Chapter 39

Chapter 39

During the remaining time, Su Bei didn't rest. Instead, he practiced controlling his mental power on the bed. The book he read earlier had a lot of content on this topic, so he could manage to practice a bit.

The process of mastering mental power was similar to meditation. Although it was practice, it wasn't too exhausting. Practicing with closed eyes for an entire night made him feel like he had slept.

However, there was a difference between this and actual sleep. At least with real sleep, Su Bei wouldn't feel mentally drained upon waking up. Now, he was overwhelmed with thoughts about having to get up without having slept, leaving him mentally exhausted.

Sighing, he got up to wash. Today, he was going to battle against the opponent from Class A. If all went as expected, he would have to showcase his newly acquired abilities. It all depended on how well he practiced last night.

The competitions over the past two days had already eliminated many students. Only about sixty were left on the playground today.

The rules for the second day changed significantly. Firstly, opponents were matched randomly, without the restriction of two classes. Secondly, the competitions over these two days were closed; the school would only announce the results after the monthly exam.

The reason for this was to leave some suspense for the group battle betting and because the teachers understood that to win against strong opponents, everyone would exert their full strength. Some things were inconvenient to display publicly, so it was more convenient to close directly from the start.

Before the competition, every student signed an agreement enforced by supernatural abilities, stating they couldn't disclose any details from the two-day competition to others.

The individual battle betting phase would end today. Before the competition ended tomorrow, all participants, regardless of whether they were eliminated, couldn’t leave the playground to prevent anyone from knowing the outcome.

Additionally, the referees would have different rules to announce the winners. Simply knocking the opponent off the stage wouldn’t be enough for an automatic win, although that rule still applied but required referee confirmation.

There were still ten stages on the playground, but they were much larger than before, each measuring 30x30. Moreover, not only could the students inside not see outside, but those outside also couldn’t see in.

Mu Tieren and Wu Jin were among the first to compete. Wu Jin’s face was obscured by his hair, making it hard to see his expression. Meanwhile, Mu Tieren, who was rarely nervous, seemed a bit on edge.

Taking a deep breath, Mu Tieren confided in his familiar friends, "As a student from Class F, making it this far is already excellent. Even if I get eliminated, I haven't let down the teacher who made me class monitor."

This was true. Most Class F students hadn’t made it past the first round. Not being part of the protagonist group, they were often matched with students from Class D.

Though they could almost be considered ordinary people, they were easily defeated. Their spirits were broken before the competition even started, and without the will to win, victory was naturally elusive.

In contrast, Mu Tieren, as the class monitor, making it this far was indeed impressive, proving Meng Huai's good judgment.

However, they all knew Mu Tieren had more to say.

The next moment, Mu Tieren raised his head. “But I don’t want to give up just yet. Does Class F have to lose to Class A? I don’t know, but I want to try!”

“Good luck, class monitor.” Jiang Tianming, instead of blindly saying “You will win,” gave a more measured and encouraging response, one Mu Tieren could accept, “None of us will give up.”

Rather than motivating himself, Mu Tieren wanted to inspire others.

Sure enough, hearing Jiang Tianming’s words, Mu Tieren finally showed a bit of a relaxed expression.

Next to him, Mo Xiaotian instinctively joined in, “I will also try my best... huh? Is it inappropriate for me to say something here?”

After all, he was a member of Class A, the group they had to defeat.

Hearing this, everyone couldn’t help but laugh.

While their atmosphere was relaxed, Si Zhaohua and the others nearby weren’t as lighthearted.

Zhou Renjie had no expectations for Wu Jin, who was about to compete. He didn’t think Wu Jin making it to the second day was impressive, just that he was lucky.

“You might as well forfeit right away,” he said impatiently, “It'll save us some time.”

Surprisingly, before Wu Jin could speak, Zhao Xiaoyu interjected, “Today's competition won’t move to the next round until the entire round is over. Coming out early doesn’t let others compete faster.”

