NOVEL WEB Chapter 112 - The Competition 16
“How is Zhuang Huiya doing?” Instructor Fang couldn’t help but ask.
After discovering that Zhuang Huiya was Mai Dongzi’s cousin, Instructor Fang had let her take charge of his training.
It turned out his decision was the right one. Without Mai Dongzi’s tactical guidance for each match, Zhuang Huiya might not have won.
“He’s very diligent. He’s back in the training room studying tactics again,” Mai Dongzi replied.
She didn’t praise Zhuang Huiya, nor did she make any guarantees. The arena is just like the battlefield—until the very last moment, no one knows who will win or lose.
However, Zhuang Huiya was relatively lucky this time, as his match was scheduled for the day after tomorrow. This gave him enough time to train and refine the tactics he had come up with under Mai Dongzi’s guidance.
Hearing this, Instructor Fang felt a bit more hopeful, but still gave a few cautious reminders before ending the communication.
Zhuang Huiya’s fourth match would take place in the art department’s arena.
The art department had always had an awkward presence in the school competition, as no students from any year had ever made it to the second round of eliminations.
As a result, every year when matches were scheduled in the art department’s arena, aside from the staff, almost no art students attended to watch.
But this year was different. While there were no art students in the second round, there was an art student in the finals—someone with a strong chance of winning the championship. Because of this, the art department students were paying more attention to the school competition this year.
Many of the art students knew that today’s match between a first-year command student and a first-year ability user would feature the teammate—and rumored boyfriend—of their first-year top student. It was expected that Captain Xi would be present to watch the match.
So when Mai Dongzi arrived at the arena surrounded by three girls and one boy, she saw many familiar faces.
The day before, Zhuang Huiya had taken a new type of energy potion, and with Mai Dongzi’s rigorous training, his cultivation level had actually slightly surpassed that of Wang Yiyi.
Facing an opponent with similar cultivation but inferior combat ability, Zhuang Huiya’s match was a bit drawn out, but in the end, he won.
Though the match took longer than expected, Zhuang Huiya’s injuries weren’t severe. A four- to five-hour rest in the treatment pod would suffice.
The quarterfinals would take place three days later, giving the Phantom Squad members time to train properly.
As soon as the individual competition ends, the team competition will begin immediately. Since they had switched team members midway, they needed to take time to build chemistry.
As the saying goes, “What you fear comes to pass.” At the quarterfinals draw, Zhuang Huiya ended up drawing Erica as his opponent.
Mai Dongzi really didn’t want Zhuang Huiya to face Erica. Given Erica’s current mindset, if Zhuang Huiya were to go up against her, he’d surely have a tough time.
Erica knew that Zhuang Huiya was Mai Dongzi’s cousin, and Mai Dongzi knew that Erica would likely vent her anger toward her onto Zhuang Huiya.
Zhuang Huiya also understood the conflict between his family and Erica, so while his expression was serious, he wasn’t afraid.
“Sis, teach me. I want to beat her,” Zhuang Huiya said firmly.
After learning that the suffering his family and cousin endured was caused by Erica’s parents, Zhuang Huiya harbored a sense of determination.
He knew that Erica wouldn’t just aim to defeat him in the match, but would likely try to humiliate him as well. Since that was the case, why not give it his all and fight back?
Although Zhuang Huiya didn’t know his newly acquainted cousin very well, he had a feeling that she had a way to help him.
Mai Dongzi didn’t respond immediately. What Zhuang Huiya said sounded easy, but in reality, it wouldn’t be that simple.
For a late-stage Level 4 cultivator to defeat an early-stage Level 5 opponent, his combat strength would need to far exceed his cultivation level, and his combat experience would have to be extremely rich to even have a chance at such an over-level challenge.
If Erica were a martial artist, Mai Dongzi would have just told Zhuang Huiya to go home, take a bath, and have a nice dream about winning.
But Erica was a fire-type ability user, and this was a competition arena, not a battlefield. If Zhuang Huiya could endure the inhuman pain, it wasn’t impossible for him to defeat Erica.
Erica had only participated in one match during the elimination round, and her opponent forfeited without a fight. As a result, they didn’t have any battle footage of Erica to analyze her combat style.
However, Mai Dongzi was very familiar with the abilities of fire-type users.
On the arena, there would be full safety monitoring, and if Erica went too far and tried to seriously harm Zhuang Huiya, safety robots would intervene immediately to control the situation and rescue him.
So, as long as Zhuang Huiya wasn’t afraid of the searing pain from the flames, he had a chance to defeat Erica. After all, ability users generally have average combat skills.
Erica, lacking the potential for martial cultivation, had trained in basic body techniques, but she was only a Level 1 martial artist. If Zhuang Huiya could get close to her, one punch would be enough to eliminate her.
With modern medical technology, burns were the easiest injuries to treat. Just four to five hours in a treatment pod would be enough to heal even the most severe burns.
In the end, Mai Dongzi decided to share the strategy with Zhuang Huiya, allowing him to choose whether or not to use it.
The reason she shared this strategy was not only to help him gain experience but also to test his willpower.
If Zhuang Huiya could truly execute the plan, regardless of whether he won against Erica, he would be a winner in his own life.
After hearing Mai Dongzi’s analysis, Zhuang Huiya didn’t make light of the situation. He didn’t say he wasn’t afraid or that he would try hard; instead, he spent the next three days silently contemplating and searching online for battle videos of fire-type ability users for study.
This match would be entirely up to him to handle, as Mai Dongzi wasn’t a fire-type ability user and couldn’t offer much more help.
The competition day quickly arrived, and the match was held in the treatment department.
Many people from both the command and ability departments showed up.
For the command department students, Zhuang Huiya had at least made it to the quarterfinals, securing a spot in the finals from the ability and combat departments. Regardless of whether he won or lost, they needed to show their support for him.
For the ability department students, they believed their side was sure to win today. They were there to enjoy the victory and to mock the defeated command department.
The expressions of the students in the audience were polarized—command department students were serious, while ability department students were relaxed with a hint of disdain.
As Zhuang Huiya and Erica faced each other on the arena, Mai Dongzi observed that Zhuang Huiya’s demeanor and aura were relatively calm.
Seeing Zhuang Huiya in this state reassured Mai Dongzi. Her biggest fear was that he would act impulsively.
Erica’s reaction, as Mai Dongzi had guessed, was filled with resentment as she looked at Zhuang Huiya.
Thus, as soon as the match began, Erica launched an aggressive attack, clearly aiming to set a record for the fastest match finish and to humiliate Zhuang Huiya.