5: Chapter 5: Declaring a Challenge

As the morning light climbed the glass curtain wall of the teaching building, Zhang Wen stepped into the classroom biting into a deep-fried dough stick. The usually boisterous morning self-study was now pin-drop silent; over twenty gazes shot toward him simultaneously, pinning him in place like searchlights. Xue Yuan sat leaning by the window, a shattered A-Rank Awakening stone lying conspicuously at his feet, while Wind Blades spun at his fingertips with a cold, sharp arc.

"Zhang Wen, do you dare to accept this challenge?" Xue Yuan tossed over a gold-stamped invitation, the paper cutting a sharp arc through the air. The moment the invitation unfurled, floating wind runes condensed into a line of blood-red words: Three days from now on the rooftop, life or death doesn't matter. Zhang Wen's brows twitched slightly, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the thunder pattern on his palm. Although the wind-attribute spiritual energy swirling around Xue Yuan had condensed into a mist, it carried a sense of rawness from a recent Breakthrough—clearly the aura of someone who had just stepped into the Early Stage of the Shimmer. "Heh, as expected of a pampered young master of the Xue family," Zhang Wen chuckled inwardly. He peered into his own body; within the Meridians refined by the Marrow Cleansing Pill, Thunder Power surged like a tide, several times more robust than Xue Yuan's aura. He was already at the Late Stage of the Shimmer.

From the front row, Liu Zi jumped up: "This is too much! He's trying to kill you!" Before he could finish, a sudden hurricane swirled outside the window, sending his textbooks flying through the air. Xue Yuan sneered, and a Wind Blade pinned itself precisely in front of Zhang Wen's desk, shearing off a lock of hair from his temple.

"Scared?" Xue Yuan's voice was wrapped in bone-chilling cold. "I heard you have the Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder. Why not let everyone see if your thunder is harder, or if my wind is sharper." Behind him, several upperclassmen who usually followed his lead folded their arms and sneered, the spiritual energy fluctuations in the air becoming increasingly violent.

Zhang Wen rubbed the burning invitation as the Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder in his Sea of Consciousness suddenly vibrated violently. He looked up to meet Xue Yuan's provocative gaze, and purple lightning flared in his palm, instantly vaporizing the wind runes on the invitation: "Three days from now, I'll let you know that the gap in talent isn't something that can be made up for with dirty tricks."

Gasps erupted one after another in the classroom. Xue Yuan's pupils constricted sharply, and the Wind Blade at his fingertip "popped" and shattered, turning into a flurry of fine ice crystals. As Zhang Wen turned to walk toward his seat, the thunder bath towel in his pocket suddenly made a cheerful crackling sound, as if cheering for the upcoming duel.

When the school learned of the news, they did not step in to stop it as everyone had expected. On the contrary, the Academic Affairs Office printed match guidelines overnight, and the bulletin boards were covered with duel posters—on the left was a silhouette of Zhang Wen summoning thunder, and on the right was a profile of Xue Yuan swinging a Wind Blade, with "Peak Duel, Witness a Legend" written in bold font in the middle.

As the news spread, the discussions across all grades nearly brought down the teaching building. Teachers gathered in their offices, lesson plans cast aside, holding printed profiles of the two: "I bet Zhang Wen will win. After all, the Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder is SSS-Rank; the potential is right there." "Hard to say, Xue Yuan's Rank is there after all." Even the usually stern Dean of Students stopped students during the break to ask: "How many rounds do you think this duel will last?"

In the training hall, Zhang Wen had just finished a set of basic thunder-attribute training when he saw several teachers observing from a distance with clipboards, looking down to write and draw from time to time. On the other side, Xue Yuan was slashing Wind Blades at a training dummy, each strike carrying the sound of breaking wind, clearly holding back his strength for a big move.

"It seems this fight is unavoidable." Zhang Wen wiped the sweat from his brow as the Lightning Radiance at his fingertips quietly dissipated. He caught sight of Ding Siyi standing at the entrance of the training hall, holding a small Spirit Meter. Seeing him look over, she gave him a "fighting" gesture.

Just as Zhang Wen nodded to Ding Siyi, he was interrupted by a burst of hurried footsteps. Liu Zi rushed into the training hall holding a large megaphone, which was looping: "Go Brother Zhang! Strike Xue Yuan with thunder!" He stuffed a stack of support stickers printed with lightning patterns into Zhang Wen's arms, nearly knocking over the energy drink rack nearby.

"Brother Zhang, I've got secret intel on Xue Yuan for you!" Wang Lei mysteriously pulled out a notebook filled with crooked sketches—Xue Yuan's sword-swinging posture was drawn like chopping firewood, with a note next to it: "Weakness: Afraid of water." While Zhang Wen was staring in a daze, he suddenly felt his pocket getting hot. He reached in and—good heavens—the thunder bath towel had jumped out on its own at some point. It was sizzling with electric sparks and had poked several charred holes into Wang Lei's notebook.

"W-what kind of high-tech is this?" Wang Lei backed away three steps in fright, pointing at the bath towel and stuttering, "It's even fiercer than Xue Yuan's Splitting Blade!" Zhang Wen hurriedly stuffed the bath towel back in, his ears turning red—he couldn't exactly say it was a "Body Refining Divine Artifact" used for bathing.

Just then, the training hall door was pushed open, and Xue Yuan walked in with several lackeys. His gaze swept over Zhang Wen with a cold snort: "Don't think you're all that just because you have some crappy talent. Saturday on the rooftop, I'll show you what a true powerhouse is." He intentionally bumped into Zhang Wen's shoulder, only to wince and grimace as a sudden current of electricity surged from the other's body.

"Oh, is Young Master Xue carrying static electricity?" Zhang Wen raised an eyebrow and smiled. Taking advantage of the moment Xue Yuan turned around, he quietly rubbed the thunder bath towel against his coat. In the next second, Xue Yuan's hair suddenly stood on end like a bristling cat, drawing a round of suppressed laughter from those around them.

After Xue Yuan left in a huff, Ding Siyi walked over with a smile and pointed at Zhang Wen's pocket: "Your 'secret weapon' seems a bit restless." Zhang Wen looked down; the bath towel was glowing through the fabric, looking like he was carrying a small light bulb. He coughed twice: "This... this is a new lightning auxiliary device, the effect is top-notch."

In the distance, the teacher responsible for maintaining the Barrier was muttering while holding a Spirit Meter: "Strange, why is the lightning energy so erratic today? And it even carries a scent of body wash..."