Lin Yao looked at Qin Ya’s worried expression as he listened to her, and his expression turned serious as well.
“It seems that after I left, something happened in the stadium.”
While talking, Lin Yao turned to watch the battle video on the laptop. There was a reason why Qin Ya was worried.
The video showed the match between a team of elite warlords from No. 1 High School and the Ultimate Boxing Dojo. At the beginning of the video, the referee swung his hands downward, signaling the start of the match. Both teams had excellent teamwork and chemistry and had been fighting as a team for a long time. As soon as the referee swung his hands downward, they turned vigilant, supporting their team members at the same time.
The five contestants from No. 1 High School formed a battle formation with the elite warlord who was a fire genius as their leader. His team had been formed like this to fully utilize his fiery abilities.
That team was indeed very strong. The elite warlord waved his hand at will, and flames rose around him. In addition to this elite warlord, two other team members had fire talent. The three of them were busy creating flames. Lin Yao could not tell what the ability of the fourth person was. However, he could increase the power and temperature of the surrounding flames. The last person on the team had wind talent, and he could direct wind to blow the flames toward the enemy.
It had only been three seconds since the start of the competition, and a monstrous fire wave surged forward thanks to the cooperation of these five people. The fire wave was different from the flaming team that Lin Yao had first encountered last time.
This time, the five students of No. 1 High School did not intend to engage in close combat at all. Instead, they worked hard to create flames, directing the waves of fire and making them surge forward toward the opposing team. The monstrous sea of fire made Lin Yao feel the scorching heat even when watching the video through the screen. Even the air was distorted due to the flames.
Lin Yao had no clue which technique the elite warlord had mastered. However, when the flames raged violently due to the strong wind, he could even manipulate them. Soon, the wave of flames that covered the entire arena turned into a giant firebird with a wingspan of 12 meters.
‘Given their abilities, they are indeed a team of elite warlords. Such a battle is considered a real team battle.’
In this world, where people had spirit energy and talent, a team competition was unlike what Lin Yao used to imagine, such as people rushing forward and fighting separately. In terms of teamwork, the lowest level of teamwork included long-range and close-range attacks and defense, as well as having a main attacker on the team.
The intermediate level of teamwork involved everyone practicing the same technique. Everyone’s aura would be connected, and they would concentrate their abilities on one person. The Iron-Blooded Battle in the military was a representative of such teamwork.
The most advanced level of teamwork was having abilities that could work well together. In that case, their individual abilities would multiply to become a very powerful force.
This was the case for Qin Ya’s team in Shanghai. The current team from No. 1 High School was very close to the most advanced level of teamwork. Of course, there were very few such teams. This not only required cooperation but also implied that everyone on the team had to be very talented. The team shown in the video had been formed by selecting and choosing the most talented elites among the eight million people in Ninghai City.
However, even a team with such superb teamwork would eventually lose.
The flaming team of No. 1 High School had excellent teamwork and outstanding abilities, but the Ultimate Boxing Dojo was stronger. Or rather, the two brothers, Du Ming and Du Zhuang, were strong enough.
While No. 1 High School was gathering flames, Du Ming and Du Zhuang did not ignore their actions. Du Zhuang stood beside Du Ming and pulled out a transparent giant gate, putting it in front of his elder brother Du Ming. As for Du Ming, he let out a loud roar at the beginning of the battle, and a phantom of a blood-colored giant ape flashed behind him. The giant ape possessed his body, and Du Ming’s body swelled up like a balloon. In a very short time, Du Ming turned from a strong man into a three-meter-tall little giant.
Besides, this giant was not lean or tall. Instead, his bulging muscles looked as hard as steel, and his body was densely covered with blue-black blood vessels and large tendons. Just looking at it was a strong deterrent to the opposing team.
There were even more drastic changes to his body. Du Ming, who had transformed into a three-meter-tall giant, raised his hand into the sky. He assumed a strange posture and took a deep breath.
As he got into the posture, a huge amount of spirit energy entered his body from all directions, making him even more powerful.
