Chapter 157: 133: King of the Melee (Extra added for Golden Alliance's 600,000th anniversary)
Students from various Martial Arts Universities around the world who want to watch the battle must enter the Spectator Platform within the combat space.
However, teachers and deans from famous schools can overlook from a higher level area, which is very quiet and comfortable.
The only catch is that their Spectator Platform cannot be seen by the students.
"Li Yuan is up," Dean Xu said with a smile, pointing at Li Yuan on the stage. "They even put on a mask."
"Always full of tricks," Li Yang chuckled. "It must have been a last-minute idea after seeing others avoid Garava in the first round."
"That Li Yuan boy has always been smart," the portly elder 'Dean Qin' chuckled as he joined in.
The three vice-deans spoke amiably among themselves.
"Isn't this precisely a sign of lacking confidence? If one is truly strong, why resort to these petty tricks?" Suddenly, a grating voice came from the side.
Three deans turned to look in anger simultaneously.
Who was this foolhardy person?
"And who do we have here, if not Morita Daiku," Li Yang recognized the person and sneered. "Last year you were skulking about, and now that Sakura Country has Kimura Tatsuo, you dare strut in front of me?"
The short, fat, and muscular man who had just made the sarcastic comment glared back in response.
"Ba Qiang's student Garava emerged this year, yet you don't see others bragging far and wide, let alone being as foul-mouthed as you," Li Yang continued unabashed. "If your mouth stinks, go wash it out."
The virtual network has an automated translation system, so their words are directly translated.
"President Li, long time no see," the black-robed elder 'Ba Qiang' from Tianzhu smiled.
Garava was his student.
"Long time no see."
"You've always been low-profile, Ba Qiang," Li Yang grinned. "This year's Garava is still formidable, maybe he could take the champion title. Unlike some, whose students lack strength but not their loudmouth."
"Garava is still a bit behind Li Yuan," said Ba Qiang, the black-robed elder, modestly.
He and Li Yang were well acquainted.
Stung by Li Yang's mockery, Morita Daiku, standing to the side, was seething, only to find he was being completely ignored by Li Yang.
"Hmph."
"Li Yuan? In the second round of the cage battle this afternoon, Kimura and Li Yuan happen to be in the same match. We'll see who's not up to snuff then," Morita Daiku said icily.
In an instant,
Not just Li Yang, Dean Xu, and Ba Qiang, but also teachers from other schools standing not far away were momentarily taken aback.
Dozens of teachers all fell into a brief silence.
"Cough cough," the black-robed elder Ba Qiang quietly asked, "Morita, weren't you at school last month? Didn't you get a detailed update on these students?"
"Yes."
"I went to Star Realm in July and just got back yesterday," Morita Daiku was not truly foolish and immediately sensed something was amiss. "What's the matter? Is this Li Yuan really that impressive?"
"Whether he's impressive, I don't know," the black-robed elder Ba Qiang shook his head. "All I know is, with Li Yang's personality, Kimura Tatsuo is in for a tough time this afternoon."
"Indeed."
"The third match has started, see for yourself what Li Yuan is like," Ba Qiang advised 'kindly'.
...
Within the combat space, the third match of the cage battle has already begun the final three-second countdown.
"Fang Kui!"
"Li Yuan!" On the spectator platform with hundreds of thousands of people, these two names were the most frequently and loudly called out.
Especially "Li Yuan," not only the students from Kunlun Martial University but even many students from ordinary Martial Arts Universities of Xia Country were shouting it out.
A good number were students from Jiangbei Martial Arts University.
On the stage, 200 participants from different schools and countries, listening to the roaring cheers around them, all felt a sense of pride involuntarily stir within their hearts.
Such competitions are not only for themselves but also for the glory of their schools and their countries.
The countdown ended.
The shackles on all participants dissipated at the same moment.
"Boom!" "Boom!" Almost simultaneously, all 200 participants sprang into action.
Most of them immediately dodged like lightning away from the few masked participants wielding long spears.
No one was foolish.
All these participants were the elite, and even if they hadn't seen Li Yuan before, most had been briefed on some of his information by their schools.
Knowing the terrifying strength of the opponent, he was definitely of the calibre contending for the championship.
But now no one could pinpoint where he was.
Thus, there was only one possibility—they must be one of the several masked ones.
"Clang!" "Clang!" Even though many had dodged immediately, the chaos of battle was unavoidable.
No one could stay out of it, after all, how large was the stage?
"Boom!"
Li Yuan, masked and wielding a long spear, flashed in front of one of the participants, his long spear moving like lightning as he thrust straight forward.
"Not good," the face of this participant changed, just as he was about to raise his hand to block.
"Thud!"
The long spear had already slashed across his throat, blood splattered, and his body instantly turned into nothingness.
"Whoosh!"
The spear swept back and arced through the air, blocking the fiercely slashing saber.
"Bang~" With a terrible clash, Li Yuan's spear shaft twisted like a dragon turning over, already bypassing the opponent's long saber, accompanied by a flash of cold light.
The spear tip pierced straight through the opponent's throat.
Dead!
"2 points in the bag," Li Yuan was notified and his gaze swept over the participants nearby who were changing color.
"Is he Li Yuan?"
"Definitely!"
"It shows Li Yuan with 2 points, and he just got two points."
"Two moves to kill two people? That's too savage," the participants were all shocked in their hearts.
Those who made it to the second round should all be the elite of the Martial Path schools.
But facing this terrifyingly skilled masked participant suspected to be Li Yuan, they were powerless to fight back.
"An Nong's method is indeed somewhat effective," Li Yuan mused inwardly.
Although these participants would still try to dodge, initially there were four suspects, so everyone only had a one-in-four chance of avoiding him.
