Backstage.
Lu Ran had already been randomly assigned to his arena—Arena No. 1—and his opponent turned out to be a familiar class: Earth Knight!
Lu Ran was quite familiar with the Earth Knight class, having seen it with Lei Tai—whether it was Lei Tai’s skill performance, mobility, or defensive abilities.
As for Cong Shuang, she was on Arena No. 2, matched against an opponent named Zhang Zheng, who came from a third-tier major city. But his class was one Lu Ran had never heard of: Earth Immortal!
“What class is that? A mage?” Cong Shuang murmured in confusion.
“I looked into the contestant information list beforehand and came across this ‘Earth Immortal’ as well. But I couldn’t find any concrete info about the class—it’s extremely rare. However, judging from his earlier matches, it seems to involve earth-based magic skills,” her subordinate reported.
“Oh. To have lasted this long, he must have something going for him.” Cong Shuang nodded, though she didn’t take it seriously.
At this point, the only opponent she truly cared about was Lu Ran. As long as she wasn’t matched against him right now, everything else was fine. And as for this Zhang Zheng—especially after hearing her subordinate’s analysis—she cared even less. She had already made up her mind: once she got on stage, she would go all out, unleashing everything to take him down and secure victory.
Meanwhile, besides the two competitors on Arena No. 3, there was also one lucky contestant who got a bye. Once the matchups were finalized, the competitors began making their way to the stages.
Lu Ran stepped out from the backstage rest area.
The entire arena’s atmosphere immediately heated up.
Lu Ran climbed onto the stage and sized up his opponent. As an Earth Knight, the guy had a build almost identical to Lei Tai’s—maybe even a bit rounder. But while Lei Tai was mostly muscle, looking like a human tank, this young man in front of him was chubby, round and roly-poly, with a very honest, simple face.
“My name is Zhou Fu, hehe… Lu Ran, I’ve long heard of your great name,” the chubby man said with a grin.
“Hello,” Lu Ran replied politely. Since the other already knew his name, he didn’t bother introducing himself. Besides, when the match was assigned, he had already seen his opponent’s name anyway—no need for extra words.
“I know you’re incredibly strong—you can one-shot people. I’m not confident I can beat you, but I want to try. I don’t want to surrender right away like Su Xiaoyue. Could you give me some time?” Zhou Fu asked.
“What do you mean? Give you time for what?” Lu Ran asked, puzzled.
“Give me time to cast my skills. You know, Earth Knights are a defensive class. A lot of my abilities boost defense and max HP, as well as stack shields. But I need time to cast them—your Blood Spear is just too fast.” Zhou Fu scratched his head awkwardly.
Even he thought this request was a bit much. But Lu Ran’s Blood Spear was truly terrifying. Zhou Fu could only try to ask—otherwise, the outcome was obvious: no chance of withstanding it. If Lu Ran refused, he’d probably have to jump off and surrender just like Su Xiaoyue.
To his surprise, Lu Ran gave a very straightforward nod after hearing him out.
“Alright. Once you’re done with your skills, let me know.”
“Great! Thank you!” Zhou Fu’s eyes lit up.
Though the odds were slim, at least now he had a chance to try. And Zhou Fu was quite proud of his Earth Knight class.
As they waited for the match to begin, Lu Ran turned his head to glance at the neighboring Arena No. 2. To his surprise, Cong Shuang was also looking at him. And interestingly enough, Zhang Zheng—the man across from her—was staring at Lu Ran too!
Noticing Lu Ran’s gaze sweep over, Cong Shuang gave him a smile and turned back. Zhang Zheng also averted his gaze at just the right moment.
Cong Shuang looked at Zhang Zheng and said, “Earth Immortal—first time encountering one. But I’m not particularly interested. Let’s end this quickly.”
Zhang Zheng chuckled politely and replied, “Speed is best, of course. Cong Shuang of the Imperial Capital Tianfu Society—I’ve long admired your reputation. It’s an honor to have the chance to challenge you today.”
Cong Shuang wasn’t fond of empty pleasantries, so she just smiled as a polite response and didn’t continue the conversation.
Up on the main viewing platform, Lei Tai watched Lu Ran’s Arena No. 1 match and scoffed, “That kid Zhou Fu—he’s an Earth Knight and already a reserve member of the War Banner National Guard. Whether he wins or loses doesn’t affect his reserve status, but running into Lu Ran at this point is just bad luck. What a shame. Otherwise, even against Cong Shuang, he wouldn’t necessarily lose.”
Lei Tai himself was an Earth Knight, so he had a lot of confidence in his class.
On the other hand, Yu Qingcang, staring at Cong Shuang’s arena, mused, “I just noticed—Cong Shuang’s opponent, that Zhang Zheng, his class is actually Earth Immortal. What kind of class is that? I’ve never heard of it.”
“Neither have I. Such a rare class—I wonder how strong it really is,” Liu Xinxin said, equally curious.
“Rare doesn’t mean much. We’ve seen plenty of examples where super rare classes that almost no one plays turn out to be totally useless. And if it really were that powerful, he would’ve been recommended to the Imperial Capital by now—no reason to stay stuck in a third-tier city,” Ye Hongyi added.
Given her confidence in Lu Ran, Ye Hongyi didn’t believe there was any class that could challenge him.
At this point, Zhang Zheng was probably the only one still brimming with self-confidence. Too bad that in the face of Lu Ran’s true power, that confidence amounted to no more than a regular mob.
Soon, the match began.
Lu Ran stood motionless, watching Zhou Fu across from him.
Zhou Fu courteously cupped his hands in thanks to Lu Ran before pulling out his shield. Then, he began throwing every buff, shield, and status effect onto himself all at once. Throughout the process, his body seemed to swell up a size, and his heavy armor made him look incredibly imposing.
Most of the spectators’ attention was fixed on Lu Ran’s arena. Seeing this, they couldn’t help but chuckle:
“See that? That’s what a true powerhouse looks like! Who else would give an Earth Knight time to prep?”
“Haha… Go ahead, stack all the buffs you want. If I can’t one-shot you, I’ll take the loss—scared yet?”
“Arrogant, way too arrogant. This is an Earth Knight! Don’t forget, Lei Tai of the War Banner National Guard is an Earth Knight!”
“I’m curious too—can he really one-shot even with all those buffs?”
“To this day, nobody seems to know how Lu Ran actually does it.”
Zhou Fu worked quickly and didn’t waste much time. Once fully prepared, he flashed Lu Ran a grin and said, “Thanks for giving me the time. Now, let the battle begin!”
With that, he assumed a combat stance, ready to charge in close.
Lu Ran, meanwhile, casually raised his hand, preparing his Blood Spear.
Over on Arena No. 2, Cong Shuang had most of her attention focused on Lu Ran, a bit distracted.
Zhang Zheng furrowed his brow slightly and said, “As expected of the talented lady from the Imperial Capital Tianfu Society—proud and aloof, I can understand that. I just wonder whether your skills match your pride.”
Hm?
Cong Shuang looked at Zhang Zheng with confusion.
This opponent—he sure had a lot of confidence!
