The next fight in the tournament was announced.
"Wait, Kid, before you enter the next fight, I want to ask you something. What did you perceive from that corpse boy's movement?"
"What did I perceive? I don't know... His movement was odd. Nothing I've seen before. It seemed like to carry particles of qi around him and at the same time swallow qi. I really don't get it."
"...All right. I have to also warn you from his gaze. But that can be discussed after this fight."
The crowd cheered. The next round was really anticipated. Everyone was excited to see it.
The reason behind that was Zayn. He became, after the last round, quite unpopular with the crowd. The only thing they wanted to see now was Zayn losing.
With his victory in the last round, he was publicly known as a half-genius. To be able to skip 1-Star was only possible for geniuses. But unfortunately, his cultivation was lacking. That's why he was declared as only a half-genius. But he still wasn't favoured by the crowd.
It began with his anticlimactic approach to fights. He dragged the round unnecessarily out. The majority of the people only saw Zayn making fun of his opponents, even bullying them. His combat prowess exceeded that of his opponents. And he only displayed it at the end of the fight.
He even began to abuse a fellow female student, verbally. In the end, he also used too much force on her. That was just unnecessary. Even though he didn't cripple her, he was still hated by the crowd for it.
On the other hand, they wouldn't dare to shit on Flint. He crippled a weaker opponent, only for a showcase. No one would call for justice for that. They were just too afraid of his background. That's also why they vent more of their anger out on Zayn.
The crowd simply didn't know that Zayn wasn't that strong from the beginning. He was constantly improving during the fights. He had to win the tournament so he would use every possibility.
Walking towards the arena, he saw the hatred flying around. He was aware of it. But he couldn't do anything against it. On the one hand, he didn't want people to misjudge him, but in the same breath, he didn't care about their opinion.
'Fuck it! Who cares?'
Right after that Zayn saw his opponent. A 5-Star Body Refinement Cultivator. And also someone who showcased displeasure with Zayn.
"Kid, listen up. This fight will be kind of a rehearsal. I want you to test your skill against him. He should put you under pressure and help you to improve. After this fight, you will have your first serious fight. There you have to prove yourself and apply everything you learned. Now for the first part of this fight, I want you to focus on dodging his attacks. But be careful, he is far faster than the girl in your previous round."
Zayn nodded and prepared himself for the next round.
"You really like to bully others, huh? How about if someone bullies you? Would you like it? I don't think so!"
Zayn's opponent started to display his displeasure. He showcased it in the form of a lecture, but Zayn just ignored it. It would be too much of a hassle to make his opponent believe in his good nature.
Immediately after his lecture, the opponent charged at Zayn and attacked him. But Zayn was prepared for it, he narrowly dodged that.
'He's fast!' Zayn noticed the speed difference from the 4-Star and 5-Star of the Body Refinement Realm. Zayn only was able to dodge it on the last breath. But from that single attack, he noticed his faults in his footwork. He was using too much weight in his moves. He had to correct it immediately.
"Good, good! You sure are fast for your cultivation stage. Let's see where your limits are!"
The young boy didn't use his full force in his first attack. He wanted to probe Zayn's speed.
After Zayn improved his footwork, another attack came at him. Even though he improved his footwork now, and was able to dodge the previous attack far easier, the incoming attack was again dodged in the last second.
Zayn again adjusted his footwork immediately. Then another attack flew towards him. And another and another and another.
Their back and forth continued, with Zayn getting faster with each attack and his opponent using more and more of his real power. Zayn's opponent only wanted to test Zayn's limit, but each time he thought that he probed Zayn's limit, Zayn continued to dodge the next attacks.
"Good! You improved your footwork even without my guidance. You sure are talented. I like that! Now let's start the next phase of this fight. Intercept his attacks. Be careful! A 5-Star Body Refinement Realm Cultivator's attack is far stronger than the attack from the student in your Eighth-Finals, a 3-Star Body Refinement Realm Cultivator."
Meanwhile, the crowd was shocked. Just shocked. Zayn was able to skip 2-Stars and keep up with his opponent. This fact declared Zayn as the most talented person inside the academy. Only his cultivation was lacking. If he would focus on cultivation and receive the best cultivation resources, he would catch up to his peers and possibly rise on top of them.
.
Behind the referee for this tournament, Teacher Leaf, a young boy was boiling in anger. His rage only rose as the fight continued.
The surrounding students knew why this boy was so in rage. The boy was obviously Flint. After losing against Zayn in their previous dispute, he had a craving desire to see him lose badly. He even put on a bounty on Zayn, but that didn't work out as he planned. And now he was regarded as the most talented student. How?!? He broke through during a fight. Didn't that count as most talented?!? What's so amazing in defeating a 5-Star Body Refinement Realm Cultivator. He could easily do that!
.
"Great, you've improved your intercepting quite well and also your reading of attacks. This will become crucial in fights. If you can see your opponent's attack, you are able to dodge them or intercept them. You're also able to counter-attack. Speaking of attacking, this will be the final step in learning the basics of fighting. Remember, you have to hold back, your strength is right now too strong. We want to build a good foundation, so you need to be able to gauge your own strength quite well. I will guide you along the way, just start attacking him."
As Infinite Star told him that, the fight still continued. Zayn was still dodging and intercepting the opponent's attack, but the difference was that now he was triumphing over him. Zayn fought without any real effort right now.
The opponent was now really nervous. He used his full strength, but Zayn could easily intercept and dodge it. His punches felt like hitting walls right now. Zayn's body was like an iron wall to him. He now understood how the four students got crippled. Hitting Zayn's body with weak cultivation was only suicide. During the fight, the gap between himself and Zayn only grew. He wasn't able to overcome Zayn now. His speed and strength were outmatched. What should he do?!?
Zayn took what Infinite Star told him into consideration and tried to simulate how he would hold back in his attack. After a few breaths, he punched out.
The punch itself wasn't that fast. Zayn was holding himself back. But even though it was slow, it caught his opponent off-guard. He was too nervous to realize Zayn's attack.
*BOOM*
The punch knocked Zayn's opponent a few steps back. Immediately afterward the opponent was kneeling. He lost his clear vision and only saw everything blurry. He was nearly passing out.
The attack felt like a brick hitting his head. How was Zayn's body so tough?!? At least, he wasn't sent flying out of the arena and into the wall.
"Nice one, kid! You really held back. Continue with your attacks, but remember don't punch too hard or else he will pass out."