blueteamnovel Chapter 76: The Battle on the Sparring Stage Makes Him Famous Throughout the Campus
Chapter 76: The Battle on the Sparring Stage Makes Him Famous Throughout the Campus
The school's sparring platform is located on the east side of the central square. It's a square platform built of massive, bluish-gray stones, surrounded by four stone pillars, their shafts engraved with defensive formations. Usually, few people come here, but today is different.
Lin Chen is going to fight Qin Hao.
The news spread faster than anything else. Someone had already seen it on their phone the short walk Lin Chen took from the bulletin board back to his dorm. By the time he finished packing and was about to leave, people were already talking about it in the hallway. When he reached the sparring platform, it was already surrounded by people, three or four layers deep, with even the flowerbeds nearby having people standing on the edge.
Who do you think will win?
"Of course! Young Master Qin is at the late stage of the Meridian Opening Realm, and he grew up eating spiritual herbs. Lin Chen is only at the mid-stage of the Meridian Opening Realm, right? He's one realm lower."
"It's not impossible for Lin Chen to win in the mid-game. I heard that Lin Chen killed a fourth-tier ferocious beast in Qingyang City, so his combat experience is definitely richer than Qin Hao's."
"Practical experience? Give me a break. What use is experience in the face of absolute strength? Young Master Qin's 'Azure Wind Technique' is a high-grade Xuan-level cultivation method. His grandfather is the vice principal; how could he lack good stuff?"
"How about we take a gamble? I'll bet on Young Master Qin."
"I'm also betting on Young Master Qin."
"I...I'll bet on Lin Chen. Anyway, it's not much money if I lose."
The crowd chatted and laughed, most people wearing expressions of anticipation. For them, this was the most exciting part of the first day of school.
Qin Hao was already standing on the sparring platform.
He changed into a moon-white training uniform, with a silver belt around his waist, and carried a cyan longsword in his hand. The scabbard was inlaid with several green gems, clearly not an ordinary item. He drew the sword from its scabbard, the blade gleaming with a faint cyan light, and casually twirled it, leaving several afterimages in the air.
Lin Chen walked out of the crowd and onto the sparring platform. He was still wearing the same black school uniform he wore that morning, and his sneakers were still coming unglued. He carried nothing in his hands, empty-handed, as if he were just going to the cafeteria for a meal.
"Lin Chen, it's not too late to admit defeat." Qin Hao stood on the stage, looking down at him. His voice wasn't loud, but it was loud enough for the people in the front rows to hear. "I can give you a chance to stay in the regular class."
Lin Chen went up on stage and stood opposite him. The two were about ten steps apart.
"Enough talk. Let's get started."
Qin Hao's expression darkened, and the smile on his lips vanished. He made a sword incantation with his left hand, and with a flick of his right hand, a surge of azure true energy flowed from his body, running down his arm and into the blade. The blade hummed, and its azure light intensified.
The pressure of the late-stage Meridian Opening Realm was released without reservation, like a boulder pressing down from above.
A murmur rippled through the students below the stage. Those in the front rows with lower cultivation levels were forced back several steps by this imposing aura; some turned pale, while others instinctively raised their hands to shield themselves.
Lin Chen stood still, without moving.
The oppressive force struck him as if he had hit an invisible wall. The Star Martial Core in his dantian spun gently, and the silver star power circulated within his body, dissipating the oppressive feeling. He hadn't even exerted much effort, nor had he adjusted his stance.
Qin Hao frowned slightly.
"Looks like you have some skills," he said, "but that's about it."
Before he finished speaking, he pushed off with his feet and shot forward. He covered the ten steps in a single breath. The cyan longsword shot through the air, its tip aimed directly at Lin Chen's throat. This sword strike was both swift and ruthless, the killing move "Cloud Piercing Thrust" from the "Azure Wind Technique." The wind whistled, and the sword tip flickered, creating three sword flowers, making it impossible to distinguish which one was real.
Someone in the audience gasped.
The tip of the sword was less than half a foot from Lin Chen's throat.
Lin Chen moved.
His body shifted less than two inches to the right, like a tree branch swaying in the wind, just enough for the sword tip to graz his neck. At the same time, he raised his right hand, extending two fingers to firmly grip the spine of the sword.
The entire room fell silent.
Qin Hao's longsword froze in mid-air, unable to advance or retreat. A tremendous clamping force gripped the blade, as if it had been cast into a block of iron. He tried to pull it back with all his might, but the sword wouldn't budge. He tried to thrust it forward, but he couldn't penetrate it either.
"Impossible!" Qin Hao's face flushed red, and veins bulged on his forehead. He poured all his inner energy into his right arm, the veins on his wrist bulging, and his entire arm trembled slightly. But his two fingers remained as still as iron clamps.
The discussion below the stage erupted like a boiling pot.
"He pinched it with his fingers?!"
"That was Young Master Qin's full-force sword strike!"
"I must have seen wrong..."
Lin Chen looked at Qin Hao's face and said calmly, "I've said it before, the spot in the core class is mine."
With a little force from the finger.
"Snap!"
A crisp snapping sound echoed throughout the plaza through the amplification array of the sparring platform. The cyan longsword broke in two, one half of the blade falling to the ground, bouncing once, and making a tinkling sound.
Qin Hao, having exerted too much force, leaned back abruptly, staggering several steps before regaining his balance. He looked down at the broken sword in his hand, its blade still imbued with his true energy, its blue light flickering as if mocking him.
His face changed from red to white, and then from white to green.
"I'm going to kill you!"
He threw the broken sword to the ground and lunged forward empty-handed. His fists were wrapped in azure true energy, and the wind from his punches whistled as he aimed one punch at Lin Chen's face, while the other was hidden at his waist, ready to follow up at any moment.
Lin Chen neither dodged nor evaded, but instead met the attack with his right fist.
There wasn't a trace of true energy leaking from his fist; it looked completely ordinary, like a punch thrown casually.
The two fists collided.
"Bang!"
A dull thud, like a heavy hammer striking a cowhide drum.
Qin Hao's expression changed instantly. He felt as if his fist had struck an iron plate, his knuckles cracking, and his entire arm, from his fingertips to his shoulder, went numb. Then, an overwhelming force surged through his body, sending him flying backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily to the ground and sliding several meters before coming to a stop.
He lay on the platform, propping himself up with his arms, trying to get up. But when he opened his mouth, he spat out a mouthful of blood, staining the bluestone slab beneath him red.
The entire room fell silent.
No one spoke.
Even the wind seemed to have stopped.
Everyone stared, mouths agape, at the boy in the plain black school uniform on the stage. He stood there, his fist not fully retracted, his fingers slowly loosening, as if nothing had happened.
After about ten seconds, someone shouted it out first.
"We won! Lin Chen won!"
Then the whole square erupted. Applause, whistles, and cheers mingled together, shaking the clouds in the sky.
"That's incredible! A mid-stage Meridian Opening Realm cultivator crushed a late-stage one-punch!"
"Qin Hao is so arrogant, he deserves it!"
"I told you Lin Chen would win! Who just said they wanted to bet?"