The inevitable had finally happened.
From the start of the ranking battle to the announcement of the rule change and the decision to conduct a quick series of battles before heading toward the Central Divine Mountain, Anti-Upheaval had been right in the line of fire.
Everyone in the top-ten student societies hoped to use them to break into the top-five. Even a few lower ranked student societies wanted the same thing.
They thought that Anti-Upheaval’s title as one of the top five was an empty relic of their lost glory, and that their title should therefore be the easiest to steal.
Most of the crowd couldn’t fathom why the Navigators had challenged Proud Heavens.
However, during that brief battle, they saw Jiang Wei, the expert at the top of the individual leaderboards, and his absolute power in the most direct way possible. His strength was no mere rumor.
Now that the Proud Heavens Society had decided to challenge Anti-Upheaval, the other student societies finally felt as if things were returning to normal.
Even if Proud Heavens hadn’t taken action, another of the top ten societies would have issued a challenge in their stead.
“That’s right! Anti-Upheaval ought to be the one to lose their position.”
“Right? The Navigators should have just replaced Anti-Upheaval directly; that would have been the best choice. I don’t know what Jiang Wei was thinking. Could it be that he simply wanted to show everyone how strong he is and decided to use the Proud Heavens Society as a stepping stone?”
“Sh! Keep your voice down. If Jiang Wei hears you, you’ll be in for it.”
The ordinary student society members in the audience were discussing the matter amongst themselves. Meanwhile, the Anti-Upheaval Society’s team looked at each other.
“The Proud Heavens Society is challenging us. Who should we send up?”
“Whoever goes first sets the tone for the whole match. Di Long is injured, so I doubt he’ll be able to fight for a while. But they have a few platoon leaders who are about as strong as Li Hu and Lui Zi…”
“Let me fight the first match,” said Li Hu. His axe was already in head as he glared at the Proud Heavens Society.
“I don’t think that’s our best bet.” Xue Mo shook her head. “We should send our strongest fighter up. If we achieve a relaxed victory, we’ll be able to quell the other student societies’ desire to take our spot.”
“I’ll go.” As the rest of the team discussed the matter amongst themselves, Bei Bei looked up and, without concern for the others’ reaction, walked toward the stage.
“When the f*ck did she get here?” Qiu Enhuai couldn’t help but facepalm.
“You challenged Anti-Upheaval? You sure have gall! Today, your Big Sister Beibei will teach you a lesson. Come on then! Who’re you sending up to fight?”
Xue Beibei was young, and she looked like a little loli.
She stood on stage yelling angry, but her intimidation level was practically zero. In fact, she was more adorable than scary.
The platoon leader the Proud Heavens’ Society planned to send out froze. “Little sister, what are you doing here?”
“Can’t you tell? I’m here to fight!” Xue Beibei puffed up her chest and put her hands on her hips. “The Proud Heavens Society sent you out to fight? Fine then, prepare your last words!”
Cough!
The platoon leader facing Xue Beibei coughed and burst into laughter, then looked at Anti-Upheaval in amusement. “No way! Your Anti-Upheaval Society has so many members, yet you sent a little loli to fight for you? Don’t you have any shame?”
The audience burst into laughter. “Little sister, hurry up and go home. Send an adult instead!”
In the face of the crowd’s mockery, Xue Beibei’s little face reddened with anger.
She glared at the crowd, gnashed her teeth, and tightened her tiny hands into fists. “You… Fine. Anyone who doesn’t think I’m fit to fight, stand up! See if your Big Sister Beibei doesn’t punch your head into a meaty pulp!”
Unfortunately for her, her indignation only made the crowd laugh harder.
“Enough. I’ll be the one to fight for Anti-Upheaval.” Ye Zichen landed in front of Xue Beibei, then reached out to tousle her hair. “Go back, Beibei.”
“What are you doing?!” she glared at him. “I said I’d….”
“That’s a good girl. But it’s best if I take care of these small fries instead. You’re our secret weapon! This isn’t the time to reveal your power, so leave this one up to me.”
Their secret weapon!
When she heard this explanation, Xue Beibei’s eyes lit up, and she felt a surge of petty pride.
“Then I’ll leave this to you. Don’t you dare disappoint me.”
She shook her head and returned to her team. Xue Mo pulled her into an embrace.
“Can Ye Zichen do it?” muttered Xue Beibei. “If he loses, it’ll be so embarrassing! In that case, it’d be better for me to just blow their heads up. But he said I was our secret weapon. Hee hee hee, a secret weapon….”
As Beibei laughed gleefully to herself, Luo Zi furrowed his brows. “Can Platoon Leader Ye really handle this? Proud Heavens sent their top platoon leader. He’s a peak eighth-stage sky supreme.”
“Trust him,” said Xue Mo, her eyes filled with trust. “He took the stage of his own accord, so he’s surely confident he’ll succeed. I trust him.”
“I trust Brother Ye too,” said Jiang Yong.
Ye Zichen took the stage. His appearance made Qiu Enhuai sigh in relief. When Xue Beibei got on stage, he was worried that something would happen to her, a pampered daughter of a powerful family. He could talk to Great Emperor Xue Yang, but he was concerned about Zhao Qianhe….
She spoiled and adored Xue Beibei more than anything. If anything happened to Xue Beibei, as her “big sister,” Zhao Qianhe would turn Skyspan Academy upside down.
He was a ruler, but his life was suffocating!
Ye Zichen’s appearance didn’t just make Qiu Enhuai sigh in relief. It also turned many of the student society members’ gazes serious.
This was especially true for Pang Zheng of the Grizzly Bears. When he saw Ye Zichen take the stage, his expression instantly grew incomparably dark.
But it wasn’t just him. Even Jiang Wei, who’d been quietly meditating with his rusted sword, opened his eyes. A hint of a smile tugged at his lips.
“You’re the Ye Zichen who got so famous right after entering the academy, the renowned ‘Excavator,’ right?” The representative of the Proud Heavens Society snorted. “Although you didn’t directly target our members, you still caused quite a few of our subordinates to leave us.”
“Is that so?”
“Since you’re a new student, you ought to know you have no business in an event like this. Your team members are sending you up here to die, don’t you know that? Although this is just a knock-out battle, I don’t know how to control my own strength. I urge you to send someone else up in your stead. But then, your companions aren’t any better. Only Luo Zi and Li Hu are strong enough to take the stage, but they’re still a distance from our platoon leaders in strength.”
“Is that so?”
“You brat, are you doing this on purpose?”
“That’s right.” Ye Zichen didn’t deny it. He turned towards the Proud Heavens Society’s platoon leaders and said, “If you want to compete, let’s just compete. Why waste all those words? You took the initiative to challenge us, now you’re urging me to back down. How about we back out and give our position to your Proud Heavens Society? Is that what you want?”
“That would be for the best,” laughed the platoon leader. “That would be a good choice. Surely you don’t think your society is strong enough to contend with us?”
“There must be something wrong with your brain.” Ye Zichen took in the platoon leader’s mannerisms. He didn’t quite know what to say. “Quit talking nonsense and fight me already. Right, I don’t want to waste time with you either. How about all of you come up at once?”
