121: Double First Place, King of Kings

Both of them activated Mode Two simultaneously.

A white Thermal Gun appeared in each of their hands, and then they both pulled the triggers.

Pew, pew, pew.

Countless thermal lasers shot toward each other, and both of them performed dodging maneuvers almost at the same time.

Boom—

The spots where the two lasers landed were blown to pieces, kicking up a cloud of dust.

At this moment, both sides were constantly retreating to create distance.

After the mutual exchange of fire, the Energy of the Thermal Guns was depleted.

Balide tossed aside the Energy-depleted Thermal Gun, while Xia Mulin retracted his into his battle armor.

"You are quite good!"

"Likewise."

Xia Mulin was hit by one shot, while his opponent was hit by three.

The thermal lasers had penetrated the battle armor on both sides, damaging some mechanical parts and leaving the wounds charred black.

Xia Mulin did not lower his guard in the slightest.

This opponent seemed slightly inferior to him, but gave him a very dangerous feeling.

One must know that he had the combat experience of A-rank five powerhouse like Ling Chan to assist him.

Even so, he had still been injured by the opponent, which only showed that the other party was not as simple as they appeared.

Meanwhile, Balide also realized how formidable Xia Mulin was.

Before Xia Mulin appeared, he was the number one in the whole academy and had never met such a powerful opponent.

In fact, he had a hidden identity: he was a Race bounty hunter.

He relied on capturing interstellar criminals wanted by the Empire to earn an income to support his parents and younger brother.

Having hovered between life and death countless times, his combat experience was incredibly rich.

"Mode One, activate!"

With a hiss, two Laser Swords popped out.

The two figures moved forward at high speed, both catching their Laser Swords.

In the next moment, the two weapons clashed in mid-air.

With a "Bang!", sparks flew in all directions.

Xia Mulin took a few steps back and looked up at his opponent.

The mechanical battle armor took a step forward, and he put power into his right leg to deliver a kick.

"Smack—" Balide reached out to block the attack.

Immediately after, he attacked again, his Laser Sword slashing down.

Xia Mulin dodged to the side and suddenly raised his sword with both hands to strike downward.

The opponent was startled and hurriedly pulled back his sword to parry.

"Clang—" Their Laser Swords collided.

"You are strong! But I have already achieved Energy Rank Awakening!"

Balide suddenly circulated the Energy within his body, channeling it into the Laser Sword, hoping to defeat his opponent with it.

However, the person opposite him was not to be outdone.

"Heh, Energy Rank? Who doesn't have that!"

"What?!"

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—two intense thermal flares lit up blindingly.

Then came an explosion, and the Laser Swords in both their hands shattered simultaneously.

Although the battle armor's attack programs were all exhausted, the battle between the two had to continue.

The combat returned to its most primitive state.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A series of metal clashing sounds rang out as they exchanged punches and kicks; the two sets of battle armor were locked in an inseparable fight.

Balide swung a punch, driven by his Energy Rank, his iron fist moving like the wind.

Xia Mulin also swung a punch to meet it.

With a thud, the two mechanical fists collided.

The surging airflow swept around them, blowing sand and stones across the ground.

With a "Boom!", the ground beneath both mechanical battle armors sank slightly at the same time.

Both retreated a few steps, then charged forward again to engage in a fierce collision... The fight happened so fast that less than ten minutes had passed in the match.

In the end, Xia Mulin secured the victory; he seized a certain opening.

"Mode Two! Activate!"

The muzzle of the Thermal Gun was pressed against Balide's forehead.

Balide didn't think much of it; he had already scanned it, and the opponent's Thermal Gun definitely had no Energy left.

However, as the sound of the Thermal Gun activating rang out, he suddenly panicked.

"How is that possible! How can there still be Energy in your gun!"

"I'm sorry, but at the last moment when I retracted the gun, I used my own Energy Rank to replenish it with one Energy round."

Energy surged, and a laser blast shot out.

Thud... "The battle has ended. Will the five onsite examiners please evaluate the combat!"

"Combat evaluation complete!"

"This battle is authentic and valid!"

"Congratulations to Xia Mulin for winning the match and becoming the first-year annual assessment Armed Equipment champion!" the examiner announced the result.

"Wowaaaaah, so cool!"

"We've witnessed history!"

"Too amazing!"

A few days later, the results for the first-year annual assessment's education courses also came out.

First in education courses, Xia Mulin!

First in Armed Equipment courses, Xia Mulin!

Dual firsts! The King of Kings!

"Step three, gaining fame, complete."

After this battle, Xia Mulin went from being the bottom of the entire Yunbian Academy to being the absolute first.

He became famous overnight!

For a time, everyone treated him like a Genius; he had remained silent only to startle everyone with a single cry.

The name Xia Mulin even reached an unprecedented level of glory during this period.

Before long, a story began to be told throughout the Race spiritual world and within the academy:

A certain bottom-tier student endured humiliation, studied constantly, made continuous progress, and finally succeeded in a counterattack.

What was this? This was an inspirational story!

As the matter fermented over time, it even spread to other academies and gradually became known to most of the Race in the entire Iletaya Mechanical City.

"Good, good, good."

The Governor of Iletaya Mechanical City praised him several times and called over his Race subordinates.

"Broadcast the deeds of this student Xia Mulin to the entire city, and call upon all of the Race to learn from him!"

"Yes! Your Excellency Governor!"

...Inside the class 86 classroom, Gu Lengyu walked up and made a request to the teacher.

"You mean, you want to give up the position of Class Monitor to the student Xia Mulin?"

The teacher's expression was slightly surprised; he hadn't expected her to make such a request.

"Yes, teacher."

"I feel I cannot compare to Student Xia; Student Xia should lead us to progress."

"Very well, since this is your request."

"Then Student Xia, what is your opinion?"

Xia Mulin slowly stood up and gave a bow with his hand over his chest.

"I will lead class 86 to better progress with unswerving determination!"

"For the Emperor!"

Xia Mulin said calmly, and immediately a chorus of responses rang out behind him.

"For the Emperor!"

The teacher also sensed that the atmosphere seemed a bit strange, but he didn't look into it deeply.

He felt it was simply that the student's strength had earned the recognition and respect of the entire class.

Such a recommendation was, after all, fair and reasonable.

"Good, in that case, I will report this change to the academy."

"I'll strive to complete the change within ten days!"

Soon, it was time for school to end.

"Big brother, Nicholas Qiuxue and Balide have already agreed to the meeting."

A student from class 86 walked over and bowed obsequiously to Xia Mulin.

"Let's go and meet them."

Xia Mulin stood up, straightened his clothes, and strode out of the academy.

Nicholas Qiuxue and Balide were the original number ones in the education courses and Armed Equipment courses respectively.

Ever since Xia Mulin appeared out of nowhere, they could only settle for being second.

To Xia Mulin, both of these people possessed A-rank talent.

If they could be brought under his command, it would undoubtedly be an excellent thing.

"I hope you two can be a bit more sensible, otherwise..."