Chapter 19: Chapter 19: The Golden Expert
"Wan Xiao and Zhou Qi, they both have big mouths," Li Yuan thought, feeling somewhat helpless.
On the day he agreed to the duel with Lin Lanyue, the news had spread throughout the entire senior year by the end of the evening study session.
Lin Lanyue was a well-known figure, and Li Yuan also had a bit of fame.
There were all sorts of rumors.
The main reason was that Lin Lanyue had never agreed to a duel with any other student in the past few years. Li Yuan was the first.
Initially, Li Yuan thought he could ignore the rumors, believing in the concept of "innocent people will clear themselves." But he soon realized he was being naive.
Today, more than 300 people came to watch their match on the Xingkong Combat Network, and the number was quickly approaching 400.
This was a staggering number, considering it was just a personal duel without any live broadcast.
"Yuan, look at me, I brought the whole class to cheer for you!" Zhou Qi, with his yellow explosive hair and wearing leather pants, shouted from the stands.
The virtual network's 70% realism made the entire arena almost identical to reality, and the crowd of hundreds around the ring made it quite lively.
"Go for it."
"Yuan, your spear must be eager to go."
The noisy voices continued, with many people holding banners and glow sticks, which were free props provided by the system.
There were quite a few supporters for Li Yuan.
But most of the audience supported Lin Lanyue; she had good grades and was pretty, which made her very popular... especially among the boys.
Most boys are quite single-minded, only liking pretty eighteen-year-old girls.
Moreover, Lin Lanyue was only seventeen.
...On the platform.
"Get ready." Li Yuan thought.
The 30-meter-diameter platform's surrounding lights instantly turned from red to green.
Li Yuan and Lin Lanyue's virtual bodies vanished.
At the same time, a huge countdown appeared above the platform: 30, 29, 28...
"Neither combatant is in the Meteorite rank; the system has set the battle's physical fitness to level 8.0."
"You have 24 seconds left to choose your weapon, or it will be automatically selected according to your habits."
In the preparation space, Li Yuan heard the system's voice in his ear.
"Level 8.0 physical fitness," Li Yuan felt the changes in his body's strength, already accustomed to it.
"Weapon scheme number one," Li Yuan said directly.
As someone who had fought over a thousand matches on the Xingkong Combat Network, he chose different weapon schemes for different types of matches and opponents.
Li Yuan had set up a total of five weapon schemes.
"Selected weapon: Type 9 standard long spear, length 2.3 meters, weight..."
"Armor: Type 4 standard light armor, weight..." A large amount of data flashed before Li Yuan's eyes.
A 2.3-meter long spear was relatively short. If Li Yuan were to duel with other spear experts, it would be a disadvantage.
Longer weapons are generally stronger.
Since Lin Lanyue used a sword, a longer spear wouldn't necessarily be more advantageous due to its lack of flexibility.
"A lion fights a rabbit with all its strength, let alone for two thousand blue star coins," Li Yuan thought.
Li Yuan never wasted anything.
...
The crowd around the platform surged, and the number of spectators exceeded 400, including some outsiders.
For example—Teacher Xu Bo and Principal Tan Zhenlong.
"It's quite lively."
Principal Tan stood at the corner, wearing a hat and looking different from his real appearance, so no students recognized him.
"It is lively," Xu Bo laughed, "Look, it's about to start."
Principal Tan nodded. He had been pulled here by Xu Bo mainly because he had nothing else to do.
Lin Lanyue, being the top seed in the senior year, naturally caught Principal Tan's attention.
On the platform.
The countdown reached 3, 2, 1... swoosh! swoosh!
Li Yuan and Lin Lanyue reappeared on the sides of the platform, both equipped with their battle armor and weapons.
What attracted the most attention were the golden icons above their heads.
"Golden rank?"
"Golden expert?"
"Both are in the golden rank?" In an instant, exclamations arose around the platform.
