Chapter 130 - 130 Competing to Challenge (2)
Chapter 130 Competing to Challenge (2)
Not everyone had Lin Shen’s astonishing talent and could receive Master Si’s protection.
If one offended Yan Xing, their life in the academy wouldn’t become very difficult.
Seeing everyone’s angry expressions, Yan Xing snorted with disdain. He immediately turned to look at Duan Hao and Cheng Xipeng.
Among the challengers on the stage, only Duan Hao and Cheng Xipeng could make him slightly apprehensive.
Although the two of them came from the ten preeminent families, they had connections with the Xue family and the Chong family, respectively. If they really wanted to argue, they might not be afraid of Yan Xing or give in.
Unexpectedly, seeing Yan Xing’s aggressive gaze, Duan Hao smiled and raised his hand in an inviting gesture.
“Junior Brother Yan, you can go first.”
Cheng Xipeng looked at Duan Hao in surprise. He hesitated for a moment and wanted to say something. In the end, he remained silent.
The two people who were at the forefront of the challenge had backed off. The others naturally had nothing to say, and they were unwilling to offend Yan Xing. They all remained silent.
Seeing this, Yan Xing smiled proudly. He suddenly turned around and stared fixedly at Lin Shen below the stage.
“Lin Shen, do you dare to come up and fight me?”
As soon as he said this, many gazes focused on Lin Shen.
Compared to Duan Hao and Cheng Xipeng, or other Yellow-rank disciples at Level 3 of the Long Breath Stage, Yan Xing, who had just advanced not long ago, had a cultivation level that was closer to Lin Shen’s.
Therefore, the compet.i.tion between these two people was undoubtedly more interesting!
For a moment, many disciples looked expectant and excited.
Under everyone’s gaze, Lin Shen smiled faintly.
“Why wouldn’t I dare?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly moved and crossed more than 20 meters in the blink of an eye, appearing on the high platform.
This sudden move caused the surrounding crowd to exclaim softly.
Many challengers felt their hearts skip a beat.
With such an extraordinary speed, if he suddenly used it in battle, it was very likely to catch them off, guard.
Yan Xing was also shocked, but he quickly recovered and sneered inwardly.
As long as he was on guard, what if Lin Shen was fast?
Moreover, after cultivating in seclusion for a while, he had long reached the second level of the Long Breath Stage.
It was also because of this that Yan Xing had the confidence to go on stage to challenge Lin Shen.
He made up his mind. Today, he would defeat Lin Shen ruthlessly and make everyone know that he was stronger and more outstanding than Lin Shen!
“The first challenger has been decided. The rest of you, leave the stage,” the deacon said in a low voice.
The other challengers looked at each other and reluctantly walked down the platform.
Quite a number of people sighed, looking as if someone had lost a piece of cooked meat that was about to reach their mouths.
Walking down the platform, Cheng Xipeng finally couldn’t hold it back anymore. He poked Duan Hao’s arm and asked in a low voice,
“Duan Hao, what are you planning? Why did you give the opportunity to challenge Lin Shen to Yan Xing? Others might be afraid of him, but I don’t believe that you’re afraid too!”
Although Cheng Xipeng was at the fourth level of the Long Breath Stage, a great number of Black-rank disciples were also at this level.
He didn’t have full confidence that he would succeed in challenging other Black-rank disciples.
Therefore, he also didn’t want to give up this opportunity.
If he didn’t know Duan Hao well and knew that the latter wasn’t someone who would give in to Yan Xing for no reason, Cheng Xipeng wouldn’t have backed down at all.
Duan Hao glanced at Cheng Xipeng with a faint smile.
“What’s the hurry? How can Lin Shen be defeated so easily?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You know about the recruitment mission of the Martial Enforcement Hall some time ago, right?”
“Of course.”
Cheng Xipeng nodded without thinking.
That matter had blown up quite a bit, and it had spread throughout the academy. How could he not know?
“But what does this have to do with what you just said?”
Duan Hao smiled mysteriously and said in a low voice,
“I happened to hear from a member of my clan who works in the Martial Enforcement Hall that Lin Shen also partic.i.p.ated in that mission. Not only did he and his three teammates kill hundreds of h.e.l.l Hornets, but they also successfully escaped from two unorthodox cultivators at the seventh level of the Long Breath Stage!”
