Chapter 49 – A Worthy Opponent

Since he promised Little Fatty Harmony He Qingqing that he would watch their match, Su Hao would not go back on his word.

The next morning, Su Hao arrived at the training grounds.

At this time, the training grounds were already bustling with people, more lively than ever before.

There are currently about 1200 cadets still in the Academy. The Year Grand Competition does not divide by grade; all participants are mixed together for the matches.

The Year Grand Competition lasts for two days. The first day is the preliminaries, where the 1200 participants are divided into 12 groups: 9 groups for male cadets and 3 groups for female cadets, with 100 people in each group. Then, 7 people will be selected from each group of 100 to advance to the finals on the second day. Each group will have two supervising teachers serving as referees and safety officers.

This Year Grand Competition not only tests the cadets’ strength but also their endurance. To compete for first place, excluding byes, one needs to participate in ten matches from start to finish.

This is not something ordinary people can do.

But none of this concerned Su Hao. He didn’t care about these things. To him, the school year competition was just an upgrade game played by some youngsters.

After Little Fatty and He Qingqing finished their matches, he would return to his dorm to continue researching Blood Qi.

Using his Radar, he quickly found Little Fatty and He Qingqing in the crowd. It wasn’t their turn to compete yet, so Su Hao first showed his face in front of them and then wandered around the venue.

As he wandered, he recorded Blood Qi information, inputting it into the “Radar” database.

He set his immediate objectives on the homeroom teacher, whose Blood Qi was like the sun.

“This homeroom teacher’s Blood Qi is so strong! Teacher Mo from Class Four, right? Recording it. Blood Qi trait: Soft. Mo Fenghua, high-level Grandmaster martial artist, yellow text. Tsk tsk tsk, the amount of Blood Qi is almost as much as mine…”

Thinking this, Su Hao froze.

He suddenly noticed something amiss and frowned, analyzing to himself, “Teacher Mo Fenghua, as the homeroom teacher for Class Four, must be a high-level Grandmaster martial artist. But why isn’t his Blood Qi intensity as strong as mine according to my perception?”

Su Hao first suspected his perception was flawed. Perhaps with his current strength, he couldn’t accurately perceive the Blood Qi of a high-level Grandmaster martial artist? Or maybe high-level Grandmaster martial artists had the ability to shield their perception?

Su Hao first found other homeroom teachers and used “Radar” to carefully perceive them. He found that the Blood Qi intensity among these homeroom teachers varied greatly and fluctuated obviously, not like they were shielding or hiding it.

“My perception is fine. My Blood Qi intensity is indeed far higher than the homeroom teachers’! This means, in terms of Blood Qi intensity, I’m already considered a high-level Grandmaster martial artist, not an early-stage Grandmaster martial artist.”

Su Hao roughly understood that the distinction between early, mid, and high-level in this world wasn’t very clear. Once the power level was reached, it was reached. What was truly clearly distinguished were the differences between ordinary and elite, and elite and Grandmaster levels.

Unable to figure it out, Su Hao simply stopped thinking and focused on recording everyone’s information into the “Radar” database.

…

Soon it was Little Fatty’s turn to compete. Su Hao came to the sidelines to watch.

Little Fatty appeared very nervous. Holding a training dull blade and a small round shield, his body was tense. After entering the arena, he kept taking deep breaths to adjust his state.

Little Fatty’s opponent had curly hair, was half a head shorter than Little Fatty, and wielded the same training knife and small round shield.

Little Fatty’s height of 1.7 meters brought an invisible pressure to his opponent, who seemed even more nervous than Little Fatty.

It was the first time for both of them to compete, and neither wanted to be eliminated in the first round. Once they stepped onto the stage, their state actually improved. They stared intently at their opponents, fully immersed in the match.

“Clang!”

A gong sounded, and the match began.

Little Fatty and Curly Hair moved simultaneously. One delivered a powerful chop, the other raised his shield to block, deflecting the attack and looking for an opportunity to counter.

They exchanged blows for about twenty rounds, and neither could gain the upper hand.

What a match, a worthy opponent and a talented rival.

In no time, both were panting from exhaustion.

Since they couldn’t win by force, they had to rely on strategy. So, the two began to use tricks and dirty tactics.

Little Fatty swung his blade down, and Curly Hair immediately raised his shield to block. Who would have thought that Little Fatty’s strike was a feint? The real attack was aimed at his feet.

