Chapter 507: Man versus Boy
The compet.i.tion commenced quickly.
Among the 160 teenagers, not everyone was like Han Jun, who had a father that was an A-tier apt.i.tude user.
Most did not even believe they could ever make it to the Dragon Capital in their lifetime.
“I must do my best so that people would notice me!”
“Regent Shang is not here yet. I hope I can last until the later stages.”
“There is no other way aside from winning. It’s my only chance to obtain more resources.”
All the teenage contestants began to tense up.
Yet some were here only for the sake of partic.i.p.ation. For instance, the contestants coming from the Three Cities along the Sun. Other than three E-tiers, the others in the team were mostly incompetent F8 and F9 tiers. One of the three E tiers was Lu Meng, who was recruited last minute to represent the Sun state after she was defeated in the North Sea qualification trial.
Finally, the last state that always finished at the bottom three along with the Sun and the North Sea was known as Xueyuan. This state was situated near the north pole and was covered in freezing snow all year. There were only two large cities in this state with underwhelming resources.
The contestants from Xueyuan were all E-tier apt.i.tude users. However, none of them was E3-tier or above. Their overall strength was not as great as the current North Sea team but they were queued in front due to better standing last year.
“What’s the deal with the North Sea state this year? Has someone risen among the Ancient Warrior families there?”
Knowing your enemy was the first key to victory. Everyone was gathering intel to understand their compet.i.tor better.
Most importantly, it was extremely peculiar that there was suddenly a C-tier captain in one of the bottom three teams. That caught everyone by surprise.
C-tier in a less developed state like the North Sea was an overpowering existence. More than half of the teams that took part in this tournament were led by D-tier captains.
Suddenly, everyone had their attention on the North Sea state. Some regretted not researching Qin Feng earlier.
The resource owned by a C-tier should never be taken lightly.
Nevertheless, if they learned the truth about Qin Feng, they would most likely be in despair.
“The tournament begins now!”
There were eighty matches set for the first day. One match lasted about an hour and ten matches would be held simultaneously. It would take four hours on each half of the day for all battles to be concluded.
Five minutes before the first round, the list of the first twenty contestants was unveiled. Partic.i.p.ants from the same state usually would not meet on the first day.
“Oh, I am one of the first twenty? Alright then.” Qin Feng moved to his arena as shown.
Another person walked up to the stage at the same time as Qin Feng. His opponent was slightly older than him. Most teenagers in this tournament were one or two years older than Qin Feng, but that was only on the surface.
Deep down, Qin Feng was already a well-grown man.
“North Sea?” The person saw Qin Feng’s uniform and immediately felt relaxed. He said cheerfully, “How lucky! I will have a good rest after beating you. I can save my best for the second round tomorrow.”
Qin Feng was amused. “Sure. Have a good rest later.” The question was whether he could do it on his hotel room bed or on a hospital bed.
The opponent thought that Qin Feng had admitted defeat and could not be more at ease.
Still, he was intrigued and asked, “Why aren’t you wearing your badge?”
Qin Feng did not answer the question and the countdown had already begun.
“Oh, I figured it out. Don’t tell me you are an F-tier apt.i.tude user? That must be the reason why you are embarra.s.sed to put on your badge. There is nothing to be ashamed of. Look at those idiots from the Sun cities. They don’t mind showing their badge even though they are just a bunch of losers. You should learn from them!” The person babbled incessantly and did not realize that Qin Feng’s demeanor had turned stone cold.
Though he did not represent the Sun state, that place was still his birthplace.
A person could never choose his parents and where he or she was born. Blaming one’s failure on his or her growing environment was an act of cowardice.
A hero would never succ.u.mb to an unfortunate childhood.
Gong!
The sound of the bell signaled the start of the battle.
“Alright, kid. I will give you a chance to strike first. It must be hard on you to come this far if you don’t even get a chance to prove yourself. I am giving you an opportunity now.”
“Thanks!” Qin Feng said.
“No problem… Ah!!!” The person suddenly shrieked in horror. Qin Feng made his move when he was still talking.
Qin Feng did not use any mind-boggling skill. He just casually raised his hand and unleashed Dragon Slam.
Even though he was only using a tiny fraction of his true power, Qin Feng’s excellent motor control and great inner strength still made the attack look unstoppable.
Qin Feng’s opponent was a prodigy too. He could at least tell that Qin Feng’s attack was extremely dangerous.
“Ah!!! Hold it!!!” The guy used every ounce of energy he had but since he was only an E-tier, he could not even muster a proper internal force s.h.i.+eld.
Qin Feng’s attack came too suddenly and was more powerful than he had expected. He was unable to withstand the attack and was slammed down hard on the stage.
“Pfft!”
The teenager puked out blood and pa.s.sed out on the stage with multiple open wounds. He could no longer continue!
The umpire at the side of the covered arena was stunned and only began to countdown a few seconds later.
“10, 9, …”
The prodigy would lose if he did not get up now! But he could hardly focus as the immense pain had drained every last drop of energy away from him.
“This is impossible. I am a prodigy… Why? You… You purposely concealed your tier!”
Qin Feng laughed it off. “I never admitted that I am an F-tier.”
The prodigy was deeply frustrated.
“By the way, don’t talk too much the next time you are facing a beast. You would have been long eaten!”
A prodigy that had been well protected their entire life was extremely fragile in real-life battles.
The countdown ended without any surprise.
“Qin Feng, win. He will advance into the next round!”
Qin Feng won easily and walked down the stage. Most of the audience were baffled by how quick the battle ended. But their focus was quickly swayed to other matches that were still currently ongoing.
Only those B-tiers that had paid attention were astounded.
“This is humiliating!”
“They are not at the same level!”
“He is bullying the poor guy in broad daylight!”
“Should we tell the regent?”
“It’s alright. Let’s see what else he is capable of.”
“What are the odds if I bet on Qin Feng to win the tournament now?”
The betting on any given game might not be very rewarding but betting on who would be the champion on the first day might provide a handsome return. The opening odds for any contestant on the first day was 1:64.
Some B-tier apt.i.tude users were enthused and secretly placed their bets on Qin Feng.