“That’s it?”
“What the heck, I was so looking forward to this.”
“These two didn’t even fight and it’s over.”
“Even if the opponent is a beauty, Liu Mu Ming can’t go easy like this.”
Judging by Liu Mu Ming’s reaction, this young master seemed to know Bai Ting.
Liu Mu Ming, who had walked off the stage, naturally saw Xin Ci. He didn’t care about the outcome of the match at all, and with a grin, he hooked his arm around Xin Ci’s shoulder.
With his left hand, he pulled out another fruit from who knows where and took a bite.
“Hey, brother, I didn’t expect you to come watch my match. I consider you a friend now.”
This guy was truly an instant acquaintance. Xin Ci asked, “Brother Liu Mu, why did you stop the fight with Bai Ting just now?”
Liu Mu Ming looked a bit embarrassed, “Well, how should I put this? That person is… my fiancée, you could say.”
As soon as these words were spoken, it immediately caused an uproar among the surrounding crowd.
What the heck?
Are you two playing with us?
Never mind that we didn’t get to see a fight, now you have to tease us single dogs!
“It’s just a fiancée my family decided on without consulting me. I don’t even like her. I thought I could live a free life by secretly running away from home, but I never expected that woman to chase me all the way to the Four Symbols Academy. Sigh…” Liu Mu Ming continued to explain.
“I see.”
However, Xin Ci was still slightly surprised. Judging by Liu Mu Ming’s demeanor, he didn’t seem to be very interested in academy points or high-grade spiritual martial arts.
Even becoming a student of the Four Symbols Academy seemed to be driven by mere interest.
Xin Ci deduced from this that the identities of Liu Mu Ming and Bai Ting were definitely not simple.
But he didn’t dwell on it, as his next match was about to begin.
After the previous round of matches, the top sixteen were mostly decided.
Except for Liu Mu Ming, who intentionally forfeited, all the other popular contenders were among them.
However, what made Xin Ci’s expression solemn was that in this match, he actually encountered one of the five prodigies, Ao Li.
“Xin Ci’s good luck has finally run out. He actually met Ao Li.”
“Indeed. Ao Li comes from a Battle King family, specializing in close-quarters combat. His formidable physical strength, combined with the unique Battle King Art, makes his physical defense the strongest among everyone here.”
“It’s likely that Xin Ci’s skills won’t be able to break through Ao Li’s defense.”
The spectators below shook their heads repeatedly, not optimistic about Xin Ci. Even Ao Li himself thought so.
“Becoming a student of the Four Symbols Academy is already very good for you. One shouldn’t be too greedy. You should step down yourself.”
Ao Li stood on the stage, arms crossed, not even looking at Xin Ci.
Xin Ci calmly replied, “Rather than empty words, I prefer to settle it with action.”
“Fine, then don’t blame me for being ruthless with my fists.”
Ao Li suddenly burst forward, instantly appearing before Xin Ci, intending to engage in close combat.
A sweeping leg kick came from the left, but it was blocked by Xin Ci with one hand.
“Huh, Xin Ci actually blocked Ao Li’s attack!”
“This is truly unexpected. I thought he would lose in one move.”
“It seems Xin Ci’s true strength has yet to be revealed.”
The spectators were utterly surprised and started discussing below.
“Oh, I didn’t expect you to have trained your body too.”
Ao Li was slightly surprised. Although he hadn’t used his full strength, his power, honed through years of body tempering, was not something an ordinary Yellow Realm expert could block with one hand.
The reason Xin Ci blocked Ao Li’s attack head-on was to gauge Ao Li’s strength and to calculate that he wouldn’t use his full power on the first move.
However, he had already reached a conclusion: in terms of sheer physical strength, he was no match for Ao Li.
Even though his body had been tempered by the Earth Spirit Milk and supplemented by the Golden Spirit Fruit, his physical strength was at most around three thousand jin.
Just blocking that kick, Xin Ci had already pushed his physical strength to its limit.
“In that move just now, Ao Li should have only used half of his strength. If he was holding back, perhaps only a third.”
Xin Ci deduced inwardly.
“Again!”
Ao Li couldn’t suppress his fighting spirit. Thinking that Xin Ci was also a body-refining expert made him even more excited.
However, Xin Ci was no fool. Knowing that his cultivation and physical strength were inferior to Ao Li’s, he naturally wouldn’t choose to clash head-on.
His only advantage was his vast spiritual energy, which was in no way inferior to that of a peak late-stage Yellow Realm cultivator.
He immediately used the Eight Evasive Transformations to dodge Ao Li’s punches and kicks.
At the same time, he used his movement technique to attack from multiple directions with his Ten Finger Bone Swords.
The power of a spiritual-grade martial art could not be easily defended against by mere physical strength.
But Ao Li was no pushover either. He clashed his fists in front of his chest, and a light green shield appeared around him.
It blocked all the sword qi from Xin Ci’s fingers and he boasted proudly, “How about that? The Pure Green Qi Shield of my Battle King family is a mid-grade spiritual martial art. No one below the Profound Realm can break it!”
As expected of one of the Five Prodigies, he was indeed not easy to deal with.
However, Xin Ci continued to unleash his Ten Finger Bone Swords. Each sword qi that struck Ao Li’s Pure Green Qi Shield only caused a slight ripple.
“It’s useless. I told you, no one below the Profound Realm…”
But before Ao Li could finish speaking, five silver chains with pointed cross-shaped tips suddenly emerged from the ground, directly piercing and shattering Ao Li’s Pure Green Qi Shield.
Judgment of Five Forms — Earth Roar Form.
Xin Ci had finally revealed his spiritual artifact.
“What, Xin Ci also has a spiritual artifact!”
“And ordinary low-grade spiritual artifacts can’t break Ao Li’s Pure Green Qi Shield. Could it be… Xin Ci’s chains are a mid-grade spiritual artifact?”
“A mid-grade spiritual artifact! Even the Profound Realm doesn’t necessarily possess one. It’s a treasure worth several thousand low-grade spirit stones!”
“No wonder it could break Ao Li’s Pure Green Qi Shield.”
Ao Li was unconvinced, “It’s just a mid-grade spiritual artifact, what’s so surprising about it.”
As someone from the Battle King family, he lacked nothing. He also possessed a mid-grade spiritual artifact.
But unfortunately, he had been too arrogant at first and didn’t take that mid-grade spiritual artifact out of his spatial ring.
Now, he was entangled by Xin Ci’s chains and couldn’t move.
Xin Ci gave him no opportunity. He gripped the chains tightly, yanked hard, and directly threw Ao Li off the stage.
Even with his great strength, Ao Li couldn’t break free from the cross-shaped chains and could only fall to the ground in frustration.
Ao Li was filled with resentment. He had lost just like that.
It was truly embarrassing. However, as a member of the Battle King family, he naturally wouldn’t resort to sneak attacks like Young Master Yu Xiao.
He simply snorted in displeasure and left the scene.
For a moment, everyone seemed to have lost their voices, stunned into silence.
“Did I see that correctly? Xin Ci won?!”
“Ao Li, one of the Five Prodigies, actually lost!”
“Heh heh, as expected of the male protagonist. It looks like he still has a good chance of winning first place.”
Mu Qing Qing rejoiced for Xin Ci in her consciousness space. If things continued like this, completing the original plot and winning first place should not be a problem.
However, Xin Ci couldn’t feel happy, because the strength of the Five Prodigies had exceeded his budget.