59: Pyrrhic victory

The Arena Stage was filled with blood mist; no one knew what was happening inside.

A crisp and melodious beast roar rang out, and two brutal, overbearing forces were quietly gathering strength.

The entire venue was silent!

The students had nervous expressions, knowing that this semi-final match for advancement to the finals was about to be decided!

"Teacher, who do you think will win?" Lu Yuan asked.

"They are evenly matched."

Tang Jinghui knitted his brows into a 'chuan' shape, then felt his answer was too perfunctory.

"It depends on whose willpower is stronger," Tang Jinghui added.

In the guest seats, the four Alliance Masters and one Hall Master gazed indifferently at the Arena Stage shrouded in blood mist.

Two suns hung in the sky!

As the blood mist dissipated, Chu Wushe, flying in the air, wore a maniacal expression, his arms held high, supporting a blood-red sun!

With blinding golden light, Han Junchen, standing on the Arena Stage, trembled violently; his right arm, clenched into a fist, was wrapped in golden light!

Both were gathering strength simultaneously, activating a barrier of gold and red respectively to prevent a sudden sneak attack from the other.

At this critical juncture of the match, not a single one of the tens of thousands of students on the field dared to speak.

They held their breath, staring at the two on the Arena Stage without blinking.

No one expected Han Junchen to actually push Chu Wushe to this extent!

The Spirit Skills unleashed by both Han Junchen and Chu Wushe made the Xuan Gang Realm Practitioners present tremble with fear.

The champion for the sophomore group had already been born!

The champion, Yin Zirui, was in a great mood, humming a little tune while preparing to attend the award ceremony.

"Mentor, have the other groups finished?" Yin Zirui asked.

He was from Imperial Capital University, a Light Attribute, Divine Power Realm One-Star Practitioner.

"Lu Yeli from the junior year won the championship, the senior year is almost done, and the freshman group is still in the semi-finals," the mentor replied.

"The freshman group is so slow; I'm still waiting for the Hall Master to present the awards."

Upon learning that the freshman group was still fighting in the semi-finals, Yin Zirui was speechless and prepared to go over to see what was going on.

"Holy crap!"

Seeing the blood sun above Chu Wushe's head and the terrifying aura radiating from Han Junchen,

Yin Zirui, a Divine Power Realm Practitioner who had just won the sophomore championship, broke into a cold sweat.

"This... are freshmen these days this fierce?" Yin Zirui's face twitched.

He had a strong urge to believe that he might not necessarily be a match for these two freshman students on the Arena Stage!

In the center of the Arena Stage, Pengcheng University Vice Principal Zhan Shouzheng focused his attention.

As the referee, his main responsibility was to ensure that the contestants would not lose their lives under circumstances where they were giving their all.

For the contestants, this was a life-and-death battle!

"Go to hell!" Chu Wushe finished gathering strength first and smashed the blood sun held high above his head fiercely toward the Arena Stage.

"You think you're worthy?!"

Han Junchen opened his eyes abruptly and punched toward Chu Wushe.

Bang—

Cracks appeared on the ground within a hundred-meter radius, and the Arena Stage made of special materials collapsed with a roar!

The students watching from close range had pained expressions; the mere shockwaves were unbearable for them.

Seeing this, the mentors acted immediately, preventing the students from getting injured!

Dust billowed, blocking the sky and sun; the massive explosion caused the air to ripple visibly layer by layer!

Lu Yuan stood up, followed immediately by the four Alliance Masters, the Hall Master of the Tribunal Hall, and the three Grand Elders standing up in unison.

"To think it would end like this," Red Flame Alliance Master Yan Fenyue said with a hint of surprise in his tone.

"Who... who won?"

After a full ten seconds, someone finally recovered from the shock.

At the moment the winner was decided, they only remembered Han Junchen taking the brunt of Chu Wushe's blood sun, but delivering a punch straight to Chu Wushe's face!

Thirty seconds, forty seconds, fifty seconds...

