Chapter 40: Dominance
At 1:30, as the teachers took their seats, the list of two hundred people who had advanced appeared on the large screens. Chen Chu drew his attention back from the well-fed and satisfied armored beast.
"Yep, I didn’t advance. I'm so unlucky," Xia Youhui wailed when he didn’t see his name on the screen.
As a genius who built his foundation within a week, he would probably be the only one who didn't advance.
After all, even Li Wenwen had advanced to the second round with good luck. Chen Chu's gaze swept across, and he quickly found his name in the first row, a smile appearing on his face.
"All those who have advanced, enter the arena. The second round begins. Remember, do not use unnecessary force."
With Lin Xiong, the homeroom teacher of Class One, giving out instructions, all of the students who had made it onto the list stood up from the spectator seats, armed themselves, and entered the arena one by one.
After Lin Xue and the others went down, Chen Chu also stood up, slinging his straight saber over his shoulder. Luo Fei gestured to him for encouragement, her eyes smiling. "Come on, Chen Chu, strive to bring back a spot in the top fifty."
Chen Chu turned around and smiled at her, while Xia Youhui beside him looked somewhat bewildered.
What's going on? Where did they get the confidence that he’ll break into the top fifty?
When Chen Chu arrived on the arena floor, many people who couldn’t wait had already jumped up onto the fifty platforms.
According to the rules, those who consecutively won four matches on the platform were considered to have successfully defended their position and could choose not to accept further challenges. If they did, the opponents remaining later on might have become stronger.
"Class Fifteen, Zhang Hong, who will challenge me?"
"Class Four, Li Tianyao, who wants to step up and challenge?"
"Me. Zhang Zilin from Class Nine..."
Chen Chu didn't rush onto a platform. Instead, he turned his head towards the distant first platform, where a girl in a black windbreaker, with long hair tied into a ponytail, stood sideways.
While others were eager to issue challenges on the other platforms, no one stepped up on the first, as if it were an invisible restricted area.
"Is that An Fuqing from Class One?" Chen Chu gave the girl a good look, then turned to walk towards the forty-ninth platform.
On the second platform, a boy carrying a pillar displayed a formidable aura. With a single strike, he sent a classmate and their weapon flying, radiating an astonishing sense of oppression from his entire body.
Passing by the tenth platform, he saw Lin Xue standing on it, engaged in a fierce battle with a boy wielding dual-bladed knives. The intensity of their fight was palpable.
On the twenty-ninth platform, Yi Rui was evenly matched with a boy in their fight.
On the thirty-fourth platform, Li Meng, who had been defeated by Chen Chu earlier, swung his heavy hammer. With thirteen consecutive strikes, he blasted a boy off the platform, a wild grin appearing on his face.
But he hadn't enjoyed his triumph for long when he saw Chen Chu walking over from nearby. Instantly, the smile on his face froze.
Fortunately, Chen Chu just gave him a casual glance and, under Li Meng's somewhat nervous gaze, walked away towards the rear.
"Good thing that guy didn't come to challenge me. He scares me to death." Li Meng patted his chest.
When Chen Chu arrived at the forty-ninth platform, there were already two boys sparring on it. Seeing this, he stopped in his tracks and joined several surrounding classmates in watching.
Those who could enter the top two hundred were all quite strong. Every time the two collided, powerful impacts burst forth, causing a shower of sparks from their weapons. The shockwaves from the collisions resonated in the air with a buzzing sound.
Boom!
After about twenty exchanges, the boy with a slight disadvantage in skills was kicked off the platform with a single blow.
"I concede."
On the forty-ninth platform, the boy with a crew cut wore a triumphant smile on his face. After surveying the surroundings, he shouted, "Anyone else want to come up?"
With only two hundred students trying to advance to the top fifty, there weren't many people around each platform. Those not participating in the matches sat in the spectator seats.
The students around these platforms watched closely, comparing their own strengths and contemplating which platform would be most suitable for a challenge. After all, each person only had one chance.
"I'll go."