Her words embarrassed Zhou Renjie, who retorted, “So what? You’re all going to lose anyway, sooner or later doesn’t matter.”

This time, Zhao Xiaoyu didn’t argue back, only smiled. She wasn’t standing up for Wu Jin out of kindness. Zhao Xiaoyu didn’t want to lose either. Speaking up for Wu Jin now was also speaking up for herself later.

Wu Jin remained silent as always. Honestly, if not for his upcoming turn, Zhou Renjie wouldn’t even notice him.

At that moment, they heard laughter from Jiang Tianming and the others. Zhou Renjie shot them a disdainful look, “What’s so funny? Do they think they’ll be resting after today?”

Ai Baozhu, who also disliked Jiang Tianming’s group, chimed in, “Who knows what they’re thinking? Maybe they still dream of beating us?”

Hearing this, Si Zhaohua finally reacted. He glanced at the cheerful group, then turned back with a cold snort, “Impossible. But you all should be wary of Su Bei.”

At this point, Si Zhaohua glanced at Feng Lan, who was standing apart from the group. “Feng Lan, do you know what kind of ability Su Bei has?”

Si Zhaohua was paying attention to Su Bei because he knew that since the beginning of the school term, Feng Lan had the best relationship with Su Bei and was often seen with him. Si Zhaohua trusted Feng Lan’s judgment and didn’t believe he would befriend an ordinary person.

Out of pride as the top student in Class A, Si Zhaohua hadn’t previously inquired about others’ abilities. He had only just remembered to ask now.

To his surprise, Feng Lan shook his head. “I don’t know. But he should also have some kind of prophecy ability.”

“Prophecy ability?”

At this, Ai Baozhu and Zhou Renjie couldn’t help but look over. They hadn’t expected Class F to have such a person. And for Feng Lan to say this, Su Bei’s prophecy ability must be quite strong.

“Is that why you chose to go to Class F?” Ai Baozhu couldn’t help but ask.

Like Si Zhaohua, she had known about Feng Lan, the young master of the Feng family, even before school started. She was surprised that he was assigned to Class F and intuitively thought it might be because of something his ability revealed to him.

Now, she wondered if Feng Lan had specifically gone to Class F to interact with Su Bei, a prophecy ability user.

To everyone’s further surprise, Feng Lan hesitated for a long time before shaking his head again. “...I don’t know.”

Su Bei looked up at her, sincerely saying, “Thank you, you’re a good person.”

Not catching the sarcasm, Qi Huang nodded in approval. “Even though you say that, I still won’t let you win. My ability is [Flame Phoenix]. I can currently summon a small phoenix to fight alongside me. Don’t underestimate it; it has multiple skills like fire-breathing, high temperature, and fireball technique. Just it alone is enough to handle you.”

Who would dare underestimate it! Su Bei nearly laughed bitterly. This was the kind of ability that placed someone in Class A? He had thought Si Zhaohua was an exception, but it turned out to be the norm.

Having said enough, Qi Huang waved her right hand, summoning a fiery red phoenix phantom next to her.

As soon as the phoenix appeared, Su Bei could feel the temperature of the entire platform rise, indicating how hot the phoenix was.

If this thing got close to him, he would probably be immediately declared defeated.

With this thought, Su Bei started running.

Qi Huang wasn’t in a hurry, letting Su Bei run a few steps before lazily saying, “Go.”

As soon as she spoke, the phoenix flapped its wings and flew straight toward Su Bei. Qi Huang thought this would ensure her easy victory, but she quickly realized a problem.

Su Bei was running too fast, and while the phoenix could fly, its speed wasn’t great, only managing to circle behind him.

Seeing this, Qi Huang frowned. Not wanting to waste time, she shouted, “Fireball Technique!”

The next second, Su Bei felt heat behind him. He turned his head while running, seeing the phoenix open its beak, forming a fist-sized fireball inside.

