Chapter 1 A Spiteful Start

The crowd below the stage was speechless, looking at Tang Liu's arrogant face, they just felt their eyes stung and their hands itched.

Li Yun's face tightened, putting on the air of a teacher:

"Don't interrupt me, wait by the side, I haven't finished speaking."

He adjusted his mentality quickly. After all, he had been a mentor for a long time and had seen superhumans of all ages, so he was used to it.

Just a teenager with a high level of chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone exhibiting delusional behavior, typically narcissistic and attention-seeking), nothing strange...

Li Yun shook his head, temporarily leaving Tang Liu aside, and talked about some precautions, such as not maliciously hurting people, and everyone having to participate. Tang Liu didn't dare to disobey his teacher, so he put away his arrogance and waited obediently on the side.

After speaking a few words, Li Yun handed the arena over to everyone, and went up to the viewing platform with the mentor team to record and analyze each person's performance.

At this time, Tang Liu straightened his chest again, hands on his hips: "Come on, who wants to be the first to get beaten?"

"I'm coming! I've wanted to beat you up for a long time!"

As soon as the words fell, a freshman couldn't wait to step onto the stage, looking unkind and rubbing his fists.

Tang Liu snorted coldly, struck a pose, and said loudly: "May I have the name of the challenger?"

The freshman's mouth twitched, enduring the shame in his heart, and announced his name, revealing that he was an A-grade talent.

After listening, Tang Liu glared and said proudly:

"Hmph, a nobody ripe for the taking. Watch me defeat you in three moves!"

"Where did you get a horse...呸 (pei, an interjection), just hurry up and fight, please stop talking!"

The freshman subconsciously wanted to retort, but suddenly realized that he had been led astray by the little brat, and couldn't bear it any longer.

As soon as the words fell.

*Swoosh!*

Tang Liu disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The freshman was shocked and was about to activate his ability, but a strong force suddenly came from his ankle, and his whole body instantly lost balance and fell uncontrollably.

However, as he fell halfway, tilted in the air, a pushing force suddenly attacked his chest, and his body soared into the air, flying horizontally, and fell straight off the stage, where he was caught by several people.

"W-what happened?" The freshman was still dizzy at this time, looking blankly at his surroundings, and before he could fully react, he had already fallen off the stage.

He looked back at the stage, only to see Tang Liu had returned to his original position, as if he hadn't moved at all, with a smug look on his face.

The crowd also looked surprised, not seeing clearly, only feeling that their eyes blurred and the battle was over.

"What's going on?" "What kind of ability is that?" "Is it teleportation?"

Many people stirred, discussing in amazement.

Seeing this, Tang Liu did not hide it, but instead said triumphantly: "My ability is super-speed movement, even if you all come at me together, you are no match for me!"

Everyone's expression froze, both surprised and angry.

Although annoyed by this arrogant chuunibyou teenager, everyone had to admit that the other party's superpower was excellent and made people wary.

'The speed is indeed fast...'

Zhou Jing observed secretly.

This wasn't the first time he had seen Tang Liu use his ability. Before, he couldn't see clearly like everyone else. However, after transforming four times with [Divergent Blood], he could now slightly see Tang Liu's moving figure and make a rough prediction.

"Who else dares to challenge me?!"

Tang Liu shouted repeatedly.

Several other people, not believing their luck, went up to spar, and were all thrown down by Tang Liu. No one could see his movements clearly. Some people even lost before they could activate their abilities, completely a one-sided slaughter.

Soon, no one dared to go up to challenge again. All forty selected participating freshmen could see that Tang Liu was definitely a tough nut to crack among the ten specially selected people.

At this time, another freshman came to the stage, but did not make a move. Instead, he looked at Zhou Jing below the stage and said:

"I want to challenge you, Zhou Jing. Do you dare to come up?"

Hearing this, Tang Liu immediately became unhappy.

"I'm still on the stage, you haven't beaten me, why are you challenging others?"

"I'm not interested in fighting you." The person's eyes flickered, and he looked away.

"You say you won't fight, then you won't fight?" Tang Liu snorted: "Zhou Jing is my little brother. If you want to bully him, you're disrespecting me. I have to teach you a lesson!"

Little brother? Everyone was stunned, as if they understood something, and cast a contemptuous look at Zhou Jing.

You're a grown man in your twenties, and you actually recognize a fourteen or fifteen-year-old chuunibyou teenager as your "big brother"? Good lord, you're clinging to this thigh so hard you don't even want your face anymore!

