Chapter 218

Jiang Tianming confronted the golden light alone. He stretched out his hand as if trying to futilely block the attack.

However, just as all the spectators thought he was overestimating himself, the light actually vanished without a trace the moment it touched him, revealing an equally bewildered Huangfu Mingzhe.

He lowered his head to look at his fist, then at Jiang Tianming, repeating this three times before asking, his voice filled with disbelief, “Where’s my ability?!”

Jiang Tianming, hands clasped behind his back, calmly analyzed, “It probably disappeared.”

“Of course I know it disappeared! I’m asking why it disappeared!” Listening to his nonsensical reply, Huangfu Mingzhe was exasperated. “Why do people from your academy always like to play dumb?”

Wu Mingbai was one, Su Bei was one, and now Jiang Tianming. Huangfu Mingzhe felt that it was indeed Si Zhaohua’s academy, truly annoying.

However, Huangfu Mingzhe quickly calmed down. After careful thought, he looked at Jiang Tianming with a solemn expression: “Is it an Ability Nullification-type ability?”

Since Jiang Tianming dared to use this ability just now, he naturally wasn’t afraid of exposing it. However, he had learned a valuable quality from Su Bei: when the opponent is uncertain, don’t give a definitive answer, as this will keep them guessing.

Thus, he remained silent, and he and his teammates quietly surrounded Huangfu Mingzhe, preparing for an all-out assault.

Seeing their intentions, Huangfu Mingzhe stopped asking. He prepared for battle, continuing to resist stubbornly. Unfortunately, without the support of his teammates this time, he was soon forced off the stage by the combined efforts of the five. However, even when facing five opponents, he managed to take Jiang Tianming down with him, saving his reputation.

With Huangfu Mingzhe off the stage, only the Endless Ability Academy contestants remained in the arena. The referee immediately announced the results, officially concluding the match. Endless Ability Academy, as expected, secured the final victory in the Tri-School Competition.

It must be said, Huangfu Mingzhe was indeed formidable. He could still hold on for a while in a 1v5 situation. In a sense, his solo attack power was higher than any member of the protagonist’s group.

Then he was finished. Su Bei’s eyes immediately showed sympathy. Such a powerful Ability user certainly wasn’t drawn by the old scoundrel (author) to be a mere passerby. At the very least, he would play a significant role in the upcoming incident, and at most, he might have many more appearances.

However, judging by Huangfu Mingzhe’s personality, he would most likely relish being drawn into danger. Su Bei couldn’t understand this but respected it. If these people weren’t tirelessly resolving dangers, how could someone like him have the chance to enjoy peace?

Just as he was thinking this, Lei Ze’en pushed the door open, clapped his hands, and said with a smile, “Let’s go, our champions, time to get your awards!”

The Tri-School Competition had always prioritized efficiency. As soon as the final match ended, the awards ceremony was ready. This was also because Endless Ability Academy had secured victory in advance, so the organizers had prepared the medals and such long ago, without needing last-minute arrangements, making the awards ceremony exceptionally quick.

Since only three schools competed in total, there was naturally no need to rank the top three. Only the first-place academy received medals and garnered widespread attention.

In fact, it was precisely because Endless Ability Academy frequently took first place that it was considered the strongest among the three schools, even if somewhat hidden. However, because the resources of the three academies didn’t differ much, only their teaching methods varied, they weren’t definitively the strongest.

The moment everyone received their medals and bowed to the audience, Su Bei heard the Manga Consciousness notification: “‘King of Abilities’ has been updated. Please check it.”

It was an expected update point, so he wasn’t surprised and wasn’t in a hurry to go back and read it. Anyway, it was just ordinary competition content; it didn’t matter when he read it. What he truly “anticipated” was tomorrow’s exhibition match; Su Bei was very curious what would happen then.

Although he really wanted to sit out, Su Bei still had some self-awareness about his popularity. When he went out to buy snacks yesterday, many spectators surrounded him, wanting autographs. Seeing their fervent expressions, Su Bei knew he definitely had many fans.

