Revelation of the Way of Heaven

"She's really pretty." Gao Yiping glanced at Xia Ruoyi. "She's almost as beautiful as the new campus belle of our medical department. This kid really has guts. Speaking of which, you should learn from that. I'm telling you, since you like the new campus belle of our department, you should hurry up and make your move, or you'll regret it if someone else beats you to it." As he spoke, Gao Yiping couldn't help but laugh.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiao said awkwardly, "My situation is different from his. Don't underestimate Guo Xuemei just because she's young. She's very arrogant. She even refused when our student council president invited her to dinner. I don't think I have much of a chance."

"You can't say that. You only know some things by trying them. Like that guy from the archaeology department you mentioned, his background is worlds apart from that girl's, but he still dared to pursue her."

"And what was the result?" Zhang Xiao asked him.

"And the result?" Gao Yiping looked at Zhang Xiao. "The result, of course, was that he brought shame upon himself, haha." As he said this, the two of them couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Holy crap, that joke is fucking hilarious." Zhang Xiao was doubled over laughing.

Hearing their voices, he could only curse them as "two idiots" in his heart, but he couldn't help but glance at Xia Ruoyi, whose gaze remained fixed on the competition field.

He couldn't help but wonder if she chose Su Chen simply to spite him.

Next up were Han Dong, with a spiritual power level of 5, and Huo Jian, with a spiritual power level of 4. The result was not surprising at all. As the top student in the second year, Han Dong knocked Huo Jian to the ground with a "Water Dragon Dance" skill in just over ten minutes.

"Next up is the third match, Qin Xiaochuan, a first-year student from the Archaeology Department, versus Su Chen, a second-year student from the Medical Department." Jin Qiu's voice rang out again from the competition venue.

Qin Xiaochuan clenched his fist tightly. It was finally his turn! He couldn't help but look towards Xia Ruoyi, but she wasn't looking in their direction. A girl next to her kept pointing at Su Chen and talking to her, but she never turned around.

Although he couldn't see her expression, Qin Xiaochuan knew from her constantly rubbing hands that she must be very nervous.

"Go Xiao Chuan!" Qin Xiao Chuan had just stepped onto the field when he heard a shout from Ma Qichao and Gao Xiang. It was actually a dozen of them shouting together. However, their numbers were too small, and they looked lonely among the countless onlookers. Not only did they not make a difference, but they also looked a bit ridiculous.

"Haha." Sure enough, a burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.

Qin Xiaochuan felt that this was probably the least dignified match since the start of the competition.

"What's wrong with these people? Why are there so few of them here to cheer us on?"

"Don't you know? They are majoring in ancient mythology in the archaeology department. There are only 15 people in their major."

"I see. Wasn't the elective requirements for the Department of Spiritual Studies supposed to be very high? How come there are even people majoring in Ancient Mythology here?"

"Who knows? Maybe it's just luck. But since his opponent is Su Chen, he probably doesn't have much of a chance of winning."

"Yeah, after all, he's just a freshman, and his opponent is a famous figure in the Department of Spiritual Studies. He'll probably be instantly killed by Su Chen. This is a battle with no suspense."

A murmur arose from the audience, almost all of them favoring Su Chen. As for the medical students, they stood with their arms crossed, watching them with relaxed expressions. They didn't even cheer for Su Chen, probably thinking it wasn't necessary. In their minds, they were sure Su Chen would knock them down in just one round.

Qin Xiaochuan couldn't help but glance at Xia Ruoyi again, just in time to see her gaze quickly shift away. She had probably heard the whispers around her, and her face had turned pale with nervousness.

"Is she worried about me?" he couldn't help but wonder, but for some reason, he didn't feel particularly happy. He suddenly realized the fundamental problem between him and her.

She probably also thought he would be easily defeated by Su Chen, perhaps she never truly accepted herself. Perhaps in her eyes, he was just someone who got into Mingde University by sheer luck. Perhaps in her heart, he, who chose to study spiritual studies, was no longer the same kind of person as her, and his existence was actually just a painful choice for her.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but clench his fists tightly. Since she refused to believe him, he had no choice but to prove his strength to her face to face.

Su Chen must have noticed Xia Ruoyi's nervousness as well. A look of displeasure flashed across his face, but he quickly put on his signature smile again. "Junior Brother Qin, today I'm going to really experience your strength as a Level 3 Innate Spiritual Power. Don't disappoint me!"

"Hmph." Qin Xiaochuan sneered and said, "Don't worry, I'll definitely let you experience my strength."

"Really? Then you'd better hold on a little longer, otherwise this match won't be exciting, and I..." Su Chen paused deliberately, looking at him with a provocative expression, "...won't have a good time either."

"That's what I wanted to tell you too." Qin Xiaochuan smiled coldly and said no more; such verbal sparring was actually meaningless.

Perhaps because their opening remarks were too unusual, the referee Jin Qiu felt quite embarrassed and quickly stepped forward to interrupt them. He stood between the two and said to them, "Since you two are ready, the competition will officially begin." After saying that, he jumped back and left the arena.

As soon as Jin Qiu left the stage, Su Chen immediately began forming hand seals, appearing somewhat impatient.

"Chaotic Dance of the Wind!" Su Chen shouted coldly, and a strong wind immediately rose from the ground, carrying countless flying sand and stones towards Qin Xiaochuan.

He didn't even use a B-level skill, a C-level wind-type area-of-effect damage skill. Clearly, he didn't take Qin Xiaochuan seriously.

Since the opponent didn't use a B-level skill, Qin Xiaochuan naturally used a C-level skill to defend.

"Fire Wall." With a thought, a fire wall appeared in front of him. The area defense skill could block area damage skills, and with the wind fueling the fire, it was more than enough to block the opponent's "Wind Dance".

Sure enough, the seemingly invincible sandstorm immediately faltered before his wall of fire. He smiled smugly, thinking to himself, "You think you can take me down with such a simple trick?"

But his smugness lasted only a moment before his smile froze on his face, because in front of him, a huge, earthen-yellow fist suddenly burst through the wall of fire and struck him head-on.

The wind-type attack skill actually concealed an earth-type attack skill—critical strike. At this moment, Qin Xiaochuan realized that Su Chen was not as simple as he had imagined.

The tan fist came so fast that he didn't even have time to think before a silver shield appeared on his right arm.

"Silver Shield? I'm not seeing things, am I? This guy is actually using the D-rank skill Silver Shield to block a C-rank critical hit? Isn't that just courting death?"

He heard a murmur from the audience, and then a tan fist struck his right arm.

"Bang!" A powerful force struck him, and he was sent flying without any choice, before crashing to the ground.

"As expected, they were easily defeated." A burst of laughter erupted from the audience.

"That's to be expected. After all, he's just a freshman. Look at the skills he used just now, including a D-level silver shield. Su Chen didn't even need to use a B-level skill. I reckon he can't even stand up now."

"But this is too weak. Isn't it a bit reckless for the school to let a freshman like him sign up for this kind of competition?"

"It's not the school's fault. The school's intention is to give everyone a fair chance, and their starting point is definitely good. If anyone is to blame, it's this kid for overestimating himself."