It seems that this B-grade knows that his level is not good, so he found a child who is easy to fool as a backer. He is indeed the most hopeless one... Many people's minds turned, and they felt that they had guessed the reason, and they couldn't help but feel envious... contemptuous.

Tang Liu didn't think there was anything wrong, and even "secretly" winked at Zhou Jing on the stage, with an expression of "I've got your back".

'...They would think like that. I'm not surprised at all.' Zhou Jing rubbed his forehead, and was stared at by everyone with contempt, his mood was calm.

At this time, Li Yun's serious voice sounded from the viewing platform:

"Tang Liu, you go down first."

The mentor team held internal sparring, and the goal was to observe everyone's combat power. Everyone had to participate, regardless of winning or losing. If they had the energy, they could fight a few more rounds and challenge others at will.

Tang Liu's lightning-fast speed of instantly killing his opponents gave others almost no chance to perform. The mentor team couldn't observe anything at all, so naturally, they wouldn't allow Tang Liu to continue dominating the arena.

Hearing this, Tang Liu suddenly felt sullen, feeling that this was pulling a bias, not letting him help his "little brother". He wanted to flip the bird, but didn't dare, so he had to go off stage depressed.

The freshman on the stage was overjoyed and beckoned to Zhou Jing, urging: "Don't be dazed, come up. I'm specifically challenging you."

"Okay." Zhou Jing nodded.

He had originally planned to find an opportunity to perform on stage, because Tang Liu was somewhat of an acquaintance, and he was embarrassed to dismantle the stage. Now that he was driven down by the mentor, it was just right.

Zhou Jing took out a training knife from the weapon rack on the side, and leisurely walked onto the arena.

"My name is Chen Rong, A-grade talent." The freshman announced his name, suppressing his excitement, and shouted: "Come on!"

"You want me to attack first?" Zhou Jing pointed to himself with the tip of his knife.

"Yeah."

Chen Rong nodded, not being arrogant. Although he felt that Zhou Jing was an easy target, he also believed that Zhou Jing must have some special abilities to be specially selected by the department. Relatively the weakest doesn't mean completely without combat power. Strategically despise, tactically value.

It's just that his ability is suitable for defense, not for taking the initiative, so he decided to first take a defensive posture to observe Zhou Jing's ability, and find a flaw to defeat Zhou Jing.

At the thought of having the opportunity to step on the specially selected one to rise to the top and gain the attention of the mentor team, Chen Rong was secretly excited.

"Okay." Zhou Jing was not polite with him.

Below the stage, everyone was a little envious of the classmate who was fighting with Zhou Jing, whispering.

"Tsk, someone got there first."

"It's okay, everyone can challenge anyway, let's take turns beating him up and show our strength."

"That's saying it too lightly, you're underestimating him too much. Zhou Jing is a specially selected student after all. Even if he is the weakest one, only us A-grades have a chance to defeat him. Most of the other ten or so B-grades have no chance of winning..."

Before everyone could finish speaking, a buzzing sound of metal clashing suddenly rang out on the stage.

*Clang!!*

Everyone was shocked and quickly stared to look.

They saw Zhou Jing, as if shrinking the ground into inches, silently crossing a long distance and rushing in front of his opponent. The training knife slashed on a purple arc-shaped energy shield.

The energy shield was covered with cracks, and the purple light illuminated Chen Rong's shocked face.

"He's so fast too!"

Chen Rong looked surprised. In that instant, Zhou Jing approached like a ghost, almost catching him off guard.

Fortunately, he only needed to move his mind to activate his protective shield ability, which narrowly blocked this blow.

Even so, the protective shield that could withstand artillery shells was almost shattered by a single blow.

"The defense is not bad, but it's not enough."

Zhou Jing suddenly raised his knee and slammed it into the protective shield covered with cracks.

*Crack!*

The protective shield exploded in the sky, like shattered glass.

*Whoosh!* Zhou Jing shot out like lightning, passing through the flying energy fragments, and directly grabbed Chen Rong's neck.

Before the other party could summon a new protective shield, he threw him away.

*Thump!*

Chen Rong soared into the air and was thrown off the stage. The huge force knocked the few students who came to catch him staggering.

"A pretty good ability. Develop the strength further, and it's very suitable as a meat shield."

Zhou Jing stood with his knife, not using much strength at all, with a relaxed expression and a smile.

In the blink of an eye, the battle was over. Everyone widened their eyes, surprised and uncertain.

