159: Chapter 159 A Slap

"Holy crap! He's calling out Lu Cheng directly?!"

"A student from Navigator Academy battling the current championship winner? This ticket was worth every penny!"

"If he loses, it'll be so embarrassing!"

His words immediately put Lu Cheng on the spot...

Sister Bai turned her head to look at Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng leaned back in his chair, still holding the half-finished cup of water, his expression calm.

Qin Zhaobai stood on the arena stage, looking toward Lu Cheng with the corner of his mouth slightly curled.

"Student Lu Cheng..." Qin Zhaobai's voice rang out again, this time with a hint of a smile. "Isn't Navigator Academy known for having the strongest of their generation? What's the matter? Are you too afraid now that you have to suppress your realm to match mine?"

As soon as he said this, more people in the audience started jeering.

Lu Cheng simply shook his head. "Not interested."

His voice carried through the microphone across the entire venue.

The noise in the audience paused for a moment.

"First of all, I don't like bullying the young," Lu Cheng said, setting his cup on the table. His tone was as casual as if he were chatting about what to have for lunch.

"Secondly, I reached the Meridian Opening Realm at the same age as you, which is a testament to my own strength. Why should I have to suppress my realm?"

Upon hearing this, the corners of Su Wan's mouth, sitting next to the commentary booth, twitched slightly.

"Finally, I am just a specially invited guest.

If you're interested, you can wait for the National University Competition a year from now; I'll be participating then."

After finishing these three sentences, Lu Cheng pushed the microphone slightly further away.

He really didn't want to fight right now.

Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck had not triggered in relation to this guy.

This meant Qin Zhaobai posed no threat to him...

And... if he chose to go down... there would be danger in the audience...

Why should he do such an unrewarding task?

Just then, Qin Zhaobai chuckled.

"And here I thought Navigator Academy was something special." He pulled down his cuffs and brushed the dust off his school uniform, his tone filled with undisguised mockery.

"So, Student Lu Cheng is afraid of losing, too.

It makes sense, though. Once you suppress yourself to the Source Gathering Realm, all your advantages from the Meridian Opening Realm disappear. How unsightly it would be to lose."

"Coward!"

Someone in the audience shouted.

Then came a second voice.

"Is this it? Navigator Academy?"

"You don't even dare to fight at the same realm, yet you brag about being the strongest of your generation!"

"Lu Cheng! Are you even a man?!"

The whole venue was in an uproar.

The fans from Jingmen High School were already unhappy with Imperial Capital No. 1 High School, and seeing Qin Zhaobai being so arrogant only made them angrier.

However, the supporters of Imperial Capital No. 1 High School made up the vast majority. Deep blue cheering sticks filled half the venue, and their voices gathered together, vibrating the dome.

"Accept! Accept! Accept!"

Sister Bai couldn't sit still anymore.

She reached out and pulled Lu Cheng's microphone toward her, asking in a low voice, "What are you going to do? This situation..."

She didn't finish her sentence.

Lu Cheng's terminal vibrated.

He looked down and saw a message from Mei Wushuang.

There was only one line of text on the screen:

[Accept the challenge, but don't kill him. This guy is still useful.]

Lu Cheng looked at the text and raised an eyebrow slightly.

Lu Cheng put away his terminal and turned to look at the arena.

Qin Zhaobai was still standing in the center of the arena.

His four teammates behind him had already retreated to the sidelines, each with a look of amusement on their faces.

They clearly knew Qin Zhaobai would pull something like this.

"Since you all want to see it so much..." Lu Cheng stood up, took off his jacket, and tossed it onto the chair. "I suppose that's possible."

He looked toward the organizers and asked, "Director Wang, do we have time for this?"

Over at the organizers' seats, Director Wang from the Education Bureau was whispering with some members of the judging panel.

They had started discussing it the moment Qin Zhaobai called him out, and now that Lu Cheng had agreed, their discussion ended immediately.

Director Wang stood up and picked up the microphone. "That is acceptable."

He paused and added:

"But both sides must follow safety rules.

The match must stop when a point is made; no fatalities allowed..."

"Rest assured, it will stop at a point."

