Chapter 328: A Crane Among Chickens

Chapter 328: Chapter 328: A Crane Among Chickens

April 29, the third day of the Global Freshman Tournament.

In the Red Realm, at the site of the global tournament.

Amid the clamor, a projection of Xu Wenji, clad in a red robe, materialized. In his hand, a projected red screen appeared, clearly displaying the names of 250 contestants.

Among them, 229 names were marked with a crimson flame. These were all Awakened geniuses.

"Esteemed members of the audience, after another round of fierce competition, our third round has officially concluded."

"Let’s congratulate the 250 contestants who have successfully advanced to the fourth round, where they will now compete!!"

A tsunami of cheers erupted from the audience, and the bullet comments on the big screens scrolled by in a frenzy.

The crowd’s passion was ignited. The power of the Awakened geniuses had left even other geniuses in awe.

At the same time, they grew even more excited for the next round—a clash between the Awakened.

In the audience, Lin Qi looked at the 250 names. Aside from the 229 Awakened geniuses, the remaining 21 contestants who had advanced were all top-level experts.

Only four people from his Azure Sky Martial Arts Academy had advanced: himself, Jiangtao, Ao Feng, and Duan Chuchu.

In total, seven people from Xia Country had advanced to the fourth round. Besides his group, there were Li Hanjiang and Wei Peng from Nether Sea Martial Academy, and Liang Yuxin from Shanyu Martial Arts University.

These were the strongest among Xia Country’s S-class geniuses. In contrast, other countries had far fewer qualifiers, some even being completely wiped out.

Among them, Jiangtao could now be considered to have officially entered the first tier of S-class geniuses.

However, most of them would be eliminated in the fourth round, leaving only the Awakened geniuses.

...

"In the fourth round of the Global Freshman Tournament, 250 contestants will compete for 125 spots!"

"This will be a fierce round of competition, as it will be entirely battles between Awakened geniuses!"

"Furthermore, contestants who advance to the fifth round will receive a prize of 50 million Xia Country Coins!"

After announcing the rules, Xu Wenji waved his hand, and a giant Pyramid appeared before everyone’s eyes.

The entire Pyramid was divided into nine levels. At the very bottom was a massive game board where 250 black-and-white virtual figures materialized.

BOOM!

The next moment, a massive flame effect formed, then exploded to reveal a brand-new match bracket!

The audience scrambled to look at the new bracket!

Even the Awakened geniuses couldn’t remain calm. After all, they were all Awakened geniuses now.

None of them possessed the kind of overwhelming power needed to crush their opponents. The slightest mistake could lead to elimination.

Lin Qi was also curious who the unlucky soul matched against him would be.

[Match 1: Lin Qi (Xia Country) VS Li Hexuan (Silla)]

Upon seeing the matchup, Lin Qi quickly recalled the files on the 230 Awakened geniuses.

The Silla Kingdom was divided into Northern Silla and Southern Silla.

Before the Martial Arts Era, the two nations had no contact with each other, but the Calamity Beast invasion forced them to merge into a single country to defend themselves.

In the East, the Silla Kingdom’s overall strength ranked in the top five, and this time they had seven Awakened geniuses.

They had been lucky this year, managing to produce an SS-level genius—Song Zhengzai.

And just below the SS-level genius Song Zhengzai, the strongest was Li Hexuan.

Meanwhile, in the Silla Kingdom’s section of the audience, the corners of a tall, handsome man’s mouth curved upward.

"I can’t believe I got matched with Lin Qi from Xia Country!"

"Defeating an Awakened genius as an Ordinary person... in the history of our Silla Kingdom, only the Ninth Realm Powerhouse, the Sword-Splitting King, has ever done that."

"Against any other opponent, he might have even made it to the fifth round. Too bad he ran into me."

Li Hexuan flashed a confident smile.

A burly, bearded man beside him said seriously,

"He Xuan, don’t be careless. Lin Qi from Xia Country is no simple foe!"

A voluptuous, long-haired woman next to them dismissed the concern,

"Don’t worry. He Xuan has Awakened the [Cold Ice] Ability. They call him the Blue Demon for a reason."

"That guy just has decent physical stats. He won’t be able to withstand He Xuan’s Ice Force at all."

Li Hexuan smiled upon hearing this.

Seeing this, Song Zhengzai said no more, but a trace of worry remained. After all, his opponent was a top-level genius from Xia Country.

That nation was a den of hidden tigers and crouching dragons, possessing the strongest foundations. No one ever knew what kind of trump cards they were hiding.

...

[Will the contestants for the first match please enter the arena!]

[Lin Qi (Xia Country) VS Li Hexuan (Silla)!]

In the Xia Country audience section, Lin Qi slowly rose to his feet upon hearing the AI’s announcement.

"Go, Brother Qi! I heard that before the Martial Arts Era, the people from the Silla Kingdom used to call themselves the ’Cosmic Country.’"

"Their contestants are all mediocre, but every single one of them is arrogant as hell!"

"Guys like that need a good beating to learn who’s boss!" Jiangtao added, shaking his fist.

"That’s right. You have to show him what Brother Qi is made of," the others said with a laugh.

Lin Qi nodded. "I understand."

With that, he was enveloped in a crimson light and descended into the ruined arena.

He then changed into his combat gear and walked out, holding the Black Great Spear in one hand.

CLANK! CLANK!

A tall, athletic figure emerged. He wore a blue Combat Suit and brandished a blue Tang Blade in one hand.

A confident smile played on his lips.

As he appeared, the very air seemed to grow colder.

This was the strongest genius from the Silla Kingdom below their SS-level talent, the one who had Awakened the [Cold Ice] Special Ability—Li Hexuan!

"Hello, Lin Qi of Xia Country!"

He spoke fluent Xia Country Language right from the start, with almost no accent.

"I have great admiration for the strength of your Xia Country!"

"You are a top-level genius, but it’s a shame you haven’t Awakened. Otherwise, your power would be unimaginable," Li Hexuan said with a hint of pity.

Lin Qi calmly replied, "It’s not a pity. The tournament forbids the use of Special Abilities, which makes it fair for everyone."

"You don’t understand. It’s not fair at all."

"You’ll understand in a moment!" Li Hexuan laughed, his eyes filled with confidence.

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

[The match officially begins!]

High above the arena, the AI voice announced loudly.

In an instant, the gunpowder in the air ignited, and the battle erupted.

WHOOSH!

Li Hexuan struck first. Like an agile cheetah, he stomped on the concrete, instantly leaving behind a footprint ringed with shards of ice.

He shot toward Lin Qi like a blue panther, his Tang Blade carving a vicious arc through the air.

At the same time, streaks of blue light enveloped the sharp blade, and the temperature of the surrounding air plummeted.

With a whistling sound, it chopped straight for Lin Qi’s head, the blade moving so fast its trajectory was a blur to the naked eye.

Lin Qi responded by swinging his Black Great Spear, an aura as fierce as a tiger descending a mountain erupting from him.

WHOOSH—

He stomped down hard, bursting forward like a bolt of black Lightning and leaving deep footprints and spiderweb cracks in the concrete.

He felt waves of cold wind, as if blowing from the plains of Siberia.

SWISH!

Lin Qi attacked in an instant. His Big Gun lunged like a dragon—a Black Dragon emerging from the sea, surging to devour Li Hexuan.

...