Chapter 197: Duel

“Chu Liuyue!”

This name clearly landed in everyone’s ears.

Chu Liuyue heard it and instinctively looked up.

Sun Zhongyan had already opened the paper ball and showed it to the audience.

The people closest to him could clearly see that the paper indeed had the name ‘Chu Liuyue’ written.

The spacious square fell into deep silence for a moment before exploding into commotion. It was as if a bowl of water had been poured into a wok of oil.

“Chu Liuyue? Why is it her?”

“Didn’t she just enter Tian Lu Academy a while ago? Why was she picked for the first match?”

“But I heard that she’s pretty strong… Didn’t she win against Chu Xianmin back then?”

“However, she’s a freshman after all! I think she’s going to lose.”

Everyone in the Imperial City knew Chu Liuyue, so the spectators went into an uproar when they heard her name. However, the people in Tai Yan Academy were mostly dazed.

“Who is Chu Liuyue?”

“I haven’t heard of her before… I don’t think she appeared in the past two competitions. It sounds like she’s a freshman.”

“This name… Is she from Country Yao Chen’s Chu family?”

“Hey, do you remember that rumors have it that Tian Lu Academy recruited a new student who passed all three examinations a while back? I think that’s her name!”

Once this sentence was said, everyone was stunned.

Even though the three academies were in different countries and were pretty far away from each other, they would still be pretty concerned with the other academies’ affairs because of the annual Qing Jiao Competition.

It was originally weird for the academy to accept a student halfway through the semester, let alone the fact that she passed all three examinations.

The students from the other two academies had heard quite a bit about this. So, everyone remembered it when someone brought it up.

“Who is she? I really want to see what kind of person this Chu Liuyue is!”

…

Compared to the other people’s enthusiasm and curiosity, Tian Lu Academy’s students were deadly quiet as everyone’s gaze fell on Chu Liuyue.

Nobody expected that she would be the first one to represent the academy!

Si Yang could not help but give her a thumbs up. “Wow! Your luck is unbelievable!”

Chu Liuyue rolled her eyes at him before decisively standing up. Even though she did not want to be the first to go up, she could only accept it since they had picked her.

Everyone in the area was sitting down, so Chu Liuyue immediately attracted everyone’s attention once she stood up.

The originally bustling crowd suddenly turned quiet.

The girl in Tian Lu Academy’s uniform had no makeup on, and her hair was simply tied up. However, this still could not hide her beautiful face. She had black brows and a high nose; her skin looked even whiter—similar to snow—in comparison to her cherry lips.

Her eyes contained considerable intelligence and looked like a dazzling river of stars.

Chu Liuyue just stood there and exuded a certain aura that made people admire her, but her vague elegance caused people not to dare mess with her. This was how a breathtaking beauty looked!

“I didn’t expect Tian Lu Academy to have such a pretty girl… Her appearance and demeanor can definitely be compared to Situ Xingchen.”

“Even more than that! I feel that she’s even prettier than Situ Xingchen. Her demeanor is really rarely seen…”

If one said that Situ Xingchen was like a lotus flower that emerged from the water—pure and mesmerizing—then Chu Liuyue was like the sun amongst the clouds, beautiful and dignified. She had a charming yet frightening soul.

Without this comparison, Situ Xingchen could be considered a beauty. But when compared to Chu Liuyue, she seemed to be lacking something and was somewhat lackluster.

Situ Xingchen was dazed. She had never seen a woman prettier than her. There’s actually such a mesmerizing beauty in Country Yao Chen’s Imperial City… That person must have seen her, right?

Situ Xingchen pressed her lips against each other but shook her head and laughed. She felt that she was thinking too much.

He isn’t someone who will be charmed by a woman’s beauty.

…

Everyone’s gazes shot toward Chu Liuyue as if they wanted to see through her.

Chu Liuyue ignored them, walked to the front, and stood before a box.

Sun Zhongyan shook his head and smiled. “Liuyue, I truly didn’t expect the first competitor to be you…”

“I have to compete, no matter what.” Chu Liuyue looked very relaxed, as if she was not under any pressure.

Elder Sun sighed. Actually, he was quite surprised that he picked Chu Liuyue. However, he was thankful at the same time. No matter what, Chu Liuyue was the top scholar in the freshmen’s warrior assessment. Hence, she was definitely capable.

As long as she picked another freshman as her competitor, she had a high chance of winning.

“You can pick your own opponent.” Elder Sun looked toward the box.

Chu Liuyue nodded and stretched her hand into the box.

Tai Yan Academy’s students instantly became nervous.

Chu Liuyue was very fast and directly took out a paper ball from within. She opened it up and showed the crowd.

“Lei Mingwei!”

After the temporary silence, Tai Yan Academy’s students immediately erupted into heated discussions.

“Lei Mingwei! It’s Lei Mingwei!”

“Thank God it’s Senior Lei!”

“We’re stable! We’ll definitely win this round!”

Upon seeing their elated appearances, Chu Liuyue raised her brows slightly. How formidable is this Lei Mingwei to make them so assured that they’d definitely win?

Very quickly, she saw a tall young man stand up at the frontmost row.

He was a young man, but he looked around 18 or 19 years old. He could still be considered a youth. The young man had a bulky build and looked like a hill. His firm muscles bulged up from his body, and he looked very intimidating.

He clenched his fists tightly and strongly hit them against each other. He then laughed out loud, “Hahaha! I didn’t expect to be the first to go up! I really struck the lottery!”

Everyone could tell that he was really happy. This was because his entire body exuded a strong battle aura!

The students beside him burst into laughter.

“Old Lei, you wanted to be the first to compete the previous time, and it’s finally your turn now! You must put on a good show!”

“Of course! You must win this match beautifully!”

“Senior Lei, don’t go easy on her just because she’s pretty!”

Lei Mingwei jokingly scolded, “Get lost!”

In his heart, winning was most important! As he spoke to his fellow students, he walked to the arena with long steps. “Tai Yan Academy’s Lei Mingwei accepts your challenge!”

Chu Liuyue’s lips curved up slightly. It seems like he is really looking forward to this competition. He went up to the arena before I even moved.

On Tian Lu Academy’s side, many people expressed their worries.

“That Lei Mingwei is very powerful! He became a stage-four warrior last year. Liuyue is definitely at a disadvantage in front of him!”

“I think we’ll lose this round…”

Hearing these defeatist words, Mu Hongyu was very upset. Hence, she stood up and loudly yelled, “Liuyue! We believe that you can win!”

“Yes! Crush him into pieces!” Cen Hu yelled with Mu Hongyu.

Chu Liuyue smiled more deeply and said, “Don’t worry,” before walking up the stage.

The two people stared at each other.

Lei Mingwei sized her up and laughed out loud. I’m afraid I’ll cause her tiny body to fly away with a single punch!

“Little girl, there’s still time for you to surrender!”