TRWSB – Chapter 61 Repeated Eliminations

Inside the Secret Realm.

“Shen Yuan, you’re here! Quick, help me out. This beast is a bit tricky!” Zhao He of the Sacred Emperor Academy shouted excitedly upon seeing “Shen Yuan”.

“Shen Yuan” looked at Zhao He and said, “Hold on a bit longer. I’m coming right away.”

Then, “Shen Yuan” threw out a bunch of scrolls — half hit the beast, and the other half hit Zhao He.

“Where the hell are you aiming?!” Zhao He shouted in exasperation.

With a calm expression, “Shen Yuan” launched an attack at Zhao He, sending him flying.

“Shen Yuan, you bastard! Are you insane?!”

…

Outside Phoenix Valley, the real Shen Yuan watched the furious Zhao He and took a deep breath. This had nothing to do with him! He was innocent! That Thousand Faces guy… total scum!

“Shen Yuan” snatched the colorful stones from Zhao He and activated the teleportation charm on him, sending him out of the secret realm.

The competition hadn’t even gone on for three days, and Sacred Emperor Academy already had two students ejected. Lu Ming’s face was dark with rage.

As soon as Zhao He came out, he started cursing, but when he saw Shen Yuan outside the secret realm, he was completely stunned.

Shen Yuan gave Zhao He an awkward smile, and Zhao He couldn’t help but furrow his brows.

Fuming, Lu Ming marched toward Hu Feng. “Was it you?! Did you order this? Have you no shame?!”

“Of course it was me,” Hu Feng said proudly.

“A real man should act openly and honorably. How could you stoop to this? You damn bastard!” Lu Ming glared as if he wanted to eat Hu Feng alive.

“Ever heard of ‘all’s fair in war’? Lu Ming, did you really think your academy had first place in the bag? Dream on! You might still get first — but it’ll be last place, hahaha…” Hu Feng laughed gleefully.

“Hu Feng, you’re asking for it!” Lu Ming growled through clenched teeth.

“Bring it on! You think I’m scared of you?” Hu Feng grinned.

Lu Ming and Hu Feng started brawling, and the other spectators quickly backed away. Getting caught in a fight between two level-nine experts could be fatal.

…

Sun Lin let out a breath and said, “I really thought the principal had lost it, all for the academy’s funding. Turns out there was more to it.”

“Yeah! The principal truly has great foresight. I shouldn’t have doubted him,” Li Hong said, both relieved and apologetic.

“No way…” Zhuang Ling muttered under her breath.

Zhuang Hao had said the evil doctor was a light magic user. How could he suddenly be using dark magic? Light and dark magic were opposing forces — practicing both should cripple someone’s meridians or even cause them to explode. Could she have been wrong? Was the evil doctor just a friend of Qi Shaorong, not the same person?

Sun Lin looked at Zhuang Ling. “Instructor Zhuang, what’s wrong?”

Zhuang Ling shook her head. “Nothing.”

Sun Lin smiled knowingly. “You seem to know something. You’ve been optimistic about Qi Shaorong from the start, haven’t you?”

“I just trust the principal,” Zhuang Ling said coolly.

“Fourth Young Master Qi is really different from what the rumors said,” Sun Lin added.

Zhuang Ling smiled. “Yes, he is.”

…

Fake Shen Yuan went on a sneak attack spree. In less than seven days, four students from Sacred Emperor Academy were booted from the secret realm. Lu Ming looked like a storm cloud, while Hu Feng was beaming.

Hu Feng and Lu Ming had been at odds for years. Everyone thought Sacred Emperor Academy had this competition in the bag, but Tianlan Academy suddenly produced two wild cards, turning the tide.

“Principal, was it your idea to have Qi Shaorong and Thousand Faces do this?” Li Hong asked.

Hu Feng nodded. “Of course!”

“You’re amazing, Principal! To come up with such a brilliant plan!” Li Hong said with admiration.

Hu Feng waved modestly. “It’s nothing. That’s just what being a principal is about.” In truth, Hu Feng had no idea what Qi Shaorong’s plan was — but that didn’t stop him from claiming the credit.

“Li Hong, do you know why I’m the principal and you’re just the vice principal? Because I always keep a clear head, while you get confused too easily.”

Li Hong: “…” Is that really the reason? Isn’t it because the principal has stronger fists…?

…

Zhuang Qian nudged Shen Yuan. “Brother Shen, do you know who that impersonator is?”

Shen Yuan frowned. “No idea. They say he’s a commoner student at Tianlan Academy — Hu Feng’s secret weapon.”

Shen Yuan had trained for months but got eliminated on the first day. He was really holding back his frustration.

