CHAPTER 136: ZHU RONG VS LI DANIU

Chapter 136: Zhu Rong vs Li Daniu

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Hearing Li Duoji’s cold words, the person who had just spoken froze, as if hesitant to continue.

When he saw him entering the waiting hall, Li Daniu had decided to go congratulate his cousin, but it seemed the latter wanted nothing to do with him.

He didn’t know what to say, and the atmosphere turned silent. At that moment, just as Li Duoji was about to head toward his seat, another voice rang out,

"Well, I didn’t expect to see a couple fighting the moment I woke up," said a lazy, sleepy voice that yawned from time to time.

Hearing those words, both of them turned to look at the one who said thse words with murderous intent.

The person in question was none other than Zhu Rong, who had finally woken up.

His battle was next, now that the fight between Li Duoji and Yao Jianbo was over. The repairs to the arena wouldn’t take more than a few minutes, so he finally decided to wake up.

But as soon as he did, he came across that strange scene between the two cousins, and he almost spat out those words. Now, seeing them like that, he couldn’t help but smile and say,

"Oh? Could I be mistaken? Oh well, anyway, it looks like it’s our turn." He then ignored them both and headed straight for the exit of the participants’ waiting hall.

Seeing how he had dismissed them without even a thought, both were obviously frustrated. Li Daniu, who was also about to leave, couldn’t help but clench his fists hard, itching to punch that person.

After watching his previous battles, he knew he stood no chance of winning against Zhu Rong.

There was no way.

He was still far from the third stage, and given the power Zhu Rong had shown with just a few moves, it was clear he had already reached it. Even if he hadn’t, his strength alone was already close to that stage.

So, either he came up with a strategy to deal with him from a distance without letting him get close, or all he could do was stand there and get beaten up.

Normally, none of this would have been good for him, but as luck would have it, he had already made it to the semifinals.

Now that he was here, he had already secured a spot in the group that would take part in the expedition to the secret realm.

So, one way or another, he had already achieved his goal for this tournament. Defeating Zhu Rong would have been nothing more than an extra. Something he regretted not being able to obtain, but he understood there wasn’t much he could do about it.

He turned to say few words to his cousin, but saw that the latter had already walked away without a word.

Knowing him, he had already landed on his blacklist, both for getting humiliated by his opponent and even more because he was part of the Li family.

He only hoped that being one of the two Li family members among the expedition group could help him in this situation with his cousin.

It was fine if he didn’t get his protection, but he didn’t want his anger either. He knew how cruel that person could be and had no intention of becoming his target.

’Tch, you might be stronger than me, but don’t think I’ll let you win without a fight.’ With those words, he too reached the exit of the waiting hall and walked out, stepping straight into the arena filled with a cheering crowd.

But contrary to what one might think, all that noise wasn’t for their match, but only an aftereffect of the previous one.

It was clear that the last battle had deeply shaken the audience, who were still buzzing with excitement and kept talking about it.

Seeing this scene, he could only sigh, thinking about when his turn would come to be cheered for like that.

He stepped onto the arena, and at the opposite side stood Zhu Rong, who looked around with a bored expression, as if he couldn’t wait to go back to sleep.

Seeing this, Li Daniu couldn’t help but get frustrated, wondering if this guy had come to sleep or to secure a spot in the expedition team.

Even the arena referee, seeing this, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and could only shake his head while deciding to ignore him for now.

He waited until Li Daniu arrived as well.

Now that both were here, he immediately announced their names before giving the signal for the battle to begin.

Although it was the last semifinal match of the day, none of the audience seemed too surprised. In fact, everyone already had an idea of who would win. After all, on one side there was a second-year student who had given remarkable performances for his year, clearly establishing himself as one of its top talents.

On the other side was also a second-year student, but one who had never shown any notable performance in recent years. He had almost always been below average, with only the first semester exam where he somehow reached first place and even entered the Hall of Fame.

Still, during this tournament, he had delivered remarkable performances, with quick and often questionable battles, all won without any apparent effort.

Whether against second or third year students, he defeated them all with a single strike.

By now, the crowd had gotten used to this strange student, who inevitably became the dark horse of the competition.

Everyone understood that today’s fight was almost guaranteed to end with his victory. This awareness could only make some people shake their heads, pitying the poor Li Daniu for ending up against him.

Well, considering who else he could have faced, this was still the best outcome, though overall, not a good one.

It was clear that among the four who had made it this far, he was the weakest.

His performance had been remarkable, but it still wasn’t comparable to the anomaly before him. The moment the battle started, that anomaly didn’t even bother to move, just stood there looking at him, as if waiting for him to make his move.

Having watched his previous battles, Li Daniu had prepared for every possible outcome, whether the opponent decided to stand still and wait, or whether he struck first.

He had analyzed those fights carefully to come up with something that could counter him, but unfortunately for him, given the few moves Zhu Rong had used to crush everyone, there wasn’t really much more he could learn about his fighting style or his hidden cards.

Seeing that the other side didn’t move, he decided to attack first, and immediately. He clapped his hands, releasing an invisible wave of energy that spread out in every direction.

As soon as it touched the arena floor, meticulously repaired earlier, it began to shake, cracks spreading across it before large chunks of earth started rising into the air.

Seeing this, the crowd’s interest was piqued. They wanted to see what this little second year genius would do against that anomaly.

While the crowd grew curious, the workers who had just fixed the arena to perfection in record time looked on with blank expressions.

’i’m not paid enough for this...’

That was all that went through their minds as they watched their hard work get smashed to pieces again after only a few minutes.

And not because of some spectacular, devastating clash like the previous one, but because a second year student had decided to use all his tricks to try to beat his opponent.

Zhu Rong, seeing this, didn’t look particularly surprised and calmly waited to see what the other side would do.

If he wanted, the fight could have already ended in this short time. With his speed, he could have reached the other side in an instant, not to mention the fact that even from afar, he had plenty of ways to defeat his opponent.

But since he was already here, he decided to see what his opponent had prepared for him.

And he didn’t have to wait long, because right after several large chunks of earth were lifted from the arena, the other side didn’t hesitate.

With a swift gesture forward, he struck toward the large floating rocks hovering in front of him, but he didn’t hit them directly, but rather a sort of thin air barrier around them, which, upon being touched, seemed to propel the rocks forward like projectiles toward his opponent.

Zhu Rong, seeing this, didn’t move from his position. Instead, with a simple stomp, a stone pillar rose a few meters in front of him, shielding him from the attack.

"Still using those old tricks? That’s going to cost you," a voice suddenly rang out right behind him. A sharp sound followed, along with a shining blade aimed straight at his head.

But Zhu Rong didn’t seem the least bit concerned. With another stomp, a second pillar rose, this time behind him, slamming straight into his opponent, who couldn’t dodge it.

Seeing this, the crowd was ready to cheer, thinking the battle had once again ended quickly. But just as they did, someone noticed a detail and couldn’t help but exclaim,

"hmm?, it’s another clone! Then wait, where’s the real one?"