Beaten by a Tiny Margin

The elf warrior this time was around 120 apertures, which was technically higher than my strength. However, if I use my Spirit Eyes and Ling Xi Divine arts, I can easily reach 130 apertures. If I had more time to practice, I could face even stronger opponents.

Ling Xi Divine arts was about not wasting any strength and not taking any useless motions. Combined with the Spirit Eyes, it becomes the deadliest weapon. Even at the cosmic realm, the Ling Xi Divine arts is still usable. The elf starts with summoning hundreds of thick vines to ensnare and capture me.

However, using my Spirit Eyes, I can easily detect where chi is being gathered and which direction the roots will come out of the ground. I dance through the battlefield using the Ling Xi footwork and strike accurately at the warrior's vital points.

With opponents that don't have any obvious weaknesses, the Spirit Eye God Art allows me to calculate the best point to strike in order to take down the enemy. This has to do with the natural flow of chi in the body. Since chi moves rhythmically like breathing, one can find the spots that are temporarily less protected than others.

The elf warrior reacts in time by summoning a thick root to block my strike. However, with the Ling Xi Divine arts, I quickly retract and reposition the strike at a different angle. I knew the elf warrior was likely to block my attack, that was my hope.

I baited the opponent to take a specific action so that I could put them in a position to receive an unlockable strike. The elf notices the spear coming again, but isn't able to defend. Instead, he moves into the attack, making it avoid the vital spot.

However, it's too naïve. The Ling Xi Divine arts wouldn't be countered so easily. The full force of my attack pierced the elves body. But instead of piercing straight through, my eyes glowed white and the chi that was concentrated at the tip of my spear exploded out around the point of impact. This caused the spear to rebound back instead of getting stuck in his body.

The explosive force left a much more lethal injury in the elves body, and the rebound allowed me to strike once more. This time, I went for the heart to finish it. Expectedly, the elf instantly began healing his wounds with Wood God Art. However, it was too late. I pierced his chest and he fell limp on the ground.

Although the fight seemed easy, it was actually extremely taxing for me. Utilizing the Ling Xi Divine arts in that way used up more than half of my chi reserves. In the past, this is also where Lu Ze stopped. However, he also gave up without even challenging the next opponent. This is why I was guaranteed to beat him.

"34th level passed, gained 70,000 academic credits."

Tied rankings are decided by speed and damage dealt to the next floor. I smiled as the mutated insectoid with 140 apertures of strength appeared in front of me. Although I knew I would lose miserably, I still did my best to get one hit in.

"End of simulation, you have passed the 34th level and did 1% damage to the 35th. Ranking of 693 obtained on the overall leaderboard, 1st on the first-year ranking. You have been awarded with 556,075 academic credits."

My body was transported out of the tower and everyone outside who was watching the show had their mouths agape.

"Incredible! What a power couple! The two first-years both beat the 34th level!"

"This is insane, two students that just joined the university already have a strength of at least 120 apertures?"

"Junior classmate Lin Ling is already in the Aperture Opening State so it makes sense for her, but Lu Ze is only in Core Martial State! He's a true monster."

"Look, Lin Ling is finally out. She ranked 693 and Lu Ze ranked 694. Did those two plan this? Why do I feel like I'm being fed dog food?"

Lin Ling looked around and saw Lu Ze waiting for her. She walked over with a smug smile on her face. When Lu Ze saw this, he started to placate her.

"Beautiful sister Ling, please go easy on this handsome brother. Why don't we call it a tie?"

"Fat chance Lu Ze! I'll hold onto this order and tell you what I want at a later time."

Lu Ze noticed the people around them were looking at them carefully and watching their interaction. He started to feel nervous so he left immediately. I laughed and left virtual martial city as well.

When I opened my pod and stepped out, Lu Ze was waiting anxiously.

"What's up Ze? Didn't I tell you I'd surpass you?" He used to bully me all the time about not being as good as him, so it felt good to get my little revenge.

"How did you get so strong?" He asked.

"Hmm you know the four human sages, right?"

"Of course, who doesn't know about them?" Lu Ze said while rolling his eyes. "Are you saying you're one of their descendants?"

I shook my head. "Not quite. Of the four sages, none of them are named Lin. However, my great-grandpa used to be one of the twelve sages before then. He was the Ling Xi sage who conquered a quarter of the human territory!" The pride in my tone wasn't veiled at all.

"Wait, that's not right, didn't Ling Xi sage die in battle?"

"He's hardly alive. You saw him yourself. Because of an old injury, he has slowly been deteriorating. He's already down to core martial state." I frowned thinking about it. After so much effort of recovering last time, he's back to this state. I couldn't help but feel sad.

"Why is a previous sage staying in the Telun system? Even heavily injured, he still has his contributions."

I suddenly remembered my deceased mother. I forgot that at this time, I was still very angry at my father. The memory still stung. It was also Lu Ze that comforted me last time.

"We aren't from the Telun system. I left my home with great-grandpa when I was young to live in the Telun system." Thinking about her family made her recall what happened in her previous future.

"Why?" Le Zu asked.

I organized my thoughts and let out a deep breath "My father and mother are high ranking military officers. 14 years ago, the blade demons started a war at the border. There was no indication that they would launch an attack, so there was a hole in our defense. My father led the defense on the boarder."

"However, my mother was ambushed in another region by the blade demons…"

I started thinking about how much I used to hate my father because of this, and then I recalled his death. He sacrificed his life to save me after going against orders. The anger and sadness simmered and I ended up shouting.

"Why did he do it… If he had just… Then no one would have had to die!" My voice was shaky. But my father was alive now. I can reconcile earlier with him. Because of this, I was able to stop myself from crying. Lu Ze went quiet after my outburst. He had never seen me like this, so it is probably a strange experience for him.

"If you want to cry, then cry. I can lend you my shoulder." Hearing this, my mood turned. This was exactly what he said to me last time. I chided him before, but this time, I don't mind getting a bit closer. I leaned forward and he instinctively hugged my since we were still standing. I buried my face into his shoulder and hugged him back.

"I don't need to cry, but this makes me feel a bit better."

Lu Ze coughed a few times and responded "Since you don't need to cry, then are you trying to take advantage of my body? You still haven't told me how you got stronger."

'Bastard Ze! If I didn't love you, I'd knock you out cold right now!' I thought. He managed to turn a sweet moment into a joke. I pushed him away and gave him a look of disdain.

"Who wants your body? Why are you so… ugh! Never mind." I sighed and rubbed my temples. "Great-grandpa wanted me to inherit his origin power for a long time. Since I wanted to surpass you, I finally accepted. This is why I got so strong. It helps that I'm also a genius."

I couldn't help but flaunt my strength. When I was this age last time, Lu Ze constantly put me down by comparing himself to me.

"What kind of injuries did Elder Lin receive for him to be in such a state?"

"He was struck by a death curse. He needs a lot of pure energy and life force to remove it and recover. Previously, he was using the origin energy to keep himself alive. Now that I've inherited a portion of it, he only has a few hundred years left."

However, I wasn't worried. Once we met Ying Ying again, she would take care of his injury.

"I see. Since he decided to give it to you, then you have to make sure to get stronger! In the future, you might be able to solve his problem. You're a prodigy after all, you will reach a high realm in a hundred years!"

Although it wasn't necessary, I still felt happy about his encouragement.

"Thanks, Ze."