217: Chapter 217 Another person has advanced?

Xie Fuyao did not step forward again, nor did he speak.

He simply turned around silently and walked to the most secluded corner of the lounge, sitting there like a stone statue for a long time, as if completely isolated from this noisy world.

Time passed by little by little.

The other matches continued.

At this moment, in front of another combat pod in the lounge, the chubby Hao Yun was peeking around sneakily.

"Hehehe..."

Hao Yun rubbed his chubby hands together, looking at his record on the big screen: [6 Wins 0 Losses].

"Just one last match to go! As long as I win one more, I, your Lord Fat, can also bring honor to my ancestors and secure a starting spot!"

Hao Yun had calculated everything perfectly.

He had just seized the perfect opportunity!

"The two biggest mountains with the highest points in Pool 1 right now, Brother Jiang has already advanced and is no longer participating in matchmaking."

"Senior Sister Ji and Senior Sister Qiu are busy congratulating Jiang You right now!"

"And that Xie Fuyao was just brutally crushed by Brother Jiang, his Dao heart shattered, and he is sitting in the corner doubting life right now. I reckon he definitely won't be in the mood to play any matches for a while."

"This means that the high-ranking matchmaking pool is currently a vacuum; all the experts are gone. This is the moment when my Supernatural Ability for good luck can best be put to use!"

"If I don't queue now, when will I?!"

Hao Yun was so excited that his fat trembled all over. He performed a flexible meatball charge, dived into the combat pod, and decisively pressed [Start Matchmaking].

However, Hao Yun did not know.

Just one second before he pressed the matchmaking button.

That Xie Fuyao, who had been sitting silently in the corner for a long time and seemed to have completely shut down, suddenly opened his eyes.

In those eyes, the previous collapse and arrogance were gone, replaced by a clarity and determination born from breaking and then rebuilding.

"I think I understand..."

Xie Fuyao looked at his own hands, muttering to himself:

"It wasn't my cultivation or my Supernatural Ability that I lost..."

"I lost because of my reliance on power."

"I have always relied on my Peak Fourth-Order realm and my SS-rank Supernatural Ability to crush my opponents, thinking that no one could rival me!"

"That is why I lost the purest combat instinct of a martial artist. My striking techniques and my crisis awareness are still far from reaching their limit. I am still very far from being a true genius!"

"And this guy Jiang You is the kind of genius who is always honing his combat techniques!"

(Brain: You're giving him too much credit; that was me operating.)

Xie Fuyao stood up abruptly, feeling as if he had broken free from some invisible shackle.

"If I continue to stay on the throne of first place, I will never be able to break through my bottleneck!"

"I want to start over! I want to go into a more brutal quagmire and fight again!"

With this mindset of extreme epiphany, bordering on self-abuse, Xie Fuyao strode to the combat pod and casually pressed the matchmaking button.

"Ding!"

"Matchmaking successful!"

Inside the combat pod, Hao Yun was looking at the screen full of anticipation.

"Come on, come on! Give me a severely injured junior, or a squishy mage with diarrhea!"

The next second.

The opponent's information popped up on the screen.

[Red Side: Class F Freshman, Hao Yun (6 Wins 0 Losses)]

VS

[Blue Side: Class A Senior, Xie Fuyao (6 Wins 2 Losses)]

"..."

In the narrow combat pod, the air instantly froze.

The fat on Hao Yun's face stiffened abruptly, and his already small eyes widened instantly like copper bells.

"What the... hell?"

Hao Yun almost couldn't catch his breath and nearly passed out on the spot.

"Xie... Xie Fuyao!!!"

"Isn't this Chief Xie, who just got slapped by Brother Jiang and had his Dao heart collapse?"

Hao Yun frantically scratched his head in the pod: "Are you sick or something?! You were just brutally crushed, you haven't even rested for ten minutes, why did you click matchmaking so quickly?"

"Is your mentality really that stable? Shouldn't you be finding a place where no one is around to have a good cry?"

"It's over, it's over... I, your Lord Fat, have walked right into the line of fire! He just took so much frustration from Brother Jiang, and now that he's met me, also from Class F, won't he just squeeze my fat out to light a lamp?"