Su Bei was startled. Although Qi Huang had mentioned that her phoenix could use fireball techniques, he hadn’t expected her to actually be able to do it! And judging by Qi Huang's calm expression, this skill was probably not a one-time thing.

He absolutely couldn’t get hit by that fireball! Gritting his teeth, Su Bei sped up and ran towards Qi Huang. If he could get close enough, the phoenix might hesitate to attack for fear of hitting its master.

However, Qi Huang wasn’t an idiot. Seeing Su Bei running towards her, she knew exactly what he was planning.

If the phoenix were more advanced, it wouldn’t harm Qi Huang as its master. But in its current low-level state, it wasn’t that precise. So the moment Qi Huang realized Su Bei's intention, the red-haired girl turned and ran.

She was fully aware that Su Bei couldn’t outrun the fireball once it was launched. She just needed to hold on until the phoenix accumulated enough energy.

Seeing Qi Huang start running too, Su Bei couldn't help but sigh inwardly. If this were a simple race, he would catch up to her in no time. But the fireball behind him wouldn’t give him that chance.

He needed a new strategy.

He continued running forward, pretending not to change his plan. Meanwhile, he focused his newly acquired mental power on the phoenix's fireball behind him.

Through his mental perception, he sensed the fireball growing larger. Just as it was about to launch, in a split second, Su Bei made a decisive move. He turned and dived towards the back of the fire phoenix.

The next second, the fireball landed exactly where he would have been if he’d kept running.

Without pausing, Su Bei got up and ran in the opposite direction. The fire phoenix, having missed its mark, couldn't use its skill again immediately and had to continue chasing him.

“You might have dodged once, but you won’t dodge a second time,” Qi Huang shouted, finally showing some urgency as she saw her fireball miss. “Next time, we’ll be prepared, and you’ll be dead. If you don’t want to get hurt, surrender now!”

Of course, Su Bei ignored such a call for surrender. But he knew Qi Huang was right. His backward dive could only be used once. Next time, they would be prepared.

He needed to use his mental power. Without it, he couldn’t defeat the fire phoenix. As he kept running, Su Bei racked his brain for a solution.

What could he do with his mental power? He could sense the entire arena, move small objects, and create simple tactile sensations.

None of these seemed useful in combat!

Suddenly, Su Bei's eyes lit up. He changed direction and charged towards Qi Huang again.

Seeing his actions, Qi Huang was puzzled. She knew she would be harmed by the fireball but not by the phoenix’s heat. Su Bei couldn’t defeat her immediately, and if she entangled him for just a moment, the phoenix would arrive.

Though confused, Qi Huang assumed Su Bei had lost his mind. She stood unafraid as he ran towards her, ready to grab him and let the phoenix finish him off.

To avoid being knocked off the platform by a direct charge, Qi Huang even moved a few steps forward.

Her thinking was correct; if she stayed vigilant and focused on entangling Su Bei, he wouldn't stand a chance. She only needed to hold him for a second for the phoenix to arrive.

But Su Bei was betting she couldn’t hold him for that second.

Just a meter away from Qi Huang’s outstretched arm, Su Bei suddenly spoke, “You’ve lost. I’ve placed a weapon at your vital spot.”

As soon as he said this, Qi Huang instinctively felt something cold against the back of her neck.

Feeling threatened, Qi Huang turned her head.

In that moment, her vulnerable back was fully exposed to Su Bei.

Su Bei didn’t waste the carefully calculated opportunity. He immediately delivered a sharp hand chop to the back of Qi Huang’s neck!

“Ugh...” Qi Huang felt a wave of darkness before collapsing.

As she lost consciousness, the phoenix that had almost reached Su Bei vanished suddenly.

Ignoring the burning pain on his back, Su Bei chuckled, “I won, right?”

The referee came onto the platform and, seeing that Qi Huang was truly incapacitated, nodded, “Qi Huang versus Su Bei, Su Bei wins.”