Free Web NovelChapter 194: Chapter 153: The Posing Martial Saint (Part 2)
Meng Jun was still hosting the competition, but recruitment heads from the seven major related institutions were now on site.
Through a casual chat with Ren Feng, Yu Fei learned that once the Prodigy rankings were finalized, they could choose their desired school and apply. The seven major institutions would adjust their offers based on the ranking results, raising or lowering the package, but they had to remain balanced.
Take the S-rank, for example. If a university particularly favored a certain Prodigy, it could offer an S+ package to attract them. Conversely, if they felt a Prodigy lacked potential, they would give an S- offer.
According to Ren Feng, these recruiters couldn’t hand out an unlimited number of S+ packages. There were special rules in place, but Ren Feng didn’t elaborate on the specifics.
The competition was held in an underground testing facility at Base 105. This facility used special metal materials for its support pillars, and nine huge, square arenas had been carved out of the floor.
Each arena was a full one hundred meters long and wide, with a height of ten meters. Every match was assigned three referees—one Grandmaster and two at the Gang Qi realm—to prevent any accidents during the fights.
Above the arenas ran a twenty-meter-wide, grid-patterned viewing walkway. The underground facility was capped by a seamless dome constructed from massive metal sheets and illuminated by countless floodlights.
The place was as bright as day.
Martial Saint Honglian would arrive at the arena to watch once the competition officially began.
Yu Fei stopped to read the detailed rules of the competition.
For the Points Challenge, an initial roster of 42 S-rank Prodigies had been determined based on the points acquired in the first two rounds. In the same way, 210 A-rank Prodigies had also been designated.
Based on the point rankings, those with higher scores had priority in choosing their opponents.
The winner would receive 20% of their opponent’s total points, so one had to be cautious when choosing a target.
If a match ended in a draw, the lower-ranked participant would receive 10% of the higher-ranked participant’s points.
Simply put, for those below S-rank, those with higher scores had priority in picking their opponents. After being challenged three times, a participant could request an exemption from further challenges.
The challenge matches between S-ranks wouldn’t happen for another two days.
With ten minutes until the competition began, the large screen on the dome clearly displayed the preliminary ranking of every Prodigy. Among the 42 S-ranks, Yu Fei, at 37th place, was particularly eye-catching.
Among a sea of Inner Qi and Third Realm Martial Artists, Yu Fei—the only one marked as being in the Second Realm—became the focus of everyone’s discussion.
After all, never mind the first round, the difficulty of the second was plain for all to see. So many at the Inner Qi Realm had met a disastrous end.
The sight of Yu Fei’s photo was particularly jarring to Zhang Xunyi. He then thought of his own situation: ranked 312, an Inner Qi Realm practitioner who had even mastered Sword Intent.
At some point, Zhou Bai had walked up to him.
"Well now, if it isn’t our fierce predator. How’d you get rolled by a common sheep? Does our King Zhang Bi finally understand his place?"
Zhang Xunyi stared at him coldly, his eyes filled with a frosty chill.
"Hmph!" He turned and walked away.
’My own failure is terrible enough, but a rival’s success is even harder to stomach.’
Zhou Bai was ranked 41st, barely scraping into the S-rank.
’Arguing now is pointless. I’ll only feel vindicated when I fight my way up and knock that bastard Zhou Bai back down.’
Just then, he heard Zhou Bai’s mocking taunt.
"Still trying to act tough after getting shown up like a dumbass? Heh..."
Zhang Xunyi gripped his sword hilt, seething with a rage that burned for a long, long time.
Tang DanDan stared at the portraits of the S-rank Prodigies, her heart filled with undeniable shock as she saw Yu Fei ranked 37th. She, an Inner Qi Realm practitioner, had been eliminated on the very first night. During her two years of high school cultivation, she had poured all her energy into advancing her realm; her only martial technique was the Six Harmonies Killing Fist, which she had only brought to the Perfection level.
She, who had thought herself so exceptional, was first put in her place by Yu Wen Baji, then soundly beaten by the Warriors of the reinforced platoon. Now, she was remarkably subdued.
But seeing a Second Realm Martial Artist she had only met by chance actually manage to survive the insane environment of the second round, her arrogance vanished without a trace.
’There are so many true masters in this world. All that praise from my teachers, friends, and family... I let it all go to my head.’
Fu Bin had ended up burying himself under a sand dune for three days and three nights, without food or water. He had managed to tough out the pursuit and walk away with a 2,000-point consolation prize. Now, remembering his earlier disdain for Yu Fei, he felt a pang of shame.
Cha Qizhe, on the other hand, was eager to give it a try. His target was an A-rank placement; he didn’t dare to dream of S-rank. Moreover, he estimated that by the end, aside from the Inner Qi Realm Martial Artists, not a single Third Realm practitioner would be left on the S-rank list, to say nothing of a Second Realm one.
