Chapter 70: Unwilling to Throw in the Towel Without A Fight
Yang Mingwei stood below the stage for a long time, not moving. Not even the commotion amongst the crowd could attract his attention as he stared blankly at the Immoveable Bright King Golden Ring on his body.
The Golden Ring that he was extremely confident in was so useless before Huang Xiaolong.
Until this moment, he still couldn’t accept this fact.
Yang Mingwei’s expression was like the dark, cloudy sky.
“This round, Huang Xiaolong wins!” Yang Mingwei regained his senses when the presiding teacher announced the result. With a complicated face, he looked at Huang Xiaolong and said, “I admit I lost this time; next year’s competition, however, I definitely will defeat you!”
“Next year?” Huang Xiaolong repeated the words nonchalantly and shook his head.
Base on his cultivation speed, by the end of next year, he probably would have broken through to the Seventh Order. And at that point, he would be advancing to the Second Year Class. So, when next year’s competition is held, if Yang Mingwei remained in the First Year class, he would have no opportunity to battle against Huang Xiaolong.
Seeing Huang Xiaolong shake his head, Yang Mingwei misunderstood his meaning, thinking that Huang Xiaolong felt too much disdain to battle him again.
“Huang Xiaolong, what do you mean?” Yang Mingwei was angered.
Huang Xiaolong turned around and walked down from the stage, “We’ll talk if you manage to enter the Second Year class next year.”
Yang Mingwei was stunned by the reply as he stared at Huang Xiaolong’s back.
Advance to the Second Year class next year?!
Huang Xiaolong’s words meant…? Both of Yang Mingwei’s eyes widened in shock when he realized the meaning behind them.
On the guest platform, King Lu Zhe was watching Huang Xiaolong and laughing lightly, he said to Martial Haotian “Didn’t expect Huang Xiaolong to reach this level of strength! Truly out of my expectations.”
“Yes, this one feels the same,” Marshal Haotian smiled and agreed amiably. He knew Sovereign had broken through to the Sixth Order, but the strength Huang Xiaolong had displayed earlier still surprised him.
Initially, he had thought even if Sovereign manages to win, it would be after a difficult and intensive battle, but in reality, it was the opposite.
Honestly, the ease which Huang Xiaolong defeated Yang Mingwei also startled Fei Hou a little.
Not long after Huang Xiaolong defeated Yang Mingwei, the battle results from the other seven stages with the First Year battles also came in.
Since the next round had seven students, an odd number, one of the students was exempted and directly eligible for the next round’s competition. This spot, however, wasn’t determined by drawing sticks but was decided by the Vice-Principal, Xiong Chu.
And the one Xiong Chu picked was Lu Kai.
Lu Kai was widely recognized by the students and teachers as the Academy First Year's number one person, so there was no objection from the crowd about Xiong Chu’s decision. And like that, Lu Kai proceeded to the next round’s competition smoothly.
For next round opponent, Huang Xiaolong drew a number six stick.
Number six was First Year Class Six’s Hu Dong, and his strength was weaker compared to the previous Yang Mingwei – a peak mid-Sixth Order. Thus, there was no suspense to the battle and the same scene repeated itself. Huang Xiaolong defeated Hu Dong effortlessly.
Standing below the stage, Lu Kai quietly watched Huang Xiaolong’s and Hu Dong’s battle, his face not showing any of his thoughts.
The truth was he was calm on the surface, but in his heart, waves of shock hit him, just like everyone else present.
At first, his thoughts were similar to his father’s; Huang Xiaolong wouldn’t have the opportunity to battle against him and would very likely be eliminated halfway through the process. In reality, not even Yang Mingwei is Huang Xiaolong’s opponent.
Deep in his heart, Lu Kai felt tangled. Between the many princes in the Luo Tong Kingdom, without a doubt, he possessed the highest talent of all of them; thus, he was most loved by his father. Despite that, the talent that he was so proud of crumbled to nothing when compared to Huang Xiaolong’s.
