"Sorry, I have to win this one!"
On the stage, Jiang Siqi, dressed in simple clothes, smiled at Lin Ran, her voice firm.
Lin Ran smiled dismissively, waiting for the countdown to begin:
"Many people have said that, but so far, no one has been able to last three minutes under my hand."
Jiang Siqi's appearance was passable, and combined with her ethereal and detached aura, she was quite captivating.
However, she was still no match for Luo Qingyan.
At this moment, Niya's beautiful voice echoed from the sky.
"Hello everyone, we are now watching the fifth match of the top 16 to top 8 in this year's freshman challenge!"
"Lin Ran from Yan Yun University, facing Jiang Siqi from Wu Nan University!"
"It's worth mentioning that both of them are captains of their respective universities and are undeniably the strongest in their teams."
"So, what kind of sparks will the confrontation between these two captains ignite?"
"Will Lin Ran, from Yan Yun University, known as a human-shaped mobile Boss with endless tricks, take this round..."
"Or will Jiang Siqi, from Wu Nan University, with extremely special talent and an unknown upper limit, emerge victorious?"
"Let's wait and see!"
"Hello everyone, I am your commentator for this match, Niya!"
From the top 16 onwards, the competition had become extremely formal.
Niya, the host with elven blood, was now fully engaged in her commentary role.
In addition to her, each match would have an additional commentator assigned to Niya.
This time, the invited commentator was Wang Yuanqing, the leading teacher from Xiang Chu University, who had previously left in anger.
Generally speaking, teachers from Xiang Chu University only commented when their own students were competing.
However, to everyone's surprise, Xiang Chu University, the host of this event, did not have a single student who could make it into the top 16...
Their captain, due to an early confrontation with Lin Ran, only managed to rank 250th and was severely injured.
Therefore, Wang Yuanqing had to be assigned to other matches.
Unexpectedly, this assignment placed him in Lin Ran's match, and Wang Yuanqing immediately perked up.
"Hello everyone, I am your commentator for this match, Wang Yuanqing!"
He cheerfully greeted the audience below.
Upon seeing Wang Yuanqing in the air, Lin Miao couldn't help but roll her eyes:
"Is Xiang Chu University out of people? Dragging this guy out as a commentator again?"
"He's a noob himself, how can he comment competently?"
Lu Qiufeng shrugged:
"Although Wang Yuanqing's character and intelligence are questionable, his cultivation talent is quite good."
"He's reached the level of an eighth-order awakened one before forty, not much different from us..."
"In his youth, he was a peerless prodigy."
"Otherwise, Xiang Chu University wouldn't be so lenient with him, allowing him to remain employed as a teacher at the school."
Lin Miao snorted:
"Even among eighth-order practitioners, there are differences!"
"If I were to fight him, I could take on two of him at least!"
"What's so precious about someone like him..."
"... If it were in our Yan University, he would have been fired in minutes!"
Lu Qiufeng tilted his head:
"Do you think every university is like ours, a one-man show by the boss?"
"Theirs are all council systems, and even the speaker can't do whatever they please."
"How can a young eighth-order master be fired on a whim?"
"There are very few universities that are as capricious as ours."
Hearing this, Lin Miao could only sigh and shake her fist fiercely:
"Fortunately, the boss ultimately allowed us to stay at Yan University..."
"Otherwise, if I were to be a department head at another university, I'd be angered to death by these people sooner or later!"
Lu Qiufeng reached out and pressed down Lin Miao's fist:
"Watch the match, watch the match... it's about to start..."
"Let the commentator say what he wants. It doesn't matter."
"No matter how eloquently he speaks, can he turn a dead man into a living one? Lin Ran will definitely slap his face to pieces."
Only then did Lin Miao take a deep, angry breath and shift her gaze back to the arena.
The countdown had reached its final moments.
"Lin Ran! Lin Ran! Lin Ran!"
"Lin Ran! Lin Ran! Lin Ran!"
"..."
The cheers Lin Ran received echoed almost throughout the entire arena.
In comparison, Jiang Siqi had very few supporters.
Apart from their university's accompanying personnel, few were seen cheering for her.
As they were both in the top 16, the main reason Lin Ran had so many fans was largely due to his fighting style.
Fierce, powerful, and without any flaws, with dazzling skill effects, and a charismatic image.
The combination of his domineering and overwhelming power with his calm and strategic demeanor, plus his previous overwhelming victory against the aggressive Su Chen with the incredibly cool Susanoo, made for an exhilarating spectacle!
Sometimes, fighting handsomely and excitingly is the most captivating way to gain fans.
It's the same for certain popular professional gamers in moba games.
If not for Lin Ran having an exceptionally outstanding clear CP in Luo Qingyan, many girls would have been unable to resist throwing themselves at him.
This also made many female compatriots feel envious and jealous of Luo Qingyan!
However, Jiang Siqi seemed unaffected by these factors, remaining calm and composed.
Lin Ran was even more composed.
He didn't believe that a mere freshman exchange competition could pose any threat to him.
3!
2!
1!
The match began!
The moment the countdown ended, Jiang Siqi slapped the ground:
"Fate Summon: Nightmare Beast!"
"Fate Summon: Thorn Flower Maiden!"
As she commanded, two unusual summoned creatures emerged from the magic circle.
Lin Ran glanced at these two summoned beings.
Then, he noticed that Jiang Siqi's figure had disappeared from her original position.
Simultaneously, the Thorn Flower Maiden, covered in vines, had a spark of intelligence flash in her eyes.
As for the Nightmare Beast, it still looked dull and笨拙 (ben zhuo - clumsy/dull).
Possessed by the Thorn Flower Maiden...
Lin Ran, encountering an awakened one with this ability for the first time, couldn't help but feel excited.
It seemed the opponent wasn't weak, so he might as well play with her for a while!
He could also see what the upper limit of this so-called Fate Summon was.
And if he could understand the characteristics of Jiang Siqi's Fate Summon, could he replicate her effect using the power of the Devil Fruit?
Up to this point, all of Jiang Siqi's opponents had adopted a strategy of pursuing the main body and the possessed entity.
After all, no one knew how many summoned beasts Jiang Siqi could produce. If the number was large, their magic power would be insufficient to support the exhaustion of Jiang Siqi's summons.
However, Lin Ran was the least afraid of prolonged battles...