72: Qin Yu VS Nie Yuqian?

Although the battle between Qin Yu and Zhao Yuanming was not a typical combat assessment, but a nominal life-and-death struggle, the total time, from beginning to end... was less than three minutes.

It was remarkably fast.

By the time Qin Yu walked out of the battle arena, everyone else, except for Nie Yuxi, was still undergoing the assessment.

Qin Yu was naturally not surprised that Nie Yuxi had finished her battle even faster than he had.

After all, given Nie Yuxi's energy level of over 3700 euler... besides him, it was unlikely that any other examinee in the entire Jiangzhou City could withstand a single move from her.

Therefore, ignoring the various shocked expressions in the examination hall, Qin Yu subconsciously walked over and sat down next to Nie Yuxi's seat.

After sitting down, he glanced at the still indifferent Nie Yuxi, realizing that soon, according to the format of the combat assessment, a battle between him and Nie Yuxi was inevitable.

To be honest, Qin Yu suddenly felt a headache coming on!

Because, regarding the top spot in this combat assessment.

Qin Yu absolutely had to secure it!

But if he truly intended to claim it, then, according to the promotion and relegation system of the combat assessment rankings, a battle between him and Nie Yuxi, the undeniable second-place holder... was certain and completely unavoidable.

"Xiao Yu, it looks like we have to fight a match later? What do you think?" Thinking of this, Qin Yu couldn't suppress his curiosity and poked the Nie Yuxi next to him, asking.

He was rather curious how Nie Yuxi would handle it.

Nie Yuxi glanced at the spot where Qin Yu's finger had just poked her.

Nie Yuxi slightly knitted her brows, but ultimately said nothing.

She merely replied in a cold tone, "I can't beat you right now."

When she said this, the expression on Nie Yuxi's face remained indifferent; anyone who saw her would assume she felt no inner turmoil.

But only Nie Yuxi herself knew how "shattered" her heart was at this very moment.

One must know, she was the dignified rebirth of an Empress!

Furthermore, in this life, her speed of growth was far superior to that of her previous life!

Not only did she successfully find the seven-petal snow lotus hidden in the Ice and Snow World, but she also hunted countless more Demonic Species, raising her level by two whole ranks.

She even managed to find a blood flame crystal—which typically only appears in the Star Sea—as a loophole gain in the Scarlet Canyon secret realm and absorbed it perfectly.

Yet, even with all this... in the end, she still lost to Qin Yu!

To be honest, if the facts weren't right in front of her.

If it were her from when she had just been reborn... she would never have believed it!

Qin Yu, of course, had no idea what Nie Yuxi was thinking, but having spent many years together, he immediately understood the subtext of her sentence.

Which was: I definitely can't beat you right now, so I won't fight you later.

Instantly, Qin Yu felt a sense of relief.

He replied modestly, "That might not be true. Your energy level of 3700+ euler would have made you a candidate for the National Top Scholar in previous years."

In response to Qin Yu's answer, Nie Yuxi rolled her eyes again and didn't say anything further.

Instead, she started pondering why Qin Yu was able to upgrade his Mecha Prototype again, even though he hadn't reached Level 20 yet.

"It should be impossible for a Mecha Master to perform another major upgrade on their Mecha Prototype before Level 20."

"Could it be that the strength of Qin Yu's Mecha Prototype was originally greater than what I saw in the secret realm?"

"Or did he hide most of his strength even in that environment?"

"If that's the case, it would make sense..."

"However, if Qin Yu's Mecha Prototype is only at the primary stage, and its energy level can reach 5400 euler."

"Wouldn't that mean that even among the many people who have awakened the Mecha Master profession, he is among the most talented?"

"..."

Seeing that Nie Yuxi was no longer paying attention to him, Qin Yu knew that she didn't want to continue discussing this topic.

In response, Qin Yu could only sigh internally once more... this little girl truly was the same as before, cold and frosty to everyone, just like the Ice Wind Controller profession she awakened.

Naturally, he didn't press the matter further.

Instead, he turned his gaze toward the virtual combat arena designated as Number Four, where Lin Xueyue was located, above the examination hall.

It must be said that Lin Xueyue's S-level Wind Mage profession was quite formidable!

Although compared to Qin Yu and Nie Yuxi... she was far, far inferior.

However, among the other examinees in Jiangzhou City.

She was undoubtedly among the most outstanding.

Her opponent at this time was none other than Wu Wenbin, whose profession was A-level Summoner Mage.

The Summoner Mage profession, while undoubtedly one of the more troublesome classes among the various Mage professions... as long as they have sufficient internal magic, they can continuously summon various creatures from a Different Dimension Space to fight for them.

However, when Wu Wenbin faced Lin Xueyue.

He was constantly struggling.

Because, under the enhancement of Wind Element and various Wind-type Spells, Lin Xueyue was simply too agile.

Even though Wu Wenbin had already summoned over a dozen Different Dimension creatures of varying shapes.

These low-level creatures... couldn't even touch the hem of Lin Xueyue's clothes.

Instead, Wu Wenbin himself was occasionally struck by one of Lin Xueyue's unexpected small Wind Blades.

After just a dozen or so rounds, Wu Wenbin could no longer withstand the consumption of magic and the various injuries to his body, and consequently, he was defeated.

As the battle between Lin Xueyue and Wu Wenbin concluded.

The dozen or so other examinees in the arena naturally didn't continue fighting for much longer; within a few minutes, all the winners were decided, and the Top Ten were finalized.

After the winners of the previous round had rested and recovered for half an hour.

The second round of the finals—Ten advancing to Five—quickly began!

What most people never expected was that... in this second round, the opponent Qin Yu drew was precisely the person they had been eagerly anticipating... Nie Yuxi!

Instantly, apart from Nie Yuxi and Qin Yu, the two parties involved.

Everyone in the entire examination hall erupted in excitement.

"Huh?? Holy crap, this is only Ten advancing to Five, and Qin Yu and Nie Yuxi are facing off already?"

"How did these two get matched so quickly? If Nie Yuxi loses, won't she be stuck in the 6th to 10th place bracket?"

"Dude, aren't you dense? You must be a Lifestyle Profession person who hasn't carefully studied the assessment rules. Even if Nie Yuxi loses, she still has one Free Challenge opportunity to challenge the second-place winner."

"Her second place is absolutely guaranteed, okay?"

"Wow, a clash between two SSS-level professions! This is going to be incredibly exciting, isn't it!?"

"Damn, even in the provincial capital of our Jiangnan Province..."

"They might not even manage to put together a match like this every year, right?"

"However, even though it's a battle between two SSS-levels, I feel Qin Yu is guaranteed to win. An energy level of 5470 euler—who can withstand that..."

"Not even Nie Yuxi, right?"

"That might not be true..."

"..."