‘Crotch-Kick!’

Curly Hair was shocked. By reflex, he dropped his shield and tried to block with his hands.

But this was still Little Fatty’s feint. Seeing Curly Hair drop his shield and leave his guard open, Little Fatty seized the opportunity. He thrust his left-hand round shield forward, smashing it hard into Curly Hair’s face.

The match was decided.

Su Hao immediately shouted from the side, ‘Little Fatty! Well done!’

Everyone turned to look. The moment they saw Su Hao, they collectively tensed up: it was the ferocious flyer Wu Xiang Wu.

Those around Su Hao immediately backed away three meters, leaving a large empty space.

‘I’m going to check on Qingqing. You can do it,’ Su Hao said to Little Fatty, ignoring the others, and then left.

Because of Su Hao’s appearance, everyone’s gaze towards Little Fatty changed. They pondered whether they should just forfeit if they encountered this tall, chubby guy later. Even if they won the match, being targeted by the ferocious flyer would mean they had lost.

Su Hao arrived at the venue for the eleventh group. After watching for a moment, it was He Qingqing’s turn.

The girls’ fights were more aesthetically pleasing. He Qingqing wielded the same training blunt Harmony short sword and small round shield with great vigor and heroic spirit.

After four rounds of combat with her opponent, He Qingqing suddenly lunged forward, her blade tip slipping into the gap between her opponent’s Harmony Long Blade and round shield. With a twist of her wrist, she knocked the opponent’s Long Blade to the ground. Then, while the opponent was flustered, she delivered a straight kick, knocking her opponent down and winning the match.

Learning from Little Fatty’s match, Su Hao didn’t cheer loudly. He just ran to He Qingqing’s front and waved.

The moment He Qingqing saw Su Hao, her serious face, tinged with a bit of fierceness, broke into a smile.

In the second round, Little Fatty’s foot was hooked by his opponent, and he fell to the ground, regrettably eliminated.

He Qingqing, on the other hand, won her first three rounds. In the fourth round, she encountered a Third-Level Student, and coupled with her exhaustion, she was taken down by two powerful strikes from her opponent.

Thus, Su Hao’s task of spectating concluded.

The three found a shady spot under a tree and sat down casually.

Su Hao began by showering them with praise. He said Little Fatty was incredibly clever to come up with such a brilliant tactic to defeat his opponent, truly smart. He praised He Qingqing for overcoming three challenges, unstoppable, and regretted that she met a third-level student, otherwise, she would surely have advanced to tomorrow’s finals.

The sense of disappointment from their losses was immediately washed away, and they quickly perked up.

‘Xiang Wu, we have two Moon holidays coming up. I’m going back to Teamount Outpost to train with my dad. Do you have any plans?’ Little Fatty asked.

Su Hao said, “I plan to buy some things for my father first, go back, and then return to the Academy!”

Little Fatty was stunned and said, “I heard that for these two moons, all the teachers are on holiday, and there are very few students left at the Academy. What are you staying for?”

Su Hao said, “It’s quiet here, so I can train by myself.”

At this moment, He Qingqing said, “I’m also going back to the Teamount Outpost to train with my dad. Xiang Wu, it’s the same for you to go back to the Teamount Outpost, and you’ll have someone to help you train.”

“I want to stay in town and read in the Library,” Su Hao shook his head. It was hard for them to believe that he had already far surpassed his father and could not improve further through such training.

It was better to stay in Lingyun Town and read in the town’s Library, perhaps he could gain something.

He was very interested in Runes now. He wanted to collect more “Beast Patterns” for comparative research. He wanted to know why these Runes could produce such magical effects, and whether there was any possibility of expansion.

But he heard Old Liu say that the cheapest Beast Pattern on the market cost at least twenty Gold Yuan.

He was short of money. The only two Gold Yuan he had on him was not even enough for a fraction of a Beast Pattern, so he needed to find a way to make money first, and there were more opportunities to make money in town.

Thank you to readers 20181118135752807 and Baibai Jia Duzun Wo Shu for the rewards, and thank you to A Handsome Guy, Ji Shen Zheng Qi, Ling Si Yao Si, Hei Yu Ying Guang, Lu An Jing, Ma Chong Ling Xiao, Wandering Thousand Year Cat, Masked Dance Sky, Will Smile Won’t Cry, and Hello Author for the Moon tickets.

(End of Chapter)