98: Chapter 98 The Martial Emperor!

The next day, early morning.

Ding-dong!

Ding-dong!

The doorbell of Villa No. 001 was pressed urgently and piercingly.

With a creak, Su Chen, sporting heavy dark circles under his eyes and radiating a foul mood from being woken up, yanked the door open.

Standing outside was a group of about a dozen people, both male and female. Their youthful faces all carried an unmistakable air of arrogance—clearly, these were the top freshmen living in villas 2 through 99, regarded by the outside world as the chosen ones.

"Something the matter?"

Su Chen scanned the group with a cold gaze, his tone indifferent.

He didn't even need to consciously exert pressure; the [God-Slaying Breath] he had obtained from his fourth awakening naturally seeped out.

The young geniuses who had intended to issue a challenge suddenly felt as if their throats were being gripped by iron pincers. The provocations that were on the tips of their tongues were forced back down.

After a few seconds of dead silence, a young man with a defiant expression braced himself and broke the awkward silence: "I... I want to issue a rank challenge. We want the ownership rights to Villa No. 001."

"Lead the way."

Su Chen was concise.

He happened to have a belly full of pent-up frustration with nowhere to vent; this group bumping into him was quite fitting.

Tianchen Academy, Virtual Arena.

The news spread across the campus as if it had grown wings. By the time Su Chen arrived, the stands were packed with seven or eight hundred people.

Not only were the freshmen all present, but even the upperclassmen had come to join the excitement.

After all, Su Chen's reputation was too significant.

The only freak in a hundred years to possess a dragon before their eighth awakening, combined with the "President's scandal" that had been buzzing since last night—everyone wanted to see just how much this man was truly worth.

"Su Chen showed up!"

"This aura... what's going on? Even from this far away, I'm finding it hard to breathe."

"To the person above me, I'm a Fifth Awakening professional, yet I actually felt weak in the knees just from him glancing at me. Is that even reasonable?"

Su Chen ignored the rampant discussions and calmly swiped his card on the machine.

The defiant young man opposite him also hurriedly inserted his card. With a "beep," ten thousand points were successfully deducted.

This was the rule of Tianchen Academy: the loser of a challenge must pay expensive points to the challenged party, and the more times a challenge is issued, the points increase exponentially.

For a freshman, ten thousand points were enough to make them feel the sting for a long time.

"No. 011, Wei Sui, Class: [Storm Blademaster]. Please advise!"

Wei Sui rubbed his hands in excitement. "Release your Amethyst Giant Dragon! Let me experience that legendary power!"

In his view, as long as he was fast enough to bypass the cumbersome dragon and strike Su Chen—a squishy assassin—directly, his chances of winning were extremely high.

"To deal with you, it's not necessary." Su Chen didn't even lift his eyelids.

"Arrogant! You'll pay the price for this!" Wei Sui was completely Enraged by this near-insulting contempt.

3! 2! 1! The countdown ended!

"Wind Speed!"

"Storm Shadowless Sword!"

Wei Sui transformed into a silver hurricane, his longsword carrying a sonic boom that tore through the air as he charged at Su Chen with speed indiscernible to the naked eye.

Su Chen made a grasping motion with one hand, and the [Ashbringer · Flame of Joy] instantly appeared out of thin air.

He didn't activate any fancy skills; he simply stood his ground. At the moment the opponent's blade was about to touch him, he thrust his sword forward in a plain and unadorned manner.

Puchi!

It was too fast! The spectators in the stands couldn't even capture the trajectory of the blade; they only saw a flash of red light.

"Uh..." Wei Sui's movements came to a screeching halt. He looked down at the greatsword piercing his chest, his eyes filled with horror.

His health bar emptied instantly, and his figure dissolved into white light.

A one-hit kill!

The entire arena fell into a deathly silence.

"This... what kind of freak is this?"

"Wei Sui is the 11th ranked powerhouse among the freshmen, yet he got stabbed before he could even finish his skill?"

"Is he really just an assassin? Isn't the basic attack damage of that one strike a bit too ridiculous?"

Amidst everyone's shock, a pale-faced Wei Sui stepped out of the teleportation array.

He stared fixedly at the battle panel and suddenly let out a scream as if he'd seen a ghost: "Wait! How are you already at the fourth awakening?!"

These words were like a thunderclap, and the entire venue instantly erupted!

In less than a month since enrollment, he had skipped the Third Awakening and gone straight to the Fourth? This leveling efficiency could no longer be described as "genius"; it was a total "monster"! Even more terrifying upon reflection was that the five-star mission Su Chen completed last night was actually the advancement trial for the fourth awakening!

"This strength... it's even more absurd than Senior Qingyue back then."

"A five-star difficulty fourth awakening... good heavens, how did he survive?"

Su Chen stood on the stage, his gaze calmly scanning the room. "Is there anyone else who wants to challenge? If not, I'm leaving."

The freshmen in the audience actually took a step back in unison.

Even someone of Wei Sui's caliber was taken down in one strike; who else would dare go up and give away points for free?

Just as Su Chen was about to pull his card and leave, a feminine shout echoed through the arena.

"I'll take you on!"

A fiery red figure, accompanied by the clanging of heavy armor, instantly cut onto the arena stage.

A girl with a high ponytail and a heroic, spirited air stood firmly, immediately completing the card insertion confirmation.

Su Chen narrowed his eyes slightly, praising her in his heart.

To dare to challenge in this situation, her courage was commendable.

His [True Sight Eye] then swept over her.

[Name]: Chen Xianer

[Level]: Lv48

[Class]: Extreme Martial Fighter (legendary-grade)

[Talent]: [Martial Emperor] (SS-grade: Unarmed combat attributes +200%), [Endless Battle Intent] (SS-grade: The stronger the battle intent, the higher the attributes)

Su Chen suddenly understood.

Chen Xianer, 8th in the national top scorer rankings and the No. 002 freshman of Tianchen Academy.

She had indeed hidden a second SS-grade talent.

Previously, everyone thought she just had overwhelming strength, but no one expected her to be a battle maniac who got crazier the more she fought, with an extremely high ceiling.

The reason her ranking hadn't gone further was likely because early-stage brawlers lacked area-of-effect means, which slowed down her monster-killing efficiency.

But that didn't mean she wasn't strong.

Interesting. An opponent who goes head-to-head like this might finally let him vent some of his frustration.