Astral Apostle

Chapter 274: Leaving the Array (1)

The sun gradually rose, illuminating the sky.

Amidst the noisy atmosphere of the audience, the teams of the two sides rested and waited for orders. In the last moments, they took the chance to discuss last minute tactics.

At 8:30am sharp, Director Lv Zhongsu’s voice spread throughout the entire Rising Sun Drill Ground through the radio. He gave a simple speech before announcing the start of the battle.

“The first match of this year’s new student competition, Crown Faculty vs Gem Faculty. The arena challenge has officially begun!”

A virtual screen popped up on the stage, displaying the names of the contestants from both sides.

A total of 40 names were arranged on both sides, with an empty area in the middle. Clearly, whoever went on stage would have their names moved to the middle for others to read.

The noisy scene was silent for a few seconds before it suddenly stirred up with wave after wave of sound.

Hua la la ——

Their momentum broke through the clouds.

“Go, destroy the Crowns!”

“First-year students, sink those Gems!”

Before anyone from both sides could step out, the students from both sides had already begun to cheer and shout excitedly for their contestants.

The sound wave caused the minds of the contestants to buzz. Many of them turned pale and became even more nervous.

Even Zhou Jing could not help but pick his ears with a strange expression.

Why did this feel so similar to those sports meets he took part in when he was a student…

Oh right, he technically was a student now…

Li Yun turned to look at everyone, his gaze sweeping across the nervous and excited faces. Finally, he fixed his gaze on Zhou Jing for a second before speaking,

“Everyone, don’t be nervous. There’s a special device in the arena that can reduce the interference from the outside world. Don’t be distracted by the audience and focus all your attention on your opponent. I know that some of you want to become Supers League players. This is a chance to experience it. You have to slowly get used to fighting in front of everyone.”

Many people nodded and secretly encouraged themselves.

Soon, the drawing of lots was completed. The big screen showed that the Gem faculty would first choose their contestant to go on stage in the arena. Then, they would take turns to send out the contestants.

Rumble—

The arena changed at the same time. The ground rose up, turning into an uneven hill terrain, randomly determining the environment of the first round.

Everyone did not wait long before the other party decided on the candidate.

On the big screen, the name of a contestant from the Gem Faculty moved to the center, representing his appearance.

An unfamiliar participant jumped onto the arena. He was not a special candidate.

Deng Yunjie discussed with his companions and immediately decided on the person to fight. Although the selected person was not one of the five core members of the Crown, he was still an important backbone.

The name on the big screen changed as the Crown contestant went on stage.

After the ten-second countdown ended, the battle between the two officially began. They used their abilities and fought fiercely in the undulating hill arena.

Zhou Jing and the others watched from below as Deng Yunjie’s explanation of the competition flashed through their minds.

The arena battle was a situation where one fought to advance. The winner would advance to the next round, and the loser would be eliminated. They could not go on stage again in the subsequent rounds.

In the first round, he would get one point for every victory, two points for the second round, and so on.

In the first round, because there were 20 contestants each, they would definitely fight 20 matches. However, there would be many variables introduced after the first 20 matches.

The number of contestants from both sides would be divided, and the number of matches in each subsequent round would depend on the side with fewer people. For example, if one side fought 20 matches in the first round, but only five people entered the next round, then only five battles would be held in the next round.

This meant that the side with fewer people would have no choice to go on stage, and the side with more people would have room to choose people flexibly. They only needed to choose five people to face the other party.

There were two ways to end with such a rule. Either they eliminated all the other contestants, or they would fight through all five matches.

After the fifth match, no matter how many people were left on both sides, the competition would end and the final outcome would be determined by the accumulated points.

If the other faculty won by eliminating all their opponents before the fifth match, they could also obtain additional points.

The total points obtained from the group arena and team competition would determine the final outcome. After the three faculties finished fighting, the ranking would be determined by the total points earned from the competition.

Zhou Jing pinched his chin as he pondered,

“In this competition system, we have to conserve our strength and restrain the other party’s points. We also have to think of a way to control the rounds to maximize our points. At the same time, we have to pay attention to the distribution of the strength of the seeded players.?

Otherwise, even if we advance to the later rounds, we won’t have the strength to snowball our advantage. Therefore, there are several strategies. Either we ensure that the strong will steadily advance in the earlier rounds and easily defeat the other party, or we take down the other party’s experts in the first few rounds so that the other party will have no one to rely on…”

He could tell that in the first round, both sides had the thought of preserving their strength. They planned to choose an expert who could steadily defeat the weaker ones, waiting for the other party to deal the cards first. At the same time, they would use these “mules” to test the combat strength of the other party’s core.

Those non-core contestants could be of use here.

As for their seeded players, they would basically attack later in the first round and would not be sent up on stage first.

— But he was an exception.

