Chapter 211

Chapter 211

Chapter 211

I shifted my gaze away from the arena after venting my thoughts. Sure, Si Zhaohua and Huangfu Mingzhe’s match was intriguing, but I had more pressing matters to attend to. —I needed to figure out where the people from the “Black Flash” organization were hiding.

Since the bodyguards hired by Lan Subing’s parents could sense someone spying, the spy had to be lurking nearby.

Logically, this place should be crawling with Ability Government personnel, and anyone with even a slightly questionable identity wouldn’t be allowed in. So where could the “Black Flash” people be hiding?

Looking out the window, the surroundings were filled with excited spectators. Only the top floor had private boxes, but the people in those boxes surely had impeccable identities. The Ability Government wouldn’t be so careless as to let someone with a problematic background slip in. In their eyes, those with “clean” identities were likely high-ranking figures in the ability world. If they were undercover, there’d be no way to deal with it.

I decided to use my ability to check if anyone’s Destiny Compass was off. Activating my ability, countless Destiny Compasses appeared before my eyes. Large and small golden compasses materialized above everyone’s heads, so densely packed that I felt a momentary dizziness.

Checking a person’s Destiny Compass does consume some Mental Energy, but since it’s usually minimal, it can often be ignored. However, scanning so many compasses at once, while keeping them visible, required a level of Mental Energy that couldn’t be overlooked.

There were roughly a thousand people in the venue, and screening all their Destiny Compasses one by one was a massive undertaking. I suddenly realized that my mastery of this ability wasn’t as strong as I’d thought.

As a Destiny Ability user, unless I planned to stagnate, there would always be occasions where I’d need to check many people’s Destiny Compasses at once. Ordinary Destiny users look at individual fates, but great Destiny users see the fate of nations or even the world.

The practice method was simple. I started using the elimination method, precisely shutting off large swaths of unproblematic Destiny Compasses. Unproblematic compasses had their small pointer near the center and the large pointer in the upper half of the compass. By covering a wide area with my Mental Energy, I absorbed the information from the audience’s compasses into my mind, then singled out identical, unproblematic ones and shut them off all at once.

After repeating this a few times, only a handful of Destiny Compasses remained active in the venue.

I couldn’t use the elimination method on the remaining few, so I had to check them one by one. Two of them were fated to die, while the rest faced ordinary issues like illness or injury.

But these people were scattered far apart, with no apparent pattern or suspicious behavior. Besides, if the “Black Flash” organization was planning to act, they’d likely choose the third day, not today, so these issues didn’t necessarily indicate anything. From their appearance, they didn’t seem like spies sent by “Black Flash” either.

So, does that mean the audience seats were clear today? That seemed impossible. The venue only had two areas: the surrounding audience seats and the central arena.

The central arena was fully visible at a glance. Unless someone was hiding underground, they couldn’t see others, let alone give the bodyguards a sense of being watched.

It had to be the audience seats.

Yet, apart from the openly placed seats, the audience area consisted of smooth walls that seemed impossible to hide in.

Wait a second?

I suddenly realized something. Were these walls solid? Could they be hollow inside? To save on construction materials and costs, many designers make such audience stands hollow.

If that were the case, hiding people inside would be easy.

And since these walls had spotlights installed on both sides, anyone inside could easily observe the outside through the spotlights. Even without spotlights, an ability like X-ray vision could create a sense of being watched.

Having pinpointed the possible location of the spies, I didn’t feel relieved. What could I do with this knowledge? Tell the organizers? All I could do was use their hiding spot to speculate on what the “Black Flash” organization was planning.

Based on my earlier deductions, “Black Flash” would likely target the students in the entertainment match on the third day. Those chosen by the audience for the entertainment match were bound to be top performers from earlier rounds. Capturing these people would be highly appealing to them.

They couldn’t be hiding in the audience seats to target the audience. It had to be to “break out” at the right moment and take down everyone on the arena in one fell swoop. Their position was perfect for that.

So, I just had to avoid competing. At this point, I was certain of it. As long as I wasn’t selected for the entertainment match, I’d likely avoid getting caught up in it.

Still, I couldn’t skip this event entirely. Some things were unavoidable—not just the possibility of the audience voting me into the entertainment match, but more importantly, the main storyline.

For plot points tied to the main storyline, reading the manga wasn’t enough. Many details could only be uncovered by participating firsthand.