But this was normal, he thought, quite narcissistically. For someone as handsome and powerful as him, it would be abnormal not to have fans, right? As for being forced to participate in the exhibition match, with great power comes great responsibility, and being so popular was just unavoidable.

After receiving their awards, they weren’t in a hurry to leave the stage immediately. There was one more event: a public vote for the ten participants in tomorrow’s exhibition match. Next to each spectator’s seat was a number pad, through which they could select their preferred contestants.

Thirty contestants appeared on stage together, and thirty one-inch photos of the contestants lit up on the large screen. The number in the corner of each photo was the contestant’s ID. By entering the ID, spectators could vote for that contestant, with each spectator allowed three votes.

Next to each photo was also a zero, indicating their current vote count. When the referee announced the start of voting, the numbers next to many avatars began to rise rapidly at an astonishing speed.

Before long, a significant gap opened up between many contestants. Huangfu Mingzhe saw the largest increase in votes; his frequent appearances, formidable strength, and handsome looks meant his popularity was far ahead of everyone else.

Following closely was Wu Jin. Although Wu Jin had only appeared once, it was a recent appearance, and his good looks had amazed everyone, placing him at the peak of popularity, so many people voted for him.

Next, progressing neck and neck, were Su Bei, Lan Subing, Si Zhaohua, and Jiang Tianming. They were all popular contestants who had their highlight moments, so their selection was entirely reasonable.

The remaining contestants didn’t have a huge gap in votes. Fortunately, there were no ties. The final list of ten selected individuals, besides the high-scoring contestants mentioned earlier, included Wu Mingbai, Shadow Girl Qiao Mu from Skydome Ability Academy, Li Bowen the Synced Link Ability user from Houde Ability Academy, and the green-haired youth Zu Zong from the same academy.

That’s right, the last green-haired youth’s name was Zu Zong. When everyone saw this name, they all looked at the composed green-haired youth with strange expressions.

This name… it’s specifically for taking advantage of people, isn’t it?

Earlier, during the arena matches, the host had actually called this contestant’s name. But during a match, it’s hard to pay attention to external circumstances, so most hadn’t heard it, or if they did, they just thought it was a pun.

It wasn’t until they saw the name displayed on the big screen that they realized the guy’s name was actually “Zu Zong,” which was even more audacious than a mere homophonic pun.

Zu Zong ignored the gazes of those around him, cheerfully walking over to Su Bei. “Classmate Su Bei, please go easy on me in tomorrow’s exhibition match!”

These weren’t challenging words. The exhibition match had no academy distinctions; otherwise, the number of participants from each academy wouldn’t be unequal. Even if the rules required teaming up, it would be random, but it was more likely everyone would fend for themselves.

At this moment, Zu Zong approaching him was more about genuinely wanting to see if he could team up with Su Bei tomorrow. Even if they couldn’t team up, getting Su Bei to target him less would be good. After all, he was a Destiny-type Ability user who had displayed formidable strength these past two days, leaving a deep impression on Zu Zong.

In fact, Huangfu Mingzhe also left a deep impression on Zu Zong; both of them had openly defeated him in his Arena Ability. It’s worth noting that Huangfu Mingzhe chose the combat method of direct martial arts. Even if Zu Zong gouged out his eyes, he still couldn’t defeat him.

But Huangfu Mingzhe’s personality was too arrogant. Zu Zong felt it would be useless to approach him, and might even make him target Zu Zong more. It would be better to curry favor with Su Bei; maybe it would actually come in handy in the end?

As for others, he wasn’t afraid. His Arena Ability allowed him to almost always win against any Ability user whose martial arts were inferior to his.

Oh, right, there’s also Jiang Tianming.

Zu Zong’s gaze fell on Jiang Tianming. This person was also strange; he could nullify his own teammate Li Bowen’s Synced Link earlier, and just now, he nullified Huangfu Mingzhe’s ultimate move. With a little thought, one could guess that Jiang Tianming’s ability must be related to Ability Nullification.

