Replace me as the top scholar? Go talk to my Marshal Grandpa!

Fu Zizhen gritted his teeth and made another move.

This time, he stopped testing the waters and unleashed his full power.

The third level of the Profound Nether True Technique – Profound Nether Palm!

His hands were instantly covered with a layer of icy blue light, the surrounding temperature plummeted, and tiny ice crystals condensed in the air.

A palm strike was unleashed!

Two enormous, icy blue palm prints simultaneously slammed into Ye Chuan, one on the left and one on the right, blocking all his space to dodge.

This move was one of his trump cards.

On Ye Chuan's retina, the system was flashing wildly:

[Warning: Attacked from both sides, cannot be dodged. Recommendation: Take the hit head-on.]

Ye Chuan did not hesitate.

He threw out both fists, aiming directly at the two palm prints!

"boom--!!!"

A loud bang!

The icy blue spiritual energy collided fiercely with the silver-white armor, unleashing a dazzling light!

On the dueling platform, the ground exploded, and rubble flew everywhere!

A trickle of blood spilled from the corner of Fu Zizhen's mouth, but a hint of joy flashed in his eyes.

He landed a solid blow!

however--

The smoke and dust cleared.

Ye Chuan was still standing there.

His armor was covered in frost, and there were several cracks on his breastplate, but he still stood straight.

He looked up at Fu Zizhen and grinned:

"Brother Fu, that palm strike was powerful."

Fu Zizhen's expression changed completely.

His palm strike was powerful enough to seriously injure even a mid-stage Condensation Realm expert, who would be wary and dare not take it head-on.

And this armor actually withstood the brunt?

Ye Chuan took a deep breath, and the cracks on his armor began to slowly repair themselves.

The dense array patterns were visibly absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy to repair the damage to the armor.

This is another terrifying aspect of the Heavenly Sorrow Armor—its self-repair mechanism.

As long as it is not completely destroyed at once, it can continuously regenerate during battle.

Looking at the armor, Fu Zizhen felt a surge of powerlessness.

Ye Chuan was originally at the third level of the Condensation Realm, just like him, but after wearing this armor, his strength was enhanced in all aspects, and the strength he displayed had probably reached the middle stage of the Condensation Realm!

But he will not admit defeat.

Moreover, as a direct descendant of the Fu family, one of the four great families, he could not simply admit defeat and disgrace his family.

Fu Zizhen took a deep breath, and his spiritual power surged wildly throughout his body!

The fourth level of the Profound Nether True Technique – Profound Nether Return to One!

He's going to fight this hard!

Ye Chuan's pupils contracted slightly.

The system is issuing alarms incessantly:

[Warning: The opponent is gathering power; energy levels are rising rapidly. Recommendation: Deal with it with all your might!]

Ye Chuan gritted his teeth and activated the battle armor to its maximum power.

On the silver-white battle armor, all the array patterns lit up simultaneously, bursting out with dazzling light!

The two attacked at the same time!

"boom--!!!"

A deafening roar!

The entire arena was trembling!

A violent storm of spiritual energy swept across the entire arena, making it impossible for the audience below to open their eyes!

Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, a figure staggered backward and finally collapsed to the ground.

That's Fu Zizhen.

His face was pale, blood was trickling from the corner of his mouth, and his clothes were torn in many places. He slumped to the ground, looking at Ye Chuan opposite him with a complicated expression.

Ye Chuan was also standing there, panting heavily.

The armor was covered in cracks, and in some places it was even dented. But the armor was still functioning, and the array patterns were slowly repairing the damage.

He won.

It was extremely difficult to win.

Unexpectedly, even wearing the research institute's latest battle armor, the fight was so difficult.

Fu Zizhen remained silent for a few seconds, then slowly stood up.

He cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Ye Chuan:

"I lost."

Ye Chuan returned the greeting with clasped hands:

"Thank you for your concession."

A thunderous roar erupted from the audience!

"Fu Zizhen has lost! Another top contender has been eliminated! And he's from one of the four great families!"

"This Ye Chuan is too strong! What exactly is that armor?!"

"Fantastic! Absolutely fantastic! This year's Rookie of the Year competition is ten times more exciting than ever before!"

"Besides the ten seeded champions, there are two dark horses, Wang Xian and Qin Chong. I feel they are even stronger than the seeded champions. This year's competition is truly fierce!"

Previous competitions have produced top talents, but none have had as many as this one.

Countless people were discussing it excitedly.

The second match made everyone jump for joy!

On the big screen, the lineup for the second match slowly appeared—

Sikong Xirong VS Wang Xian

Both of them come from the four major families; one is a champion seed and the other is the biggest dark horse in the competition.

This match was absolutely amazing!

On the high platform.

Wang Dongyi looked at the matchup list on the big screen and a slight smile appeared on his lips:

"Interesting. Apart from my Wang family, the other three of the four major families didn't even make it into the top sixteen. I wonder what their expressions will be when the news gets out."

Xia Yulong glanced at him and said speechlessly, "The fight hasn't even started yet, and your Wang family has already won?"

Wang Dongyi chuckled and said, "So, do you think the Sikong family's little girl has won over my nephew?"

Xia Yulong immediately fell silent.

It can summon royal power and even bring down a portion of its power. How can Sikong Xirong possibly fight it?

He exclaimed, "How come I never realized before that the Li family's secret technique was so underhanded?"

"Nonsense!" Wang Dongyi scoffed. "The Li family's secret technique has too many flaws. If my nephew hadn't improved it, it wouldn't even be presentable!"

Xia Yulong did not refute.

The difference between invoking spirits and invoking deities is enormous.

Xia Yulong suddenly asked suspiciously, "Was this secret technique really improved by your nephew himself, or was it improved privately by your Wang family?"

He still didn't quite believe that Wang Xian could improve the technique of summoning gods.

After all, improving a secret technique is extremely difficult. Even grandmasters who have read through thousands of martial arts manuals would not dare to say that they could improve this secret technique.

Otherwise, the Li family, having inherited this tradition for hundreds of years, would have already made improvements.

Even grandmasters couldn't do it, but Wang Xian did?

Are you kidding me!

Wang Dongyi glanced at him and said proudly, "My nephew, Wang Xian, has the makings of an emperor!"

Xia Yulong: "..."

The discussion continued below the stage.

"Who do you think will win this match?"

"It's definitely Wang Xian! He smashed a dragon beast with one punch—what does that even mean? No matter how powerful Sikong Xirong is, can she withstand a beating like a dragon beast?"

"Not necessarily. A dragon beast is a dragon beast, and a human is a human. Dragon beasts only possess brute force, while Sikong Xirong is a direct descendant of the Sikong family, with a plethora of secret techniques and methods. Although Wang Xian's punch was terrifying, whether it could even hit her is still a question."

"That makes sense... but I still favor Wang Xian."

"Me too. Seriously, the Wang family's resources are terrifying. Wang Xian's talent is gone, yet they've managed to cultivate him into this much in just two or three months! Tsk tsk..."

"Don't forget, Wang Xian is the son of Major General Wang Quan! Like father, like son. His father was a prodigy back in the day, how could he be any worse?"