Lin Shen's true strength was far above Su Nian's.
Even if he didn't use his true cultivation at the seventh level of the Qi Transformation Stage and only switched to the Pure Yang Body talent, he was confident he could defeat Su Nian in two to three rounds.
However, if he did that, the impact would definitely be much greater than before.
Lin Shen felt that he had already attracted much attention and didn't intend to cause another uproar.
Therefore, he suppressed his cultivation to the sixth level, and his talent was only switched to Perseverance.
Even so, he still firmly suppressed Su Nian!
Perseverance provided Resistance +50% and Stamina Recovery +30%, which was an insane improvement,
especially in a battle between two people of the same stage.
As time passed, Su Nian's stamina gradually ran out. His body temperature was also extremely high from being in the rolling heat wave for a long time. He was sweating profusely.
On the contrary, Lin Shen was still in high spirits. His footsteps were steady, and there was no sign of exhaustion.
As they fought, Su Nian began to doubt himself.
"We're both at the sixth level of the Qi Transformation Stage, but why is there such a huge gap between us?"
The crowd watching the battle gradually saw the clues and seemed surprised.
"Lin Shen seems to have the upper hand. Right?"
"Have some confidence and drop the 'seems'. It's so obvious. Can't you tell?"
"Impressive. He can suppress Su Nian to this extent despite being at the same cultivation level!"
"Even the disciples of influential families aren't that strong!"
Hearing the discussions around them, the mouths of the disciples of the aristocratic families twitched slightly, but they couldn't say anything to refute.
Other than Yan Xing, Zhao Xueying, Yang Zhongyi, and a few others, the rest of them weren't sure they could last longer if they were in Su Nian's position.
Lin Shen's strength far exceeded their expectations.
Zhou Zhihai's face was so dark that it looked like water was about to drip from it.
He realized that he had underestimated Lin Shen's strength.
This way, the intelligence he gave to those people had to be corrected as soon as possible!
While everyone was exclaiming in surprise, the competition finally came to an end.
Lin Shen was becoming more fierce as he fought, and Su Nian finally couldn't hold on anymore. After almost being hit by Lin Shen's palm, he helplessly chose to admit defeat.
"You're good!"
Su Nian took a deep breath and stared at Lin Shen with bright eyes.
"I hope I'll have a chance to fight you next time!"
"That was a good game."
Lin Shen laughed inwardly. From Su Nian's appearance alone, one wouldn't know he was so belligerent.
Wow!
When the competition ended, deafening cheers came from the crowd.
Countless gazes landed on Lin Shen, filled with surprise, curiosity, admiration, envy, and all kinds of other emotions.
Before the competition began, no one had expected Lin Shen to win in the end!
They also didn't expect Lin Shen to still be able to suppress Su Nian after the latter displayed his powerful strength!
Lin Shen's performance today was really stunning!
What a dark horse!
What a genius!
In an instant, Lin Shen undoubtedly became the center of attention!
After the finals, several rounds of competition took place until the ninth and tenth places were decided. The competition officially ended, followed by a short award ceremony.
When he took the jade bottle containing the Origin Pills from the dean, Lin Shen heaved a sigh of relief inwardly.
With this bottle of Original Pills and the Condensing Liquid he bought from the black street, he believed it wouldn't take long for him to break through to the ninth level of the Qi Transformation Stage!
"The exam is in a month. I'm looking forward to seeing your performance!"
The dean smiled gently at Lin Shen and Su Nian.
Both of them pursed their lips and nodded.
After the award ceremony, Kong Hong found Lin Shen and gave him a few words of encouragement before leaving.
Although Kong Hong could no longer turn a caterpillar into a butterfly, he was still very happy that there was a genius student in his class.
Not long after Kong Hong left, Yang Zhongyi walked over.
"Man, you hid it well. I didn't even notice you had broken through. Today, you've shocked everyone!"
Yang Zhongyi smiled and punched Lin Shen's chest, his demeanor much more intimate than before.
Lin Shen smiled without denying it. He knew better than to believe that.
Although Yang Zhongyi seemed approachable, it was just his habit.
Deep down, Yang Zhongyi didn't really treat him as an equal.
It didn't mean Yang Zhongyi was hypocritical or pretentious. His behavior came more from his upbringing and the habit he had formed.
For example, a big entrepreneur might be humble and polite to a commoner, but in his heart, he couldn't possibly treat the latter as an existence of the same status as him.
It was a kind of condescending humility. It meant cultivation, bearing, or politeness, but it did not mean respect at all.
That was unless the latter showed value worthy of the former's attention.
And Lin Shen had just revealed this value!
The talent and strength he displayed in the competition had clearly been recognized by Yang Zhongyi.
Only then did Yang Zhongyi truly treat him as an equal.
Lin Shen didn't feel that there was anything to complain about.
Only the strong could be respected and acknowledged by others. That was very realistic, but it was an irrefutable principle.
Many thoughts flashed through Lin Shen's mind, but his expression didn't change. He looked at Su Nian, who was beside Yang Zhongyi, and said in surprise,
"Do you know each other?"
"More than that. We know each other very well."
Yang Zhongyi hugged Su Nian's shoulder affectionately.
Su Nian shook off his hand with a look of disdain and rolled his eyes.
Don't touch me. If one didn't know better, they would suspect your sexual orientation!"
"Bah!"
Yang Zhongyi immediately gave Su Nian the middle finger.
"My sexual orientation can't be more obvious. Everybody knows I like cat girls the most. As for you, well, I heard that you have many male fans in the academy."
Watching the two of them bicker, Lin Shen couldn't help but shake his head and laugh.
He could tell the two of them were indeed on good terms.
"By the way, Lin Shen, are you free tonight? Dinner's on me. Let's celebrate that you became the winner of the competition," Yang Zhongyi said with a smile.
Su Nian also looked at Lin Shen.
Because of his own situation, he had a good impression of Lin Shen, who had relied on his perseverance and hard work to achieve his current achievements despite his poor family background.
Lin Shen didn't hesitate for long and quickly agreed.
He happened to have something to ask Yang Zhongyi.
He turned around and said a few words to Xu Yuan and Zheng Hongsheng before leaving with Su Nian and Yang Zhongyi.
Seeing this scene, many students around were immediately disappointed.
They had wanted to get close to Lin Shen, but before they could act on that, Yang Zhongyi and Su Nian beat them to it.
In the crowd, Zhou Zhihai looked at Lin Shen from behind with an extremely ugly expression.
"So what if you're first in the competition? I'll let you be smug for now. In a few days, you won't live to participate in the examination!"
Zhou Zhihai snorted and left the sports field.
Not long after he left the academy, a figure suddenly blocked his path.
Zhou Zhihai frowned and looked up. The person blocking the way was an ordinary-looking man of medium height.
He was in a bad mood. Seeing this, he cursed without thinking,
"Get lost!"
The man wasn't angry. He looked at Zhou Zhihai expressionlessly and spoke slowly.
"The information you provided was quite wrong!"
Zhou Zhihai's pupils contracted. "Lurking Snake sent…"
Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly became alarmed and looked at the crowd around him. His expression changed several times as he whispered,
"We can't talk here. Come with me!"
With that, he walked towards an alley not far away.
The man narrowed his eyes and followed Zhou Zhihai without a word.