Third Life Reincarnation: Finally Born Into a Magical World

Chapter 149: Masked Candidate (Part-6)

"I hope you can," Ryan replied lightly.

He didn’t waste any more words. Clenching his fist, he stepped forward and charged.

Ryan didn’t use his full speed, not even half of it. Yet his movement was still lightning-fast.

"I’ve heard you’re fast," Pei Ziming said, watching Ryan approach. "Seeing it now, I’ll admit it’s impressive."

What he didn’t know was that this was only a fraction of Ryan’s speed. If Ryan truly went all out, Pei Ziming wouldn’t even be able to catch a glimpse of him. And if Ryan used the Phaseless Shadow Step, even that shadow would vanish.

"Fast?" Ryan chuckled. "My fists are stronger."

In the blink of an eye, he was already in front of Pei Ziming. His arm shot forward, throwing a seemingly plain punch.

"Intermediate Boxing!"

"Break!"

The punch looked ordinary to the extreme. No surging aura, no violent fluctuations of energy. It was so plain that it almost looked sloppy.

Pei Ziming sneered. "I thought you’d show me something amazing with all that confidence. And this is it? You want me to block this punch and call it my loss? Even a three-year-old could stop something like this."

With that, he threw his own punch forward, meeting Ryan head-on.

"Let me show you what a real punch looks like," Pei Ziming roared. "Hope you don’t get beaten to death!"

"Azure Wood Demon Fist!"

Green light burst from his fist, dazzling and powerful. A terrifying aura surged outward, making his attack look vastly superior to Ryan’s plain punch.

If any onlooker were present, there would be no doubt in their minds. Everyone would bet on Pei Ziming.

But—

Boom!

The moment their fists collided, a deafening explosion rang out.

Then a figure was sent flying.

It was Pei Ziming.

His body shot backward like a cannonball, crashing heavily into the distance with a dull thud.

Ryan had consumed countless attribute pills. His raw strength alone had reached the level of a five-star Upper Exalt. In terms of brute force, he surpassed Pei Ziming by several orders of magnitude.

How could Pei Ziming possibly withstand it?

"Your punch is supposed to kill me?" Ryan said mockingly, echoing Pei Ziming’s earlier words. "With strength like that, you couldn’t even kill an ant. Don’t speak big words when you are not capable..."

Pei Ziming spat out a mouthful of blood, his face turning ashen.

Ryan hadn’t even struck him heavily. The blood he vomited wasn’t from a serious injury.

It was from anger.

After sending Pei Ziming flying with a single punch, Ryan was expelled from the ring and secured his fourth victory.

Five matches were required for full scoring and positioning. At this point, Ryan had already completed four.

Just one more match remained.

Outside, the commotion erupted once again.

Because with this fourth victory, Ryan’s ranking climbed yet again.

This time, it stopped at 66 on the leaderboard.

And judging from the momentum, there was still room to go even higher.

Everyone familiar with the rules of the Eight Palace Battle Hall knew that true positioning only occurred after five matches. Only then would the system fully assess a participant’s strength and assign an accurate ranking.

Before that, all points were temporary.

Temporary points could place someone on the leaderboard, but they would never exceed the final score. In other words, once the real evaluation was completed, the ranking would only rise, never fall.

The candidate with temporary number 59416 had played only four matches.

That meant his current rank of sixty-six was not his final position.

It could only go higher.

Even if he lost the fifth match, his ranking would still improve.

After the initial shock, anticipation took over. Everyone wanted to know just how far this mysterious candidate could climb. More than that, they wanted to see whether he could continue rewriting the limits and creating even greater surprises.

At the same time, elders and core disciples from every palace grew increasingly restless. They desperately wanted to uncover the identity of this candidate and secure him before anyone else could. Yet despite all their efforts, the man behind temporary number 59416 remained completely unknown.

With no other choice, they lingered in the Palace of Fighting, scanning the sea of candidates for anyone suspicious.

But the palace was already overflowing.

Candidates from all four regions had arrived, and news of the rankings had drawn even more people here. The Fighting Palace of Duigong had become a boiling cauldron of bodies and voices.

In such chaos, finding one person was like searching for a needle in a storm of dust.

Ten minutes later...

