Translator: CinderTL
"One shot, instant kill of a first breakthrough peak cultivator?"
"Is this Jiang Ye's true strength?"
"Hiss!" In the projection room, the school teachers were utterly shaken.
Jiang Ye had fought his way from the top 500 to the top 50, and they had been closely monitoring his progress. Many had assumed he would stall at this stage, at least facing a grueling battle.
But the scene unfolding before them left them utterly dumbfounded.
"Didn't Jiang Ye just break through to the first breakthrough peak? How can he already possess the combat power to instantly kill someone at that level?"
"This doesn't make sense!"
"Could it be...?" The teachers buzzed with speculation, their astonishment palpable.
A flicker of contemplation crossed Elder Bai's silver-haired face. "Could Jiang Ye's awakened martial bone not only enhance his speed but also grant a massive boost to his combat prowess?"
"If that's the case, it would indeed explain his qualification as a Third-Tier Reserve Star Practitioner."
Still, this was exceedingly rare!
Even those with Dao Bone Aptitude typically possessed only a single type of enhancement ability.
Liu Wanxiao's Pulse Domain and Shen Changxi's Swift Step Domain, for instance, each provided amplification in a single direction.
Jiang Ye, however, seemed to possess two?
Unthinkable!
Even among those with Dao Bone Aptitude, only the top-ranked few possessed more than two amplification abilities. So how could someone with a mere Primitive innate talent achieve this?
"Look! Jiang Ye has taken down the other two opponents as well."
"His Great Sun Spear Technique is incredibly strong—far beyond the initial Small Success stage!"
"Indeed. His foundational skills are exceptionally solid. Even I can barely find any flaws in his technique," the teachers murmured, their eyes glued to the screen.
On the projected screen, after eliminating the gaunt youth, Jiang Ye and Deng Yunfei effortlessly dispatched the remaining two opponents through their combined efforts.
Now, Jiang Ye and Deng Yunfei were locked in a fierce battle, vying for a spot among the top ten.
Clang! Clang! Clang! The projection echoed with the relentless clash of metal.
Jiang Ye moved like a sinuous dragon, his spearmanship fluid and unpredictable. His attacks surged with immense power while remaining visually stunning.
In contrast, Deng Yunfei, though formidable, found her techniques growing increasingly chaotic under Jiang Ye's relentless onslaught. Her desperate cries punctuated the air as she was completely overwhelmed.
"Deng Yunfei is going to lose."
"I never imagined Jiang Ye would make it to the top ten!"
The teachers murmured in awe.
"Hahaha!"
"As expected of the student I trained!" Zhu Honglie finally dropped his pretense of composure and burst into triumphant laughter.
Chen Yuntian's face twisted with grief. "You bastard, you really struck gold this time!"
This prodigious student should have been his!
"However," Chen Yuntian continued, his tone shifting, "while the kid might make it to the top ten, he'll likely stop at the top three."
"Shen Changxi, Liu Wanxiao, and Yun Qing'er are all performing better than Jiang Ye right now."
As he spoke, his gaze suddenly shifted to another projection screen.
On that screen, Yun Qing'er, clad in a black bunny girl outfit, wielded a pitch-black warhammer and relentlessly hammered down on her opponent.
Boom! Boom! Boom! After dozens of consecutive blows, she crushed the burly young man into a bloody pulp, sending gore flying in all directions.
Yun Qing'er remained expressionless, her warhammer swinging like the Grim Reaper's scythe as she turned to slaughter the others.
"Goddamn it!" Chen Yuntian cursed. "Old Zhu, none of the students you picked this time are normal!"
The burly young man she had just crushed was one of his own students.
To see him violently pulverized like that left Chen Yuntian feeling utterly blue!
"Hahaha!" Zhu Honglie roared with laughter. This Freshman Competition was undoubtedly his most exhilarating yet.
But no one noticed the flicker of worry in his eyes.
"Yun Qing'er performed well, but she still falls short compared to Shen Changxi."
