Chapter 190: If once doesn't suffice, then fight again
"Xie Sisi, who did you say you wanted to challenge?"
"I want to challenge Wang Lan!"
Before the Head of Discipline could react, Wang Lan had already stepped down from the preparation platform to the center of the arena. "I concede!"
"Damn! They're in cahoots!" The students on the platform burst into an uproar upon hearing this.
"Although it was well-known that Xie Sisi and Wang Lan were close, who would have thought they were *this* close? Isn't this blatant cheating?"
"That's why I said they're in cahoots!"
"Ahem... Wang Lan, this city-level selection is no joke. You can't just concede without a plausible reason, right? Plus, deliberately faking things could get you penalized by the discipline office."
If he hadn't known Wang Lan's background, the Head of Discipline would have cursed him out already. The fact that Xie Sisi challenged Wang Lan was outrageous enough, and now he was actually conceding? Are you kidding me?
"Head of Discipline, both Xie Sisi and I are at the Star Shine Stage in Star Martial level, and I hold no advantage in Star Power. Moreover, Xie Sisi is a Water Attribute Star Martial Warrior who has mastered various Water Attribute Star Martial Skills. My Fire Attribute is countered by hers, so my concession is perfectly reasonable."
Reasonable, my ass!
Xie Sisi beating Wang Lan? Even if they're both at the Star Shine Stage, Wang Lan successively defeated two cultivators from the Star Cloud Stage, and both times it was an overwhelming victory. He can't beat Xie Sisi?
But... Wang Lan's reasoning was impeccable. Logically speaking, at the same level, a Fire Attribute Star Martial Warrior would indeed be countered by a Water Attribute one. It wasn't as if he could ask Wang Lan if he was just a *normal* Fire Attribute Star Martial Warrior. He couldn't bring himself to say that out loud.
"Sisi, what are you waiting for? Come sit down," Xu Xiangwen stood up and waved to Xie Sisi.
"Go on, Sisi." After speaking, Wang Lan smiled at the Head of Discipline. "Sir, I want to challenge!"
The Head of Discipline snapped back to his senses, his expression warming slightly. So, Wang Lan wanted to help his little girlfriend qualify for the provincial tournament... Well, as long as the main lineup for the city's representative team remains unchanged, that's fine. It didn't matter who filled those spots anyway, as they'd likely be eliminated in the first round.
Although early romances were strictly forbidden in high school, since they were about to graduate, the Head of Discipline decided to turn a blind eye.
"Alright, whom do you challenge?"
"Duan Ziqi."
Upon hearing this name, the Head of Discipline's face instantly darkened.
Duan Ziqi, Wang Lan, and Xu Xiangwen were all tacitly considered the school's starting lineup. The fact that Duan Ziqi had eliminated Xu Xiangwen had already made the Head of Discipline's expression quite ugly. But at least Xu Xiangwen still had the right to challenge again.
However, Duan Ziqi had already used his challenge opportunity; if he was challenged and defeated this time, he couldn't be revived. This was something the Head of Discipline did not want to see.
"Wang Lan, maybe you could choose someone else?"
"Sir, is this the school's official position?"
"It's my personal suggestion. I know you have some issues with Duan Ziqi, but you can't ignore the bigger picture just because he challenged Xu Xiangwen down, can you? This is the selection for the Suzhou City representative team. I hope you can put personal grievances aside and prioritize the honor of the school and Suzhou City. Xu Xiangwen still has a chance to challenge and be revived, but if Duan Ziqi loses, he'll have no more chances. Duan Ziqi's strength could make him your comrade in the provincial tournament..."
"Sir, I insist on challenging Duan Ziqi," Wang Lan repeated firmly.
"As long as it doesn't violate the rules, in principle, we cannot forcibly intervene to change it," Principal Zhang, who was also on the viewing platform, suddenly spoke up.
"Well... alright then. Wang Lan has issued a challenge to contestant Duan Ziqi. Duan Ziqi, please come down and accept the challenge."
Duan Ziqi's ashen face suddenly changed, a gloomy, cold sneer appearing.
Standing up, he walked down from the preparation platform step by step, entering the competition arena.
"I've already been going out of my way to avoid you, yet you're still so relentless. After our last fight, have you become so conceited as to think you're really stronger than me?"
Wang Lan stood still, silently observing Duan Ziqi's gloomy expression. He wondered what Duan Ziqi had experienced these past few days; his skin tone seemed much darker than it was three days ago.
For the past few days, members of the Tianjian Bureau had been monitoring Duan Ziqi twenty-four/seven. However, aside from training, Duan Ziqi hadn't engaged in any other unusual activities. The amount of training he'd done these few days had secretly astonished even the Tianjian Bureau members.
But who ever heard of getting a tan from training at night?
"The challenge match between Wang Lan and Duan Ziqi begins now!"
BEEP—
The moment the whistle blew, Duan Ziqi's figure vanished, transforming into a streak of light that disappeared from sight. At the same instant the whistle sounded, Wang Lan activated his dynamic vision.
Under his dynamic vision, Duan Ziqi's charging speed was continuously slowed. The more it slowed, the greater the consumption of Wang Lan's Star Power and the strain on his eyes.
Wang Lan's Star Power surged around him, and the light in his right eye seemed to overflow its socket. His eyeballs bulged, and sharp pangs of pain shot through them. Only after slowing the speed by twenty times could Wang Lan barely make out Duan Ziqi's movements.
However, at a twenty-fold slowdown, Wang Lan's body felt as if it were fixed in place, each movement like a snail crawling.
No good, I won't make it in time.
Within a mere instant of conscious thought, Wang Lan determined that even if his eyes could keep up, his body's movements absolutely could not match Duan Ziqi's strike. Instantly, Wang Lan changed tactics, abandoning his plan to use the Flame Sword and instead activating Star Cloud Sword Dance.
