It was finally the first floor, and Xu An was eager to get out quickly. She heard Chu Yu say something behind her.
"Good luck with the competition!"
As the saying goes, you don't hit a smiling face. The other party showed no malice, at least on the surface. Xu An had nothing to say, so she could only nod and then quickly walked towards Zhou Haimei.
Chu Yu followed Xu An out of the elevator.
Upon seeing Zhou Haimei, Xu An only then realized that the figure she saw at the station the last time she rode with Zhou Haimei was Chu Yu!
So, the other party didn't suddenly appear. He even took the same train to the competition with her every day, yet Xu An had never noticed his presence?
The more Xu An thought about it, the more she was alarmed.
She didn't think it was because Chu Yu lacked presence. Not to mention anything else, Chu Yu's sickly pale skin was enough to attract attention.
"Do you remember Chu Yu?" Xu An suddenly asked.
"Chu Yu?" Zhou Haimei thought for a moment before finding a slightly blurry face that matched the name in the corner of her memory.
"You mean that inexplicable top ten contestant from yesterday?"
"Yes," Xu An nodded. She wasn't surprised that Zhou Haimei would describe Chu Yu as inexplicable.
She believed that everyone present yesterday would have a very inexplicable feeling about this person.
Some even questioned if Chu Yu was an official plant, suspecting a backstage deal.
Otherwise, how could someone compete all the way to the top ten without the audience having any impression of them?
Xu An and Zhou Haimei had left early yesterday and didn't know what happened afterward.
It was said that to prove their fairness, the officials had released all of Chu Yu's matches from the first round to the top ten.
It was then that many people exclaimed that they had actually been Chu Yu's opponents, but even those who had personally competed against Chu Yu would forget him afterward.
This was the truly terrifying aspect of this man.
"It didn't have much of an impact. I heard from people at the training hall yesterday that the officials specifically played Chu Yu's match videos to prove that Chu Yu had won all his matches, which is strange. Even the contestants who competed against him said they had no memory of this man."
"I felt the same way. I ran into Chu Yu in the elevator again just now, and I just felt very strange."
Zhou Haimei was unfazed. "Perhaps he's naturally someone with such a low presence." She thought for a long time but couldn't find a reasonable explanation, so she classified Chu Yu as having a naturally low presence.
But Xu An didn't think so.
"Let's go quickly. Don't be nervous for today's competition, good luck!" Zhou Haimei's voice was bright and energetic.
It was as if she had dispelled endless gloom, and even Xu An's face showed a few more smiles.
"Don't worry, although Liu Qiang is ranked ninth, he actually got lucky. Before the finals, he challenged a young girl, and that girl's points sent Liu Qiang straight into the top ten."
Xu An had actually already had her subordinate, Mouse, investigate what Zhou Haimei was saying, otherwise, she wouldn't have rashly chosen him.
But what Zhou Haimei didn't know was that Liu Qiang was also Zhou Xiong's brother.
Xu An was quite surprised when she found out, but she didn't intend to condemn him outright.
She had investigated Liu Qiang. While there were some unsavory moments in his matches, he had never intentionally made things difficult for his opponents or used banned substances.
In this regard, Xu An thought he was a qualified opponent.
As the two were talking, they arrived near the arena. As the competition progressed, more and more people were eliminated, and the venue began to become more crowded.
Xu An and Zhou Haimei's competition venue was only one person's distance apart.
Shortly after arriving at the venue, Xu An was called over. A staff member told Xu An that since she was challenging a higher-ranked opponent from a lower position, she could choose her weapon for this match.
Yes, a weapon.
As the competition progressed, in almost all the later matches, all contestants were allowed to use cold weapons.
However, there was one condition: all weapons were provided by the Lighthouse and were non-lethal, meaning they were not sharpened.
After all, the Lighthouse's goal was to select talent, not to have talents slaughter each other.
Before going on stage, Xu An chose an ancient Miao dao. The unsharpened blade gleamed coldly, and with a gentle flick, it emitted a heavy hum, as if longing to fight alongside its master.
She looked at this Miao dao; it was no less impressive than the precious sword her mother had obtained through great expense from her spatial storage.
It was evident that the Lighthouse had placed great importance on this selection competition, bringing out only high-quality items.
Liu Qiang spent a long time browsing the weapon rack and finally chose a large saber that was half his height.
All weapons were provided by the Lighthouse, so there was no distinction between good or bad. The only way to determine superiority was through the opponents wielding them.
As he stepped onto the stage, Liu Qiang looked at Xu An and said something out of the blue.
"Let's keep things separate. Today, we're just competing. We can discuss other matters after we leave the Lighthouse."
The audience was dumbfounded. The rowdy followers, hearing their leader's words, also froze, not understanding the meaning.
A few people who knew about the grievances between Liu Qiang and Xu An frowned, but they didn't say anything.
Xu An looked at him and thought that her judgment of people was indeed good. At least Liu Qiang wasn't trying to cause trouble in this match, which put her mind at ease.
She then nodded, agreeing to Liu Qiang's terms.
As soon as the words fell, and with the referee's signal,
Both of them shot towards each other like arrows loosed from a bow. In an instant, the audience saw two long sabers collide, sparking fire.
The moment they made contact, Liu Qiang's expression instantly became tense. He seemed not to have expected that Xu An's strength was no less than his, and she could withstand his full-force attack.
With a sudden lunge, Xu An's toes pushed off the ground, and she swung her saber directly towards Liu Qiang.
Liu Qiang ducked and sidestepped, attempting to flank Xu An for a surprise attack. How could Xu An let him succeed? She used a waist bend to evade Liu Qiang's sweeping saber.
After only a few exchanges, Liu Qiang's forehead was covered in a layer of cold sweat. While shocked, he couldn't help but think of his "good brother" Zhou Xiong.
He felt a deep sense of powerlessness facing Xu An. It was then that he realized why Xu An dared to challenge him with such confidence.
He also lamented that Zhou Xiong, that scoundrel, truly deserved to lose to this woman!