Chapter 71: Deciding the Strongest Name Among the Four Great Academies

The black-robed youth stood in midair, his gaze calm, not a trace of Spirit Energy leaking from his body.

But the mere fact that he could stand in midair without any means already spoke to his strength.

Divine Image Realm Realm!

Principal Qin on the high platform also showed a smile at this moment.

The teachers of the other three Academies cursed inwardly.

They seriously suspected the old man had called Jiang Qin back to Modu specifically to win the practice match—was it really worth all that?

Moreover—

How long had it been—Jiang Qin had actually stepped into the Divine Image Realm Realm!

From his enrollment to now, all counted, it had only been half a year, yet he had broken through the two great shackles of Spirit Sea and Divine Image Realm all the way from the Spirit Guidance Realm—such a speed of breaking through realms was simply unheard of!

Principal Qin naturally knew the inside story. He smiled calmly and said:

"Two months ago, the Great Jin Nation allied with the Cult of the Gods to attack Hanyue City. Jiang Qin, in order to break through his realm, fought alone against dozens of Spirit Sea Martial Artists and one Divine Image Realm Realm Martial Artist. In the end, at the very brink of life and death, he successfully stepped into the Divine Image Realm Realm, triggering a Heaven and Earth Anomaly spanning dozens of kilometers."

Before the crowd could be shocked, a voice of protest came from high above:

"It wasn't just him alone—I held them off for him for a long time, you know."

Su Lingwei drifted over, stepping on a Flying Knife, arms crossed over her chest, her tone slightly displeased.

As her words fell, another figure leapt over from afar.

He relied on his extreme physical strength to land on the dueling platform, stomping out a large crater. When the dust settled, Chen Xiaohu walked out expressionlessly.

Jiang Qin casually tossed Jiang Hanhan onto the spectator stands.

The three then bowed with clasped hands toward Principal Qin.

"Principal, we've returned."

Principal Qin stood up, his expression growing more and more pleased: "Good that you're back. The second round is about to begin as well—it's our Zhenling Academy versus Bianse Academy."

"Which of you will go?"

Chen Xiaohu stepped forward on his own initiative and said in a muffled voice: "I'll do it."

Seeing this, Jiang Qin and Su Lingwei left the dueling platform area and casually found a spot to sit down.

Jiang Qin's gaze was drawn to Cheng Yi's beast arm, and it shifted slightly.

Fierce Beasts are not all brainless. Some Fierce Beasts, in pursuit of desire or stronger offspring, will mate with human women, giving birth to half-beast offspring. Such half-beast births are extremely difficult, yet their upper limit is higher than that of pure-blooded Fierce Beasts.

The official human race's standard for judging whether such people are Fierce Beasts lies in their minds.

If one grows up immersed in human culture and can control their own wildness and desires, they are a human with Fierce Beast bloodline.

But if one is innately brutal and takes pleasure in slaughtering people, then they belong to the Fierce Beasts, and anyone may slay them.

Cheng Yi, wild and arrogant by nature, pointed his beast arm at Chen Xiaohu and grinned ferociously:

"I'm already at Spirit Sea Peak, and you're only at Spirit Sea Late Stage. Just go down obediently, lest I strike too heavily and hurt you later."

That's right—after two months of bitter cultivation, both Chen Xiaohu and Su Lingwei had reached Linghai Late Stage.

Chen Xiaohu stared at that Fierce Beast arm, a cold glint seeping into his eyes. Some unpleasant memories surfaced in his mind. He chose not to waste words—his legs tensed, his figure flashed, and he charged straight at Cheng Yi.

"Trading blows head-on? I like it!"

Cheng Yi laughed loudly, his figure vanishing from where he stood.

In the blink of an eye, the two had each thrown a punch. Neither dodged nor evaded—both chose to clash with raw physical bodies, which was also their only specialty.

Punch after punch, the smile on Cheng Yi's face had already vanished.

Because he discovered that this guy's strength was in no way inferior to his own. Despite being at a lower realm, he still possessed Fierce Beast bloodline, and his power was naturally greater than Martial Artists of the same realm—but why?

