“Carrying passengers?! Sounds like something worth trying!”
Kaka, as usual, missed the point entirely.
Quinn was more reliable.
He pushed up his glasses and asked worriedly, “But if he takes flight, wouldn’t Iwen be unable to deal any damage?”
Iwen Sel replied, “Don’t forget, I have hidden weapons. The arena limits altitude this time, so he can’t escape my attacks.”
Suxing nodded.
“That’s true, but we can’t rule out the possibility that the opponent might use some tactic to dodge your hidden weapons.”
Upon hearing this, Iwen Sel sneered lightly, “Them?”
Suxing fell silent.
Indeed, in terms of physical combat, those guys, including themselves, were simply not on Iwen Sel’s level.
Although if Iwen Sel’s Phantom Spirit didn’t upgrade within the next week, they might gradually surpass him thanks to the physical enhancements from their own Phantom Spirit upgrades.
But at this stage, Iwen Sel’s martial arts were invincible!
Still, without seeing it with her own eyes, Suxing felt uneasy.
She sighed, only hoping that Huabing wouldn’t throw out any unexpected tricks.
Finally, it was Iwen Sel’s turn to compete.
As before, he went to the Phantom Arena to prepare first.
The three of them timed it precisely before walking toward the arena.
History repeated itself—on the way, they encountered Victor and his group.
Just as Suxing expected, Huabing was missing from Victor’s group of five.
Old grudges and new animosities mixed as Victor’s eyes practically radiated disgust upon seeing Suxing and the others.
“Don’t get cocky. We’re definitely winning this match today!”
Kaka shook his head innocently.
“We’re not being cocky.”
Suxing knew he truly felt that way and couldn’t help but chuckle.
Quinn’s eyes also brightened with amusement.
Perhaps infected by Suxing’s calm, Quinn no longer reacted with anger or fear toward this hostile provocation, but faced it more naturally.
Victor and Kaka were childhood friends and knew Kaka’s innocence was genuine, not meant to annoy. But that made it even more infuriating.
Victor shot a sharp glare at Kaka before leading his group into the arena, heads held high and posture proud.
Suxing shrugged and gave a carefree smile.
“Let’s go. The exam is about to start.”
On the stage, Huabing and Iwen Sel already stood on opposite sides.
The arena remained the same as before, with stone pillars serving as obstacles in the middle, but their placement and heights were entirely different compared to Quinn’s match.
Huabing looked at the cold and distant young man across from him and sneered cruelly, “Iwen Sel, right? I heard your martial arts are strong. But no matter how strong, you’ll still be defeated by me.”
Iwen Sel wasn’t easily provoked.
He laughed coldly.
“Where do you get that confidence?”
Huabing lifted his head arrogantly.
“Isn’t it already an established fact? I’ll reclaim the loss Lirde suffered.”
Iwen Sel was unwilling to waste time on meaningless talk.
“We’ll see who wins in the match.”
Referee Norman allowed the two enough time for their tough talk, believing youth should be vigorous and hot-blooded.
When their exchange was over, he called out, “Begin the match!”
The moment those words left his mouth, Iwen Sel sprang forward like a hunting black panther, precisely lunging at his prey.
Though confident in himself, ending the match before Huabing could summon his Phantom Spirit would be ideal.
However, as the top student in his grade, Huabing was no pushover.
Almost simultaneously, he swiftly retreated and quickly summoned his Ice Bird.
The Ice Bird let out a long howl, carrying Huabing soaring high into the sky.
Iwen Sel lunged but caught nothing but air.
Yet his reaction was incredible.
With a flick of his wrist, three crescent-shaped hidden weapons shot toward Huabing’s direction.
At the last moment, the Ice Bird spat out a large block of ice, blocking Iwen Sel’s attack.
Huabing exhaled deeply, cold sweat soaking his back.
He knew Iwen Sel was formidable, but since Iwen Sel mainly targeted Victor, Huabing had never fully experienced his strength.
This time, he truly felt the power of the grade’s top martial artist.
Such agile speed, overwhelming explosive power, and astonishing reflexes—if he hadn’t prepared in advance and had reacted just a fraction slower, he might have been eliminated just now.
Lingyu Academy allowed students to use weapons, but only simple iron ones during exams—no special abilities permitted.
Among the entire first-year class, someone as skilled with hidden weapons as Iwen Sel was probably unique.
Iwen Sel flipped aside a falling giant block of ice and simultaneously scattered hidden weapons upward.
Those hidden weapons seemed endless, pouring from his pockets, collar, and hat—like blossoms scattering in the air.
Because of its large size, the Ice Bird was slow.
Against such wide-range attacks, it was powerless to resist.
Within a minute, the Ice Bird had several wounds bleeding profusely.
It howled in pain and flapped its wings, trying to fly higher.
But the arena’s space was limited.
