NOVEL WEB Chapter 24: Graduation
The two opponents were evenly matched, their strengths nearly identical.
Next came a series of fierce collisions, all of which Zhao Mengxi effortlessly countered.
Leng Zimu's impatience grew, and with a sharp shout, he commanded, "Break."
The strange willow tree immediately shed two of its branches, which Leng Zimu grabbed, wielding them like steel whips, charging forward.
Both of their summoned beasts relied on long-range attacks; one focused on physical combat, while the other specialized in magic. Yet neither could gain the upper hand.
Therefore, Leng Zimu decided to switch to close combat. With his willow leaf blades launching from a distance, he aimed to close the gap, confident that Zhao Mengxi would be thrown off balance and unable to defend.
Zhao Mengxi easily saw through his plan but remained unfazed. She flicked her fingers, blocking the willow leaf blades with a fireball array, then used her summoned beast's spatial ability to perform a teleportation. In the blink of an eye, she and her Fire Flame Beast reappeared on the other side.
Where she had been standing, a massive fireball remained. When Leng Zimu rushed in, the fireball exploded with a deafening bang. The explosion was tremendous, sparks flying everywhere, and Leng Zimu was covered in fiery embers. His clothes melted, emitting a foul burning smell.
Pain flashed across Leng Zimu's face, but fury quickly overtook him. He charged again, not believing Zhao Mengxi could teleport repeatedly.
At the same time, he launched his most powerful willow leaf blades—more than two hundred blades turned into a torrential downpour of knives, aiming to tear his opponent apart.
Zhao Mengxi's expression shifted slightly, a flicker of anger crossing her brow. Since he was pressing so relentlessly, she had no choice but to fight back with all her strength.
Instantly, her Golden Ears Wheat spun wildly, transforming into a fiery vortex the size of an arch, with an incredibly high temperature.
Then, with a slight parting of her lips, she murmured, "Move."
The fiery vortex vanished, only to reappear beside the rushing Leng Zimu. A powerful suction force emanated from it, even causing the air to hiss as it was pulled in.
Leng Zimu, caught off guard and unable to stop, was sucked toward the vortex. The terrifying heat made him lose all composure. His body shuddered as his stylish hair was burned away, his eyebrows caught fire, and his once-handsome face was instantly scorched.
"I... I concede," Leng Zimu exclaimed, his voice frantic. If he had hesitated even for a second longer, his face would have been permanently disfigured, and no amount of skin grafting could fix the damage.
The entire exchange had happened in the blink of an eye, taking just over a second. Even the referee was startled, nearly stopping the match immediately. However, before he could speak, Leng Zimu, terrified, chose to concede of his own accord.
Zhao Mengxi immediately withdrew, and the fiery vortex dissipated, returning to its original form.
Leng Zimu shot her a deep glare, then touched his scorched face, feeling a searing pain. His gaze hardened with clear hatred.
...
On that day, nearly ten thousand duels took place. Some dragged on for over ten minutes, while others were decided in under half a minute.
Kent had participated in three matches, winning all of them, earning three points.
As evening fell, the competition came to an end. The bottom 300 participants were immediately eliminated.
The next day, the matches resumed.
That day, Kent once again won three straight matches, accumulating six points. He climbed into the top 100 on the leaderboard, drawing admiration from the students in Class Nine.
By the end of the day, the bottom 1,000 students were eliminated.
Zhao Xuan was among those eliminated, his face full of frustration.
Zhou Yun was also on the list but was content with his performance, having managed to win two matches by sheer luck. He was still overjoyed and kept reminiscing about it.
Kent, on the other hand, just looked at him blankly, amused by his exuberance.
On the third and final day, all remaining contestants fought ten matches.
This time, Kent faced three top-tier students, but they were still not quite as strong as Zhao Zhi, so he won all of them.
By the end of the day, nearly 2,000 students were eliminated, leaving only the top 400 on the leaderboard. Most of these had either nine or ten wins, with only a few unlucky but still powerful students making it with eight points.
With that, the point-based ranking tournament came to a close. Kent finished as the top student in Class Nine with a perfect ten-game winning streak, securing 19th place overall.
His ranking was outside the top ten primarily because his Garfield level was lower, resulting in a lower combat rating by the electronic system.
Even though he had achieved ten wins, his combat rating was lower than others, which influenced his ranking.
"The principal announces that all students who participated in the ranking tournament have officially graduated and will receive their diplomas. As for those who did not participate, there is no need to be discouraged. There will be another chance next year. We believe you will create your own miracles," the principal of Saint Stone High declared.
At the closing ceremony, Principal Hua of Saint Stone High hurriedly arrived, holding a speech, delivered with great passion and lofty rhetoric, believing it would inspire the students.
But, in reality, this was indeed true.
Graduation meant the end of the most grueling academic stage of life, and the beginning of a new journey.
The students on the leaderboard would fill out their university applications in two weeks and then await interview notices.
Kent was a bit confused. He had thought that once he filled out his university applications, he would simply receive an admission letter as long as he met the score threshold.
However, on Earthstar, since academic focuses varied from university to university, each school, after receiving the applications, would review the student's file and professor's comments. If the student was selected, they would be sent an interview notice, and only after passing the exam would they be formally admitted.
Thus, the universities scheduled their exams at different times. Earthstar University, being the most prestigious, could hold interviews first to select the best students.
Based on rankings, the lower one's rank, the fewer options were left.
Of course, students eliminated in the ranking tournament would be considered unqualified, graduating only with a high school diploma, without the qualification to apply for university unless they applied to retake the exam.
The top 400 students on the leaderboard, however, could apply to universities.
In Microglow City, there were 56 high schools. Apart from the few top schools with 2,000 slots, the others had between 300 to 800 slots.
Saint Stone High, being a mid-tier school, only had 400 available slots.
This meant that out of the tens of thousands of students eligible to apply for university, only around 10,000 would be accepted, and only a little over 100 would be admitted to Earthstar University.
On the stage, after Principal Hua's long-winded speech, he finally made an important announcement: A week later, Saint Stone High would send ten mentors, each of whom could select forty students, to venture into a mysterious area outside the city for a trial.
After the trial, students would fill out their university applications, and if those under a mentor successfully entered a university, they would receive a certain number of credit points as a reward.
Upon hearing this, the entire audience erupted in excitement, with both the senior mentors and the students on the leaderboard looking thrilled.
A trial? A mysterious area outside the city?
Kent was momentarily stunned, then his face lit up with longing. Like the other students, he was eager to see what lay beyond the city.