43: Chapter 43, First Round of Battle: A-Level Rating Zhou Kai

The next two days flashed by in the blink of an eye.

The originally bustling, heatedly discussed, and highly anticipated School-wide Projection Confrontation Competition arrived as scheduled.

On the day of the competition, as the sky grew slightly bright, the entire Martial Dao Academy boiled over completely as students from all grades poured endlessly toward the main competition building, creating a roaring crowd and an extraordinarily lively atmosphere.

Lin Ye and Wang Hu finished packing early, set off side by side, and arrived at the school competition plaza half an hour in advance.

At this moment, the plaza was already a sea of people, with over eight hundred students from the entire grade fully present; participating contestants were fully geared up and ready to go, spectator students discussed spiritedly, and countless gazes focused on the entrance of the competition arena, waiting for this major annual event to kick off.

Just as the crowd was bustling, a youth with an upright posture and a cold, arrogant temperament slowly walked into the plaza, surrounded by a crowd of lackeys.

The newcomer was none other than Ye Feng.

Today, he wore a fitted Martial Dao uniform, his posture unruly and rebellious, his aura sharp and domineering, carrying a natural air of superiority between his brows, and he was surrounded by the oppressive presence of a top genius.

Almost the moment he appeared, countless gazes across the venue instantly converged on him, and discussions rose and fell in succession.

Everyone knew clearly that Ye Feng was the most stable favorite to win the championship in this competition, holding multiple A-grade thralls and having recently mastered a rare S-grade thrall, his combat power surpassing the entire grade, making him almost unmatched.

Ye Feng swept his indifferent gaze across the venue, finally locking precisely onto Lin Ye in the crowd.

Within those deep eyes, there was not the slightest bit of concealment; bare hatred and biting killing intent intertwined, icy and bone-chilling, gluing tightly to Lin Ye as if he had long regarded him as a dead man.

Quite a few people in the audience noticed this tit-for-tat scene, instantly quieting down a bit as their desire to watch the show grew even stronger.

Facing Ye Feng's undisguised murderous intent, Lin Ye's expression remained calm; not only did he lack any fear, but the corners of his mouth instead lifted slightly, hooking into a teasing smile as he took the initiative to step forward and banter.

"Great Genius Ye, I haven't seen you in a few days, and your imposing manner has only grown stronger."

Lin Ye's voice was not loud, just enough for the two of them to hear clearly, and his tone carried a thick sense of playfulness: "I heard that you recently spent a heavy sum to buy an S-grade thrall generation card, and your foundation has skyrocketed?"

"Since you hold such a top-tier trump card, you must keep your mentality steady and not capsize in the gutter and stumble. I am full of anticipation to witness Great Genius Ye's demeanor with my own eyes at the subsequent Federal Youth League."

These words seemed like flattery, but in reality, they were full of mockery, making it clear that he was certain Ye Feng would crash and burn.

Ye Feng's face instantly turned cold and gloomy, the killing intent in the depths of his eyes growing even more intense. He sneered, his tone filled to the extreme with disdain and contempt: "My affairs are not yet your turn—an F-grade good-for-nothing—to worry about."

"Even the most basic Divine Kingdom rating is at the bottom, and your own foundation is riddled with flaws and tattered. Relying on a bit of cleverness to court attention, you still dare to vainly hope to break into the Federal League? In my view, it is simply wishful thinking and daydreaming."

Every single word and sentence was full of condescending contempt, fully expressing the inner thoughts of everyone present.

In everyone's eyes, Lin Ye registering for the competition was simply asking for humiliation, and wanting to vie for a league quota was an even bigger joke.

Upon hearing this, Lin Ye did not get angry and instead laughed. He slowly turned sideways, his footsteps moving slightly, quietly drawing close to Ye Feng's side.

He lowered his voice, speaking faintly with a subtle sound that only the two of them could hear, his tone cold and carrying extreme provocation:

"Ye Feng, think about it carefully. If I even forfeit the intra-school competition and don't participate in the Federal League, will you have even a sliver of chance in the future to openly and personally kill me?"

This light sentence, like a cold sharp blade, precisely pierced the most paranoid obsession deep inside Ye Feng's heart.

