CSMCDB - Chapter 59
Chapter 59
Wen Yuncheng hadn't actually intended to dodge.
Although she hadn't expected his first reaction after such a beating to be an attack, she was prepared to take off.
Yes, take off.
Mechanical Wings unfolded from her back. Consuming some mana, Wen Yuncheng shot into the air, dodging Xun Rui's confident strike. Then... she threw out two grenades and a stun grenade. In the instant Xun Rui was knocked down by the stun grenade before he could react, Wen Yuncheng controlled her Mechanical Wings to dive close to the stage, flipping her mechanical armguards to reveal steel spikes aimed at his vitals-
"Stop." The referee intervened again. The match was decided.
Xun Rui was helped off the stage in a daze. He stared at Wen Yuncheng in disbelief. "I don't accept this! I want to report him for cheating! H-how can he use that kind of item? He can fly?!"
"Mechanical Wings are a type of equipment. They are activated solely by Wen Yuncheng's personal Star Power and have no effect on anyone else," the referee answered calmly. To maintain absolute fairness, even though the tournament was held at Breeze Academy, they would not inform any other academy about an ability that was clearly a trump card unless Star Academy revealed it themselves.
Unconventional tactics... unheard-of equipment... a never-before-seen mutated ability... He had clearly lost, but he was extremely unwilling to accept it.
Xun Rui gritted his teeth. If he had lost after an exhilarating fight against an opponent like Lin Jinyu, he would have accepted it. But losing to such a bizarre guy... it just didn't sit right. He hadn't even been able to perform at his best before his sudden defeat. An attack launched at such close range—who would have thought a Star Master First Layer opponent could fly?
Wen Yuncheng was in excellent condition, even better than she had imagined. Flying consumed a lot of mana, but that last burst was very short. The five-minute rest was enough to recover most of it, so it wouldn't affect her next fight. Moreover, she had directly defeated Breeze Academy's top Star Master. To put it bluntly—she had beaten the hardest one, so the remaining opponents seemed much simpler.
Wen Yuncheng could now understand why Lin Jinyu had seemed so at ease after her one-versus-seven streak. It was probably because... she really was at ease.
Now that her Mechanical Wings were exposed, she no longer had to hold back from using them in the upcoming matches. If all went well, she could also keep her Mechanical Apostle skill under wraps and give Yaoxing Academy a big surprise.
The subsequent fights were even easier. Wen Yuncheng figured out a strategy: hold a stun grenade, use Launching Slide to get close to her opponent, and then detonate it. The 5% dizzying effect was almost useless on her, but it was a different story for her opponents. In the instant they were dazed, she could directly use her close-combat abilities like Topspin Kick and Piercing Kick, followed by a barrage of various flame exploders and grenades. If she didn't want to do that, she could also engage in hand-to-hand combat with her mechanical armguards. Of course, the latter depended on the opponent's physique; it was best not to get carried away with brawling against someone too muscular.
[Congratulations on achieving "Arena One-vs-Seven." Title awarded: "The More You Fight, The Stronger You Get."]
[The More You Fight, The Stronger You Get: During consecutive solo battles, for each opponent faced, mechanical skill damage increases by 5%.]
When the final battle ended, Wen Yuncheng leaped off the stage and ran toward her academy's area, just in time to hear the system's reward. A title? And this title... was very useful! Wen Yuncheng grew excited. Seeing Lin Jinyu stand up, she wanted to give her a big hug, but as she ran over, Li Kongyi wrapped an arm around her, pulled her into an embrace, and punched her on the shoulder. "Not bad, you! You swept Breeze Academy? You really brought us honor!"
"...Haha, I guess so~" Wen Yuncheng snapped back to her senses and gave a sheepish laugh. "But in the team battle... there's not much I can do. I'll be counting on you all then~"
"Hahaha! A one-versus-seven streak in the arena matches gets us an extra six points! We earned thirteen points directly. If nothing unexpected happens, our ranking should rise to first place, right? Let's work hard in the team battle too, haha~" Li Kongyi laughed wildly, but then he heard Gu Yinan say:
"Yaoxing also had a one-versus-seven streak. Di Yuanhao competed."
"Also, although our third-years won, they sent out three people, so they only got four extra points," Xie Chengcheng sighed. "Senior Yao took down five, but the subsequent matches were all evenly matched."
But in any case, the second round of arena matches was over. Next was the team battle. Wen Yuncheng didn't plan to slack off. She coordinated her attacks with Lin Jinyu's control abilities, and if anyone tried to ambush her, she would just take to the sky. If an enemy was isolated, she would serve them a combo platter of thrown items.
That opponent named Xun Rui could turn invisible, and Wen Yuncheng was the only one on the field who could see him. To prevent him from ambushing her teammates, Wen Yuncheng stuck to him directly, constantly reporting his position.
"Why can you see me?!" Xun Rui was shocked. Wen Yuncheng was at the same level as him; there was no reason she should be able to see through his stealth combat technique! This technique was his family's heirloom, and stealth ambushes were their signature specialty. Xun Rui never imagined that his trademark technique would be seen through so easily.