No matter how high it flew, it couldn’t escape Iwen Sel’s attack range.
Huabing gritted his teeth in pain and, unwilling to wait any longer, commanded, “Huali! Icefall Descend!”
Following his master’s order, the Ice Bird screamed sharply and spat out a massive floating ice block—about the size of a thick stone pillar.
It not only blocked Iwen Sel’s attack but left him no place to dodge, forcing him to take a direct hit.
“Ugh!”
Kaka gasped at the sight of Iwen Sel being struck by such a huge ice block, anxiously asking.
Suxing frowned.
“I don’t know, but Iwen Sel should have enough experience to withstand this. Trust him.”
Indeed, as Suxing said, Iwen Sel’s experience showed.
Using his left hand to guard his head and a dagger in his right, he swiftly slashed, shattering the giant ice block with tremendous force.
But Huabing’s assault didn’t stop.
He gave Iwen Sel no time to react and quickly sent down another floating ice block.
This time, Iwen Sel acted faster, dodging outside the block’s falling range and sprinting toward the stone pillars.
Those watching immediately understood Iwen Sel’s intention—just like Quinn, he planned to use the pillars to restrict his opponent.
“Good job, Iwen!”
Kaka cheered excitedly.
“With those pillars around, the big floating ice can’t hit anyone!”
Unlike Kaka, Suxing and Quinn showed no joy, their faces solemn.
Kaka noticed their expressions and asked confusedly, “What’s wrong? Is Iwen’s strategy flawed?”
Suxing nodded, explaining, “Though the dense pillars can block the big floating ice, they also severely limit his own offensive options. Moreover, Huabing’s Phantom Spirit isn’t limited to spitting out large ice blocks. This tactic is only a temporary solution for Iwen. If he doesn’t come up with a better plan soon, he’ll definitely lose when time runs out.”
“A stalling tactic at best,” back stage, Meini shook her head watching the battle.
The nearby teacher nodded.
“It all depends on that boy in black… Iwen Sel, right? Let’s see if he can find a way to counter it.”
The Class A homeroom teacher glanced smugly at the expressionless Aidra.
“Even if we took the stage, facing this situation, it’d be hard to find a solution quickly—let alone a fifteen-year-old.”
Aidra ignored his taunt and continued to watch the match seriously.
On the arena, Iwen Sel realized the problem as well.
He no longer had to dodge large ice blocks, but the small ones never stopped.
And because of the densely packed pillars, his hidden weapons had a hard time reaching Huabing.
Taking a deep breath, Iwen Sel nimbly jumped onto a shorter pillar.
Seeing Iwen Sel fully exposed in his sight, Huabing immediately ordered his Phantom Spirit to launch a furious, storm-like assault.
His Ice Bird could store ice blocks for a short time and then spray them out during combat. It could also produce ice itself, but slowly.
This was an extremely unfair ability in the context of the exam.
One hour before the exam started, Huabing had already filled the Ice Bird’s belly with plenty of ice blocks, allowing him to unleash such a ferocious attack.
The teachers naturally noticed this.
Meini frowned, watching Iwen Sel struggle and muttered, “This is clearly cheating. Real fights don’t allow pre-storing ice like this.”
With her experience, she understood ice blocks couldn’t be stored for long, so this technique wasn’t suitable for real combat.
The purpose of the exam was to test students’ real fighting abilities.
Huabing’s method completely lost the meaning of the exam.
The Class A homeroom teacher immediately defended his student.
“There’s no rule forbidding this in the exam guidelines!”
Meini gave him a cold look.
“Oh? Then I’ll have to report this to the principal to prevent this mistake next time.”
Although Iwen Sel was prepared, facing such a storm of attacks left several wounds on him.
He wiped the blood from a cut on his face, jumped swiftly to another pillar to dodge the ice blocks, and simultaneously threw hidden weapons upward.
The next few minutes played out like this—the battle nearly one-sided.
To avoid elimination, Iwen Sel had to shuttle continuously between pillars, leaping atop them.
After repeated exertion, despite his great stamina, sweat drenched him, and he panted heavily.
Sweat soaked the strands of golden hair plastered to his forehead.
Iwen Sel raised his hand to wipe away the sweat nearly falling into his eyes.
His once nimble steps slowed and grew clumsy with each exhausting movement.
He could feel his stamina draining bit by bit.
What to do? This stubborn persistence seemed futile.
He had no chance to win.
Huabing once again skillfully dodged the hidden weapons and looked at Iwen Sel, who could only dodge but barely counterattack.
He taunted loudly, “Is that all? With your useless Phantom Spirit, you’re just an ordinary person! Why come to Lingyu Academy to humiliate yourself?”
He spoke with absolute certainty.
“You will never become a Great Phantom Spirit Master!”
His words struck like heavy blows on everyone’s hearts inside the arena.
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