Chapter 108: Again Victorious

Kong Feichen believed there were few people as ostentatious as himself, but to his surprise, the small city of Danxia harbored someone even more so.

He intended to say something to reclaim the upper hand.

However, his limited experience meant he couldn't think of anything more arrogant than Chen Mobai's "I'll see you in the finals."

Just as he instinctively scratched his head, Yang Jing finished his noodles and motioned for him to leave.

"See you in the finals."

Ultimately, this was the only phrase Kong Feichen could manage to utter.

Once the two left, the remaining students from Fifth High School all looked at Chen Mobai. Xu Yuan gave him a thumbs-up. Xu Yuan was quite a proud individual himself, but against Kong Feichen, a cultivator with a Wind Spiritual Root at Qi Refinement Layer 9, he simply lacked the courage to even fight.

"Eat your food, it's getting cold," Chen Mobai said. He, however, didn't feel his previous statement was particularly arrogant; he was simply confident in himself.

At the same time, Gong Xiangyu, who was cultivating in a Tier 2 spirit-vein cave dwelling at Danzhu Academy, also saw a short video sent by a classmate.

He opened it and saw that one of the combatants was Chen Mobai, the very person he had instructed them to watch out for.

After watching, he quietly put away his phone and resumed his closed-eye meditation and cultivation.

"Now *that's* a somewhat interesting opponent."

He had initially been concerned that Chen Mobai might be eliminated before they could face each other.

Now, he could rest easy.

After lunch, many students, following Chan Si's suggestion, decided to rent the spirit-vein cave dwellings that Danzhu Academy provided to outsiders.

Chen Mobai had originally planned to go home, but after thinking it over, he decided he wasn't short on that amount of money.

After all, this was a life-changing entrance examination; though he was confident, he still needed to take it seriously.

The next round was seven days away, and traveling back and forth would waste almost a day.

If he made a last-minute effort, he might cultivate a spell or even achieve a breakthrough in his realm.

Staying here would also allow him to observe his opponents.

Although there was information and uploaded combat videos available on betting websites,

some things were best understood by witnessing them firsthand.

The day's combat trials concluded near dusk.

After watching the few matches that interested him, Chen Mobai went to rent a cave dwelling and found it to be quite inexpensive.

With proof of participation in the entrance exam, Danzhu Academy had two hundred Tier 1 high-grade spirit-vein cave dwellings reserved for them, requiring only a symbolic 20 points of merit per day.

Chen Mobai paid for a month.

Early the next morning, he arrived at the peak arena in Zone B.

His next opponent was about to be determined there.

However, what Chen Mobai hadn't expected was that he had already become a celebrity.

As soon as he arrived, many people stealthily observed him, pointing and whispering. Even the two opponents who were about to go on stage deliberately looked in his direction, one of them even showing a provocative expression.

Ultimately, the student from First High School named Shen Jian emerged victorious.

Those who dared to provoke usually possessed some skill.

Although Shen Jian was only at Qi Refinement Layer 6, he had cultivated a set of boxing techniques. After his opponent exhausted all their talismans, he easily won that round of combat through close-quarters unarmed fighting.

This approach was somewhat similar to that in the Tianhe Realm.

Cultivators there, during their Qi Refinement stage, typically focused on martial arts to enhance their combat abilities due to a lack of spirit stones and cultivation techniques.

However, in the later stages of Qi Refinement, as their spiritual power increased, cultivators would gradually abandon martial arts and turn to conventional combat methods like spells and artifacts.

Over the next seven days, Chen Mobai noticed quite a few cultivators practicing martial arts.

In duels among Qi Refinement Layer 6 practitioners, the probability of winning with martial arts reached as high as 80%. There were even two individuals who, by using martial arts, defeated Qi Refinement Layer 7 opponents, gaining significant attention.

However, compared to Chen Mobai's clean and decisive victory over Qiao Xingwen with a simple water control spell, these two could only be described as having achieved Pyrrhic victories.

One of them, despite winning, suffered severe injuries and had no choice but to forfeit their spot in the next round.

Time quickly passed, and the second round began.

Chen Mobai was still in the first match. Unlike the first round where only Cao Yaling was present, today, almost all the remaining students from Fifth High School who had advanced to the second round came to watch, except for a few who had their own matches scheduled at the same time.

"Go, Chen Mobai!" Class Monitor Mo Simin shouted loudly.

Though others didn't shout as loudly as she did, they also raised their hands in support.

"It's a real shame," Chen Mobai's opponent, Shen Jian, who had been waiting on the arena, inexplicably provoked him again upon seeing him. "All your friends are here to witness your downfall."

"Referee, may we begin?" Chen Mobai simply turned his head and asked the referee for this round.

Engaging in a conversation with this opponent would be a waste of his time.

"Damn it, I'll definitely make Qing Nv see your true colors!" As the referee nodded and blew his whistle, leaving the arena, Shen Jian roared in anger, then directly hurled two talismans at Chen Mobai.

"Qing Nv?" Chen Mobai finally had a vague impression of this opponent. He recalled seeing him at the last farewell dinner. From what Shen Jian said, it seemed he was even in Qing Nv's class?

"How peculiar," Chen Mobai muttered.

Chen Mobai casually deployed a Wood Shield Talisman, but his opponent's talismans were Fireball Talismans, which broke the shield in merely one second.

"Oh, didn't he use Rock Spike Talismans yesterday? Did he change his talisman combination for this round, specifically targeting the talismans I revealed, because he knew I'd use a Wood Shield Talisman?" Upon seeing this, Chen Mobai's combat instincts kicked in.

After the Wood Shield Talisman shattered, a Water Sword Talisman flew from his hand. A stream of clear water instantly condensed into a gleaming water sword, which, after splitting two fireballs, struck his opponent's front.

However, a golden light flared around his opponent's body, blocking the water sword talisman.

Chen Mobai also possessed this talisman: a Tier 1 mid-grade Golden Light Talisman.

"I've already broken your strategy!" Shen Jian declared, encased in the golden light that kept all water at bay. He then slapped two more talismans onto his legs, and his speed instantly tripled.

"So fast!" Chen Mobai was slightly surprised as Shen Jian's fists were already inches from his forehead.

*Thud! Thud!* Just as Mo Simin and others below the arena couldn't help but close their eyes, unwilling to witness Chen Mobai's defeat, a sound like water being struck by massive stones rang out.

"What exquisite water control!" Song Zheng couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

Mo Simin, Shi Jingjing, and others, who had closed their eyes, looked up to see a clear and transparent layer of water, like a barrier, floating in the air before Chen Mobai. It swirled, completely deflecting the force of Shen Jian's fists.

Water Elemental Shield!

"You've got some ideas, but unfortunately, your strength is far beneath mine," Chen Mobai calmly stated, seeing Shen Jian's fists trapped by his dark water and unable to withdraw. He then clenched his right hand and heavily struck his opponent's chin.

He had expected this punch to knock his opponent unconscious, but the martial artist's physique was unexpectedly strong. The recoil from Shen Jian's jawbone actually made Chen Mobai's hand sting a little.

"Tsk, what a tough bone," Chen Mobai mused. Shen Jian roared in fury, breaking free from the dark water's grasp. Chen Mobai hesitated, feeling that this person wasn't worthy of his Ice Spell, so he quickly applied an Entangling Talisman at close range to bind him again.

Then, the dark water that his opponent had just broken free from coiled around his fist like a spiritual serpent, and a large, transparent water fist slammed into Shen Jian's chin once more.

Two bloody front teeth were directly knocked out.