Chapter 637: Quarterfinals (Thanks to '1 Kilowatt-hour of Moonlight' for giving Zhang Yu)

Chapter 637: The Top Eight (Thanks to '1 Kilowatt-Hour of Moonlight' for transferring 10 times to Zhang Yu)

As the battle drew to a close, Zhang Yu, carrying Ying Mingchi, was enveloped in layers of divine light and guided back to the waiting area.

"Victory is finally mine."

Zhang Yu glanced at Ying Mingchi, now reduced to a mere half, and silently marveled at the sheer might of his opponent's physique—the most formidable he had ever faced.

"Compared to humans, the physical ceiling of these demon-blooded is indeed far superior; he nearly slipped away from my grasp."

"But... why does this fellow smell more and more appetizing?"

Catching the scent of roasted dragon meat wafting from his opponent's body, Zhang Yu felt his stomach rumble with eager anticipation, his mouth watering at an accelerated pace.

Wiping the saliva from the corner of his lips, Zhang Yu landed in the waiting area the next moment, Ying Mingchi in tow.

Watching Zhang Yu return from his victorious bout, Jiu Tianliu's gaze grew profoundly complex.

He had never imagined that Zhang Yu, who was originally only tasked with gathering intelligence on Ying Mingchi, would actually defeat him—and in a direct, head-on clash at that.

In this moment, Jiu Tianliu saw something in Zhang Yu that could only be called ambition.

This junior, who had risen from the Civil Engineering Department, whom he had once looked down upon, who had once been an obscure figure in the University of Ten Thousand Methods, and whom he had never considered a rival, had unknowingly grown to a level nearly equal to his own.

"This junior of mine, only just in his fifth year..."

Jiu Tianliu mused inwardly, "Just how far does his ambition reach?"

As Jiu Tianliu watched Zhang Yu, Kuang Tianqing beside him also observed Zhang Yu with keen interest, thinking to herself, "Has he improved yet again?"

"Although in this Top Ten Tournament, almost every student improves with every single bout."

"But an extent of progress like Zhang Yu's is virtually unheard of."

"No wonder Dao Qiankun values this kid so highly."

"And that sheer toughness..."

Kuang Tianqing recalled the scenes from the first team match, when she had launched her frenzied final assault on Zhang Yu.

It could be said that the sheer resilience Zhang Yu displayed after taking root as a living foundation had left a deep impression on her.

"What an incredibly tough fellow, even tougher than I had estimated during the team match."

"Heh, if I ever get the chance to fight him again, should I match his toughness head-on, or overcome his hardness with softness?"

Kuang Tianqing licked her lips, feeling that the Zhang Yu before her was becoming more and more worthy of being defeated.

Thud!

Upon his return, Zhang Yu casually tossed Ying Mingchi, now bearing only half a dragon's body, onto the ground.

Across Ying Mingchi's form, various wounds surged like wave after wave of a relentless tide, continuously ravaging his body.

Yet compared to the physical agony, the fury and humiliation in his heart inflicted a far more excruciating pain.

"To think I was utterly defeated in a direct, close-quarters brawl by this scoundrel, this discriminator of the demon-blooded..."

"An unforgivable disgrace... truly an unforgivable disgrace."

At this moment, Ying Mingchi dared not even open his ocular relic, terrified that the moment he connected to the Spirit Realm, he would be met with a tidal wave of mockery, criticism, and vile insults.

Especially since Ying Mingchi could well imagine that a considerable portion of these would come from his fellow demon-blooded.

Beyond the blow to his reputation, this defeat had also severely shattered the values Ying Mingchi had held all his life.

"The Path of Immortality esteems the human form as the ideal, for it is the most standardized shape, the foundational form considered by the Ten Great Sects when designing the framework of the Immortal Path, and the form most suited for cultivating various techniques and wielding all manner of dharma relics and magical treasures."

