I, Su Yu, Can Afford to Lose!

Should they go up? That question echoed through the minds of several Single Divine Character Faction students. Hesitation! Who stood above Su Yu, ranked ahead of ninety-second among their faction's students? In that instant, countless gazes turned toward one person with strange expressions. Xia Chan! Ranked ninetieth! Over the past several days, the rankings had shifted somewhat. Wan Mingze had fought his way to eighty-sixth, Hu Qiusheng to eighty-eighth, and Zheng Yunhui had remained stationary, dropping a spot to eighty-ninth as the ranks above him fluctuated. Directly behind him came Xia Chan! Meanwhile, Zhang Hao, who had recently entered the list, sat at ninety-sixth. As for Lin Qing... stuck at ninety-ninth, unable to rise or fall. Xia Chan was a student Zhou Mingren had accepted just this year, essentially his final disciple. As for why she had chosen Zhou Mingren as her master, no one knew, nor did anyone understand Marquis Xia's intentions. Marquis Xia was constantly at odds with Zhou Mingren, yet he had arranged for his own granddaughter to study under the man, and Zhou Mingren had accepted her. Whatever deal had been struck behind closed doors remained unknown to outsiders. Up on the ring, Su Yu was already swaying. His snapped arm had merely been shoved back into place; recovering fully was not going to happen overnight. Right now, Su Yu's physical combat power had plunged to rock bottom. Did Xia Chan have a chance of winning? Standing among the crowd, Xia Chan looked at Su Yu, showing little anger, only a trace of disappointment. The gap between her and Su Yu had not narrowed over time; if anything, it had widened. Having clawed her way to ninetieth with great effort, she only felt that catching up to him had become even more insurmountable! "I concede!" Xia Chan spoke calmly and measuredly. Some sighed in relief; others felt aggrieved. Yet no one dared say a word. Xia Chan was clearly no match for Su Yu. With her concession, people did not even know whether they had any right to call her cowardly. "Next rank!" Su Yu showed not the slightest ripple of emotion. "You can keep conceding, all the way until we reach Zhai Feng!" No one answered. At this moment, several people felt suffocated by sheer humiliation. Concede? Accept the challenge? If the Single Divine Character Faction truly let Su Yu slice all the way through the Top 100 straight to Zhai Feng, they would lose every shred of dignity. This was the Top 100 Rankings! The strongest roster in the entire academy! What the Single Divine Character Faction took the most pride in was their sheer numbers. Fifteen of the names on the Top 100 belonged to their faction. How many factions were there in the academy? How many colleges? Yet fifteen of their own were listed—and that was after Huang Qifeng had been crippled! Others like Yang Sha, Chen Qi, and several more hovered just outside the Top 100, ready to break in at any moment. Including the few Su Yu had crippled with a single kick earlier! "Are you refusing the battle, or conceding?" Su Yu said calmly, "If you refuse to accept, then state it clearly! Furthermore, my senior sister needs a spot on the Top 100. You may challenge her. Every time you challenge her, I will drop down the rankings once and fight my way back up again!" His tone was calm, yet utterly domineering! One of the Top 100 seats belongs to my senior sister! Whoever knocks her off, I will drop off myself and carve my way back from the beginning! Unless they suppressed Su Yu, targeting Wu Jia was entirely pointless. ... "How do we resolve this?" "We can't handle this ourselves. Is the dean still here?" "No, he stepped out!" "Then... what about the other elders?" "They've all left!" "Get Zhou Pingsheng over here! Let him call the shots!" Someone hurried off to inform Zhou Pingsheng. He had spent the past few days wrestling with innate blood essence and had been in seclusion for a while, but right now, he was their only option. Zhou Mingren had left. Of his four direct disciples, Hu Wensheng was in seclusion, Zheng Yuming was crippled, and Xia Chan was a disciple in name only. The only person capable of taking charge was Zhou Pingsheng. Su Yu was in no rush. He waited patiently! Standing alone on the ring, he exerted an immense pressure that left the students of the Single Divine Character Faction gasping for air. ... Seven or eight minutes later, Zhou Pingsheng arrived in a rush. He had already heard everything on the way. The moment he arrived, his gaze locked onto Su Yu on the ring with chilling