It wouldn't be like the first match where, before the brawl even started, everyone was staying away from Garava.
That way, it would be much harder for Garava to 'score points.'
"Run quickly."
"This one is definitely Li Yuan," the participants near Li Yuan realized in horror and were eager to get away.
The data showed that Li Yuan was strong, but it wasn't until they actually saw him in action that they realized he was even stronger than his profile suggested.
However, these participants didn't avoid him at the start, and now the entire arena was in a melee.
Where could they flee to?
Besides, although all the participants had simulated physical qualities that were the same, Li Yuan's burst speed was a whole lot stronger.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!" One by one, participants fell beneath Li Yuan's long spear.
One spear, one kill!
Li Yuan's points were skyrocketing, quickly breaking through 30 points.
The number of people on the stage was rapidly diminishing.
And in reality?
Li Yuan hadn't even used his Stellar Spear Technique, just relying on his superior skills to constantly reap these participants.
"Stellar Spear Technique?"
"Not many can force me to use the Stellar Spear Technique," Li Yuan thought calmly.
Scoring points was merely to surge into the fourth round in one go, to avoid the time-wasting elimination matches.
"Hmm?" Li Yuan's eyes flickered, suddenly shifting towards the distance.
Dozens of meters away, a burly young man wielding two battle axes was frantically pursuing two masked participants.
Those wearing masks were all students from Kunlun Martial University.
Whoosh!
Li Yuan's figure moved instantly as he charged over.
... "Go to hell."
The burly 'Fang Kui,' holding two battle axes, frenziedly chased after the two masked participants before him.
As one of the top three martial arts talents from Lion City Martial Arts University, Fang Kui had extremely sharp skills, and with his twin battle axes, he had killed more than ten participants in a very short time.
He was the second most powerful contestant on this platform, just after Li Yuan.
"Thud!"
One axe swept past, knocking the combat saber out of one Kunlun student's grip, and the student's body disappeared in mid-air.
Another axe swung down, trying to eliminate another Kunlun student.
"Clang!"
A long spear struck like lightning, blocking the deadly swing of the axe.
...
On the spectator platform.
Upon witnessing the direct encounter between Li Yuan and Fang Kui, hundreds of thousands of excited students stood up shouting at once.
The vast majority of the spectators didn't know who Li Yuan and Fang Kui were or their achievements before the match.
But everyone could tell that these two were the strongest in this chaotic cage battle.
Their confrontation was naturally the climax of this mixed fight.
Even the big screen on the stage turned its head, focusing on them immediately.
"Fang Kui."
"Fang Kui, beat him."
"Fang Kui, you're the strongest," more than a hundred thousand students from ASEAN went mad at this moment.
Lion City Martial Arts University is the premier martial arts university for a population of a billion in ASEAN.
"Defeat Li Yuan."
"I love Fang Kui," countless messages rolled on the spectator screen as well.
... But the ASEAN students' cheers lasted less than two seconds.
"Li Yuan!"
"Li Yuan!" More than 200,000 students from Xia Country on the spectator platform became excited, roaring so loud that it drowned out the ASEAN students' voices.
Nearly half of the spectators on the platform were from Xia Country, so naturally their momentum was stronger.
Besides.
In the eyes of countless students from Xia Country, that scene where Li Yuan saved his schoolmate with a single spear thrust was too cool.
...
In the chaotic arena, the other participants all quickly steered clear of Li Yuan and Fang Kui.
Them facing off early was a blessing for the rest.
"Li Yuan? You're stopping me?" Fang Kui, holding his battle axes, stared intently at Li Yuan, "You might be stronger than me, but if you focus on me, you'll just waste time..."
Fang Kui was aware of Li Yuan's strength and didn't want to confront him just yet; he hadn't accumulated enough points.
Moreover, he had just witnessed the scene of Li Yuan killing enemies and believed he could hold off for a while longer.
"Noise."
Li Yuan's voice was ice-cold as vigor burst forth from his whole body.
Li Yuan had seen Fang Kui's profile; he had advanced to the Fourth Level of skill right after college entrance exams ended.
The skills were decent, but not something Li Yuan took seriously.
"Whoosh!"
The high-rank Fourth Level skill, which had almost perfectly exploited the potential of the body, combined with the strongest burst-speed move of the five Stellar Spear Technique killer moves—Dawn Piercing the Clouds.
In an instant.
Li Yuan fully erupted.
"Hmm? Not right! He was hiding his strength just now?" Fang Kui immediately sensed something was wrong, his heart tightened instantly, feeling Li Yuan's aura had completely changed.
It was as if he became a mini star exploding, his long spear swept in, forcing Fang Kui to hurriedly swing his battle axes to defend.
"Boom!"
As Fang Kui raised his axes, the spear had already struck, clashing with his weapon momentarily; he felt a terrifying force transmitted through his axes, and was blasted backward.
His arms went numb, and the axes almost slipped from his hands.
The spear was too quick! Too fierce!
"Boom!"
Another terrifying spear light passed through the vast sky; the spear light was brilliant, like a giant star rolling through the sky, crushing everything, heavily landing on Fang Kui's axes. His entire arm directly caved in and broke, blood splattering.
"Bang~" The metal spear shaft, with its terrifying impact force, continued to heavily land on his body.
"Ah!" Fang Kui's whole body crashed to the ground, already severely injured.
"Thud~" The spear pulled back, the tip smoothly cutting across his neck, blood spilling.
Fang Kui's body instantly turned into nothingness.
Dead!
"You're delaying my time?" Li Yuan murmured to himself, "Three spears, including the time you blabbered, a total of eight seconds, indeed you've delayed me a bit."