"Yuan is in the golden rank? Last time in the battle royale, he was still in the silver rank." Zhou Qi and Wan Xiao stared wide-eyed.
"Did he secretly rank up without us?" Yan Zhou said, "Next time, we should have Yuan carry us in the battle royale."
"Golden expert? Both are in the golden rank?" Li Tianyou stood in the corner, looking at the golden icons above the two on the platform, "Lanyue is also in the golden rank?"
Lin Lanyue didn't know Li Tianyou.
But that didn't stop Li Tianyou from having a crush on Lin Lanyue.
Many senior year boys had a crush on Lin Lanyue, but few dared to confess.
"Damn, Li Yuan is also in the golden rank?" Gu Qianghan stared at the icon above Li Yuan's head, "No wonder Teacher Xu praised Li Yuan so much."
Having both combatants in the golden rank instantly heightened the atmosphere.
"Oh? Both are in the golden rank?" Principal Tan was slightly surprised, "I wonder if they've reached 500 points; if they have, they're eligible for special recruitment."
"Old Tan, I told you, these two students are extraordinary," Xu Bo laughed, "Otherwise, why would I bring you here?"
Not to mention senior year students.
Even many university students in martial arts couldn't reach the golden rank.
...
"You've reached the golden rank?" Li Yuan held his spear, staring at the red-haired Lin Lanyue, feeling surprised.
On the Starry Sky Combat Network, ranks are divided into nine stages: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Meteorite, Bright Moon, Eclipse, Transcendent, Legendary, and Martial Saint.
It's extremely rare for minors to reach the golden rank.
Even many so-called martial arts experts who are big streamers are mostly at the Bright Moon rank, with few reaching the Eclipse rank.
As for the Transcendent rank and above? Those who reach it are top martial arts experts in reality and unlikely to livestream.
At least, Li Yuan had never seen a Transcendent rank expert in livestreams.
The most he had seen was in some combat videos.
"You think you're the only one who can break through?" Lin Lanyue looked at Li Yuan, her voice cold.
Lin Lanyue wasn't surprised that Li Yuan had reached the golden rank; she had expected it.
"Hostile towards me?" Li Yuan faintly sensed it.
In the next instant.
"Boom!" Lin Lanyue moved.
Her light armor was also red, and she looked like a ball of fire, rushing towards Li Yuan like lightning.
With an 8.0-level physical fitness, the explosive speed is 18 meters per second, and the standard punch force is 800 kilograms.
And the platform's diameter was only 30 meters.
From start to close combat, Lin Lanyue could reach Li Yuan in at most 2.2 seconds.
"Shhh~" A red long sword struck towards Li Yuan like lightning.
"Rip~"
Li Yuan grinned, gripping his spear, his body moving instantly, thrusting forward.
Central thrust!
"Clang!" The red long sword clashed with the spear, the spear vibrating and deflecting to one side, while the long sword in mid-air twisted like a snake, striking again.
"This sword technique."
"Quite strange, and the explosive force is stronger than my spear thrust. Is this a move from an advanced cultivation method?" Li Yuan thought.
He had long heard that Lin Lanyue practiced one of the seven advanced cultivation methods, the "Flame Blaze Heaven Cultivation Method."
Each cultivation method is divided into various parts, including stance exercises, breathing techniques, and fist techniques.
Li Yuan had never encountered advanced cultivation methods.
But he knew that it was the advanced version of one of the seven basic cultivation methods, the "Flame Cultivation Method."
"The 'Flame Cultivation Method' is known for its offense, and this advanced method should be the same. Direct confrontation isn't my strength; her sword technique is also at the third level." Li Yuan's spear technique instantly changed, "I need to be careful."
The spear quickly retracted, no longer attacking but switching to a defensive stance.
At the same time, Li Yuan began to move his body, using footwork to dissipate force.
"Clang!" "Clang!" The sword light and spear shadows clashed, exchanging over ten moves in the blink of an eye.