severity. Did the information this bastard had given him contain truth or falsehood? "Zhai Feng!" "Master!" Zhai Feng rushed over. He was Zhou Pingsheng's direct disciple. Another disciple was Qiu Yun, ranked twenty-fourth. "Qiu Yun!" "Master!" Both hurried forward, looking at Zhou Pingsheng. "Where is Guo Shengquan?" Zhou Pingsheng glanced around without spotting him. Guo Shengquan was Hu Wensheng's eldest disciple, Chen Qi's senior brother, and one of the Single Divine Character Faction's higher-ranked students, currently sitting at thirty-fifth on the Top 100. Zhai Feng whispered, "Junior Brother Guo didn't come. His heart is entirely on cultivation right now; if he isn't in secret realms, he's in seclusion, or sometimes traveling outside. We haven't seen him in quite a few days." "Hmph!" Zhou Pingsheng showed clear displeasure. With an event this major, Guo Shengquan actually dared not show his face. Rumors said he had joined the so-called third party; perhaps there was truth to it. Looking at his two disciples, then glancing up at Su Yu on the ring, Zhou Pingsheng transmitted his voice: "We cannot back down! Not only must we fight, we must win! Cripple Su Yu! Qiu Yun, you go up first. Su Yu hasn't used much of his willpower; you will wear down his willpower. Do not focus on winning—focus on exhausting him, then concede! Zhai Feng, your objective is to cripple him. Even if you don't kill him, leave him like your Junior Brother Huang, unable to cultivate for three to five months!" Qiu Yun's expression turned troubled. She looked anxious. She... she was terrified of meeting the same fate as the others. That Zhou Hao had been terrifyingly strong! Qiu Yun knew that if she had faced Zhou Hao, she wouldn't have been certain of winning, and would very likely have lost! Zhou Hao had only been at the ninth layer of Qianjun, but with 144 apertures opened, he was by no means weaker than cultivators at the fifth or sixth layer of Wanshi. More importantly, Zhou Hao possessed terrifying killing intent and fought like a madman. Even against opponents who were technically stronger, few would dare claim guaranteed victory against such a fanatic. Yet Zhou Hao had nearly been beaten to death by Su Yu! Sensing his disciple's hesitation, Zhou Pingsheng felt a flash of anger. After a moment's consideration, he held back from reprimanding her and rapidly instructed, "Elders Sun, Li, and Yu all have disciples on the list. Everyone below rank fifty will concede! Anyone above fifty goes up with one single goal: wear him down! "Even if we lose face, even if it looks disgraceful, as long as we cripple Su Yu, none of that matters!" Zhou Pingsheng had made up his mind. Even if they made fools of themselves right now, even if a victory wouldn't be glorious, they could not let Su Yu walk off that stage like this. If Su Yu stepped down unchallenged today, the morale of the Single Divine Character Faction would truly shatter. Unable to handle even a single student! Who else could they fight? Who else could they compete against? Sending anyone ranked below fifty was useless—it was just feeding Su Yu free victories. But those in the top fifty, even if they couldn't defeat Su Yu, could stall him and deny him time to recover or heal! Wear down his willpower! ... Up on the ring. Su Yu noticed Zhou Pingsheng and saw him whispering instructions in all directions. He remained silent and continued to wait. Since he was trampling them today, he would trample them thoroughly! Soon, a student from the Single Divine Character Faction spoke up: "I concede!" The student ranked eighty-fourth. "Concede!" The student ranked seventy-third. "Concede!" "..." A chorus of concessions rang out. Students swarmed in from all directions to witness this jaw-dropping spectacle. A single student forcing an entire faction to forfeit one after another! And they were all on the Top 100 Rankings—a sight unprecedented in living memory! It was not that Su Yu was invincible, but rather that the other highly ranked students had fought their way up step by step. Unlike them, Su Yu had already defeated a student ranked thirty-eighth. Right now, those in the bottom fifty were utterly incapable of handling him! Furthermore, students from other factions had no reason to press their peers so ruthlessly. Aside from the vicious internal strife within the divine character factions, the other departments remained relatively peaceful. Not a single person stepped onto the ring until Su Yu advanced straight to rank sixty-one. And there, things stalled. The Single Divine Character