CHAPTER 130: THE FIRST SEMIFINALISTS

Chapter 130: the first semifinalists

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Zhu Rong too had decided to hurry up and finish his duel, so as soon as the match started, he also went on the attack.

This surprised everyone a bit, both the audience and his opponent, since they had noticed that in almost all his previous fights Zhu Rong had always stayed still, waiting for his opponent to make the first move.

Yet this time, he chose to attack first.

That said, even if unexpected, his opponent was still a senior student, and as such, he wasn’t lacking battle experience. So he put aside his surprise and without wasting any time, he unleashed a storm of Qi from his dantian that coursed through his body, and soon a fiery aura surrounded him.

Zhu Rong was fast, and in an instant, he had already reached his opponent, ready to strike.

"Don’t even think about it," said his opponent, while swirling the fire Qi around himself, suddenly creating a blazing sphere of flames that enveloped both him and his opponent.

’You may have reached the third stage, but there’s no way you’ll come out unscathed against my flames,’ the third year thought, excitement flashing in his eyes.

He had already thought of several ways to lure Zhu Rong innto his dome of fire, an attack that not only protected him from outside assaults but could also strike back at the enemy, engulfing them inside.

This was the fastest method he could think of to deal serious damage to his opponent, while defending and attacking at the same time.

With a light push backward, he left the dome, and at the same time closed his hand, suddenly shrinking it.

This wouldn’t just trap his opponent, it would strike him from all directions, injuring him badly. And indeed, as the sphere quickly shrank, it exploded, sending small waves of energy everywhere.

But as soon as they reached the edge of the arena, they were contained by an invisible barrier. Even the judge, standing at the edge of the stage, didn’t seem to be affected.

A small cloud of dust rose up, but it soon began to fade. Seeing this, the third year, who had already taken some distance, prepared to strike again immediately.

Although the attack had struck his opponent head on and hurt him, it surely wasn’t enough to knock him out. So he had to act fast to deliver the finishing blow.

Without wasting time, he gathered his Qi into a single point in mid-air, which began to shine and soon grew until it became what looked like a sword of flame.

But that wasn’t all. Soon more glowing points appeared around him, and five more flame swords took shape. All this in less than ten seconds.

As soon as he saw the dust almost fully cleared, he didn’t waste another moment. With two fingers stretched forward, he commanded the six flying flame swords to slash out all at once.

Swish.

Like arrows shot at high speed, they all shot toward the same point, the spot where his opponent was supposed to be. Even if Zhu Rong had moved, the impact of the swords would still hit him.

It was impossible to dodge completely, so the third year didn’t bother to pinpoint Zhu Rong’s exact location. He simply attacked without hesitation.

"Heh, did you really think I’d let you get close to me so easily? I’m not as careless as the other two you fought," he said with a wide grin as he watched the blast caused by the swords striking their target.

Boom!

Another wave of energy spread out, this one clearly stronger. But despite that, neither the judge nor the audience seemed shaken.

In fact, no one was even looking at the spot where the swords had landed. Instead, all their attention was fixed elsewhere,

more precisely, on him.

Hm?

The third year sensed that something was off.

Why were they all staring at him?

But then he realized their attention wasn’t exactly on him, but slightly to the side.

He slowly turned his head, and his eyes went wide open as he nearly screamed.

he nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw who was next to him.

But he didn’t have time to finish the sentence. The next moment, the sound of a slap echoed in the arena, and he was sent flying out, unconscious.

"He sure was enjoying himself attacking that empty spot," Zhu Rong muttered, glancing at the scorched and destroyed area of the arena, left behind by the senior student’s attacks.

The referee could only shake his head, sighing as if he had expected such an outcome before announcing the winner.

"The winner of the duel is Zhu Rong!"

And so, barely a minute since the battles had begun, there were already two winners, and of course, they were none other than Zhu Rong and Li Duoji.

The latter, who had managed to witness the end of Zhu Rong’s fight, had a serious expression as he remembered Zhu Rong’s rapid movements.

He had observed carefully the point where the third year student had created his flame swords, launching them toward the previous explosion.

He vaguely noticed that Zhu Rong had appeared right next to his opponent, but how he had moved there from the middle of the explosion was something he couldn’t figure out.

And that detail left him a bit unsettled.

So, with the other two battles still ongoing, Zhu Rong and Li Duoji stepped off the stage and waited in the waiting area for the remaining matches to end.

It didn’t take long. Barely five minutes later, Wang Fuyun, who had been quite lucky to get this far,

surrendered after exchanging a few blows with his opponent.

Being a second year, there was no way he could last long against a third year. And seeing he was already on the path to defeat, he chose to withdraw voluntarily.

Better that than being taken away by the medics, right?

Reaching this far was more than enough for him, and he honestly didn’t care about the rest of the tournament anymore.

He might not secure a spot in the expedition team to the secret realm, but he had already made a name for himself, and that was more than enough.

As he left the stage, he glanced at the cheering crowd, some even shouting his name.

Seeing that, he couldn’t help but feel moved.

"Ah, now this is what I was talking about.

They love me."

Seeing him standing there with his arms wide open like an idiot, Yao Jianbo, who had been his opponent, didn’t even know what expression to make.

"Haaa, at least the next battle will be more interesting," he muttered, turning his gaze to the arena next to him, already knowing who he would be fighting.