57: Chapter 57 The Semifinals Begin

National Hundred Schools Hegemony Competition · Semifinals

Matchup: Modu Martial Arts University VS South Border Gu Poison Academy

With the release of the final four list, the competition's atmosphere was no longer just enthusiastic; it was permeated with a suffocating sense of tension.

On the arena stage, the protective shield had already been activated to its maximum power "Biochemical Isolation Mode."

Standing opposite Lin Yuan was not some burly man, nor a sharp-edged swordsman.

Instead, it was a little girl who looked only twelve or thirteen years old, wearing traditional Miao silver jewelry and clothing.

She was barefoot, her skin pale to the point of being nearly transparent, holding a patched-up rag doll in her arms, blinking her large eyes and looking at Lin Yuan with a face of innocent naivety.

Miao Linger.

The captain of the South Border Gu Poison Academy and the most hair-raising contestant of this competition.

"She's so cute... If I hadn't seen yesterday's match, I'd really want to go up and pinch her cheeks."

In the spectator stands, someone shivered and said with a pale face.

In yesterday's quarter-final match, Miao Linger's opponent was a Rank 4 early-stage Berserker.

Less than a minute after the match began, that big man's entire body suddenly began to fester, his flesh melting like a candle, and finally, even his bones were turned into a pool of black water.

Even now, he was still being resuscitated in the ICU; it was said that his organs were failing, and he was most likely crippled.

"Lin Yuan is in trouble now."

At the commentator's booth, a guest spoke with a solemn expression: "Mentalists are strong, but how can flying daggers cut bacteria? How can fists hit poisonous gas? A 'mechanic monster' like Miao Linger, whose attacks are entirely microscopic, is simply a nightmare for all physical and mental-based professions."

"Match start!"

After the referee shouted this, he didn't stay by the edge of the arena as usual but teleported dozens of meters away from the shield, clearly terrified of the legendary Gu poison to the extreme.

"Hee hee."

Miao Linger tilted her head, stroking the rag doll in her arms, and let out a string of bell-like laughter:

"Big brother, you're really handsome."

"Play with... my babies."

Before her voice even faded.

The arena remained calm, without any energy fluctuations or visible attack trajectories.

In the eyes of ordinary spectators, it looked like the two were playing 'Red Light, Green Light.'

But in Lin Yuan's vision, the world instantly turned into hell.

Gods Insight: Microscopic Vision activated.

The originally transparent air turned into dense, grayish-black tides in his eyes.

That wasn't dust; it was hundreds of millions of 'micron-level Gu insects' smaller than dust motes!

They had long, thin mouthparts and countless compound eyes, surging out from Miao Linger's body in an overwhelming flood, spreading frantically toward Lin Yuan like pervasive mercury.

Their targets were Lin Yuan's every pore, nasal cavity, ear canal, and even his eyes!

Once these things crawled inside, even a body with perfected Golden Bones would be gnawed into an empty shell in an instant.

"Disgusting."

Lin Yuan frowned slightly, goosebumps rising on his skin; this level of trypophobia-inducing imagery was more psychologically uncomfortable than facing a giant beast dozens of meters tall.

With a thought, Lin Yuan released his Rank 3 mental power without reservation, propping up a thick layer of deep blue [Mental Shield] around his body, wrapping himself airtight.

Zzzzt, zzzzt...

Lin Yuan could clearly feel his mental power being consumed at an alarming rate; these insects could even eat invisible mental power!

"Big brother, your turtle shell is so hard."

Miao Linger looked at the shimmering halo on Lin Yuan's body, a flash of surprise in her eyes, followed by an even sweeter smile:

"But my babies have very large appetites. How long can you hold out? One minute? Or two?"

She stood there, not even needing to lift a finger; as long as she stalled for time, Lin Yuan would be worn down to death.

"Capture the leader to capture the gang?"

Lin Yuan's gaze pierced through the dense swarm of insects, looking at Miao Linger.

Swish!

A [cicada wing] flying dagger turned into a stream of light, attempting to bypass the swarm and strike Miao Linger directly.

However, just as the flying dagger was about to close in.

A thumb-sized, golden, cicada-like creature suddenly emerged from Miao Linger's hair. With a flap of its wings, it actually formed a golden sonic barrier in front of her.

Clang!

The indestructible cicada wing flying dagger was actually bounced away!

Golden Silkworm King (King of Gu)

Traits: Immune to all methods, absolute defense, capable of resisting any physical or energy attack.

"It's useless," Miao Linger giggled. "Little Golden Silkworm will protect me. Big brother, just obediently become food for the babies."

A dead end?

