On the morning of the 17th, Yu Fei faced his final match. If he won this one, he would secure his spot out of the preliminaries.
Around ten-thirty, a staff member notified Yu Fei to get ready.
Yu Fei was relatively lucky this time; his opponent had only passed Stage Two.
Over ninety percent of the contestants in this competition had the strength of Stage Three, but a few had only passed the Flesh Stage.
With his strength, Yu Fei won easily, achieving five straight victories.
The preliminaries came to a close. A total of 18 people won all five of their matches, earning 10 points and advancing from the preliminaries.
According to the tournament rules, another 9 contestants with four wins and one draw would be selected to advance to the finals. However, this had nothing to do with Yu Fei, so he didn't pay it any mind.
The group stage round-robin was scheduled for the 18th and 19th, a tight schedule.
Having reached this point in the competition, Yu Fei had essentially achieved his goal. With the help of 10 Vitality Elixirs, his future training speed would increase significantly.
It would be difficult for Yu Fei to advance further in the group stage eliminations. His martial arts realm was still too low. If he had the strength of a Stage Two Martial Artist, he might have dared to fight for a spot in the finals.
Take Mr. Gao, for example. He could completely suppress Gao Yunxiang for a minute, but he couldn't take him down.
No matter how fast your neural responses were, your body had its limits when it came to executing moves.
If an opponent like Mr. Gao went on full defense, protecting his vitals, he could be injured but not fall. After a minute, Yu Fei would be toast.
The seed players in the group stage who were at Stage Four or above would only be stronger than Gao Yunxiang. He stood no chance of winning.
Of the five matches he had fought so far, the most difficult was the one against Zuo Qiuming, which he had barely won.
'However, my Fate-Reversing Pearl still has one copy chance left. The contestants who made it to the group stage all have decent talents. As long as I can complete a copy, I'll just forfeit the rest of my matches.'
That evening, Teacher Yan Sea treated everyone to a barbecue dinner to celebrate Yu Fei and Jian Dalong passing the preliminaries. However, everyone basically knew that for Nanguan Second Middle School, this was pretty much the end of the road for this competition.
Among the five high schools in Tianning County, Number One High School was the strongest. One of the seed players in this competition came from there.
And among all the high schools in Y-City, Xinghuo High School was a specially designated key municipal high school. Over sixty percent of the seed players came from there.
'Hmm! Xinghuo Martial Arts Dojo, Xinghuo High School.'
'Just from the names, you'd think there was no connection!'
Yu Fei thought to himself as he furiously devoured the grilled meat.
"Come on, first, let's congratulate Jian Dalong and Yu Fei for passing the preliminaries! A toast, everyone!"
Yan Sea raised the small, full decanter in his hand, and everyone raised their glasses.
The three martial arts teachers, led by Yan Sea, used the two-liang capacity decanters as their cups.
Martial Artists possessed physical constitutions far superior to ordinary people, with extraordinary metabolisms and seemingly bottomless tolerances for alcohol.
In front of Yu Fei and the others were soft drinks; minors weren't allowed to drink alcohol.
Meanwhile, Yu Miao and the other parents were at another table.
The three teachers downed the two liang of liquor in one go without a change in expression. Yan Sea even seemed to want more, silently refilling his cup without a word.
This barbecue restaurant claimed that all its meat was marinated in medicinal herbs. They said it nourished the muscles and bones of ordinary people and consolidated the vital essence of Martial Artists.
Yu Fei didn't really believe the restaurant's marketing gimmick, but the grilled meat was indeed delicious.
The scratch marks on Jian Dalong's face were conspicuous, giving him a uniquely comical look.
Martial Artists had enormous appetites. By the end of the meal, the empty meat plates filled three service carts, and the three teachers had eaten more than half of it all.
Yan Sea and the others had drunk six bottles of baijiu and still didn't look fazed.
It was already 10 p.m. by the time they returned to the hotel. During dinner, Yu Fei had received a message: for the group stage, he had been assigned to Group C. His matches would start at 9 a.m. on the 19th—tomorrow.
Yu Fei looked at the list. Group C could be considered the group of death, because the only seed player who had already broken through Stage Five to become a Second-Realm Martial Artist was in this group.
"Dalong, which group are you in?"
"I'm in Group A. You?"
"Group C!"
Jian Dalong chuckled, gloating, "Let me see... whoa! You're in big trouble. That's the group of death! Be careful tomorrow, don't get your face beaten into a pulp!"
"I can always surrender if I can't win. You, on the other hand, you cat-faced clown... don't make your opponent die of laughter before the fight even starts!"
"Damn it!"
