[Mission Complete: Youth Tournament (II)]

[Mission Reward: 8000 EXP, 200 Points]

[Mission Activated: Youth Tournament (III)]

[Mission Requirement: Enter the top ten of the Youth Tournament.]

[Mission Reward: 8000 EXP, 200 Points]

Host: Wen Yuncheng

Race: Human

Age: 18

Class: Mechanical Master

Level: 39

Experience: 18855/26000

Points: 2601

After completing the second part of the series mission, Wen Yuncheng’s experience points soared. She wasn’t far from leveling up again.

While the other contestants competed, Wen Yuncheng continued to visit the Dueling Arena to grind for experience. However, the pace of the tournament had quickened. Even though the number of rings had been reduced from ten to five to allow spectators a better real-time view, the constantly shrinking pool of finalists meant she could no longer fight one match and then have nothing to do for two months, as she had during the preliminaries.

However, Wen Yuncheng was soon reminded by Yan Ling:

“The finals are approaching, so don’t run around the Imperial Capital recklessly. Even if you go to the Dueling Arena, don’t come back too late.”

Wen Yuncheng almost instantly thought of the incident in the remote village. “Teacher, do the people from Fu dare to act so brazenly even in the Imperial Capital?”

“The members of Fu are hidden among the crowds. With the Youth Tournament underway, many people have come to the Imperial Capital. In the tournament hall, the academy, or the bustling districts, there are Protectors, guards, and teachers present. They can react quickly even if Fu members suddenly cause trouble,” Yan Ling said. “I’m not telling you not to go. But don’t you think your routes and schedule are too predictable? Anyone with half a brain would know when and where to corner you.”

“…” Wen Yuncheng was speechless. She thought about it. Although she had turrets, Enemy-Annihilators, and other defenses on her, if a Star King or Star Venerate-level expert truly came for her, she would probably have a hard time even breaking through their defenses.

“Some people believe there’s great value in using a ‘genius’ with a Star Power Mutation to lure out the hidden masters of Fu,” Yan Ling said, looking at her meaningfully when Wen Yuncheng remained silent.

Wen Yuncheng scratched her head, realizing that the people of this continent really didn’t have much faith in the potential of a “Star Power Mutation.” But that was normal, as history was filled with too many mutants who were astonishing at first but later faded into mediocrity. If she wanted to use “Star Power Mutation” as a cover, she had to accept how outsiders would view it.

Speaking of which, Lin Jinyu must know about this too. Had she never been suspicious? Yan Ling was her teacher, and the First Princess was simply making an investment—Wen Yuncheng figured that someone like the First Princess probably made friendly gestures to every young person she favored. It was normal for someone like her, who had no background but was making a name for herself, to catch her eye.

Wen Yuncheng recalled a time when her leveling had slowed down a bit, and Lin Jinyu had taken the initiative to comfort her. She thought that perhaps because she had consistently maintained a high-potential state, Lin Jinyu had never shown any doubt. Only if she were to hit some kind of “bottleneck” would Lin Jinyu react.

As her thoughts strayed, Wen Yuncheng began to consider whether she should deliberately tease the Little Ice Mountain.

[…?]

Never mind, a joke like that would be pretty pointless.

“I understand. I’ll be more careful in the future.” Wen Yuncheng decided she would study a map later to see how many different routes there were from the academy to the Dueling Arena. Preferably ones that passed through commercial districts.

Since Wen Yuncheng had taken her advice to heart, Yan Ling said no more.

After the third round ended, Wen Yuncheng simply drew her lot. Her next opponent, while not particularly famous, was a candidate to be the next sect master of Dream Haven Sect, and people often compared her to Lin Jinyu.

Yan Ling had initially wanted to remind Wen Yuncheng not to go easy on her opponent just because she was a girl, but she quickly recalled Wen Yuncheng’s performance at the academy and decided it was unnecessary.

Meanwhile, Wen Yuncheng was calculating how many matches she had left. After the fight with Di Yuanhao, there were 64 people remaining. After this match, there would be 32. Thinking about it, if she kept winning, she still had five more matches.

Among those five… she wondered when she would run into Lin Jinyu.

Wen Yuncheng sighed. There was no use worrying about it, so it was better not to overthink it. Wen Yuncheng hadn’t asked Lin Jinyu about this, though Lin Jinyu didn’t seem troubled by it at all. If Lin Jinyu were to face her… Wen Yuncheng considered Lin Jinyu’s personality. The Little Ice Mountain would probably still think along the lines of “give it my all, and have no regrets,” right?

[If you run into Lin Jinyu, will you consider forfeiting?] 1947 couldn’t help but ask. It felt its host was very unreliable.

“No,” Wen Yuncheng said seriously. “Lin Jinyu would hate me for that. It would be disrespectful to her.”

“If we do meet… I will fight with all my strength. Win or lose, I don’t want to leave any regrets. I’m sure Lin Jinyu feels the same way.”

Sun Chutong of Dream Haven Sect, first layer of the Star Lord realm.

Sun Chutong was tall with healthy, wheat-colored skin, dressed in loose black combat attire. She stood confidently on the ring, watching Wen Yuncheng walk up. Her dark eyes were bright and sparkling. After sizing Wen Yuncheng up, a playful smile appeared on her face. “I hear you and Lin Jinyu are close? …I was actually looking forward to a decisive match with her, but I ended up facing you first.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll settle the score with Lin Jinyu for you,” Wen Yuncheng replied with a brilliant smile, as if she hadn’t understood the meaning behind her words. She made a “please” gesture and looked toward the referee.