The gap between major realms was like a heavenly chasm, nearly impossible to overcome.
DONG DONG...
Fierce drumbeats echoed through the venue, and everyone’s attention was drawn to Meng Jun as he slowly ascended into the air.
He wore the black Demon Venerable Armor, and a bright red cape five meters long fluttered slowly behind him. The air vents in this underground facility all blew downward, so no one had any idea how his cape managed to billow so elegantly.
This whole "pay-to-win web game VIP" look left the Prodigies completely dumbfounded. They could accept Meng Jun having an avatar like this in virtual reality, but they never imagined his real-life style would be so over-the-top.
Seeing that everyone was looking up at him with envy, Meng Jun gave a light cough, and the drumming faded away.
"Greetings, Prodigies. I trust you’ve all been well. I imagine you’ve reaped quite the harvest these past few days..."
The crowd below complained internally, ’You bet we have. We’ve been beaten so badly our own mothers wouldn’t recognize us...’
"Everyone, pay your respects to Lord Honglian!"
ROAR—
The atmosphere in the arena instantly exploded. Zhuo Feiming had left a deep impression on the Prodigies during their meeting a few days prior, gaining countless new admirers.
A Martial Saint with supreme combat strength who was also a powerful and beautiful woman—it was only natural that she would inspire a sense of worship among the many Prodigies.
Being a Prodigy only represented a future possibility, nothing more.
Yu Fei watched Martial Saint Honglian with a complicated expression, his gaze drawn particularly to the brilliant golden gem atop her head.
He immediately hid all his emotions and began to shout with the same fervor as everyone around him.
’A fall in the pit, a gain in your wit.’ He later reviewed the events and concluded there were only two likely reasons he had drawn her attention.
’First, there was the battle intent I felt when we first met. This world is full of all kinds of talents. I can sense goodwill and malice, so it stands to reason that others might have similar abilities.’
’Second was when I was copying talents in the infirmary. It’s highly likely our group was under constant surveillance, so my strange behavior would naturally have drawn attention.’
’I still need to be more careful with my words and actions!’
A brilliant fire phoenix whistled down from the dome and came to a steady hover in mid-air, floating significantly higher than the Demon Venerable Armor-clad Meng Jun.
The phoenix’s wild flames suddenly retracted, collapsing into a dark-gold spear that landed in a fair hand.
The spear’s owner was clad in iridescent light, her crimson Qi Jin flowing like a river of stars.
Honglian had arrived!
Compared to her, Meng Jun, who was just striking a pose in his Demon Venerable Armor, looked like a cheap knock-off.
"Everyone, offer me a blazing battle! Show me your mettle, and afterward, we shall walk shoulder to shoulder!"
The spear pointed diagonally toward the dome, scattering sparks. Meng Jun immediately broke out in a cold sweat, terrified that this madwoman wouldn’t be able to control herself and would pierce through the surface with her spear, forcing them all to flee for their lives.
The atmosphere was electric. After striking a pose for a moment longer, Zhuo Feiming left the scene, leaving the clamoring Prodigies behind.
Of everyone present, only Ren Feng felt nothing. He couldn’t help it. As soon as he pictured his old man picking his feet while playing video games, any respect he might have had for Martial Saints evaporated.
Moreover, his father’s Martial Saint friends—who would curse up a storm, secretly discuss which girl on the street was prettiest, and do all sorts of similar things—had long since desensitized him to the mystique of Martial Saints.
Martial Saints were people, too. The Martial Saints of the Yu Kingdom, in particular, mostly didn’t put on airs and were, in fact, more personable than the Grandmasters.
Once the atmosphere in the arena had calmed down a bit, Meng Jun began to officiate the competition.
"Now, will all Prodigies below S-rank please use the controllers in your hands to select the target you plan to challenge. Please be aware: nine matches will be initiated each round. Everyone may select a target, and the system will confirm the matchups based on the priority of your respective point totals!"
Zhuge Zhigang tapped Li Jueyin on the shoulder.
"What is it?"
"I didn’t understand any of that."
Li Jueyin explained with a sigh, "Okay, for example: say two people in A-rank, one ranked 100th and one ranked 150th, both choose you as their target. According to the rules, the challenge from the 100th-ranked person gets priority. But, if all nine match slots for the round are already filled by challengers ranked higher than 100, then that person’s challenge is invalid for this round. They’ll have to wait for the next round to choose again."
Zhuge Zhigang scratched his head. "I still don’t get it!"
Luo Mengfei cut in bluntly, "Why are you worrying about all that? If someone challenges you, just beat the crap out of them. Simple!"
A look of sudden realization dawned on Zhuge Zhigang’s face. "Oh, I get it now!"
