Seven days later, at the Star Duel Arena.
Su Xi took a deep breath and stepped forward.
It was impossible not to feel nervous. After all, before this, she was just a fragile college student. Who would have thought that in just a few months, she would step onto a stage where victory was determined purely by martial prowess?
Her opponent also stepped up. He wasn’t particularly tall or imposing; instead, he was unexpectedly thin and lanky, resembling a bamboo pole. However, his eyes carried a shadowy gloom, and they darted around when he looked at people, making others feel uneasy.
He glanced her up and down, his gaze clearly tinged with disdain.
Instantly, Su Xi raised her guard to the highest level. Just as she expected him to utter some harsh words first, he simply raised a hand and summoned several thorny vines, attacking her head-on.
Well, in a real battle, who had time for idle talk?
Su Xi’s heart tightened. She quickly dodged to the side, her mind racing through the opponent’s information: Xiao Ren, a third-year student of the Elemental System, a Wood Element Affinity User, skilled in summoning vines for long-range attacks.
Although she was fragile, the super-speed reflexes she had honed from walking dogs allowed her to successfully evade the attack. But the next strike was already upon her. She leaped and twisted to the side, beginning a frantic sprint across the arena.
She knew full well that she absolutely could not be entangled by those vines. Once restrained, she would surely lose. The arena was spacious, and the best strategy was to evade the attacks and exhaust the opponent’s Transcendent Ability. Summoning vines also took time, so there was still a chance.
However, Xiao Ren clearly saw through her plan. After more than a dozen attacks missed, his face darkened. Suddenly, he raised both hands, energy surging around him. In the next moment, his originally pale arms began to wither and elongate, transforming into the appearance of tree trunks. His fingers turned into green vines that extended outward, whipping toward her at an incredible speed.
Unlike the previous vines, these transformed from his arms were lightning-fast, lashing toward her like whips. Even the rows of sharp thorns on them were visible, ready to pierce her like nails.
“Mibao!” The five little ones in the stands stood up nervously, almost rushing onto the stage.
Su Xi simply couldn’t dodge such an attack. Just as she was about to be riddled with holes by the vines, two sharp swish sounds rang out, as if a cold light had flashed.
“Ah!” A cry of pain echoed from the stage, but it didn’t come from Su Xi—it came from Xiao Ren on the opposite side.
Su Xi stood still, her right hand forming two fingers together in a slashing gesture. A faint cold light seemed to flicker at her fingertips, and the ferocious vines were instantly severed from their ends, as if cut off by something in an instant.
“What was that?” The little companions in the stands were stunned.
“It should be her Transcendent Ability,” Captain Lyu said uncertainly.
Indeed, this was the method Su Xi had grasped over the past few days from the image Zhao Heng had given her. It allowed her to temporarily channel the Divine Power within her body to her fingertips. She had originally intended to condense it into a sword, but despite her efforts, she could only force out a wisp of Divine Power. Unexpectedly, however, it turned out to be sharper than any weapon.
“What kind of Transcendent ability is this?” Xiao Ren was equally shocked, his two hands transformed into vines crossing in a defensive gesture, his face pale with pain. Clearly, while those vines moved faster, they were still connected to his nerves, naturally causing pain. “Impossible! You’re just a first-year!”
His expression was one of disbelief, bordering on madness, as he raised his hands and summoned more vines to attack. In an instant, the entire arena was covered in green tendrils.
Su Xi didn’t hold back either. She formed her fingers into a sword and began slashing wildly. Wherever her hands went, the wrist-thick vines snapped like harvested chives, falling in clusters.
She no longer dodged, instead advancing toward him while cutting through the vines. The closer she got, the shorter the vines became.
“No! You can’t be a first-year!” Xiao Ren panicked, desperately sprouting more vines to block her path. Seeing that they still couldn’t stop her, his eyes turned fierce, and a surge of energy dozens of times stronger than before erupted from his body. “I can’t lose!”
Su Xi felt the ground shake violently as the entire Star Duel Arena began to tremble. A wild, overwhelming force swept outward, forcing spectators in the stands to lean back.
The referee teacher, who had been sitting idly by, suddenly paled and shouted, “Xiao Ren! Stop!” Was he insane? Not only was he using third-level power, but he was unleashing all his energy at once—and against a first-year student!
He tried to intervene, but it was too late.
A deafening crash echoed through the arena.
The Star Duel Arena split open, and a massive, tree-like vine burst from the ground. Thorns and vines surged like a tsunami from beneath, indiscriminately sweeping toward the students in the stands.
Su Xi felt a sharp pain in her foot as something yanked her backward. Losing her balance, she fell, and a tremendous force slammed into her, widening the gap between her and Xiao Ren once more. Just as she was about to be thrown aside, she gritted her teeth and transformed her Divine Sense into light, directing it straight into his Consciousness Sea.
In the next moment, she saw a colossal, tree-thick vine crashing down toward her. A vast shadow engulfed everything, as if it would crush her into pulp in an instant. The protective barriers around the Star Duel Arena shattered, and countless thorny vines surged toward the stands.
It’s over!
Su Xi was terrified, but just as the giant vine was about to smash down, it suddenly halted. The next moment, as if losing its support, it crumbled into sand and dissipated. Within moments, all the thorny vines vanished as if they had never existed.
She breathed a sigh of relief. Success!
“Student Su Xi!” The referee teacher rushed over, helping her up anxiously. “Are you alright?”
“…I’m fine,” she shook her head. Aside from tripping and falling earlier, she wasn’t injured.
The teacher sighed in relief, then turned angrily toward the rule-breaker, only to find him lying on the ground. “Student Xiao Ren, you violated the rules… Huh? Student Xiao Ren… Student Xiao Ren!” He nudged him but got no response. His expression changed. “Damn! Could it be a backlash? Quick, take him to the infirmary!”
The scene immediately descended into even greater chaos. It wasn’t until the referee teacher escorted Xiao Ren out of the arena that the friends in the stands finally reacted.
“We… we won! Ahhh!” Cheers erupted from all around. At first, it was only Niuniu and a few others, but the voices grew louder and louder until all the Conceptual System classmates who had come to watch joined in the celebration.
Su Xi also let out a heavy sigh of relief. As she had guessed, Transcendent Abilities originate from the Consciousness Sea. As long as the Consciousness Sea is blocked, Transcendent Abilities become ineffective. And just now, when Xiao Ren suddenly erupted with the intent to kill, she had done more than just block it in her haste.
Sure enough, on the third day, news came from the Elemental System side.
Xiao Ren was crippled!