The words of this youth were a blatant insult to Zack Zhao, completely ignoring him and making Zack furious.
The masked youth was even more arrogant, sneering, "You think he's worthy of me making a move? Heavenly Dragon Academy students are pure trash. Ten moves to settle him—if I can't, don't bother following me anymore!"
"Relax, big bro! No need for ten moves—five moves is enough to crush him. Just wait and watch the show!" The other youth echoed with equal arrogance.
"Crush your sister!" Zack Zhao couldn't take it anymore. Even if he wasn't at his best, he was still recognized as Heavenly Dragon Academy's number one expert—except for Evan Chu, of course. But with Evan gone, he was the undisputed top. To be mocked like this was simply intolerable.
He gripped his longsword tightly and slashed fiercely at the youth, launching an attack.
"Heh, you think that kind of attack could hurt me? Go train for a few more years, loser!" the youth scoffed, swinging his own longsword just as fast. In an instant, the blades collided.
As the swords met, sparks flew instantly. The Stellar Power on their blades erupted into a massive shockwave, whipping their hair wildly.
The huge force of recoil sent both of them staggering back several steps, showing that they were evenly matched.
"Not bad, kid. So you're the strongest at Heavenly Dragon Academy, right? I remember your name—Zack Zhao. Turns out you're nothing special!" the youth continued to taunt.
Every word from the youth was a stinging insult, making the Heavenly Dragon Academy students below seethe with anger. Countless curses erupted from the crowd, and some students even wanted to rush up and teach that arrogant guy a lesson.
"Today, your grandpa Zack will show you what real power is!" At that moment, Zack Zhao realized the opponent's real intent: first, to make him lose his cool and become sloppy in his attacks and reactions—so he could be beaten easily.
Second, it was a direct attempt to humiliate Heavenly Dragon Academy. If Zack won, he could save face; if he lost, he'd be exactly what the youth claimed—trash, with no way to refute it.
Forcing himself to suppress his agitation, Zack drove the Stellar Power in his Earth Star Pellet to circulate wildly. From the last sword exchange, he could tell his opponent had also broken through to the Sixth Layer of the Earth Martial Realm—same as him. To win, he'd have to rely on martial skills and battle experience.
Stellar Power poured continuously into his longsword. He leapt into the air, spinning like a spiral, and slashed at his opponent with dazzling speed.
This was Zack's reward from Elder Victor Xu after returning from Monster Beast Forest—a manual for an Earth-grade martial skill: Spiral Sky Slash.
Spiral Sky Slash has four forms, each more powerful than the last. But due to limited time, Zack had only mastered the first two. The move he was using now was the first form: Sky-Cleave Slash.
Sword shadows, infused with immense Stellar Power, swept toward his opponent. But the youth showed no sign of panic; even as Zack unleashed Spiral Sky Slash, he was preparing his own martial skill.
The youth also channeled Stellar Power into his sword, but his was different—red flames erupted from the blade. He'd clearly grasped fire-element power, making him a formidable opponent.
With a swift pivot, he spun elegantly and slashed out, sending several flaming sword shadows to clash directly with Zack's attack.
Boom! The collision of Stellar Power generated a violent explosion; both fighters were blasted back several steps by the shockwave, faces full of surprise—they hadn't expected each other's attacks to be so fierce.
After inserting the Magic Crystals, the portal didn’t react at all, leaving Evan Chu instantly anxious. If this teleportation gate couldn’t be activated, getting back to the academy would be nearly impossible.
"Evan, did we mess up? Why isn’t it working?" Jenny Sima asked, her voice tinged with worry.
"No, we did it right. The portal’s supposed to activate once you put in Magic Crystals. I don’t get it either," Evan Chu said, staring at the motionless gate.
Evan Chu inspected the stone platform again and found no signs of damage. A sudden sense of dread hit him. "What if we’ve missed the window to return? Maybe the portal only opens when new students come in. If that’s true, we might be stuck here until the next batch arrives."
"No way! Are you saying we’ll have to wait here for years? I can’t take it, not in this place," Jenny Sima groaned, exasperated.
Luna’s voice rang out, "Wow, Evan, you really are clueless. The portal obviously needs more power than those Magic Crystals can provide. Magic Crystals are weak but easy to find. If you use Starstones instead, three high-grade ones will do the trick."
"Really?" Evan Chu already believed Luna’s explanation, but he couldn’t help asking again.
Luna snorted, "Try it yourself. Honestly, I’m starting to lose faith in you."
Evan Chu’s eyes lit up. He turned to Jenny Sima, "Jenny, I’ve got it! The portal actually needs Starstones for energy. Most students don’t have any, so they use Magic Crystals instead."