"The first place now rests solely on Jiang Ye's shoulders." Zhu Honglie turned his gaze back to the screen showing Jiang Ye's battle.
Boom!
Boom! Boom! Jiang Ye moved like a silver streak, clashing fiercely with Deng Yunfei.
Each collision erupted in a searing silver starlight, radiating outward like a Star Ring.
The deafening roar of their combat echoed like the thunderous clang of war machines.
A newcomer to the first breakthrough stage caught in the aftermath of such a battle could be instantly crippled.
Under Jiang Ye's relentless assault, Deng Yunfei gradually faltered.
Suddenly, after another violent clash, Jiang Ye didn't retract his spear as before. Instead, he unleashed an even greater surge of power, thrusting the spear with explosive force toward Deng Yunfei.
This sudden shift caught Deng Yunfei completely off guard.
Clang! The spear struck Deng Yunfei's sword, sending it flying from his grip.
"Ah~"
"This is bad!" Deng Yunfei cried out in alarm.
"Die!" Jiang Ye's eyes turned icy as he drove his spear forward with lethal force.
The thousands of strands of stellar energy converging at the spear's tip suddenly erupted, transforming into a blindingly radiant great sun.
The first ultimate move of the Great Sun Spear Technique—Sunrise in the East!
Compared to his battle with Zhao Qingli three months prior, Jiang Ye's ultimate move had reached perfection. Both its power and momentum had surged to the absolute limit of his current cultivation realm.
Deng Yunfei had no way to defend against it.
A great sun exploded against his chest, unleashing the force of ten thousand tons.
Boom!
Deng Yunfei was sent flying like a kite with a severed string, crashing heavily outside the arena.
"Jiang Ye... you're ruthless!" Deng Yunfei cried out miserably, lifting his head to glare at Jiang Ye before his body dissolved into nothingness.
Boom!
Jiang Ye thrust his spear fiercely into the empty air where Deng Yunfei had vanished.
He harbored no ill will toward the effeminate man, but Deng Yunfei's constant girlish cries and inexplicable moans during their battle had made him nauseous.
Anyone watching would have thought he was fighting a young woman.
The problem was, Deng Yunfei was a man!
"That felt good," Jiang Ye exhaled deeply.
Finally venting his frustration by thoroughly beating his opponent, he felt a sense of release.
Jiang Ye, you have advanced to the top ten. Please wait patiently for the next match to begin.
A line of text quietly appeared on the screen.
"Finally!"
"Top ten," Jiang Ye said, his eyes gleaming as he gripped his spear tightly.
Reaching the top ten guaranteed him a minimum reward of 100,000 merit points.
And
qualification for the Twenty-Five School Genius Cup!
Jiang Ye had long dreamed of participating in the Twenty-Five School Genius Cup.
This grand competition, jointly organized by the twenty-five school alliance, offered prizes of over ten million merit points even for those who placed within the top fifty.
But what if he could secure a top ten or even a top three finish at the Genius Cup?
That would truly mark him as one of Blue Star's greatest talents.
The Genius Cup was designed to identify precisely that: 'genius'.
Not just the kind of talent found in small places like Ancheng or West Mountain Province, but the kind of genius who represented the entire twenty-five school alliance and, by extension, the entire Blue Star Civilization!
Achieving such a feat would give him a chance to make his mark even in the Great Stellar War.
"First place," Jiang Ye muttered, shaking his head.
Those ambitions were still too distant.
For now, his focus remained on winning the Freshman Competition!
However, his recent battle against Deng Yunfei had already given him a taste of the challenges to come.
The difficulty would only skyrocket in the upcoming top ten matches.
The gap between geniuses was often far greater than the gap between geniuses and mediocrities.
"Shen Changxi, Liu Wanxiao," Jiang Ye murmured, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. "I can't wait to fight you!"
Time flowed onward.
Ten minutes later, the entire Independent Cosmos trembled violently.
A majestic voice swept across the arena:
"The 2326 Freshman Competition of Penglai University, top ten matches, officially begin!"
(End of the Chapter)
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