236: Chapter 236 Strange

There were many people here, and their Auras were entangled with one another, greatly interfering with the speed of his Spiritual Sense's detection.

However, on second thought, as a leader of the Punishment Army, that Lei Family disciple would, logically speaking, most likely not be hiding among the audience.

He was either still performing patrol duties outside the arena, remaining vigilant for any unusual movements, or he was in the Observation Tower, looking down from a high vantage point to closely monitor the progress of the entire match.

Thus, Chen Moxuan controlled his Spiritual Sense, prioritizing detection from inside the arena toward the Observation Tower.

"There are three people... all in the Early Stage of the Tiangang Realm."

"One is Principal Li, another is the old man who took action last time, and the other, judging by his attire, should be the principal of Jiangshui Martial Arts School."

Sensing the results of his detection, Chen Moxuan pondered to himself.

"It seems he's outside."

Chen Moxuan's Spiritual Sense immediately attempted to probe outside the arena.

However, he then discovered that it was surprisingly difficult for his Spiritual Sense to penetrate the arena and reach the outside.

"Something seems to be obstructing my Spiritual Sense from probing outward... what's going on?"

A wave of doubt couldn't help but rise in Chen Moxuan's heart.

Even when he was in the Tiangang Realm, his Spiritual Sense was enough to penetrate an entire teaching building within a dozen seconds and clearly see Zhang Qing's appearance inside the training room.

With his current Soul strength, which far surpassed his previous level, his Spiritual Sense should have found it easy to penetrate this arena and reach the outside.

"Could the building materials used in the construction of this arena have the special function of obstructing Spiritual Sense?" Chen Moxuan couldn't help but speculate.

Fortunately, the speed of his Spiritual Sense's penetration had only slowed down; it wasn't completely unable to pass through.

Chen Moxuan suppressed the doubt in his heart, focused intently, and continued to control his Spiritual Sense to attempt to penetrate the walls and search outside.

Meanwhile, the match on the arena stage had also reached its conclusion.

In the end, during the intense exchange, Yang Lean failed to catch his breath, his speed slowed by a beat, and his opponent caught a flaw, striking him in the chest with a staff.

"Ugh!" Yang Lean groaned in pain, unable to stop himself from staggering back several steps uncontrollably.

Liu Hong raised the long staff in his hand, making a move to pursue and strike, giving his opponent no room to catch his breath.

Seeing this, Yang Lean hurriedly shouted at the top of his lungs:

"I surrender!"

Upon hearing the surrender, the corners of Liu Hong's mouth curled up slightly as he put away his long staff.

“Liu Hong from Jiangshui Martial Arts School wins!”

Following the referee's announcement, medical staff immediately stepped onto the stage, confirmed that Yang Lean's injuries were not serious, and helped him to the Medical Room to rest.

"This kid... surrendered too quickly."

Ma Jingyuan seemed very dissatisfied with Yang Lean's performance, his brow furrowed.

In his view, the difference in strength between the two on the field just now was actually not significant.

Liu Hong's seemingly sharp blow, due to his singular pursuit of speed, had not accurately grasped the optimal point of power at the moment of impact, so the damage caused to Yang Lean was actually not great.

If Yang Lean hadn't been intimidated by Liu Hong's Aura and could have steadied his mind to exploit the negligence caused by the opponent's assumption of victory, he could have decisively launched a counterattack.

In that case, the outcome of this match would likely have been completely reversed.

"Liu Hong, do you choose to continue against the next contestant, or step down to rest?"

The referee looked at Liu Hong and asked.

This competition was, on one hand, a school ranking battle to determine the allocation of educational resources in Dongchang City for the coming year, and on the other hand, an exhibition match for martial arts universities from various regions to scout for excellent students.

To better showcase the contestants' strength and avoid a war of attrition where "many ants kill an elephant."

The organizers had added this rule where the winner could choose to continue fighting or step down.

Of course, if you were confident enough in your strength to face several opponents in a row, your evaluation in the eyes of others would naturally soar.

"I choose to step down and rest."

