The qualifying knockout matches were held for four consecutive days. During this period, Li Jiye caused quite a stir in the Polar Star Academy arena.
Although Teacher Grasse had instructed him to keep his dual talents a secret, any discerning person who had seen him defeat William with "Mad Knife Slash" that day and heard of his performance in Falling Maple City's battle would automatically suspect that he had a very rare dual-talent origin.
At 10 a.m., the Polar Star Academy's campus was preparing for the final day of qualifying matches.
After several days of competition, a large number of students had been eliminated. Today, no more than twenty students were left. After the last day of knockout rounds, the top 16 would be selected.
"The last round of the top 16! The winner is… Li Jiye!"
Along with a burst of eager cheers, Li Jiye got down from the ring, breathing heavily.
The person standing in front of him was a Tier 2 senior with advanced-level strength. Although he had just been defeated, he was still smiling widely, and he didn't seem annoyed at having lost to Li Jiye.
"Brother, you're amazing! Hey, did you just use Falling Leaves Deadly Knives? I remember this martial art was included in the deeper levels of the martial art library… Hmm. Regardless, congratulations!"
He slowly walked to Li Jiye and reached out to shake hands with him.
Li Jiye had had no choice but to reveal his advanced-level martial arts such as Falling Leaves Deadly Knives and Shadow Wind Steps in the qualifying matches. At present, he was the only Tier 2 intermediate-level student left among the top 16. The others were either peak Tier 2 advanced-level students or seniors who had already been in the Tier 2 advanced-level for a long time.
Having reached this point, Li Jiye almost became a representative figure of the freshmen in Polar Star Academy.
The school had already made the appropriate preparations after the top 16 qualifying matches, so both the venue and time of the quarterfinals had been announced in advance. After the public draw, the list of matches had been distributed to the 16 students.
"Li Jiye, how was it? Who did you get?"
Immediately after the draw, Li Jiye was bombarded with questions from Teacher Daphne, Alice, and the others. As the "leader" of the freshmen now, every step of his way in the college quarterfinals had attracted people's attention.
Looking at the sign in his hand, Li Jiye felt a little awkward. He summoned his Wind Element on the piece of paper with an incantation, and two words immediately appeared on it.
"Free pass?"
"You're way too lucky. You actually got a free pass for the advancement round to the quarterfinals? Doesn't that mean you would have made it to the quarterfinals even if you'd lost?!"
Amidst bursts of exclamation, Li Jiye smiled bitterly and scratched his head.
"Everyone knows that the school gave out two free passes, but I really didn't expect to actually get one of them…"
In the next few days, he greeted everyone who congratulated him on his placement and then went to practice.
Three more days passed, and the first day of the quarterfinals finally came. Li Jiye came to the competition field early after receiving notice from the school.
Now, the four arenas had been merged into one. Standing on top of the arena and watching the various new students cheering for him in the distance, Li Jiye secretly squeezed his fists.
He didn't know which student he was going to be pitted against. He had basically been in seclusion during the past three days of practice.
It wasn't until a figure jumped onto the arena that he was surprised.
"Selmore?"
"Hehe. Long time no see, Li Jiye!"
Smiling, Selmore stroked his nose and tapped the serrated long knife behind him.
"Two days ago, I heard that you also have a Knife Mastery skill. That's awesome. Regardless of who emerges victorious, let's not push too hard today. We can continue to swap pointers in the future!"
Li Jiye smiled and nodded when he heard this. Selmore had a very cheerful personality, and he liked coming into contact with such pure martial artists.
He also stroked the long knife at his waist that he had recently bought from Polar Star City recently. Since his Knife Mastery skill was now revealed to everyone, it was better for him to make full use of it and show off his strength in future competitions.
"Oh? It seems like they're both very active…" The referee had come forward while the two were still chatting. He glanced at the sky and then nodded to Li Jiye and Selmore. "In that case, your battle will begin immediately!"
Under his order, vigor flashed in both Li Jiye and Selmore's eyes, and they unsheathed their long swords at the same time.
"Mad Knife Slash!"
With his Wind Element, Li Jiye's speed was much faster than Selmore. The blade in his hand flashed, and he charged at Selmore using Shadow Wind Steps. At the same time, six knives gleamed instantly as he dashed forward at lightning speed.
"Take this too!" Smiling approvingly, Selmore didn't show the least bit of panic. Instead, he lightly swung the serrated long knife in his hand. Following this movement, an earth circle emerged behind him.
Li Jiye's knife attack was actually blocked by the seemingly thin ring made of the Earth Element.
"The C-level martial art, Ring of Resistance?" Li Jiye hurriedly took a step back when he saw this. As expected, the moment he left the spot, the ring made of the Earth Element followed while being entangled along Selmore's serrated long knife. Taking advantage of the situation, Selmore slashed in the direction where Li Jiye was before, and the previously tidy ring immediately loosed some stones.
"Not bad! Your Shadow Wind Steps is extremely proficient. It seems like I won't be able to keep up with you if I continue following you… Hehe. In that case, I'll let you have a taste of my new trick!"
Selmore remained calm at Li Jiye's agility and was instead extremely eager to try something new. In that instant, Li Jiye suddenly thought of Selmore's information, which he had seen in Falling Maple City.
"Could it be the unfinished martial arts…?"
Knowing that he couldn't let Selmore use his sword, Li Jiye immediately summoned Shadow Wind Steps and rushed in front of him. He made continuous slashes with his knife and even attacked unceasingly with his empty left hand while using Storm Fist.
But his attacks didn't affect Selmore at all. His whole body was engulfed in the Ring of Resistance, which blocked off most of Li Jiye's attacks. Even if Li Jiye managed to make some breakthroughs, the earth ring would prevent Selmore's body from getting hit, and the punches also did no harm to him.
"Wave… Decapitation!"
When a sharp light flashed on Selmore's body, Li Jiye frowned and quickly backed away. At the same time, he held up his knife in front of his body and practically mimicked Selmore's stance.
"Take this too. Wave Decapitation!"
"What…?"
Two strong continuous auras simultaneously poured from both their long knives, which gave off light like flint sparks. However, the two knife auras were heavily unmatched. One was exceedingly congealed, while the other was extraordinarily elegant.