"How can his footwork and foundation be so stable?" Lin Lanyue was also surprised, "I used the 'Sea of Flames' move, and he deflected it with a single spear thrust."
To Lin Lanyue, the defensive Li Yuan felt like a turtle.
She couldn't break through.
...
"So fast!"
"Such an exchange, Lin Lanyue's sword strikes one after another, how is Li Yuan blocking them?"
"Amazing!"
"His footwork is so exquisite."
"Li Yuan's spear technique is so stable." Most of the students watching were amazed.
They had seen higher-level live duels and combat videos.
But subconsciously, they didn't expect their classmates to be this strong.
"Now you know what it means to be the first in martial arts skills for the year?"
"I've always said, Lin Lanyue isn't a match for Yuan."
"Yuan, go for it, beat her."
"Yuan's spear is always enduring!"
"He can block Teacher Xu's attacks for several moves, let alone Lin Lanyue's?"
The students from Senior Year Class 2 were excited.
Their skills weren't high, but they understood a basic martial arts principle: the one who can't break through and gets tired usually expends more energy.
"His defense is really solid."
"This sword technique should be derived from the 'Sea of Flames,' an aggressive attack." Principal Tan also commented, somewhat amazed, "Li Yuan can block it. His spear technique is indeed stable; he must have mastered a defensive killing move."
"Xu Bo, you've taught a good student," Principal Tan smiled.
"Old Tan, since you're saying that, just approve his first-class scholarship already," Xu Bo laughed.
Principal Tan immediately fell silent.
"Mm?" Xu Bo chuckled and continued watching, suddenly his eyes lit up, then he shook his head, "Lin Lanyue made a mistake."
...
On the platform, Lin Lanyue continued to use her sword techniques, her attacks like raging flames, pressing forward step by step.
"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"
Li Yuan's spear either swept horizontally, lifted, or retreated with footwork, occasionally thrusting straight to force Lin Lanyue to dodge.
Lin Lanyue couldn't get close.
After mastering the 'Rock Foundation Pillar' move, Li Yuan's defense had a solid, rock-like essence.
"Fifty-seventh strike."
Li Yuan silently counted, "She's been attacking continuously, consuming a lot of energy; her sword momentum is weakening."
"She's getting anxious."
"In a life-or-death battle, getting anxious leads to mistakes. Wait for it."
On the fifty-ninth strike, Li Yuan keenly detected a slight change in the strength of Lin Lanyue's sword technique.
On the sixty-third strike.
"Woosh!" The sword light was as swift as fire, incredibly fast.
Lin Lanyue continued her fierce assault, determined to break Li Yuan's defense. Her sword technique was sharp, but unknowingly, her defense had loosened.
After all, from start to finish, Li Yuan had not attacked, only defended.
"This is the moment!" Li Yuan's eyes suddenly brightened.
"Boom!"
Li Yuan completely ignored Lin Lanyue's sword, his spear shaking violently, like a dragon hidden in the depths of the mountains, thrusting fiercely.
Spear killing move—Mountain Ravine Dragon!
"Not good!" Lin Lanyue instantly sensed something wrong. She felt Li Yuan's aura change abruptly, like a beast showing its fangs.
An intimidating force.
"No time to retreat." Lin Lanyue realized this, her eyes flashing coldly, without hesitation.
Instead of retreating, she attacked even more fiercely.
"Thud!!"
The long spear, like a dragon, pierced through the armor, directly through Lin Lanyue's chest, blood splattering. Her body instantly vanished.
Light armor couldn't withstand Li Yuan's spear.
"Rip!"
In the next moment, the ferocious sword also struck Li Yuan's shoulder, blood flying.
"Clang~" The long sword fell to the ground.
On the platform, only the injured Li Yuan remained.
"A spear is longer than a sword, giving me an extra 0.1 seconds of reaction time," Li Yuan shook his head, then smiled.
"One minute, two thousand blue star coins in the bag."
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