When the match ended and Breeze Academy was defeated, Xun Rui asked his question directly. He couldn't accept this result.
"...Oh, that. It's because I have a machine that can track you." Wen Yuncheng raised her hand to cancel the Monitor's mark on Xun Rui. She then took out the nearly invisible Monitor. It was as small as a speck of dust. Wen Yuncheng placed it on her index finger, and Xun Rui had to lean in close just to see it.
"...I lost." When Xun Rui saw the Monitor, even taking it in his hand and squinting to examine it, he finally had to admit that his defeat was due to his own carelessness. He assumed he just hadn't noticed when Wen Yuncheng threw the device on him, but in reality, it was a lock-on skill that marked him directly.
When the second round of the competition was fully over, Star Academy's score was updated to 102 points, having lost only two points in the third-year arena matches, placing them second.
Yaoxing Academy, with an advantage of one point, took first place with a total of 103 points.
The exchange tournament finally entered its third round.
Three days later.
"The Academy Exchange Tournament has finally entered the third round! First up, the long-awaited match between the first and second-ranked academies will decide the victor!" Perhaps because it was the third round, the hosting teacher finally sounded excited. After a few brief words, he had the participating students from both sides head to the rest area to prepare.
"Good luck." The third round's order was also decided by drawing lots, and Lin Jinyu was the first to fight. Wen Yuncheng looked at her and said seriously, "Do your best, but don't risk your life."
"Okay."
"If things look bad, you must concede. Di Yuanhao's combat techniques are extremely treacherous. If you get seriously injured... it won't be worth it." Tan Qing offered similar advice.
Qiu Fei simply patted Lin Jinyu's shoulder without a word, silently watching her disciple walk onto the stage.
In the first match of the third round's arena battles, the opponent's first combatant was a Star Warrior Third Layer.
"Please enlighten me!" the young man shouted. With a tap of his toes, his figure shot into the sky before landing in the center of the stage. Facing a Star Master First Layer as a Star Warrior Third Layer, he showed not a hint of fear, his fighting spirit soaring.
Lin Jinyu didn't respond. She simply unsheathed her longsword and held it before her, her expression as indifferent as ever.
"The match begins."
"Fight!" the young man roared. He raised his hand and summoned a long halberd. Perhaps due to his cultivation technique, his Star Power was actually gold-colored. Dazzling golden Star Power spread across the halberd, and even his pupils faintly glowed with a golden light.
Lin Jinyu unhurriedly drew her sword and slashed, sending out a beam of sword energy. The dense, icy aura was particularly noticeable as the beam cut through the air. It tore through the atmosphere, sweeping fiercely toward the young man.
"Ha, an attack like this is useless against me! No need to test me further!" Golden Star Power erupted, and with a swing of his halberd, he shattered the sword beam. The moment it dispersed, he felt a powerful icy aura that slightly stiffened his wrist, but he quickly circulated his Star Power through his meridians to dispel it.
However, just as he said this, Lin Jinyu's figure vanished from her spot! Wen Yuncheng could only see several afterimages left on the stage as Lin Jinyu transformed into a streak of white light and charged forward. Her longsword hovered above her, instantly multiplying from one to eight. The eight Star Power swords lined up behind her and then shot toward the young man!
"A trick like this won't—Ah!" The young man was in the middle of speaking as he swung his halberd to block the Star Power swords, but they exploded on impact. He staggered for a moment from the blast, and a chill shot up his spine straight to his heart. His eyes widened as he saw a sword beam approaching from a distance. He could barely raise his halberd to defend, his Star Power not yet fully unleashed, when he realized Lin Jinyu had somehow appeared behind him, her real sword resting against his neck.
"Stop!"
First match, a win.
"Can't this guy just fight quietly? So much trash talk, yet he lost so quickly. Tsk." Wen Yuncheng was very displeased with him, feeling that he was deliberately trying to get her Little Ice Mountain's attention!
[...] 1947 was about to retort but suddenly realized its cub's romantic mindset and said nothing. —One must be tolerant of a female cub in the throes of a secret crush. Even if she's the one who trash-talks the most.
During the short five-minute rest, Lin Jinyu looked toward the Yaoxing Academy rest area. So, would the next opponent be a Star Master First Layer?
—It still wasn't.
Lin Jinyu frowned imperceptibly and tightened her grip on her longsword. What was Yaoxing Academy planning?
"I am Wu Sheng, from the Jintai Sect. I have long admired you." The second person to take the stage was a burly man, one-point-nine meters tall, with explosive muscles and... a shiny bald head.
Wen Yuncheng noticed that these contestants had never fought in the second round.
What did Yaoxing mean by this? Were they looking down on Star Academy, thinking they could let their own students have some fun and gain experience in the third round? Or were they giving up the struggle? —No, the latter was highly unlikely!
However, one thing was certain.
Both the first and second combatants knew Lin Jinyu. And... they were both very eager to fight her.
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