The next day at the academy was like the first three days, apparently, yesterday was an exception due to the elders' meeting. 'They still haven't given us the reason for the academy elders' meeting, but I can sense something is wrong. I saw a lot of unfamiliar faces in the tribe yesterday. It's normal to see one or two new faces because of the alliance, but yesterday there were just too many. Besides, why would the academy elders meet each other anyway? Do you have any idea?' he thought, addressing the voice.
'The information at hand is insufficient, we can't come to a coherent conclusion." the voice replied.
'Yeah, I thought so. Anyway, I should focus on the matches.' he thought, shifting his attention to the fights that had already started. Elder Ru Da was present, which made everyone a little more nervous. This year, there were exactly 41 C-grades, 4 B-grades, and 267 D-grades. Out of all of them, only 62 managed to refine their Gu worm in time.
'It's really impressive. I wasn't even expecting 50, let alone 60. Seventeen D-grades barely succeeded before coming here today, and most of the C-grades succeeded in the middle of the night yesterday. Some succeeded earlier and had some experience with their Gu before arriving, but the truly advantageous ones here are the B-grades. We had a whole day to familiarize ourselves with the Gu worm. I'll be surprised if anyone gets into the top four other than the B-grades.'
Talent is an advantage, not only in the time it takes to refine a Gu worm but also in the duration you can keep fighting with it. And luckily for Rue Bu, he has the biggest advantage this year.
He looked at the ring where they were fighting. It wasn't divided into groups like the previous three days, as there weren't many students fighting today. In the middle of the ring stood two students, both with C-grade talent. They hadn't managed to train with their Gu but had at least activated it once before coming to the academy.
'I have to win this and go up in rank. I have to prove to my grandfather that I'm not a waste like he said.' Ma Kai Lei thought. His grandfather was an elder of the clan, not very influential like Chen Cheng or Long Mei's grandparents, or even like Fen Fu's father, but still an elder with high expectations for his descendants. Despite this resolve, he was very nervous. He didn't know if he could win or not, as his opponent's talent was higher than his own.
His opponent, with yellow hair and dark green eyes, stared at him with contempt. He was a talented young man, but this year had some monsters so strong in close combat that he couldn't even get into the top 5 throughout the whole week, and it made him really angry. 'My father said that 6th place is good considering my talent, but the daily fights didn't have anything to do with talent, and I had very good training before the academy. I just don't understand why those five are so strong without even using Gu. And now I have to fight this guy.' Fen Fu thought.
Fen Fu was referring to the top 5 in the ranking, but he was overestimating himself. In the top 5, there were two people whose grandparents had been elders long before his father managed to reach rank 3. These elders were experts, so the training they provided for their grandchildren was naturally impressive. The rest of the top 5 were anomalies, yes, but nothing too crazy either. The first was just a stubborn kid with a lot of stamina who could outlast him without Gu. The second had an ungodly physique. The last one was the easiest to explain, though Fen Fu didn't want to admit all of that was true, it didn't change the fact that it's.
Anyways, Fen Fu stopped thinking about it and focused on his opponent. The kid in front of him wasn't that impressive. Even though their talents were 'similar' they couldn't be more different. Ma Kai Lei was a C grade with 44%, while Fen Fu had 58%. They weren't even close. He could just make Ma Kai Lei use all his primeval essence and still be left with 14%. 'But I won't even give him the chance.'
After the teacher signaled the fight to start, Fen Fu immediately activated his Gu. It was the same as Rue Bu's, the Berserk Gu. His dark green irises turned blood-red, and he dashed at Kai Lei with speed that mortals wouldn't comprehend. It was clear he had managed to activate it once or twice before coming to the academy, but he wasn't entirely comfortable with it. 'I still can't handle this much strength all of a sudden, I have to get used to it for a bit.'
Fen Fu charged at Ma Kai Lei, his movements almost a blur. Ma Kai Lei braced himself, knowing he had to withstand the initial onslaught to stand any chance. Fen Fu's first strike came fast and hard, but Ma Kai Lei managed to dodge to the side, feeling the wind from the punch graze his cheek. He could see the raw power in Fen Fu's attacks, and it was clear this fight wouldn't be easy.
Kai Lei wasn't flustered as he, too, activated his Gu worm, a defensive type. His body started glowing in a jade color, covering him entirely. It was the Jade Skin Gu. 'Even though I couldn't defeat you in the daily fights even once, today is different.' he thought, smiling to himself. But although the Jade Skin Gu was a formidable defensive Gu worm, he underestimated the strength the Berserk Gu could provide to its master.
Fen Fu appeared in front of Kai Lei out of nowhere and delivered a single punch to his side. Kai Lei thought his defense was going to save him, but—
*Crack*
When Fen Fu's fist connected with his body, Kai Lei was sent flying, a crack forming on his armor. Fen Fu didn't let him go that easily and continued to chase after him.
'What the fuck! I need to defend! No, I need to run!' Kai Lei panicked, but it was too late. Fen Fu had already closed the distance again. With another punch, he knocked Kai Lei to the ground. Standing over him with deep blood-red irises staring down, Kai Lei felt a shudder of fear. Before Fen Fu could continue to smash his armor to pieces and then his face, Kai Lei screamed. "I surrender!"
In that moment, he forgot about the political significance of the rankings and the primeval essence stones he could gain. All he could think was. 'I'm going to die. If I don't surrender now, I'm going to die.' Whether it was Fen Fu's almost demonic appearance or the overwhelming power the Berserk Gu provided, it was too terrifying for Kai Lei.
'There are a lot of other students who chose the Berserk Gu as well, but Kai Lei is one of the few who didn't. Fen Fu didn't win just because of the Berserk Gu, though. Even if it helped him end the fight faster, it was his close combat skills that made him win. If I were in Kai Lei's position, I would just take his punches until his primeval essence was fully depleted. The Jade Skin Gu uses way less primeval essence to activate, so even with less essence than Fen Fu, I would win if he didn't change that head-on tactic. But Kai Lei is just a kid who got a little scared. It's really pathetic.'
In their tribe, strength was paramount. Kai Lei's actions were not just pathetic, they were disgraceful. But he was just a kid at the end of the day. Not all the kids in this world are geniuses and prodigies most of them were just like Kai Lei, easy to scare.
'The next fight should be straightforward. Both of them have the same Gu, but one has C-grade talent while the other has B-grade talent.' he thought as he watched the match between Chen Cheng and Fen Fu. The fight wasn't much different from their daily close combat battles, except both were much faster and stronger. Chen Cheng ended up winning.
Chen Cheng then challenged Dong Min. Until now, Chen Cheng had never made it into the top 4, despite being one of the few B-grades. He wasn't that mad about Rue Bu, even avoiding fighting him as he knew he stood no chance. But Dong Min was different. He couldn't understand how he had lost to her, not once but twice. 'Even though Rue Bu and Rue Gang's families aren't that impressive, both of them are B-grade with high aptitude. But you are just a C-grade. I will destroy you today.' he swore in his heart, stepping into the ring and looking down on Dong Min.