The Round of 16 matches.

Zhang Qinglan's cousin, who was incredibly lucky, was also facing a mid-level mage, Zheng Liang, from Magic Sixth High School.

This person is clearly incredibly lucky.

As a mid-level mage of both water and earth elements.

He fought his way into the top 16, where he encountered mostly beginner and intermediate level mages.

Although the last game was hard-fought, we still managed to win.

In this round, Zheng Liang couldn't help but laugh when he realized he would be facing Zhang Qinglan.

Both sides took their positions on the training platform.

The referee erected a protective barrier.

At a command.

The battle begins immediately.

Zheng Liang waved his hands, adding two layers of stone shields to himself, preparing to use his skilled tactics to defend and wear down his opponent.

Surprisingly...

Zhang Qinglan actually put her hands behind her back, tilted her head back at a 45-degree angle to look at the sky, without making any movement, which made her seem very mysterious.

This left Zheng Liang completely bewildered, making him even more hesitant to act rashly.

The stalemate lasted for almost fifteen minutes in this strange manner.

Zheng Liang finally couldn't help but speak up.

"Lucky cousin, no, Zhang, why aren't you making a move?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qinglan turned her head slightly, glanced at it, said nothing, and continued to look at the sky at a 45-degree angle.

"I'm talking to you!" Zheng Liang said anxiously.

Yesterday, he made a special trip to find out about Zhang Qinglan's previous battles.

It was clear that the other party was also a mid-level mage.

In the previous battle, he faced a novice mage, and like other high-level mages, he used high-level magic, knocking his opponent off the stage with a single wind blade.

My cousin has always been incredibly lucky; he hasn't encountered a single mid-level mage, and after the round of 64, he won two consecutive rounds without a fight.

All the information we have so far is that he is a mid-level wind mage, but we have no other useful information. We don't know if he has any magical artifacts, what kind of magical artifacts he has, or even what his second element is.

Therefore, Zheng Liang would never take risks lightly, and would instead respond to all changes with unchanging principles.

Even if Zhang Qinglan doesn't play by the rules, stands still, and doesn't talk to me at all.

He didn't move either.

The stalemate continued for another fifteen minutes.

The audience booed loudly.

Fortunately, their performance wasn't broadcast live.

But as the other matches were almost over, more and more of the hundreds of spectators watching the games were turning their attention to this particular match.

Upon seeing the two figures who stood like stone statues, they simultaneously hissed, creating a sense of impending catastrophe.

This made even the referee a little uncomfortable.

He yawned and glanced at Zheng Liang.

Upon seeing this, Zheng Liang panicked a little.

He had always been an obedient and good student; he would get nervous if the teacher even glanced at him. Obedience to the teacher was ingrained in his very being.

What Zheng Liang didn't know was that the referee had already glanced at Zhang Qinglan countless times.

But that person was shameless and completely ignored it.

Finally, Zheng Liang couldn't stand this invisible pressure anymore.

He slowly took a few steps closer to Zhang Qinglan.

Zhang Qinglan remained motionless, maintaining his 45-degree angled gaze towards the sky.

No one knew that his heart had skipped a few beats.

Zheng Liang walked very slowly, approaching step by step.

They stopped when they were less than ten steps away from Zhang Qinglan.

He raised one hand and began to draw a blue star map, preparing to unleash the initial-level water magic, Water Wave.

Ten meters is the safest distance Zheng Liang feels is, and also the distance at which the waves can exert their greatest power.

But just as he completed the water wave star map.

The earthen shield protecting him flickered twice and then slowly disappeared.

Zheng Liang realized something was wrong. The duration of the earth shield had ended.

In the past, when I was engaged in a war of attrition with others, I would constantly replenish the Earth Shield's mana. Today, since we didn't even fight, I completely forgot about the duration of the Earth Shield.

However, Zheng Liang still held onto a glimmer of hope.

The waves have already been released.

I have plenty of time to replenish my earth shield.

But his dream was shattered.

A tiny, pure black figure suddenly appeared on his back, holding a jet-black dagger to his throat.

His throat would be slit the moment he moved.

"You lost."

Zhang Qinglan appeared opposite Zheng Liang at some point.

