Gao Wu: From Martial Arts Student to Star Emperor

Chapter 616 Shen Jiuxi presents the knife, the battle for the top spot in the entire department!

"Do you know why these staff members who are hosting the freshman martial arts competition are contacting you now?"

As soon as Chen Lie sat down, Huang Yucheng behind him spoke.

Why?

"Because they think you're only good enough to be in the top ten of the entire martial arts department. If you get first place in the department, or even first place in the whole school, it's not just about the medal."

Chen Lie nodded. It was normal for the staff who were in charge of the freshman martial arts competition to have such thoughts.

Chen Lie had long heard that since the founding of Starry Sky University, the freshman martial arts competition had always been ranked first in the entire department and had never been taken by anyone from outside the Ten Star Alliance planets.

For the staff of Starry Sky University who were in charge of the martial arts competition, Chen Lie making it into the top ten was already the limit; it was impossible for him to go any further.

At this moment, the battle on the stage also came to a conclusion, and the broadcast sounded.

"The competition has ended. Tian Sisi from Suyun Star defeated Sun Yan from Canglong Star, advancing to the top ten of all freshmen in the Martial Arts Department."

"The ninth match of the top ten competition: Changxia Star Gongsun Huaying vs. Aurora Star Zhou Bingkun."

"Please come up to the stage immediately for the duel."

……

On the battle stage, Gongsun Huaying of Changxia Star, dressed in an ancient-style plain dress, and Zhou Bingkun of Aurora Star stepped onto the stage together.

As the announcement of "The duel begins" rang out, Gongsun Huaying used her swordsmanship to defeat Zhou Bingkun with fierce swordplay, ending the battle.

The ninth match of the top ten competition has ended, and soon the tenth battle begins. The tenth battle is between Zhang Miao from Beimangxing and Lei Ming from Hairanxing.

The result was that Zhang Miao from Beimangxing was superior and defeated Lei Ming from Hairanxing.

The top ten competition of the martial arts competition for all freshmen of the Martial Arts Department of Xingkong University has now come to an end.

Just then, a clear female voice rang out.

On the fighting stage of the martial arts competition, a holographic projection of a lifelike figure appeared.

This person is a beautiful woman in her late twenties with dark blue hair. She is Bai Xinlin, the announcer for this martial arts competition.

"Hello everyone, I am the host of this martial arts competition."

Bai Xinlin, the broadcasting host.

The list of the top ten in the martial arts competition for all freshmen of the Martial Arts Department of Xingkong University in 7366 has now been released.

The top ten in this martial arts competition are: Wei Zeyang from Weiguang Star, Chen Lie from Lanxing Star, Tian Sisi from Suyun Star, Gongsun Huaying from Changxia Star, Zhang Miao from Beimang Star, Zhou Mingyu from Canglong Star, Song Jiaren from Xueshen Star, Meng Bingcheng from Canglong Star, Zheng Zhong from Hairan Star, and Chen Gusen from Jiguang Star.

Congratulations to these ten freshmen for making it into the top ten of the entire department. Starry Sky University will not only reward you personally, but will also award martial arts medals to your respective home planets.

"Next, we will have a competition among the top ten students in the Martial Arts Department to determine the best in the entire department. Please be prepared."

The Starry Sky University's quantum computer will randomly match you with opponents. Please look at the light screen!

As soon as host Bai Xinlin finished speaking, a series of names appeared on the light screen—

Wei Zeyang, the Star of Glimmer, vs. Chen Gusen, the Star of Aurora

Blood God Star Song Jiaren vs. Azure Dragon Star Zhou Mingyu

Changxia Star Gongsun Huaying vs. Lanxing Chen Lie

Zhang Miao from Beimangxing vs. Tian Sisi from Suyunxing

Hai Ranxing Zheng Zhong vs. Canglongxing Meng Bingcheng.

……

Each person's name is preceded by their respective planet.

People in the stands outside the arena felt something was amiss.