Duan Ziqi's speed was achieved using a Wind Attribute Star Martial Skill. It lacked flexibility and couldn't achieve the super-fast neural reaction speeds of the Yang Attribute or Thunder Attribute.
HISS—
The students in the stands only felt their vision blur. A streak of light flashed before their eyes, and then the two fighters had already switched positions.
At Wang Lan's throat, the sharp sensation from Duan Ziqi's blade grazing past still lingered. Confusion also showed in Duan Ziqi's eyes. He had roughly gauged Wang Lan's speed during their previous encounter. By his estimation, Wang Lan shouldn't have been able to avoid that attack at such speed.
Yet Wang Lan had dodged. And in Duan Ziqi's eyes, Wang Lan had merely floated backward gently, effortlessly evading his throat-slitting strike.
Wang Lan gently rubbed his right eye. So dynamic vision has its limits too. If the speed is too high, you might not see clearly even if your eyes popped out.
But the current problem wasn't his eyes—it was how to win this match. The strength Duan Ziqi displayed this time was a bit too much. The current Duan Ziqi could easily defeat two of his past self from three days ago.
Three days. Can someone really improve that quickly?
Once again, Duan Ziqi's figure transformed into a streak of green light. This time, Wang Lan was well-prepared, instantly pushing his dynamic vision to its maximum, his Flame Swords igniting in both hands simultaneously.
Under dynamic vision, Duan Ziqi transformed into a wind fiend lunging for his face. The wind pressure hammered him, the violent gale seeming to tear at his features. In Wang Lan's vision, he saw the wind fiend's illusion baring its terrifying, sharp teeth.
"Cross, Flame Sword!"
BOOM—
A wind dragon suddenly exploded and spiraled. Before Wang Lan, the cross-shaped Flame Sword burned with purple flames, like a sacred crucifix. Before the cross-shaped Flame Sword, a long gouge, over ten meters in length, had appeared in the ground. Duan Ziqi's figure, however, seemed to have vanished into thin air.
DRIP—
Wang Lan extended a fingertip. A drop of blood landed on it, slowly trickling down.
He silently looked up. Above Wang Lan's head, a dark shadow hovered a hundred meters in the air. The blood was dripping from Duan Ziqi.
That last exchange had been decided by a hair's breadth.
Besides Wang Lan and Duan Ziqi themselves, no one else knew the details of what had transpired.
In that critical instant, Wang Lan had successfully summoned his Flame Sword and blocked Duan Ziqi's attack just before it landed. The sharpness of the Flame Sword easily cut through the wind blade barrier.
Naturally, Duan Ziqi wasn't willing to just wait for death. His dagger thrust out, intending to pierce Wang Lan's throat and achieve mutual destruction. But Duan Ziqi had miscalculated the length of his own arm. If he had continued to thrust the dagger forward, his entire arm would have been severed.
Duan Ziqi had no choice but to use the updraft created by the meeting of wind and fire to shoot straight up into the sky.
However, Duan Ziqi's shoulder was still injured by the Flame Sword, blood dripping down steadily.
Never mind the spectators in the stands; even the school leaders on the main platform were all dumbfounded.
"Principal, this is definitely a duel of finals-quality! Even in the finals of the past two years, did anyone display this level of strength? Look at this Star Energy Fluctuation, look at the perilous nature of these tactics... Wang Lan and Duan Ziqi should both be on the city representative team."
"Then have you considered the consequences if the team isn't united? Even if Wang Lan fails his challenge today, Jiang Xinyu will be next to challenge. You should be aware of the extent of the conflict between the likes of Duan Ziqi and Jiang Xinyu over these past three years. Who is right and who is wrong, what do you say?"
"But for the honor of the school and Suzhou City, they should set aside their prejudices..."
"Heh heh heh... You don't understand the thinking of these post-millennials. In their words, 'What do the school's honor or Suzhou City's honor have to do with me?' Young people these days, don't they just seek to follow their hearts and feel refreshed?"
Duan Ziqi hovered high in the sky, but he knew that against anyone else, his ability to fly would render them helpless. But Wang Lan possessed ranged Star Martial Skills; in Wang Lan's eyes, he, Duan Ziqi, airborne, was merely a target.
Sure enough, just as I quickly restored my Star Power, Wang Lan raised his right hand towards me, Duan Ziqi thought.
"Your Star Martial Skill is merely a form-transformation type, essentially a gun that doesn't need bullets. If that's the case, let's settle this in one blow! Greedy Wolf Roar!"
Instantly, the Star Power in the sky surged wildly. A sweeping gale churned the heavens and the dark clouds, and an incredibly condensed wind blade took shape in the sky, while Duan Ziqi's body plummeted rapidly downward.
Watching this scene, Xu Xiangwen on the viewing platform suddenly shot to his feet.
"I remember now... Damn it, Wang Lan, dodge! That move is terrifying! That wind blade is made of countless wind needles! It's indefensible, unblockable!"
Xu Xiangwen's agitated voice erupted, but it was powerlessly swallowed by the howling gale.
Suddenly, Star Power surged around Wang Lan. From his hand, raised towards the sky, a pair of enormous wings burning with purple flames instantly unfurled.
In a daze, in the eyes of many, Wang Lan's arm transformed into an Anubis spear made of purple flames.
"Purple Flame, Arrow!"
WHOOSH—
The arrow formed of purple flames shot towards Duan Ziqi in the sky. Almost instantly, the arrow met Duan Ziqi's wind blade.
Time seemed to freeze for an instant; the heavens and earth paused momentarily.
Then, the enormous wind blade in the sky also seemed to turn purple. Almost in an instant, the purple flames engulfed the massive wind blade.