Chapter 35: A Draw

Around the battle platform, the crowd surged, yet at this moment all was silent.

Everyone stared dumbfounded at the observer who had stepped in to block Song Song Yunfeng's attack, then looked at the hourglass that had run completely dry.

The battle here had been so intense that they had not paid any attention to the passage of time, but when they came back to their senses, the time was already up.

At this moment, they suddenly understood—earlier, Song Song Yunfeng had wanted to exhaust Li Luo's phase force completely, but he had never imagined that Li Luo was doing the very same thing, stalling for time.

When the hourglass ran out and the battle had no victor or loser, according to the prior rules, this would be ruled a draw.

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

And this outcome was beyond everyone's expectations.

Because from any angle, this match should never have produced such a result. The strength of Song Song Yunfeng and Li Luo was vastly disparate, so in the eyes of many, this match would have been Song Song Yunfeng's overwhelming victory.

No matter how Li Luo struggled, it would have been hard for him to gain the slightest advantage against Song Song Yunfeng, who possessed a Seventh-Rank phase and whose phase force had reached Eight Seals.

But what was the result?

This match that in their eyes should have been a near-certain crushing defeat was forcibly turned into a draw by Li Luo.

At this moment, they gazed at Li Luo on the platform, whose face was slightly pale from the complete exhaustion of his phase force, and in the silence, a trace of admiration gradually welled up in their eyes.

Even Bei Kun wore a constipated expression at this moment, his face an extraordinary sight.

Ti Ti Faqing at the side also stared blankly at the platform; her dazed, beautiful eyes revealed the shock in her heart. After a long while, she finally let out a heavy breath and cast a deep glance at Li Luo.

The latter at this moment, though his complexion was somewhat pale, she seemed to faintly see a dazzling light emanating bit by bit from within him.

This reminded Ti Ti Faqing of that legendary, graceful figure on the South Wind Academy's Honor Monument.

But then Ti Ti Faqing shook her head. Although Li Luo had pulled off a miracle, compared to Jiang Jiang Qinge, he was still far too lacking.

On the battle platform, Song Song Yunfeng's stupor lasted a moment, then he glared at the observer: "I was clearly about to defeat him. He had no phase force left. The next moment, I would have won for sure!"

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

The observer frowned as he looked at the unhinged Song Song Yunfeng. The latter had always carried himself with a calm, gentle air at South Wind Academy, utterly different from now.

"Rules are rules. The hourglass has run out, and if no victor has been decided, then it's a draw," the observer said.

"Bullshit!" Song Song Yunfeng's face twisted somewhat ferociously as he roared.

How could he possibly accept this draw? This draw would simply make him lose face completely.

Yet the observer paid him no heed, looked around, and then announced: "The final result of this match is a draw!"

"Bro Luo is awesome!"

When his voice fell, the Second Academy's side immediately erupted with countless excited cheers that thundered like an avalanche. All the Second Academy students were thrilled—Li Luo's performance in this match had greatly boosted their Second Academy's prestige.

Yu Lang, wrapped head to toe in bandages, opened his mouth and muttered, "Is this freak really about to rise? He even made Song Song Yunfeng eat his fill of bitterness."

Amid the deafening cheers, Lv Qing'er's bright eyes quietly fixed on Li Luo's figure. At this moment, she seemed to see that boy from when he first entered South Wind Academy—clearly still very young, yet always one step ahead of them in cultivating phase arts, and finally coming over with a composed look on his face to guide beginners like them.

Li Luo at that time was, without question, dazzling.

Even Lv Qing'er back then had secretly held a trace of admiration for him and taken him as her goal.

But the appearance of the Empty Phase caused all of Li Luo's former glory to completely crumble. After that, he avoided her, and she could only refrain from disturbing him.

"I knew it, Li Luo—you would stand back up again. Only the you from back then would be truly dazzling."

"But the you right now still isn't quite enough. I want to see you reach the peak, and then…"

"Defeat you."

Lv Qing'er's long hair fluttered lightly, and her bright eyes were actually filled with burning fighting spirit. She glanced at Li Luo once more, then did not linger, turning and leaving directly.

Who could have imagined that Lv Qing'er, whose temperament seemed so gentle and sweet, would be so competitive and battle-hungry at her core?

On the battle platform, Li Luo looked at the sullen-faced Song Song Yunfeng before him and sighed: "I gave you a chance, and you still couldn't seize it. Song Song Yunfeng, you're truly useless."

Song Song Yunfeng's eyes fixed viciously on Li Luo.

"Having missed this chance, Song Song Yunfeng, you probably won't get another one in the future."

Li Luo, however, was not afraid of his fierce gaze. Instead, he stepped forward, lightly patted his shoulder, and smiled: "That matter of you slandering my parents—we'll settle that properly next time."

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

Li Luo nodded, said nothing more to him, brushed past him directly, stepped down from the battle platform, and then, surrounded excitedly by many Second Academy students, left the plaza.

