90: One against five

Following Lin Ge's shout, the five senior students also stopped their movements and turned to look in one direction.

Led by Lin Xiu, Su Xiao, Leng Bai, and the other four followed him on either side, emerging from the woods.

"Brother Wang, it's him!"

A senior student walked up to the young man, his gaze fixed on Lin Xiu.

The leading young man was clearly the captain of the five.

He nodded slightly, "Lin Xiu, you're very bold, actually delivering yourself to our doorstep. Don't you know many people are looking for you?"

"Looking for me? Why?"

Hearing this, Lin Xiu was stunned. Had his plan been discovered by other senior students?

Impossible, he hadn't mentioned it to anyone before.

"The Dean thinks highly of you. After you left, he praised you in front of two Elders.

Furthermore, he disparaged us senior students as utterly worthless. Many people want to find you and see what's so outstanding about you."

The young man spoke while observing.

To be honest.

He didn't see anything special about Lin Xiu and didn't understand why a two-star Great Fighter was so highly regarded by the Dean.

It doesn't matter. If he can't tell now, he'll understand after they start fighting.

Whether it's an empty facade or genuine strength.

He'll know with one try!

Damn it, this old man is messing with me again? Fine, I'll remember this. I'll see how I get it back from Hu Jia then!

Lin Xiu was startled, muttering inwardly.

But he said aloud, "Don't worry, you'll know soon."

With that, Lin Xiu charged out.

Battles change in an instant; one step ahead means every step ahead!

"Commendable courage."

Looking at Lin Xiu, who charged forward, the young man was briefly stunned, "However, with our strength difference, attempting sneak attacks is useless!"

The young man met Lin Xiu's attack, simultaneously reminding his teammates not to let the others escape.

However.

The young man's attention was drawn, and he didn't notice that his teammates had strange expressions.

Because the other four had remained standing still.

They didn't seem to have any intention of acting?

"What do they mean?"

"I feel like they're planning to let Lin Xiu fight all five of us by himself."

"Although, wouldn't that be too outrageous? Brother Wang is at least three Realms higher than Lin Xiu!"

The teammates exchanged words, shocked by their own thoughts.

However.

Su Xiao, Leng Bai, and the others showed no intention of helping, quietly watching Lin Xiu and their Brother Wang clash.

Lin Ge and Liu Mu, who were present, also noticed the unusual situation.

"Impossible! How can they be so confident in Lin Xiu's strength?" Lin Ge cried out in his heart.

He was, after all, a student highly favored by the mentor, yet the gap between him and Lin Xiu was widening.

Originally, he could only look up to and smile at Su Xiao, Leng Bai, and the others, but they were now full of confidence in Lin Xiu, even following his arrangements.

This contrast was unacceptable to Lin Ge.

[You participated in a battle, Starlight Body Tempering Art experience +30]

Under countless gazes, Lin Xiu and the young man collided. With just one punch, the young man's expression changed dramatically.

Originally, his face held a calm and collected look, like a senior teaching a junior.

However.

As he exchanged a punch with Lin Xiu, his expression suddenly shifted.

"How can his strength be so great? Not only did he block my attack, but he even shattered my accumulated Dou Qi!"

The young man was greatly alarmed and no longer dared to be careless.

The first thought that flashed through his mind was to create distance from Lin Xiu and re-accumulate Dou Qi.

"Why is Brother Wang retreating?"

"Damn, am I seeing things?"

"No! Brother Wang actually fell into a disadvantage in his first exchange with Lin Xiu!"

The senior students widened their eyes when they saw the young man was the one retreating.

It was as if they had witnessed an unbelievable scene.

However.

The next scene completely exceeded their expectations, causing them to shriek.

Lin Xiu's figure suddenly accelerated, leaving an afterimage in his original spot as he rushed past the young man's body.

[You participated in a battle, Ben Lei Palm experience +0]

The young man's body stiffened, suddenly stopped, then lightning flashed around him, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, and fell to the ground.

"One Move?"

"How is this possible?"

As the captain of the group, the young man's strength surpassed theirs, and he was even considered one of the fastest improvers in their previous batch.

However.

Now, he was instantly defeated in one Move by a two-star Great Fighter freshman?

Before they could ponder further, they saw Lin Xiu charging towards them.

The few of them tried to resist a few times, but without any surprise, they were all knocked down by Lin Xiu.

[You participated in a battle, Starlight Body Tempering Art experience +20]

[...]

