Down below the stage.
Su Ting had watched it all crystal clear. She only snapped back to reality when Lu Ran came down from the ring and appeared right in front of her.
At this moment, the way Su Ting looked at Lu Ran was like she was staring at a monster!
Her opponent, Cen Yuno, was no small name—she’d also attended the Imperial Academy back in the day and had joined the Tianfu Society alongside Cong Shuang.
But afterwards, for certain reasons, Cen Yuno had left the capital.
She’d gone to Jialong City.
That was also the Cen family’s home base.
Su Ting knew that Cen Yuno, under that all-encompassing defense just now, had a health pool pushing close to a million!
At this stage of newbie professional development, that was practically invincible!
Yet even so—
She’d still been one-shot by Lu Ran!
One Blood Spear—just like this morning, it was as simple as that. Just one single Blood Spear!
Fast!
Precise!
Brutal!
In that moment, Su Ting’s thoughts aligned perfectly with Cong Shuang’s.
Even she, in her current state, might not be able to block that Blood Spear!
“Just who… is he…” Su Ting felt dazed.
Was this really something a newbie professional could achieve in just over twenty days?
“Sister Tingting, should we head to the backstage lounge now?” Lu Ran waved a hand in front of Su Ting’s face, snapping her out of her trance.
“Oh—right, right, yes, let’s go to the lounge.” Su Ting came to her senses and nodded repeatedly.
Then she walked toward the lounge with numb, heavy legs, Lu Ran right beside her.
As they passed by Cong Shuang’s arena, Lu Ran glanced over and flashed her a grin.
Cong Shuang, even while distracted, was still keeping her opponent completely under control—total domination!
In response to Lu Ran’s smile, Cong Shuang offered a polite one of her own, though it seemed a bit stiff.
She watched until Lu Ran had walked away.
Staring at his retreating figure, Cong Shuang took a deep breath.
At least now she knew what Lu Ran was capable of. Even if she didn’t fully understand it, the damage on that Blood Spear was absolutely insane!
She had to find a way to deal with Lu Ran’s Blood Spear before the next round.
Otherwise, if she got unlucky and drew him as her opponent in the next round, she’d lose for sure!
For now, her top priority was to finish off her current opponent and advance smoothly to the next round!
But before tomorrow’s third round, she’d need to be fully prepared.
With that in mind—
Cong Shuang didn’t hesitate any longer. She went all out, crushing her opponent with overwhelming force while taking zero damage herself, and sealed the victory.
Then she hopped off the arena and headed straight for the backstage.
She didn’t even stick around to hear the host’s announcement of her win—it brought her not even a sliver of satisfaction.
Facing an opponent like Lu Ran, who seemed almost impossible to beat, the pressure outweighed everything else!
“If I really can’t find a solution, then I’ll have to go with the only option that isn’t really an option—kill him before he can use his Blood Spear!” Cong Shuang said to herself.
Of course.
“Kill” here didn’t mean actually killing Lu Ran.
It meant going all out in a burst of offense to drop his health to 1% as fast as possible!
It was an incredibly tall order!
As a Star Mage, her burst damage was strong, but taking down a same-tier opponent—even if they were a magic class—was still a massive challenge!
“I need to swap in burst-damage gear. Throw all defense to the wind—it’s either you die or I die!” Cong Shuang gritted her teeth.
Because the logic was clear.
Even if she stacked some defense, she’d never reach Cen Yuno’s level of absolute protection, and it still wouldn’t block the Blood Spear.
So why bother? Keep it simple—ditch all defense and crank her offensive output to the absolute max!
With that thought—
Cong Shuang let out a small sigh of relief. At least it wasn’t a completely hopeless situation.
Over in the Cong family seating area.
Cong Jixian was dumbfounded.
This time, he’d actually seen Lu Ran fight with his own eyes.
Too bad it was over in a flash—one Blood Spear and that was it. His understanding of Lu Ran was still limited to just that one skill; he knew nothing else!
After all—
Who would’ve thought that a Necromancer, while one-shotting his opponent, wouldn’t even bother summoning any undead creatures?!
Was this even a Necromancer anymore?
Even a full-on offense-oriented hidden class couldn’t match Lu Ran’s ridiculous damage!
“No wonder all four major guilds had their eyes on him. I’m starting to understand what Yu Qingcang meant—compared to Lu Ran, that girl Cong Shuang still falls way short.” Cong Jixian murmured to himself.
“So strong…” Cong Yu was completely stunned.
She was a Necromancer too. She also had Blood Spear. But that skill—even with an eight-second charge—only gave a percentage increase in damage. How could it possibly be this insane!
Lu Ran’s power far exceeded everything Cong Yu had ever known.
Even the confidence she’d once had in her sister Cong Shuang had largely evaporated.
If Cong Shuang ran into Lu Ran… the outcome would be really dangerous too!
Cen Yuno hadn’t been back in the lounge long before she took off on her own.
She didn’t even stick around at the venue.
Instead, she went straight back to the Cen family’s branch office in the capital.
In the garden path on the north side of the compound.
Cen Yuno stretched out blissfully on a lounge chair, soaking up the sun. She couldn’t care less about the matches still going on, and she felt not a shred of regret over her loss.
“You sure take it easy. Lost and lost—no pressure at all.” A white-haired young woman standing nearby looked at Cen Yuno with a mix of amusement and exasperation.
“What pressure would I have? I couldn’t care less about the little prizes the state hands out.” Cen Yuno giggled.
Her two fair calves dangled over the edge of the chair, swinging lazily back and forth. Knee-high white stockings hugged her legs, smooth and soft. One foot idly dangled, a shoe barely hooked onto her toes, threatening to fall off at any moment.
Her entire foot was so dainty you could cup it in one hand—at the very least, it was food-grade adorable!
“You’ve made contact? What’s your take?” the woman continued.
“Mm, pretty good luck—ran into him in the second round. As for his strength? No question about it. A guy recognized by both the Elves and the Dwarves definitely exceeds the bounds of a normal professional. Too bad I couldn’t see his full capabilities—still don’t know enough.” Cen Yuno said with a hint of regret.
“Indeed. I never expected this kind of outcome either.” The woman nodded in agreement.
“Back in the Kunlun Death Valley days, if only I’d been allowed to sneak a peek—maybe I’d have learned something useful.” Cen Yuno mused.
“Easy to say that now. Showing your face back then carried too much risk of exposure. Remember your position.” The woman shot Cen Yuno a glare.
“Ahh, I know, I know~” Cen Yuno waved a hand dismissively.
Then she sat up.
Hooking her shoe back on with one finger, she suddenly asked, “So… am I still considered human?”
The woman paused.
Then she slowly shook her head, followed by a nod. “Yes and no. Doesn’t really make a difference. At the end of the day, you’re still part of Dragon Summer. The world order is about to undergo a massive shift, and we need to finalize the candidate as soon as possible. Right now, Lu Ran is the only option—but we still don’t know enough about him.”
“Ohh~” Cen Yuno responded.
Then she got up and headed for the exit.
“Where are you going?” the woman asked.
“To hang out with Lu Ran. We still don’t know enough about him. If I’m guessing right, the Cong family will start reaching out to him too. After tomorrow’s third round, Lu Ran’s going to be the hot ticket—every major power will make their move. First come, first served. The early bird gets the worm. Don’t wait up for dinner~”
And with that—
Cen Yuno’s figure disappeared around the corner.
