Chapter 322: Easy Advancement

Chapter 322: Chapter 322: Easy Advancement

After the matchup chart was released, a hush fell over the audience stands. Millions of pairs of eyes simultaneously turned to look at the chart.

The air was silent for several seconds.

Lin Qi’s gaze was like lightning as he quickly scanned the matchup chart, finding his own name in an instant.

[Match 20: Lin Qi (Xia Country) VS Prapa (Tailande)]

...

Looking at his opponent’s name, Lin Qi had a puzzled expression. ’Don’t recognize him. Guess he’s not an expert.’

Meanwhile, on the Floating Island, a rather handsome young man’s face changed drastically.

A look of despair immediately appeared on his face.

"How did I get matched with this monster?"

It wasn’t just him. The other contestants around him had varying expressions after seeing their own opponents.

Some were nervous, some were filled with fighting spirit, and some were in despair...

"I now declare that the first round of the main competition has officially begun!"

Xu Wenji announced the start of the matches in a loud voice!

As soon as he finished speaking, all the contestants on the two Floating Islands, one for the east and one for the west, were enveloped in crimson pillars of light, descending like meteors to different locations in the audience stands.

Lin Qi and the others landed in the Xia Country section of the stands.

"We’re back!"

Around him, Jiangtao, Guo Heng, Guan Mountain, Wang Qiufeng, and the others had all returned.

"Dean!"

Besides them were the students of the Sixth Institute, who all greeted them enthusiastically. Further out were the other students of Azure Sky Martial Arts Academy.

After nodding, Lin Qi turned his gaze to the arena. Spanning an area larger than several soccer fields, it had been divided into eight sections.

Eight matches would be held simultaneously!

With 2,000 contestants and 1,000 matches, all the seeded contestants had to participate as well.

If the matches weren’t held concurrently, it might take more than two days to get through all 1,000 of them!

The competition began, and all eight matches were clearly visible to Lin Qi.

The 16 contestants came from different countries. Their skin color, facial features, weapons, and even their fighting styles were all completely different.

But they were all the strongest among tens of millions of freshmen.

In the arena!

SPURT~

"Fall!"

A burly black man in a silver Combat Suit swung a great blade, piercing the throat of a contestant from the Thousand Islands Country.

"Haha, too weak! Remember, the one who defeated you is Wims of the White Eagle Federation!"

With that, he vanished into the Void, having claimed a decisive victory by easily dispatching his opponent.

Wims returned to the White Eagle Federation’s section of the stands.

"The opponents from the Eastern Region are too weak!"

"I hope I get an opponent from Xia Country in the next round!"

"They’re the strongest country on Blue Star. I wonder how powerful they really are."

"Wims truly lives up to his name as one of the top three geniuses from the White Eagle Federation’s freshman tournament!" another dark-skinned man next to him praised.

"Of course! I’m Wims, Storm Rhino Wims!" Wims said smugly, tilting his head back.

...

[Next, will the contestants for Match 20 please enter the arena!]

The matches progressed very quickly. The gap between the 2,000 geniuses was immense.

Some fights were over in less than a minute.

So, it was soon Lin Qi’s turn!

The people around him had calm expressions. These early-round opponents weren’t worth paying attention to; no one could defeat their Brother Qi.

He was enveloped in a crimson light and swiftly descended into one of the arena sections.

Ten seconds later, now dressed in a form-fitting black outfit, he strode out, a Black Great Spear in one hand.

Across from him, a handsome man in a yellow Combat Suit walked out, a sword in one hand.

Prapa looked at Lin Qi with a solemn expression. He wasn’t sure if it was just psychological.

Before his eyes, Lin Qi was like a giant, man-eating tiger, radiating waves of Sharpness.

It made the hair on his body stand on end, and his palms couldn’t help but sweat.

The two of them said nothing, quietly waiting for the match to begin.

[Countdown: 3, 2, 1...]

[Match 20 officially begins!]

Above the arena, an automated voice announced!

WHOOSH~

In an instant, Prapa’s eyes narrowed. Having finished gathering his power, he shot forward and swung his sword.

’I have to take a gamble, using my fastest speed!’

Facing the attack, Lin Qi didn’t seem to be gathering power at all. His entire body was in an extremely relaxed state.

It was as if he didn’t even realize he was in a fight!

WHOOSH~

In a flash, accompanied by a gust of wind, Prapa’s sword was less than a meter away from Lin Qi.

’I have a chance!’

For a split second, Prapa had the illusion that he might actually be able to win.

In the span of a breath, they were less than half a meter apart.

And in that very instant, Lin Qi smiled. His arm suddenly exploded with force, and the Black Great Spear in his hand shot out like a Black Dragon emerging from the sea.

It seemed to transform into a streak of black Lightning, piercing the air and vanishing in a flash.

SPURT~

Just as the tip of Prapa’s sword was less than three centimeters from Lin Qi, the sharp spearhead pierced through his chest.

The immense Power instantly tore his heart apart.

SPURT~

The spear tip was withdrawn, pulling a gush of thick blood with it as Prapa’s body was sent flying.

BANG!!

He crashed heavily onto the ground before vanishing into the Void.

The battle was over.

[Match 20: Lin Qi (Victor)!]

The automated voice announced emotionlessly.

Teleported back to the stands, Prapa was completely stunned.

He didn’t even know how his opponent had struck.

"I’m the number two genius among Tailande’s freshmen, and I was taken out in one hit?"

"How can the gap be this huge?"

His friends around him were also exceptionally surprised, but they didn’t know how to comfort Prapa. This was purely a gap in strength.

...

Meanwhile, Lin Qi had also returned to his seat in the stands.

He could tell his opponent was an expert, but the gap between experts could also be enormous.

He could feel that as one’s Realm increased, so did the disparity in combat prowess, whether in terms of physical attributes or the overall expression of Martial Arts.

The gap between geniuses doesn’t shrink over time.

It only grows larger!

The end result is that some geniuses can only break through to the Seventh Realm, while others can reach the Eighth Realm.

Some Top-Level geniuses can even break through to the Ninth Realm and become Title Level Martial Artists.

Lin Qi’s fight also attracted the attention of many other geniuses.

"So that’s Lin Qi. I heard he’s mastered a Little Divine Power."

"Even though he isn’t Awakened, he’s still an opponent who can’t be underestimated."

"As expected of the country with the strongest Martial Arts on Blue Star. Their foundations are deep to produce a genius like him."

"..."

...

After returning to his seat, Lin Qi didn’t rush to log off. Instead, he looked at the projected matchup chart.

The names of the 230 Awakened geniuses appeared in his mind as he matched them one by one.

He needed to get a rough idea of the strength of some of these geniuses.

[Will the contestants for Match 36 please come forward!]

As the automated voice made the announcement, Lin Qi’s eyes lit up.

Two crimson pillars of light descended into one of the arenas.

From one of them, a delicate-featured young man in a white Combat Suit, holding a Longsword, slowly walked out.

He was under 1.85 meters tall, making him short compared to the other contestants.

He was quite similar to Guan Mountain, but he was stronger. He was Japan’s only SS-level genius—Miyamoto Genichiro!

Information about his opponent surfaced in Lin Qi’s mind.

His Awakened Special Ability was [Gale], and his own fighting style was as swift as the wind.

His Ability and fighting style were a perfect match, which was very rare and granted him extremely potent combat power.

...