Meanwhile, at the martial arts arena.
After being "inexplicably" kicked off the stage by Liu Yuan, it wasn't just Zhang Jiayun and the other two who felt a sense of strangeness and disbelief...
In fact, even the other students in the class and Mr. Xuan, acting as the referee, hadn't understood what had just happened.
The entire arena fell into a deathly silence, as if time had been paused at this very moment.
Everyone's face wore the same look of daze and confusion, their gazes shifting back and forth between the proud, upright figure on the stage and the three unlucky souls below, who were grimacing and rubbing their buttocks as they scrambled up.
What happened?
Hadn't the match just been announced to start?
Why were Zhang Jiayun and the others already down?
"I... I didn't see clearly. Did any of you see what happened?" Finally, someone in the crowd broke the silence, their voice trembling with disbelief.
"I didn't see it either! I just felt like a flash of white light... no, a green light flashed before my eyes, and then... then Zhang Jiayun and the others flew out?" another student said, eyes wide, trying to recall the scene from less than a second ago, but finding only a blank mind.
"What Spirit Ability is this? Teleportation? But even teleportation couldn't be this fast! And there wasn't even a hint of spirit power fluctuation beforehand!"
In an instant, the entire arena erupted from deathly silence into a boiling cauldron of noise.
Discussions, exclamations, and the sound of sharp intakes of breath rose one after another; every student felt extremely shocked.
Because they hadn't seen Liu Yuan's movements at all just now; they only felt a blurry afterimage flicker, so fast that even their thoughts couldn't keep up before the battle ended in the most inconceivable way.
This scene was utterly bizarre.
On the other side, Ju Zi and Ke Ke, standing behind Liu Yuan, were even more shocked beyond words.
Their mouths were shaped like an "O," and their beautiful large eyes were filled with astonishment and confusion. The two stared blankly at each other, both seeing the same emotion in the other's gaze.
"Ke Ke... did... did you see that?" Ju Zi's voice was dry. She felt her heart still thumping wildly; the impact of that moment felt incredibly intense.
"I... I didn't see anything at all!" Ke Ke shook her head vigorously, her face looking as if she had seen a ghost.
"I just heard Teacher Xuan shout'start,' and then... then it was over? Zhang Jiayun and the others didn't even raise their spirit tools, did they? What's going on? Liu Yuan... what did he do?"
Ke Ke and Ju Zi thought for a long time but couldn't figure out what had happened.
...
Unlike their confusion, Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, the siblings on the other side of the crowd, had expressions of "just as expected" on their faces.
Meng Hongchen nudged her brother with her elbow and smiled slyly. "Brother, look, isn't everyone's reaction just like ours was back then?"
Xiao Hongchen's lips couldn't help but twitch as he nodded helplessly. "Yeah... his 'Extreme Speed' move is simply unreasonable. No matter how many times I see it, it's terrifyingly fast. This speed... it's practically cheating!"
...
On the referee's stand, Mr. Xuan had already sat up straight.
His sharp eyes were locked onto Liu Yuan, the depths of his pupils filled with unprecedented shock and inquiry.
"This is impossible..." he couldn't help but mutter to himself, his voice low and heavy. "Even I couldn't completely capture his movement trajectory just now! How on earth did he do it?"
A strong thirst for knowledge and his investigative spirit as a top Soul Engineer made him unable to restrain himself any longer.
Mr. Xuan immediately turned and began operating the auxiliary equipment beside him, announcing loudly, "In this match, Liu Yuan's team wins! Everyone, quiet! I will now immediately retrieve the surveillance footage of the match for slow-motion playback!"
As he spoke, the massive spirit tool screen above the arena instantly lit up.
Mr. Xuan directly adjusted the playback speed to one-tenth slow motion.
The footage began to play; all the students held their breath, fixing their eyes on the large screen.
On the screen, the moment the word "start" left Mr. Xuan's mouth, Liu Yuan's form turned into a blurry emerald-green stream of light, instantly crossing a distance of dozens of meters along a trajectory nearly untraceable by the naked eye.
"Slower!" Mr. Xuan adjusted it again, reducing the speed to one percent.
This time, everyone finally saw clearly.
They saw Liu Yuan's figure appear like a ghost behind Zhang Jiayun's trio, who had only just completed their Martial Soul Possession. Their faces still held expressions of focused battle readiness, completely unaware of the danger behind them.
Immediately after, a whip-like kick as fast as lightning swept out, accurately striking the waists of the three, cleanly and efficiently "inviting" them off the stage.
The entire process was smooth and fluid, without a single redundant movement, filled with the aesthetics of extreme speed and power.
"Hiss—"
After seeing the entire process clearly, a synchronized sound of sharp intakes of breath echoed through the arena, and the students became even more shocked.
If not seeing clearly before was shocking, then seeing clearly now was utter fear and submission.
"My god... this speed... who in our class could possibly react?"