Nine of the top ten freshmen in the martial arts competition are from planets in the Ten Star Alliance, with only one from Blue Star standing out among them.

"This blue planet is a planet in the outer reaches of the star system. Are all planets in the outer reaches of the star system this powerful now?"

"A freshman has only been in school for half a year, yet he's already sitting at the same table as geniuses from the Ten Star Alliance planets. Has the martial arts development on the outlying star regions planets been too rapid lately?"

"Come on, it's not necessarily the planet that's strong; it's the people who are strong!"

……

Even the administrative offices of Starry Sky University, which hosted the martial arts competition, felt something was amiss.

The top ten freshmen from the three major departments of the Starry Sky University Freshman Martial Arts Competition have always been the private domain of the Ten Star Alliance planets. Even if someone from another planet occasionally appears, it is someone from a planet in the Middle Star Region whose strength is second only to the Ten Star Alliance.

This is the first time in all the years since Starry Sky University was founded that someone from a remote planet has squeezed in.

"The battle for the top spot in the Martial Arts Department of Starry Sky University begins now!"

"Match 1: Wei Zeyang of Weiguang Star vs. Chen Gusen of Jiguang Star."

"Please come up to the stage immediately for the duel."

……

As soon as the announcement for the martial arts competition came on, Wei Zeyang and Chen Gusen quickly stepped onto the fighting stage and faced each other.

On the battle stage, Chen Gusen faced Wei Zeyang with a solemn expression. He took out his weapon, a meteor hammer of the spirit treasure level.

As soon as the voice of "The duel begins" rang out, Chen Gusen instantly swung his meteor hammer and smashed it towards Wei Zeyang.

"boom"

With a loud bang, Chen Gusen used his meteor hammer. The moment the powerful force made contact with Wei Zeyang, Wei Zeyang's figure swayed, and the next second, he appeared directly on the other side of the battle stage.

Where are you going?

Chen Gusen channeled his Thunderfire True Qi, attaching it to the meteor hammer. The violent power formed a spiderweb-like energy wave in the air, and he swung the hammer at Wei Zeyang once again.

This time, Wei Zeyang stopped dodging and directly met the attack with his bare fists.

"Boom boom boom..."

The moment the two enormous forces collided, Wei Zeyang and Chen Gusen's true energy instantly clashed and intertwined, and the power of the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth instantly burst forth in all directions.

The 20,000-square-meter battle arena cracked open from the middle, and the powerful air waves generated by the confrontation spread out, with a gust of wind instantly rushing towards the audience at the forefront of the battle arena.

"Such immense power!"

Chen Gusen was secretly shocked. This Wei Zeyang was indeed living up to his reputation, as he was able to withstand the blow from his spiritual treasure with his bare fist.

As a native of Aurora Star, mental strength is a compulsory course for Chen Gusen. He has cultivated the "Bi'an" spirit, which ranks 36th on the Heavenly Spirit Ranking, and has already successfully ascended to a higher spiritual level once.

Knowing that his strength was far inferior to Wei Zeyang's, he used his mental power to attack without hesitation.

boom!

After Chen Gusen unleashed an invisible mental attack, Wei Zeyang frowned. Chen Gusen could feel the force in Wei Zeyang's fist weaken significantly, and he thought to himself, "A good opportunity."

After the meteor hammer was withdrawn, it smashed directly towards Wei Zeyang's head.

"boom!"

The moment the meteor hammer imbued with lightning and fire energy landed, Wei Zeyang suddenly raised his hand and slapped it away from the battle stage.

"Vajrapani!"

Wei Zeyang thrust out a palm, and a golden handprint composed of the two elements of Geng metal and Wu earth swept directly towards Chen Gusen with overwhelming force.

"Boom boom boom!"

With the support of the metal and earth elements, Wei Zeyang's palm strikes became even more powerful.

