"Are you ready?" Freddy Chang asked as he pointed his cane at Lin Chen, who responded to his words. "I am. The question is, are you?"
*Whisper* *Whisper*
The crowd of students began to murmur amongst themselves as soon as Lin Chen finished speaking. Some of them were shocked by the calm and cool expression on his face, some were skeptical of his abilities, and some of them were downright trashing Lin Chen, explaining how the arrogant boy would be humiliated by Freddy Chang.
But Lin Chen didn't care for any of them, as he was focused solely on his opponent, Freddy Chang. Worrying about what others might think of him was something that would hurt the Lin Chen of the past, but not the one right now.
"Hahahaha! You're definitely an interesting little fellow!" Freddy Chang laughed loudly as his sharp gaze scanned Lin Chen from top to bottom. The crowd of students who were murmuring just a second ago turned silent once again, their attention caught by the voice of Freddy Chang.
Whoosh!
"I like you… Lin Chen?" Freddy Chang turned to look at his opponent for confirmation, and Lin Chen nodded his head. "Right! Lin Chen! I like the confidence that you have. I'd have been able to tell if you were bluffing, but from what I can see, you seem to genuinely believe in your skills. I can't help but be impressed, young man!" Freddy spun the cane around in his hand and he continued with an enthusiastic tone. "How about this? I'll let you make the first move! After all, you were able to impress me!"
Lin Chen nodded his head, "Then I'll take you up on your offer!"
Whoosh!
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Chen disappeared from everyone's view, and the crowd of students gasped out loud, as they hadn't expected to lose sight of their schoolmate at his very first move.
"Where- where'd he go?"
"Why're you asking me, man? You think I can tell where he went? We're almost equal when it comes to cultivation ranks. If your eyes couldn't catch him, then how could I?"
"This is impossible! I'm pretty sure Lin Chen isn't in the intermediate realm yet. So how on earth did I lose sight of him?"
"Maybe it's because he started so quickly. Most people start their cultivation battle using a slow build up approach, instead of going all out right from the beginning. And since we were expecting that to happen again, our eyes weren't ready to capture how quickly he moved."
"Oho! I see! That makes more sense, I guess."
The students were murmuring amongst themselves, forming different theories in an attempt to explain why they lost sight of Lin Chen right from the start, and Freddy Chang clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.
'These kids… If this was a real battle, then their ignorance might've gotten them killed!' Freddy Chang thought to himself before he twisted his body and swung his cane to his right, resulting in a loud explosion in the air, and Lin Chen reappeared as he was pushed back a few steps.
'This kid…' A faint smile began creeping up on Freddy Chang's face, but he immediately buried it under the serious expression that he often used in combat. 'To think that he can move at such a high speed, and he's still in the initial realm!'
Although Lin Chen did go all out from the very beginning like those students said, his speed and techniques were even more impressive. The crowd of students couldn't tell, but Freddy Chang could see that the boy was utilizing the best and quickest method and route to attack him, and he did so with excellent maneuvering skills in the air, even while moving at such a high speed.
It wasn't as though Freddy Chang hadn't seen students who could move as fast, or maybe even faster than Lin Chen before. After all, he was a scout for the Poseidon Guild. Picking out talented youngsters was his job.
But most of them have trouble maneuvering themselves while moving at such fast speed, oftentimes being unable to stick to the best route one could pick to defeat their opponent, as they found it difficult to make twists and turns while moving through the air.
Which is why most of the students who are selected for their youth academy programs start with the basics. They make the students start with a relatively low speed and train them to turn and twist their bodies while in motion, after which they gradually increase their speed.
'But to think there was a kid who was already an expert in maneuvering…' Freddy Chang licked his lips as he twisted his body to his left and swung his cane once again, resulting in another loud explosion that pushed Lin Chen back.
'A halberd user, huh…' The students might not be able to see clearly, but Freddy Chang could. 'He's quick and agile, with fast reflexes and incredible maneuvering abilities… But is that all?'
Freddy Chang was confused. The skills that he could identify from watching this boy fight was extremely impressive, but at the level he was right now, there was absolutely no way that he could touch Freddy Chang. His skills were impressive, but he was still lacking in strength. An obvious disadvantage due to him being in the initial realm, but a disadvantage nevertheless.
'If he was a bit more powerful, then maybe he could make contact with me…' Freddy Chang thought to himself. Although he gave the impression that he would give it his all, Freddy Chang had made the decision to purposely reduce his strength before the fight started. He was a scout, after all. His ultimate goal wasn't to beat these kids, but to scout the ones he deemed worthy. And for that, they didn't necessarily need to be more powerful than him. But he did have expectations when it comes to pure power, and Lin Chen seemed to be just below the limit that he set.
'But this kid seems smart. He should probably have guessed that he wouldn't be able to touch me with the strength he was displaying right now…' Freddy Chang raised his eyebrows, before raising his cane up into the air as another loud explosion was heard, and smoke and dust burst out from the point of collision.
BOOM!
It happened in an instant, but Lin Chen's halberd and the sharp end of the cane had collided with each other in mid air.
Right then..
The demonic energy that Lin Chen was conserving throughout the fight burst out from his core, causing his strength to increase dramatically in an instant.
"What?!" Freddy Chang's eyes widened with surprise, as Lin Chen, who would have been pushed back due to the impact by now, twitched his body to the side, evading the cane and descending in Freddy Chang's direction from above.
Swoosh!
Lin Chen immediately swung his halberd, and Freddy Chang changed the direction of his cane to follow Lin Chen's trajectory while pushing the limits of his lowered strength.
BAM!
Another loud explosion was heard, and a bright white light enveloped the area for a split second before dust and debris flew all over the place, and the impact of the collision was so powerful that it pushed the crowd of students back another few steps.
"What- what just happened?!"
"I have no clue! Did something go wrong?"
"Wait, who won? It's obviously going to be Freddy Chang, right?"
The dust and smoke began to settle as the students whispered amongst themselves, revealing an unconscious and injured Lin Chen on the floor and a heavily breathing Freddy Chang standing right next to him.
"Lin Chen…" As the shocked students began murmuring to themselves once again, Freddy Chang touched his cheeks and stared at his fingers which had blood on them, before continuing, "... Congratulations on successfully completing the challenge. The internship is yours."