I Break through Crazily

However, the person who fell was still not Tang Shu. Tang Shu remained standing like a roly-poly toy.

Her eyes were closed, and she swayed on the arena stage like a drunken sot.

The Tang Family disciple who fell was Tang Zhanfeng.

Tang Zhanfeng collapsed in the final three seconds, making Tang Haotian let out a sigh from the high platform, his expression turning ugly.

Tang Yi also frowned, feeling a touch of disappointment.

Two seconds left.

Another person fell on the stage, and it still wasn’t Tang Shu!

It was Fan Chun, who had a grudge against Tang Yi.

To think that someone with Fan Chun’s strength couldn’t hold on. This drew gasps of surprise from the audience members who knew him. Some disciples from Noble Families who were on good terms with Fan Chun also shook their heads in disappointment.

The Fan Family’s Clan Leader stamped his feet and beat his chest, utterly disappointed.

Two seconds. If he had just held on for two more seconds, Fan Chun would have made it to the third round, but he couldn’t do it.

The final second!

Tang Shu still hadn’t fallen!

Five minutes were up!

"Congratulations." After time was up, Wang Yu announced the end of the second round and then withdrew his aura.

By now, his forehead was beaded with sweat. Apparently, releasing his aura for five minutes was no easy task.

In the end!

Tang Shu had passed the second round, still teetering on the verge of collapse. Such persistence, such an Unyielding spirit—it was truly admirable.

A wave of thunderous applause erupted from the stands, all for Tang Shu. The audience praised her for having the heart of a true expert, commending her for being a woman who was no less than any man.

Wang Yu also remarked with admiration that if Tang Shu could enter the West Mansion, her future achievements would surely be limitless.

And the gazes of the Tang Family disciples upon Tang Shu were filled with pride and admiration.

From the high platform, the various Clan Leaders began to congratulate Tang Haotian directly.

This brought Tang Haotian a great deal of glory.

However, Tang Shu couldn’t hear any of this praise, nor could she feel the eyes upon her. After Wang Yu announced the end of the second round, it was as if she had fulfilled a lifelong wish. A smile appeared on her face, and then she fainted.

The Tang Family members rushed anxiously onto the stage to check on her. Fortunately, it was only exhaustion. She would recover after some rest, and it wouldn’t affect her participation in the third round tomorrow.

As for the others who had endured on the stage, they all let out sighs of relief. They collapsed onto their backs, gasping for air with blissful smiles on their faces.

Although this second round of the exam was only a few minutes long and seemed boring to the audience, the tension for the examinees was countless times higher than in the first round. All those who passed were ecstatic.

Of the more than one hundred examinees, over half were eliminated, with only forty-eight people passing. Among those eliminated were many outstanding disciples from various families who could have originally made it to the third round, but they were cut here. This just went to show how brutal the competition was.

Even the Tang Family had half of its members eliminated.

Originally, Tang Haotian wanted Tang Yi to lead six people into the West Mansion.

But now, only three had made it to the third round: Tang Baijie, Tang Piaomiao, and Tang Shu.

The other three—Tang Xuling, Tang Zhanfeng, and Tang Wulin—were all eliminated.

The Tang Family’s hopes now rested solely on Tang Yi, Tang Baijie, Tang Piaomiao, and Tang Shu.

"Tang Yi, the third round is tomorrow. I hope you don’t get beaten so badly you go crying to your mommy." As soon as the second round ended, Fan Wei provoked Tang Yi.

"Tang Yi, I really hope you can last long enough tomorrow to meet me. That way, I can teach you a lesson on how to behave. But looking at you, you definitely won’t make it that far. A piece of trash like you will probably get knocked out in the first match tomorrow. HAHAHAHA." Su Four Sabers finished with a loud laugh.

"You guys are underestimating Tang Yi so much. What if he goes on a rampage tomorrow and beats you half to death? Wouldn’t you lose a lot of face? Heh, I’m really looking forward to seeing you eat your words," Yuan Qiong said with a sly chuckle.

