Age of Evolution

The battle had just begun, with Su Mingyue making quick advances, her sword tip vibrating, seemingly searching for Zhang Sicheng’s weakness.

Zhang Sicheng laughed heartily, “Unleash your attack! Your fancy swordplay can’t threaten me.”

But before he finished laughing, Su Mingyue’s petite body burst forth with an explosiveness that defied her size, leaving a trail of afterimages in the air. Her swift sword produced a ribbon-like Sword Light that descended from the heavens like a torrential river crashing down, reaching Zhang Sicheng’s head in the blink of an eye!

Lin Zhen watched in dismay. This move was his own Waterfall technique! Although it was still a bit rough, it bore a striking resemblance, clearly showing that she had grasped the essence of the technique.

She had, incredibly, managed to learn another person’s martial prowess through diverse observation and sparring. “Ming Yue, you have given me a huge surprise!”

Zhang Sicheng could never have imagined that a girl like Su Mingyue would have such a formidable sword strike.

In his opinion, Su Mingyue should have adopted an exquisite swordsmanship and won by finesse. He had his own unique understanding of how to deal with such an opponent and was not afraid.

But Su Mingyue’s swordsmanship suddenly changed. Just a moment ago, it was like a gentle breeze and light rain. Zhang Sicheng had neglected it, but in the blink of an eye, it became a deadly attack!

Although the arena competition did not allow killing, accidents did happen. Swords were blind, and Zhang Sicheng didn’t want to be the hapless soul at the end of the sword.

He hastily raised his broadsword to meet the attack, but it was too abrupt. Su Mingyue’s powerful sword strike numbed his arm, forcing him to retreat again and again!

After the successful strike, Su Mingyue quickly moved her feet and unleashed a flurry of lightning-fast sword techniques that prevented Zhang Sicheng, who was already retreating, from stopping.

As he approached the edge of the arena, he wanted to plant his feet and counterattack, but Su Mingyue replicated her first sword strike yet again!

“Clang! ”

After the sound of metal clashing, Zhang Sicheng found himself embarrassingly knocked off the arena by Su Mingyue and defeated on the spot!

“Wonderful! So cool!”

“Miss, your strength is as impressive as your beauty. From now on, I’m your diehard fan. Please accept my admiration!”

“I swear upon the unparalleled glory of my Ximen Clan’s ancestors that I will become a lifetime knight for you, Miss. Your glory will be mine, your will, my purpose in life, and your beauty…. Who the hell kicked me? Can’t you see I am making a solemn vow.”

“Get lost! The only famous ancestor of your Ximen Clan is Ximen Qing, and he was nothing but a scoundrel. There’s no such thing as unparalleled glory.”

Lin Zhen smiled and clapped, watching Su Mingyue happily hop off the stage.

Upon reaching Lin Zhen, Su Mingyue twisted her body and, with a curved brow, asked, “Idol, did I capture at least three points of your style?”

“I’d say, you got eight points of style plus three points more for being stunning.

Much more pleasant to watch than myself.”

Su Mingyue beamed, standing next to Lin Zhen, clearly in high spirits.

Thanks to Su Mingyue’s outstanding performance, Lin Zhen’s team won the first match.

As for Zhang Sicheng, he was the strongest in the No.495 martial artist group. Originally, he had hoped to win the first round but was unexpectedly defeated, causing the team morale to plummet.

Zhang Sicheng slammed his broadsword to the ground, “Damn, I fell into that girl’s trap. Her moves were too sudden and unpredictable, causing us to lose everything in a single misstep. If we get another chance, it certainly wouldn’t end like this.”

“Boss, you did lose rather unfairly. But from my observation, her strength is the strongest in their team, while the others are so weak they’re not even worth mentioning. We can definitely beat them.” said his subordinate.

“Hmm, be cautious. This second match is the key. If we lose again, we’ll be in real trouble. Little Tiger, it’s up to you.”

The young man named Little Tiger nodded and solemnly stepped onto the stage.

Lin Zhen’s second participant was Sun Tie, who had also made good progress, having advanced to the Fifth Level War General.

However, upon the clash, Lin Zhen immediately shut his eyes – Sun Tie’s strength was still insufficient.

His opponent was a Level Eight War General who was effortlessly crushing Sun Tie. In under three minutes, Sun Tie was directly kicked off the stage and even fell quite ungracefully.

Both teams once again returned to an equal footing, their scores tied at one each.

Seeing their morale slightly recover, Zhang Sicheng’s team sent their third participant to compete.

For Lin Zhen’s team, the participant was Fu Haisheng, a martial artist from the Capital and a Level Seven War General. His abilities were considered to be quite good.

His opponent was a Level Nine Martial General who had only recently entered that level. Faced with Fu Haisheng, he did not have an overwhelming advantage. This was the match in which Lin Zhen placed high hopes.

However, his expectations did not become reality. Fu Haisheng battled with his opponent for nearly twenty minutes before finally succumbing to his lack of strength.

Lin Zhen had observed the entire process as Fu Haisheng struggled, from start to finish, under his opponent’s pressure. Being able to hold out for so long was already remarkable, and he couldn’t ask for more.”

With another loss for Lin Zhen’s challenge team, the score fell to one to two.

