li Luo on the stage, whose face was slightly pale from the exhaustion of his resonance power, and in the silence, a sense of admiration gradually emerged in their eyes.

Even Bei Kun had a constipated expression, his face looking incredibly colorful.

Beside him, Ti Faqing also stared blankly at the stage, her unfocused beautiful eyes revealing the shock she was experiencing; after a long while, she let out a heavy breath and gave Li Luo a deep look.

Although the latter’s face was pale at this moment, she felt as if she could faintly see a dazzling light radiating from within his body, bit by bit.

This made Ti Faqing think of that legendary, beautiful figure on the Southwind Academy’s Honor Monument.

But immediately after, Ti Faqing shook her head; although Li Luo had pulled off a miracle, he was still far too inferior compared to Jiang Qing’e.

On the battle stage, Song Yunfeng’s stupor lasted for a moment before he glared at the observer: "I was clearly about to defeat him; he had no resonance power left, I was guaranteed to win!"

"Give me one more second, just one second!"

The observer frowned as he looked at the uncomposed Song Yunfeng; the latter had always been calm and gentle at Southwind Academy, which was a stark contrast to how he was now.

"Rules are rules. When the hourglass runs out, if there is no winner, it is a draw," the observer said.

"Bullshit!" Song Yunfeng roared with a ferocious expression.

How could he accept the result of a draw? This draw would simply cause him to lose all face.

However, the observer ignored him, looked around, and announced: "The final result of this match is a draw!"

"Brother Luo is awesome!"

When his voice fell, countless excited cheers erupted from the Second Institute like a tidal wave; all the students of the Second Institute were incredibly thrilled, as Li Luo’s match had greatly boosted the reputation of their Second Institute.

Yu Lang, covered in bandages, opened his mouth and muttered: "Is this freak actually starting to rise? He even managed to make Song Yunfeng bite the dust."

Amidst the deafening cheers, Lu Qinger’s bright eyes quietly stared at Li Luo’s figure. At this moment, she seemed to see the boy from when they first entered Southwind Academy—the one who was also very young, yet always one step ahead of them in resonance technique cultivation, and who would finally come to instruct them, the beginners, with a relaxed and composed face.

Li Luo was undoubtedly dazzling back then.

So much so that Lu Qinger had secretly harbored a trace of admiration for him at the time and had taken him as her goal.

It was only the appearance of the empty resonance that caused Li Luo’s former halo to completely disintegrate; afterwards, he avoided her, so she had no choice but to stop bothering him.

"I knew it, Li Luo, you would stand up again; only then will you be truly dazzling."

"But you are not enough yet; I want to see you reach the peak, and then..."

"Defeat you."

Lu Qinger’s long hair fluttered lightly, her bright eyes filled with burning fighting spirit. She took one more look at Li Luo, then did not linger, turning and leaving directly.

Who would have thought that Lu Qinger, who appeared quiet and sweet, would be so competitive and combative at heart?

On the battle stage, Li Luo looked at the gloomy-faced Song Yunfeng before him and sighed: "I gave you a chance, but you couldn't seize it. Song Yunfeng, you really are a loser."

Song Yunfeng stared fiercely at Li Luo.

"Having missed this time, Song Yunfeng, you probably won't have any more chances in the future."

Li Luo did not fear his vicious gaze; instead, he stepped forward, patted his shoulder lightly, and smiled: "As for you smearing my parents, we will settle that properly next time."

Song Yunfeng gritted his teeth and sneered: "Fine, I'll be waiting."

Li Luo nodded, not saying anything more to him, and walked past him, stepped off the battle stage, and left the plaza surrounded by many excited students from the Second Institute.

Following his departure, the atmosphere in the plaza gradually subsided; many people cast strange looks at Song Yunfeng before dispersing one after another.

Regarding today’s affair, Li Luo had originally intended to concede directly, but Song Yunfeng had insisted on attacking his parents. Yet, after racking his brains to provoke Li Luo into fighting, he failed to achieve victory—this whole thing was truly a joke.

One could imagine that this matter would inevitably circulate in Southwind Academy for a long time, and he, Song Yunfeng, would be the supporting character in this story used to set off the protagonist.