"Though the bloodlines of the demon race boast powerful physiques and diverse abilities, their potential and adaptability on the Immortal Path are inherently inferior to the human form for this very reason."

"But now... I have lost to him even in physical prowess... lost to a mere human?"

"Then even if I find an Immortal Sect technique to convert human bloodlines into demon-blooded ones... what use would it be?"

He pondered endlessly, yet could never arrive at an answer.

Just as the pillars of his mind collapsed wave after wave, threatening to crush this true dragon completely, Ying Mingchi suddenly sensed a familiar feeling in the way Zhang Yu looked at him.

It was the gaze of one demon-blooded looking upon another.

In Ying Mingchi's mind, the scene of Zhang Yu conjuring dragon beasts on the arena resurfaced.

Along with the image of him fighting head-on amidst a sea of flames.

Ultimately, all these visions converged, transforming into the lines of text from the Theory of Common Origins Between Humans and Demons.

"Humans are demons too."

"Perhaps this Zhang Yu also underwent an atavistic regression, awakening the demon bloodline within humanity, and that is how he defeated me."

Ying Mingchi thought to himself, "I did not lose to a human; I merely lost to another of the demon-blooded."

Overwhelmed and dizzy from the aroma of roasted meat wafting from Ying Mingchi, Zhang Yu simply activated his ocular relic to watch the other matches.

Besides him and Jiu Tianliu, Yan Xiang from Netherworld University and Zang Shenyu from Vajra University had also long since finished their bouts.

Yan Xiang had defeated Xu Haixuan, the top student of the Talisman Department at the University of Ten Thousand Methods, while Zang Shenyu had bested Di Lianzhong, the number one of White Bone University. Aside from these, three matches were still underway.

With a shift of his gaze, the image of Tian Shengong and Yan Qianji clashing appeared in Zhang Yu's ocular relic.

Both were powerhouses of the Artifact Refining Department, yet their combat styles were entirely different.

Tian Shengong commanded a military-grade puppet over a hundred meters tall, whereas Yan Qianji deployed a vast, hill-covering legion of military-grade puppets.

The mere appearance of Yan Qianji's puppet legion gave Zhang Yu a sense of familiarity, making him feel as though he were looking at Dao Qiankun, Kuang Tianqing, or even himself.

And Tian Shengong's colossal military-grade puppet looked even more familiar to Zhang Yu.

The application of various Earthly Fiend gravities, moisture condensation, thunderous sweeps, pseudo-demon structures, and spiritual pollution... Zhang Yu felt as if he were watching the students from all the universities in the Top Ten Tournament stitched together into one.

"Damn it, the Extreme Tiger Tactics, and this doesn't count as plagiarism? Doesn't count as infringement?"

Zhang Yu immediately reported the situation to True Lord An Zhen, the school team's instructor.

The bad news was that Tian Shengong's techniques were, at most, borrowed rather than plagiarized; with the technical backing of the Immortal Armament University and the Extreme Tiger Group, he had cleverly bypassed all technical copyrights, skirting the very edge of infringement.

The good news was that this approach meant the various technical applications Tian Shengong displayed were far inferior to the originals.

The even worse news, however, indicated that the Tian Shengong before them was far from his peak condition.

True Lord An Zhen: Once it comes to the critical moment, if he is willing to fight by infringing on copyrights, his strength could likely surge by several tiers.

True Lord An Zhen: If the Immortal Armament University or the Extreme Tiger Group is willing to burn money for his battles.

True Lord An Zhen: Then he would likely have the power to contend with Kuang Tianqing.

Hearing this, Zhang Yu felt a heavy weight sink in his heart.

He understood that the various orders of Kunxu were built upon its own economic system; take infringement, for instance—people refrained not out of fear of breaking the law, but out of fear of losing money and going bankrupt.

If the profits gained from infringement far exceeded the losses it caused, the people of Kunxu would infringe on a massive scale without hesitation.

For instance, the current Top Ten Tournament concerned the ownership of Immortal Sect techniques, and every student could potentially be backed by their university.