The flesh-on-flesh brawl quickly ended with Cheng Yi falling at a disadvantage.

His face darkened as he retreated two steps, simultaneously condensing two Spirit Power fist seals and blasting them toward Chen Xiaohu, trying to force him back.

However, Chen Xiaohu had absolutely no intention of dodging and charged straight through.

The two Spirit Power fist seals landed solidly on his body, yet seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever—not even his footsteps paused for a moment.

In Cheng Yi's shock, Chen Xiaohu seized the opportunity.

He extended his right hand like a claw and gripped Cheng Yi's throat. The tremendous force made Cheng Yi's face flush red. His Fierce Beast bloodline erupted completely, his entire body rapidly beginning to beastify, and at the same time, his strength was rapidly increasing.

But Chen Xiaohu's reaction was even faster.

A fist gathering the full power of his entire body landed solidly on Cheng Yi's face. The latter's eyes rolled back, and the beastified parts receded back to human form at a speed visible to the naked eye.

This match ended in a way no one had anticipated.

On the platform, the teacher from Bianse Academy sighed:

"This boy's physical body is in no way inferior to Cheng Yi's. This time, Cheng Yi underestimated his opponent."

If he had unleashed the full power of his bloodline from the very start, Cheng Yi would not have lost so quickly.

"This round, victory goes to Zhenling Academy!"

"The victor may continue to challenge the remaining two Academies. Will you continue to challenge?"

"Yes!"

Chen Xiaohu's voice rang out, resonant and powerful, echoing across the dueling platform.

Two challengers from Dijing Academy and Modu Academy took the stage in succession.

The result was without exception—both were sent flying off the dueling platform by Chen Xiaohu.

From then on, in the second round, Zhenling Academy overwhelmed the other three Academies to win, its ranking leaping up to second place.

This practice match also ended here.

Dijing Academy took first, followed by Zhenling Academy, Bianse Academy, and Modu Academy.

Modu Academy, which had always taken first place every year, was actually dead last this year. This result startled many students, but they were even more aware—

If Jiang Qin and the others had arrived even half an hour earlier, the first place in this practice match would absolutely have belonged to Zhenling Academy.

The practice match had ended,

but the competition between the Four Great Academies was not yet over.

Four figures appeared one after another on the dueling platform, each from one of the Four Great Academies, and all of them the strongest of the third-year students.

"Junior Jiang, I am Luo Minghao, Student Council President of Frontier Academy. I heard of your illustrious reputation before coming to Modu. Would you care to have a match with me?"

"Junior Jiang, I am Ye Lingyun of Dijing Academy, and I likewise wish to exchange a few moves with you."

"Xu Qing of Modu Academy, willing to fight a thrilling battle."

"I... I also want a match."

The last to speak was Han Wenqing, though his expression was a little awkward at the moment.

Perhaps the pressure Jiang Qin had given him was too great — a month ago Han Wenqing had already broken through to the Divine Image Realm Realm, intending to use this chance to recover his dignity and face. He hadn't expected the Student Council Presidents of the other three academies to also jump out.

The scene made it look as though he were helping outsiders bully a junior from his own academy.

The students around who had been preparing to leave grew excited.

"What's going on, what's going on? Why have all the Student Council Presidents of the Four Great Academies jumped out, and they all want to challenge Jiang Qin? What kind of stunt is this?"

"Bah! Han Wenqing, you dog, helping outsiders bully a junior — you treacherous villain!!"

"I get it now! Luo Minghao must be here to help Cheng Yi get back at Jiang Qin; and Ye Lingyun comes from the Ye Family, who have always been at odds with the Jiang Family — he's here to pick a fight; Xu Qing was originally the strongest of Modu's two academies, but later all his limelight was eclipsed by Jiang Qin, so he must want to take back the title of 'strongest'."

"Indeed, if we're talking about the strongest of the Four Great Academies, it will definitely be decided among these five."

"Do you think Jiang Qin will accept the challenge? Fighting like this puts him at a real disadvantage."

"..."