「The next day.」
Yu Fei's luck wasn't great. His match was the first of the day.
His opponent was an extremely sturdy-looking young man. Under the perception of his [Insight], the sense of danger from the opponent was like a needle prick, and the purple gem above his head shone brightly.
According to the information packet, this guy's name was Ma Tianhao, and he had the strength of Stage Three.
Ma Tianhao's fighting style was somewhat similar to Jian Dalong's. He excelled at head-on clashes and possessed immense strength, far exceeding that of a normal Stage Three Martial Artist. He was likely gifted with some innate talent.
This was going to be a tough fight. Zuo Qiuming's talent had been non-offensive and Yu Fei had been able to counter it, yet even that match had been extremely difficult.
But Yu Fei wouldn't give up easily.
Having marked his target, Yu Fei began to devise his strategy.
Yu Fei's raw strength was low and his Qi Blood was weak. He didn't have many options. His only chance of winning was to launch a swift and fierce blitzkrieg at the very beginning, catching his opponent off guard before they could figure out his abilities, and taking them down quickly.
If the fight devolved into a stalemate, or if his opponent started defending, he would most likely lose.
"3... 2... 1... Begin!"
As the referee gave the command, Yu Fei broke from his usual style, rushing to Ma Tianhao's left and jabbing his hand toward his opponent's eyes.
Ma Tianhao frowned. They were all students, and their moves were generally civilized. Few people used such vicious attacks in a competition.
Taking a small step back, Ma Tianhao dodged Yu Fei's attack. Just as he was about to teach this reckless underclassman a lesson, Yu Fei stuck to him like a snake coiling around a staff, raising his leg for a knee strike aimed at his abdomen.
Yu Fei intended to provoke him.
"Hmph!"
Ma Tianhao was so angry he laughed.
"You're simply courting death!"
He planned to counter with a kick of his own. With his strength, Yu Fei would suffer a huge loss in a direct exchange.
But just as he lifted his leg, Yu Fei's knee strike bizarrely transformed into a flying kick. Caught completely off guard, Ma Tianhao was kicked in the chest and stumbled back several steps.
After landing, Yu Fei didn't press the attack. He just dusted off his shoulder and gave Ma Tianhao a contemptuous, head-to-toe look, as if to say:
"Is that all you got?"
Ma Tianhao's anger instantly flared. He had never suffered such a sneaky loss in all his fights to get here.
"Son of a bitch! You're asking to die!"
Ma Tianhao initiated his attack with Light Swallow Shadow, circulating the Qi Blood in his body.
"Line-Penetrating Kill!"
His Line-Penetrating Kill had already reached the level of Great Accomplishment.
Although his Light Swallow Shadow was only at the Adept level, it still provided a significant speed boost. Combined with his physique that far surpassed ordinary people, few could block this Great Accomplishment-level Line-Penetrating Kill!
His Qi Blood surged. Ma Tianhao charged forward like a heavy cavalryman, unstoppable!
Yu Fei felt a pinprick on his forehead, indicating the intended target of the attack.
Before obtaining [Insight], he had to be completely focused in battle, unable to ignore a single detail. [Super Speed Reaction] could increase his reaction speed sevenfold, but he had to constantly pay attention to his surroundings, which was mentally exhausting.
[Insight], however, was different. It was more like a naturally active passive ability. Even before Ma Tianhao made his move, Yu Fei had already sensed his offensive intent.
Combined with [Super Speed Reaction], this process was slowed down even further, giving Yu Fei enough time to formulate a tactic.
The instant Ma Tianhao launched his Punching Fist, Yu Fei twisted his body and stomped his foot, gathering his power.
As the fist approached, he rode the wind from Ma Tianhao's punch, doing a backflip and kicking upwards with his right foot.
"Line-Penetrating Kill!"
This was also Yu Fei's trump card.
Ma Tianhao watched as his sure-hit punch was dodged by his opponent in an unbelievable and perfectly-timed manner, and panic seized his heart.
"This is impossible!
How is this possible?"
Lost in shock, he didn't have time to react before a vicious gust of wind came from behind his head.
BANG!
From bottom to top, Yu Fei's Line-Penetrating Kill, fully charged with Qi Blood, viciously kicked the back of Ma Tianhao's head. He staggered forward a few steps and collapsed onto the ring.
Yu Fei flipped back to his feet and waited quietly for the referee to announce the result.
Until one reached Great Accomplishment in Stage Four Bone Refining, the head remained a Martial Artist's weak point.
Below the stage, Yan Sea shot to his feet, staring intently at Yu Fei, unable to believe his eyes!
"Yu Fei! Wins!"
The referee's voice rang out!