Chapter 86 - Crushing Defeat
Lin Yao looked around him, only to discover jealousy and hatred on the faces of the many boys staring at him. Especially when they saw their beloved goddess also watching Lin Yao, the envy in their hearts rapidly transformed into malice.
“That scoundrel. I really feel like beating him up.”
“Me too.”
“He’s too seductive and wretched.”
“A man should rely on his strong build. What kind of tricks is he up to?”
As he felt the admiration in the girls’ eyes and the anger in the boys’ eyes, the students gathered quickly. Soon, the students of the entire school had gathered.
Shortly afterward, the school leaders also went onstage. After a round of forward-looking speeches, the participants of the competition, such as Lin Yao, also stepped onto the platform under the gazes of the students.
As they stepped on the stage, a funny scene took place.
There were 20 ordinary classes in the third-year cohort, and there were three representatives from each class. Therefore, a total of 60 students was participating in this competition.
These students used to be elites and class representatives. However, 59 out of the 60 people who went on stage were wearing special goggles. Due to the advanced technology of this era, the goggles already resembled sunglasses and were convenient to wear.
When 59 sunglass-wearing big shots emerged on the stage, the student competition turned into an image of a group of Yakuza big bosses stepping onto the stage1.
When everyone saw a group of big shots wearing sunglasses, there was a moment of silence in the field. After a breath, bursts of laughter were heard from the audience.
“Poof, poof… I’m dying from laughter. What is happening? Are Yakuza big bosses forming a band and debuting?”
“This is shocking. Ninghai No. 4 High School actually had 60 Yakuza big bosses appear together. I can already imagine the headlines tomorrow.”
“It’s a pity that they are only wearing sunglasses. It would have been interesting if they were wearing black suits.”
Constant roars of laughter came from the audience. The school leaders on the stage felt very troubled, and the elite students onstage also felt embarrassed.
In the end, everyone turned their gazes to Lin Yao.
It was very clear what they were conveying with their eyes—It’s all your fault.
As everyone looked at him, the corners of Lin Yao’s mouth twitched. He hadn’t expected his combat skill to change the students’ clothes.
“Cough, cough… Everyone be quiet. The battle begins now.”
The school leaders were reluctant to comment on this sudden change. Very soon, 60 students from the 20 classes had been divided into two groups.
All of them were low-level martial artists, so they did not have many vital energy seeds in their bodies and couldn’t fight for a long time. Therefore, the school did not make Lin Yao and the others finish the battle in one go. Today’s battle was mainly meant to decide the top eight players. The final battle would be held tomorrow.
The students were supposed to be grouped randomly, but this was impossible. Due to the “covert operation” of the school, the probability of the strong facing the strong was very small.
“We have to determine the top four among these 30 people. Unless there’s a draw, I’ll have to fight thrice today.”
The first game would determine the top 15 out of the 30 players, and Lin Yao’s luck was fairly good. He didn’t encounter the top 10 seeded players, but a young genius who was comparable to Li Peng.
“Lin Yao from Class 4 versus Zhan Xia from Class 7.”
As these words were heard, Lin Yao stepped onto the platform. While he walked, strange thoughts appeared in his heart.
‘I heard that Li Peng is a genius in our cohort who just broke through and became a martial artist. He seems to be the weakest amongst the entire group of players in this competition.’
Although these words were somewhat disrespectful, he was indeed the weakest player in the competition of the cohort.
While Lin Yao contemplated this, Zhan Xia also had similar thoughts about Lin Yao.
“I’m going to fight this guy? This is neither good nor bad. He just broke through and became a martial artist, so he should be quite weak. He has gotten this far only because he’s relied on the surprise attack of his light abilities. I have sunglasses to suppress his bright light and thus may be able to win.”
Following the instructor’s directions, Lin Yao and Zhan Xia stood apart. After the two of them went through the martial artist etiquette, the referee stood aside and raised his hand, preparing to wave down at any time.
Due to Lin Yao’s Sword-Drawing Technique and handsome appearance, he had attracted the attention of a large group of people.
“Lin Yao, way to go!”
“Lin Yao, you’re the best!”
“Beat him to a pulp!”
“Hammer and smash his face!”
“Zhan Xia, way to go!”
Amid the numerous cheers, all the girls were cheering for Lin Yao, and all the boys were cheering for Zhan Xia.
