74: 18th place

"6 to 8, we're behind."

"By the way, Wei Lan seemed to have gone upstairs just now; she's probably entered the ladder."

Xiao Weiqing opened his Wristband.

As expected.

There was a message from Wei Lan.

"Brother Qing, the academy is in trouble, I'm going to help out."

"This little girl..."

"Let's go, let's enter the ladder and take a look."

Xiao Weiqing also happened to want to find someone to test his current strength.

Inside the ladder system.

At this time.

It was already night.

This was the busiest time for Trainee activities within the Great Xia ladder.

Nearly 200,000 people were watching the excitement between Luo Jiang Academy and Ye Hua Academy.

Know-it-all was even more eager to stir up trouble.

Not only was he live-streaming the battle between the two academies in real-time.

But he also started a betting pool; even without rewards, everyone enjoyed it immensely.

120,000 people participated in the voting.

However, the betting was one-sided, with 90,000 people believing Ye Hua Academy would win.

There were three reasons.

First, Ye Hua Academy had Trainees with Level 6 Extraordinary Talents.

Second, Ye Hua Academy had more publicly known Level 5 Extraordinary Talents than Luo Jiang Academy.

Third, people simply felt Luo Jiang Academy would lose; over the years, the academy's declining strength had become common knowledge.

Otherwise, Tian Yue Academy wouldn't have been so high-profile before, claiming they would replace Luo Jiang Academy as one of the Great Xia's Eight Great Academies.

Inside the ladder system.

Xiao Weiqing first entered the forum.

On the forum, Know-it-all's post was glowing red with popularity, constantly updating the battle status of the two academies.

Currently 8 to 9, according to the newly updated battle results.

"Luo Jiang Academy's Wei Lan versus Ye Hua Academy's Zhu Hui: Wei Lan wins."

Know-it-all: "Congratulations to Luo Jiang Academy for another victory."

"Luo Jiang Academy is doing well; they're actually holding their own against Ye Hua Academy."

"Yeah, the person above is right. I just checked the challenge room; Luo Jiang Academy's Duan Shuyu is facing off against Ye Hua Academy's Fang Lin."

"Both of them should be top 100 Trainees, right?"

"Yeah, both of their rankings are around the top 100."

"What about Qin Tian? Has he fought yet?"

"Not yet. Among Luo Jiang Academy's Level 5 Extraordinary Talents ranked within the top 1,000 on the ladder, he's the only one left."

A moment later, the battle report updated.

Know-it-all: "Luo Jiang Academy's Duan Shuyu wins."

"Luo Jiang Academy's Qin Tian should be a sure win against a Level 5 Extraordinary Talent from Ye Hua Academy. In that case, Luo Jiang Academy's strength this year is decent; they're just at a disadvantage because they lack a Level 6 talent."

This statement gained widespread agreement.

Ten minutes later.

The battle status in the post was updated.

Know-it-all: "Qin Tian wins."

"Exactly 11 to 11, a tie."

"By the way, what about that Xiao Weiqing?"

"Why haven't we seen him fight?"

"It seems so. Xiao Weiqing defeated Qin Tian, so he should be even stronger. Why isn't he stepping up?"

"That was before. With Level 5 talents, strength grows by leaps and bounds every day. Whether Xiao Weiqing is stronger or weaker than a Level 5 now remains to be seen. But if I were Ye Hua Academy, I definitely wouldn't seek out Xiao Weiqing."

"Exactly. If they fight Xiao Weiqing and lose, they lose Face; if they win, there's nothing to be proud of."

"The person above is spot on. To guarantee a win against Xiao Weiqing now, one probably needs to be in the top 30 of the ladder. But Ye Hua Academy's 29th-ranked fighter has already been defeated by Qin Tian, so they can't find another Level 5 who can beat Xiao Weiqing."

"Haven't you guys noticed something?"

"What?"

"It's that Wei Lan from Luo Jiang Academy. She's also on a continuous winning streak and has already entered the top 100, with more consecutive wins than Xiao Weiqing."

