Chapter 42

Even Lin Yao himself felt that the Clear Mirror Sword-Drawing Technique was quite shameless. This was also the reason he chose this swordsmanship immediately upon knowing this.

As he walked, Lin Yao believed that this insidious move would very likely earn him the top place in the cohort. At that moment, someone greeted him excitedly. “Ah Yao! Lad, you’re famous now. The entire cohort is talking about you!”

“Their comments must be quite negative, right?”

Youngsters would usually prefer head-on fights to insidious moves.

Zhang Heng did not conceal the situation from Lin Yao. “Indeed, many people think that your method is not quite glorious, but most of them will come to terms with it. It’s not as if you’re poisoning others. Some of them are just plain envious. Right, do you think you can clinch the top place this time? If you can do that, this will certainly stop all the envious talk in our class.”

“First of all, I really hope I can clinch first place, but it’s not because I want to shut them up. I’m eyeing the top prize… Forget it, let’s not talk about this. Let’s go and eat. My fortune has been fairly good recently. I’ll treat you to a meal.”

“Ha ha… I won’t stand on ceremony then.”

Lin Yao and Zhang Heng walked toward the canteen. During the meal, Zhang Heng was constantly swiping on his cell phone. After a while, he suddenly told Lin Yao, “Ah Yao, all the class assessments have ended. Some students even created a list of the top 10 seeded players, and you’ve ranked seventh.”

“Seventh? Who are the people ranked above me? And where did you get this news?”

“From my friends, of course. This is the same source of the news as the source of Qin Xue’s volunteering work. Speaking of this, have you two gotten together?”

“I’ve already let it go.”

“Why would you go and volunteer every day if you’ve already given up? Ah Yao, I didn’t know you were that enthusiastic about helping others.”

“That’s because I have something else to attend to.”

Upon seeing that Lin Yao was being stubborn, Zhang Heng shrugged. “Well, let’s say that I believe you. Let’s talk about the seeded players. They are all your opponents.”

While speaking, he placed his cell phone in front of Lin Yao so that Lin Yao could see the messages in the group chat.

As Zhang Heng had said, Lin Yao was ranked seventh. Lin Yao was rather surprised. The Clear Mirror Sword-Drawing Technique might not work on high-level opponents. Nevertheless, the students were currently at a low level and did not possess any experience in blind battles. Therefore, he could not understand why he had ranked that poorly.

Lin Yao did not look at the first name on the list. Instead, he read the information about his own ranking and introduction first.

[Lin Yao, third-year student, Class 4. He has recently become a martial artist and he possesses light-based talent. His combat skills are the Clear Mirror Sword-Drawing Technique and the flashing sword. He defeated Zhou Yang, who has natural divine power.]

[Strengths: The Clear Mirror Sword-Drawing Technique can turn the opponent into a blind man, so this makes him almost peerless.]

[Weaknesses: He has just become a martial artist and should have less than five vital energy seeds. He will not be able to persist in a battle for a long time, and he only has a single attack move. As long as the opponent can resist the Clear Mirror Sword-Drawing Technique slightly, they will be able to achieve victory. Therefore, he is ranked seventh at the moment.]

This was Lin Yao’s introduction. After reading it, Lin Yao could refute nothing. This was certainly the case now.

After reading his information, he wanted to scroll down. However, the name of someone he was familiar with soon caught his attention—Zhou Yang.

[Zhou Yang, third-year student, Class 4. He has recently advanced to a martial artist and he was born with divine power. His combat skill is Vajra Palm.]

[Strengths: He was born with natural divine power, and his physique alone is strong enough for him to compete with martial artists who have unleashed their vital energy seeds. Once he has unleashed his own vital energy seeds, the superimposition of his vital energy will be able to violently subdue other martial artists of the same level.]

[Weaknesses: He has just become a martial artist and should have less than five vital energy seeds. He will not be able to persist in a battle for a long time. Furthermore, he is not that proficient in his combat skill yet. If he attains the Vajra Shield or the Thirteen-Hero Iron Jersey to make up for these weaknesses, he will stand a chance to become one of the top three. At the moment, he has been defeated by his classmate, Lin Yao, and ranks eighth.]

As Lin Yao read Zhou Yang’s introduction, his head hurt at the thought of Zhou Yang obtaining the Iron Jersey.