On the high platform at the edge of the plaza, the old Dean and a group of instructors were also somewhat silent; this result was also beyond their expectations.

After a moment of silence, the old Dean finally sighed and said: "This Li Luo never thought about winning from the beginning to the end; his goal was to drag it into a draw."

"And what is unexpected is that he actually managed to do it."

Xu Shanyue was already grinning from ear to ear; Li Luo had really saved his face today. That was Song Yunfeng, the top student in the First Institute after Lu Qinger, yet this time, he had been forcibly pushed into a draw by Li Luo.

So who said that their Second Institute couldn't produce talent?

No one would think it was just a draw, because the gap in strength between Li Luo and Song Yunfeng was indeed too large. His resonance power was only at the six-imprint stage, and his own water resonance was only fifth-grade, but what about Song Yunfeng? Eight-imprint resonance power, seventh-grade Red Carving resonance. Honestly, this kind of overall gap—even these instructors wouldn't know how to achieve a reversal, and Li Luo being able to force the situation into a draw could already be considered incredible.

Did they really think everyone was a peerless genius like Jiang Qing’e, possessing a ninth-grade resonance?

Beside him, Lin Feng’s face had long since turned as black as the bottom of a pot. Facing Xu Shanyue’s smug laughter, he endured it, but finally said: "Li Luo’s performance today is indeed impeccable, but the preliminary exam has a time limit. What about the subsequent Academy Grand Exam? That will require real ability; these opportunistic methods won't be of any use then."

Xu Shanyue snorted coldly: "By then, Li Luo might not be unable to take another step forward."

"Taking another step forward, that would only be the seven-imprint stage," Lin Feng said expressionlessly.

The old Dean waved his hand, stopping the two from their habitual bickering. He looked in the direction Li Luo had left, then stared at Lin Feng and Xu Shanyue, his face becoming much more serious as he said: "How Li Luo performs when the time comes is his own business, but I must remind you that for this Academy Grand Exam, our Southwind Academy must maintain the golden signboard of being the number one academy in Tianshu Prefecture. If there are any mishaps, hmph."

The final cold snort made many instructors’ hearts tremble.

Especially Lin Feng; he understood that the old Dean’s words were directed more at him, because the First Institute gathered the best students of Southwind Academy and occupied the most resources, and the Academy Grand Exam was the time to verify whether the First Institute was worthy of these resources.

As far as Lin Feng knew, the previous instructor of the First Institute was kicked out of Southwind Academy by the old Dean in a rage because they had nearly caused Southwind Academy to lose the signboard of the number one academy in Tianshu Prefecture during a previous Academy Grand Exam.

So if he caused a mishap in this Academy Grand Exam, he feared the old Dean would not spare him either.

Thinking of that outcome, Lin Feng’s heart also trembled, and he hurriedly promised: "Dean, rest assured, the strength of our First Institute is obvious to all; we will definitely maintain the academy’s honor."

"That would be best."

The old Dean’s expression softened slightly, and without saying more, he turned and left.

Following his departure, the many instructors looked at each other and let out a sigh of relief; an angry old Dean was truly terrifying.

"However, this year, Dongyuan Academy is coming on aggressively, and Dongyuan Academy is an academy fully supported by the Viceroy’s Mansion. In recent years, their momentum has been extremely strong, chasing right after Southwind Academy. Currently, the number one person in Dongyuan Academy is the Viceroy’s son, I believe his name is Shi Kong? His own talent is extremely high, and in terms of strength, he won't be inferior to Lu Qinger, so our Southwind Academy will likely be under no small amount of pressure for this year’s Academy Grand Exam," an instructor couldn't help but say with worry after the old Dean left.

Lin Feng looked at that instructor and said indifferently: "Dongyuan Academy’s foundation is ultimately not as good as our Southwind Academy’s. If they want to snatch this signboard, they still have to ask if my First Institute agrees."

As his voice fell, he turned and left.

The other instructors looked at each other, all somewhat annoyed by Lin Feng’s arrogance, but there was nothing they could do, and in the end, they could only mutter.

"Just keep being arrogant; when you mess it up, let's see how you clean up the mess."

(End of chapter)