Faction had no students between ranks fifty and sixty! Under such circumstances, their strategy to wear Su Yu down hit a brick wall. Would the challenges end here? Su Yu clearly had no intention of challenging anyone else. He simply waited in silence, watching! Below the stage, Zhou Pingsheng's expression fluctuated. Glaring up at Su Yu, he barked, "Su Yu, didn't you want to challenge Zhai Feng? Why aren't you continuing?" Su Yu responded calmly, "I'm waiting!" "Waiting for what?" Zhou Pingsheng frowned. Su Yu replied placidly, "Waiting for Xia Yuwen to bring me my ten merit points. I don't have the money to pay the challenge fee. Your people can challenge without paying, but if I challenge other senior brothers, I have to pay up front!" "You!" Zhou Pingsheng raged! Su Yu said calmly, "Go press Teacher Xia to hurry up with the payment. Otherwise, today's challenges end here, and we resume tomorrow!" Tomorrow? Zhou Pingsheng's anger flared! Su Yu was doing this on purpose! The students watching could all tell that Su Yu was deliberately disgusting people, disgusting Xia Yuwen, and disgusting the Single Divine Character Faction. Su Yu said indifferently, "Teacher Xia keeps preaching about rules, regulations, and military discipline. Doesn't he know that when you lose, you pay your debts? Refusing to pay after losing—does someone like that even deserve to be a teacher? Does someone like that have the right to claim I disrespect my elders? His student has just enrolled; I imagine he has no money, so shouldn't his teacher foot the bill? "If we're talking about rules, everyone follows them. Otherwise, on what authority did he dock my merit points and my teacher's merit points? Just because... this is the Great Xia Prefecture?" Su Yu's voice suddenly rose! "Does being in the Great Xia Prefecture mean there are no rules?" "Does being a member of the Xia family in the Great Xia Prefecture mean you can act without restraint?" "Even the Great Xia King and Manor Lord Xia follow the rules. Even Marquis Xia pays taxes when doing business. Can Xia Yuwen just run rampant?" "..." Over a mere ten merit points, Su Yu practically accused Xia Yuwen of not even being fit to be human! Livid, Zhou Pingsheng snapped, "I will pay for him!" "You?" "Vice Director Zhou, are you Xia Yuwen's father? Or his son?" "...Bastard!" Zhou Pingsheng flew into a rage! Su Yu said detachedly, "Then is it a teacher-student relationship? Otherwise, on what grounds are you settling his debt? If you hand it over, I'll consider it a personal gift from you. If Vice Director Zhou is willing to give me a present, I'm certainly willing to accept!" Outrage! Furious humiliation! This kid Su Yu had ferocious martial skill, and his sharp tongue was just as vicious. Was he hell-bent on forcing Xia Yuwen to deliver the merit points in person before letting this go? Right at that moment, a jade box came hurtling through the air! With a resounding crash, it embedded itself into the ring! "Take it!" Xia Yuwen's calm voice echoed from the distance. "Ten drops of yuanqi liquid. That should be enough, shouldn't it?" The jade box was buried deep within the floor. Su Yu's pupils shrank slightly! Even after the brutal clash between him and Zhou Hao, the stage had only suffered a few scuffs. Yet Xia Yuwen had flung a jade box from afar and pierced straight through the surface! Formidable! A moment later, Su Yu smiled. "Enough! However, academy rules state that anyone other than the competing students who willfully damages the arena shall be fined! One hundred merit points, if I remember correctly. Teacher Xia, please send another!" He turned toward Liu Hong and said with a grin, "Teacher Liu, as the referee, do you not know the rules at all? Can someone like this really referee a match? The academy's rules are trampled precisely by people who neither follow nor understand them!" Liu Hong chuckled wryly and said slowly, "My apologies, my apologies. This is my first time refereeing, so I'm not entirely familiar! Brother Xia, pay another one hundred merit points so as not to break the rules, or I won't be able to account for it." "..." Both on and off the stage, an awkward silence settled in. Xia Yuwen had hurled the jade box so hard it sank into the stone, clearly aiming to humiliate and intimidate Su Yu. In the end... it had backfired spectacularly! Damaging the arena floor warranted a fine of one hundred merit points! Damage caused by competing students didn't count, and in practice the arena was nearly impossible to damage anyway. That rule hadn't been invoked in