Chen Gusen's expression was solemn. He gathered his energy and struck out with both palms at the same time, trying to resist Wei Zeyang's attack.

Unexpectedly, Wei Zeyang's palm strike landed with overwhelming force, and the moment the power made contact, Chen Gusen's protective inner energy collapsed and disintegrated.

With a "whoosh," Chen Gusen was sent flying off the fighting stage by this palm strike.

"Trying to unleash a mental attack right in front of me? It's like children playing house. Do you really think it can affect me?"

Wei Zeyang looked at Chen Gusen, whom he had knocked off the battle stage, with a very disdainful tone.

"The competition has ended. Wei Zeyang of Weiguang Star vs. Chen Gusen of Jiguang Star. Wei Zeyang of Weiguang Star wins and advances to the next round."

Upon hearing the broadcast results, Wei Zeyang immediately turned around and stepped off the battle stage.

Wei Zeyang's performance shocked the top ten freshmen, who were all secretly analyzing his true strength.

"This Wei Zeyang from the Glimmering Star is amazing! He can actually withstand a spiritual treasure with his bare hands!"

"He's really impressive. I heard from people inside Starry Sky University that this Wei Zeyang is probably the top student in the entire Martial Arts Department!"

"With this level of strength, there's a 99% chance he'll take first place in the martial arts department!"

The Canglongzhou martial arts students in the audience all spoke up.

In the waiting area, Huang Yuxi glanced at Chen Lie beside her.

"Chen Lie, what do you think of Wei Zeyang's abilities?"

"Not bad!" Chen Lie nodded.

"The top ten freshmen in the martial arts department all possess the strength of a typical late-stage Qi Gathering cultivator, except for Wei Zeyang, who is stronger than the other nine."

His strength is very close to that of the Hidden Dragon Ranking.

"You've already done a remarkable job to be in the top ten of the martial arts department this time. Apart from you, all the other top ten in the martial arts department are from the Ten Star Alliance planet. Even if you didn't win first place, don't be discouraged!" Huang Yuxi said.

"It's not time for me to be discouraged yet, Teaching Assistant. Although Wei Zeyang is quite good, I may not be inferior to him."

Huang Yuxi was taken aback and gave Chen Lie a deep look.

Based on Chen Lie's performance just now, she could tell that Chen Lie was somewhat inferior to Wei Zeyang, but she didn't know why Chen Lie was so confident.

"The second match is between Song Jiaren from Blood God Star and Zhou Mingyu from Azure Dragon Star."

"Please come up on stage immediately for the duel!"

……

At that moment, the broadcast from the battle platform sounded again.

As the voice faded, Song Jiaren and Zhou Mingyu walked onto the battle stage simultaneously from two different directions.

The announcement of "The duel begins!" rang out quickly, and Song Jiaren and Zhou Mingyu instantly engaged in combat.

……

Inside the waiting area, Chen Lie watched the battle between Song Jiaren and Zhou Mingyu on the fighting stage.

He secretly began to calculate in his heart. Last time he said that he would ask Shen Jiuxi to come today to exchange the spirit knife, but it was almost noon and Shen Jiuxi had not come yet. This was no longer a matter of low efficiency. It was probably that she no longer intended to take the spirit knife.

The Spirit Blade, when paired with the Spirit Sword, is difficult to replace, but it is not impossible.

After watching the previous top ten matches, Chen Lie realized that his opponent, Gongsun Huaying from Changxia Star, was using what appeared to be a low-grade spiritual treasure. He figured that if he faced off against the unrefined black sword in his storage bag, it would probably be cut in two.

Once the Spirit Blade is lost, Chen Lie will inevitably have a weakness in his martial arts skills. Relying solely on brute force will make it difficult to win in a martial arts competition. Using mental attacks is certainly possible, but one must also have the ability to fight head-on with an opponent. He cannot win first place purely through mental attacks.

If all else fails, after this round, ask teaching assistant Huang Yuxi for help and see if she can lend me a spirit sword.