And this made him a bit terrified. Jiang Tianming had already demonstrated Object Control, Immortal Binding Rope, and Frost Mage abilities. Now, he seemed to have gained an ability to nullify others’ abilities. How many abilities did he have?!

Even before the Tri-School Competition began, they had investigated and discovered that Jiang Tianming possessed multiple abilities. But at the time, everyone thought he had at most two abilities. Now, it felt like he had at least four.

However, one academy securing one person’s loyalty would be enough. With the help of his classmates, would they really have the heart to kill his weak and pitiful self?

Su Bei glanced at this overly familiar guy and suddenly asked curiously, “What do your classmates usually call you?”

“They call me by my name, of course,” Zu Zong replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

Hearing this reply, Su Bei raised an eyebrow in surprise. Did people really call him by a name so clearly meant to take advantage of others? Were his classmates that easygoing?

Before he could say anything, Li Bowen, the support-type Ability user with the Synced Link ability, blurted out a curse, “Bullshit! Don’t listen to his nonsense, we usually call him ‘Grandson’!”

It was perfectly reasonable for Zu Zong to be called “Grandson.” Su Bei immediately chuckled, “Then I’ll just follow local customs. Don’t worry, Grandson, I’ll take good care of you tomorrow.”

Zu Zong: “…”

Seeing him being choked by his companion, looking like he dared not speak out despite his anger, everyone burst into laughter. For a moment, shouts of “Grandson” rose and fell, and even many people in the audience seats started yelling it.

The venue was filled with a joyful atmosphere, and Su Bei once again received a pair of resentful eyes. “This is probably what they call sacrificing the small self for the greater good,” he thought.

After the participants for the next day’s exhibition match were voted in, everyone was sent back to the hotel to rest. The rules for the exhibition match would be announced tomorrow morning, and until then, everyone could get a good night’s rest.

Endless Ability Academy held its victory celebration early, hosted by the wealthy Lei Ze’en, treating everyone to a lavish meal.

Lei Ze’en was truly a wealthy man. His ability allowed him to help construct Teleportation Arrays in many places, giving him numerous opportunities to earn extra money. Additionally, his material desires were usually low; apart from enjoying delicious food, he had no other hobbies, so he had saved quite a bit of money.

Speaking of which, Meng Huai’s material desires also seemed low, but he didn’t save much money. Hearing Zhao Xiaoyu ask this question, Ai Baozhu pointed at their teacher’s seemingly ordinary black T-shirt. “If I’m not mistaken, this one is three thousand three.”

Then she pointed to Meng Huai’s sneakers. “These shoes are twenty-five thousand.”

After speaking, she shrugged at everyone, indicating she had finished her explanation. Observing a tiny detail to know the whole picture, just from his clothes, it was clear that Meng Huai’s other attire and accessories were also valuable. Not only that, his quality of life was probably quite high. There were likely many other valuable large items in places they couldn’t see.

After hearing her introduction, Jiang Tianming was deeply shaken. “Teacher, I never expected you to actually…”

He couldn’t quite articulate “actually what,” but his stereotypical impression of teachers made him instinctively assume Meng Huai would be a rough and unrefined man who didn’t care about quality of life. Yet, despite his brawny exterior, he was actually a truly sophisticated man.

Let alone Jiang Tianming, even Su Bei was surprised.

Knowing what they were surprised about, Meng Huai rolled his eyes exasperatedly. “Isn’t money meant to be spent?”

These words resonated deeply with Ai Baozhu. She immediately nodded in agreement. “Teacher is right! Teacher, which brand of clothes do you think is better? Dad’s birthday is coming soon, and I’d like to pick out something for him as a gift.”

Meng Huai was silent for a moment, then replied earnestly, “Expensive ones are good.”