Masterly skills were very suitable for people with natural divine power. Furthermore, Zhou Yang was naturally endowed with Herculean strength. If Zhou Yang could attain exceptional defense, it would be difficult for Lin Yao to win even if he could blind Zhou Yang with his sword flash.

‘I’m seventh, and Zhou Yang is eighth. Let’s see who is ranked sixth.’

[Yu Tianming, third-year student, Class 3. He has been a martial artist for five months. He possesses a fire-based ability and is proficient in the combat skills Flaming Divine Palm and Flaming Battle Outfit.]

[Strengths: Although his physical strength is slightly inadequate, his martial artist status, his fire-based talent, and his flaming skills give his attacking power an edge. The Flaming Battle Outfit also deters others from attacking him.]

[Weaknesses: He is ultimately a low-level martial artist. In comparison to others, he is slightly weaker. The flaming attacks are also not deadly enough. Therefore, he’s currently ranked sixth.]

‘So, he’s ranked sixth because he can release fireballs from a distance and is thus not afraid of my flashing technique?’

The impact of the Clear Mirror Sword-Drawing Technique increased as the distance between Lin Yao and the opponent decreased. The tighter the opponent kept watch, the more powerful the Clear Mirror Sword-Drawing Technique would be. However, despite knowing this, those martial artists had no choice. They had to get close to Lin Yao if they wanted to fight him. After closing in on Lin Yao, they still had to guard themselves against Lin Yao’s Sword-Drawing Technique. However, if they were to stare at the sword, they would be blinded by the strong flash. This was akin to a dead-end.

Long-range attacks could resolve this issue, as the strong flash would weaken at a long distance. If the opponent were to wear explosion-proof goggles, they could indeed deal with Lin Yao.

The sixth person on this name list was a fire-based genius. The fifth was a martial artist with strong defensive skills. Those who ranked fourth and above were all intermediate martial artists…

‘Well, wait a minute. The one ranked first is actually a beginner martial artist.’

After going through the list of names in the rankings, Lin Yao agreed with this ranking, which came from an anonymous source. Indeed, the analysis of Lin Yao and the others was very accurate.

Nevertheless, Lin Yao hadn’t expected that the first place on this fairly accurate name list would be a beginner martial artist and not an intermediate one.

‘What kind of ability does this person have to be ranked first?’

Though he pondered this, Lin Yao didn’t immediately look at the first name. Instead, he looked at the second one.

[Xu Wanqing, third-year student, Class 1. Intermediate martial artist, student of the top class, water-based genius. She’s adept at combat skills. Namely, the Folding Triple-Layer Waves, the Sky River Swordsmanship, the Cloud Mist Step, and the Heavenly Circling-Current Body.]

[Strengths: Ample vital energy and numerous combat skills. She is also aided by her water-based talent, which is considered an average attribute in the top class.]

[Weaknesses: Soft-hearted, timid.]

[Note: The last time she was defeated was because the instructor of the top class deliberately found a fearsome and tenacious person to challenge her. The opponent was losing badly and was covered in blood, but he endured and refused to admit defeat. Xu Wanqing was too soft-hearted and could not bear to deliver the final blow. As a result, she was defeated, mainly because she was terrified and emotionally affected by the fearsome man.]

“Uh…”

After reading this short note, Lin Yao was completely speechless.

Zhang Heng, who had also read this, exclaimed, “At the time, Xu Wanqing’s defeat caused a sensation! How could you not know… Oh, I remember. Back then, you had just fallen out of love and were oblivious to everything. You seemed to be in a trance all day long…”

Lin Yao very much wanted to say that he had not fallen out of love. He had just transmigrated and hadn’t dared to inquire about anything.

However, transmigration was obviously a much deeper secret than suffering from a broken heart. Therefore, Lin Yao could only nod his head.

“You are right.”

Then, he quickly steered away the conversation. “Is Xu Wanqing ranked second this time because of her soft heart?”

“No, I heard that the instructor of the top class is very hard-hearted. In order to minimize this weakness of hers, he sent people to ridicule and mock her every day after her defeat. Even the Buddha would become furious after experiencing that kind of contempt. Xu Wanqing is having a belly full of furor now, and most of the people who encounter her this time will be unlucky.”

“Why is she ranked second then?”

This was what Lin Yao didn’t understand. Zhang Heng lamented. “It’s because the person ranked at the top is too inhumane. This is a video of him fighting. Take a look.”