The audience’s expectations for the third round were sky-high.
Though the plaza was packed with people, nearly all eyes were fixed on the exit where the players would walk out from backstage.
Everyone wanted to see which ring Lu Ran would be on, then dash over to get a good, close view!
The various families had the same idea.
The Cong family, the Zhao family—even some unrelated major families without any contestants of their own—had joined the crowd.
And their goal was strikingly consistent: to see if Lu Ran’s performance in this round would make him worth backing and befriending.
So far, Lu Ran was already a provisional member of all four major guilds—a status that was already incredible.
But what if the four guilds were simply interested in that bizarre blood spear of his?
If Lu Ran lost in the third round, the guilds might very well drop him!
And then, befriending him early would be pointless—it would only make them look foolish.
So this third round was absolutely critical.
Backstage, a random draw was taking place, which was different from what many spectators had guessed. There was no way to rig this.
Random drawing, rather than pre-set opponents, was meant to prevent anyone from buying off their opponent beforehand.
After all, with global digitization, transactions and communication were far too easy.
A quick chat via communicator, a bribe, a payment, and it was done.
Random draws eliminated that possibility.
“Which ring?” Su Ting asked.
“Number three. Should be on the edge,” Lu Ran said, glancing at his number plate.
“Where it is doesn’t matter—what matters is the opponent. Next comes the match-up, but one person will get a bye this round. If you’re lucky enough to get it, you’ll advance straight to the fourth round,” Su Ting mused.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go that way.
Lu Ran didn’t get the bye—Cong Shuang did.
In her small room, Cong Shuang stared at the result, a little stunned.
She hadn’t been matched against Lu Ran, which came as a small relief, but she hadn’t expected the bye either.
For other players, that would be a stroke of good luck.
But Cong Shuang scoffed at it. She’d much rather advance by defeating an opponent than coast through on luck.
“The opponent is someone named Zhao Xuan. His class is Qimen Tianshi. What kind of class is that?” Lu Ran asked curiously.
Su Ting’s expression shifted slightly when she heard that.
“Troublesome! Didn’t expect it to be him!”
“Is he strong?” Lu Ran asked, intrigued.
“Very strong! Zhao Xuan is from the Zhao family in the imperial capital. He’s a notorious playboy and a complete jerk, but his class is incredibly powerful—on par with your Red Sister’s Yehuo Tianshi. Hidden classes in the Tianshi lineage are all formidable,” Su Ting said with a firm nod.
According to Su Ting’s explanation—
The Qimen Tianshi didn’t manipulate elements; they manipulated Qimen formations.
This set them apart from Ye Hongyi’s Yehuo Tianshi.
Ye Hongyi’s class controlled an advanced version of fire, while the Qimen Tianshi controlled mystical formations. On top of the five elemental forces, they also had a range of special effects.
“What you need to watch out for is Zhao Xuan’s skill that turns him ethereal—he can’t be targeted or damaged during that state.”
“In that state, he can’t move either.”
“But he can still attack, and the Qimen Tianshi’s burst damage is extremely high.”
“He knows what you can do, so he’ll probably go ethereal right away and unload ten full seconds of burst on you.”
“Ten seconds is more than enough to one-shot any necromancer! Sure, your level is high, but you’re still within the scope of a novice professional.”
Su Ting didn’t outright say Zhao Xuan could one-shot Lu Ran—she said he could one-shot a necromancer, because Lu Ran was a bit of an odd case. Zhao Xuan might not be able to take him down that easily.
And that was still without Su Ting knowing the full extent of Lu Ran’s abilities.
“Oh. That’s fine. I’ll just wait for him,” Lu Ran said casually, completely unconcerned.
Ten seconds was nothing.
I’ll wait.
“Uh…” Su Ting stared at him blankly and warned, “During those ten seconds, Zhao Xuan will definitely go all out with his strongest moves. If you have any way to counter or defend, make sure to act in time to reduce the damage. Don’t let overconfidence get the better of you.”
In her memory, necromancers didn’t seem to have any defensive skills or self-preservation tools.
“Got it. Don’t worry, Sister Tingting, I won’t lose,” Lu Ran said confidently.
“Good. Just be careful out there,” Su Ting said with a nod, not pressing further.
Meanwhile, in Zhao Xuan’s small room—
Zhao Xuan was practically buzzing with excitement.
“Haha… today’s my day to shine!”
“That Lu Ran—his past two matches have been hyped up like crazy.”
“A nobody from the slums—what gives him the right to get this much attention?”
“Today, I’m going to end him!”
“And then everyone will finally see who the real strong one is!”
It was clear Zhao Xuan was thrilled to be matched against Lu Ran.
He even felt like the heavens were smiling on him, giving him such a perfect opportunity to steal the spotlight—rather than letting someone else take Lu Ran out and grab all the glory.
Beside him, a middle-aged man said, “The master instructed that if you get matched with Lu Ran, don’t drag it out, don’t waste words, just end it fast. Your abilities are more than enough to win.”
Clearly, both the middle-aged man and Zhao Xuan’s father knew Zhao Xuan’s habits all too well. The guy loved showing off.
If he ran his mouth for too long and Lu Ran threw a blood spear before he could activate his ethereal form—he’d be dead on the spot!
“You’re telling me how to do things?” Zhao Xuan raised an eyebrow, shooting the man a glance.
“Not at all. I’m just relaying the master’s words. Young master, it’s better to be cautious. Winning is what matters. As long as you get the vict—” the man quickly said.
But Zhao Xuan cut him off impatiently with a wave. “Alright, alright. Get ready for the stage. Just watch me crush Lu Ran. I know what I’m doing.”
Helpless, the middle-aged man fell silent.
Over at the Zhao family’s seating area—
Zhao Xuan’s father, Zhao Deyang, checked his communicator for updates.
Frowning, he said, “He really did get matched with that Lu Ran…”
The man beside him asked, “Any chance of problems?”
Zhao Deyang shook his head.
“As long as that brat doesn’t show off, he’ll enter ethereal form right at the start and burst Lu Ran down. There’s no way he loses. The only worry is that he’ll start running his mouth on stage—that could mess things up. But it should be fine. The blood spear has a wind-up animation; that’s enough time for Zhao Xuan to activate ethereal form. This fight—no way we lose.”
Over on the other side—
Cong Shuang had gotten the bye, so she wasn’t competing this round.
She left her small room and headed to the Cong family seats, sitting next to Cong Yu to watch the matches.
Before long, the roster was posted and the players took the stage.
Cong Shuang glanced at the list, frowned, and said, “Lu Ran’s opponent is Zhao Xuan? That’s bad…”