Lu Cheng interrupted him and walked down the steps of the commentary booth.

The arena was quickly cleared.

The medical team carried away the three injured students from Jingmen High School, the protective barrier around the edge of the arena was recalibrated, and the match schedule on the four giant screens was refreshed.

[Special Invitational Match: Lu Cheng vs. Qin Zhaobai].

As Lu Cheng walked toward the arena, he adjusted his breathing.

He took a deep breath, controlling his energy and blood to shrink toward his Dantian.

The flow rate of Source Power in his energy meridians began to decrease, and the Source Power on the walls of his meridians peeled off layer by layer, merging back into his energy and blood.

Then, he located his Qi Sea Meridian and sealed off that meridian port within his body.

The flow rate of his Source Power instantly dropped to one-third of its original speed.

Meridian Opening Realm (Early Stage)...

Source Gathering Realm (Peak Stage).

Source Gathering Realm (Late Stage).

Source Gathering Realm (Mid Stage).

Source Gathering Realm (Early Stage).

Lu Cheng stopped at the early stage of the Source Gathering Realm.

"That should be about right." He flexed his wrists, his joints cracking crisply.

After sealing the Qi Sea Meridian, the amount of Source Power in his body was less than one-tenth of what it had been.

In this state, he was about the same as an ordinary early-stage Source Gathering Realm practitioner.

He jumped onto the arena.

Since he was already here... he might as well liven up the atmosphere a bit more.

Lu Cheng stood on the arena, face-to-face with Qin Zhaobai, the distance between them less than ten meters.

He reached out a hand and pointed to the spot at his feet.

"How about this, I won't bully you.

I'll stand here..." He used the tip of his toe to draw a line on the stone slab, the stone slab directly cut by his toe into a shallow scratch,

"If you can make me move a single step, you win."

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole venue exploded again.

"Holy crap!! He's going to stand still and let him hit him?!"

"This is freaking insane!!"

"Is Lu Cheng crazy?! He's only at the early Source Gathering Realm now!!"

"Standing still counts as a loss? Qin Zhaobai is a late-stage Source Gathering Realm with an S-Rank Talent! He just beat three people by himself!!"

Sister Bai was stunned.

She opened her mouth at the commentary booth, wanting to say something, but didn't know what to say.

Su Wan, sitting next to her, remained calm, merely folding the jacket Lu Cheng had tossed on the chair and placing it on her lap.

On the arena, Qin Zhaobai's expression changed in an instant.

The mocking smile he had been maintaining stiffened on his face.

His expression turned dark and twisted.

This was the first time he had been humiliated to this extent.

The Qin Family of the Imperial Capital had given him strict orders before this competition.

Find a way to suppress Lu Cheng's arrogance, which was why he had provoked him earlier.

According to Qin Zhaobai's original plan, he would force Lu Cheng to suppress himself to the Source Gathering Realm and then defeat him head-on in the arena.

As long as he won, he would achieve his goal, and the trending topics on social media would shift from #GeniusCommentatorLuCheng# to #NavigatorAcademyStudentCrushedByQinFamilyScion#.

Qin Zhaobai's fists clenched, his knuckles turning white.

"Are you sure?" His voice squeezed out from between his teeth, every word sounding like he was chewing on iron blocks.

Lu Cheng nodded and didn't say anything else.

The audience held their breath.

The referee's hand was raised in mid-air, hesitating for half a second before dropping sharply.

"Begin!"

Qin Zhaobai moved.

He went all out from the start.

His aura as a late-stage Source Gathering Realm practitioner was pushed to its peak, and black Source Power surged from his body, forming a visible vortex around him.

His school uniform flapped violently in the air current, and the gravel on the arena was swept up, clattering against the protective barrier.

He hadn't wanted to use that move... It wasn't fully mastered yet, and it caused significant damage to his own body.

Qin Zhaobai bit the tip of his tongue.

A stream of black blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

The next second, a cloud of black mist exploded behind him.

Two black wings tore through his school uniform and extended from his shoulder blades, with a wingspan of over two meters, the edges of the feathers glowing with an ominous dark red pattern.