Though my ultimate mission wasn’t directly tied to the manga’s main storyline, I needed to leverage the main plot to see if I could complete my task. Otherwise, relying solely on Jiang Tianming and the others’ current strength to save the world was too difficult.

The person closest to saving the world right now was actually Wu Mingbai. His [Earth Element] ability was the most likely to destroy the Meteorite. I’d realized this when he summoned a meteorite from the sky and accurately identified the floating debris in the Nightmare Beast world as meteorite fragments.

But his strength was still far too lacking. Even though his [Earth Element] had been enhanced, he was still a long way from becoming a true Ability Master capable of summoning world-scale earth elements.

He’d only been strengthened by the author recently, and who knew when the next boost would come? If I followed the plot step by step, I might have to wait until we graduated high school to make use of Wu Mingbai.

That was too long, with too many variables. I didn’t want to wait that long. If the plot ended before graduation, I’d lose my chance to save the world entirely. Without the forum’s help, even destroying the Meteorite might not eliminate the Nightmare Beasts.

My thoughts drifted further but were pulled back by the scene on the arena.

Huangfu Mingzhe lived up to being the ultimate weapon of Skydome Ability Academy, with all their hopes pinned on him. His impervious body and ever-changing abilities meant even someone as strong as Si Zhaohua couldn’t easily win.

The two had been at a stalemate for a while, unable to overcome each other. Huangfu Mingzhe wanted to use his formidable physique to overpower Si Zhaohua, but the protective umbrella formed by Si Zhaohua’s wings wasn’t easily broken.

Plus, after multiple past incidents, Si Zhaohua valued his agility in flight. If he decided to escape, Huangfu Mingzhe genuinely couldn’t catch him.

Unable to best each other, they finally lost patience and decided to unleash their ultimate moves.

That’s right—not only did Si Zhaohua have an ultimate move, but Huangfu Mingzhe, a scion of a great family, did too. In fact, it was easier for him to acquire ability-related skill books.

The Huangfu Family had a legacy of bloodline abilities and deliberately collected dragon-attribute skill books. The [Angel] ability wasn’t a bloodline ability, so even if the Si Family spent a fortune to find skill books for Si Zhaohua, they couldn’t match the Huangfu Family’s collection.

Unlike regular monthly exams, where teachers would intervene to prevent student injuries, during the Tri-School Competition, when Si Zhaohua unleashed his ultimate move, the referee only watched nervously from higher in the air. On the ground outside the arena, several healing Ability users were gathered, ready to rush in and save the contestants’ lives at any moment.

Both unleashed their ultimate moves simultaneously. A dazzling white light and a brilliant golden light bloomed in the air, and then the beam Si Zhaohua released collided directly with Huangfu Mingzhe’s golden-glowing body.

“Boom!”

A massive explosion echoed, and everyone’s eyes were fixed on the blast in the air. Many spectators stood up, shocked, gripping the railings to peer out.

“Who do you think will win?” The light hadn’t yet faded when Li Shu suddenly asked.

“Definitely Zhaohua!” Ai Baozhu said without hesitation, though her expression betrayed a lack of confidence in her answer.

Qi Huang stroked her chin and spoke frankly: “I also think it’s Si Zhaohua. His skill has strong attack power. Even if Huangfu can withstand it with his body, Si Zhaohua might not just give up, right?”

“Doesn’t he lose all his strength after using that ‘Holy Judgment’?” Wu Mingbai, less familiar with Si Zhaohua, asked curiously.

Before Ai Baozhu could respond, Jiang Tianming, who had secretly sparred with Si Zhaohua not long ago, shook his head: “He can now retain some strength after using the skill.”

He’d been caught off guard by this very fact and suffered for it, so the memory was vivid.

“Exactly.” Ai Baozhu nodded with satisfaction, then looked at the others. “Who do you think will win?”

Though phrased as a question, her intent was clearly different from Li Shu’s. Li Shu was genuinely asking, while she obviously only wanted to hear what she wanted, her pink eyes brimming with unspoken threats.

Lan Subing, amused, indulged her: “Si Zhaohua wins.”

Wu Jin, ever low-key, nodded silently: “Mm.”

“Obviously Zhaohua will win!” Mo Xiaotian declared as if it were a given, the most confident among them on this question.

Ai Baozhu looked at him appreciatively: “Good eye. How are you so sure?”