Liu Hong panted heavily as he answered the referee.

At this moment, he was also somewhat physically exhausted and lacked the confidence to face the next opponent.

Stepping down to rest now and coming back up after the next person would provide more opportunities to show off.

Hearing this, the referee nodded slightly and then announced in a loud and clear voice:

“Next match: Yue Jun from Henghuo Martial Arts School versus Song Zhigao from Jiangshui Martial Arts School.”

Hearing the referee's announcement, Yue Jun, below the stage, excitedly selected his preferred weapon.

He had known this Song Zhigao before; his cultivation was the same as his, at the Blood Accumulation Realm Perfection.

But he had also fully prepared for this competition, keeping a trump card up his sleeve, and already felt that he would take the victory in this match.

Xie Ning and the vice-captain of Jiangshui Martial Arts School, who were coming up later, were far stronger than them; no one expected them to win, so they could just fight casually and then surrender.

But if he could secure a victory for Henghuo Martial Arts School before that, the vacant vice-captain position would surely be his.

Holding his weapon, Yue Jun strode toward the arena stage.

As he passed by the absent-minded Chen Moxuan, he stopped and said with a slight smirk:

"Watch closely, newbie. Take a good look at your Senior's strength."

"Don't think..."

But before he could finish his sentence, Chen Moxuan's gaze inadvertently flicked over, making Yue Jun feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar; he shivered all over and hurriedly turned his head away.

"Strange, why am I so afraid of him?" Yue Jun muttered to himself.

He took a deep breath, cast aside distracting thoughts, and stepped onto the stage with full confidence.

After finishing the pre-match procedures, at the referee's command, Yue Jun's gaze sharpened, and holding his spear, he immediately charged toward his opponent.

Reaching close range, he suddenly exerted force, his spear thrusting out like a venomous snake leaving its hole, and a faint wisp of True Qi was actually entwined around the spear tip.

Naturally, Yue Jun had not yet truly broken through to the Qi Control Realm, but for this competition, he had gone all out, not hesitating to spend a large sum of money to purchase qi condensing powder.

This qi condensing powder was an extremely precious auxiliary medicine, specially developed for Blood Accumulation Realm Martial Artists to help them sense True Qi.

After taking it, under the effect of the medicine, blood and qi could briefly transform into some True Qi within the body.

Although it was only a sliver, in a battle between Blood Accumulation Realm Martial Artists, this sliver of True Qi could play a huge role, making attacks more powerful.

"I'll take you down in one blow!"

Yue Jun grew fierce in his heart, and the speed of his spear thrust increased by a few points.

Five seconds later.

“Song Zhigao from Jiangshui Martial Arts School wins!”

Song Zhigao not only blocked Yue Jun's confident strike but also sent Yue Jun flying after just a few exchanges, causing him to fall off the stage.

Below the stage, a disheveled Yue Jun rubbed his backside and said with a look of regret:

"This guy actually broke through to the Qi Control Realm..."

"I was careless; I didn't dodge and went head-to-head with him!"

But just then, Chen Moxuan walked over with a puzzled look, his gaze scanning Yue Jun:

"You have True Qi in your body?"

"Yeah... I used qi condensing powder before the match." Under Chen Moxuan's gaze, Yue Jun unconsciously answered honestly.

"qi condensing powder?"

Even without cramming knowledge overnight, Chen Moxuan knew the effects of qi condensing powder.

What puzzled him was that at such close range, he could sense the residual True Qi fluctuations in Yue Jun's body even without using his Spiritual Sense.

However, before this, when he probed with his Spiritual Sense, he hadn't sensed a single trace of True Qi from these team members.

Whether it was the difficulty of his Spiritual Sense probing outside or the lack of clarity in his perception in the preparation room earlier, Chen Moxuan clearly couldn't attribute these issues to himself.

"This arena... is definitely strange."

Just as Chen Moxuan fell into deep thought, Song Zhigao on the stage, looking high-spirited, raised the longsword in his hand and pointed it at Chen Moxuan below:

"I choose to continue against the next opponent."