"Good!" Yan Chenfei's face broke into a smile, "A beautiful victory!"
Zhuang Xun's strong performance in this round was enough to intimidate the majority of the audience below.
Among the many factions of Star Card Masters, Fire Star Card Masters are known for their top-notch offensive capabilities.
Although there were many Shining Star Level experts in the venue, nothing unexpected happened. Still, Zhuang Xun's powerful combination of the Fiery Flame Fire Snake and Flame Explosion Technique made many students below feel a tingling on their scalps.
"This Zhuang Xun is quite impressive!"
"The power of the Flame Explosion Technique is massive, probably at the Great Success Stage already. Anyone below the Bronze Level simply couldn't withstand it!"
"Hmm, I think that Luo Feng is not weak either. He clearly had the upper hand, and then all of a sudden, he was taken out by that burst."
"..."
Hearing the many students' praises below, Zhuang Xun simply held his longsword with a calm smile, seemingly unaffected by praise or criticism.
Stay calm, stay calm, just like last time Su Yuan held the demeanor of a "great master"...
Su Yuan was also watching Zhuang Xun on the stage at this moment. It had been more than two months since they last met, and Zhuang Xun's strength had improved a lot compared to then.
A newly embedded Fiery Flame Fire Snake skill? He hadn't seen him using it before. Although it was less powerful than the Flame Explosion Technique, it was much more flexible.
Additionally, the Flame Explosion Technique had also reached the Great Success Stage. Even if he used his Transformation Realm Hardened Iron Armor fully, he might not be able to withstand it.
Speaking of which, the Hardened Iron Armor was more biased towards physical defense. He needed another defense skill to cope with energy attacks...
"Anyone else wants to go up and challenge him?" Seeing no one taking the stage, Ji Qinghe spoke up.
The many students below looked at each other but still, no one went up to challenge.
After all, this was only the first spot, there was no need to clash with such a strong opponent.
"Since that's the case, then Zhuang Xun from Qingye City wins the first entry spot to the Divine Tree Secret Realm."
Thank goodness! Thank goodness!
Zhuang Xun inwardly sighed with relief, gave a handsome smile, sheathed his longsword, and leaped off the stage.
Instead of returning to his original spot, Zhuang Xun walked over to Su Yuan in a few steps.
"Nice touch," Zhuang Xun said in a quiet voice.
Su Yuan nodded slightly: "Well, there are still spots available."
Wang Haiping, seeing that this Qingye City genius seemed to know Su Yuan, felt a bit surprised, but didn't say anything.
However, other young geniuses from different cities saw Zhuang Xun walking over to a student with silver-grey eyes and couldn't help but speculate about Su Yuan's origins.
Ji Qinghe said, "The second round starts now, whoever wants to come up, just come on up."
This time, Su Yuan didn't wait any longer: "Director Wang, I'll go up."
"Good, but be careful."
Wang Haiping was quite clear about Su Yuan's strength, his repertoire of high-level skills put him at ease against anyone in the venue.
Even if there were tough opponents, Su Yuan also had his compound skill named "Golden Burning Hand." If that move landed, there was nobody among the many young students in the venue who could withstand it!
And Su Yuan also had Instant Movement... it would be hard not to hit the target.
Zhuang Xun laughed: "You shouldn't have any problems, right?"
Su Yuan smiled, scanned the audience, and then stepped forward.
As Su Yuan moved, he immediately drew the attention of everyone in the venue.
"Eh? The guy beside Zhuang Xun is moving!"
"He knows Zhuang Xun; he won't be an easy opponent, will he?"
"Don't know, but he doesn't look like it. I was near them earlier and heard some big shot saying he's only at the Eighth Stage."
"Eighth Stage? For real!"
"Once they start fighting, the fluctuation of Star Power can't be hidden. We'll see soon enough!"
"..."
The young geniuses were uncertain, but the Shining Star Level big shots could tell with one serious look that Su Yuan was just a Star Apprentice Eighth Stage, and they couldn't help but be puzzled.
"Is it really okay to let an Eighth Stage go up just like that?" Hu Tao turned to look at Wang Haiping and couldn't help frowning slightly, "Ru Long, pay close attention to his moves. Later on, go up and eliminate him, and I'll give you a Green Card!"
"Green Card?" Liu Rulong's eyes lit up, glanced at Su Yuan, who stepped forward, and casually said with a smile, "Don't worry, Director Hu, I don't need to watch. I can eliminate him!"
...
Regardless of what others thought, Su Yuan jumped onto the stage in a few strides, spread out his right hand to summon the Dragon Armor Blade, and said to the audience below: "Su Yuan from Guangchuan City, anyone who wants to come up, hurry."
"How arrogant! I'll go!"
A young man with flowing long hair charged onto the stage and summoned a white-grade Star Device longsword in his hand.
"Gou Jin from Liantai City!"
Su Yuan looked up at the man, their eyes met for a moment, there was no unnecessary talk, and the battle erupted immediately.
Gou Jin stepped out, and a gust of wind rose under his feet, weaving together strands of wind force that almost completely enveloped his lower body!
"Great Success Windwalking, impressive!" a student recognized it at a glance.
Liu Rulong nodded slightly: "This person is quite good."
But Su Yuan's expression was a bit strange.
It was the first time he encountered someone with the same skill as his, what a coincidence...
