16: The school competition begins

Lin Ye felt that after the grand competition, he should quickly cultivate to the third rank, as his current rank was really holding him back.

Attribute points could be added to cultivation techniques, but the proficiency of cultivation techniques was much easier to improve than abilities.

For optimal choice, Lin Ye had always added to his abilities.

The Energy Diagram was quite unique; the more skills one had and the stronger they were, the faster the proficiency increased, and the faster Star Power cultivated.

He decided that after his Star Force reached Great Accomplishment, he would focus all his efforts on bringing Muscle Master to the pinnacle of perfection, as Muscle Master’s boost to skill cultivation was too significant.

The intensity of the matches in the past few days was relatively high, but his opponents were not particularly strong. Lin Ye easily dealt with them and didn't linger afterward, returning to the group for diligent training.

For six full days, he didn't encounter any third-rank Martial Artists, nor did third-rank Martial Artists meet each other; the matching system seemed very intelligent.

It wasn't until the 125-to-63 battle that he finally encountered his first third-rank Martial Artist.

"Hello, I'm Qi Leng."

"Hello, I'm Lin Ye."

Lin Ye curiously sized up this third-rank ice element mage, the only female opponent he had encountered so far, with a cool temperament and decent looks.

Female ability users accounted for half of all ability users. There were fewer females in the Martial Artist Academy, only about ten of them. He hadn't encountered any in the previous rounds of the school-wide competition either, but now he finally got to see one.

Elementalist was a very popular choice among mage professions, stronger than common mage professions. Common mages absorbed silver-grade elemental control, able to manipulate any element but not specializing in any.

Elementalists were stronger, having an upgraded template for mages. Their elemental control was replaced with more specialized golden-grade elemental control, such as ice element and fire element.

They became different Elementalists based on the elemental control they absorbed.

The Elementalist Academy was also one of the few prominent academies within the Mage Academy, boasting over a thousand members.

After exchanging greetings, the two became wary. Ice cones flew towards Lin Ye, who easily dodged them and began rushing towards Qi Leng.

A chill emanated from Qi Leng, and the ground within five meters began to frost over.

Lin Ye felt a bit unsteady. He had trained against Elementalists during his vacation, so he didn't panic. He stomped the ground with a Force Emission, instantly shattering the frost.

"Ice Cone, Earth Spike."

An ice spike rapidly condensed from the shattered ice behind Lin Ye, stabbing towards him.

Lin Ye felt a chill in his butt, and a blood hole appeared on his left buttock.

He was instantly enraged. Good heavens, if it had been more accurate, wouldn't his chrysanthemum be ruined? How insidious and cunning.

He dared not hide his strength or try sneak attacks anymore; Muscle Master was fully activated.

Inch Step, Force Emission, Cannon Fist!

He charged towards Qi Leng. Qi Leng was covered in ice armor and conjured an ice shield. Cannon Fist smashed onto the ice shield, instantly shattering it, and Qi Leng was also sent back a few steps by the tremendous force.

He dodged the ice cones Qi Leng sent back at him. He was somewhat annoyed because that hateful ice spike had ambushed him again from behind.

Lin Ye, with Muscle Master and Serpent Body fully activated, had astonishing defense, but still gained another small blood hole.

Catching up to Qi Leng, he directly grabbed her hands. The female mage erupted with an astonishing chill, and even Lin Ye's body developed a layer of frost.

Lin Ye exerted all his strength, slamming the female mage to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw. Seeing that she could still resist, the chill on her body intensified, so he picked her up again and slammed her repeatedly.

"Damn, this guy is so violent! Isn't he a Martial Artist? How is he different from the Martial Artists I just watched?"

"Certified straight man."

"Mom, am I seeing things? I actually saw Jingfu hitting a woman."

The referee robot separated Lin Ye and Qi Leng. Only then did Lin Ye realize that Qi Leng had already fainted, but the ice armor covering her had made him unaware.

Medical personnel from below the stage rushed over, giving both of them a ray of holy light.

Lin Ye felt his frostbitten skin instantly much better, once again marveling at the greatness of healers.

After stepping off the stage, the September weather still felt cold to him.

The reason he chose to grab and slam instead of using skills earlier was because his opponent was too slippery. If she had used Cannon Fist to retreat, he would have been kited and eventually worn down.

"It's too cold. I should go back and take a hot bath. Mages are really old tricksters, using such disgusting skills." Touching the scabs on his butt and back, Lin Ye felt utterly disgusted.

The most effective means for a Martial Artist against a mage was Star Force Body Armor, with protective Star Force surrounding the body, making one virtually immune to elemental damage. Unfortunately, he hadn't absorbed it yet and could only endure it.

"Perhaps I should also learn a few controlling Force Emissions. Otherwise, it's hard to deal with such slippery opponents." He decided to act immediately and told Jiang Xiaoyu about his needs.

Regarding control techniques, Fighters were the most proficient among physical combatants, with various joint locks, grappling techniques, and jiu-jitsu. Fighters specialized in human combat, being extremely fierce in internal conflicts, but their lethality against Star Realm beasts was much lower.

Jiang Xiaoyu replied: "Don't rush with control Force Emissions. First, cultivate the ones you have to Minor Accomplishment. After that, I'll give you a few skills to compensate for your current weaknesses. Attack, defense, and speed are the most fundamental."

Lin Ye felt that Jiang Xiaoyu was right and readily accepted.

He returned to the dormitory and took a hot bath, immediately feeling much more comfortable. After drying himself, the scabs had already fallen off.

"The healer in my team must be strong."

This thought became even firmer in his mind.

Lin Ye, who was cultivating, was unaware that the school forum had already exploded.

A short video had gone viral.

"Second Rank Overthrows Third Rank: Beauty and the Beast."

It was the video of Lin Ye brutally beating Qi Leng.

"Damn, this brother is too fierce! He can overthrow a third-rank Martial Artist as a second-rank."

"He's truly a brute, showing no pity for a beautiful woman."

"The commenter above should die! This is an ability user battle; send those 'boiling sheep' to the Star Realm to feed the beasts!"

"Does anyone know who this young man is? How is his combat power so strong?"

"This is Lin Ye from our Martial Artist Academy. He has already defeated a third-rank Martial Artist in the academy-wide competition."

The Magic City Academy forum had hundreds of thousands of long-term active users. Most new students had nothing to do now except train and watch matches, so there were many busybodies.

Especially since situations of lower ranks overcoming higher ranks were rare. There was a huge difference between each rank for ability users; the Star Power and physical fitness gaps were enormous, plus they gained an additional ability, a more complete professional template, and stronger skill cultivation, making it extremely difficult to challenge higher ranks.

Therefore, the video of Lin Ye challenging a higher rank gained extremely high popularity, especially after several busybodies from the Martial Artist Academy also posted the video of Lin Ye fighting Bai Wenjie.

"Awesome, this brother! This third-rank Martial Artist from the Martial Artist Academy is much stronger than ordinary third-rank Martial Artists, yet he still beat him up."

"What are those bulging muscles on him? Is it an ability or a skill? Does anyone know?"

Naturally, no one revealed information about Muscle Master. After all, it was something most people couldn't access, and those who could wouldn't reveal it.

Lin Ye only found out about this from Li Yaoyang, who was one of the busybodies.

He was quite satisfied with becoming famous, as it would make finding teammates much easier in the future.