17 Sun Zhan II
However, this desperate attack didn't faze the Fiery Molten Ape as it landed the final blow on the Flooding Dolphin. Just as it was about to finish off its prey, Gao Xun desperately cried out "I surrender!"
Hearing this, the Fiery Molten Ape's fist stopped midway through its punch just centimeters away from the Flooding Dolphin. Suddenly, the Blitz Cat turned into a bolt of lightning as it flashed through and took out the Deep Blue Cat and the Deep Blue Hound.
"Winner of round 2, Qingzhou Academy!" the referee said through his mic which resounded throughout the arena, entering the ears of every student, teacher, and recruiter.
"Whao!!!!!!"
"WAHOO!!!"
"SUN ZAN! SUN ZAN! SUN ZAN!"
The crowd became rowdy as Sun Zan once again displayed his overwhelming power even against a strong opponent for many others. Though Ye Qin could tell that the secret he holds being another monster that held even greater power and potential than the Fiery Molten Ape wouldn't be revealed for a while.
As Sun Zan turned his back on his defeated opponent, he turned to face Ye Qin in the crowd and smiled. Ye Qin faced him and nodded as an endless barrage of recruiters from various academies including those from War God Academy and the other top academies rushed towards his location as they fought each other to take Sun Zan.
"Whoa now, calm down. I'll pick a place after I beat a certain someone." Sun Zan replied to the people before him.
"Who is this someone?" one of them asked.
"You'll see." Sun Zan replied as he shooed them away and got back to his seat in the stands only to be bothered once again as he tries to watch the other matches.
…
The next match after that is between the short female student with the rare demon type monster and Ding Shi's schools. As the match began, Ye Qin learned the girl's name which was Chen Jingyi. Facing Chen Jingyi, Ye Qin found it unfortunate for Ding Shi who obviously ran out of luck to be matched up against her in the quarter-finals.
Chen Jingyi's demon appeared on the stage which suppressed the aura of the other monsters making them more hesitant to attack it. Ding Shi and his team all worked up a plan previously to overwhelm Chen Jingyi by focusing all their attacks on her teammates first and eliminate them before targeting her.
Shree! Shree!
Chen Jingyi's demon didn't move as it laughed the entire time whilst the other monsters who are supposedly its comrades were taken out. "Ignoring us like that! She must be really confident, let's show her not to be arrogant in front of students from Luofei Academy!" one of Ding Shi's team members shouted. His monster then pounced at the demon whilst Ding Shi and the other's monster attacked from a distance.
Shee! Shee! Shee!
The female demon laughed as it disappeared in an instant and stepped on top of the close-range monster then put up its left arm and nullified the two ranged attacks with a single palm.
"What?!" Ding Shi cried.
"Impossible! How can it be so strong?" the other two said.
"Pfft, if a demon type wasn't strong would it be so rare? What a bunch of buffoons." Wang Tao laughed at them.
"That may be true but you shouldn't laugh at them like that, later on, if she does the same to you don't come crying to me." Ye Qin replied.
"..."
"It's… just a joke… ahahaha…"
"..."
"..."
Back on the stage, Chen Jingyi's demon picked up the monster it stepped on using its right arm, as its palm started glowing while a dark pink ball of energy formed. Once it gathered enough, the demon pushed its palm into the monster's body as a hole appeared making it ooze a large amount of blood.
After this, the demon threw it away as it laughed whilst glaring at Ding Shi's and the other students' monster. "A demon! It's the devil! How can a trainer be so cruel in a tournament?!" someone in the crowd shouted.
The referee interfered and said "Chen Jingyi restrain your monster from doing something like that again or else you will be disqualified! Now someone help the poor monster out!"
The match then came to a halt as the demon returned whilst Chen Jingyi walked away whilst Ding Shi and the other two along with the referee got help from some medical staff.
After Chen Jingyi's demonic display of strength and power, the exam was done for the day. As everyone had their meals, the matchups for the semi-finals were made. Ye Qin and Wang Tao immediately checked their smartwatches, after pressing a few buttons, they saw Ye Qin's name next to Gu Zexian's and Sun Zan's next to Chen Jingyi's.
