161: Chapter 161 Advancing to the Top Three

Extreme Ice Descent lasted for a full minute until Ye Wushuang's spiritual power was exhausted.

The arena was already a mess.

A thick layer of ice crystal powder covered the floor, shimmering under the lights.

Su Qing knelt on the ground, covered in blood, unable to stand.

Zhao Tie's shield was covered in cracks, but he was still standing.

Lin Wan's shield shattered and reformed, then shattered again; her spiritual power was also spent.

Sun Kai's lightning shield had completely extinguished; he knelt on one knee, gasping for air.

Lin Fan watched this scene, a smirk playing on his lips.

"It's my turn."

He took a step forward, and the golden crystal in his left eye lit up—Kingdom of Eternal Sleep.

A Dream Realm Domain fifty meters in diameter suddenly expanded with him at the center, its pale golden light rippling outward like water to envelop the entire arena.

Within the Domain, the boundary between reality and dreams began to blur, the air became thick, and time seemed to slow down.

Everyone instantly fell into a deep dream, even letting out murmurs like sleep-talk.

Then, Lin Fan raised his left hand, and Xiao Zhuang rose from his arm. Its silver-black flood dragon body circled in the air as it looked up toward the sky.

Despite it being broad daylight, the sky suddenly darkened for a moment. A beam of silvery-white moonlight pierced through the clouds and fell upon Xiao Zhuang.

Its scales turned silver in the moonlight, and the trident horn on its head began to glow.

"Moonfall Dragon Roar Charge."

Xiao Zhuang let out a long cry, and a beam of silvery-white moonlight struck down from the sky, condensing into a massive lunar shadow beam above its head.

The beam transformed into a dragon shape—head, body, and tail—all lifelike.

The Moonshadow Dragon was a full ten meters long and entirely silvery-white. Its scales shimmered with moonlight-like patterns, and its eyes were deep purple vertical slits. Dragon might filled the air, carrying the oppressive weight of Lunar Power.

The Moonshadow Dragon hovered in mid-air, opened its massive maw, and let out a sky-shaking roar before diving toward the five people still lost in their dreams.

Lin Fan snapped his fingers. The Kingdom of Eternal Sleep dissipated, and the five people woke up instantly.

Sun Kai snapped his eyes open, only to see a massive dragon maw less than a meter from his face.

The Moonshadow Dragon stopped in mid-air, not descending further.

Its maw hung before Sun Kai, its claws hovered over Zhao Tie's head, its tail was positioned across Lin Wan's throat, its wings shielded the space above Su Qing, and its body circled over Zhou Yan.

Five people, five positions—every single one of them was locked by the Moonshadow Dragon's might, unable to move.

Lin Fan stood in the center of the arena with his hands in his pockets, looking at them. "Do you surrender?"

Sun Kai opened his mouth, his throat dry and his voice hoarse. "You... you did this on purpose..."

Lin Fan smiled.

"Yes, I did it on purpose. What are you going to do about it?"

If this strike actually landed, these five would definitely lose their lives, and he wasn't one for indiscriminate killing.

Besides, that would violate the tournament rules, and he was such a law-abiding good boy.

"Do you surrender?" Lin Fan asked again.

Sun Kai closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then exhaled.

"We surrender."

Lin Fan reached out and patted Sun Kai's cheek. "Good boy."

With a clap of his hands, the Moonshadow Dragon dissipated into silvery-white specks of light. The moonlight returned to normal sunlight, and the oppressive pressure on the arena vanished instantly.

In the seating area for Fengdeng City No. 1 High School, Principal Zhang stood leaning on his cane, his face as livid as a piece of aged cast iron.

Embarrassing, so embarrassing!

Lin Fan withdrew his hand and turned to walk back to his team.

Li Fuze first gave Lin Fan a thumbs-up, then stood up from the seating area, straightened his collar, and walked toward the Fengdeng City No. 1 High School section.

He walked up to Principal Zhang with a warm smile on his face, looking incredibly charitable.

"Old Zhang, don't be too sad. The kids are still young; winning and losing is normal. Since you lost today, just go back and practice hard, then come back next time."

