Chapter 20: Start of the Ranking Tournament

A few days later, Daphne took a letter with a red wax seal and found Li Jiye who was refining medicines.

“Li Jiye, this is the admission ticket for the Polar Star Academy Martial Artist Qualifying Tournament. I’ve signed up for you and Alice separately. I hope both of you can obtain good results in this internal contest.”

Li Jiye had long expressed his keen interest in the Grand Four-City Contest. When Daphne said that the internal qualifying contest of Polar Star Academy determined who could participate in the Grand Four-City Contest, he had agreed without hesitation.

Now, Li Jiye was almost regarded as a celebrity in Polar Star Academy. Having aided several students during the Falling Maple City battle, before he knew it, he had become a well-known celebrity student.

The first qualifying match of Polar Star Academy was in the afternoon of the next day. Li Jiye hung the admission ticket around his neck and entered the campus.

The usually empty school grounds now had four raised stone platforms built by the Earth Element Department’s teacher. The stone platforms were wide and had an extremely hard, grainy texture.

According to the senior students, these stone platforms barely sustained any damages without the strength of a Tier 3 advanced-level.

Li Jiye quickly saw Alice, who had come earlier than him. Feeling confused at Alice’s sad expression, Li Jiye immediately asked and realized that her opponent today was a Tier 2 advanced-level martial artist.

Her opponent’s name was Benzema, a senior student with a B-level Fire Element. This person was also a genius student and had also demonstrated extraordinary skills in a battle zone that Li Jiye hadn’t assisted in.

“It’s over for me. I’m probably going to be eliminated in the first round… Now, Daphne’s class can only rely on you to bring us glory. You have to bring us honor, Li Jiye!”

Looking at Alice’s defeated expression that was almost on the verge of tears, Li Jiye tried to persuade her, but to no avail. Alice already knew that the disparity between her and her enemy was too great. This wasn’t something she could overcome with mentality alone.

Li Jiye sighed and stopped trying to persuade her. Instead, he went straight to the teacher collecting admission tickets and handed in his letter. The teacher smiled at him and then took out a box containing all the name tags of the registered students.

The opponent he drew seemed to be a senior student with the same Tier 2 intermediate-level strength as him. He had never seen this person before but had heard of how this student had missed out on the battle at Falling Maple City because he had been elsewhere for experience training.

Not long after, the first batch of qualifying matches for Polar Star Academy started. Li Jiye’s number plate was 16.

As the competition went on, Li Jiye leisurely sat on the ground and closed his eyes to rest for a long time. He only opened his eyes when he heard a low-pitched voice beside him.

“Huh? You’re done?” he asked.

It was Alice who had gotten the 14th card. Although her clothes were still neat and clean, her expression looked extremely discouraged. When Li Jiye asked about this, she slowly nodded and said, “I was pushed off the ring by the opponent’s Phosphorescent Knife in less than a minute… Sigh. Thankfully, he pulled back in time. Otherwise, I would really have been cut a sorry figure…”

Phosphorescent Knife wasn’t a weapon skill, but a fire-controlling skill that used the Fire Element and condensed it into a sharp blade. Since this martial art was a B-level skill, it made sense for Alice to lose to this person. Li Jiye silently repeated Benzema’s name a few more times, thinking that this man might become a strong enemy on his way to the championship.

He was still deep in thought when he suddenly heard someone on the third ring call for him.

“Student 16!”

Upon hearing that, Alice quickly pushed Li Jiye.

“Hurry! You must win and bring glory to Teacher Daphne!”

Under Alice’s push, Li Jiye stepped onto the ring. He stabilized himself and saw a student on the opposite side smiling kindly at him.

“I’m Ban Jie, a student of Teacher Pei Lan, in the Tier 2 intermediate-level. I look forward to our exchanges.”

“I’m Li Jiye, a student of Teacher Daphne, also in the Tier 2 intermediate-level. I look forward to our exchanges.”

The two bowed to each other and then, under the instructor’s instructions, charged towards each other almost simultaneously.

Ten seconds later, Li Jiye’s raised right foot hung in front of Senior Ban Jie’s forehead and stopped. Dark blue brilliance flashed and whirled like a hurricane on his legs. Ban Jie swallowed and hurriedly stepped back.

“I surrender!”

Li Jiye hadn’t gone all out in this match and hadn’t directly used Godspeed Steps. He first quickly dodged Ban Jie’s two attacks and then used Shadow Wind Steps to defeat him with a single blow.

His current martial arts were still a little lacking, though it didn’t mean to say that the ones he had cultivated were useless. On the contrary, the power of his B-level Falling Leaves Deadly Knives was actually above Godspeed Steps, and this martial art could directly kill the enemy in one shot if properly harnessed.

Yes, the enemy would die.

“Teacher?”

By the time Ban Jie stepped off the ring, the teacher acting as the referee had yet to make any movements.

Li Jiye hurriedly called him, and only then did the teacher return to his senses.

“Li Jiye wins! … Next matchup!”

Alice was already waiting under the ring at this time. Her mouth was hanging wide open, and she hurried forward to speak to Li Jiye as soon as he came down.

“He’s a Tier 2 intermediate-level martial artist! He’s a senior at the same level! But you defeated him in just ten seconds… You… What on earth is your strength?”

Listening to Alice repeatedly ask this question, Li Jiye couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“How many times must I tell you? I’m really a Tier 2 intermediate-level student. Teacher Daphne even testified for me that day.”

He immediately stepped aside and disappeared into the crowd before Alice could react.

However, he didn’t leave the school grounds immediately. Just now, in the middle of battle, he had inadvertently caught a glimpse of the single-bladed Selmore, who had just now been fighting on the second ring not far away.