I originally thought of taking him down directly, but since we are both cultivators of the Wind Walking technique, let's change the method to end the battle!
At this moment, with the boost of the Wind Walking, Gou Jin's body moved like a storm arrow, instantly leaping over a distance of tens of meters to attack Su Yuan from close range. He raised his hand and delivered a swift cut like a striking rainbow!
Wind Walking + Wind-splitting Blade, the most practical skill combination Gou Jin had in his hands—both fast and strong!
Just as the longsword was about to hit Su Yuan, suddenly another gust of wind surged on the field!
Under Su Yuan's feet, wind elements similarly stirred up and coiled around his body! With a slight sway, Su Yuan sidestepped, easily dodging Gou Jin's gusty strike.
"Wind Walking!"
"What's going on here, same move?"
"Another one at the Great Success Wind Walking?!"
"..."
The crowd was abuzz with discussion. Skill collision, though rare in the early stages, was normal given limited skill slots, energy, and resources. Which cards had the best cost-effectiveness, practicality, and were easy to practice—reviews and information were everywhere.
But a clash of skills wasn't scary; the embarrassing part was who would be inferior...
On the stage, after Gou Jin's swing missed, he quickly turned around and was quite surprised to see Su Yuan's deployment of the Wind Walking.
However, after a moment of astonishment, Gou Jin summoned even more star power and brandished his sword towards Su Yuan.
"You want to compete in Wind Walking with me? Then let's see who is faster!"
Gou Jin's proudest technique was the Wind Walking; otherwise, he wouldn't have trained it to the Great Success first.
Now seeing Su Yuan, a mere Star Apprentice Eighth Stage, dodging his attack with the Wind Walking, Gou Jin couldn't help but get angry. He abandoned the Wind-splitting Blade altogether, determined to compete with Su Yuan in movement technique and speed of the blade!
The air whistled as the wind raged!
Under the enhancement of Wind Walking, the incredibly fast silhouettes of the two men were like two whirlwinds colliding continuously, and the clashing sounds of their longswords were unceasing as a storm!
"So fast!"
"These two have locked horns, not changing their moves at all!"
Among the students from Qingye, Xu Xin closely watched the field and indicated the situation, "No, they aren't unwilling to change their moves; they can't!"
A girl from Qingye with long dark hair asked, "Why?"
Xu Xin explained, "Under high-intensity, high-frequency combat, any attempt to retreat or change moves could easily reveal a weakness and definitely come at a cost."
"I see... so now it's about who can't hold out first?"
"Exactly."
The long-haired girl thought for a moment and then asked with a puzzled look, "But that doesn't seem right. Su Yuan is only at the Eighth Stage, and it's clear he would be the first to falter; why would he willingly drag the battle into this kind of attrition war? At the beginning, he could have completely adopted a different combat strategy."
Upon hearing this, Xu Xin paused, "That's..."
Indeed, why?
Was it that he deliberately wanted to lose? Or was it that he didn't have any better strategies?
Zhuang Xun had already returned from Wang Haiping and said to Xu Xin and the others, "Just watch; he has a trick up his sleeve."
In Zhuang Xun's opinion, as long as Su Yuan activated Instant Movement, he could immediately pull away the distance; if Su Yuan didn't do so, he must have other plans.
Just then, the battle on the field changed dramatically. Su Yuan's feet kicked up interweaving fierce winds that suddenly intensified from a gale to a tempest!
Su Yuan's figure also became even blurrier! Many of the young talents below the stage couldn't even clearly see Su Yuan's movements and strikes!
"This... even stronger than Great Success Windwalking... could it be Perfect Wind Step?!"
"How is that possible! A Perfect Level skill before graduation?!"
"The student from Guangchuan City, that's right, Guangchuan City's two special recruits, could this be one of them?"
"..."
To master a Perfect Skill before high school graduation, not to mention Qingye and Yanyun, these Second Stage cities, even the entire Shuzhou jurisdiction would hardly find a few!
Guangchuan City actually had such a talent?
The big shots in the arena couldn't help but be surprised, all turning their heads to look at Wang Haiping.
However, Wang Haiping just crossed his arms over his chest, his expression calm and undisturbed.
The Perfect Wind Step, that's nothing. Just a small scene!
It had been nearly two months since the trial had passed. Not to mention the Wind Walking, even a green skill, with Su Yuan's terrifying talent, was probably already nearly mastered, right?
Unfortunately, Su Yuan already had four skills: Steel Flame Finger, Hardened Iron Armor, Wind Walking, and Gray Flame Strike.
To embed a new skill, he would just have to wait until the Bronze Level.
With that in mind, Wang Haiping couldn't help but feel a bit sentimental.
Others struggle to cultivate even one skill to perfection, while Su Yuan had all of his skills at Perfect, leaving no new skills to practice.
It was quite Versailles indeed...
While everyone marveled, the battle on the stage had also come to an end.
With Su Yuan's full-force burst, Gou Jin could no longer keep up with Su Yuan's speed, and with a "clang," Su Yuan knocked the longsword out of Gou Jin's hand.
The longsword flew up, spinning in mid-air before tracing an arc and finally embedding into the ground.
And Gou Jin was subdued, with the humble Silver Grey Dragon Armor Saber held to his neck.
Su Yuan, wins!