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However, Jiang Tianming quickly calmed down: "Actually, it’s not the same. Qi Huang is a very poised and gracious person; if she loses, she loses. As for Si Zhaohua…"

Out of courtesy and to avoid speaking ill of others, he didn’t continue, but anyone could understand his meaning from the look of disgust in his eyes.

Su Bei shook his head, knowing that Jiang Tianming was somewhat affected by his emotions, so he didn’t argue. According to his reasoning, if Si Zhaohua was the antagonist, Jiang Tianming’s thoughts were probably correct. But if he was a protagonist, they would eventually reconcile.

But there was no need to say this now.

After lunch, Su Bei went straight back to the dormitory. He opened his phone, and his next opponent had already been determined—a student from Class B. Seeing his opponent, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

He also checked on the other matches. Most of his classmates were paired against Class B, with only Jiang Tianming facing Class A again. Compared to Su Bei, who had already escaped his fate as cannon fodder, the protagonist was indeed having a tougher time.

Skipping his nap, Su Bei continued to practice controlling his mental power. Because this mental power was something he had deceived others into believing he possessed, Su Bei was very aware of its limits.

At the very least, he needed to be able to use mental power to move objects remotely to truly master it.

The afternoon quickly arrived, and now there were only twenty-six students left. Su Bei easily won his first-round match.

In the early stages, especially in a small arena like this without special obstacles, physical enhancement abilities had a significant advantage.

Although Su Bei didn’t have a physical enhancement ability, he had good stamina, agile moves, and proficient fighting skills. If he had chosen the path of physical enhancement, he would have succeeded.

Once he got close, most opponents couldn’t deal with him. To defeat Su Bei, one either needed strong defense to ignore his attacks or to keep him at a distance and whittle him down slowly.

If Qi Huang, whom he faced in the morning, hadn’t been overly confident in her own strength and underestimated Su Bei, allowing him to get close, he wouldn’t have stood a chance against her.

After all, the power of the phoenix was evident. With a slight adjustment, forming a strategy where Qi Huang and her phoenix played a game of hawk and chicken with him, he wouldn’t have been able to get close, let alone harm her.

But his opponent from Class B in the afternoon was unfortunate. He had neither strength nor defense against Su Bei, and was quickly eliminated.

Due to the reduced number of participants, the afternoon matches progressed quickly. In the first round, Wu Jin was regretfully eliminated. However, his performance didn’t show much disappointment; his flamboyant hairstyle alone could block most prying eyes.

After this round, eighteen people were left, and the second-round opponents were announced. This round finally featured some familiar matchups. Su Bei’s opponent was Zhao Xiaoyu, which he considered a lucky draw.

The most anticipated match, however, was undoubtedly between Wu Mingbai and Zhou Renjie.

Of course, this interest was only among Su Bei and his peers. To others, it was a one-sided match, one not even worth betting on.

For Su Bei, the outcome between Wu Mingbai and Zhou Renjie was predictable—Wu Mingbai would win. This wasn’t just because Wu Mingbai was part of the protagonist group, but because Zhou Renjie was currently an absolute villain.

Unlike Si Zhaohua and Ai Baozhu, Fatty Zhou was genuinely sharp-tongued and sarcastic. If this kind of character is not slapped in the face, it would be the author's dereliction of duty.

 

But Su Bei was very curious about how Wu Mingbai would win. Compared to Wu Mingbai's elemental ability, [Earth Element], Zhou Renjie’s ability was uncertain. From current information, it seemed to be spatial manipulation, but it could also be something else.

Thinking this, he stepped onto the ring. In this round, eighteen people, paired into nine groups, would compete simultaneously across ten rings, so there was no need to split into batches.

Zhao Xiaoyu didn’t look too pleased but wasn’t too disheartened either. She had high expectations for herself, but this time, she wasn’t arrogant enough to aim for first place. Making it this far was a result of both luck and skill.

However, her luck had evidently run out, as her opponent this time was Su Bei. Through their previous dealings, Zhao Xiaoyu knew Su Bei’s ability was called [Gear Of Destiny].

Zhao Xiaoyu believed it but didn’t fully trust its described effects. If this ability only predicted the future, how had Su Bei managed to win until now?

The previous matches were explainable, but winning against Qi Huang in the morning was not something he could have done without a special ability.

Moreover, even if Su Bei had no ability, Zhao Xiaoyu knew she couldn’t beat him.

They stared at each other from a distance. Just as Su Bei was about to quickly end the match, Zhao Xiaoyu finally spoke: “Is there any way I can win?”

“No chance.” Su Bei didn’t pause and walked toward her.

Zhao Xiaoyu smiled bitterly, assuming a fighting stance while retreating to the edge of the ring. Despite the slim chances, she wouldn’t give up easily.