The waves just now only swept over his afterimage.

The real body had already used Shadow Cloak to move in front of Zheng Liang.

Zhang Qinglan is talented in moving and escaping; in a short time, she became very skilled at using Shadow Escape.

Standing below the stage, Lu Shi stared at Zhang Qinglan's performance on stage, a satisfied smile spreading across her face.

In the space of consciousness, Little Scissors was shaking excitedly, eager to show off.

“Master, look how good I am at seizing opportunities. If that kid were to control the shadow puppet himself, he definitely wouldn’t be able to do it.”

"Yes, yes, you're the best, you're the strongest."

Lu Shi gave a perfunctory answer, waiting for the referee to announce the result.

The referee appeared in the middle, his expression grim, but he still raised Zhang Qinglan's right hand and shouted:

"The winner of this match is Zhang Qinglan from Nirvana High School."

Zhang Qinglan jumped up happily and gave Lu Shi an excited smile.

"I'm not convinced! What strange method did he use? He cheated!" Zheng Liang stared at the suddenly vanished puppet and pointed excitedly at Zhang Qinglan.

"There are no banned magical artifacts in this selection competition. You're ignorant and haven't seen a shadow magical artifact before, so I won't laugh at you. But your shouting makes it seem like you can't accept defeat."

Zhang Qinglan shook her finger, her face full of mockery.

"Zheng Liang, a loss is a loss. Get off the stage." The referee pointed to the audience and ordered Zheng Liang.

Zheng Liang clenched his fists tightly, gritted his teeth, stared at Zhang Qinglan, and said fiercely, "Zhang Qinglan, I hope we don't meet in the team competition, otherwise I will..."

"Don't worry, I didn't sign up for the team competition. You won't run into them." Zhang Qinglan laughed.

“You… very well, then if I run into Nirvana High School, I will… kill them.”

Swearing, Zheng Liang quickly left.

Aou.

Zhang Qinglan felt that she had provoked a formidable enemy for her teammates.

However, I believe in them.

After all, their goal is also the championship!

Wait a minute, it seems that Teacher Lu didn't mention that the team also needs to win the championship.

So, I'm the only one who received special treatment from Teacher Lu!

Instantly, Zhang Qinglan's mood improved even more.

Lu Shi, sitting in the audience, didn't notice Zhang Qinglan's psychological changes at all; she had already set her sights on Zhang Qinglan's opponent in the next round.

Looking at another training platform, there was a man as burly as a bear—let's just call him a male student for now. Although, judging from his unshaven appearance, he looked like a middle-aged man in his forties.

Just as Lu Shi looked over, the bear's palms glowed yellow, and it pushed its opponent to the ground.

The poor child's chest was caved in, and he was spitting out blood continuously. Without timely treatment, his life would be in danger.

In any case, Zhang Qinglan's opponents in the quarterfinals have been officially determined.

Liu Lei from Magic One, that bear-man.

Everyone knew he was a high-level mage, but Liu Lei had only ever demonstrated earth magic in previous competitions.

Relying on brute force and the powerful defense of earth element, he managed to knock each opponent to the ground, each punch landing hard and inflicting severe injuries.

It sparked protests from many schools, but all of them were suppressed by No. 1 Middle School.

Zhang Qinglan would have a tough time against this person.

Lu Shi thought to herself that she would have to make another trip that evening.

...

That night, everyone at Nirvana High School was meditating and cultivating.

Only Lu Shi quietly left.

She headed towards Magic One.

With Lu Shi's current stealth abilities, no one below the highest level would be able to detect her.

The school is very large. Lu Shi had been here before and visited the administration building.

She wanted to go to the villa area where Liu Lei and the other geniuses lived.

The school attaches great importance to these outstanding students and has arranged for them to live in a separate villa area.

Lu Shi walked in that direction and saw rows of detached villas in the distance.

There are more than twenty of them.

This gave Lu Shi a headache.

She's going to ask someone for advice.

Just as this idea popped into my head...

Two brightly dressed female students walked past the villa area. They swayed their hips and chatted as they walked deeper into the villa area.

"See? This is what you call divine help."

Lu Shi's lips curled up, and he activated Shadow Cloak, lunging towards the two female students.