Matches were being held on all fifty platforms at the same time, and the second round concluded in just one hour.
In front of over two thousand people, the large screens above the stadium refreshed, and only fifty names remained prominently displayed in the end.
Chen Chu looked up and saw his name ranked at forty-ninth, a faint smile appearing on his face.
He also saw the names of several acquaintances. Lin Xue had successfully defended the tenth position, Yi Rui had secured the twenty-ninth, and Li Meng, whom he had defeated, was at thirty-fourth.
However, the class monitor's younger sister, Lin Yu, was at fortieth place. This ranking made Chen Chu pause. He had thought that Lin Yu had strong abilities, perhaps even stronger than Li Meng?
On the main stage, Lin Xiong announced, "The second round of the competition is over. Next is the challenge round. Those who are dissatisfied with their rankings now have an opportunity to challenge for a higher position. Win, and you move forward; lose, and your original ranking remains unchanged. Does anyone want to challenge now?"
"Me, I want to challenge the 20th position."
"I want to challenge the 10th position."
"Me, I also want to challenge the 15th position..."
They were all freshmen, all in the First Heavenly Realm. The lack of consequences emboldened many of the people in the lower rankings to challenge those ahead of them. Among them was the fiftieth-ranked Liu Feng, who chose to challenge Lin Yu at the fortieth position.
Chen Chu, on the other hand, remained silent, and no one dared to challenge the first-ranked An Fuqing either.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the challenges quickly concluded. All challenges against the top ten positions ended in failure, but there were a few successful challenges against the ranks between twenty and thirty.
"I now declare the end of the first freshman ranked competition."
On the main stage, Lin Xiong said in a solemn tone, "All freshmen who have entered the top fifty will receive an additional five contribution points each month throughout their time in school, continuing until the second year. In addition, each student will receive a twenty percent discount when exchanging for campus resources."
Right after Lin Xiong finished speaking, a staff member hurriedly approached him and whispered something in his ear.
Lin Xiong nodded slightly and then said, "The teachers and I have some matters to attend to. Everyone, please disperse. The contribution points will be credited to your accounts tomorrow."
With that, the teachers quickly left their seats.
Carrying his saber, Chen Chu walked up to the spectator stands. Xia Youhui exclaimed excitedly, "Ah Chu, you did an amazing job this time! You actually made it into the top fifty."
Chen Chu smiled and said, "Is it that amazing? It's just forty-ninth place."
Xia Youhui was taken slightly aback. "Ah Chu, you're good in every way, but your humble attitude makes me want to hit you every time, really."
Luo Fei, who was beside them, couldn't help but laugh at Xia Youhui's words.
Xia Youhui snorted, "Just forty-ninth place, huh? If you don't want it, you can give it to me. I didn't even make it into the second round, I was way unluckier than you."
Luo Fei approached Chen Chu, a smile playing on her lips. "Actually, Chen Chu, you can be a bit more arrogant. Being in the top fifty among the freshmen is quite impressive."
In the entire grade of nearly two thousand students, there were over seven to eight hundred individuals who had successfully built their foundation. This was in addition to the over one hundred geniuses who practiced high-level arts.
For Chen Chu, who cultivated the low-level Dragon Elephant Art, to break into the top fifty was surprising and astonishing to everyone who knew him. Including Lin Xue and Yi Rui; neither of them had expected anyone else from their class to make it into the top fifty, especially someone whose initial talent had seemed rather ordinary.
Luo Fei had a point. He certainly did have the qualifications to be more arrogant.
Chen Chu smiled. "Alright, I'll be a bit more arrogant, at least until everyone breaks through the Second Heavenly Realm."
In the midst of laughter, the three of them mixed with the crowd and walked out of the stadium.
More than two thousand people streamed out of the stadium, then dispersed into small groups, each going their separate ways.
For the participants, today's competition was intense and exciting, but among the rest of the school body, not many people had actually paid much attention to it.
Even the school faculty only had some homeroom teachers in attendance, without any administration present. The majority of the senior students weren’t on campus at all; the few who were present were only those who had some interest and came to take a look.
For the rest, a competition at the First Heavenly Realm didn't offer much excitement. The time that would have been spent watching it was better used for more cultivation.
It was only three in the afternoon, still early. While Xia Youhui and the others went to cultivate, Chen Chu followed Luo Fei to the thirty-third floor to read.
After looking through the shelves, Chen Chu took out a book on the anatomy of mutated beasts. Meanwhile, Luo Fei was already sitting by the window, holding a Taoist scripture in her hands.
Chen Chu sat down opposite her and curiously asked, "Why do you always sit in this spot?"
Luo Fei lifted a strand of hair by her ear, revealing a fair and beautiful profile. She chuckled and gave a playful wink as she said, "Because this spot has a broad view, and I can bask in the sunlight. Don't you think lazy reading in the late afternoon with the setting sun has a unique charm?"
Chen Chu paused for a moment, surprised by the reason. "Well... you make a good point."
After speaking, both of them smiled faintly and then lowered their heads to read, savoring the rare leisure of the afternoon. As if the intense and exciting competition they had experienced earlier had never happened, they appeared immersed in the tranquility of the present moment.
Although, while he looked like he was reading, most of Chen Chu's attention was focused on the armored beast.
He couldn’t let the brief glory of today lead him astray; he was well aware that his current advantage couldn’t be sustained for long. If he wanted to maintain or even surpass the strength of the geniuses after reaching the Second Heavenly Realm, he could only rely on his avatar evolving once again.
Beneath the rushing waters of the surging river, the ninety-centimeter-long armored beast prowled. Its gaze cut through the murky river, searching for prey.
A school of topmouth culter was currently swimming above it. The longest of these fish was nearly one meter, while the smallest measured thirty to forty centimeters.
However, the armored beast only cast a glance and then withdrew its gaze, continuing to leisurely patrol along the riverbed.
After days of hunting, Chen Chu had noticed that the nutrition content in these common fish was average at best. The large mutated fish were the real prize; when consuming a mutated fish of the same size, the armored beast gained an amount of calories several times higher, significantly promoting its growth.
Suddenly, the water ahead exploded, and a massive black shadow rapidly surged into the school of fish. Its wide mouth opened, devouring the one-meter-long culter in a single gulp.
This was a mutated fish, over three meters long, resembling a giant catfish. Its entire body was covered in fine black scales, and its enormous head occupied half of its body, measuring a meter in width. Its mouth was filled with densely packed sharp teeth, and crowned with four one-meter-long barbels.
With just two passes through the school, it had already devoured more than ten culter, displaying tremendous ferocity.
The riverbed erupted in mud. The once leisurely armored beast unleashed the power in its limbs, churning up a rolling mud cloud as it charged toward the mutated catfish.
Noticing the incoming armored beast, the massive catfish advanced instead of retreating. Its enormous mouth expanded like a black hole, emitting a powerful suction force.
The mutated catfish swallowed the armored beast in a single gulp.
Compared to the catfish, which was over three meters long with a one-meter-wide head, the armored beast, measuring less than a meter, was just a small creature. It was devoured in a single bite...
Suddenly, the catfish began to thrash wildly in the water, and rich blood poured out from its gills.
Something black burst out from the top of the mutated catfish's head, fresh red blood churning past three pairs of feathered horns. The vibrant crimson against the beast’s black armor created an even more chilling and horrifying sight.