Captain Lyu and the others were also very anxious when they heard she had been challenged to a duel. Niuniu even wished he could fight in her place.
“If it really comes down to it, just admit defeat,” Jamie couldn’t help but say.
“No!” Captain Lyu shook his head in disagreement. “I’ve checked the rules of the Star Arena duel. Victory or defeat is tied to the civilizations behind us. If we surrender without a fight, we have to pay a price satisfactory to the other party.”
“What?” Jamie was shocked, his eyes wide with disbelief. “We can’t even surrender? Do we really have to let Mibao get beaten up by the other side?”
“This is too much!” Niuniu also said angrily. “Mibao just awakened and isn’t even considered first level, while the opponent’s Transcendent is already third level. How is she supposed to fight?”
“Maybe…” Even Aunt Wang looked worried, clenching her fist as she suggested, “We could go ambush him and beat him up beforehand so he can’t participate.”
“That’s going too far,” Su Xi quickly waved her hands. All of them together wouldn’t be enough to take him on.
“That person is clearly doing this on purpose, not just because of the compensation for the last invasion, but also to probe our true strength,” Gu Mingjie adjusted his glasses as he analyzed.
The others were stunned. What did he mean?
“I’ve found some interesting things these past few days,” Gu Mingjie glanced at them. “I discovered that Cinderleaf Planet seems to have been interacting closely with another second-level civilization planet, Han Lingxing. Not only is Han Lingxing a second-level civilization, but the planet is also blessed by the Snowstorm Goddess, who is also an Ancient God.”
“Are they planning to join forces to invade Earth again?” Captain Lyu immediately tensed up.
“Not exactly,” Gu Mingjie shook his head. “But there will definitely be covert targeting. This challenge is just the beginning, probably to probe our strength and see the abilities of us Transcendents.”
The deity of Earth is still a mystery. No one knows what kind of deity it is, and as Earth’s Transcendents, our power comes from the deity. The other side wants to gauge the strength of the deity behind us by testing our abilities. The Transcendent from Cinderleaf Planet is just a pawn.
After discussing for a long time, they realized there really was no other way besides accepting the challenge. The key point was that although this move by the opponent was shameless, it didn’t violate school rules.
Su Xi felt a little nervous inside, but she wasn’t completely without a plan. After all, she hadn’t been attending school all these days for nothing. Although she still didn’t know how to harness the Divine Power within her body, influenced by the school’s development of Transcendents, she had figured out some methods.
It is known that only by breaking the seal in the Consciousness Sea can one awaken as a Transcendent. Does this mean that Transcendent power is an extension of the Consciousness Sea? If one directly targets the Consciousness Sea, they can cut off Transcendent power at its source.
Moreover, through practice, she could now forcibly enter the Consciousness Sea without deep Meditation. Although the duration wasn’t very long, it was enough to take some measures.
If she could help others awaken as Transcendents, she could also block Transcendent power. She could construct a temporary barrier to shield the opponent’s superpowers. Without the power of the Consciousness Sea, the opponent would temporarily become an ordinary person, similar to sealing internal energy in martial arts novels.
However, Su Xi currently hadn’t yet grasped the proper measure for entering the Consciousness Sea, especially in such a hasty situation during a duel. She truly lacked the confidence to succeed on the first try. She always felt that the Consciousness Sea was such an important place—if she were truly careless, it could lead to terrifying consequences, ones even she might not be able to control.
Just as she was pondering how to practice, the Intellect-Brain suddenly chimed.
Looking down, she was surprised to see that it was the arrogant Wang Zhao calling. She answered with some astonishment, and the next moment, his projection appeared before her.
“I heard you received a challenge from the Star Duel Arena!” he said straight to the point. “And from a third-year student.”
“Yes,” Su Xi replied, surprised that he would pay attention to such matters.
Zhao Heng seemed to recognize the seriousness of the situation as well, frowning slightly. “Don’t worry, I’ve already applied to the academy for a level restriction. When the time comes, your opponent’s abilities will be suppressed back to first-level Transcendent.”
Su Xi’s eyes lit up. It could be done like this!
“Really? Thank you!”
“Don’t celebrate too soon!” Zhao Heng looked even more worried than she did. “Even though it’s first-level, it’s still peak first-level. It’s not something you new first-year rookies can compare to.”
“That’s still better than fighting a third-year. It’s already good enough,” Su Xi said, feeling a surge of confidence.
“Good enough, my ass,” Zhao Heng’s expression darkened further, his tone growing anxious. “Do you even know what the Star Duel Arena is? No one comes down from there unscathed. Injuries are common, and losing limbs isn’t rare either.”
“…” So serious.
“Are the people from the Elemental System idiots? Challenging a rookie like you—aren’t they afraid of being laughed at?” He grew increasingly agitated, roughly running his hands through his hair, instantly turning his golden locks into a messy nest. Gone was the usual refined, noble demeanor of the arrogant prince. “The Divine Grace Day holiday is coming up soon. What if you get injured and can’t return to Qiping Star?”
“…” So it was all about the awakening.
He paced back and forth anxiously for a while, then glanced at her again. Finally, as if deciding something, he gritted his teeth and said, “Your strength is too weak. I’ll send you something in a moment that might help. But this is my family’s secret technique—it must not be leaked. Remember, don’t let anyone else see it, understand?”
“What?” Su Xi was taken aback, about to ask for details, but he abruptly ended the call with a click.
She was utterly confused. Not long after, the Intellect-Brain chimed again, indicating something had been transmitted. Opening it, she found a yellowish image covered in strange patterns that resembled some kind of script. Almost as soon as she saw the images, something surged into her mind.
Su Xi was startled and tried to examine it more closely, but the image flickered once before automatically retracting and deleting itself.
What did this mean? Had he changed his mind?
She was baffled by this abrupt and confusing sequence of events, unable to grasp Zhao Heng’s intentions. Yet, the content of the strange image inexplicably stuck in her memory.
Compelled, she focused her mind, recalling the information she had received. Only then did she realize it was actually an introduction to breath regulation and energy circulation, including how to guide and utilize the energy of the Consciousness Sea, circulating it through various acupoints and completing cycles, and so on.
Almost instinctively, Su Xi guided the Divine Power within her Consciousness Sea to circulate along a specific pathway. At first, she felt a significant resistance, but after completing one full cycle, it was as if a crucial blockage had been cleared, and the flow grew increasingly smooth. By the end, she no longer needed to guide it—the Divine Power began circulating on its own within her body.
Su Xi couldn’t help but immerse herself in the process. Unconsciously, the few slender strands of Divine Power in her Consciousness Sea had grown noticeably thicker.
What was happening?!
Could that have been a legendary Divine-level cultivation technique? The kind even gods could use?
She was instantly overwhelmed with joy. Although she had learned many techniques for utilizing Transcendent Abilities in class, none of them had been effective. Not only had they failed to strengthen her Divine Power, but she couldn’t even mobilize it properly. She had even searched the information database for obscure and unconventional techniques, but none had yielded results.
For a while, she had thought Divine Power couldn’t be cultivated at all. Was it simply a matter of using the wrong technique?
This was perfect. With this, she felt much more confident about the upcoming duel at the Star Duel Arena in a few days.