"Bang bang bang—"
Although Luo Yu conjured one fewer phantom image than Diao Lingluo, she was by no means at a disadvantage.
Just as Diao Lingluo began to show signs of defeat, the campus goddess's eyes gleamed with a cunning light. In an instant, she split her nine existing phantom images into three more, increasing the ghostly speed of her movements several fold.
They targeted Luo Yu's neck, chest, and lower back.
"Brave and strategic, not bad."
Faced with this sudden change, Luo Yu didn't panic but instead praised aloud.
Her figure flickered.
Her eight Devilishly Chaotic Dance-like phantom images split once again, the overlapping shadows in the air created sixteen figures of Luo Yu.
That was four more than Diao Lingluo at her full power.
This scene shocked the jaws off of the surrounding new students who were watching.
"Damn!"
"Knock it off."
"I asked you to imitate, not to surpass."
"He must have learned this before, otherwise how could he so outrageously surpass the original? Definitely practiced."
In an instant, Diao Lingluo's pupils contracted, and she lost her focus.
The sixteen phantom images of Luo Yu restrained all her own phantoms, ensuring she could not switch to her real body and escape.
She was bound to suffer a fatal thunderous strike.
However, she had just said she wanted to surrender; trying to speak up at that moment was simply not possible. Her lips tightly closed, she prepared to tough it out, even if it meant being knocked off the platform.
"Swoosh!"
All of Luo Yu's phantom images stopped simultaneously, showing mercy instead of carrying through with the attack.
"Alright, it's over."
"You can step down now."
Diao Lingluo stood still, silent for several moments before finally admitting to Luo Yu:
"I lost."
"You remind me of someone I have a secret crush on."
At once, several whistles sounded from the audience.
"This girl's reason for expressing her feelings is so lame."
"Did she fall for this guy after getting beaten by him?"
"So similar, way too similar."
Lyu Chan snorted and shouted: "Pshaw, don't pretend to know everything, guys. She really does have someone she secretly loves."
"And the one she's crushing on is someone you lot can't afford to provoke."
"Who is it, come on, spill it?" some asked Lyu Chan with an underlying tone of disdain because of her slender figure, speaking a bit more aggressively.
Lyu Chan rolled her eyes.
"Fool, would it still be a secret crush if I told you?"
"Who are you calling a fool?" retorted the person, not willing to accept the comment, as he was a well-known prodigy from his own city.
"Just you, want to go one-on-one?" Lyu Chan didn't indulge any nonsense since she had been a chatterbox when she first met Luo Yu.
Luo Yu couldn't understand, even after disguising himself, how she could be as beautiful as a celestial being with a closed moon, shy flower appearance, yet talk in such a carefree manner.
"Come on, then!" said the arrogant youth. "Beating a scrawny dog like you will be way too easy. I don't see what sort of fighting strength a skinny guy like you could have."
"Let's go, up to the stage, let's fight on the three hundredth rank's platform."
"Let's do it, who's afraid of who." The youth gestured dismissal, and although someone tried to dissuade him, saying, "You don't want to get stuck at the three hundredth position if you lose, do you?"
"No way, you don't think I'll lose to this scrawny dog, do you? Stop joking," the youth replied, laughing and shaking his head.
The youth briskly jumped onto the platform, mimicking Luo Yu's style, and beckoned Lyu Chan to come over with a crooked finger.
Some of the new students noticed the commotion, not recognizing the youth, but recognizing Lyu Chan's identity, already started to silently mourn for the youth, finding it amusing.
Lyu Chan leapt onto the platform with a "bang", the entire stage seemed to shake.
Witnessing such force, the previously arrogant youth's lips quivered with a bad premonition.
The arrogant youth summoned a war general, a chubby figure wielding a pair of gold-lacquered large iron hammers, and declared:
"My name is Xing Kai."
"The warrior behind me is none other than General Xing Daorong from the period of the Three Kingdoms."
"Oh, what a coincidence, my Ancient Spirit is also from the time of the Three Kingdoms," Lyu Chan said, her mouth curving into a teasing smile.
"Charge——"
As blood qi surged behind Lyu Chan, a magnificent and beautiful red hare horse, with lines full of explosive muscular strength, galloped into existence.
