NOVEL WEB Chapter 117 - The Competition 20
David was difficult to deal with because he had been practicing martial arts since childhood, giving him a solid foundation. Coupled with his outstanding combat talent, his combat power was exceptionally strong, making it nearly impossible for Zhuang Huaiya to challenge him at a higher level.
However, the contestant named Yu, while also trained in inherited martial skills, was not primarily skilled in boxing. Instead, Mai Dongzi could see that he relied more on his sheer physical strength.
In simple terms, he was accustomed to winning through brute force, which was similar to David.
Of course, being strong was also extremely challenging to handle. After all, didn’t they say that a single strength can overcome ten? Now, it all depended on how strong this Yu classmate truly was.
After watching a few exchanges between Yu and Zhuang Huaiya, Mai Dongzi felt slightly relieved. Yu’s strength was indeed considerable, but he couldn’t overpower Zhuang Huaiya. Most of Yu’s attacks were deflected, turned, or countered by Zhuang Huaiya.
Zhuang Huaiya’s strengths lay in his agility, and with Mai Dongzi’s teachings of using minimal force to counter greater strength, he had practiced it well. As long as he could apply it flexibly, victory was not impossible.
This match was different from the previous one that ended in under a minute; the two were engaging in a spectacular duel. A competition where both sides struggled to gain the upper hand would certainly capture the audience’s attention.
The contestants entering the quarterfinals were all powerful fighters. Aside from Lin Qingzhou’s match, the other three arenas were equally thrilling.
I’m not sure if I should say Shi Dan is lucky or unlucky; her opponent is Lin Qingzhou, so it’s understandable that she lost.
Mai Dongzi’s focus was entirely on Zhuang Huaiya at the fourth arena, so she couldn’t pay attention to the battle at the first arena between Shi Dan and Lin Qingzhou. She only knew that Lin Qingzhou won within a few minutes of the match starting.
After hearing the cheers from the first arena, Mai Dongzi glanced over. The first arena was quite far from the fourth.
Lin Qingzhou showed signs of having been burned, but it wasn’t severe. He could walk to the treatment room on his own and seemed to move freely.
In contrast, Shi Dan was clearly knocked out and had to be carried away by medical personnel.
Mai Dongzi had just withdrawn her mental energy when she received a text message: “Captain, did you teach Zhuang Huaiya a set of boxing techniques? They really suit him.”
Wang Yiyi was clearly watching the arena intently but still managed to message her.
This kid has good observational skills to notice so quickly that Zhuang Huaiya wasn’t using his previous mixed techniques.
“Yeah!” Mai Dongzi admitted directly.
From now on, Zhuang Huaiya would focus on this set of techniques; it couldn’t be hidden.
“Very suitable for him,” Wang Yiyi replied.
Mai Dongzi didn’t respond further; if it didn’t suit Zhuang Huaiya, why would she teach it to him?
The matches in arenas two to four were all tightly contested, with both sides locked in a stalemate.
It wasn’t until an hour and a half later that the two competitors in arena two determined a winner—indeed, it was David.
The opponent’s momentum was similar to David’s, but in the end, David’s solid foundation and ability to adapt during the fight led him to victory.
With this, two fighters from the combat department advanced to the semifinals.
However, arenas three and four remained in a deadlock, and no one could tell which competitor would emerge victorious.
After such a long time, the competitors in both arenas began to show signs of exhaustion.
Zhuang Huaiya’s speed had slowed to at least half of what it had been at the start, but Yu’s condition was even worse—he was panting heavily, and both the speed and power of his punches had significantly decreased.
Yet the two remained evenly matched, just as the competitors in arena three were.
“It seems they might end in a draw,” Wang Yiyi couldn’t help but say.
Zhuang Huaiya had fought hard to get to this point, and the students from the command department watched the match with serious expressions, eager for him to succeed and push their representative into the semifinals.
Before this, everyone felt like time had dragged on, but when the whistle signaling the end of the match blew, they felt time had passed too quickly, leaving them without a clear outcome.
“The two competitors will take a five-minute break, followed by an extension of the match,” the instructor acting as referee announced.
The break meant they could not leave the arena. Zhuang Huaiya and Yu chose not to sit on the ground but instead walked to the edge of the arena and leaned against the railing.
The spectators couldn’t get close, so Ma Dongzi could only use her mental power to “check” on the two boys’ conditions.
After two hours of intense fighting, both boys were exhausted, but they managed to maintain their composure and not show any signs of fatigue.
Mechanical therapists approached to scan both competitors and provided them with purified water.
In such competitions, as long as the match hadn’t ended, they couldn’t receive medical treatment or consume anything other than purified water. The scans by the mechanical therapists were just a precaution to prevent undetected internal injuries.
The situation on the third arena was similar, with both female competitors ending in a draw and moving into overtime. Achieving a draw was quite impressive.
However, after Ma Dongzi “scanned” the two girls’ conditions, she had a good idea of the outcome. One of the girls had been pushing herself hard, but now that they had a break, her stamina had diminished, and she likely wouldn’t have much combat power left for the next round.
Five minutes passed quickly, and with the referee’s whistle, the two competitors took their positions again.
Ma Dongzi’s estimation was correct; the match in the third arena concluded in under ten minutes, with a girl from the Ability Department advancing to the semifinals.
She heard someone in the Command Department cheerleading squad behind her ask, “Why are all the Ability Department competitors girls?”
“Our cohort in the Ability Department is unusual; the top students are all girls, so the ones making it to the finals are all girls, while the boys were eliminated early on.”
“The instructor from the Ability Department said that this year’s first-year students have at least two who can make it to the semifinals. If their top seed hadn’t been eliminated by our Command Department’s Zhuang Huaiya, they might really have had two competitors in the semifinals.”
“I used to think Zhuang Huaiya was just lucky, drawing weaker opponents to reach the finals, but now it seems his strength is genuine.”
“He wasn’t that strong before; it was after joining the Phantom Team that—”
The boy’s words were left unfinished as Ma Dongzi felt someone behind her watching, so she chose to ignore it.
At that moment, the situation in the arena shifted.