Chapter 141 (2): Let's Go, Academy Idol Fang!

The battles between the Warlords were very fierce and elicited many rounds of cheers and applause, but Fang Che was struggling to stay awake.

The Warlord who ultimately came out on top was a third-year student from White Cloud Warrior Academy.

For an academy student of his age, he was already an exceptional talent, possessing aptitude, practical combat experience, and diligence in equal measure, but in Fang Che's eyes, he still had far too many flaws and weaknesses.

Thinking back to the prodigies of the demonic churches that he had encountered during the Parasite Ascension Project, there had been at least thirty to forty among the ones that he had killed that would've been superior to the top Warlord finisher had they reached the Warlord themselves.

As for those who had survived, even the likes of Ling Kong and Xi Yun were superior to the top Warlord finisher, let alone the super prodigies like Yan Beihan and Chen Yin, and this was already the best that the southeast had to offer.

The Church of the Self-Righteous really is blessed by divine forces.

It was quite a sobering thought for Fang Che.

In Fang Che's eyes, the top Warlord finisher's chances of getting to represent the Guardians in the friendly matches against the Church of the Self-Righteous were very slim.

If someone like him turned out to be the cream of the crop among the young prodigies of the Guardians, then the future generations of the Guardians had no hope of overcoming their demonic church counterparts.

Next came the King tier battles.

"Who would like to be the first king of the stage?" the referee asked.

Fang Che immediately sprang up into the air, his gold-embroidered black cloak flying off his shoulders in mid-air before drifting onto Ye Meng's lap with unerring accuracy.

He soared through the air like a majestic bird, momentarily stunning everyone present with his unmatched flair, then made a soft landing on the stage before turning around with a relaxed smile as he declared, "I am Fang Che, a chief administrator of the White Cloud Prefecture Hall of Protectionists. I will be the first king of the stage. Any and all challenges are welcome."

The twenty Kings, thirty Warlords, and dozen or so Emperors of White Cloud Warrior Academy immediately began cheering in unison.

"Let's go, Academy Idol Fang!"

The entire venue trembled under the weight of their collective voices.

"Academy Idol Fang? What does that mean?"

Those outside of White Cloud Warrior Academy were perplexed.

"Would you say he's handsome or not?" someone from White Cloud Warrior Academy asked.

"Of course!"

"Have you ever seen anyone more handsome than him?"

"I can't recall any."

"There you go! That's why he's our academy idol! Ever since Fang Che first came to our White Cloud Warrior Academy, he was immediately selected as academy idol by the female students through a unanimous vote! He's the first academy idol in the history of our academy!"

"I see. Honestly, I can't think of a more fitting title for him!"

Fang Che's expression immediately darkened as soon as he heard the chants of "Academy Idol Fang," and he drew his saber from its scabbard, then pointed it menacingly at the twenty Kings of White Cloud Warrior Academy as he snarled, "Quit making up false stories! If you keep this, I'll have to teach all of you a lesson one by one!"

"There aren't any false stories being told here, Academy Idol Fang! You are the one and only academy idol in the history of our academy!"

"Ever since you left, the title of academy idol has been collectively retired by all of the girls, so you'll be the first and last academy idol in our history!"

"Let's go, Academy Idol Fang!"

This time, everyone present in the venue was joining in on the chants, rocking the entire venue with their thunderous voices.

Fang Che's expression darkened even further, and everyone was spurred on by his embarrassed reaction, chanting with growing volume and enthusiasm.

"I'll take you on, Academy Idol Fang!"

A young King from White Cloud Warrior Academy jumped onto the stage with an amused smile.

"Academy idol my arse!" Fang Che grumbled as he launched himself at his first opponent with his saber raised high above his head.

The challenger was already prepared, and he raised his sword to parry the attack, but there was far more force behind Fang Che's saber than he anticipated, and he was sent flying off the stage with an alarmed yelp.

"Since when did you get this strong, Academy Idol Fang?" he asked as he stared up at Fang Che with an astonished expression.

He was an eighth-rank King, and even though he had slightly underestimated Fang Che, there was still no way that he should've been knocked off the stage by a single blow!

"Don't call me that!" Fang Che snapped with a menacing expression.

"Don't call you what? Academy Idol Fang? Alright, Academy Idol Fang. Hey, all of you better be careful! Academy Idol Fang is really strong right now!"

Fang Che was left gritting his teeth in fury, but thankfully, there were still quite a few people left for him to beat up as a means to blow off steam.