Cheng Xipeng was shocked when he heard this. He gaped for a few seconds before he said hesitantly,
“Could it be the other three people in his team…”
Duan Hao understood what he meant. He shook his head and said, “I’ve asked around about the three of them. One of them is our academy’s Zhao Xueying. She’s at most at the second level of the Long Breath Stage. The other two are from the Azure Frost Academy. I’m not sure of their exact strength, but according to my brother, they won’t exceed the third level of the Long Breath Stage!”
Cheng Xipeng immediately fell silent.
If this was true, it undoubtedly meant that their previous estimation of Lin Shen’s strength was ridiculously wrong.
It was very likely that Lin Shen’s strength and cultivation far exceeded everyone’s imagination. He was definitely not just at Level 2 or 3.
If that were the case, challenging Lin Shen might be the wrong choice.
“What do you plan to do?” Cheng Xipeng looked at Duan Hao.
Duan Hao pouted and gestured to Yan Xing, who was on the high platform.
“That’s why I asked Yan Xing to go up first to test Lin Shen’s strength. If Lin Shen is really much stronger than we expected, then we should give up the challenge immediately and change to other targets to avoid wasting merit points for nothing!”
After saying that, Duan Hao realized that Cheng Xipeng was staring at him intently. His gaze was strange as if he was seeing him for the first time.
“…What’s wrong?”
“Why didn’t I realize before that you were so despicable and cunning?”
Duan Hao almost choked. He rolled his eyes and snorted. “I’m planning before taking action. I’m being cautious!”
Cheng Xipeng laughed and patted his shoulder.
“Alright, alright. We’ll do as you say. Let’s take a look first!”
The two of them laughed and joked for a while before returning their attention to the high platform.
As the challengers left one after another, only Lin Shen and Yan Xing were left on the high platform.
The air gradually filled with a sinister atmosphere.
Yan Xing stared at Lin Shen, his gaze as cold as a sword.
“You were lucky enough to be in the limelight during the examination and guided battle. However, you won’t be so lucky today!”
Lin Shen smiled and said, “It’s not a good habit to attribute everything to luck.”
“I hope that when you lose to me later, you’ll still be as sharp-tongued as you are now!”
Yan Xing’s face twitched, but he didn’t say anything else. With a flip of his wrist, a scarlet longsword engraved with profound runes fell into his palm.
He didn’t make any movements, but the sword instantly burned and ignited a surging and scorching flame wave!
Even though they were more than 20 meters away, the audience could still feel the surging heat wave.
“Six Yang Talisman Sword!”
Exclamations immediately rose around the high platform, mixed with many envious gazes.
A smug smile appeared on Yan Xing’s face.
The rank challenge didn’t prohibit the use of enchanted armaments.
As long as it wasn’t a special enchanted armament that clearly violated the fairness of the compet.i.tion or an item like a talisman, everything else could be used.
After all, weapons were also part of a cultivator’s strength.
Yan Xing had once seen the astonishing defense of the Forbidden Golden Armor. He thought that he couldn’t break through Lin Shen’s defense with ordinary methods.
Therefore, he racked his brains and begged his big brother again. Finally, he obtained a Six Yang Talisman Sword.
With the power of a middle-grade enchanted armament, Yan Xing was confident that he could crack Lin Shen’s Forbidden Golden Armor!
“If the Three Yang Talisman Sword can’t break your Physical Enhancement technique, the Six Yang Talisman Sword should do the trick!”
Yan Xing sneered inwardly and suddenly rushed forward. He raised his sword and stabbed out, brazenly charging at Lin Shen.
The surrounding spectators were instantly energized. They focused their gazes and held their breaths, preparing to witness the next battle.
However, in the next second, they were all stunned on the spot.
With a crisp clang, Yan Xing’s sword suddenly stabbed into Lin Shen’s chest!
However, there was no splashing blood!
On the contrary, the tip of the sword stopped at Lin Shen’s chest, not moving at all. No matter how hard Yan Xing exerted his strength and how the flames surged, he couldn’t advance an inch!
Silence!
Dead silence!
No one made a sound.
Yan Xing was stunned on the spot. He looked blankly at the place where the tip of the sword touched Lin Shen’s chest, his face filled with disbelief.