Jenny Sima glanced at Evan Chu, "Then hurry up and open it! The tournament might be ending soon, and if we’re late, it’ll be a disaster."
Evan Chu immediately pulled out three high-grade Starstones from his storage ring and placed them one by one into the grooves on the stone platform. He waited quietly, and after about a minute, three pillars of white light flared from the platform, followed by a deep vibration from the portal.
"It worked! Jenny, let’s go!" Evan Chu shouted.
Just then, the portal surged with energy. Evan Chu grabbed Jenny Sima’s hand and stepped inside...
Meanwhile, the masked youth’s palm was now only a foot away from Zack Zhao. If he landed that strike, Zack was basically dead meat.
"No! Zack, get out of the way!" a student shouted from the stands.
"Zack, make a move! Hurry!" another student yelled.
On Sea Dragon Academy’s side, the crowd started shouting too: "Leon, avenge Wolf! Kill this punk!"
"Avenge Wolf!" "Avenge Wolf!" In an instant, the Sea Dragon Academy side was fired up.
By now, the youth who’d collapsed was being carried away. With wounds that serious, he needed urgent treatment or his life would be at risk.
Up in the air, Marcus Gongsun and Elder Victor Xu were both tense. "We can’t let that punk kill Zack. Evan Chu’s our only hope now," Marcus said.
With a wave of his hand, Marcus sent an invisible force to shield Zack Zhao. The masked youth’s palm strike was stopped cold, just half a foot from Zack.
Marcus’s timing was perfect. He neutralized the attack and then withdrew his power so smoothly there was no backlash. The masked youth was baffled and glanced up at Flynn Yun.
Zack Zhao felt weird too—why had that palm stopped right in front of him? When the masked youth attacked, Zack couldn’t move at all, like he’d been locked in place.
The shock in his heart outweighed the pain. This meant the masked youth had broken through to the eighth layer of the Earth Martial Realm—he could already influence the surrounding space like a domain.
Marcus Gongsun landed next to Zack Zhao, checked his wounds, then turned to the masked youth and announced, "Zack Zhao concedes. Heavenly Dragon Academy concedes. Sea Dragon Academy wins first place in the elite bracket."
Just then, Flynn Yun and Elder Victor Xu descended too. Flynn Yun sneered, "Elder Xu, I never thought you’d stoop so low for a piece of trash. You really care about your students, huh!"
"Our academy’s business is none of yours, so quit with the cheap shots!" Elder Victor Xu snapped.
"Looks like your academy’s out of talent. What a disappointment. Time to pay up: that girl is part of the bet, plus one hundred thousand low-grade crystals, ten thousand mid-grade, one thousand high-grade. If you can’t pay, dissolve Heavenly Dragon Academy and send your students to Sea Dragon Academy," Flynn Yun declared.
[SKIPPED: Meta webnovel prompt, not part of the story.]
"You... you’ve gone too far!" Marcus Gongsun exploded, itching to fight Flynn Yun right then and there.
Flynn Yun just smiled. "I know you’re not happy. My students told me your Heavenly Dragon Academy has a prodigy named Evan Chu who slaughtered a bunch of Sea Dragon students in the Monster Beast Forest.
If he shows up and fights our top student, Leon Yun, maybe things will change. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless!"
Dean Xu was really anxious now. Evan Chu still hadn’t appeared. Maybe he really wasn’t coming. This time, Heavenly Dragon Academy was losing worse than ever, paying a heavier price than before.
"Evan Chu still hasn’t come back from the Monster Beast Forest. You think I don’t want him to show up? If he did, Sea Dragon Academy would lose for sure. Of course I’m bitter," Dean Xu said.
"If you can’t bring Evan Chu out to fight, then just admit defeat. I bet the royal capital sent people to watch this time—I’d love to see their faces right now!" Flynn Yun laughed.
Down in the stands, Heavenly Dragon Academy’s students were crushed. Sea Dragon Academy might offer better perks, but its rules were brutal—students could be killed at any time. If Heavenly Dragon got dissolved, their lives would be hell.
The masked youth was clearly dissatisfied. He glared at Dean Xu. "I came here mainly to meet that Evan Chu from your academy. Turns out he’s just a coward hiding in his shell. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have bothered coming—what a waste of my time."
His tone was arrogant, as if no one but Evan Chu was worth his attention. Dean Xu and Marcus Gongsun could only swallow their anger—after all, they’d lost, and had no right to talk back.
A loud, domineering voice rang out from the front of the arena: "You looking for grandpa? Grandpa’s already here!" Evan Chu and Jenny Sima strode into view before the crowd...