novelraw Chapter 387: Making a Name for Himself!
Chapter 387: Making a Name for Himself!
Bai Pojun showed no mercy once he had the momentum, moving like lightning as he pressed the attack. His fists alternated in a relentless barrage, each condensed punch imprint raining down on Liu Ziming like a meteor shower.
Liu Ziming became a domain of lightning around his body, continuously releasing thunder to block the strikes.
On the arena, flashes of lightning and ghostly fist shadows collided violently.
The roar never ceased, and the savage shockwaves pounded the protective light barrier around the ring, stirring fierce ripples.
Liu Ziming clenched his teeth. Purple Thunder struck Bai Pojun, but it only caused a slight numbness and a brief delay in his movements, doing no real damage.
Bai Pojun’s physical toughness was simply too great.
By contrast, every hard clash with the fist qi left Liu Ziming’s arms numb, his internal organs rattled, and blood already seeping from the corner of his mouth.
“That’s enough!”
After failing to break him for so long, Bai Pojun lost his patience.
He drew a deep breath and his aura surged again. Pulling his right fist back, a dazzling white light shimmered off his knuckles, blinding to look at directly.He unleashed a punch that formed a white pillar of light, as if capable of piercing the stars.
It locked onto all of Liu Ziming’s vital energies, leaving him nowhere to dodge.
Sensing a lethal threat, Liu Ziming roared and stopped holding back, pouring all of his spiritual energy into Purple Thunder.
“Nine Heavens Thunder Prison!”
He thrust both palms forward. From nothing, a thunder inferno coalesced, formed from countless raging purple bolts—the Thunder Prison—rushing to meet that white pillar.
This was his strongest strike.
“RUMBLE—!!!”
The white pillar and the purple Thunder Prison collided head-on.
A terrifying explosion swept the venue.
The stalemate lasted only two seconds.
Under every stunned gaze, the brilliant purple Thunder Prison was pierced from its center by that invincible white pillar.
Though the white pillar dimmed by more than half, its remaining force still slammed into the spent Liu Ziming’s chest with brutal force.
“Pft—!”
Liu Ziming spat a great mouthful of blood toward the sky. A clear sound of ribs cracking came from his chest as he was blasted backward, crashing heavily into the protective light barrier, then sliding to the ground, utterly unconscious.
“Winner, White Tiger Academy, Bai Pojun!”
The referee announced immediately.
The crowd erupted in thunderous cheers.
“Amazing! The Supreme Fist lives up to its name!”
“One punch breaks ten thousand techniques!”
“Liu Ziming tried his best. That Nine Heavens Thunder Prison was powerful, but unfortunately he ran into Bai Pojun.”
“Sigh, an honorable defeat, but still a loss.”
Medical staff quickly took the gravely injured, unconscious Liu Ziming off the stage.
In Vermilion Bird Academy’s resting area, the atmosphere was even heavier.
Feng Jue clenched his fists tightly.
Xu Hao watched Liu Ziming being carried away, his expression grave.
Once again they felt that despairing wall of innate talent.
SSS grade loomed like an insurmountable mountain, pressing down on every non-SSS prodigy.
In that instant, three different minds all unwittingly surfaced the same name.
Su Zhan.
If he were here…
If he stood now among Vermilion Bird Academy’s contingent…
Could Chu Zhou’s Myriad Forms still handle things so casually?
Could Bai Pojun’s Supreme Fist still be so wanton?
Would those SSS prodigies from other academies still dare to look down on Vermilion Bird Academy like this?
They could almost see him: the figure who had once led them to repeated miracles, standing on the highest platform with even greater strength, calmly facing any challenge.
With him around, would Vermilion Bird Academy be stumbling and desperate at every step like it was now?
Would every victory feel like a fluke, and every defeat seem inevitable?
He was like an anchor; with him the team had a backbone, the courage to face any great opponent and raise their blades.
Not like now, where the three of them gave everything and still had their heads bloodied by the wall of innate talent, forced to watch their academy’s reputation keep dropping.
How they wished that comrade who fought by their side, the miracle torn away by fate, could reappear and fight back for Vermilion Bird Academy, and for themselves, to reclaim the dignity reality had crushed time and again.
But that thought remained a fleeting, extravagant hope.
The reality was, Su Zhan had long “fallen,” and they had to face this cruel arena alone, until the last moment.
Fight to the last man to uphold the academy’s final honor.
…
Daxia Capital.
The airport.
Amid the bustling crowd.
One figure was utterly inconspicuous.
He wore ordinary casual clothes, sunglasses that covered half his face, and dragged a simple suitcase.
He looked exactly like a regular young man visiting or on business in the capital.
Su Zhan. Wearing an entirely new face.
No longer the former Vermilion Bird Academy genius Su Zhan, no longer the Black City guest advisor Chen Qing.
This was the new identity crafted by top cosmetic surgeons, procured through Mo Yuan’s absolutely reliable channels. The name: Chen Zhanshu.
A face and a name so ordinary he would vanish into the crowd and never be found again.
Su Zhan walked with the flow of people out of the airport and looked up at this political center of Daxia.
The ambient spiritual energy density here far exceeded other cities.
He had come for only one purpose.
The Five Great Academies’ Grand Competition!
But the competition had already been going for twenty-five days, past the halfway point and into the fierce struggle for the top fifty.
Even if he revealed his true identity as Su Zhan now and went to the organizing committee to demand entry, they would never allow it.
Rules are rules, and doing so would be tantamount to walking into a trap, instantly drawing Qin Bai and the Aberrant Purge Division’s frenzied pursuit.
The official route was no longer viable.
Yet Su Zhan had already prepared.
Since he could not enter through the front door, then at the last moment he would, in the most shocking way possible…
Crash the arena!
Su Zhan knew those proud top prodigies too well.
They basked in the spotlight, bearing their academy’s honor, and their hearts were filled with an unchallengeable pride.
If—during the individual finals, or at least at some high-profile, crowd-watching key moment—he, under the name Su Zhan, as the once-recognized strongest of Vermilion Bird Academy’s S class…
Suddenly appeared and challenged the eventual victor, or all of the top prodigies…
Would they refuse?
Su Zhan was almost certain they would not.
To protect their pride, they would most likely accept.
Even if officials might try to block it due to rules, under the gaze of billions and the boiling pressure of public opinion, rules could be temporarily set aside.
Moreover, the name “Su Zhan” itself still carried enormous public interest.
That was his plan.
Make a name for himself and turn the tide by leveraging the moment!