Deng Yunjie had told him before that the Class B potential evaluation was a form of misdirection. Although Zhou Jing was a special student, it was also possible that he would be regarded as a “mule” by the other party, making the other party feel that the seeded player could definitely take down this competition. There was a certain chance of fishing out the other party’s core and setting him up.

Even if the plan did not succeed, the other party would only send out an ordinary contestant to test the waters. It was equivalent to their side taking this match for sure. There was no loss.

As for the possibility of the opponent sending out a restraining Super… It could only be said that the instructors of the Crown Faculty were very confident in Zhou Jing’s combat strength.

Moreover, physical enhancers usually did not have high potential and were rarely chosen to participate in the competition. Therefore, when the other party chose the participating students, they would basically not deliberately choose Supers who could restrain physical enhancement.

Thinking of this, Zhou Jing calmed down and silently observed the abilities of every opponent below the stage.

...

As the contestants went on stage one by one, the outcome was decided. The crowd in the stands kept shouting and cheering for the victors of their respective faculties. Among them, there was even a commotion from the Banner Faculty.

It was like a tsunami, and the atmosphere of the competition was enthusiastic.

Because both sides had tacitly conserved their strength, their current results were almost evenly matched. When it came to the side that attacked later, they would always win. The number of people who advanced at this point was similar.

Finally, when the first round reached the sixth match, Deng Yunjie looked at Zhou Jing and nodded.

“You go ahead.”

Zhou Jing took a deep breath and raised the weapon he had long prepared. Under the gazes of everyone, he strode onto the arena that had already become a stone forest.

As soon as he walked into the venue, the commotion outside decreased, as if the volume had decreased from 100 to 20. The isolation effect was obvious.

He looked up at the big screen, waiting for his opponent.

More than ten seconds later, a familiar name on the opponent’s list moved.

Zhou Jing turned to look opposite him and saw a tall and strong figure stepping onto the arena from the other side, revealing a familiar sinister smile. It was Lin Kun.

“It’s actually you…” Zhou Jing was a little surprised.

Originally, he had expected that he would only live up to his role as a surprise soldier in the second round. He would catch Lin Kun and finish off the strong enemy… He did not expect him to take the initiative to fight.

He was the one that had gone on stage first. Lin Kun did not choose to fight an ordinary contestant, but directly went for him. Was he that confident?

On the other side, Lin Kun clenched his fists, his eyes shining.

“Our last battle isn’t over yet. Let’s decide the winner today!”

Zhou Jing wanted to scratch his head and said helplessly, “No way. It’s been half a year, yet you still remember?”

Lin Kun snorted, “I have a habit of writing in my diary.”

It seems that you’re not a decent person…

Zhou Jing rolled his eyes.

He paused, then shook his head and clicked his tongue.

“Your instructor team chose you to fight me. Clearly, they think that you can eat me up… Do you think you can?”

Hearing this, Lin Kun’s sinister smile became even more exaggerated, and he looked extremely ferocious.

“Of course… I’m no longer the same as before! Your tricks can no longer fool me. Today, I’ll use my fists to do plastic surgery on you and beat your handsome face black and blue.”

“Aiyo, thank you for the praise.” Zhou Jing was stunned and flattered.

“???”

Lin Kun’s expression froze.

So you only heard me praise you for being handsome, right? Is that the main point, you b*stard!

Lin Kun felt that Zhou Jing was deliberately teasing him. He was furious. He tore off his shirt and directly activated the King of Destruction Transformation, his entire body expanding into a small giant.

His two fists collided, producing a muffled bang. A murderous aura spread out, and his tone was cold,

“Today, between you and me, only one person can walk down the arena!”

“Tsk, your temper is so bad, and you’re so violent and belligerent. No wonder no girl likes to talk to you.”

Zhou Jing casually grumbled. He did not look at Lin Kun’s suddenly flushed and angry expression. He only raised the long saber in his hand in front of him, holding the hilt with one hand and the scabbard with the other, and slowly drew his saber.

Whoosh!

A sharp cold light slid out of the sheath.

This time, it was not a training saber wrapped in rubber, but a real cold weapon.

… It was even sharpened.

In the official competition, real weapons could be used. Although they were not allowed to kill, cripple, or deliberately injure others, they were allowed to draw blood. The academy had long set up protection in the arena, and the referee could intervene at any time.

Zhou Jing casually threw away the sheath and flicked the blade, causing a crisp buzzing sound to ring out.

At this moment, he looked at Lin Kun again, his eyes revealing an interest not seen in a long time. The corners of his mouth curled up slowly,

“Kun Kun, you’re lucky. This is the first time I’m using a real blade to slash someone. I pay a lot of attention to the user’s experience. If there’s anything wrong with my slash, please give me your opinion.”

“…”

Lin Kun had to admit that he was not good at trash talk and had lost.

And why did you call me Kun Kun? Are we close?

Lin Kun cursed inwardly. Suddenly, he saw Zhou Jing’s abnormal smile and his heart skipped a beat. He suddenly had a bad feeling…