Chapter 158: Undefeated and Ranked First

"This move!"

Chu Cheng’s eyebrows twitched. For the first time in so long, he felt a genuine sense of threat. If this strike connected, combined with the nearly three thousand health points chipped away earlier, it had the potential to plunge him into a near-death state.

"As expected, hero classes of superior rank and above are already extremely powerful."

Time Walk!

In the blink of an eye, just as he was here the previous second, his eyes closed and opened, and he had already appeared behind Dong Mushan.

Time Lock!

Dong Mushan’s strike, gathering the power of ten phantoms, was frozen in mid-air. By the time the Time Lock ended, Chu Cheng was long gone from before him, and the attack missed completely.

With his ultimate skill missing its mark, Dong Mushan wore a look of bewilderment, but he decisively activated life-saving damage-reduction skills, going on the offensive against Chu Cheng without showing any weakness.

However, the next second, that bewildered expression turned to shock. The exchange of blows lasted only two seconds before he was struck by five or six successive sword slashes. The storm-like rapid onslaught left him overwhelmed, forcing him to shift from offense to defense. Yet, he still could not fend off Chu Cheng, whose attack speed had already reached its maximum stack.

"Master-level swordsmanship!"

Dong Mushan was a practitioner of expert-level swordsmanship himself. To be suppressed in technique head-on like this could only mean master-level swordsmanship.

"Time Lock!"

Three bodies merging into one, twenty-one sword strikes overlapping, successfully triggered Time Lock once again.

The true trigger probability of this passive effect was only about 5%. Generally speaking, it would trigger once every twenty attacks—a remarkably low probability.

However, his attack speed was simply too fast. Combined with the Immortal-grade class specialty granting twenty-one strikes per second, even slightly favorable luck allowed him to trigger it again.

Thus, the new trait specialty Chu Cheng acquired upon reaching level 30 was truly overpowered, instantly multiplying his combat strength several times over.

With two consecutive triggers, Dong Mushan was effortlessly plunged into a near-death state, prompting the arena protection mechanism to activate.

"He has already achieved six consecutive victories. Just one more win and he will have a clean sweep."

When Chu Cheng defeated Dong Mushan head-on, he inevitably drew the attention of everyone present.

Having won streak after streak, Chu Cheng’s inner state was exceptionally clear and calm at this moment. He stood quietly on the platform, awaiting his final opponent.

Lu Lingfeng, holder of the superior hero class, Void Stalker.

The moment the countdown light curtain vanished, he had already disappeared.

Acting on pure reflex, Chu Cheng spun around to parry. A claw pressed down onto the blade and grabbed it, its strength surprisingly a tier higher than his own, while another heavy claw slammed into him, releasing a burst of force that drove him backward.

"Master-level unarmed combat?"

Furthermore, he noticed that these scale-covered claws were not gauntlets, but rather...

It appeared to be a transformation ability. Lu Lingfeng’s entire body had morphed into a humanoid creature covered in scales and hard armor plates. His defense was formidable, and grabbing the sword bare-handed sent sparks flying without harming his hands.

The Void Stalker commanded the power of space, moving freely between spatial folds.

This spatial teleportation ability was practically instinctual; capable of consecutive teleports, coming and going like a phantom, and even crawling and flying through the void, making him extremely agile.

Compared to the Sword Saint—also a superior hero class that focused primarily on agility and explosive output—the Void Stalker possessed relatively balanced attributes, combining both physique, strength, and agility at very high levels. Purely in terms of strength, he surpassed the current Chu Cheng.

It was impossible to tell whether his base strength attribute was inherently high or if he received a strength bonus after transforming.

Combining physique, strength, and agility without any weaknesses, wielding the unpredictable power of space, possessing spatial damage-reduction built into his physique, and attacks infused with spatial power that bypassed a portion of defense—the damage he took after parries and blocks was noticeably higher than usual. Coupled with master-level unarmed techniques that did not fall behind in skill, Lu Lingfeng was the strongest opponent Chu Cheng had ever encountered.

