Shen Hui's plan was to feign an opening by spinning rashly in close combat. Her opponent would surely press the advantage. But guided by the fierce power of her One-Word Pierce Style, the elbow strike would only accelerate. Her opponent's charge would be met with a hard elbow, and with any luck, it would end the match instantly.
But she never expected Yu Fei to replicate her move. He had already calculated where her head would be after her elbow strike, and with a side step and a wide spin of his own, he aimed an elbow strike at that predicted spot.
Yu Fei had achieved mastery in the One-Word Pierce Style, so he was faster. However, he started slightly later and had a bit more distance to cover, which meant he was a split second behind Shen Hui. The timing was, paradoxically, perfect.
Shen Hui spun and threw her elbow, but felt no impact.
'Where'd he go? Did he retreat?'
The thought had just crossed her mind when a vicious gust of wind whipped past her ear.
THUD—
Shen Hui's vision went black. She staggered a few steps before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.
She was defeated.
Yu Fei shook his arm, rubbed his elbow, and muttered to himself,
"What a hard head!"
Down below the stage, Yan Sea was dumbfounded. He felt that kids these days were really audacious, pulling all sorts of flashy tricks.
Shen Hui's martial arts teacher, also in the audience, looked pale. He felt like he'd been both outplayed and made a fool of. If his student had just played it safe, he was sure she could have secured a victory.
"Sigh! Not composed enough!"
The referee's voice rang out.
"Contestant 147 wins the second match!"
Yu Fei happily returned to the rest area. After some thought, he chose a mango-flavored energy drink and took a few sips. He didn't dare drink too much, or his body wouldn't be able to handle it.
When he came out again, Yan Sea was giving him a strange look.
'This kid is so damn lucky!'
Through two consecutive matches, not only were Yu Fei's opponents not particularly strong, but they also weren't the sharpest tacks.
In Yan Sea's opinion, if you have a clear advantage in strength, you should play it safe. Don't make mistakes, and don't give your opponent a chance to turn the tables.
Showboating is an easy way to get yourself beaten. Your opponent isn't an idiot; if you give them an opening, why wouldn't they take it?
That evening, Yan Sea and the other two teachers took the six students out for dinner, then returned to the hotel to review the day's matches.
Of the six students, Yu Fei and Jian Dalong had won both of their matches, Wang Jiale had lost both, and the remaining three had one win and one loss.
Yan Sea first addressed Wang Jiale's issues.
He tapped the table.
"You are a Martial Artist. You must approach every fight with the determination to win. The more you fear losing, the more likely you are to lose!
Your biggest problem is your lack of martial will. If you can't overcome that, there's no point in even trying to get into a Martial Arts University. You'll just end up getting yourself killed one day!"
Yan Sea didn't mince his words.
Wang Jiale, no longer his usual optimistic self, stood up and bowed to Yan Sea.
"Thank you, Mr. Yan. I understand."
After losing twice in a row, Wang Jiale paradoxically felt a weight lift from his shoulders.
Next up was Yu Fei. Yan Sea looked at him, his face practically begging for praise like a star pupil, and felt a headache coming on.
Yu Fei's performance in both fights had been nothing short of stunning. His timing was impeccable—a textbook example of the weak overcoming the strong.
If he were in Yu Fei's shoes, Yan Sea felt he couldn't have done the same.
But the thought of actually praising Yu Fei felt so... awkward.
After a moment of thought, he decided to focus on the three bottles of energy drink Yu Fei had chugged that afternoon, sternly reminding him to follow instructions and not just mess around doing whatever he pleased.
And that was it.
The other two teachers felt a bit awkward. They were quite impressed with Yu Fei. For someone who had only been training for half a year to win two matches against seniors with higher cultivation realms was an incredible feat.
But seeing Yan Sea's attitude, they didn't dare say much. Yan Sea held a special position among the martial arts teachers of No. 2 High.
Jian Dalong had won both his fights in a completely dominant fashion, earning unanimous praise from the other two teachers. They reminded him to conserve his stamina in the upcoming matches and not to blindly trade injury for injury.
Although the medical team provided miraculous healing drugs to injured contestants after each match, serious injuries wouldn't heal so quickly.
Some people had already withdrawn from the competition at this point.
The bruiser, relying on his physical superiority, often chose to forgo defense entirely. His strategy was simple: you hit me, I'll hit you. It was all about trading health bars, and it was brutally effective.
