Su Xi had never seen any of the ten people who arrived, but he could faintly see a thin mist swirling around them—that was… blood energy!
Su Xi was somewhat surprised. These people were clearly much stronger than the dozen or so muscular men from yesterday, at least students of the Transcendence Department at level three, or even level four.
Truly worthy of being the top ten in the department. But could Zhao Heng really defeat them?
Not only Su Xi, but everyone in the Conceptual System felt worried when they saw those ten people. Although Senior Zhao Heng was strong, wasn’t it risky to take on ten opponents alone?
Clearly, the ten thought the same.
“Zhao Heng!” The chief among the ten, whose blood energy was the most intense and who sported a head of red hair, stepped forward. “I admit you’re strong, but aren’t you being a bit too confident, challenging all ten of us at once? How about I give you a chance to fight me one-on-one?”
“No need,” Zhao Heng refused directly. “All of you come at me together. I’m in a hurry.”
“…” The chief’s face instantly darkened.
Zhao Heng added another line, “If I can’t finish you off in one move, I’ll count it as my loss.”
The anger of the ten exploded instantly.
“Too arrogant! Let’s see just how capable you really are!” With that, the ten wasted no time and immediately launched their attack. Four of them charged toward the left, four toward the right, while the chief and another person charged straight ahead.
At the same time, the power within them erupted, their blood energy surging several times over in an instant. Their muscles bulged, almost tearing through their school uniforms, and their speed became so fast they were like afterimages.
Just as their attacks were about to land on Zhao Heng, he suddenly tapped his toes, and his entire body soared into the air, perfectly evading their encirclement. Before their next wave of attacks could arrive, a cold gleam flashed in his hand, and a pure white longsword appeared in his grasp.
Simultaneously, a terrifying aura erupted from around him, distorting the surrounding space for a moment. Zhao Heng simply raised the longsword in his hand, and in an instant, radiant light swirled around it as he swung the sword downward toward the Star Duel Arena below.
“Falling Star!”
As soon as the words were spoken, sword light cascaded down like a torrent, carrying overwhelming force as if it could cleave through everything in the world. Even the surrounding space began to tear apart inch by inch, let alone the ten people below, who were already pinned to the ground by the sword’s pressure, unable to move, their blood energy completely dissipated.
Wait, this sword light…
Su Xi squinted for a closer look, only to see the sword light already descending. The instructors watching from the stands finally reacted, their expressions looking as if they’d seen a ghost.
“Not good!” Almost simultaneously, several figures transformed into streaks of white light and rushed into the Star Duel Arena.
Boom.
A deafening roar echoed as the Star Duel Arena, reinforced with special alloys and impervious even to artillery shells, was shattered like tofu by the sword light. The ground was carved with deep cracks several meters deep.
The entire arena was engulfed in a cloud of dust, falling into a momentary dead silence.
Everyone was stunned!
“This kid… is terrifying!” The instructors, who had barely managed to rescue the ten already unconscious students from the Star Duel Arena, couldn’t help but feel a lingering fear. Even they wouldn’t have been able to withstand such an attack. What kind of monster was this?
Su Xi was also stunned by this move. She knew Zhao Heng was strong, but she hadn’t expected him to be this strong—not only did he defeat the ten strongest students of the Transcendence Department in a single move, but he even demolished the platform.
Suddenly, someone cheered.
“Senior Zhao Heng, you’re amazing!”
The next moment, the entire arena seemed to snap out of its daze and erupted into loud cheers.
Zhao Heng landed gracefully, but he only cast a brief glance at the ten students rescued by the instructor before turning and leaving the Star Duel Arena, leaving behind nothing but a solitary, aloof figure.
Su Xi stared at the departing figure. Was it just her imagination? Something about those sword energies felt off, and that sword seemed oddly familiar, though she couldn’t quite place where she’d seen it.
Before she could think further, her wristband suddenly beeped.
Instinctively, she opened it and saw a star-shaped icon pop up, with two swords crossed on it.
What was this?
“Senior Zhao Heng is incredible, truly the best in our department. Su Xi, you… huh?” Yaya was about to pull her into the celebration when she caught sight of the icon on Su Xi’s Intellect-Brain and gasped. “Holy crap, why did you get a Star Duel challenge too?”
“Huh?” Su Xi was confused.
“That’s the Star Duel Arena’s mark!” Yaya pointed at the star icon on Su Xi’s Intellect-Brain. “Receiving this icon means someone has sent you a Star Duel challenge. Who in the world would challenge a first-year student? That’s shameless! Open it and see.”
Su Xi quickly tapped the star, and sure enough, a message popped up:
【Star Duel: Xiao Ren vs. Su Xi. Time: Nine o’clock in the morning, seven days from now. Initiator: Xiao Ren, third-year, Elemental System】
“An Elemental System student, and a third-year Transcendent.” Yaya looked worried. “Xi Xi, do you have any history with someone from the Elemental System?”
“Not at all, I don’t even know them.” Su Xi was equally baffled. She’d never even heard of this Xiao Ren. Why would they challenge her?
Wait!
Third-year?
Suddenly, she thought of something and immediately clicked on Xiao Ren’s profile. Only when she saw the person’s home planet did it click.
It was Cinderleaf Planet!
Captain Lyu had warned them earlier that there were people from Cinderleaf Planet studying at the academy. So it was this Xiao Ren. Were they trying to settle a score because their home planet suffered during the invasion?
But why her?
There were six of them. If it was about a challenge, they should’ve chosen Niuniu—she was the first to awaken, a top student in the Elemental System, and someone the instructors paid special attention to. If they wanted to pick the weakest, Jamie and Gu Mingjie hadn’t fully awakened yet and were still in the outer academy.
Yet they specifically chose her, the middle ground.
“This is too much. I’ve never seen anyone challenge a first-year student before,” Yaya fumed.
“No one challenges first-year students?”
“Of course not!” she nodded emphatically. “First-year students have just awakened—what Transcendent Abilities could they possibly have? At the very least, they should wait a year until they’ve truly mastered their abilities. Even though the school rules don’t forbid it, it’s an unspoken understanding.”
“What about the outer academy?”
“The outer academy?” She paused, then shook her head immediately. “That’s even more impossible. Technically, outer academy students aren’t considered real students—they can’t even issue challenges.”
“I see.” No wonder they chose her. Among those who had awakened, there were only Niuniu, Captain Lyu, and herself. Did the other party pick her as the easy target because she had entered the Conceptual System?
But she… really was an easy target. What should she do?
(╥╯^╰╥)
Although she was a deity, she only held an empty Divine Seat. In reality, apart from the sphere in her Consciousness Sea, she had no other abilities whatsoever.
Unless…