But unfortunately, Chu Cheng possessed this exact template as well.

His physique, strength, and agility likewise had no weaknesses; the power of time was even more miraculous, and his master-level swordsmanship kept him from falling behind.

When all aspects were largely comparable, victory depended on the potency of the power one commanded.

In this regard, the power of time was clearly superior to the power of space. Moreover, the ancestral origin of the Void Stalker hero heritage was a mythical-grade void creature rather than a god or demon, resulting in limited development of spatial power, which capped this hero class’s upper limit at the superior hero tier.

Still, it was the power of space after all; under certain circumstances, it was no less formidable than ordinary legendary hero classes.

For the first time, Chu Cheng went all out, entangling with him for nearly two minutes before deciding the outcome.

The Void Stalker's spatial blinks had become second nature, featuring a short cooldown and no usage limit, allowing him to blink away whenever a situation turned unfavorable.

His physique came with spatial damage reduction, making him entirely usable as a tank. Even with maxed-out attack speed, the time he triggered Time Lock three times consecutively in a single burst still failed to instantly kill him.

Combining all these traits made him exceptionally difficult to slay.

When the arena protection triggered and the battle ended, Lu Lingfeng ended his transformation and returned to his true form. There was no trace of annoyance at losing on his face; instead, he wore an expression of finding a worthy opponent:

"So the power you command is the power of time—truly marvelous. Your combat technique is no inferior to mine; I concede this defeat completely!"

"Let’s add each other as friends. After a while, let's spar again."

Chu Cheng nodded.

"Alright."

Lu Lingfeng raised a hand, made an OK gesture, and left the arena.

With this, Chu Cheng's assessment came to an end. Teleporting back to the auditorium, he received a message sent by Fang Xi.

No words were attached, only a single raised thumb.

He turned back and winked at her, earning a radiant smile in return.

"Scumbag!"

Xu Mingli let out a cold snort and directly left the auditorium.

Wang Bo immediately followed behind him. Only after stepping out of the mage tower did he lower his voice and say:

"Captain, his strength is formidable. I'm afraid we can't beat him. Add Fang Xi to the mix, and the three of us probably won't be able to do anything to them."

Xu Mingli paused his footsteps and said after a long moment:

"I'll figure something out."

Inside the auditorium, as time passed, the new recruits were successively teleported back from the arena. When the very last one appeared in the auditorium, Lu Dongrui’s voice rang out:

"This minor assessment has concluded, and the rankings are finalized."

"Chu Cheng achieved seven consecutive wins, earning the quota for a legendary artifact embryo from the mentor."

"Second place, Lu Lingfeng, with six wins and one loss, earns the opportunity to contend for the remaining four legendary artifact embryos."

"Third place, Dong Mushan, with five wins and two losses, earns the opportunity to contend for the remaining four legendary artifact embryos, which will begin in one week."

"The remaining students must not be discouraged. This is not the only opportunity to obtain a legendary artifact embryo; every new recruit will have one chance before graduation. However, it requires sufficient strength, so you must work harder and seize the opportunity when the next chance arrives."

"Dismissed now. Student Chu Cheng, do not leave just yet."

With these words, several teaching assistants teleported away one after another. Yun Dingge gave a flick of his wide sleeves and teleported away simultaneously with Chu Cheng.

Reappearing once more in the mentor's office, Yun Dingge sat before the desk. With a wave of his sleeve, a light curtain sprang open in front of Chu Cheng, displaying equipment models emanating dazzling orange precious glows.

They were divided into two categories: weapons and various types of armor.

The armor included cloth armor, leather armor, scale armor, chainmail, and plate armor.

The weapons were even more numerous: single and double-handed swords, sabers, axes, hammers, daggers, bows, crossbows, shields, and everything else imaginable.

As he browsed through them, Yun Dingge’s voice came from across the desk:

"These are the legendary artifact embryo templates. You may freely choose any template from among them."