He patted Principal Zhang's shoulder with moderate force.

"They're all good prospects, just a bit lacking in mental fortitude to be scared like that by a single dragon. Just go back and work on their courage."

Principal Zhang's face turned from livid to a dark purplish-red. "You!"

Li Fuze interrupted him with a smile.

"No need to thank me. We've been friends for years, so giving you a few pointers is free of charge."

He sighed and said earnestly.

"Old Zhang, it's not that I want to criticize you, but your school's training methods have issues. It's one thing to be weak, but your character isn't great either. Look at our Lin Fan, how generous he is—even after winning, he didn't forget to comfort your Sun Kai."

Principal Zhang slammed his cane onto the ground. "Enough!"

He turned and roared at the five students still slumped on the arena floor.

"Haven't you embarrassed yourselves enough? Get up! Let's go!"

Sun Kai struggled to his feet, and the five of them limped off the arena, heads bowed, not daring to look at anyone.

Principal Zhang led the way with his cane, walking toward the venue exit without looking back.

The referee stepped onto the arena and raised his hand.

"Group Two, Dongyun City First High School wins and advances to the top three!"

Applause erupted from the stands once again. The referee continued.

"In the other match, Qingcheng City First High School faced Nanlin City First High School. Qingcheng City First High School won and advanced to the top three. Tomorrow morning at nine o'clock, the top three round-robin tournament will take place between Dongyun City First High School, Qingcheng City First High School, and Luocheng No. 1 High School to compete for the championship, runner-up, and third-place titles."

Lin Fan returned to the seating area, took the water handed to him by the principal, and took a sip.

The principal looked at him with a smile on his face.

"Well done."

Lin Fan shrugged.

"You weren't bad either, making Principal Zhang's face turn green with anger."

The principal huffed. "Serves him right for his big mouth."

...

After the day's matches ended, everyone went their separate ways.

Lin Fan and the others also returned to the hotel.

Back at the hotel, everyone went to their respective rooms to wash up and change before gathering in Lin Fan and Ye Wushuang's room.

As soon as Qian Duoduo entered, he slumped onto the bed, hugging a pillow with a look of satisfaction.

"It's finally over, I'm exhausted. We have to play two matches tomorrow; who scheduled this? They're clearly trying to kill us."

Liu Qing leaned against the window; the wound on her arm had been covered with a fresh bandage.

Zhao Yuan sat on a chair, casually picked up a book, flipped to a certain page, and began to read.

Ye Wushuang leaned against the headboard, resting with his eyes closed.

Lin Fan pulled up a chair and sat in the middle, crossing his legs.

"Where's the principal?" Qian Duoduo asked.

"He went to a meeting."

Lin Fan glanced at his phone. "He has to go to confirm the player roster and match order before the draw."

Just as he finished speaking, the door opened.

Principal Li Fuze walked in holding a document, his expression unreadable.

He scanned the five people in the room and slapped the document onto the table.

"You're all here, perfect. Tomorrow's tournament format is out."

Qian Duoduo immediately sat up. "How does it work?"

The principal pulled up a chair, sat down, and unfolded the document.

"Top three round-robin. Three teams, each playing one match against the other two. Three matches in total."

He paused.

"The format and appearance order for each match will be decided by a draw before the match starts. Just like the first round, if you draw individual matches, you play individual matches; if you draw a team match, you play a team match. It uses a point system."

Lin Fan frowned.

"How are the points calculated?"

The principal flipped to the next page.

"Three points for a win, zero points for a loss. If there's a tie, each gets one point. After the three matches, the one with the highest points is the champion, the next is the runner-up, and the one after that is third place. If points are tied, there will be a tie-breaker match. The format and order for the tie-breaker will also be decided by draw."

After speaking, he stood up.

"Alright, gather in the lobby at ten tomorrow morning. We'll go to the draw first, and then the matches start in the afternoon."

He walked to the door and looked back at Lin Fan and the others.

"Go to sleep early tonight, don't stay up late."

Lin Fan nodded. "Got it, Principal."

Then, Lin Fan and the other five also dispersed.