32: Chapter 32 List of Participants

On the final day of the preliminary round, Shen Ye had no matches.

He sat in the stands, watching Su Wanqing's match against the A-grade Ice-type from start to finish.

Su Wanqing's loss was without suspense.

The A-grade Ice-type was named Han Xu, from City No. 1 High School, the same school as Su Wanqing.

His Divine Kingdom attribute was Frost Tundra, and his kin were Frost Giants—belonging to the same Giant family as Gu Changming's Lava Giant, but with diametrically opposite attributes.

He didn't have many Frost Giants, only a few dozen, but every one of them was much larger than Su Wanqing's Thorn Warrior. As their ice-blue bodies moved across the battle platform, a thin layer of frost would condense on the surface of the Law Slate.

Su Wanqing's Thorn Warrior looked like withered shrubs in front of the Frost Giants.

When the thorn vines wrapped around them, the Frost Giants would simply shake their shoulders, and the vines would freeze until brittle, shattering into ice shards all over the ground.

Thorn Queen did not participate—although her injuries had recovered by seventy percent under the nourishment of the fine-grade spirit liquid stock solution, her second evolution had not yet been completed, and the cooldown time remained very long.

Su Wanqing chose to leave her in the Divine Kingdom to continue recuperating, choosing to hold out with the existing Thorn Warrior and vine hands.

She couldn't hold out.

Han Xu's Frost Giants advanced steadily, their ice-blue bodies casting faint shadows on the Law Slate. Wherever they passed, the ground froze, and the air turned to frost.

The vitality of Su Wanqing's plant-type kin plummeted in the low temperature; the movements of the Thorn Warrior became increasingly sluggish, and the vines of the vine hands froze until they were like stiff iron wires.

She held on for a long time, but eventually conceded.

Shen Ye watched Su Wanqing walk down from the battle platform.

Her expression was calm, with no unwillingness or frustration. She simply walked to the preparation area, sat down, took out a data pad from her resource bag, and began to record the data on the frost spread speed and coverage range of the Frost Giants from the battle just now.

Shen Ye did not go over.

Su Wanqing did not need comfort; she had long since calculated this match into her ledger—lose, advance as the second in the group, and Thorn Queen's second evolution would be completed by the first round of the semifinals.

The group stage was completely over, and the points tables for each group were released simultaneously.

Shen Ye saw the complete semifinal roster on the data pad.

There were ten groups, with the top two from each group advancing, plus the four best third-place finishers—He Shuping's name was not among them.

The third place in Group 7 was taken by a B-grade Water-type Awakened from the neighboring group by a narrow margin.

Sixty people.

Nanjiang No. 7 High School had two enter, Shen Ye and Liu Yang.

City No. 1 High School had seven enter, including Lu Chuan, Su Wanqing, and Han Xu.

City No. 2 High School had five enter, led by the undefeated Gu Changming.

City No. 3 High School had four enter, with Zheng Chuan undefeated and Fang Yan as the group runner-up.

The remaining spots were scattered among schools in the three districts and six counties.

After the roster was announced, the media focused on two people.

The headline of the Nanjiang Awakening Daily that day was: "Double S Undefeated Leaders, Meeting in the Finals Expected".

It was accompanied by two photos—Lu Chuan standing in the center of the Group 1 battle platform, with an army of the undead arrayed behind him; Skeleton Warriors, Undead Knights, and Stitched Giants were layered in rows, like a gray-white tide. Shen Ye stood in the center of the Group 7 battle platform, with three hundred kin arrayed before him, gold swords, water mist, and vine nets interwoven into a web.

The two photos were placed side by side, one dark and one bright, representing two completely different combat styles.

The report detailed their group stage data: Lu Chuan won all eleven matches, with an extremely short average duration per match. All matches were won by the Undead Sea crushing opponents head-on; not a single opponent survived the first wave of the charge.

Shen Ye won all eleven matches. In the first nine, he used only two or three kin to precisely counter the opponents. In the last two, against Fang Yan and He Shuping, he summoned over a hundred kin for the first time, winning with different tactical combinations in each.

Expert commentary was cited several times—the vice president of the City Association said that Lu Chuan's style was "Absolute Power," while Shen Ye's style was "Absolute Precision," and that "the two S-grades represent two extreme combat aesthetics."

The last paragraph of the report read: "The two S-grade contestants did not meet during the group stage."

According to the semifinal format, the sixty people would be redrawn into groups. The two might be placed in the same group and meet early, or they might be placed in different groups and each fight their way into the finals.

Regardless of the draw results, the "Double S Meeting" in this year's City-level Competition in Nanjiang City had become the biggest highlight.

Shen Ye put down the newspaper.

Liu Yang was holding the same newspaper nearby, reading Lu Chuan's data over and over again.