years! Didn't this bastard Su Yu ever cultivate? Did he spend all day studying academy bylaws? In the distance, Xia Yuwen made no sound, whether choking with rage or at a loss for words. A moment later, another jade box flashed through the air. Silently! Xia Yuwen said nothing this time. Liu Hong caught the box with a chuckle and smiled. "This matter is settled. Su Yu, are you still challenging?" Su Yu smiled, leaned down, shattered the jade box embedded in the floor, and revealed the ten drops of yuanqi liquid inside. Casually swallowing one drop, Su Yu said softly, "Of course!" With that, he glanced at the Top 100 crystal monument. Looking down at the crowd, he said gently, "To the senior brothers ranked ahead of me, I wonder if anyone might do me a favor. Su Yu has no wish to clash with non-Single Divine Character Faction students today. I hope you will show some leniency and grant me the opportunity to experience the strength of the Single Divine Character Faction experts ahead!" Right then, a young man below the stage laughed and said, "Count me in! I'm ranked sixtieth, exactly one spot above you, which gives you the chance to challenge those in the top fifty. I'm no match for Junior Brother Su. Under normal circumstances, I'd love to exchange pointers, but let's skip it today. I concede!" "Many thanks to Senior Brother Jiang for your generosity!" Su Yu was exceedingly polite. Offering a slight bow, he said with a smile, "Once I finish crippling the Single Divine Character Faction seniors ahead of me, you can advance several ranks again, Senior Brother, without worrying about losing your standing. I will cripple at least one of them, so rest assured!" "..." Below the stage, the student surnamed Jiang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He couldn't respond to that! If he did, the Single Divine Character Faction would loathe him to death. Conceding was fine—after all, it merely allowed Su Yu to challenge upward—but taking the banter further would cross the line. "Next!" Su Yu spoke no further and continued calling ranks! From the crowd, a long-haired young man took a deep breath, stepped forward with grave eyes, and leapt onto the ring! "Su Yu, I—" "No need for introductions, I'm not interested. Referee, we may begin!" "You!" The long-haired youth flared with rage. Liu Hong gave a light cough and said, "Then let us continue. Concessions may be made in time! Begin!" The moment the word fell, the long-haired youth instantly crushed a jade talisman! Hum! A barrier rose! His willpower drained slightly, and rather than closing in on Su Yu, he backed away repeatedly. Su Yu merely watched him quietly without making a move. For a moment, the arena went dead silent! Su Yu did not move, and having activated his protective talisman, his opponent did not move either. Yet the protective talisman had a time limit. Now things became awkward! He wanted to direct a cultural weapon to strike Su Yu, but the moment a cultural weapon emerged, it risked being corroded and burned by Su Yu's Soul Devour Art... Yet without using a cultural weapon... he could only close in physically! Gritting his teeth, he knew he couldn't wait until the talisman expired, or it would be wasted, and countless spectators were watching below! The youth charged at Su Yu, intending to fight in close quarters! As for his cultural weapon and willpower, he dared not employ either right now, terrified of having them corroded by the Soul Devour Art. Su Yu still did not move! He simply watched him in silence, until a chill crept into the youth's heart. But now, the arrow was nocked to the string and had to fly! Gritting his teeth, he lunged forward! A physical combat prowess at the fourth layer of Wanshi! By no means weak! He closed the distance in a flash. Seeing Su Yu remain motionless, he cast hesitation aside, hardened his resolve, and threw a punch straight at Su Yu's right arm. He had seen Su Yu's right arm snap earlier; that had to be Su Yu's weak spot! Just as the punch drove forward, sheer horror seized his heart! A sigh of pity drifted into his ear. "Foolish!" Boom! A detonation rang out as an aperture burst. Behind him, Su Yu unleashed Shatter Yuan, the third stance of Sky-Breaking Slash, directly shattering one of his apertures! As the aperture ruptured, origin qi sprayed outward. With a spray of blood from his mouth, the long-haired youth collapsed, heavily injured! Su Yu shook his head and said indifferently, "A Civilization Master who doesn't use willpower can't even break through my illusion. Which idiot gave you that