89: Chapter 89 Fastest Third Stage

The Round of 16 matches lasted until nightfall.

After all, there were 24 matches to be held across three grade levels.

However, the intensity of the Round of 16 was a step above the previous matches, and this time, Modu Ability University had three students eliminated at once.

Liang Mengmeng and Lin Yimo from the third year, and Zhao Longfei from the second year were all eliminated.

The only ones to enter the top eight were Mu Feng from the third year, Senior Duan Tao from the second year, and Guan Yue and Su Mu from the first year.

In truth, Guan Yue was also quite lucky, as she had not encountered any particularly strong opponents so far.

However, she might be eliminated in the next round, because her opponent in the next round would be Mu Luan.

But what surprised Su Mu the most was his own opponent in the next round.

It was actually Lin Lei.

After his ability underwent a transformation, this good brother of his had truly taken off, securing a spot in the top eight.

In the Liaocheng University section, Lin Lei was being praised to the heavens by his team's coach.

"Lin Lei! Well done! I didn't expect you to be so astonishing once you finally made a move."

Liaocheng University was not a top-tier university after all, so having one student enter the top eight was already considered an excellent result.

But at this moment, Lin Lei seemed not to hear, looking instead toward Su Mu's direction.

The two looked at each other from afar, both with smiles on their lips.

Lin Lei whispered, "Brother Mu."

Soon, the next day's matches were set to begin, with the third-year students starting first as usual.

Mu Feng was the first to take the stage again, her opponent being a student who used a long spear.

After over ten minutes of fierce fighting, Mu Feng successfully seized a flaw in her opponent's defense and won.

However, looking at her state, the victory had not come easily.

After stepping off the stage, she went straight to treat her injuries.

Su Mu did not spend time watching others' Combat Techniques today, because he had already watched those who took the stage today yesterday; while watching them again might yield some insights, they would be very limited.

He sat cross-legged in his seat, withdrawing his perception until he could no longer feel the movements outside, and began to Cultivate directly.

Seeing Su Mu begin to Cultivate, Professor Lu Ming couldn't help but pay a little more attention to him.

After all, he had experienced a mishap during his Cultivation previously.

However, after watching for a few minutes, Professor Lu Ming's eyes lit up, and he nodded happily, feeling very satisfied.

This time, Su Mu's Cultivation was steady and unhurried, and the circulation of his Source Power was long and continuous.

"It seems that the lad Su Mu is finally able to control his emotions well without affecting his Cultivation."

Although this was only a small step on the path of Cultivation, it was a huge step in Su Mu's growth.

Having confirmed Su Mu's state, Professor Lu Ming stopped paying attention to him and turned his gaze back to the ring.

On the ring, the last battle for the third-year students was already underway, with the two sides being a student from Hangcheng Ability University and the runner-up of the previous University Ability Competition.

The two were very evenly matched.

However, in the end, the runner-up of the previous University Ability Competition successfully advanced to the semi-finals.

After that, it was the second-year matches, and Senior Duan Tao was the first to take the stage as well.

However, he was much luckier, as his opponent had a water-attribute ability.

With one S-Rank Combat Skill, "Ice Envelops the World," Senior Duan Tao easily won the match.

The subsequent matches proceeded in full swing, and the audience in the stands, having endured the boring matches of the first two days, finally welcomed the exciting battle scenes.

B-Rank Combat Techniques were as common as stray dogs, A-Rank Combat Techniques were everywhere, and S-Rank Combat Techniques appeared occasionally.

This was the University Ability Competition; those who usually risked their lives killing Vicious Beasts to save resources for a single B-Rank Combat Technique were instantly brought to tears.

"Next match: Modu Ability University's Su Mu versus Liaocheng Ability University's Lin Lei. Please have the contestants take the stage."

Su Mu opened his eyes from his Cultivation and walked toward the ring step by step.

On the other side, Lin Lei did the same, but compared to the quietness of Modu Ability University, that side was filled with cheers.