Zhuang Qian looked at him and said, “Don’t be too upset, Shen. Look, lots of others are suffering too.”

Shen Yuan: “…” That doesn’t make me feel better at all. With four people already out and the contest not even halfway through, he had a bad feeling the Sacred Emperor Academy would be the butt of a major joke.

“That Hu Feng is seriously devious! Hiding two aces like that — I didn’t see it coming. He looked so stressed before the competition, I thought he had no hope,” Zhuang Qian said.

Shen Yuan glanced toward Hu Feng. The man was all smiles — irritatingly cheerful. Shen Yuan wanted to punch him.

…

Inside the secret realm, Qi Shaorong ventured into the level-five zone.

For most students, level-seven areas were off-limits, level-six zones were high-risk, and level-five was where they could really show their stuff.

Qi Shaorong stared at the huge black raptor on a several-hundred-meter-tall phoenix tree.

In the raptor’s nest were dozens of dazzling colorful stones. Seeing Qi Shaorong, the bird let out a series of threatening cries.

Qi Shaorong waved his magic staff and blasted the bird from the tree.

After swiftly finishing it off, he set up elaborate traps around the tree.

Outside the secret realm, Zhuang Qian looked at Shen Yuan. “Brother Shen, what’s Qi Shaorong doing?”

Shen Yuan shook his head. “Who knows? But that guy’s so shady, he’s probably up to no good.”

“Shen, do you think my big brother will be okay?” Zhuang Qian asked, worried.

“He should be,” Shen Yuan said, though he wasn’t so sure. As long as Zhuang Hao stayed safe, Sacred Emperor Academy might still have a chance at first. But if Zhuang Hao got taken down…

Zhuang Qian bit his lip. “Qi Shaorong said he had a way to deal with my brother. Do you think he was bluffing?”

Shen Yuan gave a forced smile. “No idea.”

“That bracelet…” Shen Yuan’s brows twitched.

Zhuang Qian looked at him. “You remembered something?”

Shen Yuan shook his head. “No, nothing.”

Before the competition, Qi Shaorong had gifted them a bracelet. They thought he was just a useless mage and didn’t think much of it.

Now Shen Yuan’s gut was churning — that bracelet had to be suspicious, but there was no way to warn Zhuang Hao inside the realm.

…

Qi Shaorong sat high in a tree. Every student in the secret realm wore a device that could detect places rich in colorful stones. He piled all the colorful stones from his spatial ring onto the tree.

Their glow soon attracted students from other academies.

“It’s Qi Shaorong!”

“Hey, Qi Shao! What are you doing up there?”

“I was caught by the black raptor and now I can’t get down,” Qi Shaorong said, looking distressed.

Outside, Shen Yuan watched Qi Shaorong’s frightened face and winced. “That guy… really knows how to act.”

“Those are students from Yinghuang Academy. They’re about to get wrecked,” Zhuang Qian said.

Shen Yuan frowned. Qi Shaorong’s reputation as a talentless mage-fighter combo had everyone thinking he was an easy target — but really, he was a deadly snake.

Inside the realm, Yinghuang students mocked Qi Shaorong.

“Hang tight, we’ll come rescue you.”

As soon as they approached, they fell into his traps. Smoke billowed out, making them dizzy and disoriented.

Qi Shaorong waved his staff, knocked them out, stole their colorful stones and beast cores, and ejected them from the realm — waiting for the next prey.

The Yinghuang students were sent out unconscious, their instructor scowling as he collected them.

Qi Shaorong’s terrible reputation made him seem like an easy mark. But in just seven days, he used the same trick to eliminate over 60 competitors.

Qiduo Academy got it worst — their ten students had teamed up, confident they could handle themselves. But they all got wiped out by Qi Shaorong in one fell swoop.

Hu Feng rubbed his hands together, laughing gleefully.

Many principals glared at him furiously.

Li Hong said, “Principal, Qi Shaorong seems to have angered everyone.” Actually, not just Qi Shaorong — the principal’s smug face was pissing people off too.

Hu Feng waved it off. “Jealousy is the price of excellence.”

Li Hong sighed. “Too bad Zhuang Hao is still in the game. Otherwise, we’d probably be winning.”

Hu Feng gritted his teeth, feeling unwilling.

Inside the realm, Zhuang Hao was surrounded by over ten level-five beasts and three level-six beasts.

As a beastmaster, Zhuang Hao had tamed many monsters. With their help, he collected more stones than a hundred contestants combined.

Li Hong looked at Zhuang Hao and said, “That brat… with all those beasts, who could be his match?”

Hu Feng scratched his head. “Let’s just wait and see.” He hadn’t expected Tianlan Academy to win — but with Qi Shaorong and Thousand Faces performing like this, he was starting to hope.