51: Control the initial opponent

Qin Yue's opponent was a thin man named Leng Sun.

The moment the referee announced the start of the match, Leng Sun's figure blurred, and five Wind Blades swept forward in a fan shape.

Instantly, Qin Yue dropped into a horse stance and crossed his arms; his skin became as hard as granite, directly deflecting the Wind Blades.

"Air Pressure Cage!"

That was only a probe; now, Leng Sun suddenly leaped into the air, and the air above the arena was abruptly compressed.

Qin Yue felt a strong sense of pressure, making it somewhat difficult to breathe.

Seizing the opportunity, Leng Sun turned into a green afterimage and suddenly circled behind Qin Yue, his palm shrouded in wind pressure as he aimed straight for the back of Qin Yue's neck.

"Rock Armor Armament!"

Qin Yue's entire body was instantly enveloped in a layer of rock-like crystals.

Leng Sun's palm struck the crystals, and the counter-shock made his wrist go numb.

"Earth Vein Shackles!"

At that moment, with a whisper from Qin Yue, several large stone hands suddenly erupted from the ground.

Leng Sun tried to dodge, but he was still touched by one of the hands, significantly slowing his movements.

"Mountain Collapse Combo!"

Qin Yue seized the chance, throwing punch after punch at Leng Sun.

Facing Qin Yue's assault, Leng Sun, who had accidentally fallen into a passive position, could only grit his teeth and endure.

"Bang!"

By the ninth punch, the terrifying force sent Leng Sun flying.

Relying on his agility, Leng Sun quickly adjusted his posture in mid-air, but the moment he landed, Qin Yue's next attack followed immediately.

"Thousand Jin Descent!"

Qin Yue had already leaped high and was now rapidly descending from the sky.

The terrifying shockwave upon his landing caused the entire arena to tremble incessantly.

Leng Sun was shocked; in his haste, he condensed several wind walls to form a temporary defense.

However, under Qin Yue's powerful strike, the wind walls shattered like paper.

"Pfft!"

Leng Sun couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood as he was blown away by the shockwave.

"I surrender!"

Barely landing and seeing Qin Yue about to charge again, Leng Sun hurriedly raised his hand in surrender.

Qin Yue's figure stopped half a meter in front of him, his fist less than three inches from Leng Sun's face.

"Qin Yue's on-the-spot Control and combat rhythm are quite good."

Zhou Xing nodded in approval while watching Qin Yue's battle.

On the distant stands, Elder Tie stroked his beard and smiled, "This kid's strength is good, and his combat rhythm is tightly linked."

"Honestly, as long as he doesn't run into someone in the Control Realm, there shouldn't be much of a problem."

Beside him, Bei Chen nodded. "He's only a step away from a Control Breakthrough. However, this step requires enough pressure and stimulation. It remains to be seen if his future opponents will provide that pressure."

For the two experts in the Universal Manifestation Realm, the fights below were no different from children playing house. However, these were all the future hopes of The Watchers, so they both observed very carefully.

If they truly found a promising prospect, it wasn't impossible to recruit them directly into Star City.

The matches continued, and Su Mingyue's opponent turned out to be another Awakened One of the god of shadow. However, Su Mingyue's overall abilities were stronger, and she advanced to the next round by a narrow margin.

In that case, it was a good start; the Dragon City trio successfully advanced to the next round.

By the second day, the competition was still in full swing.

Today, many people didn't dare to be the least bit careless.

Many contestants knew that among the current 54 people, aside from the few who had openly revealed they had reached the Control Realm, there were quite a few hiding their true strength.

Zhou Xing himself was relatively relaxed, but for Qin Yue and Su Mingyue, today was definitely the ultimate test.

In fact, the three of them had gathered last night to analyze the situation. It could be said that besides relying on luck or being able to achieve a Control Breakthrough themselves, there was no third way to successfully advance.

As usual, after Bei Chen gave some encouraging opening remarks, the matches began.

Everyone would redraw lots today. Zhou Xing drew the number one slot, while Qin Yue and Su Mingyue were numbers 16 and 26, respectively.

The contestant who drew number two was a handsome man with green hair.

Looking at this person, many who were unaware of Zhou Xing's strength couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

This was because the man, named Mu Qi, came from Wood City and had already revealed yesterday that he was an Awakened One at the Initial Control Stage.

"Haha, look at the expressions on many people's faces. Clearly, most of them think Zhou Xing is doomed," Elder Tie said with a smile from the stands, watching Zhou Xing and Mu Qi enter the arena.

"It's just a bit of a pity; someone with Control strength will be eliminated in this round," Bei Chen felt it was somewhat regrettable.

"What's there to pity? Everything is random. Besides, so what if they last until the end?"

"Securing one of the three spots for the Special Training Camp is what matters; everything else is secondary."

"If you think it's a pity, you can always recruit him into one of Star City's squads for training later."

Elder Tie shook his head instead, disagreeing with Bei Chen's view.

Meanwhile, on the arena, Zhou Xing and Mu Qi were both waiting for the match to begin.

Looking at Zhou Xing across from him, for some reason, Mu Qi felt a sense of pressure.

This was because the other's expression seemed very indifferent, especially when facing a Controller like himself.

Mu Qi immediately became more vigilant.

The referee's voice rang out at that moment: "Match—Begin!"

Mu Qi struck first; with a flick of his finger, a green light sank into the arena.

"Thorn Entanglement!"

Immediately, dozens of thorny vines burst from the ground, coiling toward Zhou Xing like pythons!

Zhou Xing raised his right hand and gave a sudden wave. A massive amount of Frost Power surged forth, instantly freezing the encroaching vines.

"You're in the Control Realm too? No wonder you're so calm."

Seeing the energy fluctuations erupting from Zhou Xing, Mu Qi's expression tightened.

He took a deep breath and slammed his right hand onto the arena floor. Waves of energy poured from his hand into the ground, followed by a low shout: "Thorn Garden!"

*Rumble!*

The entire floor of the arena split wide open as countless thick thorny vines grew wildly. In the blink of an eye, the arena turned into a dense thorn jungle.

The vines were covered in thorns, and several giant man-eating flowers opened their maws to bite at Zhou Xing.

"Congeal!"

Facing the attack, Zhou Xing simply uttered the word "Congeal." Immediately, centered on him, extreme frost spread out, freezing everything in the surroundings layer by layer, turning it into an ice sculpture garden.

It seemed as if Zhou Xing was waiting for his opponent to make a move every time before responding.

Clearly, he also wanted to see if his opponent had any special abilities.

After all, once the Star City selection ended and they went to the big cities, they would be facing Geniuses who had all reached the Control Realm.

He was treating this as gaining experience.

Otherwise, Zhou Xing could have finished the opponent in a single move.

Seeing that his attacks were completely ineffective, Mu Qi no longer intended to hold back.

He slammed both hands onto the ground and roared, "Life Bloom!"

Instantly, surges of power appeared on the frozen vines, and they vibrated violently.

The ice cracked, and the vines and man-eating flowers were all liberated.

With a sudden wave of his hand, the vines surged forward once more.

At the same time, several giant man-eating flowers spat out a large number of spores toward Zhou Xing.