At this point, Lin Zhen had a bad feeling in his heart because the fourth member in his team was still an Intermediate War General, while the remaining two opponents were both Advanced War Generals, so the odds of winning were still slim.

As Lin Zhen guessed, Luo Zhen clashed with his opponent for five minutes before being wounded by a sword on his arm, the opponent was merciful though, otherwise, his arm would be useless.

One to three, Lin Zhen’s team failed the challenge!

Because the competition was best of three, even if Lin Zhen won that match, the final score would still be two to three, meaning they lost; as per rules, they did not need to play the last match.

Lin Zhen gave a bitter smile, not expecting his teammates to be underperforming that much, if only he had not separated from Jiang Huai and formed a stronger team, they could have at least taken third place.

Su Mingyue, who was following Lin Zhen, softly said, “Don’t be unhappy, we can challenge again in a week; there are plenty of opportunities.”

“I’m not unhappy, don’t worry.” Lin Zhen didn’t really care, he had seen many wins and losses, and such a small setback was nothing to him.

As they left the ring area, Lin Zhen saw Jiang Huai and the others walking out as well.

Upon inquiring, both teams had the same record, both losing one to three fights. Jiang Huai won his first match, but then lost three in a row and was eliminated.

Jiang Huai couldn’t help but say, “I underestimated the Martial Artists here. If we don’t switch teammates, I’m afraid it will be hard for us to make it into the top three and have a chance to obtain Star Crystals in the short term.”

Lin Zhen asked Brother Guang, “Can we choose to change our teammates?”

Brother Guang replied, “You can change teammates once a month after forming a team.”

Jiang Huai helplessly spread his hands, “Seems like we’ll be wasting a month here.”

Lin Zhen didn’t want to be unproductive for a whole month and even felt that waiting for a week was too long. So he asked Brother Guang again, “Do we really have to wait a week to challenge again?”

“You don’t need Brother Guang to answer this, I can answer it for you!”

At this point, Zhang Sicheng and his group walked over with cold smirks, “You, a kid who can’t even make it into the ring still holding onto hope. If not for my carelessness today, the match would’ve been a three to zero. But next time, your beauty trick won’t work.”

“You still haven’t answered my question.” Lin Zhen ignored his boasting.

“There is a way to continue challenging. If you choose a team battle, you’ll have to first withdraw one person, four against five. If it’s a solo match, you’ll have to concede one match first, meaning you’ll have to win four games to claim the final victory. Do you still want to challenge?”

Zhang Sicheng spoke playfully as the others around him laughed.

Lin Zhen looked at Brother Guang, “Brother Guang, is this true?”

Brother Guang nodded, “There is such a rule, but we don’t encourage it. Because if the challengers lose, it means their strength is lacking, and even if they fight a few more matches, they won’t suddenly become stronger. What’s more, you have to either withdraw a person or concede a match first, which makes your chances of winning even smaller. So, I advise you just wait for a week to challenge again.”

Zhang Sicheng swaggered over to Lin Zhen, “Kid, it’s not bad to watch and learn from others here. Learn some experience from your seniors and see how we collect Star Crystals. It’s good for you to learn this, don’t be so ambitious and want to reach the sky in a single bound, OK!?”

Then, Zhang Sicheng looked at Su Mingyue and shook his head, “What a waste of a girl with such great skill and beauty, who chose such a loser who doesn’t even have the qualification to be on stage, just watching from the sidelines. It’s like a beautiful flower stuck in cow dung, hahaha!”

Su Mingyue’s calm face was suddenly filled with anger, and gripping Lin Zhen’s hand, she said to Zhang Sicheng, “Don’t you dare insult Lin Zhen, he’s a thousand times better than you!”

“A thousand times better than me? How do you know when you haven’t tried?

Hahaha!”

The other Advanced Martial Generals laughed heartily, having not been this happy for a long time.

Lin Zhen suddenly asked Brother Guang, “What day is it today?” Brother Guang was stunned for a moment, then said, “Saturday.”

“So that means tomorrow is Sunday, and Group Three is supposed to take Star Crystals on Sunday. If we successfully challenge and win, does that mean we can go and collect Star Crystals at the tree branches tomorrow?”

“Yes… that’s correct, but I advise you to calm down…”

Lin Zhen resolutely interrupted him, “No need to say more. I choose to accept the challenge right now, team battle! Sun Tie will withdraw from our team. Now, challenge! Immediately! Right away!”

Seeing how determined Lin Zhen was, Brother Guang didn’t try to persuade him any further, “Alright, since you insist, let’s begin; both teams follow me.”

Zhang Sicheng coldly stared at Lin Zhen, “Kid, you’ve got guts, daring to take on our five with just four of you. This time it’s a team battle, and I won’t show mercy. Although killing is forbidden here, crippling often happens!”

“We’ll see about that!” Lin Zhen strode towards the ring with Su Mingyue and the others closely following.

When the surrounding Martial Artists saw there was a continuous challenge on the line and a more fiery team battle, they all flocked over excitedly.

Lin Zhen, Su Mingyue, Fu Haisheng, and Luo Zhen climbed onto the stage, facing the five Advanced War Generals on the other side.

The fight hadn’t yet started, but the smell of gunpowder was already in the air as everyone took out their weapons.. The second battle was about to begin!