If it were an ordinary martial artist, they would probably be in despair by now; unable to attack or defend, they could only wait for death.

But Lin Yuan was a cheater.

[Gods Insight: Weakness Scan]

Within Lin Yuan's eyes, deep blue data streams refreshed frantically, instantly penetrating the golden light and the swarm of insects, locking onto the energy flow trajectories of the entire battlefield.

"These microscopic Gu insects have no intelligence; they need a command center."

"That Golden Silkworm King is purely defensive and lacks command capabilities."

"Miao Linger's mental fluctuations are very weak; she can't possibly control these hundreds of millions of insects."

"So, who is the commander?"

Lin Yuan's gaze was as sharp as a scalpel, finally settling on the seemingly tattered and unremarkable rag doll in Miao Linger's arms.

Under the vision of [Gods Insight].

Inside that rag doll, a nauseating mass of flesh and blood was coiled, with countless fine mental threads extending from it, connecting to the microscopic Gu insects filling the air.

[Target Locked: Mother Gu Parasite (Disguised Form)]

[Weakness: Nerve ganglion at the center of the forehead!]

"Found you."

Lin Yuan extended a finger and lightly hooked it.

Buzz!

A [cicada wing] flying dagger floating by his side suddenly began to vibrate violently.

It didn't fly out immediately but began to spin rapidly in place!

One thousand rotations!

Five thousand rotations!

Ten thousand rotations!

In the blink of an eye, the flying dagger turned into a high-speed rotating silver drill, and the surrounding air was churned into a vacuum vortex.

"Spiral Force: Point Kill!"

A sharp light burst from Lin Yuan's eyes.

"Go!"

Swish—!!!

The speed of this flying dagger reached the extreme, even exceeding the speed of sound.

Carrying an extremely strange arc, it instantly bypassed the Golden Silkworm King's frontal defense and headed straight for the rag doll in Miao Linger's arms!

"What?!"

The smile on Miao Linger's face froze instantly.

She hadn't expected Lin Yuan to be able to see through the Mother Gu's disguise!

"Golden Silkworm! Block it!" she screamed in terror.

But the Golden Silkworm King was a beat too slow after all, and Lin Yuan's blade carried a high-speed spiral piercing force, specifically designed to break defenses!

Pffft!

That high-speed rotating cicada wing flying dagger pierced precisely into the rag doll's forehead, then instantly penetrated through, flying out from the back of the head!

Time seemed to stand still for a second.

Immediately after.

"Screeech—!!!"

A shrill insect cry erupted from the lifeless rag doll.

Then it suddenly burst apart, revealing a mass of wildly writhing, plump flesh-worms inside.

Mother Gu, dead!

With the death of the Mother Gu, the hundreds of millions of controlled microscopic Gu insects instantly lost their command and fell into a state of frantic chaos.

Boom!

Swarm backlash!

They no longer attacked Lin Yuan but instinctively turned to pounce on the nearest living organism—Miao Linger!

"Ah!! No! Stop!!"

Miao Linger's face was deathly pale as she spat out a mouthful of black blood.

Seeing this seemingly harmless little girl about to be gnawed into a skeleton by her own Gu insects.

The entire audience let out screams of horror.

"Freeze."

An indifferent voice rang out.

Lin Yuan did not stand by and watch.

[chaos grinding mill: Mental Shock!]

Buzz!

A majestic mental pressure, centered on him, instantly enveloped the entire arena.

For these low-level microscopic Gu insects that had lost the Mother Gu's control, this level of Mental Shock was a weapon of mass destruction.

The black swarm filling the air had their nerve centers completely shattered in that instant, turning into a shower of black dust that fell rustling down.

And Miao Linger, at the center of the shock, rolled her eyes and fainted cleanly, narrowly escaping the agony of being eaten by insects.

The arena instantly regained its clarity.

Only Lin Yuan remained, still in snow-white clothes, without a speck of dust on him.

He stepped forward, using mental power to lift the thoroughly dead Mother Gu corpse, giving it a look of disgust.

"A little kid playing with such dangerous things."

With a wave of his hand, Lin Yuan put the disgusting mess into his storage ring (actually intending to give it to the system as a snack).

Then, facing the camera and the audience below who had yet to regain their senses, he said indifferently:

"Confiscated."

The entire venue was dead silent for three seconds.

Then, a roof-raising burst of applause and cheers erupted!

The referee announced: Lin Yuan of Modu Martial Arts University wins! Advances to the national finals!

On the large screen, the final matchup list was finally released.

Modu Martial Arts University VS Imperial Capital Martial Arts University.

The duel of destiny has finally arrived...