Ye Feng's body stiffened slightly, the killing intent in his eyes instantly surging, and the barometric pressure around him suddenly dropped. He had truly been angered.

Just as the two of them were at daggers drawn and a standoff was on the verge of breaking out, a stern reprimand suddenly came over, instantly interrupting the tense atmosphere.

"You two! What are you doing! Publicly confronting and fighting before the match, do you want to be directly disqualified from participating?"

Teacher Zhao walked over quickly with a gloomy expression, his gaze sweeping sternly over both Lin Ye and Ye Feng, his tone full of reprimand.

He had long known that the two of them held a deep grievance, yet he hadn't expected that right before the competition, the two of them would still dare to openly confront and provoke each other.

"All step back and stand in your respective places! No private disputes are allowed anymore!"

Teacher Zhao reprimanded sharply in a stern voice, then raised his hand to signal everyone to gather, saying in a deep voice: "All participating contestants, form up immediately and follow me to the Soul Link Chamber to prepare for the pre-match soul synchronization. The competition will begin right away!"

As his voice fell, all participating students present immediately reined in their minds and neatly formed up.

Lin Ye calmly stepped back, his expression still nonchalant as if the provocation and standoff just now had never happened, though a hint of coldness waiting to watch a good show was hidden deep in his eyes.

Ye Feng stared fixedly at Lin Ye's back, his fists quietly clenching as the killing intent and wariness deep in his heart grew increasingly intense.

On today's competition field, he would definitely crush this F-grade freak with his own hands and wash away all unpleasantness!

The team marched forward in an orderly fashion, with the students following Teacher Zhao's footsteps as they walked toward the soul link chamber at the core of the academy, and the highly anticipated School-wide Projection Confrontation Competition was about to officially kick off.

Inside the Soul Link Chamber, it was almost packed with people.

Before long, the competition bell boomed and resounded across the entire plaza, its clear tone suppressing all noisy discussions and declaring the official opening of the School-wide Projection Confrontation Competition.

Above the high platform of the competition, several referees dressed in official Martial Dao uniforms sat upright in position with solemn expressions.

The chief referee stood up, swept his gaze across all participating students in the audience, and said in a deep voice: "The rules of this School-wide Soul Projection Confrontation Competition are concise and fair."

"One hundred people are randomly drawn and paired for a one-on-one soul projection battle. The winner advances to the next round, and the loser is directly eliminated. The whole process is broadcast live in real-time and watched simultaneously by the entire school, and the final top ten survivors will win the qualification for the Federal Youth Martial Dao League!"

"During the battle, stop at the point of mastery, and it is strictly forbidden to deliberately seriously injure opponents or damage others' soul foundations. Violators will be directly stripped of their participation qualifications and severely punished!"

After the rules were read, all students across the venue concentrated and waited attentively, instantly maxing out the tense competition atmosphere.

Immediately afterwards, the giant electronic light screen floating in the air rolled rapidly, swiftly refreshing the draw matching list for the hundred people, and one battle combination after another emerged consecutively.

Everyone's eyes locked dead onto the light screen, frantically searching for their own opponents, and the breathing sounds in the plaza became hurried.

"I'm matched against a B-grade student, I'm safe!"

"It's over! I matched with an A-grade genius, a first-round trip for sure!"

"Look quickly! God Ye's opponent is out! It's an ordinary B-grade student, a direct crushing match!"

Bursts of exclamations rose and fell one after another. Everyone was paying attention to the matches of the top powerhouses while also frantically searching for Lin Ye's name.

Not two seconds later, an extremely explosive uproar echoed across the entire venue, instantly drowning out all discussions!

"Oh my god! Who is Lin Ye's opponent?!"

"Are they crazy?! In the first round, he directly drew Zhou Kai, an A-grade powerhouse in the top ten of the grade?!"

The whole venue boiled over instantly, countless gazes staring dead at Lin Ye's match combination on the light screen with faces full of disbelief.

F-grade bottom-feeder Lin Ye VS A-grade elite Zhou Kai!

This match-up could be called the most outrageous and disparate duel of this competition!

Zhou Kai had steadily ranked in the top twenty of the grade for years, with a solid foundation and ferocious combat power, and his mastery of beast-type thrall tactics was pure and refined, making countless C and D-grade students dare not confront him head-on.