[You participated in a battle, Starlight Body Tempering Art experience +20]

"So strong, is this Lin Xiu's true strength? Did he hold back during the Inner Courtyard Selection Competition?"

Liu Mu looked at that figure; several senior students lay at his feet, constantly wailing in pain.

One must know that not long ago, they were beaten by the three opponents with no room to retaliate.

"How can this be? How can this be!" Lin Ge, lying on the ground, dug his fingers into the dirt, his eyes filled with an expression of disbelief.

On the other side.

Leng Bai nudged Su Xiao's shoulder, "Pinch me, see if I'm dreaming?"

Not long ago, Lin Xiu was the first to discover these five people.

Originally, the four of them were prepared to team up.

Because Du Chaoping's strength was too weak, he was not within the scope of those who would act.

However.

Lin Xiu suddenly stated that he could handle it alone.

It wasn't that Lin Xiu wanted to show off; it was purely to display his strength and reassure Su Xiao, Xiu Yan, and the others.

Hearing this, Su Xiao and Xiu Yan didn't object.

As the saying goes, hearing is believing, but seeing is proof.

They also wanted to know if what Lin Xiu said was true or false.

And everything now indicated that Lin Xiu indeed possessed sufficiently strong power.

"I'm not interested, you go find Xiu Yan," Su Xiao shrugged.

Xiu Yan clenched his fists, making cracking sounds. Without a chance to act, his hands were itching, "Leng Bai, I'd be happy to oblige."

"No need," Leng Bai looked at the fist that was about the size of his own face and decisively shook his head.

The few of them walked towards Lin Xiu.

At this moment, Lin Xiu stood amidst the senior students, looking down at his hands.

"My strength has increased again. Is it because of the Starlight Body Tempering Art?"

After Hu Qian helped him get started with this Di-Rank Dou Technique, Lin Xiu added the remaining 5 attribute points to it.

After all.

He didn't need his other Fighting Skills for now, and Fighting Skills like Thunder Ripple certainly couldn't be used; otherwise, if asked, he wouldn't be able to explain their origin.

Conversely, the Starlight Body Tempering Art, this Fighting Skill, could enhance his Physique and also restore his body.

It was just what was needed for the Fire Energy Hunting Competition.

What surprised Lin Xiu, however, was that his strength had increased so much more than before.

Thinking of this, Lin Xiu's thoughts stirred, and he checked his panel.

[Name: Lin Xiu]

[Age: 19]

[Realm: Four-star Great Fighter (2.9w/4w)]

[Physique: 66 (60+6)]

[Spirit: 60]

[Aptitude: 40]

[Abilities:

...Intermediate Earth Rank Fighting Skill: Starlight Body Tempering Art lv6 (120/600)

Profound High-Rank Cultivation Technique: Prairie Fire lv1 (1/100)

Low-tier Earth Rank Cultivation Technique: Earth Emperor Art lv1 (1/100)

Low-tier Earth Rank Cultivation Technique: Gold Wood Unification Art lv1 (1/100)

Profound High-Rank Fighting Skill: Thunder Ripple lv1 (1/100)

Low-tier Earth Rank Fighting Skill: Overturning Waves lv1 (1/100)

Low-tier Yellow Rank Fighting Skill: Flame Soul Separation Technique lv1 (1/100)

...]

[Attribute Points: 0]

"Indeed! My current burst of strength is equivalent to a three-star Dou Ling. With this strength, anyone below an eight-star Great Fighter would likely have their Dou Qi scattered by one of my punches."

Lin Xiu was overjoyed.

His current pure strength burst was almost on par with a Fourth-tier Demonic Beast.

"However, operating the Starlight Body Tempering Art also consumes a lot of Dou Qi. Fortunately, my Dou Qi is already abundant. If it were an ordinary two-star Great Fighter, they would probably only be able to maintain it for a dozen seconds. The fact that I can maintain it for a minute and a half is already very good."

Lin Xiu was not surprised to find that his Dou Qi was largely depleted. After all, it was an Intermediate Earth Rank Fighting Skill, so high consumption was normal.

A reader brother previously mentioned the character "Bai Feng." I saw that Sha Tie did mention this person in chapter 420 of Battle Through the Heavens. However, while recently conceptualizing the later plot, I saw in later parts of Battle Through the Heavens that it became Bai Cheng, and Bai Feng no longer existed. But I had written this character before, so for the sake of plot development, I've made Bai Shan's cousin, Bai Cheng, into twins, one Bai Cheng and one Bai Feng. It doesn't affect readability; it's mainly to explain this, and I hope for your understanding.