Lin Yao widened his eyes upon seeing his posture and felt a sense of familiarity.
“This, this is…”
“This the ultimate move of the Heaven and Earth Dojo to gather spirit energy. Although this is not the Heaven and Earth Brilliant Tyrannic Punch, it is the next most powerful and supreme punch, the Whale-Like Engulfing Method of The North.”
Du Ming, who was inhaling, really had the menacing presence and aura of a whale that was engulfing everything. As he transformed and engulfed everything, his gathering momentum reached its peak.
Du Ming was already very powerful. In Lin Yao’s opinion, although he had not advanced to a warlord, his Iron Body alone had reached more than 400% or even 500%.
He had a very terrifying basic physique, and he had just transformed into a little giant. At the same time, he used the Whale-Like Engulfing Method of The North, and his momentum had reached its peak. In comparison, the elite warlords from the opposing team were not as terrifying.
Du Ming remained in his peak state. When the firebird approached, he launched an explosive full-force punch toward the transparent giant gate.
Boom!
When he punched it, the air exploded, and strong, violent gusts of gale were produced, making loud sounds as the clothes of the few people standing beside him rustled.
The transparent giant gate shattered when the force of the punch passed through it. When it shattered, it also added a special effect to the power of Du Ming’s punch.
Lin Yao was surprised to discover that the force of that punch swept over a hundred meters in front of him without any signs of weakening.
Boom, boom, boom…
The power of his punch did not diminish at all. There was a huge rumbling sound as it shattered the 12-meter-long giant firebird that swooped in front of him, smashing the endless fire waves behind the firebird before exploding in front of the elite team from No. 1 High School, who were dozens of meters away. The elite team was crushed by the force and sent flying upside down, bleeding non-stop.
Fortunately, the elite warlord sensed danger and manipulated the flames so they would blow up continuously in front of him. Otherwise, the five of them would have died after being hammered by Du Ming’s punch.
Lin Yao clenched his fist at the sight. Du Ming’s terrifying punch had cleared everything in front of him.
“What a domineering force. Is Du Ming also from an extreme sect? What is that huge gate?”
Lin Yao was shocked by the battle. Qin Ya answered his questions right away.
“Du Ming has awakened the demon ape bloodline, and the Hundred Step Divine Fist is his master. He has also learned the moves of this extreme sect. His younger brother has awakened the transmission ability and can transmit power without any loss up to a hundred meters away. That was the transmission gate you saw just now.
“Can you resist such abilities?”
Lin Yao did not address Qin Ya’s question right away. Instead, he closed his eyes and sensed the feathered serpent spirit and the angelic holy infant that was slightly dimmer in his body. Soon, Lin Yao was filled with high aspirations.
“Yes.”
If Qin Ya was not working with him as his manager, Lin Yao’s Celestial Tree had not advanced, and he had not obtained the feathered serpent spirit, Lin Yao would only have been able to rely on his accelerated thinking and the ability to slow down time to observe the enemy’s actions before using Lightning Flash to dodge his attack. In that case, it would have been difficult to resist his attacks.
After all, his awakening time was too short, and he could not compare to Du Ming, who had been practicing for several years.
However, the feathered serpent spirit and the angelic holy infant gave Lin Yao great confidence. At the same time, this was also considered Lin Yao’s power. He felt great ease using it, just like Du Ming, who had awakened the demon ape bloodline.
Seeing that Lin Yao was full of determination to win, Qin Ya breathed a sigh of relief.
“It’s good that you are confident about winning, but you must not be careless. Also, I have already spread the news on the Internet so that you can avoid ending up in an arranged match against Du Ming in the early stage.”
Upon saying that, she clicked on some web pages on the computer, which were local forums and various video websites stationed in Ninghai City. Lin Yao noticed that there was a series of posts on these web pages.
Among the meaningless posts that Qin Ya had told people to make were also many discussions started by locals. Since the two warlords had suffered an overwhelming defeat, many people were discussing Du Ming’s powerful abilities and Lin Yao’s capabilities. They were also analyzing who was the stronger contestant between Du Ming and Lin Yao.
