According to Jovic, the student named Mike had used the same moves to defeat his enemies in two consecutive battles. "His fighting style is very strange… Hmm, it's like Li Jiye's second battle today. He deliberately waited more than three minutes to let his opponents attack him before swinging his big sword and knocking them down."
The group of Tier 2 students all turned to Li Jiye upon hearing this.
Looking a little embarrassed, Li Jiye pondered for a moment.
"It's very difficult to deliberately let the opponents attack in this kind of battle. If he really cared about the pride of the other academies and just defended himself for three minutes, it only shows that he's far superior in terms of strength as compared to his opponent. It must mean it wouldn't be difficult for him to finish off his opponent instantly."
Everyone fell into silence at the same time. They thought that Li Jiye's strength was already top among the Tier 2 students, but now, it seemed like Mike was no weaker than him. The belief that Polar Star Academy would win the championship this time was once again shaken.
Three days later, the second round of matches began. Just like the previous round, they drew lots to determine their opponent. However, everyone only had one match today.
As the competitor with the highest score in the previous matches, Li Jiye had limited privileges in today's draw. With a flash of the crystal stone, the names of Li Jiye and the other winners of the previous clashes emerged one by one.
Today, Li Jiye was pitched against a competitor named Brian from Vegas Academy, who had won third place in their qualifying rounds.
After exchanging a couple of moves, Brian quickly realized that he wasn't Li Jiye's opponent. Li Jiye just dodged for a full minute, not making a single attack, and was only looking at Brian in amusement.
After realizing that his actions had no effect, Brian lost his drive for this fight. Attacking Li Jiye's defenses, he continued the match for three more minutes and then finally jumped out of the ring intentionally in defeat.
The second match ended in such a farce-like manner.
Besides Jovic, Selmore, and Li Jiye, none of the students from Polar Star Academy got through to the quarterfinals. This made the teachers feel rather regretful.
The quarterfinals were held on the next day. The only three competitors from Polar Star Academy arrived early in the morning. During the draw, Li Jiye finally got a strong opponent.
It was Lingard, the first-place finisher in Mante Academy's qualifying contest.
Li Jiye had heard from a teacher that Lingard hadn't been particularly capable in the competition. However, Lady Luck seemed to shine inexplicably on him and would always lend him a helping hand in important parts of the fight.
Standing on the ring, Li Jiye watched as Lingard slowly stepped onto the stage in a sloppy outfit. Li Jiye immediately turned on his insight skill, and Lingard's information appeared in his mind.
Human: Lingard
Skill: B-level Earth Element
Realm: Tier 2 Warrior (Advanced-level)
Martial Arts: Hard Soil Barrier (B-level martial art), Rock Fall Fist (C-level martial art)
Li Jiye immediately had doubts after seeing Lingard's skill and martial arts. Lingard had only just reached Tier 2 advanced-level, and his strength was comparable to his own.
He had previously thought that the so-called good luck that Lingard had was just him hiding his strength, but now, it seemed like he was wrong.
"Hehe, I look forward to our exchanges." Noticing Li Jiye sizing him up, Lingard rubbed his nose, and smiled very cheerfully at him.
Li Jiye also responded with a smile.
"Okay, this will be the quarterfinals match. Competitors from both sides have entered the stage… The match begins!"
After the referee's order, Li Jiye immediately summoned Shadow Wind Steps to try and attack Lingard.
But even before this, Lingard had already summoned his martial art. "Hard Soil Barrier!"
Thick layers of soil appeared out of thin air and firmly surrounded Lingard in the center.
Standing in front of the solid soil barrier, Li Jiye was completely dumbfounded. He reached out to feel the thickness of the soil layer and immediately got an inspiration.
This soil layer was constructed with pure Earth Element, and it was by no means a barrier that could be easily broken through.
"Sh*t…"
This scene not only made Li Jiye a little gloomy, but even the spectators in the stands couldn't help booing repeatedly.
This was already the quarterfinals! Why was the competitor still using a soil barrier to hide himself in?
This was clearly the long lost Carapace Warfare!
Li Jiye summoned Shadow Wind Steps and flew around the soil barrier several times. He finally realized that this strong barrier was really tightly condensed and didn't have any weak spots.
If he wanted to win this battle, it seemed he wouldn't be able to break through the soil without exerting himself.
At the thought of this, he quickly took a step back and immediately tried force. With a flash of turquoise light, the hurricane-like Wind Element wrapped around his right leg, and he kicked the solid soil barrier.
But what greeted him was somewhat unexpected.
Under the collision of his Tier 3 physical power, the soil layer remained motionless.
"F*ck!"
His right leg was a little sore, and he immediately felt helpless.
But just at this moment, a fist-like beam of light suddenly appeared through the khaki soil barrier.
Although this beam of light wasn't as powerful as Li Jiye's Godspeed Steps, it could still cause considerable damage. Li Jiye instinctively dodged it using Shadow Wind Steps. The fist-shaped beam of light missed Li Jiye and hit the dragon pillar at the side of the ring in the next second. The dragon pillar was already extraordinarily solid, but the blow of the light fist actually left a white mark on it.
Li Jiye frowned.
It seemed only reasonable for this barrier to block both internal and external attacks. However, he couldn't land any attacks through this barrier, yet Lingard could freely attack from the inside.
There must be some mechanism behind this.
Thinking along this line, Li Jiye suddenly remembered Lingard's other martial art, the C-level Rock Fall Fist.
Both Hard Soil Barrier and Rock Fall Fist were Earth Element martial arts. It must be because they belonged to the same element that Lingard could freely attack through the barrier.
Smirking slightly, Li Jiye flew over and pressed his palm against the soil barrier.
"You think you can defeat me by hiding in this barrier? Hehe. Watch me."
A ray of light flashed from his palm, and he struck hard against the khaki soil barrier.
For some reason, the moment he hit the soil barrier with his fist, the seemingly impenetrable soil barrier started cracking slowly.
Rock Fall Fist.