Chapter 139: Consecutive Victories, Facing Li Feng in the Promotion Battle!
As soon as Zhao Xing entered the Cloud Gate, the figures around him disappeared, leaving him alone in the rolling clouds ahead. Before him emerged a floating circular stone platform, ten meters in radius, enveloped in a pale yellow barrier.
"The preparation platform," Zhao Xing noted, landing within the barrier, and took out his Earth Mirror.
The Nine Sections Battlefield allowed for opponent and environment selection, though these features were still locked for him.
"I don't have a rating yet, so I can only be randomly matched with other unrated opponents. I can't choose the environment or accept challenge invitations yet."
"Well, I'll just raise my rating first."
Zhao Xing clicked the matchmaking button on his Earth Mirror.
A moment later, the mirror emitted a soft hum and delivered a notification:
[Zhao Xing of the Shenwei Army, you have been matched with Zhang Hao (Zhenhai Army).]
[The randomly selected environment is 'Spring Grassland'.]
[The battle will begin in 60 breaths. Please prepare.]
A golden light flashed over Zhao Xing within the pale yellow barrier, coating him in a faint golden hue before fading away.
[Personal version of the Dao Protection Barrier.]
[Effect: Protects the trainee from fatal injuries and rapidly heals ordinary wounds.]
"A personal version of the Dao Protection Barrier, huh?"
Zhao Xing moved his body, sensing no abnormality.
"Even when I focus on my internal view of the five elements, I can't detect any difference from my usual state."
"In reality, there's a barrier covering my body. If I suffer a fatal attack, the battle will immediately end, and the trainee won't take any real harm."
"Ordinary attacks won't be blocked by the barrier, but once cumulative damage reaches a critical threshold, the battle will end, and both parties will be removed from the battlefield."
After a battle, the preparation platform can rapidly restore the trainee's energy and heal minor injuries.
Although the term "minor injuries" is used, it essentially means that unless death is instantaneous, the Dao Source Pearl—a supreme treasure—will heal any damage swiftly. For anyone below the fifth rank, even severe injuries are nothing but a minor issue.
Upon matching with an opponent, the Earth Mirror provided basic details such as their army affiliation, number of training sessions, and battlefield points.
"Zhang Hao of the Zhenhai Army? Never heard of him." Zhao Xing quickly glanced at the information and saw that Zhang Hao was also at 0 points with only four matches. Clearly, he was just as new to the battlefield as Zhao Xing. After that, Zhao Xing calmly stowed away his Earth Mirror and waited.
In another preparation platform nearby, a baby-faced young man named Zhang Hao received his own battle notification. Upon seeing the name of his opponent, his expression turned sour.
"Shenwei Army's Zhao Xing? Why did I have to match with him? Could this genius have just started his battlefield training today?"
Zhao Xing was already well-known in the Shennong Division. Although Zhang Hao had never met him, he knew of Zhao Xing's reputation as a top-tier talent from the Dili Academy, who had even surpassed Zhuang Zhiqing in the last mandatory training.
"Great, I'm in for a beating again," Zhang Hao sighed, putting away his Earth Mirror and preparing for the battle.
Sixty breaths later, the barrier on the preparation platform opened, and the surrounding clouds dispersed.
Zhao Xing looked up at the sky, which was a clear, bright blue. Three meters below him was a grassy plain.
"The battlefield covers about 40 acres—roughly the size of four soccer fields."
"As the battle progresses, the barrier will shrink until it reaches five acres, at which point it will stop."
"Earth movement techniques are limited to about 100 meters deep."
With a swoosh, Zhao Xing leaped from the preparation platform and landed on the grassland.
Activating his Hawk Eye technique, he spotted a figure in the distance—his opponent, Zhang Hao.
The two were a thousand meters apart, and Zhang Hao had already seen Zhao Xing. Without a word, he began summoning clouds to gain control of the sky.
"Soldier of Cloud and Wind? Looks like it's at the seventh-transformation level."
Zhao Xing only needed a glance to gauge Zhang Hao's general strength. He didn't even bother summoning clouds and simply rode on his Minor Nine Heavens Gale, flying directly toward Zhang Hao.
"What? He's not even using cloud summoning? Is he looking down on me?" Zhang Hao felt a surge of frustration upon seeing Zhao Xing charge straight at him.
Does he think that little of me? Sure, you're a genius, but at least respect the basic rules of a Shennong duel! Not even summoning clouds for the fight?
"Looks like you're asking for a beating!"
Seeing Zhao Xing enter his cloud's range, Zhang Hao summoned a bolt of lightning to strike.
Boom!
The lightning hit Zhao Xing, but it didn't slow him down in the slightest. Zhao Xing continued flying forward as if nothing had happened.
"What?! My mid-level six-transformation lightning spell didn't even faze him?"
Refusing to believe it, Zhang Hao furiously summoned more lightning.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
Lightning crackled through the air, almost drowning Zhao Xing in its glow. The sky alternated between bright and dark as lightning illuminated the field. Yet amidst the flashes, Zhao Xing moved like a ghost, appearing right in front of Zhang Hao.
"How… is this possible?" Zhang Hao stared in disbelief.
Whoosh! A gust of azure wind surged forth, its force akin to a materialized dragon, slamming into Zhang Hao.