Atop the red hare horse sat an awe-inspiring middle-aged military commander, draped in splendid battle armor. He wielded commanding power without anger, holding a heaven-slaying halberd that buzzed with a violent and bloody aura, sending tremors through the surrounding air.
Xing Kai, who was initially full of confidence, felt a foreboding sense of doom the moment he laid eyes on the red hare horse.
After all, those who had ridden the red hare horse were all incredibly ruthless characters from the Three Kingdoms era.
When the commander holding the heaven-slaying halberd appeared, Xing Kai's legs began to tremble.
"Marquis Wen... Lu Bu?"
"Precisely." Lyu Chan said with interest, "Come, let me test the might of your unmatched general from the Three Kingdoms, Xing Daorong."
Xing Kai forced a smile:
"I think I was a bit rash with my words. How about we shake hands and make peace, to avoid damaging the harmony amongst classmates?"
"Too late." Lyu Chan scoffed coldly. She was a woman who held grudges. Possessed by the warrior spirit, she immediately charged forward, wielding the heaven-slaying halberd.
"Damn!"
Xing Kai turned cowardly before the battle even began, but feeling too embarrassed to surrender in front of so many people, he decided to at least put up a fight.
Three moves. Just withstand three, and then surrender.
Even facing Lu Bu, it shouldn't be impossible to withstand just three moves.
Having made up his mind, Xing Kai launched an attack, swinging a pair of golden iron hammers and charged forward.
"Clang!"
The heaven-slaying halberd clashed with the heavy hammers known for their strength, ringing out with the crisp sound of metal on metal.
Xing Kai's face changed instantly, his cheeks puffing up, turning red.
The pair of heavy hammers was directly repelled by the formidable force, as blood spurted from the palms of his hands, trembling uncontrollably.
The entire person knelt before Lyu Chan.
The blade of the halberd hovered at the edge of his neck.
Xing Kai was completely paralyzed by fear.
The students watching the battle had not expected this outcome either.
A teacher standing on the side for protection was alarmed and appeared instantly on the stage, blocking Lyu Chan.
"Classmate, you've won. Put away your weapon."
Lyu Chan complied, dissipating her aura and sighed, "I thought since his words were so bold, he must be quite the fighter, yet who could have anticipated that he would kneel at the very first move."
The instructor twitched at the corner of his mouth as Xing Kai was reluctantly helped up. He was about to say something in his defense but fell silent upon noticing Lyu Chan's gaze, resigning to his bad luck.
And to think his strength could have ranked him within the top hundred, now he could only stay around the three hundred mark, filled him with pain.
As Lyu Chan left the stage, she drew cautious glances from those around her.
"Marquis Wen Lu Bu, his reputation is well-deserved."
"Honestly, I don't know how God's Child managed to defeat such a fearsome Lyu Chan before."
"Not just him, but also teaming up with Huo Tongtian and others. None of them are weak."
"Hiss—just how terrifying must God's Child be, and we haven't even seen him make an appearance today."
On the other side, after finishing speaking, Diao Lingluo decisively stepped down from the stage.
Luo Yu speculated who this woman's secret crush could be, while saying to the eager Li Zhenyue below:
"Come on, it's your turn."
Li Zhenyue shook his head: "I'm indeed surprised by your strength, but as I've said, I'll give you time to rest."
"Otherwise, others might say I won by an unfair advantage."
Luo Yu felt that this guy must have an unforeseen depth to his strength, else he wouldn't be so confident. But what of it?
After that, nobody dared to challenge Luo Yu.
Perhaps influenced by the battles, across the three hundred stages, many began to choose their suitable platforms to step onto.
Some succeeded in defending their stages, while others were beaten down.
Among them, Xu Baiday, Dajiuer, and others like Lyu Chan and Shentian... all showed overwhelming strength, clearly outclassing other students and firmly holding their spots among the top ten stages without challenging each other, maintaining a tacit understanding.
Li Zhenyue had yet to step onto the stage the whole time, resting with arms folded and eyes closed.
After resting for two hours, he suddenly opened his eyes.
His gaze, sharp as a blade, fell upon Luo Yu, who was bored on the platform as no one dared to challenge him.
"Come and battle."
"The time of your defeat has come!"