For high school students with limited combat experience, this strategy was actually quite hard to counter.
「After a night of rest, the competition continued.」
Today's opponent was special. Yu Fei stared at the purple gem above the young man's head, his fingers itching.
In his Reversing Destiny Vision, the purple light surrounding his opponent gave him a noble and elegant aura.
Yu Fei raised his hand and set a mark.
He didn't know the type of his opponent's talent, but a purple talent was the highest quality he had encountered so far.
Yu Fei wasn't sure if he could win, but he wanted to give it his all.
Zuo Qiuming looked at his opponent. The other boy had a smile on his lips and a casual posture, yet Zuo Qiuming sensed an aura of danger.
Zuo Qiuming believed he was different from others. Since childhood, he'd had an astonishing ability to sense danger. He could even perceive the goodwill or malice of others. After he began studying martial arts, this ability had grown even sharper.
The two stared at each other for a long moment, neither making a rash move.
Yu Fei was unsure of his opponent's talent, while Zuo Qiuming was trying to pinpoint the source of the danger.
He didn't quite understand it. On paper, Yu Fei was only at the first stage of martial cultivation.
So far, everyone had been paying close attention to the strength and style of the undefeated contestants. In this context, Yu Fei, a first-stage cultivator with two wins under his belt, stood out.
Everyone was wondering how he'd done it. Were his opponents just that bad?
Zuo Qiuming no longer thought so. He wouldn't feel a sense of danger from a normal first-stage Martial Artist. Yu Fei had to have an ace up his sleeve.
But overthinking was useless. In martial arts, you had to cross blows to find out.
In an instant, the two closed the distance and engaged in a flurry of combat, but the situation was strange.
Fists and feet flew for a full minute, yet neither of them landed a single effective blow.
They either dodged or blocked, a constant back-and-forth.
The moment Yu Fei clenched his left fist, before he could even attack, Zuo Qiuming had already raised an elbow to block its path. Yu Fei immediately changed his move, and Zuo Qiuming changed with him.
Their fists and feet twisted through bizarre trajectories in the air before colliding.
When Zuo Qiuming attacked, he faced the exact same predicament.
It was as if they could read each other's minds.
A moment later, they both retreated in unspoken agreement. They needed a breather to calm their surging Qi Blood.
Based on the results, Yu Fei felt like he was fighting another version of himself.
The only difference was that before his fist could even fly, his opponent had already dodged or blocked. Before he could even finish changing his move, it was as if his opponent already knew his intention.
His opponent's defense was... preemptive.
It was like the guy had installed a camera in his brain, seeing his every thought.
'Hmm? Can this guy read minds?'
Yu Fei frowned in thought.
He then secretly thought of a hilarious joke and watched for his opponent's reaction.
No reaction.
'Maybe it wasn't that funny?'
Yu Fei guessed inwardly.
Then he started viciously cursing his opponent in his head.
Still no reaction?
'Observation Haki?'
'But there are no pirates in this world!'
He wasn't sure. Yu Fei's initial judgment was that his opponent's talent had something to do with precognition.
He decided to go all out and risk it. His Qi Blood was weaker than his opponent's; he couldn't afford a prolonged fight.
During the initial exchange, he had only used up to six rotations per strike, holding back some of his power.
Down below, Yan Sea was gloating.
'The little brat's gotten so arrogant because of his martial talent. Serves him right to finally meet his match.'
'There's always someone stronger. Always a higher mountain to climb!'
Zuo Qiuming, on the other hand, was having a completely different experience.
During a fight, whenever his opponent was about to launch an attack that could harm him, he would receive a warning, allowing him to dodge in advance.
But this guy's offensive intentions changed so quickly that he could barely keep up.
As for Zuo Qiuming's own attacks, his opponent defended against all of them. The movements were a bit stiff, but they were highly effective.
Since the fight began, Zuo Qiuming realized his opponent hadn't made a single mistake. This was terrifying.
No one could respond perfectly in a fight; everyone makes mistakes, big or small.
But Yu Fei shattered that belief. It seemed as though Yu Fei's every attack and every defense was perfectly timed.
'This is going to be a tough fight!'
Zuo Qiuming thought.
'There is one sure way to win now. I just have to drag this out. His Qi Blood is weaker than mine. I'll just run him dry!'
With that thought, Zuo Qiuming made up his mind.
After considering their tactics, the two fighters made completely different choices.