idea?" Utterly moronic! A protective talisman? Refusing to use willpower? And then... waiting to be ensnared by my illusion? He couldn't fathom this person's logic! Su Yu spoke with detached ease, causing many below the stage to blush. They had forgotten! Damn it! Su Yu's physical combat power was so terrifying that many had forgotten he was a Civilization Master wielding a Tier-2 divine character! He had a Tier-2 illusion at his disposal! The long-haired youth had forgotten as well. Fearing Su Yu's Soul Devour Art, he had refrained from using willpower, opting to close in physically—only to attack an illusion! Even with willpower, breaking the illusion would have been difficult. To discard it entirely meant his fate was sealed: utter catastrophe! One of his apertures had been shattered by Su Yu. While it could heal, repairing a broken aperture was harder than opening a new one; he wouldn't recover for a month or two! Having shattered the aperture, Su Yu delivered a heavy kick before the youth could speak, sending him flying! With a crash, he slammed onto the ground below the ring. "Are the top fifty students of the Single Divine Character Faction all gifted with this kind of intellect?" Su Yu frowned in apparent bewilderment, shaking his head slightly. A look of pure lamentation! He glanced toward Zhou Pingsheng, as if questioning whether someone with that brain could truly become a Civilization Master. "Damn it!" Zhou Pingsheng and the others frowned deeply! This was troublesome! Using willpower meant risking corrosion and burning from Su Yu. Not using willpower meant that once his illusion manifested, unless one possessed origin qi immense enough to tear through it like Zhou Hao, ordinary fourth- or fifth-layer Wanshi origin qi simply couldn't break it. Zhou Hao had been a ninth-layer Qianjun who cultivated a top Heaven-rank technique, not some ordinary pushover! "Next!" Su Yu sighed. "Give me a pleasant surprise, won't you?" Below the stage, a young woman frowned and looked toward Zhou Pingsheng. Zhou Pingsheng transmitted his voice: "Wear him down! No matter how formidable the Soul Devour Art is, it's merely a technique that opens thirty-six apertures. Its actual destructive power is only equivalent to Qianjun..." The young woman was speechless. No kidding, I know that! The problem was the agony! Look at Zhu Hong and the others—after just one strike, they had been rolling on the ground in torment! This technique was pure agony to deal with. Reluctant though she was, she had no choice but to step up. She did not belong to Zhou Mingren's lineage, but to Elder Yu Hong's. With the elder absent and Zhou Pingsheng calling the shots, what choice did she have? The young woman leapt onto the stage! Seeing that his opponent was female, Su Yu smiled and said, "I'm not fond of picking on women. Even against enemies, I maintain certain principles. Senior Sister, concede and step down! Otherwise, you are an enemy, and enemies know no gender!" The young woman frowned, replying coldly, "Is Junior Brother Su discriminating against women?" "Not at all." Su Yu said indifferently, "There's no need to bait me, Senior Sister. There are plenty of female experts I revere, such as Teacher Wu Qi, who slayed Demon Race powerhouses. I have always believed that cultivators like her are true practitioners of the path! I say the same even before my teacher, because any expert who dares march into the All-Heavens Battlefield alone to slay our enemies commands my admiration, regardless of gender! "As for you, Senior Sister... if you truly refuse to concede, then let us begin!" Su Yu spoke courteously, but the very instant Liu Hong declared the start, he didn't wait an instant longer! Without a word, a saber cleaved downward in utter silence! Saber qi swept the platform, savage killing intent surged, lightning flashed, an illusion erupted, and black flames raged! The young woman cursed inwardly! Didn't you say you wouldn't lay a hand on women? You're striking harder than before! Willpower flared, and her divine character erupted! A freezing power washed over the ring, dropping the temperature instantly. Even the cultural saber slowed under the frost. Yet the moment her willpower erupted, the burning power latched onto it. The young woman's face twisted into an ashen pallor! Agony! A pain so excruciating she wanted to leap off the platform this very second! Curse him! Unless one reached the Tengkong Realm, enduring this pain was nearly impossible. Beside them, Liu Hong grimaced. That burning sensation truly hurt like hell! This was