“Pfft!” Lei Ze’en couldn’t help but laugh out loud, wrapping an arm around Meng Huai’s neck. He told Ai Baozhu, “You’ve asked the wrong person about this. This guy is completely ‘pseudo-sophisticated,’ a rough and unrefined man who only knows how to spend money but has no taste.”

Ai Baozhu: “…”

She, too, was silent for a moment, then decisively changed the topic. “I wonder what the rules for tomorrow’s exhibition match will be. Can we find out in advance?”

Although she needed to participate in tomorrow’s match, it didn’t stop her from being curious about it.

“You could ask in advance, but there’s no need,” Lei Ze’en nodded, then shook his head. “It’s just an exhibition match, why be so serious? Having fun is what’s most important. It would be boring if we knew the rules beforehand.”

That was true, Ai Baozhu nodded and didn’t ask further.

Just as they returned to the hotel after dinner, everyone saw Feng Lan waiting at the entrance. As soon as she saw them, Feng Lan quickly walked over and dropped a bombshell: “Something will happen during tomorrow’s exhibition match.”

“What kind of trouble?” Lei Ze’en and Meng Huai’s expressions immediately turned serious as they inquired about the specifics.

However, Feng Lan merely shook her head. “I don’t know either; I just saw scenes of many people screaming and running in chaos in the audience seats.”

“The audience seats…” Lei Ze’en said thoughtfully. “Are they planning to target the spectators? Indeed, many influential figures have come to watch. If they were really captured, it would not only give the perpetrators a major bargaining chip but also greatly damage the Ability Government’s reputation.”

Hearing his words, Su Bei shook his head inwardly. Feng Lan’s Prophecy was indeed correct, but the perspective she saw clearly gave others a wrong perception. It was obvious that the protagonist group would be the unlucky ones in the end, so the enemy was highly likely to target the contestants on the stage, not the spectators outside the arena.

If they blindly believed the enemy would target the spectators, they would inevitably increase security for the audience seats, thereby neglecting the protection of the contestants on the stage.

The teachers, lacking an omniscient perspective, couldn’t possibly realize this. Meng Huai and Lei Ze’en briefly instructed them, then turned and left. They needed to discuss this with the organizers to ensure the audience’s safety.

After they left, everyone returned to their respective dorms. Mo Xiaotian lay on his bed, turning his head to look in Su Bei’s direction. After hesitating for a while, he called out, “Brother Bei…”

At that moment, Su Bei was on his phone, reading the ‘King of Abilities’ comic. Hearing him, Su Bei raised an eyebrow, continuing to look at his phone while teasingly asking, “Rarely do you call me so nicely, what’s up?”

The address “Brother Bei” was only occasionally used by Mo Xiaotian; it was impossible for others to call him that.

“Will tomorrow’s exhibition match definitely go ahead?” Unexpectedly, Mo Xiaotian asked a very abrupt question.

Now Su Bei was genuinely surprised. He put down his phone and turned to look at him. “Why are you suddenly asking that?”

It was known that the incident happening tomorrow was most likely orchestrated by the Black Flash Organization and specifically targeted those participating in the exhibition match. Mo Xiaotian asking if the exhibition match would definitely continue — could he have had a change of heart and wanted to warn them not to participate?

He really hadn’t guessed wrong; Mo Xiaotian’s answer directly confirmed Su Bei’s suspicion: “I just think… since Feng Lan said something would happen tomorrow, and the exhibition match itself doesn’t count towards the Tri-School Competition results, wouldn’t it be better to just cancel it?”

“Such a logical statement coming from you,” Su Bei couldn’t help but remark. “Perhaps you could suggest this idea to Teacher Meng and the others. I’ll support you one hundred percent, anyway.”

He wholeheartedly supported Mo Xiaotian’s idea. If they could really cancel that damn exhibition match, Mo Xiaotian would definitely deserve great credit. It didn’t even count for points, so there was no problem with not holding it.

Unfortunately, Mo Xiaotian just reburied his head into his soft pillow, then replied in a muffled voice, “No, the teachers probably have their own ideas.”