"An average of less than two minutes per match. He had two A-grades among his group stage opponents, and it was the same duration for both."

With a frontal charge from the Undead Sea, the opposing defense line shattered instantly.

Liu Yang looked up. "How long did you take to beat those two A-grades?"

Shen Ye thought for a moment.

"The match against Fang Yan was slightly longer, and the one against He Shuping was even longer."

"See, he's faster than you."

"He used his full strength."

I did not.

Liu Yang opened his mouth, then swallowed the words that were about to come out.

When Shen Ye said "I did not," his tone was exactly the same as when he said "See you in the match."

It was not a defense; it was a statement of fact.

That afternoon, Lu Chuan was stopped in the media interview area of the City Gymnasium.

A reporter from the Nanjiang Awakening Daily held a microphone out to him and asked for his thoughts on the topic of a "Double S Meeting in the Finals."

Shen Ye saw this interview in a video sent by Su Wanqing.

In the video, Lu Chuan was wearing the dark blue uniform of City No. 1 High School, with his hands in his pockets.

After the reporter finished the question, he was silent for a few seconds.

It wasn't contemplation; it was that kind of pause that meant "this question is not worth answering."

"Shen Ye?"

He said.

His voice wasn't loud, but the Law-enhanced recording equipment captured every word clearly.

"The opponents in the group stage were too weak; you can't tell anything."

The reporter followed up: "Do you mean he hasn't encountered a real test yet?"

Lu Chuan glanced at the reporter.

"Have you ever seen him use his full strength in the group stage?"

The reporter was stunned for a moment.

"In his last two matches against Fang Yan and He Shuping, he summoned three hundred kin, which should count as—"

"Three hundred kin, a fusion of Gold, Water, and Wood elements, with a three-layer progression of trapping array, diversion, and precision killing."

Lu Chuan interrupted the reporter and recited the tactical configuration of Shen Ye's last match word for word. "That tactical set—he didn't use it even once in the first nine matches of the group stage."

In the match against Fang Yan, he used Elder Quan and Mu Sheng; in the match against He Shuping, he used a three-hundred-person combined attack.

The configuration used in each match was different, and in each match, he revealed a little more than the last.

He looked at the camera.

"It's not that he doesn't have full strength."

He is calculating.

Calculating how many trump cards need to be revealed in each match to be just enough to win.

The reporter followed up: "Then do you think his true strength—"

"See you in the finals."

Lu Chuan said.

He turned and left.

The video ended.

Shen Ye watched the video over and over again.

When Lu Chuan said "He is calculating," there was no mockery or probing in his tone, only the calmness of a chess player recognizing another chess player.

He had memorized every tactical configuration of Shen Ye's group stage matches and counted every new thing Shen Ye had revealed in each match.

And then he drew a conclusion—this person, like me, is calculating.

It's not hiding one's light, it's balancing the books.

Calculating how many trump cards need to be revealed on the stage of the City-level Competition to be just enough to win, without letting the opponent in the finals figure out all the details.

Shen Ye replied to Su Wanqing with a message: "He watched all of my matches."

Su Wanqing replied quickly: "You also watched all of his matches."

Shen Ye did not deny it.

He had stored all the videos of Lu Chuan's group stage matches on his data pad and analyzed them repeatedly.

The charging echelon of the Undead Sea, the coordination rhythm of the Skeleton Warriors, Undead Knights, and Stitched Giants, the contraction and expansion pattern of the Blood War Aura, and the transfer frequency of the core undead.

He watched them many times and found many details.

But Lu Chuan was right—the opponents in the group stage were too weak; you can't tell anything.

Lu Chuan's Undead Sea crushed everything head-on in the group stage, ending the battles in a single wave of charging; not a single match allowed an opponent to last until the moment he needed to reveal his true trump cards.

How much he was hiding, Shen Ye did not know.

How much Shen Ye was hiding, Lu Chuan did not know either.

Neither of them knew what the other's true trump cards were, but both knew that the other was hiding something.

The semifinal draw was scheduled for the next morning.

When Shen Ye came out of the cafeteria after dinner, he met Fang Yan in the hallway.

The dark red uniform of City No. 3 High School, broad shoulders, standing there like a rock whose edges had been rounded by flowing water.

He must have been waiting for Shen Ye here on purpose.

The two stood still, separated by a few steps.

Fang Yan spoke.

His voice was like his Divine Kingdom, steady, without fluctuation.

"In our group stage match, the Steam Explosion cut in from under the left rib of my Rock Giant, wrapped around the core in reverse, and exploded from directly below."

The core was pushed upward by the shockwave, hit the inner wall of the cavity repeatedly, and eventually shattered.

He paused for a moment. "I had adjusted the core position, shifting it by less than a palm's width."