trouble! If this art spread... Civilization Masters would manage, since it only opened thirty-six apertures, so at the Tengkong Realm, the burning power wouldn't pose an overwhelming threat. But if the opponent also reached Tengkong, it would still disrupt them. At the very least, it gave warriors an extra weapon against Civilization Masters! While he was still pondering, a small hammer flew out silently. Veiled by a Shadow divine character! The young woman was still pushing her willpower to freeze the cultural saber and combat the black flames when her willpower suddenly shuddered violently! Boom! A deafening roar detonated in her mind! Her vision blurred. The next instant, the frost binding the cultural saber shattered, and the blade shot forth. With a wet squelch, it pierced through her chest, pinning her to the floor below the ring! Liu Hong stared at Su Yu with an utterly bizarre expression! You... claimed you didn't strike women? Do you have any idea that doing this is worse than crippling her?! Below the stage, countless pairs of eyes fixed onto Su Yu. Su Yu felt an odd shift in the atmosphere and murmured, "I held back. Although she's an opponent, she's still a woman, so I didn't heavily damage her willpower..." He found it baffling! Why are you looking at me like that? I really held back! A man fighting a woman always had certain reservations. Mainly, he had just made his senior sister play the victim, and he worried the Single Divine Character Faction would do the same to ruin his public image. So why... why was everyone staring at him like this? Meanwhile, the next challenger in line was Qiu Yun! Her face had drained of color. Turning toward her master, her eyes were filled with outright refusal! No! I don't want to go up! Su Yu... Su Yu is a pervert! He pierced her right through the chest... not dead center, slightly off to the side, but still... she refused! The young woman pinned below the stage looked up at Su Yu in complete despair. By now, Su Yu had recalled his cultural weapon. Her face deathly pale, she looked down at the blood staining her chest and suddenly shrieked, "Su Yu, from this day forth, it's death or nothing between us!" "..." Su Yu frowned and said softly, "If you insist on a fight to the death, Senior Sister, I have no objections! I already stayed my hand; do not mistake leniency for weakness!" "You... die!" The young woman staggered to her feet in grief and fury, swaying as she dashed through the crowd and vanished from sight. ... Below the stage. Xia Chan and the other female students wore strange expressions as they looked at Su Yu. Soon, someone whispered, "Does Su Yu... know nothing about girls?" "Has he never interacted with a woman before?" "..." As the whispers spread, someone soon remembered that Liu Yue had been his classmate in intermediate academy and went over to ask. Liu Yue looked slightly dazed. When questioned, she answered with uncertainty, "Back in intermediate academy, he didn't really interact with girls. His best friend was a boy, and he usually only hung around him. Aside from that, it was just attending class and going home. Sometimes he went to the library and read for an entire day. Even if he ran into anyone there, it was just a polite nod..." Hearing that, several people paused. Then Liu Yue remembered something and added softly, "His... mother passed away when he was young!" The moment those words landed, maternal instincts surged among the female students below! "So that's why!" "He really is just an innocent boy who's never had any contact with girls!" "How tragic, losing his mother at such a young age!" "No wonder he didn't realize... piercing a chest feels far worse than breaking an arm!" "..." Waves of sympathy washed over the female students. Where they had previously thought Su Yu was excessively cruel, they now realized that from childhood to the present, he had barely spoken a few words to a girl. An innocent young man like this was a rare breed nowadays! ... Su Yu frowned, not bothering to dwell on it. He truly had held back! He wasn't Chen Hao; he understood the weight of public opinion. Being excessively ruthless to women looked terrible and harmed one's image. Even Qiu Yun wasn't his primary target. His primary target was Zhai Feng! Man against man, beating someone half to death drew little sympathy. But a man crippling a woman carried a bad look. He couldn't fathom why those people below were whispering endlessly! Those looks... made him deeply uncomfortable. "Next!" Su Yu called out! Below the stage, Qiu Yun's face was painted