Her intention was to glean some information from Mo Xiaotian, but she’d miscalculated. Mo Xiaotian answered earnestly: “Because Zhaohua’s on our side, so of course I’d say he’ll win.”

He was clearly a loyalist, believing Si Zhaohua would win simply because they were on the same team. This made Ai Baozhu, who’d hoped to gain some confidence from him, freeze momentarily.

But she quickly recovered, nodding haughtily: “You’re right. Zhaohua’s from our Academy. I’d like to see who from our Academy thinks he won’t win!”

The outcome was the same, so Ai Baozhu felt she didn’t need to care about the reasoning. She only thought Si Zhaohua would win because she was close to him, no different from Mo Xiaotian.

After saying this, she turned to me, her meaning clear without words—she wanted me to express support for Si Zhaohua.

I glanced at the arena, where both their pointers were eerily identical: “It’s a tie.”

Sure enough, the moment I finished speaking, Huangfu Mingzhe broke through Si Zhaohua’s ultimate move and landed a punch. Amid the crowd’s gasps, both fell unconscious, plummeting from the air in unison.

Sensing both were truly unconscious, the referee blew the whistle to end the match while swiftly diving to catch them in bubbles. His ability, [Seven-Colored Bubbles], allowed him to fly and protect others, one reason he was chosen as referee.

“It’s really a tie!” Mo Xiaotian’s eyes widened, looking at me in awe. “That’s amazing! I wonder what it feels like to be hit by those two skills.”

“If you’re curious, you could ask them to hit you and find out,” Wu Mingbai said with a half-smile.

As they spoke, Lei Ze’en walked in. He got straight to the point: “Si Zhaohua’s unconscious and can’t continue. We need to replace him for the next match.”

At this, everyone’s eyes lit up. Mo Xiaotian jumped up, raising his hand: “Me, me, me! Teacher, let me go!”

“Don’t listen to him. Teacher, let me!” Wu Mingbai pushed Mo Xiaotian down, speaking righteously. “My ability is more common. You said the next matches are for support roles, so it doesn’t matter who goes. Let me go to avoid exposing our Academy’s trump cards.”

His reasoning was airtight. Lei Ze’en indeed didn’t plan to send up anyone with unique abilities to face Skydome Ability Academy’s remaining opponents.

Why use a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken? Though the opponent’s backup team had strong Attack Track Ability users prepared for such situations, their strength was surely far below Huangfu Mingzhe’s.

Their Academy’s team had many Ability users on par with Si Zhaohua. In other words, they had plenty of options.

Glancing at the eager raised hands, Lei Ze’en turned to those who weren’t volunteering: Lan Subing, Wu Jin, me, and Li Shu.

Compared to the enthusiastic hand-raisers, he preferred to pick from those reluctant to compete. This wasn’t Lei Ze’en’s mischief but his thoughtfulness.

Since Skydome Ability Academy’s main force was essentially just Huangfu Mingzhe, the next few matches shouldn’t be too tough. Easy matches could be passed smoothly, and competing now would give a solid excuse to sit out later. For students who didn’t want to compete, going now was the best choice.

Still, to avoid an upset and squander the advantage Si Zhaohua had secured, the next contestant needed to be undeniably strong.

Wu Jin and I were ruled out first. We were trump cards meant to shine in the upcoming Team Battles, so it wasn’t suitable to send us now.

As for Lan Subing and Li Shu… After a moment’s thought, under everyone’s expectant gazes, Lei Ze’en pointed to one: “Lan Subing, it’s you.”

“Huh?” Lan Subing looked over in surprise, her face changing as she quickly declined. “Teacher, so many others want to go. There’s no need to pick me…”

Before she could finish, Lei Ze’en interrupted: “You’ll have to compete in the Team Battles. If you can’t handle the spotlight now, what will you do then?”

At this, Lan Subing fell silent. Lei Ze’en was right. She’d worked hard to join this team, not just to spectate. If her social anxiety kept her from competing, she might as well have forfeited during the monthly exams.

“Alright, I understand.” Pursing her lips, Lan Subing resolved to overcome her fear. She couldn’t keep acting like this, at least not to let her classmates down.

“Go for it, Subing,” Jiang Tianming and Wu Mingbai encouraged together, then turned to Lei Ze’en. “Can we go out to watch the arena with her?”

In the lounge, Lan Subing couldn’t see them. For someone with social anxiety like her, having familiar faces in her line of sight would help a lot.

Lei Ze’en nodded: “Go ahead, but don’t start any conflicts.”