"Oh, I wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't mentioned it. A 36-win streak, and she's a girl. Luo Jiang Academy is full of hidden talents."

"Wei Lan, Level 5 Spirit Cultivator, Extraordinary Talent: Mental Type, Innate Skill unknown. She's a girl with top-tier looks and figure.

I had the honor of fighting her and was instakilled by a single glance. I don't even know how I fell off the stage."

"Mental Type? Like a charm ability?"

"Probably not. My head almost exploded at the time; charm types can't do that. It should be an attack type."

"Then that's impressive. With mental attacks, once you're hit, even a Level 6 might not be a match. After all, Spirit Cultivators are born with powerful Mental Energy."

At this moment.

Another reply caught everyone's attention.

"Damn, I just got matched with Xiao Weiqing again."

"Oh? How did it go?"

"I got wrecked. I haven't seen this guy for two days, and his strength has jumped by a huge margin. It's ridiculous."

"The old Xiao Weiqing used his blade to defend and wait for a chance to counter; his strength seemed limited. But this time, I was split open by a single slash, and after he pulled away, he instakilled me with a Fire Owl."

At this very moment.

Xiao Weiqing easily continued his winning streak, entering the top 100 once again, ranked 91st.

However, Xiao Weiqing was clearly not satisfied with this ranking this time.

Having opened his Dantian, his use of Spiritual Qi had undergone a world-shaking transformation.

The mobilization of Spiritual Qi and Qi Fire within his body could be described as perfectly effortless.

"Continue!"

"Match successful."

The System provided the opponent's information.

"Niu Nan, Ziyun Academy, Level 5, Skill Type."

"Eh? Xiao Weiqing?"

Xiao Weiqing nodded slightly in response.

Niu Nan was very excited. "Since we've met, let's see if you're really that strong."

Niu Nan clenched both fists, veins bulging on his arms as he took an offensive stance, Spiritual Qi swirling around his fists.

"Hah!"

With a roar.

Niu Nan charged at Xiao Weiqing like a wild bull.

"Fire Owl!"

Firelight flashed on the stage.

Niu Nan maintained his charging posture, stiffly lowering his head to look at his chest.

A massive hole caused him to lose consciousness on the spot, turning into particles and vanishing.

"Xiao Weiqing wins, +150 points."

Xiao Weiqing withdrew his hand and shook his head.

"Body Cultivators really are just brutes, charging straight ahead like that when they clearly aren't even fast."

"Continue."

...Xiao Weiqing's points reached 4,200.

At the same time, he entered the top 50, with his win rate still at 100%—a full 40-win streak.

"Brother Qing, you're amazing—a 40-win streak."

"You're not bad either, keeping up your winning streak."

Wei Lan: "Don't even talk about it. I just met someone extremely fast, and my winning streak was ended. BigCry.jpg."

Xiao Weiqing opened the holographic screen and checked the first page of the ladder rankings.

As expected.

Wei Lan was now ranked 50th, with 37 wins and 1 loss.

"A winning streak is just a streak; no one is invincible forever. Keep it up."

Xiao Weiqing continued to focus on his own battles.

The opening of his Dantian not only meant a several-fold increase in Xiao Weiqing's maximum Spiritual Qi capacity and a reduction in consumption during use, but also an enhancement in his recovery ability.

It was an all-around improvement.

One hour later.

Know-it-all: "Extra! Extra! He's here, he's here! That man has broken in with his Samadhi True Fire."

Below was an attached image.

18th Place: Luo Jiang Academy, Xiao Weiqing, Extraordinary Talent: Art Type, Win Rate: 100%.

"Impossible!"

"An illusion! It's definitely an illusion!"

The entire forum erupted.

"Ridiculous!"

"Beyond ridiculous!"

"It's true. I'm a Level 5 Art Type, and I couldn't even take one hit from Xiao Weiqing just now."

"You must be pretty weak then. I'm a Level 4 Art Type, and when I fought Xiao Weiqing before, we were evenly matched until I narrowly lost."

"For real?"

"It's fake. That jerk is from our academy. His name is Lyu Qiuse, and he was literally split in half by a single slash."

"..."