with absolute rejection. The next person should have been Chen Qi's senior brother; the young woman from before had been ranked fortieth. But Guo Shengquan wasn't here, which left her next! She desperately did not want to step onto the ring! Zhou Pingsheng was equally exasperated. Their goal of exhausting Su Yu had largely failed, even though Su Yu had expended a fair amount of willpower just now. Qiu Yun was ranked twenty-fourth; she was genuinely strong. "Qiu Yun, get up there!" Zhou Pingsheng barked via voice transmission! Where did all these absurd reservations come from! Qiu Yun wrestled with herself, gritted her teeth, and leapt onto the stage! Su Yu exhaled and looked at Qiu Yun. She had been his original target today. But then Zhou Hao had stepped up and severely injured his body. It seemed dealing with Qiu Yun now would require some serious effort! Qiu Yun was powerful! A physical constitution at the fifth layer of Wanshi, peak Yangxing willpower, and an overall combat capability not below the seventh layer of Wanshi. Going all out, Su Yu's current condition wouldn't guarantee a clean victory against her! Yet the moment the match began, Qiu Yun fought with complete hesitation! Her attitude was entirely passive! As the fight progressed, Su Yu picked up on the anomaly, and a fleeting thought crossed his mind... Is she an undercover agent? Passively throwing the match! Less than three minutes into the fight, just as Su Yu's Soul Devour Art scorched her for the second time, Qiu Yun suddenly shrieked and tumbled straight off the ring! "..." Match fixing! The thought instantly sprang into Su Yu's mind. Why? Was she truly an undercover agent? Qiu Yun definitely hadn't displayed her true strength! Not just Su Yu, but many onlookers wore strange expressions. Qiu Yun had indeed held back, clearly throwing the fight. Even Zhou Pingsheng saw through it! He shot her an irritated glare. Qiu Yun kept her head down, saying nothing. It wasn't that she genuinely feared what Su Yu might do to her, but... there was simply no need! Her senior brother was waiting above her! Her primary objective had been to wear him down, and she had already exhausted a considerable portion of Su Yu's willpower. Did she truly need to wage a fight to the death like that senior sister earlier, or end up like Zhou Hao? Zhou Pingsheng couldn't be bothered to say more and turned toward Zhai Feng! Zhai Feng finally let out a breath! Su Yu was now twenty-fourth on the Top 100! Zhai Feng had previously been ninth. Not anymore! To target Su Yu earlier, he had deliberately dropped his rank, and only recently climbed back to twelfth, not yet reentering the top ten. Without waiting for Su Yu to speak, Zhai Feng leapt directly onto the stage, his gaze icy as he chuckled under his breath. "Su Yu, I hope you can still walk off this stage on your own two feet today!" All around, the students grew tense! Every pair of eyes remained glued to the two of them. It was Zhai Feng's turn! If he defeated Zhai Feng, Su Yu would have truly crushed the Single Divine Character Faction through and through! Yet in Su Yu's current state, was he a match for Zhai Feng? Zhai Feng possessed a physical body at the seventh layer of Wanshi, peak Yangxing willpower, and seemed to possess a Tier-2 divine character—though whether he did remained unconfirmed. His overall combat strength bordered on the peak of Wanshi. He had even clashed with a Tengkong cultivator before; though he had lost, he had genuinely traded blows with one! Su Yu's current strength, even augmented by the Soul Devour Art, was roughly around the seventh layer of Wanshi. Definitely not the ninth layer! Coupled with his severe physical injuries, could he match Zhai Feng? Just as Zhai Feng braced himself to strike, Su Yu suddenly hopped down from the ring! "..." All around, everyone froze. Zhai Feng roared, "Su Yu, what is the meaning of this?" "Not fighting anymore. That's all for today!" Su Yu spoke as he walked. "I've fought enough. We'll continue in a couple of days. I'm heading back to nurse my injuries today!" "Bastard, damn you, you son of a bitch..." Zhai Feng bellowed! Fuck! They had fought all the way to this point, with his faction's students either conceding or throwing their matches just to get him onto the stage, and now he was quitting?! You're actually refusing to fight! You bastard, you explicitly said you were going to challenge me! You absolute bastard! Zhai Feng roared, his origin qi erupting as surging blood essence soared into the sky, boiling with fury! Su Yu wasn't fighting