The argument continued on the Internet. Among the other discussions, Lin Yao also saw the meaningless posts arranged by Qin Ya.
“No. 1 High School has been losing the last few matches. They must be scared this time. Let’s wait and see. They will arrange for One Sword to go up against Blood Ape tomorrow. No. 1 High School will stand to gain if both sides are seriously injured.”
“No way! Aren’t the matches selected at random?”
“The person who just replied to the post is too naive. How can the matches be randomly selected?”
“No. 1 High School is a bunch of fools. They have the most resources and in the end, outsiders still occupy the top few positions, and No. 4 High School has to fight against them. If No. 4 High School wins, No. 1 High School will be totally disgraced.”
…
Many young people in Ninghai City were enthusiastic after watching the exciting, fierce competition. A lot of people vented their energy online by discussing who were the stronger contestants and who were weaker, as well as criticizing and leaving comments. Among the comments was a force that had been constantly commenting on No. 1 High School, stating that they had the most resources and yet retreated when they faced external enemies, but Lin Yao was forced to deal with them.
The comments even said that No. 1 High School intended to arrange for Du Ming to go up against Lin Yao early on in the matches so that they would get a lower ranking.
“I have a feeling that No. 1 High School was able to secure a good ranking in the past because they let others take the lead and fight the stronger opponents while they stood to gain from their failure. They are disgusting.”
“Is this a competition organized by the municipal government or No. 1 High School? They seem to have complete control over the competition.”
After browsing through the above information, Lin Yao paused briefly before saying, “Didn’t No. 1 High School take any countermeasures?”
“I didn’t make all those comments. No. 1 High School has indeed received the most resources and gathered the best geniuses. It is also the responsibility of No. 1 High School to fight against outsiders. Even without us, they would have been scolded by the locals. What I did was nothing more than encourage more people to criticize the school.”
Qin Ya was merely encouraging people to make related comments. She had not created something out of nothing. Thus, it was still relatively safe for her to do that.
“Will such an approach work?”
Qin Ya was silent after hearing his question. After a long while, she finally said, “I don’t know. I can only do my best and leave the rest to god’s will. However, thanks to the online discussions, they will be hesitant to manipulate the matches. Besides, the city is likely to take action as well.”
The strongest entity in China was the government, which controlled 70 million troops. If the city intervened, Lin Yao would not be targeted.
After watching for a while, Lin Yao simply closed the web interface.
“You can just do what you deem fit. It’s best to delay this as much as possible.”
Lin Yao was not afraid of dueling with Du Ming. However, right now, he was making rapid progress, so the longer he could delay the face-off, the better it would be for him.
“The Ultimate Boxing Dojo won, while the Sky Blade Dojo lost. They were defeated by elite warlords. Do you want to watch the video of their competition?”
“Yes.”
There were four warlords in No. 1 High School, and two of them had been defeated. One of them had been defeated by Lin Yao, and the other had been defeated by the Ultimate Boxing Dojo.
They had not lost because they were weak. Instead, it was because Lin Yao and Du Ming from the Ultimate Boxing Dojo were too strong.
In addition to the two of them, another elite warlord was also very strong. It was Xiao Shi. His name was not very outstanding, and his talent was not surprising either. He had mastered the earth element of the five elements and was covered in battle armor made of mud. During the duel with the Sky Blade Dojo, no sword moves or attacks had cut through this armor. Although there were some cracks, the power of the earth would repair them.
In addition to his strong defense, Xiao Shi’s strength was also amazing. When he took a step forward, it felt as if a mountain had crashed down on the ground. His punches and palm strikes might not be swift, but they were as heavy as mountains.
He alone had resisted countless sword attacks and defeated the Sky Blade Dojo.
At this point, the three strongest contestants of the competition in Ninghai City had emerged.
Elite warlord Xiao Shi, Blood Ape Du Ming, and One Sword Lin Yao.