As they were still looking at the matchups, Sun Zan came over to them and said to Ye Qin "After I beat Chen Jingyi, we will be facing off. Our battle will be legendary!"
"..."
"You stole that line from a movie…" Ye Qin replied.
"..."
"Right.."
"Anyways, I promise to make it to the finals." Sun Zan continued.
"It won't be easy, I know that you have a trump card but Chen Jingyi has a higher chance of being my opponent." Ye Qin replied.
"I knew I was right to choose you as my rival! You even knew of that, only the principal of my school and my parents know of it. Hahahahahah! Even if my chances of winning are lower than hers, as long as it's not zero I will still take it head-on!" Sun Zan laughed.
"You did read the rules of the exam right?" Ye Qin asked.
"Haha… Of course, I did." Sun Zan irked as a bead of sweat slid down his forehead. "Since you didn't let me inform you, the rules state that all students may use all their strength but cannot heavily injure the opponent. That's the best hint I can give you." the latter continued.
"I see, well whether I win or lose. I will leave it to the heavens and do my best." Sun Zan said as he went to his room.
Wang Tao, who didn't say a thing the entire time finally spoke up and said "He sure talks a lot huh? Even then you still replied to him, that's rare."
"..."
…
The next morning, the match between Sun Zan and Chen Jingyi begun. For some odd reason even though both of them had fought recently, Ye Qin's match was still the next one. Though the audience didn't complain since they cheered loudly for Sun Zan whilst some of them even booed and shouted at Chen Jingyi for beating Ding Shi to such an extent.
"Sun Zan! Beat her!"
"Chen Jingyi the demon!!!"
Far away in the stands, Ye Qin and Wang Tao sat down quietly as they stared down on the match from afar before it even started. "Boss Chen Jingyi will win right?" Wang Tao asked.
"From what I can tell, her chances of winning are over 60% even if Sun Zan's trump card was added in the equation." Ye Qin replied.
"I see, looks like your self proclaimed rival will lose then. The only one who can be your rival is only I!" Wang Tao said.
"..."
"Sure." Ye Qin said quietly.
"What do you mean by sure?! I'm serious here!" the fatty continued.
"Shhh, Wang Tao you're too loud!" Mo Qiu sitting just below them turned around and said with a frown on her beautiful face.
"Yikes, sorry." Wang Tao nodded.
…
Standing on opposing sides on the field along with the referee in the middle, Sun Zan and Chen Jingyi's teams faced each other. Though everyone knew that the only real fight would be between Sun Zan and Chen Jingyi themselves whilst the other two are just a sideshow.
"Round 1 of the semi-Finals, with the groups led by both Sun Zan and Chen Jingyi begin!" the referee said as he blew the whistle.
"Whoo!!!"
The crowd was hyped as the battle between powerful students begun. Sun Zan and Chen Jingyi's team members both stood back a bit as they called their monsters to face each other elsewhere whilst Sun Zan and Chen Jingyi's monsters were called out in the center of the field to face each other directly.
Roar!
A flash of blazing red light appeared in the center of the field as the Fiery Molten Ape materialized. As its cries resounded throughout the stadium, it banged its chest with both arms in a sequence as the thunder-like thumping sound shook the ears of the crowd.
"Sun Zan!"
"Sun Zan!"
At the same time, a flash of dark pink light appeared not so far away from the Fiery Molten Ape as a female human-shaped figure appeared, standing arrogantly in front of the Molten Ape with its pitch-black wings spread out behind its back. The Fiery Molten Ape stood tall like a mountain as it faced its opponent which was much smaller in size but still held incredible powers.
Woosh!
Sun Zan's Molten Ape made the first move and pounded the ground with searing flames from its hands which cracked the ground whilst pillars of fire and earth headed towards the female demon.
Shee! Shee! Shee!
Chen Jingyi's demon placed its palm on the ground as a dark pink light lit the ground which stopped Sun Zan's attack and reflected it back with even greater power.
Roar!
The Fiery Molten Ape's earthen armor protected it from its own flames, however, the extra demon powers managed to pierce its armor and injure it.
Pok!
The Fiery Molten Ape's armor had cracks in between them from the attack by the demon. The female demon then moved at a speed of thirty kilometers as it came closer to the Molten Ape whilst its two palms glew dark pink in color.