Before leaving together, Jiang Tianming suddenly remembered something: “By the way, Teacher, where’s Zhaohua now? Is he badly hurt?”

Ai Baozhu had wanted to ask this for a while but hadn’t found a chance amid the other discussions. Hearing Jiang Tianming ask, she perked up her ears and added, “If he needs help, I can go. The individual matches don’t really need me anyway.”

“Don’t worry, he’s been sent to the venue’s infirmary. The doctor our Academy hired is very reliable,” Lei Ze’en reassured patiently. “Haven’t told you about the new doctor’s ability yet, have we? It’s [Rapid Healing], extremely powerful. Barring any surprises, Si Zhaohua should wake up tonight.”

Hearing this, everyone breathed a slight sigh of relief. Generally, pure healing Ability users had strong techniques. Since healing was their only ability, they naturally developed it deeply.

Then he looked at Ai Baozhu: “If you want to go, you can, but you’ll need to come with us first. I have to brief Lan Subing on this opponent’s specifics on the way.”

As Ai Baozhu had said, she wasn’t needed today and was better suited for tomorrow’s matches. Lei Ze’en didn’t mind granting her wish. As for the others, they had to stay to handle any unexpected situations.

The teacher left with four students, and the lounge suddenly felt empty. I claimed half the sofa, lounging comfortably as I watched Lan Subing’s match.

Despite looking like social anxiety personified in front of us, Lan Subing held her own remarkably outside. Don’t underestimate her status as a young lady—years of etiquette training ensured she wouldn’t lose face, even in such a nerve-wracking situation.

On the arena, Lan Subing wore Endless Ability Academy’s sports uniform, standing tall and straight. Her water-blue hair was tied into a high ponytail, looking neat and striking.

Across from her was another blue-haired girl, not from the main roster they’d studied but from the backup team.

The opponent was an Attack Track Ability user, likely with a water-related ability. When she stepped onto the arena, the glass window revealed clear wet marks on the arena floor.

Producing such an effect just by activating her ability showed how potent her Water Element was.

Knowing Lan Subing’s ability was the formidable [Word Spirit], the girl aimed to strike first, using “Water Bubbles” to envelop Lan Subing completely. In water, she couldn’t speak, right?

It was a solid strategy, but it was useless against Lan Subing. [Word Spirit] was practically a cheat ability. Unless someone’s Mental Energy far surpassed hers, allowing them to ignore her control, or they prepared thoroughly in advance, they’d be controlled to death.

Her opponent clearly hadn’t prepared enough. No matter how fast she activated her ability, it couldn’t outpace the instant-cast [Word Spirit]. Before the “Water Bubbles” could fully encase Lan Subing, she’d already activated her ability.

Wanting to conserve Mental Energy for a potential one-versus-four and swayed by her social anxiety, Lan Subing only said two phrases since stepping onto the arena—“Freeze” and “Ability Seal.” Then she casually sent her opponent off the stage.

Such overwhelming strength stunned the audience. They hadn’t expected Endless Ability Academy’s second contestant to be no less impressive than the first, perhaps even more terrifying in some ways.

On the announcer’s platform, Zhao Xiaoyu was thrilled to see her classmate shine, her commentary growing even more passionate: “Lan Subing from ‘Endless Ability Academy’ has crushed her opponent from ‘Skydome Ability Academy’ with overwhelming control, sending her off the arena! Let’s see if she’ll continue the match!”

The referee came up to ask, and Lan Subing naturally chose to continue. Though she’d barely used any Mental Energy to win easily, she wasn’t relaxed.

Her ability wasn’t exactly a secret. Skydome Ability Academy had surely investigated it thoroughly. Sending that girl up was likely a preliminary test to gauge her ability’s strength. The next opponent would probably be tougher.

As Lan Subing predicted, the next contestant was specifically chosen to counter her. The moment the match began, they used their ability: “[Silence]!”

Hearing this, Lan Subing instantly felt a bad premonition. Sure enough, after the opponent used their ability, she couldn’t speak. With [Word Spirit], if the opponent merely couldn’t hear her, there’d still be some leeway. But being unable to speak at all left her completely helpless.

“Skydome Ability Academy brought an Ability user specifically to counter Lan Subing?” Qi Huang asked in disbelief.

“Probably not,” Li Shu shook his head, smiling gently while offering a less gentle assessment. “Unless they’re insane.”