Two minutes later, the dust settled, and everyone gasped when they saw the state of the Arena Stage.

Blood, there was blood everywhere!

Under the sunlight, on the Arena Stage that had long been smashed to pieces, Han Junchen lay on the ground looking up at the sky.

"Cough, cough!"

The battered and exhausted Han Junchen spat out mouthfuls of blood; the white bone of the wound on his lower abdomen was clearly visible!

Chu Wushe, lying on the ground, breathed weakly, his left face sunken in.

Both were severely injured!

"Quick, save them!" A support-class mentor walked over quickly, attempting to cast a Spirit Skill to heal them.

However, he was stopped by Vice Principal Zhan Shouzheng.

"The winner hasn't been decided yet."

Vice Principal Zhan Shouzheng shook his head, looking at Han Junchen and Chu Wushe, who seemed as if they would lose their breath in the next second.

"Whoever stands up first advances to the finals!"

Once these words were spoken, the scene returned to silence, watching the two on the Arena Stage—one lying face down, one lying face up.

"This..."

Standing beside Lu Yuan, Jiang Tianxia was too shocked to speak.

"Are these really Xuan Gang Realm One-Star and Two-Star Practitioners?" Yin Zirui, who had just won the sophomore championship, was dumbfounded.

The sophomore runner-up and third-place winner who followed him had blank expressions, a question inexplicably appearing in their minds.

"Could Yin Zirui beat those two?"

Lu Yuan watched the situation on the Arena Stage, wanting to see who would eventually stand up.

"Damn it, you lunatic, you're also a lunatic." Han Junchen gritted his teeth, trying to stand up, but failed several times in a row.

It hurt too much!

He felt his internal organs burning with pain; even breathing a mouthful of fresh air normally was a luxury!

"Is it... is it really worth risking your life just for a match?" Han Junchen knelt on the ground, then dropped to one knee, and finally, his legs trembled as he tried to straighten his back.

Bang—

However, by the second step, dropping to one knee, he couldn't hold on anymore.

Chu Wushe gasped for breath; he felt like his left eye was about to burst.

In the spectator stands, a noblewoman of about forty, who looked somewhat similar to Chu Wushe, couldn't bear to watch.

"Why bother?" Chu Wushe's mother turned her head, unable to bear looking at her son's miserable state.

"Stand... Han Junchen is about to stand up!"

Someone shouted loudly.

Kneeling on the ground, then dropping to one knee—this was Han Junchen's sixth attempt to stand up.

"Stand up!"

"Stand up!!"

The shouting on the field was deafening; some were cheering for Han Junchen, while others were cheering for Chu Wushe.

The second before Han Junchen was about to stand up, a roar rang out.

"Lu Yuan!!!"

Under the gaze of all, the blood-covered Chu Wushe stood proudly, his blood-red pupils locked onto Lu Yuan, who was sitting in the distance.

"Chu Wushe wins!" Vice Principal Zhan Shouzheng announced loudly, quickly waving his hand at the support-class mentors, telling them to treat Han Junchen and Chu Wushe!

Hearing Chu Wushe call his name, Lu Yuan remained expressionless, walking toward Chu Wushe step by step.

At the first step, thousands of Blood Slaughter Soldiers appeared!

At the second step, thousands of heavenly punishment soldiers appeared!

At the third and fourth steps, nine thousand Puppet Corps stood neatly on the field, waiting for their master's command!

Flames filled the sky, and the seven great calamities followed closely in Lu Yuan's footsteps.

Upon absorbing the Puppet Corps, they collectively underwent evolution!

"Lunatic, what a lunatic." Knowing he had lost, Han Junchen gave up and lay on the ground, looking up at the sky.

Everyone watched Lu Yuan, as well as the seven great calamities behind him whose strength had skyrocketed!

Standing ten meters away from Chu Wushe, Lu Yuan stopped.

The list of final matchups appeared on the big screen.

【 Pengcheng University Lu Yuan VS Imperial Capital University Chu Wushe 】