At that moment.
The elderly man beside him finally spoke up, asking, “Are you confident you can take down Lu Ran?”
The young man smiled but said nothing.
The old man continued, “You saw the previous matches. Lu Ran’s blood spear is really strange. It one-shot Cen Yunuo while she was in her Venus flytrap defense state, it took down Zhao Xuan, and it also killed Wang Yan, the Xuan Armored Berserker. If it came down to it, taking you out would just be a matter of one blood spear too.”
“You think he’d actually have a chance to one-shot me?” The young man raised an eyebrow.
The old man froze for a moment.
The young man went on, “There’s more than one way to beat an opponent than just dropping their HP to one percent. Besides, there’s something odd about that Lu Ran—I have no idea where his invincibility comes from. And honestly, I’m not even sure I can chip away at his health bar. So that leaves me with the second option: knock him off the stage.”
It finally clicked for the old man.
No matter how much HP you have left, if your opponent throws you off the platform, you lose.
“I’ve got a way to push him out of the ring and end this fast—so fast he won’t even have a chance to throw that blood spear. If he wants to beat me? Unless…”
He paused mid-sentence.
Then a faint smile curled at the corner of his mouth. “Unless he can fly.”
With that, he stood up and walked out.
The elderly man followed close behind, staring at the young man’s back. He knew what the kid said made sense—logically, it checked out.
But somehow, something still felt off to him.
Meanwhile, Lu Ran had also received his matchup draw and was now paired with his opponent.
What he didn’t expect, though…
Was that his opponent’s class looked strangely familiar?
“Space Walker…” Lu Ran muttered under his breath. Wasn’t that the same class as Qin Wuyao?
If it weren’t for Lu Ran, Qin Wuyao would have been the one representing Blackfire City in the Hundred Cities Tournament this time around.
From what he knew about her skills, Space Walkers had unavoidable attacks, high damage output, and a lot of burst potential—plus the ability to phase through space to dodge enemy abilities.
In terms of class strength, it was definitely solid.
Making it all the way to the fourth round was no small feat either.
There were only thirteen competitors left now!
“Su Xiaoyue… a girl.” Lu Ran glanced at the name and murmured.
Soon after, the players took the stage.
With only thirteen left, that meant only six battle platforms were still in use.
Worth noting—this round, Cong Shuang didn’t get a bye. She was on the platform right next to Lu Ran’s.
When he looked to his left, there was another platform.
And just as Lu Ran’s gaze fell that way, the young man standing on that platform was already looking back at him.
Their eyes met. The young man gave Lu Ran a smile.
But there was something about that smile that struck Lu Ran as a little… odd.
Still, being polite, Lu Ran smiled back.
Then he turned his attention to the opposite side. Su Xiaoyue had already taken her place on the stage.
She seemed like a lively girl at first glance, but her expression looked completely deflated—like a frostbitten eggplant, all wilted and miserable.
“Ugh… why did it have to be you, you big-shot god?” Su Xiaoyue whined, her face scrunched up in despair.
Uh…
Lu Ran looked back at her awkwardly.
She kept muttering to herself, “There’s no way I can beat you, oh man. I was really hoping to make it one more round, but now I’m totally doomed…”
Watching her ramble on like that, Lu Ran couldn’t help but feel both amused and a little helpless.
Over on the right platform, Cong Shuang was up against another girl.
That girl’s face was dead serious, her expression taut with tension—clearly she knew Cong Shuang was no pushover.
Cong Shuang, however, didn’t bother paying much attention to her opponent. The moment she saw the matchup, she already knew the opposing class, and the battle strategy had instantly formed in her head. No special planning needed.
Instead, Cong Shuang’s focus kept drifting back to Lu Ran.
Even now, after the entire lunch break and rest period, she’d been racking her brain nonstop, trying to figure out how Lu Ran managed to one-shot opponents with his blood spear and become invincible at the same time.
She still had no answer. No solution. No starting point.
If she kept going like this without finding a way to counter him, even if she advanced, she’d just end up facing Lu Ran—and lose in the end.
But she came here for the championship!
Turning back to face her opponent, Cong Shuang took a deep breath. Whatever happens, she’d take it one step at a time. The night was still long—she had to figure something out!
Across from Lu Ran, Su Xiaoyue was still mumbling away.
Soon, the host announced the start of the match!
Lu Ran instinctively raised his hand, ready to throw the blood spear—because really, he didn’t need anything else.
But he didn’t expect—
Su Xiaoyue was even faster.
The instant the match began, she dashed backward.
And jumped straight off the platform.
Huh?
Lu Ran froze mid-motion, his arm still raised, staring wide-eyed at Su Xiaoyue down below.
“What’re you looking at? It’s not like I can beat you anyway. Might as well save myself a beating.” She was still grumbling.
Lu Ran almost burst out laughing.
This was the first time in this year’s Hundred Cities Tournament that an opponent had jumped off the stage and forfeited right away. It definitely saved her from taking a hit.
Even if it was just one blood spear, getting stabbed by that thing wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.
The host’s reactions were getting faster and faster by now.
He announced Lu Ran’s victory on the spot.
Only then did the crowd around them snap out of it, erupting into a wave of exclamations!
“Whoa, a Space Walker! And she just gave up like that?”
“Smart girl. I mean, come on—you can’t kill Lu Ran, his blood spear one-shots people, what are you even supposed to do?”
“Space Walkers have way too little HP. One hit from Lu Ran’s spear and she’s done for!”
“Her damage output probably isn’t even as high as Zhao Xuan’s ten-second burst, and even he couldn’t kill Lu Ran. So of course she wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“Know when to fold ’em, I guess!”
Down below the stage, Su Ting couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
But honestly, Su Xiaoyue’s choice was probably the smartest move she could’ve made.
Lu Ran turned his head and scanned the area.
On the right platform, Cong Shuang was going all-out, completely overwhelming her opponent. The other girl wasn’t weak by any means, but she was clearly getting crushed, and it wouldn’t be long before she lost.
On the left platform, the match between the two contestants was much more intense—a real back-and-forth struggle.
But maybe it was just Lu Ran’s imagination—one of them looked like he was having a tough time, yet his expression seemed almost relaxed. He even kept sneaking glances at Lu Ran whenever he had a spare moment.
Weird…
Lu Ran stepped off the stage and walked with Su Ting toward the back.
He glanced back at that strange guy—and sure enough! The guy was still staring at him. But the moment their eyes met, he quickly looked away and went back to trading blows with his opponent.
“Do you know that guy?” Lu Ran pointed at the young man and asked Su Ting.
She turned to look.
“Which one?” she asked, confused.
“The one on the left,” Lu Ran said.
“Oh. Nope, never seen him. Why?” She shook her head.
“Never mind. Probably nothing. Just felt a little off.” Lu Ran couldn’t quite put his finger on it, so he decided to let it go.
Down below the stage.
Every major faction was staring at Lu Ran’s back in utter disbelief.
They’d all been waiting to see how he’d perform in the fourth round.
And all they got… was this?
Huh?
Lu Ran did absolutely nothing—and still won!
His opponent, Su Xiaoyue, had simply jumped off the platform and surrendered!
But regardless, Lu Ran had made it into the top seven!
A lot of the powers and families couldn’t even be bothered to watch the rest of the matches. They were already busy scrambling to suck up to Lu Ran instead.
