On the platform, the fight was still ongoing.
Li Yuan, holding a long spear, was continuously attacking Wu Luo, who wielded a sword and shield.
"Bang~" A forceful sweep of the spear forced Wu Luo to stagger back.
"Li Yuan, I was wrong; I should not have attacked you without knowing you," Wu Luo said hastily while desperately defending, "But your entanglement with me will only allow others to benefit from our fight."
As an expert who had achieved Perfection in both Sword Technique and Shield Technique at the Third Level, Wu Luo could still defend a few moves from Li Yuan when putting his full effort.
"Benefit from our fight?" Li Yuan swept a cold glance around, and the other participants, who were already retreating, became even more flustered and retreated further.
After all, Li Yuan had casually killed five participants while pursuing Wu Luo.
Who wouldn't fear such dominance and aggression?
Moreover, for the other participating students, Wu Luo was also a great expert; his defeat by Li Yuan would only raise their hopes of entering the top ten.
"This battle!"
"No one is qualified to take advantage," Li Yuan said coldly, "Go to hell!"
Did he have a grudge with Wu Luo before? No grudge!
But he had to find an opponent nonetheless, so why couldn't it be Wu Luo?
To Li Yuan, the other people on the platform posed no challenge.
In contrast, Wu Luo was the strongest and could exchange a few moves with him.
"Pfft!!"
"Boom!" "Boom!" Li Yuan stabbed out with his long spear again and again, the shadows of the spear changing unpredictably, each thrust fierce and violent.
"Ahh! Damn it!" Wu Luo could only try his best to defend, almost spitting out blood in frustration, "This Li Yuan is simply insane."
Logically, with Wu Luo's strength, getting into the top ten in the cage melee was a piece of cake.
"Clang!" The two clashed like lightning, Li Yuan's attacks were swift and ferocious, like a tide of continuous strikes.
Wu Luo's defense was impeccable, yet with each clash, his arms numbed, making it increasingly difficult to resist. After twelve consecutive strikes, he was still caught off guard by Li Yuan, who pierced through his throat.
Blood splattered.
"I still couldn't defend; is this the Fourth Level Spear Technique?" Wu Luo's body immediately dissipated into nothingness.
"My attack, much weaker than Wu Dongdong's and Tian Dazhuang's, especially weaker than Tian's by a margin," Li Yuan pondered as he watched Wu Luo's body gradually fade, "Tian Dazhuang's mountain-splitting saber technique is extremely proficient in attack, and his martial arts skills are indeed much higher than mine, probably around 20% of the Fourth Level."
The opponent had broken through at least three months ago; it was normal for him to be more skilled.
Moreover, Li Yuan's forte was defense, not attack.
If he really had to fight Tian Dazhuang on the platform, Li Yuan believed he also had the chance to win.
Perfection of the Third Stage and Fourth Level? They are worlds apart.
But 2% of the Fourth Level and 20%? Both could achieve Body-Mind-Weapon Integration. The difference was only the extent of physical power exploitation, a gap that was not insurmountable.
"Kill!"
Li Yuan swung his spear and continued to strike at the others.
On the entire platform, hardly anyone could withstand two strikes from Li Yuan, and they were defeated one by one.
A siege? Setting aside the difficulty of unity, even if they could unite to attack him, they might not be able to kill Li Yuan.
The final showdown unfolded between Li Yuan and another student preselected as A-Level by one of the five famous schools, Xiong Xiaocheng.
In fact, Li Yuan had deliberately avoided the opponent, giving Xiong Xiaocheng the opportunity to pursue others.
"I'm already second."
"First place? This Li Yuan is too fierce; my chances of winning are very slim," Xiong Xiaocheng stared at Li Yuan, feeling like a tiger was eyeing him.
He was covered in sweat.
"To win, I have only one chance."
"At all costs, a sudden fierce onslaught might bring victory," Xiong Xiaocheng resolved. He too practiced with a long spear.
Already second, it was better to give it his all.
"Whoosh!"
Xiong Xiaocheng pounced toward Li Yuan, his spear stabbing fiercely and violently.
"Golden Cleaving Spear Technique?" Li Yuan figured out from the opponent's starting stance and power delivery, "Is he an expert of the Heaven Cleaving True Gold Method?"
Like the Stellar Spear Technique, which fits exceedingly well with the Second Rank Spear Technique of the Solid Rock Cultivation Technique.
Heaven Cleaving True Gold Method, one of the seven high-rank Cultivation Methods, naturally has a highly compatible, matching Second Rank Spear Technique.
Li Yuan, who frequently fought on the Starry Skies Fighting Network, had seen many experts and could recognize some techniques.
Especially since he had encountered a Fallen Star-ranked expert using the Golden Cleaving Spear Technique, which was ferocious and crazy, leaving a profound impression on Li Yuan, who had re-watched the video many times.
"Boom!"