But he was just teasing Tang Yi. Even Yuan Qiong himself didn’t believe Tang Yi could actually make Fan Wei eat his words.

How could Tang Yi possibly have the Ability to do that? It was a ridiculous notion.

But Tang Yi ignored them. The results would speak for themselves tomorrow. He had already decided to be a little more heavy-handed. Otherwise, these people would just keep getting more and more arrogant.

’If a tiger doesn’t show its might, do they really think I’m just a sick cat?’

’Er, saying that feels a bit unfair to Little Tiger.’

"Tang Yi, remember your promise," Mu Xianling said, glancing at him.

"Don’t worry, I’m a man of my word. I hope you are too. After you lose, you’ll be my servant for three years. I hope you won’t try to back out by crying about it," Tang Yi replied coolly.

"You! What kind of person do you think I, Mu Xianling, am? How could I possibly go back on my word! You’re questioning my character!" Mu Xianling said angrily.

"As long as you don’t go back on your word, it’s fine," Tang Yi said with a nod, pretending to be relieved.

"Hmph, you make it sound like I’m going to lose. Just you wait, Tang Yi. A Big Waste like you wants to beat me? In your next life!" With that, Mu Xianling stormed off in a huff.

Fan Wei and his group also shot Tang Yi a few scornful glances, uttered a few more taunts, and left with a flick of their sleeves.

...

「The Tang Family Estate.」

After the second round of the exam ended, Tang Yi went with Tang Piaomiao and Tang Baijie, who had also advanced to the third round, to visit Tang Shu.

Seeing Tang Yi and the others, the young girl Tang Shu exclaimed in pleasant surprise, "Brother Tang Yi, Sister Baijie, Piaomiao, what are you all doing here?"

"Call me Brother Piaomiao. I’m older than you by a few days," Tang Piaomiao said coolly.

"Okay, Brother Piaomiao," Tang Shu said obediently.

Her current demeanor was a world apart from the Unyielding look she had on the arena stage; it was like she was a completely different person.

"How are you? Feeling better?" Tang Yi asked.

"It’s just exhaustion. I’ll be fine after some rest. It’s nothing serious. Thank you, brother and sister, for coming to see me," Tang Shu said sweetly. She really knew how to talk.

"You little sweet-talker," Tang Baijie said, tapping Tang Shu’s nose, looking at her with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

"Alright, that’s enough playing around. Sit down. Besides coming to see Shu’Er, I actually have something more important to discuss with you all," Tang Yi said, his expression turning serious.

Seeing Tang Yi’s serious look, the others quickly suppressed their smiles and sat up straight, ready to listen attentively.

Once everyone was settled, Tang Yi began, "Tomorrow’s third round is the ranking battles. This is when true skill matters. If you want to secure a qualification spot, persistence alone is useless. If you can’t get a spot, all your effort in the first two rounds will have been for nothing."

Tang Yi’s words were directed at Tang Shu, and she nodded seriously to show she understood.

Tang Yi continued, "The biggest problem for you now, if you want to pass the third round, is that your strength is simply too lacking. Compared to the disciples from the Noble Families of the same age, you’re several Levels lower. Trying to cram and raise your strength now is a long shot. The chances of passing the third round are slim to none."

Hearing this, Tang Baijie and the others’ faces fell.

They knew Tang Yi was speaking the truth. Although they had entered the third round, there were only twenty qualification spots. They would have to defeat twenty opponents to have a chance of securing a spot.

But how could defeating twenty opponents be so easy?

Among the forty-plus people who had passed into the third round, the average Level was Seven-star Battle Master or higher—all of them were significantly stronger than them. Defeating even one would be incredibly difficult, let alone twenty.

Seeing the gloomy expressions on Tang Baijie and the others, Tang Yi smiled. This was exactly the effect he wanted.

Then, Tang Yi said, deliberately leaving them in suspense, "However..."

"However what?" Tang Piaomiao immediately asked.

"I’ve prepared something for you," Tang Yi said mysteriously.

After speaking, he flipped his hand over, and several small, bean-like objects appeared in his palm.