"React? Don't be joking! Even with preparation, even if your eyes see it, your body can't keep up! How can we even fight?"
"Too strong... Has classmate Liu Yuan's strength already reached such a level?"
The students discussed animatedly; the previous doubt in their gazes toward Liu Yuan had long since vanished, replaced by deep awe.
They finally had the most direct understanding of Liu Yuan's unfathomable and powerful strength.
Ju Zi and Ke Ke felt as if their entire worldview had been reorganized.
Ke Ke tugged on Ju Zi's sleeve and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Ju Zi, do... do you remember what Xiao Meng said before?"
Ju Zi nodded blankly, the image of Meng Hongchen's "you guys hit the jackpot" expression surfacing in her mind.
"She said... Liu Yuan's strength is terrifyingly strong, and he could lead us to the championship..." Ke Ke swallowed hard, her throat feeling dry. "She... she couldn't have been telling the truth, could she?"
The more they thought about it, the more shocked they felt.
They had thought that as two lower-tier students paired with Liu Yuan, no matter how strong he was, he wouldn't be able to carry them. They never expected Liu Yuan to be so incredibly powerful that even with two "dead weights" like them, he could end battles in an instant.
And the subsequent matches perfectly confirmed their suspicions.
The first round ended quickly; half of the twelve teams were eliminated, leaving six.
Next was the second round. Liu Yuan's team faced an opponent consisting of three mid-tier Soul Engineers.
This time, the opponents had wised up. As soon as the match started, they immediately retreated at full speed while setting up layers of defensive spirit tools in front of them, attempting to trade space for reaction time.
However, all of this was meaningless in the face of Liu Yuan's absolute speed.
He simply repeated his old trick. With a flash of his figure, he easily bypassed all defensive fortifications and artillery barrages, appearing behind the three as if taking a stroll in a courtyard. With one kick each, he easily knocked them off the stage again.
In the third round, the semi-finals, Liu Yuan's team faced another powerful team. Meanwhile, the team composed of Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, and Li Yunfeng advanced directly to the finals due to a lucky draw.
In this semi-final match, Liu Yuan repeated his tactics and led them to victory once more.
Thus, Liu Yuan's team advanced strongly into the finals with three consecutive wins, almost all of which were instantaneous victories.
Next, only Liu Yuan's team and Xiao Hongchen's team remained to compete for the final victory.
Walking off the stage, Ju Zi and Ke Ke still felt lightheaded, as if everything was surreal.
"We... we just entered the finals like that?" Ju Zi said to Ke Ke in a daze. "I feel like I'm dreaming."
"Yeah," Ke Ke nodded with a bitter smile. "From beginning to end, I only opened my spirit tool's scope and never even pulled the trigger. It feels like we didn't come here to compete, but to be spectators—the kind with the best view."
They had originally thought they would be "dead weights" dragging Liu Yuan down, and their hearts were filled with guilt and pressure.
But they now realized that in the face of Liu Yuan's absolute strength, let alone the two of them, the result wouldn't have changed even with different teammates.
He alone was enough to win.
This feeling of "winning while lying down" was truly too dreamlike.
The curiosity and anticipation of the other students also reached a peak at this moment.
"It's the finals! Liu Yuan versus Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen! This is definitely a clash of titans!"
"Do you think Liu Yuan will win the next match too?"
"In his previous rounds, he knocked his opponents off the stage with lightning speed. Even though his opponents were more prepared each time, it was useless every time."
"Hard to say! Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen are not comparable to Zhang Jiayun and the others. When those two siblings join forces, their strength isn't just one plus one equals two! Besides, they are also Core Disciples!"
"Exactly. While Liu Yuan's speed is inexplicably fast, Xiao Hongchen's attack range is massive, and Meng Hongchen's attacks are hard to guard against. It's probably impossible for Liu Yuan to win as easily as before."
Amidst the heated discussions, the finals were about to begin.
The three members of Xiao Hongchen's team also gathered together for their final tactical discussion.
Their teammate Li Yunfeng looked solemnly at Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen and couldn't help but ask, "Xiao Hongchen, Xiao Meng, what should we do later? Do you have a way to deal with Liu Yuan? I see you have a good relationship with him, so you should know him well, right?"
Hearing this, Meng Hongchen just smiled without speaking, while Xiao Hongchen shook his head with a bitter expression.
"A way?" He sighed. "None."
"Huh?" Li Yunfeng was stunned. "Not a single way? Is that speed of his really unbeatable?"
Xiao Hongchen's expression became even more depressed. He looked around, lowered his voice, and told the truth. "To be honest, Li Yunfeng, I just had a duel with him at Grandfather's place a few days ago."
Li Yunfeng's eyes instantly lit up, and he asked eagerly, "And? What was the result?"
Xiao Hongchen glanced at him, his face looking as if he had been constipated for half a month. Finally, he squeezed out four words from between his teeth:
"I was insta-killed."
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