Mo Xiaotian, with his eyes closed, didn’t see that the moment he turned his head, Su Bei’s expression suddenly darkened, and an unshakeable gloom filled his purple eyes.

Why would Mo Xiaotian say such a thing? Or rather, why would he not support the Black Flash Organization’s actions?

Based on his previous behavior, Mo Xiaotian almost entirely supported the Black Flash Organization without distinguishing right from wrong. His concept of good and evil was already weak, and having been raised by the Black Flash Organization since childhood, he naturally obeyed their commands.

But now, he had actually developed a rebellious consciousness!

How was this possible?

It wasn’t that Su Bei thought Mo Xiaotian couldn’t possibly rebel against the Black Flash Organization, but that without a major conflict of principles, he shouldn’t object to the organization’s mission, just like every time before.

Thus, his current abnormal behavior led Su Bei to only one possibility: this time, the organization’s mission was completely different, perhaps even going against Mo Xiaotian’s principles.

Mo Xiaotian’s principles were almost non-existent to begin with. What kind of mission, concerning them, could possibly go against Mo Xiaotian’s principles?

Sorry, Su Bei could only think of some very bad answers, for example—this time, the Black Flash wanted their lives.

Previously, without exception, all actions of the Black Flash Organization aimed to capture them, and Mo Xiaotian had strongly supported these. Perhaps he even believed that once the Black Flash captured and brainwashed them, they would be on the same side, which he considered a good thing.

Mo Xiaotian should have at least some affection for his classmates. Su Bei had no doubt that if they encountered any danger, Mo Xiaotian would be willing to risk his life to save them.

Therefore, if the Black Flash Organization’s latest goal was to kill them, then Mo Xiaotian’s disheartened behavior might indeed be explained.

Although this wasn’t the only possibility, it was indeed Su Bei’s immediate thought.

What to do? He genuinely wanted to withdraw from the exhibition match now. It was still the same old saying: the protagonist group probably wouldn’t die before the grand finale, but he was different. If the Black Flash Organization targeted him, he could really die.

But his gloom lasted only for a moment before Su Bei’s expression returned to normal. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were clear and serene.

He was no longer the same person he was when the comic first started updating. Both his strength and knowledge far surpassed his past self. He had gone through countless difficulties to equip himself with a complete Destiny-type ability. If he were still so afraid of an early demise, then it would truly be a waste of a powerful ability like Destiny Gear.

No matter what the Black Flash Organization intended, if he wanted to determine whether he would die, he just needed to look at the Destiny Compass above his head. If the large hand was in the lower half, he would adjust it to the upper half. Although this consumed a significant amount of mental energy, for something life-saving, saving his own life, he would spare no amount of mental energy.

Although he had come to terms with it mentally, Su Bei was no longer in the mood to continue reading the comic. After all, it involved matters of life and death, making it difficult for him to completely calm down.

Anyway, there was no rush to read this comic update; there was nothing special in it. He would just wait until tomorrow’s events were over and read it then, which would save him from repeatedly opening the comic and the forums.

At 8 AM the next day, everyone gathered at the venue. The contestants waited in the lounge for the host to announce the specific rules of this year’s exhibition match.

“I never thought they’d handle it this way in the end,” Si Zhaohua said, looking out at the empty audience seats through the lounge’s floor-to-ceiling window. “But it really is a good method.”

Jiang Tianming nodded. “Having the spectators watch our match on a large screen in the hotel renders the mastermind’s previous arrangements useless.”

“There are also powerful Ability users guarding the hotel, so there definitely won’t be any problems,” Lan Subing said, a little happy. “I thought the exhibition match wouldn’t happen.”

She was quite interested in today’s exhibition match. Although it would be held under everyone’s gaze, after the past few days of competition, she was no longer as afraid of it.

Of course, the main reason was that it was hard to notice the audience at all while on stage. Otherwise, with Lan Subing’s current level of social anxiety, it would be absolutely impossible for her to want to participate in any competition.