Chapter 49: Chess Opponent
Since Su Hao had promised Xiaopang and He Qingqing to watch their match, he wouldn't break his word.
Early the next morning, Su Hao arrived at the martial arts training field.
The training field was already bustling with people, a sight that had never been seen before.
Currently, there were still around 1,200 students in the academy. The annual competition was not divided by grade; everyone was mixed together for the battles.
The annual competition would last for two days. The first day was the preliminary round, where the 1,200 participants were divided into 12 groups: 9 groups for male students and 3 groups for female students, each consisting of 100 people. From each group, 7 winners would be selected to advance to the finals on the second day. Each group would have two class instructors serving as referees and safety officers.
This year's annual competition not only tested the students' strength but also their endurance. In order to compete for the top spot, excluding any byes, they would have to go through ten matches from start to finish.
This was not something an ordinary person could achieve.
But all of this was irrelevant to Su Hao. He didn't care about these things. To him, the annual competition was just a game that young people played.
After Xiaopang and He Qingqing finished their matches, he would return to his dormitory and continue his research on Blood Qi.
Using his radar, Su Hao quickly located Xiaopang and He Qingqing among the crowd. It wasn't their turn to compete yet, so Su Hao approached them to say hello before wandering around the venue.
As he strolled around, he recorded the Blood Qi information and entered it into the "Radar" database.
He focused his attention on the class instructors whose Blood Qi was as strong as the sun.
"This class instructor has such powerful Blood Qi! It must be Teacher Mo from Class Four! Record it: Blood Qi trait - soft. Mo Fenghua, high-level Master, yellow font. Tsk tsk, the intensity of this Blood Qi is almost catching up to mine..."
As he thought about it, Su Hao suddenly paused.
He had noticed something amiss and furrowed his brow in analysis. "Teacher Mo Fenghua is undoubtedly a high-level Master as the class instructor of Class Four, but why does his Blood Qi intensity not feel as strong as mine?"
Su Hao first suspected that his perception was off. Perhaps, with his current strength, he couldn't accurately sense the Blood Qi of a high-level Master? Or maybe high-level Masters had the ability to shield their perception?
Su Hao then found other class instructors and carefully sensed them using the radar. He discovered that there was a significant difference in Blood Qi intensity among these class instructors, and their fluctuations were obvious, indicating that there was no shielding or obstruction.
"My perception is not the problem. The intensity of my Blood Qi is indeed much higher than that of the class instructors! In terms of Blood Qi intensity, I'm already considered a high-level Master, not an initial-level Master."
Su Hao roughly understood that in this world, the distinction between initial-level, intermediate-level, and high-level wasn't very obvious. Once the strength reached a certain level, it was considered reached. The real distinction came in the levels like ordinary, elite, and master.
Unable to sort it out clearly, Su Hao simply stopped thinking about it and focused on entering everyone's information into the "Radar" database.
...
Soon, it was Xiaopang's turn to compete, and Su Hao went to watch from the sidelines.
Xiaopang seemed extremely nervous. Holding a training blunt blade and a small round shield, he looked tense. After entering the arena, he took deep breaths to adjust his state.
Xiaopang's opponent was a person with long curly hair, slightly shorter than Xiaopang. He also held a training blunt blade and a small round shield.
Xiaopang's height of 1.7 meters put invisible pressure on his opponent, making his opponent even more nervous than Xiaopang.
Both of them were competing for the first time and didn't want to be eliminated in their first match. Once they stepped onto the stage, their state improved. They stared intently at each other, fully immersed in the competition.
"Ding!"
With the sound of a gong, the match began.
Xiaopang and his opponent made their moves simultaneously. One launched a heavy and forceful attack, while the other raised his shield to block, deflecting the blade and seizing the opportunity to counterattack.
They exchanged blows for about twenty rounds, but neither could gain the upper hand.
Truly meeting a worthy opponent, they were evenly matched.
After a while, both of them were exhausted and breathing heavily.