Just as a student nearby was eager to step forward, Chen Chu directly leaped onto the two-meter-high platform. The boy with the crew cut immediately had a slightly frozen expression.
From this handsome-looking young man, he inexplicably felt a faint sense of oppression.
The boy fell silent for a moment and then introduced himself, "Class Thirty-seven, Zhang Yiming."
"Class Three, Chen Chu."
Chen Chu drew his two-meter-long straight saber from behind him. Zhang Yiming did not dare to be careless; he circulated his vitality, and a powerful aura enveloped him.
When Chen Chu had jumped onto the forty-ninth platform, Luo Fei's gaze shifted in his direction. Xia Youhui also looked over, and with a thoughtful expression, he asked, "Luo Fei, come clean, is there something the two of you are keeping from me?"
She revealed a hint of a smile. "You'll see for yourself."
"..." Xia Youhui was speechless.
Zhang Yiming let out a low shout. His figure shot forward, covering four meters in the blink of an eye. He appeared in front of Chen Chu, gripping his saber with both hands and bringing it down in a slashing motion.
The snow-white blade tore through the air, emitting a sharp whistle. It was like a streak of white light descending from the sky, and it's wind was so intense that it even stung Chen Chu's face.
Clang!
Sparks flew.
Chen Chu, with a single, one-handed horizontal motion of his saber, effortlessly blocked Zhang Yiming's full-force slash. His figure didn't sway at all, completely disregarding the impact force of the attack.
This made Zhang Yiming's face darken, and the gazes of several students watching below also slightly intensified. This meant that Chen Chu surpassed Zhang Yiming by a considerable margin in absolute strength.
A surging burst of vitality exploded within Chen Chu. All of the muscles in his body swelled up, and in an instant, he was charging forward, resembling a giant elephant.
Clang!
With a flick of Chen Chu's wrist, an astonishing force erupted, directly pushing Zhang Yiming back several steps.
Chen Chu stepped forward and slashed. Instantly, the ear-piercing howl of the raging wind exploded in Zhang Yiming's ears, and the intense aura of death caused every hair on his body to stand on end.
Clang!
Zhang Yiming held his saber with both hands in front of him, and sparks flew instantly.
Under the violent force, Zhang Yiming was directly pushed back several more steps by the forceful slash. Before he could react, the sharp howl of the wind resounded once again.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Without any unnecessary movements, Chen Chu simply wielded his saber horizontally, then vertically, followed by another horizontal slash. Each strike was frighteningly fast, carrying an impact force of over a thousand kilograms.
Under such terrifying force, Zhang Yiming couldn't resist at all, even though he practiced high-level arts.
In just four strikes, Zhang Yiming was forcefully slashed off the platform by Chen Chu. His arms trembled, his muscles ached, and he could barely hold onto his weapon.
"I concede."
On the platform, Chen Chu slowly sheathed his straight saber. His exceptionally handsome face displayed a gentle smile, completely concealing the dominant and fierce demeanor he had just exhibited.
"I... lost," Zhang Yiming said with a hint of bitterness.
Soon after confirming that Chen Chu wasn't taking a break, a second student jumped onto the forty-ninth platform.
"Class Fifteen, Liu Huang."
"Chen Chu from Class Three, watch out."
Roar!
Accompanied by the faint roar of an enraged elephant, Chen Chu surged forward with overwhelming force, and his two-meter-long straight saber tore through the air with a piercing howl, slashing horizontally.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Chen Chu executed three consecutive slashes, sending the newcomer named Liu Huang off the platform. The atmosphere was filled with a sense of oppression.
Suddenly, his surroundings fell silent.
For true martial artists, the First Heavenly Realm was still part of the Foundation Building stage. Therefore, these matches were quite monotonous and dull, revolving around the competition of strength and speed.
It was only when the strengths of both sides were evenly matched that the clash would involve exquisite arts and combat tactics.
With Chen Chu's current strength, he didn't even need to use saber arts against opponents who hadn't reached the limit of the First Heavenly Realm. He could dominate solely through absolute power and speed.
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