On the other hand, Zhong Yuan who was standing behind Lu Kai, his facial expressions became twisted watching Huang Xiaolong defeat Yang Mingwei and Hu Dong like it was nothing.
A short while later, the second round of the First Year's competition had ended. Huang Xiaolong and two other students successfully entered into the third competition.
Don’t know whether it was done intentionally or not, but the stick Huang Xiaolong drew was number three: a Class Three student called Chen Qiang. Once again, Huang Xiaolong did not meet with Lu Kai.
However, Chen Qiang’s strength was recognized by the collective First Years, and he was the number two student after Lu Kai, a peak late-Sixth Order. Like Yang Mingwei, Chen Qiang also possessed a top grade ten beast type martial spirit, the Longarm Water Ape.
Although Chen Qiang was much stronger than Yang Mingwei, he ended up losing to Huang Xiaolong like the previous opponents, without releasing his martial spirit even once.
Seeing Chen Qiang lose to Huang Xiaolong, the people around the stage were stupefied.
In the end, it came down to the final round between Lu Kai and Huang Xiaolong battling for the first place spot amongst the First Year!
No one imagined that it would come to this; it would be Huang Xiaolong who would be competition for Lu Kai to grab the title. Prior to this day, the new and older students had talked about this, and everyone agreed at that time that it would be Chen Qiang up on that stage against Lu Kai.
But now, it was the new student, Huang Xiaolong, standing there instead.
Two people stood on the stage, sizing each other up. Both were quiet and neither spoke.
Below the stage, silhouettes tensed up as silence filled the place.
Li Lu fixed her stare on Huang Xiaolong and Lu Kai on the stage and her small hands clenched nervously, a layer of thin sweat on her palm.
“You surprised me.” At long last, Lu Kai spoke and cut through the thick silence. “But, you should realize, you can not win over me! Just give up and throw in the towel!”
Hearing Lu Kai’s words, Huang Xiaolong calmly retorted, “Just now, Yang Mingwei said the same thing to me.”
In the end, Yang Mingwei lost miserably!
Lu Kai heard the hidden meaning of Huang Xiaolong’s words and did not get angry; instead, he smiled faintly saying, “However, I’m not Yang Mingwei!” And his battle qi broke out in full force, not holding back. An energy stronger than both Yang Mingwei’s and Chen Qiang’s swept out from Lu Kai’s body.
“Seventh Order! Prince Lu Kai really did break through to the Seventh Order!”
“Based on Prince Lu Kai’s strength, the First Year competition’s first place is already in his hands. How can Huang Xiaolong win against Prince Lu Kai in this situation?!”
“If it was me seeing Prince Lu Kai’s Seventh Order strength, I would have already raised my hands in surrender! This Huang Xiaolong actually dares to stand on the stage-- too overconfident. Stubborn persistence to save face!”
Below the stage, a flurry of discussions was taking place.
Of course, those jealous of Huang Xiaolong couldn’t resist ridiculing Huang Xiaolong, their voices full of sarcasm.
Huang Xiaolong’s expression remained the same as those ugly words entered his ears, looking at Lu Kai on the opposite side: Seventh Order? This was within Huang Xiaolong’s expectations so Lu Kai revealing his Seventh Order strength came as no surprise.
“How is it? Do you still want to fight?” Lu Kai looked at Huang Xiaolong.
“Make your move.” Huang Xiaolong’s calm voice sounded, unhurried.
Lu Kai didn’t expect to get such an answer and was taken aback; knowing that he was a Seventh Order, Huang Xiaolong still dared to fight him? He knew Huang Xiaolong was indeed strong, but he and everyone present can see that he’s just a peak late-Sixth Order.
The Seventh Order was a dividing line. No matter how strong a Sixth Order warrior is, it’s impossible for them to win against a Seventh Order. This was a well-established fact.
Could this Huang Xiaolong want to use his Sixth Order strength to smash this fact?
Lu Kai stared at Huang Xiaolong and nodded his head seconds later, “Since you’re unwilling to give up, then I will personally make you.” After he said that, Lu Kai released the martial spirit from his body.
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Cliffy end??? Continuing next week Wed :)