Chapter 62: Chapter 62: A Seemingly Familiar Scene

With the quarterfinals over, Yu Fei had advanced and Jiang Yifan was eliminated. Other than Ye Feng, Yu Fei didn’t recognize any of the three remaining fighters.

After a short break, the semifinals began. The matchups appeared on the large screen. Ye Feng and Yu Fei weren’t paired, so it looked like they were destined to meet in the finals.

"Ye Feng vs. Yv Yeye

Zhong Yonghua vs. Yu Fei"

But before Zhong Yonghua even stepped onto the stage, he raised his hand to forfeit. At the same time, Yv Yeye also declared her forfeiture.

This...

The referee quickly entered the ring and announced that the competition would proceed directly to the final round.

The final match between Ye Feng and Yu Fei was about to begin, while the other two would compete for third place.

Zhong Yonghua’s reason for forfeiting was simple. He was a student from No. 1 High and had previously lost to Dongfang Yebai.

Since even she had been effortlessly defeated by Yu Fei, he stood no chance against him on stage. Rather than take a beating, it was better to forfeit, conserve his energy, and fight for third place.

Yv Yeye was from No. 5 High. She had already anticipated the outcome of a fight against Ye Feng—it was nearly impossible for her to win. But, driven by the Martial Artist’s spirit of never fearing defeat, she had wanted to give it a try. Then she realized that bastard Zhong Yonghua was planning to rest up and wait for an easy win against an exhausted opponent, taking advantage of her.

She couldn’t let him get away with it, of course, so she decisively forfeited as well.

And that was what led to this dramatic scene.

...

On the stage, Ye Feng stared at Yu Fei, his face expressionless, but his heart was anything but calm.

’You despicable bastard. Your lucky streak ends today.’ 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The moment the referee’s whistle blew, Ye Feng initiated the attack. This was a rare sight. Ever since he began his martial arts cultivation, he had always held the upper hand against every opponent. As such, he never minded showing a bit of magnanimity by letting them make the first move. But now, Ye Feng had completely abandoned his usual composure, clearly pushed to the brink of fury.

"Go, Ye Feng!"

"Ye Feng! Ye Feng! Forever number one!"

Below the stage, Ye Feng’s fan club of teenage girls screamed hysterically. Though they’d always believed Ye Feng was the strongest in the county, this was the first time the top contenders had actually faced off. This was his chance to prove it.

As for this Yu Fei? He was just a pushover. They’d just have to see how long he could last against the great Ye Feng.

Yu Fei, for his part, was still putting on an act. With his hands clasped behind his back, he watched his opponent with a look of utter disdain. ’Today, I’m going to get a real rise out of Ye Feng. I’ll make him so furious that for the rest of his life, just hearing my name will make him grind his teeth in hatred.’

As soon as the match began, he immediately marked Ye Feng. The orange gem above Ye Feng’s head flared with a brilliant light, glowing like a miniature sun.

Yu Fei’s nonchalant attitude only stoked the flames of Ye Feng’s fury.

"You’re courting death!"

Ye Feng’s mastery of the various styles of the Six Harmonies Killing Fist was no less than Yu Fei’s.

He executed a Mastery-level Light Swallow Shadow, his speed so immense that he left an afterimage streaking across the stage.

"Is that... Mastery level?"

Tianning was a small town, and people from small towns lived comfortable, sheltered lives with little exposure to the outside world. While the barrier to entry for the Six Harmonies Killing Fist wasn’t high—nearly every high school graduate knew the basics—those who could cultivate it to the Mastery realm were exceedingly rare.

Ye Feng had truly opened the eyes of the local townsfolk and broadened their horizons.

Below the stage, Teacher Liu Ming shot to his feet in shock.

"It’s not just Light Swallow Shadow! Aside from the Mountain-Blocking Celestial Net, which I can’t gauge, his other fist techniques have also reached the Mastery realm."

Liu Ming had taught at No. 2 High for many years, and never had a student reached such a level.

"What a genius! Yu Fei’s in danger."

Yan Sea helped Liu Ming back into his seat. His own expression was perfectly calm, without a ripple of concern.

"Teacher, calm down. Yu Fei is no slouch."

’In my eyes, while Ye Feng is outstanding, he is merely outstanding,’ Yan Sea thought. ’Outside of our county, geniuses like him are a dime a dozen. I’m well aware of Yu Fei’s progress with his Cultivation Techniques. Besides the Calamity Sword techniques I myself taught him, all of Yu Fei’s other techniques have also reached the Mastery realm, making him no weaker than Ye Feng.’

’Plus, with Yu Fei’s extraordinary combat instincts, his actual strength should be greater than Ye Feng’s. I just wonder what kind of game he’s playing this time.’

Yan Sea felt he understood Yu Fei to a certain extent. The kid had a strange quirk: when facing unfamiliar opponents, he loved to live dangerously just to humiliate them.

Yu Fei’s pupils constricted slightly. To everyone else, Ye Feng was a blur of motion, but in Yu Fei’s eyes, he moved like a toddler learning to walk—slow and clumsy.

A pinprick-like sensation jabbed at Yu Fei’s heart, left hip, and right cheek. This was the perceptive ability granted by his ’Insight’ skill, revealing his opponent’s intended targets.

He remained still as a statue, hands in his pockets, waiting for Ye Feng’s attack to land.

"My brother, he’s..."

Yu Wei’s heart was filled with worry. She shot to her feet, her fists clenched. She didn’t understand why her brother wasn’t dodging.

The hearts of everyone watching were in their throats.

Before Yu Wei could finish her sentence, Ye Feng’s attacks were already upon him.

Yu Fei took a single step to the left, evading a kick aimed at his chest. He then twisted his hips to dodge an elbow and tilted his head slightly, letting a powerful straight punch from Ye Feng whistle past, merely grazing his hair.

’How is that possible?’

Ye Feng’s mind went blank.

’How could this be possible?’

Every one of Ye Feng’s punches and kicks had missed its mark by the slimmest of margins. One miss could be called a fluke, but for all three attacks to fail in the same way was simply inconceivable.

His initial momentum was spent.

After three failed attacks in a row, Ye Feng’s Qi Blood faltered. In the instant they crossed paths, Yu Fei whipped his right hand out of his pocket. A dense, powerful energy surged through him as he smashed a backfist directly into the bridge of Ye Feng’s nose.

POW!

Ye Feng had already passed the Bone Refinement stage, and on top of that, the Mastery-level Mountain-Blocking Celestial Net in his body had formed a Qi Blood Armor. The punch didn’t cause much damage, but he couldn’t stop tears from streaming down his face.

But sometimes, the consequences of an attack aren’t just about physical damage. At the very least, it looked like he’d been punched so hard he was crying.

Seeing Ye Feng’s face streaked with tears, a well-dressed woman in the audience snatched up a nearby water cup and hurled it toward the stage.

"Despicable! He’s cheating! Lock him up!"

The woman was clearly overwrought, her words becoming incoherent.

The cup was intercepted in mid-air by security guards maintaining order, and two staff members immediately moved to escort the woman away.

Lei Xiaoqiang did a spit take, then turned to look at Jiang Yifan.

Li Mengyao, Du Mingxuan, and the other former students of Class 2-6 all turned to look at Jiang Yifan as well.

"Well, this whole scene seems a little familiar, doesn’t it?"

Jiang Yifan’s face instantly turned beet-red, and beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. He scrambled to his feet, his eyes darting about. "I’m feeling a little tired. I’m gonna head out."