Given the sheer scale of the Top Ten, the meager infringement losses caused by a mere Foundation Establishment personal bout, compared to the profits brought by Immortal Sect techniques... were simply negligible.

As Yan Qianji's puppet legion was dismantled one by one, Tian Shengong swiftly secured his victory.

In Zhang Yu's ocular relic, another match emerged: Wen Wuya facing off against Mu Qiansi.

Yet by the time his gaze fell upon this particular match, the battle had already been decided, with Wen Wuya emerging victorious over Mu Qiansi.

Zhang Yu could not help but rewind the recording, swiftly scanning through the sequence of the fight.

Initially, Zhang Yu had assumed that the crux of this duel would lie in the management of distance.

To his surprise, however, Wen Wuya had never intended to dance around Mu Qiansi from the very start; instead, he clashed with her head-on, displaying a formidable resistance to the Dual Cultivation techniques.

What Zhang Yu did not know was that long before the battle commenced, Wen Wuya had already undergone a radical modification surgery, transforming himself into an asexual being.

Furthermore, he had Bai Zhenzhen wield the Seven Emotions Sword Path to temporarily erase his myriad feelings, allowing him to enter the fray with absolute rationality and icy calm.

He had even specifically recalibrated his ocular implants, rendering him utterly blind to gender and incapable of distinguishing beauty from ugliness.

Faced with Wen Wuya's skyrocketing physical resistance to Dual Cultivation, Mu Qiansi attempted to strike through the Spirit Realm, seeking to plant the threads of desire deep within his mind.

This was precisely Wen Wuya's intention: to drag Mu Qiansi away from the battlefield of physical cultivation and into the domain of mental communication, where he reigned supreme.

Having finished reviewing this match, Zhang Yu turned his attention to the bout he cared for and anticipated the most.

The screen abruptly flared to life, revealing the confrontation between Ying Zhoufan and Bai Zhenzhen.

At this moment, Ying Zhoufan had transformed into a colossal black eagle, hurtling through the atmosphere at breakneck speeds and sweeping across the entire arena like a bolt of lightning.

Bai Zhenzhen, meanwhile, stood rooted to the spot, her expression as still and dark as stagnant water, while the killing intent radiating from her grew ever more suffocating.

The sight sent a chill down Ying Zhoufan's spine; the way Bai Zhenzhen glared at him made him feel as though he were her most bitter nemesis.

"No..." Ying Zhoufan muttered to himself, "I don't owe her any money, do I? Could it be that this woman... is also fiercely prejudiced against demonkin?"

Recalling that Bai Zhenzhen seemed to be on rather good terms with Zhang Yu, Ying Zhoufan grew increasingly convinced of this suspicion.

Yet in Bai Zhenzhen's mind's eye, a video of Kuang Tianqing and Zhang Yu was playing on an endless loop, only with Kuang Tianqing's face seamlessly replaced by Ying Zhoufan's.

Bai Zhenzhen knew it was all an illusion, but her shifting emotions remained undiminished by the falsehood; her surging sword qi deepened from crimson to scarlet, and gradually darkened into a profound, brooding maroon.

Watching this scene from the waiting area after his victory, Wen Wuya thought to himself, "The Extreme Emotion Sword Path was already a heretical art, but now that I hear Zhenzhen is using illusions to cultivate reality, it has become downright sinister."

He recalled the records he had read of other Extreme Emotion Sword Path practitioners, many of whom had advanced their cultivation by fabricating hallucinations, dreams, forged photographs, and counterfeit videos.

Yet with each repeated attempt, many of these cultivators eventually lost the ability to distinguish illusion from reality, unable to tell fabricated footage from genuine recordings, until they descended into utter madness.

At that very moment, a jet of black sword qi pierced clean through Ying Zhoufan's body, securing Bai Zhenzhen's victory in this bout.

Thus, only the final eight competitors remained in the Top Ten League.

(End of Chapter)