Zhou Jing winning was not unacceptable to them, but in their opinion, even if the challenger couldn't beat Zhou Jing, there should at least be a fierce battle, but why was the result the same as Tang Liu's, also a one-sided slaughter?

Being instantly killed by an S-grade talent, they admitted it, but even a B-grade could instantly kill them... Is even the weakest one among the specially selected students so powerful?

Is our talent assessment fake? Is the gap between the specially selected ones and us so big? Impossible!

Everyone also realized that the speed Zhou Jing showed just now, although not as terrifying as Tang Liu's, was equally surprisingly fast, and it was purely exerted by physical fitness, and the strength was even stronger.

"Not easy to deal with, can't be underestimated." Many freshmen were awe-stricken.

But most people were confident and would not give in so easily, still not giving up the intention to challenge.

One after another, people stepped onto the stage, but were defeated one by one, and were all knocked down.

Zhou Jing didn't rely purely on his skills like before. Now that his hard strength has improved, his strength and speed have greatly increased. He has enough capital to fight head-on and defeat his opponents with more direct methods.

Rich combat experience means flexibly adjusting the combat method according to one's own level and the opponent's ability.

In a short while, Zhou Jing had continuously knocked down seven A-grade talents, and the various techniques he showed were simple and precise, with a unique aesthetic, and he was so strong in all aspects. No matter who he faced, there was a flawless crushing.

Moreover, he would give his opponents a chance to perform, let them take out their trump cards, and then defeat them upright, making people convinced.

The mentality of many freshmen below the stage slowly changed from being eager to try at the beginning to being half-hearted.

They saw that no matter what kind of bizarre abilities they used, Zhou Jing only relied on his physical fitness and skills to defeat them, without any fancy moves.

This was a steady and simple strength. In their eyes, Zhou Jing was like a majestic mountain, standing still no matter how the wind raged.

"Too strong..."

"Why was this person rated as B-grade? It doesn't make sense!"

Many people looked dejected and had already recognized the gap.

Can't beat, really can't beat...

They originally thought that there was an easy target to pinch, but they didn't expect that the other party was a tough nut. They picked the wrong target.

What kind of B-grade talent is this? It's completely misleading them!

Tang Liu was also stunned.

He thought Zhou Jing was pretty weak, but now he realized that the other person seemed to be, powerful.

'But such a powerful person is willing to recognize me as his big brother, which means he thinks I'm even more powerful!'

Tang Liu's spirits lifted, feeling that this logic was no problem, and he became complacent.

On the viewing platform, the mentor team nodded repeatedly, praising endlessly.

"Very outstanding combat skills. The physical fitness after the ability evolution is also very powerful. Even if Zhou Jing goes to take the exam now, he has a 60-70% probability of getting the Green Sprout badge. His comprehensive combat power has basically crossed the threshold of a level 2 superpower. He is definitely one of the strongest among the freshmen."

"Yes, I think we can come to a conclusion. He has the ability to be the core."

Hearing this, Li Yun also showed a happy smile and slowly nodded: "It seems that our chances of winning the freshman competition this semester are greater."

On the other side, Zhou Jing knocked down another A-grade talent on the stage, helped the embarrassed opponent up, and then looked down the stage and asked:

"Is there anyone else who wants to come up and spar?"

No one answered below the stage.

Many freshmen were not prepared to continue fighting to the death with Zhou Jing. They couldn't see any chance at all.

They had already turned their attention to other specially selected students, and decided to change their challenge target.

Just when it was quiet, Wu Fan suddenly jumped onto the stage.

"I'll do it."

Wu Fan was expressionless and nodded to Zhou Jing as a greeting.

Zhou Jing raised his eyebrows, still remembering Wu Fan's invitation to fight, and smiled: "I've been waiting for you."

Many freshmen suddenly became energetic.

This was currently the first sparring between specially selected students, which could be said to be a competition between seeded players.

They wanted to see if all the specially selected students were as powerful as Zhou Jing.

Wu Fan did not immediately make a move. Instead, he walked to the edge of the arena and took out a training knife of the same style as Zhou Jing's, and then stood opposite Zhou Jing.

At this time, Wu Fan's eyes flashed with a faint light, and a series of blurred figures flashed in his pupils.

In full view of everyone, he suddenly struck the same posture as Zhou Jing, even the angle of the blade from the ground was exactly the same, as if they were carved out of the same mold.

Zhou Jing's eyes flashed, and a strange feeling arose in his heart.

'This is... some kind of imitation ability?'