77: Chapter 77 Thunder Strike and the Mystery of Banned Drugs

The arena at Longya Academy was exceptionally boisterous today.

A massive holographic projection floated in mid-air, scrolling through the odds and highlight reels of various title favorites.

The stands were packed with people; besides the school's faculty and students, there were many media reporters wielding long lenses and cameras, as well as scouts from various Families in Tianhai City.

After all, this was the cradle of future powerhouses.

"Make way, please make way, don't block the future champion from entering."

Zhang Wei was struggling to push through the crowd, his fat body serving as the best bulldozer at this moment.

Lin Qi followed behind him, hands in his pockets, his expression as calm as if he were strolling through a vegetable market.

He was wearing the dark gray combat suit that Old Mo had given him; it was neatly tailored with no superfluous decorations, yet it made his figure appear as upright as a pine tree.

The smell of machine oil from long periods spent in scrap heaps was gone, replaced by a composed and restrained Aura.

If he had once been a piece of rusted scrap iron, he was now a heavy sword hidden within its scabbard.

"Is that Lin Qi?"

Someone recognized him.

"Why does it feel like he's a different person? Haven't seen him in half a month, did he go get plastic surgery?"

"Plastic surgery can create this kind of Aura? I think he went to acting school; he's putting on quite a convincing act."

The murmurs were endless.

Lin Qi turned a deaf ear to them, his gaze sweeping casually across the arena before finally resting on the contestant area below the VIP seats.

Someone was sitting there.

Li Shaobai was dressed in white as pristine as snow, a shimmering sword case on his back, staring coldly in this direction.

Their gazes met in mid-air.

Li Shaobai narrowed his eyes, fingers tapping lightly on the sword case, a cold sneer hanging on the corners of his mouth, yet deep within his eyes lay a hint of imperceptible solemnity.

He could sense that the Qi on Lin Qi had changed.

It was no longer the "Blank Slate" that could be seen through at a glance, but a pool of bottomless, stagnant water.

"Brother Qi, that grandson is glaring at you," Zhang Wei whispered.

"Let him glare," Lin Qi withdrew his gaze. "No matter how wide he opens his eyes, it won't change the fact that he is a gift-giving boy."

The broadcast sounded at the right moment.

"Attention all contestants, the first round of the elimination tournament is about to begin."

"The format is a fifty-person melee; the last five remaining on the arena will advance."

"Group 7 contestants, please proceed to Arena 7."

Lin Qi glanced at the number plate in his hand: 07-44.

"Let's go."

He patted Zhang Wei on the shoulder and turned to walk toward Arena 7.

The arena was huge, about half the size of a football field, with the ground paved with specially made anti-magic stone slabs.

As soon as Lin Qi stood still, dozens of malicious gazes were cast in his direction.

"Yo, isn't this our 'Rule Breaker'?"

A burly bald man walked over, carrying a two-handed battle axe in his hand, the blade flickering with an earthy yellow light.

"B-rank talent, Rock Strengthening." The bald man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "Brothers, our group is lucky; there's someone here to hand us points."

Several other warriors carrying heavy weapons gathered around, vaguely forming a circle.

"Get him off first, so he doesn't get in the way."

"I heard he's only Level 1? If I swing my axe down, will he just shatter?"

"Don't be careless, even Li Shaobai suffered a loss at his hands."

"That's because Li Shaobai underestimated him. Let's all go together and hack the old master to death."

Lin Qi stood where he was, watching this group of opponents flexing their muscles, and sighed softly.

"Do you have some misunderstanding about the term 'handing out points'?"

The bald man's face darkened: "Stubborn as a dead duck, attack!"

Before he finished speaking, the five warriors activated their skills simultaneously.

"Charge!"

"Earth-Splitting Slash!"

"Savage Collision!"

Colorful skill effects lit up, accompanied by whistling wind, smashing toward Lin Qi from all directions.

The momentum was immense; it seemed unavoidable.

Lin Qi did not dodge.

He merely crouched slightly, raised his right foot half an inch, and then slammed it down violently.

Boom!

A dull, thunderous sound rang out, like a heavy hammer striking a cowhide drum.

No exaggerated cracks appeared, nor were there any flying stone fragments.

But the expressions of the five warriors on the scene changed simultaneously.

An extremely strange shockwave propagated along the ground, drilling directly into the soles of their feet and traveling up along their bones.

Their knees went weak, and their ankles throbbed with severe pain.

The momentum of their initial charge was instantly interrupted; the burly bald man felt as if the ground beneath him had vanished, his whole body feeling as if he had stepped on cotton, his center of gravity completely lost.

Thunder-Shock Slash: Earth Tremor.

This was not magic; it was a pure physical vibration technique.

The moment they were swaying, Lin Qi moved.

He didn't use any fancy footwork; it was just a simple, straight-line dash.

Fast.

Fast as a gray bolt of lightning.

Lin Qi appeared in front of the burly bald man, without any nonsense, his right fist clenched tight, the middle finger knuckle protruding.

Phoenix Eye Fist.

Bang!

The fist struck precisely three inches below the bald man's ribs.

That was the gap in his armor connection, and also one of the most vulnerable soft spots of the human body.

"Ugh..."

The burly bald man couldn't even let out a scream; his eyes bulged, his whole body arched like a cooked shrimp, and the battle axe in his hand clattered to the ground.

Lin Qi didn't pause; using the reaction force, he turned and delivered a whip kick into the back of the knee of the ambusher behind him.

Snap.

A teeth-gritting sound of bone dislocation rang out.

The man fell directly to his knees, clutching his leg and wailing.

Following that was the third, then the fourth.

A straight punch to the chin, an uppercut to the abdomen, a hand-blade strike to the carotid artery.

Lin Qi's movements were concise to the extreme, without a single superfluous motion, every strike aimed straight for a vital point.

This wasn't a competition; this was surgical disassembly.

In less than ten seconds.

The five warriors who had been aggressively besieging him just a moment ago were now all lying on the ground, either unconscious or having lost their combat capability.

Lin Qi stood in the center of the arena, a strange vacuum zone forming around him.

He brushed the non-existent dust off his combat suit and looked around.

"Who else wants to hand out points?"

The remaining forty-plus contestants looked at each other and collectively took a step back.

This was no soft persimmon; this was clearly a Tyrannosaurus Rex in human skin.

The stands were deathly silent.

Those who had originally prepared to watch a joke now had their mouths open wide enough to fit an egg.

No skill light effects, no magic fluctuations.

Just a few punches and kicks, and he disabled five warriors of the same level?

This is a "Blank Slate"?

The referee was stunned for several seconds before blowing the whistle.

"Contestant 07-44, advance!"

Lin Qi turned and left the stage without even looking back.

Just as he walked out of the contestant passageway, a withered hand pulled him into a corner.

Old Mo was still holding that paint-chipped thermos, but the expression on his face was rarely serious.

"Good fight, you didn't embarrass me."

"That's because they were too weak." Lin Qi took the water Old Mo handed him. "You specifically blocked me here, surely not just to compliment me?"

Old Mo shook his head and lowered his voice.

"When you were on the stage just now, I was observing Li Shaobai the whole time."

"What's wrong with him?"

"His Qi is not right." Old Mo narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharp. "Although he is suppressing it with all his might, I can smell that scent."

"It's the restlessness after Qi and blood burning, and the red light that occasionally flashes in the depths of his pupils."

Lin Qi frowned slightly: "Forbidden drugs?"