But Su Bei saw through Zhao Xiaoyu’s plan almost instantly. She intended to use herself as bait at the last moment, swapping places with Su Bei to make him fall out of the ring first.

Unfortunately for her, there was no way he would give her that chance. As she neared the edge, about to step out, Su Bei suddenly accelerated, took a flying leap, and delivered a fierce kick, unceremoniously sending her out of the ring.

Since one person had already fallen off the stage, the referee quickly stepped in to announce the result: "Su Bei versus Zhao Xiaoyu, Su Bei wins!"

The referee had been overseeing matches all day. He glanced at Zhao Xiaoyu lying on the ground, then at Su Bei. "It's good that you showed no mercy on stage, but you should be a  gentleman off-stage, right?"

Su Bei knew the referee was referring to both this incident and the one with Qi Huang earlier. He shrugged. "I’m just giving the school a chance to shine, aren’t I?"

"The school doesn’t need that kind of opportunity," the referee said with a chuckle, shaking his head. Then he looked at Zhao Xiaoyu, who was injured and still lying on the ground. "As for her…?"

Just like with Qi Huang, Su Bei didn’t intend to miss the rest of today’s matches just to escort Zhao Xiaoyu to the infirmary, so he feigned innocence: "Wouldn’t that be unfair treatment?"

Zhao Xiaoyu, still lying on the ground, overheard their conversation and raised her hand: "Teacher, I want a pretty female teacher to carry me away."

In fact, even if Su Bei hadn’t spoken up, she wouldn’t have let him take her to the infirmary. First, no matter how slim the chance was, she didn’t want to offend Qi Huang over something like this. Second, Zhao Xiaoyu definitely didn’t want to be carried by the person who had just kicked her off the stage!

The referee was helpless and amused "You’re getting picky now?"

Still, he granted her request and had a pretty teacher from the infirmary come and carry her away in a princess carry. Meanwhile, Su Bei happily walked off the stage, declaring his victory.

By now, everyone had finished their matches, except for Wu Mingbai and Zhou Renjie, whose match was still ongoing.

Since the stage wasn’t visible from where he stood, Su Bei took a moment to check the situation outside the arena. Eight people had already secured spots for tomorrow’s match: Jiang Tianming, Lan Subing, Su Bei, Feng Lan, Mo Xiaotian, Mu Tieren, Si Zhaohua, and Ai Baozhu.

Out of these, five were from Class F, making up more than half the total participants.

This outcome was undeniably shocking, even for Su Bei, who had predicted the result. Without the advantage of a Manga perspective and the closed-off nature of today’s stage, he had no idea how everyone else had managed to win.

But it was clear that when the Manga updated, Mu Tieren’s secret would be at least partially revealed.

As he thought about this, a sudden realization hit him: "The content for the next two days is really packed. Are you sure the author will cover the group battle in the same chapter?"

"Manga Awareness" knew Su Bei was talking to it and, after a brief silence, responded: "The author couldn’t control the pacing earlier, so he’s hesitating. But from what I can tell, he’ll probably split it into two parts."

Hearing this, Su Bei let out a sigh of relief. If the final two days’ battles and the group battle were split into two chapters, it would give him a lot more time to prepare.

Without a doubt, this was great news.

As he waited for Wu Mingbai’s match to end, Su Bei found himself getting a bit bored. So, he took out his phone and opened the grade’s group chat. Before he even entered, he noticed there were 99+ unread messages.

The chat was buzzing with new messages constantly appearing, indicating how lively it was.

Curious, Su Bei scrolled up and began reading with great interest.

[Mushroom Bro]: Another Class F student won! That makes five from Class F, right?

[Creepy Crawler]: Awesome! My Class F is rising up!

[Study Hard]: Are you from Class F? Do you know any of them, @Creepy Crawler?

[Always Improving]: Tell us more! Were these students wrongly placed in Class F? @Creepy Crawler?

[Arthur]: Curious +1

[Cups & Plates]: Are couples in this group really this bold? Using matching usernames directly? @Study Hard @Always Improving

[Study Hard]: Ahem, well, there are no teachers here after all...

[Creepy Crawler]: I don’t know them well, but they seem to be part of a small circle. I guess this is what they call "birds of a feather flock together" (in a positive way, of course).

[Bamboo]: I know Feng Lan and Lan Subing! One has a [Prophecy] ability, and the other has a [Word Spirit] ability. I’m not sure how they ended up in our class. Honestly, I’m not surprised they’ve made it this far.

[Sky]: What? Why are they in Class F? Could this be some hidden rule of the academy where Class F is actually the best class?

[Death Like Wind]: @Sky, I think you’ve uncovered the truth...

Note: I've had Discord for a long time, but honestly, I don't really understand how to use it.

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