The boys’ cheers were much louder than the girls’, and the cheers for Zhan Xia soon overwhelmed those for Lin Yao. Although the two players were the lowest-level martial artists, countless people were paying attention to their battle.
Amongst these people were Qin Xue and Yan Yan. They were also dumbfounded when they saw Lin Yao with his special effects. At the same time, they felt inexplicably unhappy when they saw countless girls cheering Lin Yao on when he joined the class again. However, they were not related to Lin Yao and could only suppress the unhappiness in their hearts.
When she heard the loud shouts about smashing Lin Yao’s face, the unhappiness in Qin Xue’s heart disappeared and was replaced by strong anxiety.
“Student Lin Yao won’t get hurt, right?”
Before Yan Yan could speak, a boy from her class adjusted his spectacles and answered.
“It’s hard to say. Student Lin Yao is very strong. He forced 50 people to wear sunglasses, but both his strengths and weaknesses are obvious. He is strong when flashing the Sword-Drawing Technique, but the impact of this will be weakened by the special explosion-proof goggles. Although Lin Yao’s bright light will still affect his opponent, Zhan Xia’s physical strength surpasses Lin Yao’s. The chances of Lin Yao winning this battle are 50-50. It will depend a lot on their performance on the spot.”
When he finished his analysis, the teacher and referee in the arena suddenly waved his palm.
“The battle begins!”
As the referee finished his words, Lin Yao bent his body and rushed out like a leopard without waiting for the other party to move.
“He actually struck first.”
Upon seeing Lin Yao charging at him, Zhan Xia, who was wearing goggles, instinctively wanted to lower his head. However, he didn’t dare to and thus could only squint his eyes and stare at Lin Yao. He then bent his body slightly and got into a defensive posture.
Clang.
By the time Zhan Xia got into his defensive posture, Lin Yao had already closed in on him. Lin Yao then paused and moved his right hand, drawing a bright sword from his waist.
When Lin Yao drew his sword, Zhan Xia, who was in a defensive posture, instinctively moved both his hands to block Lin Yao’s sword gleam.
He certainly possessed both ability and combat skills. His family was quite wealthy, and he was using the golden combat skill Catching Dragon Controlling Crane Palm, not military boxing. This was a skill that specialized in capturing and could even draw things across the air.
He had topped Class 7 with this move. At the moment, his claw-like hands looked like they were catching a dragon and controlling a crane. He attempted to pull Lin Yao’s sword gleam into his palm.
He succeeded, but something unexpected happened.
Zhan Xia was elated when he pulled Lin Yao’s sword gleam into his palm.
“I caught you.”
Just as this thought appeared in his mind, he felt that something was amiss.
A massive force had been transmitted from that sword.
‘This is bad.’
Bang! As soon as he sensed danger, Zhan Xia felt as if he had inhaled a bomb.
The violent impact threw his hands high in the sky, and Zhan Xia now lay wide open to an attack.
Before he could steady his feet, the unsheathed long sword had already reached the peak of its height. At that moment, Lin Yao was no longer holding the sword with one hand. Holding it with both hands, he smashed it hard toward Zhan Xia’s lower body as if he was slashing a mountain.
Huh!
As a loud holler was heard, the ironwood sword slashed down with endless prowess. While facing such an attack, Zhan Xia could barely raise both his arms.
At the same time, his face was filled with indignance.
“This can’t be. Both of us are martial artists. How did you become so strong?”
He was hollering furiously and unleashing his vital energy seeds simultaneously. However, this was akin to a mantis trying to stop a chariot. Zhan Xia, who had raised both his arms to resist the attack, was smashed and overturned in the air. After landing on the ground, he started writhing, holding his arms in pain.
With a draw of a sword and a slash, Zhan Xia had been defeated in two moves.
His defeat was met with silence, and all the elite students on the stage were staring at Lin Yao with a bewildered look in their eyes.
They were not surprised by Zhan Xia’s defeat. The bright light could affect them even though they were wearing sunglasses, and Lin Yao had the chance to win by virtue of this advantage.
However, Lin Yao hadn’t used any insidious moves during this duel. He had subdued Zhan Xia purely with his physical strength, just like what Zhou Yang had done when he’d fought against Li Peng.
However, Zhou Yang’s body was tall and strong, and he had been born with divine power. Lin Yao only had a normal physique. How had he managed to create the same effect as Zhou Yang?!