The 13 students who made it into the ranking competition stood in a row, listening to the final arrangements.
"Currently, 13 people remain. The first round of the ranking competition will involve a draw, with one person receiving a bye. The remaining 12 people will compete in six matches, resulting in six winners and six losers. The six winners, along with the one who received a bye, will then compete in pairs to determine the top seven Ranks. The six people who lost in the first round will draw again, and the three winners will be this year's 8th-10th placers, while the losers will be 11th-13th placers."
"I wonder which lucky person will be directly guaranteed a spot in the top ten this time, so envious~"
"Luck is also a form of strength."
"For the first round of the ranking competition, Zhu Wenhan receives a bye. The other 12 students should prepare to go on stage according to the battle roster."
Hearing this, many people secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Not everyone wanted to face the S-Rank Zhu Wenhan directly in this round.
First Arena: No. 1 High School's Wan Yue VS No. 1 High School's Wei Qiang
Second Arena: No. 1 High School's Liu Mo VS No. 2 High School's Zhao Xiaofeng
Third Arena: No. 5 High School's Shen Han VS No. 1 High School's Xu Weijie
...On the third arena, Shen Han faced No. 1 High School's second seed, who had awakened an A-Rank Dark Element talent.
"This is interesting," Shen Han revealed a subtle smile. "I wonder if the Replace skill, which I haven't used yet, can swap my B-Rank Dark Element talent for his A-Rank talent. And I wonder if a simple swap will affect my existing Special Abilities."
"Anyway, there's no harm in trying. I won't be using Dark Element abilities in this match; if the skill can successfully Replace, I'll get an A-Rank Special Ability for free. If it doesn't succeed, it will still be a great help for Cultivating Ghost Invisibility or other Dark Element skills in the future. I wonder what his reaction will be when he discovers his Special Ability Rank has dropped to B-Rank."
"Replace skill, activate!"
Xu Weijie, on the opposite side of the arena, felt a cold wind blow past, as if something bad had just happened. He sensed it carefully but found nothing. "Did I see a ghost in broad daylight?"
He looked inward at his Chaos Element stars and saw that his Cultivation had changed:
Name: Shen Han
Mental Energy: 523 / 550 (Martial Master First Level)
Special Ability Rank: Chaos Element - SSS-Rank, Lightning Element - A-Rank, Ice Element - A-Rank, Dark Element - A-Rank
Skills: Chaos Element - Sniff (2 / 10), Copy (2 / 10), Devour (2 / 10), Replace (2 / 10)
Lightning Element - Thunder Rending Sky (Major Achievement), Lightning Sky Curtain (Major Achievement), Lightning Teleport (Major Achievement)
Ice Element - Frost Condensing Thousand Blades (Minor Achievement)
Dark Element - Ghost Invisibility (Beginner)
The Dark Element Special Ability's Rank had successfully been Replaced to A-Rank, but the skills belonging to the Dark Element remained unchanged. On second thought, he was relieved; if even skills could be Replaced, this Chaos Element skill would be too Heaven-Defying. The opponent probably hadn't discovered that his Dark Element Special Ability had become B-Rank yet. He would probably only realize it later when he retested or found that his speed in Cultivating Dark Element skills had decreased.
He muttered softly, with a hint of mischief: "If anyone offends me in the future, I'll just Copy a few F-Rank Special Abilities and give them to him, so he can experience the taste of 'ordinariness' too!" Thinking of this, he couldn't help but chuckle, countless mischievous revenge methods already appearing in his mind.
The match on the third arena was also without suspense. Even the second seed from No. 2 High School seemed at a loss against Shen Han's elusive "Lightning Teleport." And whenever Xu Weijie wanted to use his Dark Element Special Ability to counterattack, Shen Han could always use his higher-Rank Dark Element perception to avoid it in advance, making it impossible to fight.
Results from the other matches also came out successively. Unfortunately, Wen Tingting lost to another seed from No. 2 High School. However, it was already quite remarkable for No. 5 High School to secure a top ten spot in advance this time. With good luck, Wen Tingting might still be able to fight her way into the top ten from the remaining six.
