novelraw Chapter 393: Fight!
Chapter 393: Fight!
Feng Jue, Xu Hao, and Liu Ziming looked at one another in stunned silence.
All three read shock and worry in each other’s eyes.
"Brother Su… he’s really going all out!" Xu Hao muttered.
"He never does anything without confidence," Feng Jue said, his gaze razor-sharp. "The aura he’s emitting is Abyss Realm, third stage. He must have… found a Reforge Fruit…"
Liu Ziming wiped the corner of his mouth. "Damn, it’s satisfying, but this just makes things a lot more troublesome…"
At the judges' platform,
the deans and high-level officials who knew the truth felt even more turmoil roiling inside.
They stared at the youth who had disguised himself as an Abyss Realm third stage provocateur.
They knew clearly this was not an even match.
This was… about to become a steamroller!"Let them fight!"
Nobody knew who shouted first.
The emotions of the hundreds of thousands of spectators were completely ignited.
They were no longer satisfied with arguing and gossiping; they expressed their craving for this gunpowder-scented peak duel in the most direct way possible.
The roar rolled like a mountain tide, unified and thunderous.
Like war drums pounding, it struck everyone’s eardrums.
It struck the pride of the ten prodigies standing on the Glory High Platform.
Under that overwhelming roar, any hesitation would be seen as cowardice!
Bai Pojun took the first step forward, his voice booming like a bell. "Su Zhan! Do not act so arrogant! Since you seek death, I, Bai Pojun, will grant your wish! I’ll show you who the real trash is!"
Xue Wuhen’s voice cut like ice. "You will pay for your arrogance."
Shui Wuxin shrouded in misty vapor, spoke in an ethereal tone. "The wrath of the vast sea is not for you to bear."
Several other SSS-grade prodigies and two dark-horse contestants also stepped forward, glaring at Su Zhan.
Different words, same meaning.
They accepted the challenge!
As the most prestigious among the top ten, Chu Zhou spoke at last. "Su Zhan, you returned in such a manner and made such outrageous claims. If we back down out of fear, would that not shame our training and the academy’s cultivation of us? Your challenge—we will accept it!"
Ten powerful Abyss Realm auras burst forth simultaneously, surging skyward, matching the "Abyss Realm third stage" aura that hung around Su Zhan in midair!
The entire arena area instantly bristled with tension, and war was on the verge of breaking out!
Everyone held their breath, waiting for the coming cataclysmic clash.
At the judges' platform,
the Chief Referee's face darkened as he looked toward the deans and high-level officials.
Those in the know exchanged a complex glance.
An elderly man with a solemn expression slowly stood up:
"Silence!"
His voice, laced with Ocean Realm pressure, suppressed the crowd’s uproar.
All eyes turned to him, wondering why this important figure had intervened at this moment.
The old man fixed his gaze on Su Zhan in midair and spoke with authority:
"Su Zhan, your return from death and reappearance in the world is indeed fortunate, but your conduct here is too frivolous and undermines fairness!
First, the Grand Competition has its rules.
The Five Great Academies' Grand Competition is Daxia’s ceremony for selecting talents. Every stage of the contest follows regulations. You did not participate in any preliminary or points matches.
Now that the top ten have been decided, you insist on forcibly challenging them—this is equivalent to directly creating an eleventh contender!
How is that fair to these prodigies who fought tooth and nail to reach the top ten?
Where is the dignity of the rules?
Second, your identity remains in doubt.
You disappeared for over five years with no news. Everyone presumed you dead. Now you suddenly appear—how can mere facial resemblance prove you are the Su Zhan of old?
Could you be an imposter, or… a puppet controlled by certain forces?
This is a serious matter; it cannot be treated lightly!"
His words were clear and struck at the heart of the issue.
He stood on the moral high ground of defending rules and fairness while casting doubt on Su Zhan’s identity.
Many spectators, inflamed by passion a moment ago, calmed down and felt his points had merit.
The truth was…
those informed high-level officials, after discovering Su Zhan’s true strength as an Ocean Realm first stage, had long been thrown into a storm of alarm.
They understood Su Zhan’s intention.
He was leveraging momentum!
He intended to use the Five Great Academies' Grand Competition—an event watched by the whole world—and exploit the legend of his return from death and the terrifying shock of being a twenty-five-year-old Ocean Realm practitioner, to forcibly thrust himself back into public visibility!
He wanted to harness the attention and sympathy of billions to make himself impossible to erase.
If he succeeded in defeating the top ten publicly, his reputation would soar to the top. Then the authorities would face unimaginable pressure if they tried to act against him.
They could not allow him to succeed!
They had to strangle this challenge in the cradle.
So they waved the banners of rules and identity to deny Su Zhan’s qualification on procedural grounds.
Su Zhan’s expression was indifferent; he sneered lightly. "First, about rules and fairness?
Tell me, has any past Grand Competition explicitly forbidden latecomers from challenging?
I, Su Zhan, am an Abyss Realm third stage cultivator and the SSS-grade Life Soul owner of Time Abyss Pupil.
With my strength and talent, do I not even have the right to challenge these so-called top ten?
If even I lack qualification, then the value of being in the top ten is laughable, isn’t it?
If we speak of fairness, I disappeared for five years and lost five years’ worth of academy resources and guidance while they enjoyed them. Now I reached this point on my own—who is truly unfairly advantaged?
Second, about my identity?
Sir, do you not see how ridiculous your suspicion is?
Faces can be similar, but how can a Life Soul be faked? How can bone age be forged?"
Su Zhan spread his arms. "All five academy deans are present, the high-level officials are here, and countless senior experts can vouch for me!
You can call anyone to the stage and examine my Life Soul and bone age on the spot! See whether I, Su Zhan, am real or not!
If I am fake, dispose of me as you wish! If I am genuine…
then what is the true purpose behind your various obstructions today!?"
That last sentence struck at the core.
He exposed the scheming thoughts of the high-level officials, laying them bare in the sunlight!
The crowd erupted once more.
Su Zhan’s rebuttal was reasonable and seized the moral upper hand over the officials.
"Test him! Test him!"
"Let him prove it!"
"Real or fake, we’ll know once they examine him!"
"Don’t waste time, finish the test and start the fight!"
"We want to see the match!"
An even more fanatical clamor swept over the venue.
Public sentiment overwhelmingly favored letting Su Zhan prove himself and then fight.
This united will exerted tremendous pressure on the officials at the judges' platform.
On the Glory High Platform,
Bai Pojun, whose anger had long since reached a boil, could no longer hold back.
He suddenly stepped forward and pointed at Su Zhan in midair, his voice like thunder:
"Su Zhan! Stop with your sharp tongue! Test? Prove? Even if you are the real Su Zhan, so what? Fight all ten of us? Do you even deserve to make such boasts?"
Bai Pojun sneered through his fury. "To deal with someone who only talks big like you, do we really need all ten of us? I, Bai Pojun, alone am enough!"
He glanced at the other nine prodigies beside him. Although they still wore expressions of anger,
it was clear Bai Pojun’s words resonated with some of them.
They were all proud and would lose face by teaming up against a third-stage Abyss Realm.
Bai Pojun abruptly turned his head back and fixed his stare on Su Zhan. "Su Zhan! Do you dare face me, Bai Pojun, in a one-on-one duel?"