At the same time, black patterns spread from his wrists up to his cheeks, and the veins beneath his skin turned deep black, wriggling under the lights like black earthworms.

Bloodline Power.

The entire audience gasped.

"Is this a bloodline?!"

Qin Zhaobai's aura began to skyrocket.

Source Gathering Realm (Late Stage).

Source Gathering Realm (Peak Stage).

Half-step to Meridian Opening.

His aura broke through the ceiling of the Source Gathering Realm Peak Stage, faintly hitting the threshold of the Meridian Opening Realm.

The nine meridians were not open, and the circulation of Source Power remained within the framework of the Source Gathering Realm, so strictly speaking, it couldn't be called the Meridian Opening Realm.

But his combat power should be about the same.

Lu Cheng frowned slightly.

The aura of this thing was somewhat similar to the Black Seed guys, but not exactly the same.

Qin Zhaobai's black energy was mixed with the power of the bloodline itself, not pure contamination.

The cheering in the audience had stopped.

It was replaced by a sense of heaviness that weighed on everyone's hearts.

Qin Zhaobai's black wings flapped violently, and he vanished from where he stood.

The next second, he appeared in front of Lu Cheng.

His right hand formed a claw, his five fingers wrapped in black Source Power, striking directly at Lu Cheng's throat.

The speed could be considered top-tier even in the Meridian Opening Realm...

But Lu Cheng simply raised his right hand... The power of the Flame Demon attached to his right hand, faintly flashing with holy light.

Slap!!

A crisp, ear-piercing sound exploded.

Qin Zhaobai was sent flying sideways.

The black wings on his back flapped desperately in the air, trying to stabilize his body, but the force was too great, completely beyond his ability to resist.

His body spun twice in the air and slammed into the protective barrier at the edge of the arena. The surface of the barrier lit up with a ripple, bouncing him back and slamming him heavily onto the stone slab.

Gravel scattered everywhere.

The whole venue was silent.

Sister Bai's hand holding the microphone was trembling.

She opened her mouth, her voice a bit dry:

"Lu Cheng... Student Lu Cheng... used only one slap... to knock Qin Zhaobai out of the arena???"

On the arena, Qin Zhaobai lay in the pile of gravel, one of his black wings shattered, the other drooping, half the feathers fallen off.

The black patterns on his body were rapidly fading, and the black lines of veins on his face were also lightening.

He tried to push himself up from the ground, but as soon as his elbows supported him, he collapsed again.

Lu Cheng was still standing behind that line, not having moved a single step.

He looked down at Qin Zhaobai, withdrew his right hand, and brushed the dust off his palm.

"Is this result acceptable?"

Lu Cheng's voice was calm, carrying to every corner of the venue.

No one in the audience spoke.

In the Imperial Capital No. 1 High School fan section, those hands holding deep blue cheering sticks were frozen in mid-air.

The fans from Jingmen High School were also stunned. They had just been angry about Shi Kaiyue's defeat, but now that they saw Qin Zhaobai slapped away, they didn't know where to direct their anger anymore.

"Holy crap! Lu Cheng is awesome!!!"

"One slap?? For real??"

"That's insane!!"

The audience's exclamations and cheers flew everywhere like they were free...

Thunderous applause exploded throughout the venue...

In that instant, posts about Lu Cheng flew everywhere, and he shot straight to number one on the trending lists on Weibo and the Jiangyin Platform...

Sister Bai was a professional host after all, and she reacted immediately.

She cleared her throat and pulled the microphone closer. "Judges! Do you need to confirm the status of contestant Qin Zhaobai?"

The referee also just came to his senses and hurriedly ran toward Qin Zhaobai.

Just then...

Lu Cheng's body suddenly tensed up.

A sense of crisis arose in the surrounding air.

Then, in an instant, that sense of crisis deflated again.

What was going on?

Lu Cheng's gaze swept across the stands.

The 150,000 spectators in the audience were slowly recovering from their shock, starting to whisper, some standing up to push forward, others taking out their terminals to take pictures.

Everything was as normal as could be.

But he knew it wasn't an illusion just now.

Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck would not lie to him.