NOVEL WEB Chapter 116 - The Competition 19
After being treated by Mai Dongzi with wood-based abilities, Zhuang Huaiya originally needed to lie in the treatment chamber for four to five hours, but he came out in just three hours.
There was a rather funny yet awkward moment: Zhuang Huaiya’s clothes were burned to shreds, revealing a bit too much.
When Zhuang Huaiya stepped off the arena, he was covered in blackened skin that was hard to look at. Now that the burns were healed, he emerged from the treatment chamber, and the girls quickly stepped aside to let him change.
So when Zhuang Huaiya reappeared in front of everyone, everyone couldn’t help but chuckle, though it was a good-natured laugh.
His burned skin had been restructured and reborn, smooth and enviably flawless.
His hair and eyebrows were also burned off, but a bit of hair had grown back during the treatment. Although it was light, it didn’t look too strange.
However, his hair had only grown a little, and his scalp appeared more bluish than black, which didn’t match his handsome features and made people want to laugh.
Zhuang Huaiya didn’t have a fragile heart; seeing everyone laughing at his head, he rubbed his bald scalp and said, “This is a testament to my hard work.”
“Yes, yes, you’re absolutely right,” his classmates echoed.
Mai Dongzi watched the boy’s cheerful smile and felt relieved, confirming that he wasn’t deeply affected by the burning pain and didn’t harbor any mental scars. His presence seemed stronger than yesterday, indicating he had gained a lot from facing life-and-death situations.
Since he could endure such pain, they would let him relax tonight, and tomorrow they could ramp up his special training, ensuring he would forget the agony of the burns.
As Zhuang Huaiya stepped out of the treatment chamber, he noticed a significant change in his classmates’s attitudes. While they didn’t view him with awe, the invisible contempt from before was gone, which made him very happy.
When making choices, his first thought was about the benefits of winning—one was to vindicate himself and his cousin, and the other was to change his standing in the school.
As he had suspected, not only had his classmates’s attitudes changed, but so had his mentor’s. Just as Zhuang Huaiya was happily smiling, he suddenly felt a chill and instinctively looked at his cousin.
Seeing her smiling brightly at him, he felt a shiver run down his spine.
Three days later, the quarter-finals began.
Ten days ago, Mai Dongzi’s martial arts cultivation had reached mid-level six.
This was her visible level of cultivation. The school’s mentors knew that her mental energy cultivation was actually the highest, and while they couldn’t see how high her mental energy directing ability was, they could estimate its high level.
When Mai Dongzi started school, she underwent an entrance test, and at that time, her mental energy ability level was a small rank higher than her martial arts level. Thus, they could infer how high her mental energy ability level was now.
Such a high level of cultivation made it unnecessary for her to compete in the quarter-finals against first-year freshmen; it would be completely one-sided.
As a result, the school modified the personal competition rules for her, deciding to add an extra match. First, other competitors would fight to determine a champion, and then that champion would face Mai Dongzi.
Since the competitors in the school competition included at least two contestants from each grade, this ensured that the other first-year contestant would also be very strong.
In the quarter-finals, among the eight contestants—five males and three females—Mai Dongzi only recognized Zhuang Huaiya from the directing department, David and Lin Qingzhou from the combat department, and Shi Dan from the abilities department.
All eight contestants were gathered in the combat department, where they drew lots for the matches on-site. The combat department had enough space to conduct four matches simultaneously.
There were many spectators at the event, and many eyes inadvertently fell on Shi Dan.
The news of Erica being defeated by someone had spread wildly on the campus network, making everyone aware of the weaknesses of fire-type ability users.
However, the way Zhuang Huaiya achieved victory was considered too dangerous and painful, leading others to increasingly admire his daring approach.
So now, seeing another fire-type ability user enter the quarter-finals naturally sparked interest.
Yet, aside from those in the abilities department, others had hardly heard of Shi Dan and knew little about her.
As many people scrutinized her, they noticed her calm demeanor and concluded she was not an easy opponent.
Their gaze then turned back to Zhuang Huaiya, speculating that if he faced Shi Dan in the quarter-finals, it would surely be thrilling.
Those who knew Zhuang Huaiya but hadn’t seen him in recent days were secretly surprised. How had he advanced so quickly to late-stage level four?
With his current cultivation level, he could compete with any of the other seven contestants present, except for Lin Qingzhou.
Mai Dongzi remained relaxed; she had pushed her cousin’s training to the limit. Whether he could reach the semi-finals depended on his luck and adaptability during the match.
Winning would be ideal, but losing wouldn’t be a regret either.
However, Zhuang Huaiya’s classmates were not as calm. His glory was their class’s glory, and they naturally hoped he could advance to the semi-finals.
The elite class of first-year students in the directing department all wished for Zhuang Huaiya to draw an easy opponent.
Wang Yiyi and Yu Lan clasped their hands in front of their chests to pray, clearly hoping that Zhuang Huaiya would not draw Lin Qingzhou.
Among all the first-year contestants, there were only two level-five fighters. Zhuang Huaiya had already drawn one level five contestant in the last match, so statistically, unless he was particularly unlucky, the chances of him drawing another level five contestant this time were slim.
Zhuang Huaiya’s luck wasn’t too bad; he didn’t let Wang Yiyi and the others down. Although he drew a combat department contestant, it wasn’t Lin Qingzhou or David, but another opponent.
Mai Dongzi looked at this contestant, realizing that perhaps the reputations of Lin Qingzhou and David overshadowed the others, as this contestant wasn’t particularly well-known, at least not to those outside his department.
With so many people present and the distance being far, the students in the audience couldn’t sense the aura of the competitors on stage.
Mai Dongzi, however, was different. She felt that this contestant’s aura was only slightly weaker than David’s, but still stronger than Zhuang Huaiya’s.
Zhuang Huaiya’s expression stiffened a bit; he could certainly sense that this opponent was a formidable foe.
However, once the two started fighting, Mai Dongzi felt a bit relieved.