“Heh.” Sun Chutong shrugged, not angered, and followed Wen Yuncheng’s gaze to the referee.

The brief pre-match preparation time passed, and under the watchful eyes of both contestants, the referee calmly announced, “Begin!”

“Number One, Flame Bombs!”

After her last real battle, Wen Yuncheng had discovered that starting with freeze rounds wasn’t very effective. So this time, the moment Number One was summoned, Wen Yuncheng immediately spent 6 points to buy three sets of Flame Bombs and had Number One bombard Sun Chutong!

Wen Yuncheng’s hands didn’t stop moving as the G-2 Rolling Thunder began to take shape. Sun Chutong had indeed planned to close the distance for a quick melee fight, but Wen Yuncheng’s barrage of Flame Bombs caught her completely off guard.

The Flame Bombs weren’t actually that damaging, but the explosions and fiery effects were genuinely intimidating. The intense heat they generated in an instant was also real. Left with no choice, Sun Chutong raised her hand and brought down a small bronze cauldron. The cauldron emitted a faint cyan light, blocking the entire volley of Flame Bombs.

Wen Yuncheng felt a bit helpless. She felt that… if she didn’t level up soon, her future opponents would figure out all her tactics. But a tactic was a tactic; as long as it dealt damage, it didn’t matter how old it was! Wen Yuncheng didn’t attack immediately. Instead, she took out the Flying Sky Shuttle, concealed it behind her, and then activated her Mechanical Wings to ascend into the air.

“Haha!” To her surprise, as soon as Wen Yuncheng took to the air, Sun Chutong grew excited. Before Wen Yuncheng could even launch an attack, a golden rope with a loop at the end appeared in her opponent’s hand, and it was thrown directly at her.

She was being countered! She was definitely being countered!

Wen Yuncheng raised her hand and threw the Mountain River Seal downward to intercept it, but the rope seemed to have a mind of its own, swerving around the seal and heading straight for Wen Yuncheng.

Number One, charge at Sun Chutong!

Wen Yuncheng urged her Mechanical Wings to retreat quickly, dodging the pursuing rope. This thing was a Profound-rank Spirit Treasure, clearly controlled by Sun Chutong. She refused to believe Sun Chutong would ignore Number One’s charge!

—And yet, she did just that.

Sun Chutong divided her attention, placing the small bronze cauldron in front of her while channeling her main Star Power into the low-grade version of the God-Binding Rope.

Wen Yuncheng calculated Number One’s distance. Just as it was about to crash into the bronze cauldron, she used her displacement skill, swapping places with Number One! In the next instant, Wen Yuncheng quickly sidestepped the bronze cauldron and slid forward with a Launching Slide.

For a moment, Sun Chutong didn’t react. She knew about Wen Yuncheng’s abilities, but just before Wen Yuncheng used the skill, the God-Binding Rope had been a hair’s breadth from catching her. The moment Wen Yuncheng used the skill, Sun Chutong controlled the rope to bind… Number One, who was now in the air.

And that split second of distraction was all it took for Wen Yuncheng’s Launching Slide to connect.

Anyone who had been hit by Wen Yuncheng’s Launching Slide would describe it as bizarre. It clearly didn’t have that much force, and it didn’t even do much damage, but as soon as you were hit, you would be launched into the air as if struck by a tremendous force! Before meeting Wen Yuncheng, Sun Chutong had thought such claims were just excuses made by losers to save face. That was, until she too felt herself become weightless and airborne…

What sorcery was this?! What kind of strange launching slide was that?! Sun Chutong couldn’t believe the feeling was real! However, before she could finish marveling, she was hit by Wen Yuncheng’s three-hit combo: Topspin Kick, Piercing Kick, and a laser from the Rolling Thunder!

The moment the Piercing Kick landed, a sharp pain shot through Sun Chutong’s head, and her Star Power failed to mobilize for an instant.

The stun had triggered!

The description for Piercing Kick said it had a “certain chance” to stun, and that chance was extremely unpredictable. In all her years of fighting in the Dueling Arena, Wen Yuncheng had only triggered it a dozen or so times. She hadn’t expected it to happen during the tournament. This must be a pleasant surprise.

Wen Yuncheng followed up with a stun grenade, and a steel spike extended from her mechanical armguard, pressing it directly against Sun Chutong’s neck. “You lose.”

Sun Chutong was still in a daze, and the referee below looked a little stiff. Compared to Wen Yuncheng’s previous exhilarating battles, this match looked… a bit too fake.

Many spectators even began to question their reality.

“Ring Two, Wen Yuncheng is the winner.”

Only after the referee announced the result did Sun Chutong recover, a look of utter confusion on her face. In her memory, she had just… made a small mistake, been launched into the air, and then… her head hurt. Just as the pain subsided, the match was over? She had lost just like that?

She walked off the stage in a daze, still feeling like she was dreaming.

This Wen Yuncheng… was just too strange, wasn’t she? What kind of attacks were those? Sun Chutong hadn’t even had a chance to unleash her full power. She hadn’t even seriously exchanged blows with Wen Yuncheng before inexplicably losing! To make matters worse, as soon as she stepped down, many people asked if she had a secret crush on Wen Yuncheng or if Wen Yuncheng had paid her with Star Stones to throw the match on purpose.

…If this wasn’t the first time she had met Wen Yuncheng, and if her Star Stone card didn’t show a single extra coin, Sun Chutong might have believed she had thrown the fight herself.