Ryan finally matched his fifth opponent.

This time, the man standing across from him was named Xu Junfeng. A sword-shaped emblem was embroidered on his chest, marking him as a disciple of the Li Palace.

Just as Ryan had anticipated, each match brought a stronger opponent.

Xu Junfeng was far more formidable than Pei Ziming.

He was a two-star Upper Exalt.

Such strength was already enough to secure a high ranking within Western Mansion.

The moment they stepped onto the ring, Xu Junfeng drew his bright white longsword and launched his attack without hesitation. Ryan responded just as swiftly, charging forward.

No greetings. No probing.

The battle began instantly.

At first, Ryan assumed this match would end as easily as the previous ones. To him, there was little difference between a one-star and a two-star Upper Exalt.

But he was wrong.

Xu Junfeng’s swordsmanship was exquisite.

The longsword danced in his hands like a living spirit, agile and elegant, flowing seamlessly from one strike to the next. As the blade swept through the air, it left behind pale white trails of energy.

From those trajectories, Ryan sensed sharpness and danger.

It was precisely these white energy trails, combined with Xu Junfeng’s airtight sword net, that caused Ryan real trouble. Even with his overwhelming speed and strength, he couldn’t immediately close the distance. More importantly, he had no intention of testing those strange energy traces with his bare body.

"It’s useless," Xu Junfeng said calmly while maintaining his sword formation. "I heard about you before this match. They said you were fast, fast enough to launch instant attacks. I admit it. For a candidate, your speed is astonishing."

"But no matter how fast you are, in front of my Seven-Star Sword Net, it means nothing."

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "So you came specifically for me?"

"Yes," Xu Junfeng replied flatly. "You’re too conspicuous. A candidate who hasn’t even entered Western Mansion shouldn’t be stealing this much attention. So I’ll stop you here."

"Stop me?" Ryan scoffed. "Do you really think you have that ability?"

"Why not?" Xu Junfeng smiled faintly. "Look at the situation now. Can you do anything to me? Let me be honest. My ranking in Western Mansion is 36. People like Bai Jinchen, whom you defeated, I can handle in a single move. Beating them proves nothing. You’re still far from the true top of the Outer House."

"Is that so?" Ryan laughed softly.

Then, without warning, the Phaseless Shadow Step activated.

In an instant, his speed nearly doubled.

Before, Xu Junfeng could barely catch a glimpse of Ryan’s shadow.

Now, even that shadow vanished.

Ryan’s voice echoed lightly through the sword net. "What about now? Do you still think you can stop me?"

"No... impossible!" Xu Junfeng’s pupils shrank. "How can you be this fast?"

Shock flooded his face.

Ryan’s previous speed was already extreme. Xu Junfeng had relied on his sword net to compensate. But now, this new burst of speed shattered everything he understood.

This wasn’t the speed of a candidate.

It wasn’t even the speed of an Outer House disciple.

Such speed belonged to monsters of the Inner House.

Yet it stood right in front of him.

"Impossible?" Ryan chuckled. "You’re just a frog at the bottom of a well. In this world, nothing is impossible."

His figure flickered.

No matter how dense Xu Junfeng’s sword net became, no matter how sharp the white energy trails were, they turned meaningless before that overwhelming speed.

Ryan weaved effortlessly through the slashes and energy arcs. Thousands of sword flowers bloomed, countless white trajectories crisscrossed the air, yet not one touched his clothes.

Each sword strike landed on empty air.

Each energy trail sliced nothing but shadows.

Ryan moved like an elf dancing amid blades, graceful, untouchable, and utterly terrifying.

After breaking through layer upon layer of sword light, Ryan appeared at Xu Junfeng’s side as if he had stepped out of thin air. He raised his palm and struck.

Xu Junfeng was sent flying, his body tumbling across the ring before crashing down heavily.

The fifth match, though it required a bit more effort than the previous ones, still ended decisively.

Ryan won.

With five battles completed, he did not continue matching. Instead, he withdrew and returned to the gas mask.

The moment the fifth match concluded, the system’s scoring and positioning phase was triggered. The final evaluation was about to be revealed.

"How was it, Brother Li?" Wang Bi’er asked immediately when she saw him return.