From there, Fang Che began fighting the other Kings back-to-back, and none of them proved to be a match for him.

***

By the time his fourth opponent stepped onto the stage, he decided to enforce a rule, which was that those defeated by him were never allowed to call him Academy Idol Fang again.

As Fang Che defeated one foe after another, the battle intent in his chest was constantly elevating, and he could feel the spirit qi in his body surging to new heights.

During his twenty-seventh battle, he abruptly sprang up into the air, and the blade of his saber began to glow with blinding radiance as the spirit qi in his body surged forth like a turbulent river.

He felt a breath hitch at the base of his throat, forcing him to let loose an involuntary roar.

In the heat of battle, he had made a breakthrough to the second-rank King tier, and he resembled a deity of war, suspended high up in the heavens with his saber held aloft.

In this instant, he was overcome by a sense of enlightenment, and at the same time, another bottleneck was simultaneously broken.

The spirit qi coursing through his meridians became mightier and more turbulent than ever, marking a breakthrough to the second level of the Boundless Sutra!

The power of the Boundless Sutra instantly swept through his entire body, relegating all of his ordinary spirit power back to his dantian, where it was too afraid to even move.

The power of the Boundless Sutra raced through his meridians like a mighty dragon, rapidly assimilating his spirit power bit by bit.

The misty vortex in his dantian swelled drastically in size, and countless dense clouds were constantly taking shape around it.

Fang Che's involuntary roar rang out for several minutes without pause, and it was clearly audible within a radius of dozens of kilometers.

As for Fang Che himself, he was completely oblivious to all of these changes taking place within his body as he had entered a fully immersive and senseless state.

Old Man Shen, Li Changkong, and An Ruoxing were all astonished by what they were witnessing, while Zhao Shanhe was far away from the southeastern headquarters, looking on from a distance with a stunned look of excitement on his face.

So be it! Even if my reputation is dragged through the mud, it'll be well worth it for the sake of such a generational talent!

Only warriors of their caliber knew what Fang Che was currently experiencing.

At the moment, he was undergoing a transformation colloquially known as "casting behind one's mortal form."

For the average warrior, this was often a transformation that could only be undergone at the Sovereign tier, and some could even reach the Sage tier without taking this step.

Once this evolution was complete, it would be as if one were reborn anew.

"How many of you are left?!" An Ruoxing hurriedly asked.

"Ten!"

"Two of you, get up there at once!" An Ruoxing urged. "Hurry! Right now, he needs to be subjected to high-pressure combat to forge his foundation!"

A pair of Kings from White Cloud Warrior Academy instantly jumped onto the stage at once.

They had already completely cast aside all ambitions of claiming the top spot in the selection trials, and their only objective now was to help Fang Che consolidate his foundation.

However, the two of them were no match for Fang Che, and they were knocked off the stage in just two blows.

"The rest of you, go together!" An Ruoxing yelled.

The remaining eight warriors instantly sprang onto the stage in unison, but it didn't take long before they were also swatted off the stage like flies.

Meanwhile, Fang Che was still in his immersive state of enlightenment, showing no signs of regaining lucidity.

"Li Changkong! You go!" An Ruoxing yelled.

As Fang Che's instructor, Li Changkong knew Fang Che better than everyone else present.

Li Changkong immediately jumped onto the stage without hesitation, then drew his sword and charged into battle.

Initially, he decided to restrict his power to the sixth-rank King tier, only to almost be knocked off the stage after just a single clash. A stunned look appeared on his face as he hurriedly increased his power to the eighth-rank King tier, but was still no match.

Only after elevating his power to the first-rank Emperor tier was he finally able to keep up with Fang Che, but even then, they were still only evenly matched.

Furthermore, Fang Che's strength was only growing with each passing clash, and before long, Li Changkong found himself being forced onto the back foot again.

He gritted his teeth as he increased his power further to the third-rank Emperor tier, and finally, Fang Che was forced back for the first time.

Li Changkong pounced on the retreating Fang Che, swinging his longsword down mercilessly over and over again like a hammer, as if he were trying to forge Fang Che like a piece of metal.

With each blow, he made sure to completely dominate Fang Che in power while simultaneously ensuring that no harm befell his student.

As the battle wore on, Li Changkong's astonishment only became further and further compounded.

How does he have so much endurance? It's like he has limitless strength!

At this point, he had already dealt three hundred consecutive blows upon Fang Che, but the latter's strength hadn't waned in the slightest!