How did you find it?

Shen Ye did not say that Su Wanqing had extracted it frame by frame from the internal assessment video.

"Elder Quan."

My Water Spirit Root Kin.

He used the Spiral Water Curtain to simulate the chest structure of your Rock Giant and deduced the precise position of the core from the direction of the external cracks.

Fang Yan was silent for a while.

"Elder Quan."

That old man who uses the Spiral Water Curtain.

How long did he practice in your Divine Kingdom?

"Less than a month in the outside world, decades in Divine Kingdom time."

Fang Yan nodded.

He did not ask about the specific multiplier of "Double Time," nor did he question the conversion relationship between Divine Kingdom time and outside time.

He just stored this information in his mind, absorbing it silently like a rock absorbing rainwater.

"If we meet again in the semifinals, the core position of my Rock Giant will be adjusted again."

He said, "Not a shift, but a complete change in the chest structure."

Next time your Elder Quan tries to deduce the core position from external cracks, it won't be so easy.

Shen Ye looked at him.

When Fang Yan said these words, there was no hostility in his eyes, only a rock-like seriousness—you beat me once, I acknowledge it.

But I will change, becoming harder to beat than last time.

"Good."

Shen Ye said.

Fang Yan nodded, turned, and left.

His back stretched long in the corridor light, his broad shoulders rising and falling slightly with his steps, like a moving mountain.

Shen Ye returned to the dormitory, where Liu Yang was hunched over the data pad looking at semifinal predictions.

A poll had been opened on the official forum of the City Awakened Association—"City-level Competition Champion Prediction."

Lu Chuan had a high approval rating, with Shen Ye following closely behind, Gu Changming third, and Zheng Chuan fourth.

The comments section below had already been arguing for many pages.

Someone posted Lu Chuan's average match duration from the group stage, saying that in the face of absolute power, all tactics were futile.

Someone posted a comparison table of the tactical configurations of Shen Ye's ten matches, saying that this tactical execution ability, precise to the individual, was more terrifying than absolute power because you could never guess what configuration he would use to counter you in the next match.

Someone said Gu Changming's Lava Giant City had invincible defense; Lu Chuan's Undead Sea couldn't break it, and Shen Ye's Metal-type Flying Swords couldn't pierce it.

Someone said Zheng Chuan's Wind Elemental speed was overwhelming; under a fast attack, all tactics were just for show.

Shen Ye glanced at it and returned the data pad to Liu Yang.

"Aren't you going to look?"

Liu Yang asked.

"It's useless to look."

The draw hasn't come out, so the predictions are all guesses.

Liu Yang deflated.

"You're really boring."

Shen Ye did not respond.

He lay on the bed, staring at the bottom of the upper bunk.

Lu Chuan said in the interview, "He is calculating."

Fang Yan said in the hallway, "It won't be so easy next time."

Since Zheng Chuan declared "Let the S-grades know what real combat is" on the day of the draw ceremony, he had not made any public comments, but Shen Ye watched every one of his matches—the S-shaped trajectory of the Wind Elemental was becoming increasingly tricky, the changes in direction were becoming more sudden, and the moments of core lag were becoming shorter.

He was improving; every match was faster than the last.

Gu Changming's Lava Giant City also won all its group stage matches, and the size of the mutated Lava Giant was even larger than recorded in the archives.

He completed his evolution during the City-level Competition.

Everyone was getting stronger.

The semifinals were not a continuation of the group stage; they were a brand-new battle.

Shen Ye closed his eyes.

In the Divine Kingdom, Jin Lin was teaching the sword cultivators a new course on adapting to enemies before the sword stele—not against known opponents, but against unknown opponents.

The sword cultivators were blindfolded, and Jin Lin used sword intent to simulate various enemy forms that had never been seen before, letting them find weaknesses in completely unfamiliar perceptions.

Mu Sheng was leading the array mages by the spirit fields to deduce new trapping array structures—not fixed array eyes, but mobile array eyes.

The five array eyes could move arbitrarily within the range of the trapping array, concentrating wherever the pressure was greatest.

Elder Quan was teaching the magic cultivators by the spirit spring the overlapping techniques for the Spiral Water Curtain—no longer a single spiral, but multiple spirals intersecting in the air to form a three-dimensional water net.

They were preparing, not for the battles already won, but for the next match, the one after that, for the person standing on the other side of the battle platform in the finals.

There was one night left until the semifinal draw.

One night in the outside world, one year in the Divine Kingdom.

One year later, the sixty people would be reshuffled, and the top thirty-two would be drawn again.

Lu Chuan, Gu Changming, Zheng Chuan, Fang Yan, Su Wanqing, Liu Yang—everyone's name would roll again in the drawing box.

Whoever rolls out, it is who it is.