"Boom!" "Boom!" Li Yuan, with a killing urge, whistled through the air with his long spear, attacking with offense against offense. Within just three clashes, he had knocked Xiong Xiaocheng's spear out of his hand.
"Pfft!"
The spear tip sliced through, a head flew, and the figure turned into nothingness.
On the entire platform, only Li Yuan was left.
…
"That's a steady spear; his specialty must be defense," Tian Dazhuang on the Spectator Platform watched Li Yuan closely, his eyes burning with excitement, "Another Fourth Level!"
"I was too conceited, hanging only by a remote corner of the sky; not all of Long Senior's words can be taken for truth," he thought.
"Just in Jiangbei Province alone, including me, that makes four at the Fourth Level. Are there any more in hiding?"
"How many across the country? And worldwide?" Tian Dazhuang muttered to himself, "Li Yuan?"
"I've got it memorized."
...
Whoosh!
Li Yuan's figure appeared in his seat, immediately drawing the attention of hundreds of surrounding students, all of whom turned to look at him.
"Li Yuan?"
"From Jiang City, there's a Wu Dongdong and a Li Yuan, fitting for a provincial capital."
"But I've never heard of this name from the teachers before."
"Perhaps others intentionally hid their strength during the January assessments?" Many students quietly speculated.
The first three matches saw the explosive performance of three fourth-level masters: Tian Dazhuang, Wang Yu, Wu Dongdong, all of whom had established reputations.
Despite not knowing their faces, many had heard their names.
Li Yuan was the only exception.
Ranked just over two hundred in Jiang City's martial arts scores, he indeed seemed rather inconspicuous.
After this battle, Li Yuan was destined to rise to fame among the students participating in the invitation event.
"Li Yuan, awesome," Gu Qianghan turned around, excitedly shouting.
Li Yuan just smiled.
"Li Yuan, impressive. I had underestimated you," Wu Dongdong said as if he had discovered a treasure, gazing curiously at Li Yuan, "You're at the fourth level in spear technique, and so am I. I must find a chance to spar with you later."
"Sure," Li Yuan was not opposed.
It was Lin Lanyue who merely smiled and said, "Congratulations on taking first place, fifty thousand Blue Star Coins. You'll have to treat us to a meal."
"Sorry about that," Li Yuan chuckled, "I didn't mention it earlier, but my spear technique only broke through yesterday."
"Oh?"
"Just yesterday?" Lin Lanyue reacted, "So, your fainting in the martial arts room yesterday... was it also related to your spear technique breakthrough?"
"Right!" Li Yuan nodded.
...
The fifth and sixth cage battles continued in succession.
However, no super masters like Li Yuan and Tian Dazhuang appeared, creating a sheer cliff of advantage.
In some sense, this made the battles even more exciting, allowing most of the participating students a greater chance to shine.
The six rounds concluded.
Out of the ten students from Guan Mountain District's Number One High School, aside from Li Yuan and Lin Lanyue who took the first and second places, Searᴄh the NôvelFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
none of the other eight managed to break into the top fifty.
This made Dong Haifeng and the others realize the gap.
Perhaps in terms of overall martial arts scores, some of them had slightly surpassed Li Yuan with 'spiritual nature bonus points' during the January assessments.
But the real strength gap was enormous.
In the 'Jiangbei Martial University Invitation Event', representing the highest level of Jiangbei Province's high school seniors, Li Yuan was still the most dazzling.
And they had become just ordinary members among the thousands of elite students.
...
"I announce that the cage battles are over," the man in black roared in his rumbling voice, "The sixty students who have won prizes can check their accounts."
"All the Blue Star Coin rewards have been distributed."
The conclusion of this event also marked the end of the first day's itinerary for the invitation event.
...
In the virtual network, in his personal space,
"Fifty thousand Blue Star Coins credited," Li Yuan had already received the bank account notification and couldn't help but smile, "The efficiency of Jiangbei Martial University's work is indeed high."
The most timely feedback can greatly motivate people.
...
Exiting the virtual network cabin, Li Yuan chatted with Gu Qianghan while taking a can of cola out of the fridge.
"Ding~"
"Ding~" At the entrance of the martial arts room, the doorbell rang.
"Who could it be this late?" Gu Qianghan looked puzzled, "Who's there?"
"I'll go get the door," Li Yuan said with a smile and went straight to open the door.
When he opened the door, standing in front of Li Yuan were a bald man and a robed elder.
"Who are you?" Li Yuan hesitated slightly; he could sense the aura emanating from both of them.
Moreover, Li Yuan had instinctively inquired, and both had life levels beyond his inquiry limit.
This meant that the two men before him were at least Prime Warriors.
"Li Yuan,"
"I'm the Vice Dean of the Sixth Institute of Kunlun Martial Arts University, my surname is Li," the bald man said with a slight smile, "I've come to formally extend an invitation from Kunlun Martial University for you to participate in an S-grade special training."
"May I have a private word with you?"