With his departure, the atmosphere on the plaza gradually subsided. Many people cast strange glances at Song Song Yunfeng, then also drifted away one after another.

In today's matter, Li Luo had originally intended to concede outright, but Song Song Yunfeng had insisted on attacking someone else's parents. Yet after going to such painstaking lengths to provoke Li Luo into fighting, he still failed to win. This whole affair was truly a joke.

One could imagine that from now on, this matter would circulate for a long time within South Wind Academy, and Song Song Yunfeng would become the sidekick used to set off the protagonist in this story.

On the high platform at the edge of the plaza, the old dean and a group of instructors were also somewhat silent—this result had likewise exceeded their expectations.

After a moment of silence, the old dean finally sighed and said: "Li Luo never intended to win from start to finish. His goal was to drag it into a draw."

"And what no one expected was that he actually pulled it off."

Xu Xu Shanyue was already grinning so wide his mouth couldn't close. Li Luo today had simply given him too much face. That was Song Song Yunfeng, after all—the top student of the First Academy, second only to Lv Qing'er—and yet this time, he had been forcibly driven into a draw by Li Luo.

So who says their Second Academy can't produce talent?

No one would think it was merely a draw, because the gap in strength between Li Luo and Song Song Yunfeng was truly enormous. His phase force was only at the Six-Seal Realm, and his own Water Phase was only Fifth Rank. But Song Song Yunfeng? Eight-Seal phase force, Seventh-Rank Scarlet Eagle Phase. Honestly, with such an overall gap, even these instructors didn't know exactly how a reversal could be achieved. Yet Li Luo had managed to force the situation into a draw, which was already considered unbelievable.

Do they really think everyone is an absolute prodigy like Jiang Jiang Qinge, who Possesses Ninth Rank phase?

Lin Feng at the side had long had a face as black as the bottom of a pot. Facing Xu Xu Shanyue's smug laughter, he held back for a moment, then finally said: "Li Luo's performance today is indeed impeccable, but the preliminary exam has a time limit. What about the Academy Grand Exam afterward? That time, it'll take real skill, and these opportunistic tricks won't be of much use."

Xu Xu Shanyue snorted coldly: "When the time comes, Li Luo may very well be able to advance another step."

"Even if he advances another step, that's only the Seven-Seal Realm," Lin Feng said expressionlessly.

The old dean waved his hand, halting the two men's habitual bickering. He gazed in the direction Li Luo had left, then fixed his eyes on Lin Feng and Xu Xu Shanyue, his face growing much more solemn. He said: "How Li Luo performs when the time comes is his business, but I must remind you—for this Academy Grand Exam, our South Wind Academy must maintain its golden reputation of being the number-one academy in Tianshu Prefecture. If anything goes wrong then—hmph."

The final cold snort made many instructors' hearts tremble.

Lin Feng in particular understood that the old dean's words were directed more at him, because the First Academy gathered the best students of South Wind Academy and occupied the most resources of South Wind Academy. The Academy Grand Exam was the moment each time to verify whether the First Academy was truly worthy of those resources.

As Lin Feng knew, the previous First Academy instructor had nearly caused South Wind Academy to lose its reputation as the number-one academy of Tianshu Prefecture in a prior Academy Grand Exam, and had been furiously kicked out of South Wind Academy by the old dean on the spot.

So if he were to cause any mishap in this Academy Grand Exam, the old dean probably wouldn't let him off either.

Thinking of that outcome, Lin Feng's heart trembled as well, and he hurriedly assured, "Dean, rest assured, the strength of our First Academy is plain for all to see. We will definitely uphold the academy's honor."

"That would be best."

Only then did the old dean's expression ease slightly. He said no more and turned to leave.

With his departure, the many instructors exchanged glances and likewise breathed a sigh of relief. An enraged old dean was truly terrifying.

"However, this year the East Abyss Academy has come on with tremendous momentum, and East Abyss Academy is an academy fully backed by the Governor's Manor. These past few years its prestige has been extremely strong, directly chasing after South Wind Academy. Now, the number one person of East Abyss Academy is the Governor's son — he should be called Shi Kong, right? His own talent is extremely high, and when it comes to strength, he will be no inferior to Lv Qing'er. So for this year's academy grand examination, our South Wind Academy is probably under no small pressure." After the old dean left, an instructor could not help but voice his worry.

Lin Feng glanced at that instructor and said coolly, "After all, East Abyss Academy's foundation cannot compare with our South Wind Academy. If they want to snatch this signboard, they'll have to ask whether our First Academy agrees or not."

Once his words fell, he turned and left.

The others exchanged glances, all rather annoyed by Lin Feng's arrogance, but there was nothing they could do. In the end, they could only mutter once.

"Go ahead and act tough. When it blows up in your face later, let's see how you wrap things up."

(End of this chapter)