Chapter 224: Heng Jingchuo

　　The situation in the arena changed after Chu Liuyue won the match.

　　The remaining few competitors looked in her direction from time to time with differing expressions. However, they all looked a lot more somber.

　　They thought that Chu Liuyue would be at the bottom of the top ten, but she went straight for Situ Ziyue and took the number one position!

　　They had to re-evaluate her now. She beat two stage-four warriors when she was a stage-one. Now that she was a stage-two warrior, she even defeated an advanced stage-four warrior!

　　Such results were enough for Chu Liuyue to make a name for herself.

　　If they wanted to take the number one position, they had to beat her!

　　Sun Zhongyan looked towards a young man from Nan Feng Academy. “Ye Chenjia, it’s your turn to choose now.”

　　He was number nine, ranked just one position in front of Chu Liuyue earlier. According to the rules, it was his turn to challenge someone in the top five!

　　Ye Chenjia seemed to have been prepared. He went straight for the arena and motioned towards a young man from Tai Yan Academy.

　　“Nan Feng Academy’s Ye Chenjia challenges Tai Yan Academy’s Su Tingfeng!”

　　After hearing about his choice, everyone nodded. They had clearly expected Ye Chenjia to choose Su Tingfeng.

　　Su Tingfeng was ranked fifth. He was clearly the easiest of the top five to beat.

　　Ye Chenjia’s choice was a safe one.

　　Su Tingfeng laughed out loud and leaped onto the arena. “Please!”

　　There was a lot of chatter as the two battled.

　　“… That scared me. I thought all the new students were insane!”

　　“One Chu Liuyue is enough; otherwise, us older students are doomed…”

　　“Actually, I heard that Ye Chenjia is only 16 this year, yet he’s a stage-three warrior. He can be considered the cream of the crop already. It’s his first year taking part in the Qing Jiao Competition, and he’s in the top ten. He’s comparable to Jiang Yuan from earlier. It’s just that Chu Liuyue outshone everyone else.”

　　“Even if Chu Liuyue doesn’t end up ranking first, I think her name will travel far and wide… She has a bright future ahead of her!”

　　…

　　With Chu Liuyue and Situ Ziyue’s intense battle as a comparison, the battle between Su Tingfeng and Ye Chenjia was rather lackluster.

　　Even though Ye Chenjia was talented, Su Tingfeng was of higher rank. After a tedious one-hour-long battle, Ye Chenjia conceded.

　　Su Tingfeng motioned to him graciously. “You let me win.”

　　Ye Chenjia laughed bitterly. “Fighting above your rank is definitely not easy. I wonder…”

　　He could not help but glance over at Tian Lu Academy.

　　Chu Liuyue was seated in her seat calmly. The people around her were still talking about her earlier battle, but she did not look arrogant or proud. It was as if she wasn’t the one who fought that battle.

　　She fought people more than one cultivation stage above her… yet she is still so calm?!

　　In comparison, Ye Chenjia felt inadequate.

　　Su Tingfeng followed his gaze, and his expression changed as he rubbed his glabella. He had thought that he would be able to rank higher, but looking at things now, he was afraid…

　　…

　　The next two matches went by really quickly.

　　The third match—Tian Lu Academy’s Qin Hua challenged Nan Feng Academy’s Xi Wanwan and failed.

　　The fourth match had Nan Feng Academy’s Li Ziyuan challenging Xiao Wenling from the same academy. But the challenge failed.

　　The three people after Chu Liuyue chose lower-ranked warriors to challenge, but all failed just the same.

　　Chu Liuyue closely watched the battles as she recuperated. One of them might become her opponent later, so she had to take the opportunity to observe them closely.

　　Both Xi Wanwan and Xiao Wenling were intermediate stage-four warriors. From their battles, Chu Liuyue could tell they weren’t as strong as Situ Ziyue. That meant that nobody posed a threat to her for now.

　　Chu Liuyue turned and looked toward Rong Jin, who was in front.

　　Ranked second, Rong Jin was the last person to be chosen, and his opponent was Heng Jingchuo from Tai Yan Academy.

　　…

　　Heng Jingchuo was ranked sixth, and he was an intermediate stage-four warrior. If it were Xi Wanwan or Xiao Wenling from earlier, he would’ve had a chance to win. But Rong Jin was an advanced stage-four warrior, and he had stronger ability. Hence, Heng Jingchuo did not have much of a chance.

　　The two faced off in the arena.

　　Both were tall and rather good looking, so they attracted quite a few girls’ attention just by standing there.

　　“It has always been a regret of mine that we did not get to spar last year. But my wish has now been fulfilled,” said Heng Jingchuo with a smile. “I have much to learn.”

　　Rong Jin nodded. “Just take it as a sparring match.”

　　Even so, Rong Jin did not take Heng Jingchuo seriously. The two of them were of different abilities. He had watched Heng Jingchuo’s earlier matches—they could only be considered safe.

　　He was aiming for the number one position, so he would probably have to challenge Chu Liuyue after winning against Heng Jingchuo. He felt a little frustrated by this thought.

　　“Let’s begin.”

　　The smile on Heng Jingchuo’s face deepened as he watched Rong Jin’s distracted manner. “Please!”

　　With that, he struck first! Heng Jingchuo moved and instantly disappeared.

　　Rong Jin suddenly returned to his senses and furrowed his brows together. When did Heng Jingchuo become so fast?!

　　Cold air came from behind him, and Rong Jin immediately turned to strike with his palms. “Lingyun palm!”

　　There was a gust of wind.

　　Just as Rong Jin was about to hit Heng Jingchuo’s chest, the latter moved and dodged the attack.

　　Rong Jin’s strike missed!

　　As he stared at Heng Jingchuo—who appeared in another location with a smile—Rong Jin’s heart sank.

　　There is something off about this Heng Jingchuo!

　　…

　　Chu Liuyue—who was observing the match below—suddenly sat up straight and began watching Heng Jingchuo.

　　Si Yang noticed her interest and could not help but ask, “You think there’s something wrong with that Heng Jingchuo too?”

　　Even though he did not really like Rong Jin, the latter’s strong ability was known by all.

　　But Heng Jingchuo had just managed to avoid Rong Jin’s attack easily!

　　Chu Liuyue pondered for a moment. “He’s an advanced stage-four warrior.”

　　“Yeah, everyone knows he’s… Hold up! You mean Heng Jingchuo?” Si Yang was stunned and could not help but take a few more glances. “It can’t be? His aura is similar to Jiang Yuan’s, so isn’t he an intermediate stage-four warrior?”

　　Chu Liuyue did not explain, but her expression grew increasingly serious.

　　Si Yang wanted to say more, but he suddenly felt Heng Jingchuo’s aura intensify exponentially.

　　In an instant, his aura was on par with that of Rong Jin!

　　From a disadvantageous position, Rong Jin and Heng Jingchuo were now an even match!

　　Chu Liuyue narrowed her eyes. This Heng Jingchuo… will probably be a tough opponent for me!