The cheers roared through the stands after the MC's announcement.
Somewhere, Lam Minh could even hear a male student's voice shout, "Anh Tuan, I love you! You can do it!"
"Alright, I know you are all very eager for the performance of our eight platform defenders today, but we have 21 contestants," the MC's voice paused for a few seconds before continuing, "We need to hold a match to select the eight best contestants before we get to the main event of tonight. Do you all agree?"
"AGREED!!!" The entire stadium roared in unison, extremely excited.
Every week's competition was like this.
It was like an indispensable spiritual nourishment for the students of Tran Hung Dao High School.
They studied hard and just waited for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the week to watch their male and female gods compete.
The school had divided the weekly platform defense schedule very specifically: Monday was for the 10th grade, Tuesday for the 11th, and Wednesday for the 12th.
(PS: In Vietnam, the general education system lasts for 12 years. After finishing 12th grade, students go on to university or can choose to stop studying.)
The school had become a miniature society.
"Alright, the format for the first round is that all 21 contestants will go onto one platform together. Anyone knocked off the platform will be eliminated. The match will end when only eight contestants remain standing on the platform," the MC's voice continued to boom through the microphone.
After speaking, the MC pressed a button on the podium.
The eight platforms immediately moved and merged into one extremely large platform.
Perhaps the school had prepared in advance for the possibility of too many contestants. If they didn't compete in this format, the selection process could take several days.
Woo! Woo! Woo!
The roars of the crowd shook the heavens. The atmosphere of the arena at this moment made Lam Minh's heart pound.
It was the first time he had participated in an event with tens of thousands of eyes watching him like this.
His adrenaline spiked.
Lam Minh was quite surprised by this competition format.
He didn't know about it because he had never participated in the weekly competitions.
Each week could have a different competition format, depending on the number of registrants.
If there were only eight students, then a direct platform defense was reasonable. If there were none, the platform defenders would just go home and sleep, which was healthier anyway.
"Alright, let's have our 21 contestants make their way to the platform! And let me remind you beforehand, any contestant who cannot hold on, please tap the floor three times, and you will be automatically teleported off the platform to avoid any unwanted injuries," the MC ordered the start and didn't forget to remind the contestants.
Lam Minh turned his head to look at To Quyen sitting in the stands. He winked at her.
"Acting like we're so close," To Quyen pouted when she saw Lam Minh's action.
A few of To Quyen's friends looked at her with suspicion.
Who was this guy who winked and successfully caught the attention of the goddess of class 11A03?
"Hey Quyen, that guy is the famous Lam Minh from our school. Do you know him?" a classmate asked To Quyen.
"Mmm, a stubborn guy. But you said he's famous, what's he famous for?" To Quyen looked at her friend and asked.
In fact, she was also curious.
She had never known about Lam Minh before.
She was a top student, and paying attention to the whispers in the school was unnecessary, or to be more precise, she was not one for drama.
"Hee hee, if he's an acquaintance of Quyen's... then it's a secret," her friend teased with a laugh.
It seemed she had misunderstood Lam Minh to be To Quyen's secret, shady boyfriend.
To Quyen was a bit confused by her friend's attitude but quickly focused her attention back on the platform.
She had a question at this moment.
What kind of performance would this handsome guy have?
She had watched many other platform defense sessions; they were very dramatic and exciting.
Both the platform defenders and the challengers were strong. They had enough confidence to dare to challenge the top students of the school.
So she was very curious about Lam Minh, whether his cultivation was as strong as his mouth, to dare to stand here.
The 21 contestants immediately stepped onto the platform, each with deep thoughts in their hearts.
Lam Minh walked very slowly, so slow that he was the last one to set foot on it.
As soon as he had settled into his position, a huge cage of light enveloped the entire platform.
Lam Minh tried to touch it. The first sensation was hardness, the second was a source of abundant, powerful energy.
The sound of cheering from outside immediately disappeared, but the people outside could still hear the sounds from inside the cage.
How magical.
He didn't know how this cage was created, but it was probably the work of some powerhouse.
On the giant LED screen at the announcer's podium, the image of a heart quickly appeared. This was a real biological heart, not the heart of love we often see.
Thump-thump! Thump-thump! Thump-thump!
Each time the heart beat, the sound echoed. Then the screen went black and immediately switched to another scene.
10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… LET'S DO IT!!!
A heroic drumbeat resounded everywhere, striking the hearts of everyone present, signaling that the match had begun.
The other 20 contestants seemed to understand each other very well; perhaps they had fought many times before.
Only Lam Minh was a strange face.
They were quietly choosing their opponents, the strong looking for the weak to strike first.
They also wanted a fair competition for themselves; only the truly strong were allowed to remain on the platform.
Lam Minh was also silently observing at this moment. He knew that the people standing here were all much stronger than him.
How could someone with only 87 blood essence points survive?
His body was still aching from the fight with the thugs less than three hours ago.