anymore! Those words felt more excruciating than suffering a direct defeat. He just walked away! "Su Yu, you piece of trash! Weren't you screaming about tearing through the Single Divine Character Faction?" Zhai Feng raged hysterically! Below, Zhou Pingsheng was equally beside himself with anger, shouting, "Su Yu, are you conceding?" Su Yu asked in surprise, "I'm ranked twenty-fourth, what would I be conceding? Can Vice Director Zhou not count? Refusing to challenge higher ranks is called conceding? It's not as if someone behind me challenged me! Strange, how is this a concession? I entered the twenty-fourth rank with an undefeated streak—how does that translate to conceding?" "You!" Zhou Pingsheng was consumed by raging fury! That damned wretch! He played us! He never intended to challenge Zhai Feng in the first place! "Vice Director Zhou, interfering with student spars is against the rules!" "Vice Director Zhou is a man of vast experience; surely you wouldn't knowingly break the law?" Su Yu wore a look of calm indifference that was infuriating enough to shorten someone's lifespan. Nonsense, I'm not an idiot. At peak condition, I wouldn't necessarily beat Zhai Feng, let alone now. Why on earth would I insist on fighting to the bitter end? If I suffered critical injuries and spent months recuperating, even winning against Zhai Feng wouldn't be worth it. Su Yu chuckled and said, "For the next three days, I'll be resting. Whoever wants to challenge me, feel free—I'll concede every match. Knock me off the Top 100, and I'll just fight my way back up from the start. I trust the Single Divine Character Faction will help protect my twenty-fourth rank! If you can't protect it, I'll keep dropping and keep fighting my way back up!" "You insolent bastard!" Zhou Pingsheng's lungs felt ready to burst with rage! This damned creature! He... he was actually demanding that the Single Divine Character Faction protect his twenty-fourth rank! He truly deserved to die! Su Yu smiled and added, "Whoever challenges me, I hope the Single Divine Character Faction will knock them down the rankings so they lack the qualifications to challenge me. Otherwise... I will simply concede. Having lost over eight thousand times, I couldn't care less! If my rank drops, unless Zhai Feng is the only one above me, I'll be visiting quite often!" "..." Silence! At this moment, even the spectating students and researchers wore twisted, stunned expressions. According to this logic... the Single Divine Character Faction truly would have to help Su Yu defend his rank! Otherwise, they would never know peace! Su Yu would come to climb the rankings every few days, targeting their members specifically. Unless they conceded or avoided the fight, the moment they accepted, they would be brutally battered! Up on the ring, Zhai Feng was on the verge of madness! His willpower roiled as he roared, "Su Yu, you shameless scoundrel! Didn't you want to fight me? Get up here!" He was genuinely losing his mind! Su Yu looked back at him and smiled faintly. "Why don't you come down and hit me?" "..." At that instant, Zhai Feng truly wanted to charge down and slaughter him. He wanted to cast all caution to the wind and murder this bastard! That smile was unbearable! I... was just playing with you! Idiots! Fools! That overwhelming mockery drove him so mad that he actually leapt off the ring. In that split second, Zhou Pingsheng's expression warped. Without a second thought, he lunged forward, grabbed Zhai Feng, and with a thunderous boom, threw him dozens of meters away! Zhai Feng crashed to the ground, his mind snapping back to reality as realization dawned. He looked back toward Su Yu, who was still smiling faintly. "Attacking a student off the stage makes one an All-Races Sect cultist, punishable by death!" Su Yu said casually. "Martial Uncle, don't stay your hand next time. He's an All-Races Sect cultist!" Over in the distance, Chen Yong smiled, nodded, and said softly, "I'll keep that in mind next time!" Su Yu's face was filled with pure disdain! He cast a glance at Zhou Pingsheng, then at Liu Hong, smiled, and strolled away! "Zhai Feng, I improve very quickly. Wait for me to come play with you again next time!" Su Yu laughed aloud, supported Wu Jia, and walked away with effortless swagger! "Aaargh!" Zhai Feng roared in pure madness, suffocated by indignation! This felt far more agonizing than defeat! He refused to accept this! He could not swallow it! That bastard Su Yu, that animal, had been playing them all along! The entire crowd had been played like fools by Su Yu!