Since they couldn't overpower each other, they had to resort to tactics. They started using tricks and deceptive moves.
Xiaopang swung his blade downward, and the curly-haired opponent immediately raised his shield to block. Little did he know that Xiaopang's attack was a feint, and his real attack came from below.
"Disabling Leg!"
The curly-haired opponent was taken aback and reflexively dropped his shield, using his hand to block instead.
But this was still a feint by Xiaopang. Seeing the curly-haired opponent drop his shield, Xiaopang seized the opportunity. He thrust his round shield forward with his left hand and slammed it forcefully into the curly-haired opponent's face.
The victory was decided.
Su Hao immediately shouted loudly from the sidelines, "Xiaopang! Well done!"
Everyone turned to look, and when they saw Su Hao, they were all scared stiff. They thought he was Wu Xiangwu, the hotheaded martial artist.
People around Su Hao quickly moved three meters away, creating a large empty space.
"I'll go check on Qingqing. You keep up the good work," Su Hao said to Xiaopang, ignoring the people around him, and then walked away.
Because of Su Hao's appearance, everyone's perception of Xiaopang changed. They pondered whether they should give up if they encountered this tall and chubby guy. Even if they won the match, if they were targeted by the hot-tempered Wu Xiangwu, they would still consider it a loss.
Su Hao arrived at the arena for Group 11 and watched for a while before it was He Qingqing's turn.
The battles between the girls were more elegant. They also used training blunt blades and small round shields. He Qingqing moved with agility and full of vigor.
After four rounds of fighting, He Qingqing suddenly lunged forward. The tip of her blade found the gap between her opponent's round shield and long blade. With a twist of her hand, she knocked her opponent's long blade to the ground. Seizing the opponent's moment of panic, she kicked with full force, toppling her opponent and claiming victory.
Learning from Xiaopang's experience, Su Hao didn't cheer loudly but instead waved to He Qingqing from the front.
As soon as He Qingqing saw Su Hao, her serious face suddenly burst into a smile with a hint of hostility.
In the second round, Xiaopang was caught by his opponent's leg and fell to the ground, unfortunately being eliminated.
On the other hand, He Qingqing won the first three rounds. However, in the fourth round, she encountered a third-level
student and, coupled with fatigue, was overwhelmed by the opponent's powerful attacks.
With that, Su Hao's task of watching the matches was over.
The three of them found a shady spot under a tree and sat down casually.
Su Hao began by praising them both heavily. He praised Xiaopang for his exceptional wit, coming up with such a clever trick to defeat his opponent. He commended He Qingqing for passing three rounds and defeating six opponents; no one could match her. It was a pity she encountered a third grade student; otherwise, she would have advanced to tomorrow's finals.
The sense of failure in the two of them was quickly swept away, and they regained their spirits.
Xiaopang asked, "Xiangwu, we have a two-month vacation now, and I'm going back to Tea Mountain Outpost to train with my father. What are your plans?"
Su Hao replied, "I plan to buy something for my father, make a trip back home, and then return to the academy!"
Xiaopang was taken aback and asked, "I heard that all the teachers have a vacation for these two months, and there are very few students staying at the academy. Why do you want to stay?"
Su Hao said, "It's quiet here, which is perfect for me to train alone."
At this moment, He Qingqing spoke up, "I'm also going back to Tea Mountain Outpost to train with my father. Xiangwu, it's the same for you if you go to Tea Mountain Outpost, and there will be someone to help you train."
"I want to stay in town and visit the library," Su Hao shook his head. They would find it hard to believe that he had long surpassed his father, and it would be difficult to continue improving through such training. It would be better to stay in Lingyun Town and visit the library. Perhaps he could gain something from it.
However, according to Old Liu, the lowest price for a Beast Mark on the market was 20 gold yuan.
He was short of money. The two gold yuan he currently had wasn't even enough for a fraction of a Beast Mark, so he needed to find a way to earn money first, and there were more opportunities to do so in town.
Translated by begs