Before he could react, the wind had already knocked him flying.
Pfft! Zhang Hao didn't even have time to cast a defensive spell. He was sent tumbling backward, and as he flew through the air, his body briefly flickered with golden light. The Dao Protection Barrier had determined that he had reached the damage limit and teleported him back to the preparation platform.
The battle was over.
The next moment, Zhao Xing also returned to the preparation platform, the surroundings once again shrouded in a misty haze, obscuring the outside world.
[Victory! You have gained 1 Battlefield point.]
Zhao Xing's win record now stood at 1. However, he still hadn't earned a star rating yet, as it required three consecutive wins to accumulate one star.
"That was too easy," Zhao Xing thought, glancing at his Earth Mirror before immediately queuing for another match.
Back in early March, before the division trials, Zhao Xing's Minor Nine Heavens Gale had already reached the third-transformation level, while his Rolling Thunder had hit the fourth transformation .
Now, it was July 16th, and after the trials and multiple training sessions—including the mandatory and supplemental training—those techniques had advanced to the eighth and ninth transformation s, respectively.
His biggest improvements had come during the supplemental training.
After all, how much time does planting crops take?
At most, it occupied about three hours a day.
With nothing else to practice, Zhao Xing spent the rest of the time honing his techniques.
As a result, his skills had advanced significantly during the supplemental training period.
"At the third transformation , I could move with the gale, my body following the wind as sound followed me."
"At the sixth transformation , the gale formed a protective aura, like a green dragon shielding me from all attacks."
"At the ninth transformation , the Azure Dragon emerges, rampaging across the world."
"I can now control eight streams of gale, each with the power of an advanced eighth-grade Spirit Bridge cultivator."
"For an ordinary Shennong, if their defensive techniques are even slightly weaker, one gust of wind would trigger the Dao Protection Barrier, ending the fight instantly."
As Zhao Xing waited for his next match, he estimated that the initial stages of the ranking system would be fairly easy for him.
In the Battlefield, the opponents at lower ranks were generally weak, but as he progressed, the matches would become increasingly challenging, pitting him against skilled veterans with numerous victories under their belts.
[Zhao Xing of the Shenwei Army, you have been matched with Zheng Zongsheng (Lieyang Army).]
[The randomly selected environment is 'Autumn Maple Forest'.]
[The battle will begin in 60 breaths. Please prepare.]
With a soft hum, the surrounding scenery shifted, and the preparation platform materialized in a maple forest.
Autumn winds rustled through the air, and vibrant red leaves fluttered down, gently obstructing the view.
But this posed no problem for Zhao Xing.
His opponent had already begun summoning clouds.
From the spread of the clouds, Zhao Xing quickly deduced his opponent's general location.
Swish!
In an instant, Zhao Xing appeared directly above Zheng Zongsheng.
In the opponent's shocked gaze, Zhao Xing's Azure Gale Dragon shattered Zheng's protective winds, and the battle ended.
Second match, victory!
Moments later…
"What?!" Another opponent was defeated before they could even react.
Third match, victory!
Fourth match, victory!
Fifth match, victory!
Sixth match, victory!
…
Before long, Zhao Xing had racked up 21 consecutive victories, and his star rating had finally reached seven stars.
"Two more wins, and I'll advance to the first rank. At that point, I'll be able to see my ranking."
At the first rank and below, players are considered rookies, so their exact ranking isn't displayed.
"I hope I'll face some stronger opponents," Zhao Xing thought.
So far, his 21 consecutive victories had been achieved without even summoning clouds. From start to finish, he had relied solely on his Gale Technique to win.
He would simply rush forward, knock down his opponents, and claim victory.
It was too easy, offering little challenge or training value.
Without a worthy opponent, it was difficult for Zhao Xing to test his newly learned skills.
In the first 21 matches, Zhao Xing—an elite B-tier talent—had merely been toying with weaker opponents.
[Zhao Xing of the Shenwei Army, you have been matched with Li Feng (Hujiao Army).]
[The randomly selected environment is 'Summer Flower Sea'.]
[The battle will begin in 60 breaths. Please prepare.]
"Hmm? Li Feng?"
Upon seeing the familiar name, Zhao Xing couldn't help but smile.
Looks like fate had brought them together again.
For the first match of his promotion series, he had been matched with Li Feng.
"Let's see if you've improved at all," Zhao Xing thought, putting away his Earth Mirror and awaiting the start of the battle.
On the other side, Li Feng—who had just achieved 21 consecutive victories—also received the notification.
"Zhao Xing of the Shenwei Army?"
"My promotion battle, and I've been matched with him?!"
Li Feng's eyes lit up with excitement.
During the previous division trials, it was because of Zhao Xing that Li Feng had been eliminated early, losing his chance to enter the four major academies. In the end, he had been assigned C-tier resources.
But now, after months of relentless training and earning 21 consecutive victories in the Nine Sections Battlefield, Li Feng had clawed his way to B-tier resources with a top-ten finish in the latest supplemental training.
Now at his peak, Li Feng didn't fear facing Zhao Xing. In fact, he welcomed the challenge.
"Today, I will redeem myself!" Li Feng thought, full of confidence and anticipation.
"Today is the day I reclaim my honor!"