"The top seven of this competition are: No. 1 High School's Zhu Wenhan, Wan Yue, Chen Jiayi; No. 2 High School's Li Mingxuan, Zhao Xiaofeng; Third High School's Zhou Hua; and No. 5 High School's Shen Han. These seven will compete in pairs, and their Ranks will be determined by points. The bottom three spots will be contested among the six losers from the first round of the ranking competition. From now on, the competition will be divided into two parts: the top seven will compete in pairs, earning 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss, while the bottom six will continue with another elimination round."
The seven stood together to draw lots. Seizing the opportunity, Shen Han used his Sniff skill to scan the strength and Special Abilities of the other six Geniuses in Yang City, but none particularly caught his interest. He used his second Copy chance of the month to directly Copy Zhu Wenhan's S-Rank Fire Element Special Ability.
Name: Shen Han
Mental Energy: 523 / 550 (Martial Master First Level)
Special Ability Rank: Chaos Element - SSS-Rank, Lightning Element - A-Rank, Ice Element - A-Rank, Dark Element - A-Rank, Fire Element - S-Rank
Skills: Chaos Element - Sniff (2 / 10), Copy (2 / 10), Devour (2 / 10), Replace (2 / 10)
Lightning Element - Thunder Rending Sky (Major Achievement), Lightning Sky Curtain (Major Achievement), Lightning Teleport (Major Achievement)
Ice Element - Frost Condensing Thousand Blades (Minor Achievement)
Dark Element - Ghost Invisibility (Beginner)
Fire Element - Flame Bomb (Beginner)
The first match was No. 1 High School's Zhu Wenhan VS No. 5 High School's Shen Han, which was considered the most anticipated duel of this year's competition.
"Come and die!" Zhu Wenhan pointed at Shen Han. "Don't think that just because your Mental Energy is a little stronger than mine, you're guaranteed to win. I'll show you the terror of an S-Rank Special Ability."
"It's just an S-Rank Special Ability, what's so great about it? Since you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish," Shen Han retorted, unwilling to be outdone.
The collision of Lightning Element and Fire Element, the two Special Abilities with the strongest attack power and lethality, directly clashed.
"Blazing Dragon Roar," a giant Fire Dragon swooped down from the sky, directly charging at Shen Han's face.
"Thunder Rending Sky," a thick Lightning Pillar, no less imposing than the Fire Dragon, struck down.
Offensive against offensive, Blazing Dragon against Thunder. The Blazing Dragon roared, heating the air in the training ground to an unbearable degree. Students sitting in the front rows already had burn marks on their faces. The Thunder was equally matched, with Lightning Pillars converging into an even more destructive Lightning Pillar, crashing into the Fire Dragon with an ear-splitting sound.
"Both of them have Cultivated these two Martial Skills to the Realm of Major Achievement. In just one year, it's within our expectations for an S-Rank Fire Element to grow so quickly, but why is this F-Rank Lightning Element so strong? Is it really a fake F-Rank?"
"These two skills are evenly matched. Next, let's see how they break the deadlock."
"Flame Bomb," Fire Bombs in the sky flew towards Shen Han like a meteor shower, each incredibly powerful, with heart-pounding fiery tails that seemed to scorch the air. "Lightning Teleport," the Fire Bombs still needed time to fly through the air to Shen Han, but Lightning Teleport changed locations almost instantaneously, completely unable to catch up to Shen Han's speed.
"Both sides are now on their second Major Achievement skill! Are they even letting people live?"
"Another evenly matched contest. If both sides are so close in strength, it can only come down to endurance and Mental Energy."
"Uh, Mental Energy? Could Zhu Wenhan lose?"
Both sides were persevering. Zhu Wenhan himself knew that once it reached such an evenly matched stalemate, whoever had stronger Mental Energy would have the advantage.
"No, I cannot lose. How could I lose? I am an S-Rank Special Ability, the only one cultivated in so many years. What is that Shen Han?" Zhu Wenhan gritted his teeth. "Explode for me!"
Besides directly hitting the enemy, Flame Bomb could also self-detonate in mid-air into a large shower of fire. "I'd like to see where you'll run!"
"Run? You overestimate yourself," Shen Han remained quite calm. "Lightning Sky Curtain."
It was another Major Achievement Lightning Element skill, an area-of-effect skill against an area-of-effect skill.
"How is this possible?" Zhu Wenhan despaired when he saw the Lightning Sky Curtain being unleashed. Another battle of attrition. He seemed to already see his defeat.
The two sides were in a stalemate, and the one with higher and stronger Mental Energy had more stamina. Zhu Wenhan, defeated!