"Lin Lei! Fight well! Come on!"

"Junior Brother Lin, come on!"

However, Lin Lei knew in his heart that he could not win this match.

The two walked onto the ring and shook hands.

"Not bad, Lei-zi! You've made it all the way to the top eight."

"No choice, I ran into you, Brother Mu. There's no chance to go further than the top eight this year."

Although Lin Lei said this jokingly, he also knew that reaching the top eight was the limit based on his own strength.

"Come on!"

The two immediately took their fighting stances.

Two minutes later...

"Damn! Brother Mu, you've already reached the third Rank!!!"

Lin Lei's Dao Heart was shattered; he had originally thought he could put up a fight against Brother Mu with his earth-attribute ability.

But to his surprise, as soon as they started, he found that his earth-type defenses couldn't block Su Mu's lightning at all.

And what surprised him most was that his ability to change the terrain had absolutely no effect on Su Mu.

Just as he channeled his Source Power to change the terrain, Su Mu seemed to know in advance, leaping lightly and giving him no chance for a sneak attack at all.

It was only at the end that he realized he was no longer at the same Rank as Su Mu.

"I just broke through half an hour before taking the stage," Su Mu said with a smile.

But this sentence made Lin Lei feel even more miserable; he had already felt unlucky to draw Su Mu, and it turned out the guy had just happened to have a Breakthrough half an hour before the match started.

Who could he reason with about this?

Su Mu looked at Lin Lei, whose face was as bitter as if he had eaten coptis, and couldn't help but find it funny.

"Hahaha! When the University Ability Competition is over, I'll give you something good."

This good thing was, of course, the Eye of Prediction; the practicality of this Combat Technique was extremely high.

Hearing that there was something good coming, a smile finally appeared on Lin Lei's face.

The two walked off the ring, making this one of the few matches where neither person was injured.

As Su Mu stepped off, he happened to hear the announcement for the next battle.

"Modu Ability University's Guan Yue versus Hangcheng Ability University's Mu Luan. Please have the contestants enter the arena."

Su Mu raised an eyebrow; the match between Mu Luan and Guan Yue was scheduled right after theirs.

Su Mu returned to the viewing stand of Modu Ability University and stood directly next to Mu Feng.

"Not bad, Junior Brother has already reached the third Rank."

As she spoke, she took out her phone and showed it to Su Mu.

"I posted about you breaking through to the third Rank in the group chat, and the other Senior Brothers and Sisters are going crazy."

In the Yang Family Apprenticeship Group:

Mu Feng: Everyone, look! Junior Brother has reached the third Rank.

Sixth Senior Sister: Damn! So fast? It's only been a few months, he must have broken the record for the fastest third-Rank Breakthrough, right?

Fifth Senior Brother: The fastest record for a third-Rank Breakthrough seems to be three months.

Fifth Senior Brother: How long has it been since Junior Brother Awakened?

Mu Feng: Including today, it should be two and a half months.

First Senior Brother: Congratulations to Junior Brother for breaking the record! (Fireworks)

First Senior Brother: [Exclusive Red Envelope]

The chat history ended at the interface where the First Senior Brother sent the red envelope.

Su Mu took his phone out of his pocket to claim the red envelope while asking Mu Feng.

"Senior Sister! Why is it always just these few people talking in the group?"

Su Mu calculated briefly; there were 11 people in the group including their teacher, but only a few people usually spoke.

A flash of unnaturalness appeared on Mu Feng's face, but she recovered instantly.

"It's nothing, a few Senior Brothers and Sisters don't like to talk."

As she spoke, she also transferred 100 credits to Su Mu, with a note congratulating Junior Brother on breaking the record for the fastest third-Rank Breakthrough.

After reporting the third-Rank Breakthrough record, there were actually some rewards from the officials, but the rewards were not much.

They were just some Combat Techniques or monetary rewards.

The main thing was that the lower the Rank, the easier it was to break the records.