"I knew my crappy Supernatural Ability would have times when it malfunctions!"

Hao Yun was in despair. He closed his eyes, covered his head with his hands, and waited for the countdown to end, resigned to his fate, preparing to face the miserable outcome of being rubbed into the ground by a Peak Fourth-Order.

[Battle Start!]

Hao Yun kept his eyes tightly shut, trembling all over: "Don't hit my face! Senior, I was wrong! Can't I apologize to you on behalf of Brother Jiang..."

Beep—!

However, the expected storm of attacks did not come.

Instead, a crisp system notification sound rang out abruptly in Hao Yun's ears.

[Blue Side Xie Fuyao, chooses to surrender!]

[System Judgment: Red Side Hao Yun, wins!]

[Congratulations to contestant Hao Yun, with a perfect record of 7 Wins 0 Losses, for securing a qualifying spot!]

"Ah?"

Hao Yun maintained his head-covering posture, opening his eyes blankly.

Looking at the [Victory] characters flickering with golden light above his head, his Brain completely shut down.

"???"

"This... is actually possible?"

Outside, the entire lounge erupted in a chorus of gasps.

"Holy crap! Chief Xie entered the match and immediately surrendered?"

"This fatty's luck is simply defying the heavens! Even Xie Fuyao is giving way to him?"

In the real world.

Xie Fuyao pushed open the pod door with a calm expression and walked out.

According to the rules, he had previously lost to Bai Lan, lost to Jiang You, and now surrendered to Hao Yun.

A total of three losses!

The dignified Class A Chief, the former number one in the whole school, was actually directly eliminated from Seed Pool No. 1 and was about to be relegated to Pool 2!

But there was not a trace of dejection on Xie Fuyao's face.

He even walked to the water dispenser with extreme indifference, poured himself a cup of warm water, and took a sip.

Then, he turned around and walked with steady steps, preparing to leave this Pool 1 that had caused him to fall from his pedestal.

When passing by the Class F area.

Xie Fuyao stopped in his tracks.

He looked at Hao Yun, who was surrounded by people and looking blank because he had "won another match by lying down," and at Jiang You next to him, who seemed to be thinking about something.

At this moment, even though Xie Fuyao had lost three consecutive matches and was eliminated from Pool 1, there was not a hint of a loser's dejection on him.

His back was straight, and his somewhat wrinkled white shirt now exuded a cold, murderous aura.

He had no humble posture; instead, he locked his gaze onto Jiang You with an unprecedented, deep, and sharp look, like a glacier in the extreme north.

"Jiang You."

Xie Fuyao's voice was not loud, and his tone was calm without a ripple, but it instantly made the noisy lounge quiet down.

"Ah?"

Jiang You, who was immersed in the terrifying philosophical question of "How exactly did I slap the school's number one while sleeping," was startled by this sound.

He raised his head and looked at the other person with those blank, dead-fish eyes: "Xie... Senior, do you need something?"

Xie Fuyao looked at Jiang You's relaxed appearance, as if nothing had happened, and his eyelid twitched slightly, but he forcibly suppressed the waves in his heart.

"In this match, I lost. I lost very thoroughly."

Xie Fuyao frankly admitted his failure. The proud bones belonging to a top-tier genius were not broken; instead, they were polished sharper by this frankness:

"It was you who showed me how foolish it is to rely too much on cultivation realm and Supernatural Ability stats."

"The lesson you taught me on the arena, and the evaluation you left at the end... I, Xie Fuyao, have remembered it."

"Thank you..."

Jiang You: "???"

What lesson?

What evaluation?

Why thank me?

What the hell did I do to you on the arena?

Xie Fuyao ignored Jiang You's gradually widening eyes. Carrying the paper cup, he turned around, leaving behind an extremely cool and enlightened silhouette, and strode out of the lounge door.

"Wait for me."

"One day, I will defeat you fair and square!"

Jiang You turned his head to look at Gou Fugui, looking completely confused:

"What on earth is this guy thanking me for?"

"I didn't... sell him any self-help courses on the arena just now, did I?"