Behind Chen Lie, Huang Yucheng stared at him with a look of astonishment, her heart filled with horror.

A person from a remote planet in the Starry Sky University, who had been there for less than half a year, actually possessed strength close to that of the Hidden Dragon Ranking, and was able to forcefully enter the top ten of all freshmen in the Martial Arts Department in the Martial Arts Competition.

This location is practically the exclusive domain of the Ten Star Alliance planets, making it difficult for anyone outside the Ten Star Alliance to even get a piece of it. It's astonishing that a barren planet has managed to occupy such a place.

This Chen Lie is truly a genius among geniuses. If he had been born on Canglong Star, his achievements would be unimaginable; reaching the True Essence Realm would not be out of the question...

On the battle stage, the duel between Song Jiaren of Blood God Star and Zhou Mingyu of Azure Dragon Star came to an end.

Song Jiaren, leveraging her advantage with Lingbao, defeated Zhou Mingyu and advanced to the next round.

The announcement that "the competition is over" soon came on.

After Song Ga-in stepped down from the stage, the broadcast started again.

"The third match is between Changxia Star's Gongsun Huaying and Lanxing Star's Chen Lie."

"Please come up to the stage immediately for the duel."

……

Hearing that it was his turn to compete in the martial arts contest, Chen Lie had no choice but to get up. It seemed that he wouldn't be able to wait for Shen Jiuxi to come and deliver the knife.

Just as Chen Lie was about to step onto the long ladder of the battle platform, he saw a sweet and lovely girl carrying a black sword box walking over from the side of the waiting area.

The girl carrying the sword case is Shen Jiuxi.

Shen Jiuxi spotted Chen Lie from afar and walked over to him with light, graceful steps.

"Chen Lie from Blue Star... are you from Blue Star?"

As soon as Shen Jiuxi arrived in front of Chen Lie, she asked a question.

"Enough with the nonsense, where's the spirit sword?"

Chen Lie interrupted Shen Jiuxi directly; his name had already been called over the loudspeaker, and he had no time to waste.

Shen Jiuxi took out a crimson spirit sword that shimmered with blood-red light from her storage bag and handed it to Chen Lie.

"This is a spirit-grade treasure sword made primarily of Gengjin Xuan Tie. It has undergone ten tempering processes, and its blade is shrouded in sword energy, making it incomparably sharp. Its name is Blood River."

Chen Lie snatched the crimson spirit knife that shimmered with blood, then took out a black spirit knife from his storage bag and tossed it to Shen Jiuxi.

"Your efficiency is truly appalling. If you had arrived two minutes later, this Spirit-Nourishing Blade would have been broken in two!"

As soon as Chen Lie finished speaking, he walked up the long ladder to the battle platform.

Shen Jiuxi gritted her teeth: "That bastard, he got the benefit and then acts innocent!"

When has Shen Jiuxi ever given anything away to anyone? Especially not when she's exchanging her own things for her own.

Saying she's inefficient? If she hadn't been tending to the spirit fields at Elder Shi's place today, she would have arrived long ago!

"Blue Star people? Blue Star?"

Shen Jiuxi placed the Spirit-Nourishing Blade into the sword-nurturing box she was carrying on her back and walked into the waiting area where Chen Lie was.

She randomly asked someone about Blue Star.

Upon learning that Blue Star was merely a planet in a peripheral star system, Shen Jiuxi was immediately stunned.

She originally thought Chen Lie was a powerful dragon crossing the river, but it turned out he was just a worm crossing the river.

"How can someone from a remote planet have so many connections?"

Wenren Qinghe was protecting him, and Mu Yunyao behind her was also protecting him. It was really strange.

If it weren't for these two, how would Chen Lie have had the opportunity to have Elder Shi mediate between them?

Since she was already there, Shen Jiuxi found a seat in the waiting area and sat down.