"Oh, oh, our contestants haven't made a move yet. What strategies will be deployed here?" the MC assessed the situation and gave a standard commentary.
The students in the stands were also silently waiting for the exciting match to come.
Suddenly, the 20 contestants moved at the same time, as if they had already made their choices. One-on-one, no one interfering with anyone else.
Lam Minh stood frozen in a corner of the platform, looking a bit forlorn.
A few gusts of wind could be seen blowing past, making him feel a chill.
Because no one had chosen him as an opponent.
Indeed, Lam Minh's appearance here was an unknown variable.
No one had ever fought him before; they didn't know if Lam Minh was strong or weak.
Choosing him right now was truly too dangerous and unnecessary.
"Hey, no one is attacking contestant Lam Minh from class 11A10," some students in the stands noticed the problem.
Immediately, the platform became chaotic. Countless techniques were executed.
"Mac Van Khoa, take a move from my Thunder Speed Fist!" a contestant named Mai Van, with heroic blood qi and a cool expression, rushed towards another contestant.
"Alright! Then you take a move from my Myriad Elephant Kick. I've been practicing this move for two months to fight you!" Mac Van Khoa responded, not to be outdone.
The two rushed at each other, attribute points dropping continuously.
Lam Minh, after a moment of confusion, was now quite happy.
Because he wasn't fighting or disrupting anyone's battle.
He silently wandered all over the platform, picking up attribute points.
You do your thing, and I'll do mine. My job is to pick up attributes.
I'm rich!
[Ding! The host has picked up +8 blood essence points.]
[Ding! The host has picked up +9 blood essence points.]
[Ding! The host has picked up +6 blood essence points.]
...
This is truly too blissful!
The opponents on this platform were very strong; their average blood essence was around 600 points. So the points dropped from their attacks were also very high.
The thugs in his class really couldn't compare.
[Ding! The host has picked up +7 proficiency points for the martial art, Wind Walking.]
??? Ah! A martial art!
Lam Minh noticed that it was a yellow bubble that had dropped from a female student.
Instantly, a stream of knowledge flowed into his head. His legs felt a taut sensation from the muscles.
Wind Walking, a technique that allowed the practitioner to move as if treading on the wind, greatly increasing movement speed.
It was truly like getting charcoal to warm up on a snowy day.
Right now, what Lam Minh needed most was a technique that could help him move quickly to pick up attributes.
"System."
[Ding! The Attribute Picking System is happy to serve the host!]
[Name: Lam Minh]
[Age: 16]
[Cultivation: Mortal (143/1000 Blood Essence)]
[Spiritual Root: Hoang-Grade Spiritual Root (0/100,000 Spiritual Root Points)]
[Techniques: Crippling Wind Fist (Initiate) 14/1000 points, Wind Walking (Initiate) 7/900 points]
[Lucky Spin (Break through to the 9th layer of Body Tempering to spin again)]
Excellent!
Lam Minh was no longer interested in randomly picking up blood essence.
He changed his target, continuously sticking to the girl who had just dropped this technique, while she had to constantly dodge her opponent's attacks.
The girl was struggling quite a bit. Her blood essence was 510, but her opponent's was much higher, somewhere around 630.
She didn't want to get hit by any of his attacks.
During the fight, her opponent suddenly stopped. "Hey, Thai Vi, there's a guy sneaking up behind you."
Thai Vi was startled and turned around, only to see Lam Minh sneaking behind her.
"What... are you doing?" she said to Lam Minh in a tense voice. She was afraid of being sneak-attacked.
How could she not be tense? This guy was an unknown variable; no one knew how strong he was.
Confronting him now was not wise.
Lam Minh immediately clasped his hands behind his back, putting on an air of great dignity. "Me? I'm observing your fight. I discovered that your Wind Walking has some flaws and wanted to give you some pointers."
Lam Minh's words startled her.
He knows my technique?
What a sharp eye. Her parents had spent a large sum of money to buy this technique from a powerhouse who had returned from the Cultivation World.
She had secretly practiced it for several years to achieve her current skill level. Yet this guy had seen through it with just a glance.
"Thank you. Then please continue to observe. You can give me pointers after the competition is over," Thai Vi said, then turned back to her task.
"Alright, you can rest assured," Lam Minh replied with a pleased expression and continued to follow behind her.
[Ding! The host has picked up +7 proficiency points for the martial art, Wind Walking.]
[Ding! The host has picked up +7 proficiency points for the martial art, Wind Walking.]
[Ding! The host has picked up +7 proficiency points for the martial art, Wind Walking.]
...
[Ding! The host has picked up +3 proficiency points for the martial art, Wind Walking.]
Ah, why are the points decreasing?
Lam Minh was confused. Looking at Thai Vi now, it seemed she was tired from continuous movement; her speed was slowing down, and sweat was pouring off her like she had just taken a bath. So that was it. The attribute points dropped would depend on the user's stamina.
The more exhausted she was, the fewer points dropped.