Judging from the progress of the freshmen martial arts competition, it seems that they have already reached the stage of vying for the first place in the entire department's martial arts competition.

The fact that someone from a barren planet could survive until now, based on the mental attacks she, Shen Jiuxi, had sensed, suggests that Chen Lie might have a chance to win first place among the new students.

This planet is truly blessed; it's as if such a person has emerged.

"Who are you? Why are you delivering a knife to Chen Lie?"

Seeing Shen Jiuxi sit down next to her, Huang Yucheng couldn't help but ask.

"Shen Jiuxi!" Shen Jiuxi said calmly, "I gave him the knife because I admire him!"

"Shen Jiuxi?"

Huang Yucheng was taken aback. Who was this genius who had opened the Upper Divine Aperture during the Qi and Blood stage and was being nurtured by the Shen family with all their might?

How did they get involved with Chen Lie? How do people from completely different circles know each other?

Chen Lie's methods are quite unconventional.

……

Holding the spirit sword given to him by Shen Jiuxi, Chen Lie slowly walked onto the battle stage.

When Chen Lie arrived at the battle stage, his opponent, Gongsun Huaying, had been waiting for a long time.

Gongsun Huaying, dressed in a plain long dress, gazed intently at Chen Lie and spoke in a calm tone.

"If you've been on the fighting stage for so long, and you're afraid of losing and think you have no chance of winning, you can give up your qualification to compete."

"You, a person from a peripheral star system, have reached the end of your journey. There's no need to continue."

"Nonsense! You only reached the end when you met me."

Gongsun Huaying chuckled, "You're really interesting. But then again, anyone from a planet in the outer star region who has reached this point would think they are the chosen one."

Then let's settle this with a fight, so you'll understand that there are always people more capable than you, and realize whether you're truly the chosen one.

Chen Lie held the crimson spirit blade horizontally in front of him, its two-meter-long blade encircling half of his body.

Gongsun Huaying also took out a longsword, a level-elemental spiritual treasure, and pointed it at Chen Lie with her right hand, revealing her slender figure.

Soon, the announcement "The duel begins" rang out.

"Thousand Threads Sword Technique, a sword of a thousand threads!"

Gongsun Huaying instantly unleashed her swordsmanship. With a single swing, her water-elemental true energy clung to the blade, and with a single stroke, thousands of fine strands of sword energy surged toward Chen Lie.

In an instant, she unleashed ten sword strikes, and tens of thousands of sword energies surged toward Chen Lie.

"Bang bang bang!"

Seeing Gongsun Huaying's sword energy fall like raindrops, Chen Lie immediately swung his sword to defend.

Chen Lie blocked most of the sword energy with his sword, and only a small amount of fine sword energy fell to the ground, forming deep, bottomless holes.

When Gongsun Huaying saw that Chen Lie had blocked her thousands of sword energies, she simply said, "You do have some skill." Then, she changed her sword stance and charged at Chen Lie.

"Mid-grade Earth Rank, Heaven-Slaying Sword Technique!"

Gongsun Huaying unleashed a sword strike that created a thousand waves of energy as she slashed down at Chen Lie.

"Boom boom boom!"

Chen Lie immediately unleashed the "Blood Dragon Blade Technique" and engaged in battle with Gongsun Huaying.

On the battle stage, the clash of sword and blade energy created deafening explosions.

In the midst of the fierce battle, Gongsun Huaying's longsword flashed with intense light, and a massive sword aura shot into the sky.

"Heaven-Slaying Sword Technique, Heaven-Slaying Sword!"

Gongsun Huaying unleashed a powerful and unparalleled sword strike at Chen Lie.

"The Blood Dragon Emerges from the Sea!"

Chen Lie circulated his true energy, and wielding the Blood River Blade, he slashed down simultaneously.

"Boom boom boom!"

Chen Lie slashed down, and a thousand-meter-long blade aura reappeared, instantly colliding head-on with Gongsun Huaying's sword aura in the shape of a dragon.