Chapter 110: The Individual Tournament Begins
The conversation between the two remained unknown to anyone else.
As Elder Mu stepped into the office, a shocking piece of news regarding the Genius Tournament exploded across the city within minutes! That night, countless weary media employees were roused from sleep and roadside stalls, summoned back to their offices to work overnight. As emergency videos and articles flooded out, information began to spread at a geometric rate.
A message so unbelievable it left many sleepless quickly swept through the masses. Numerous diehard fans of Li Zong angrily decried the media’s shamelessness in chasing attention. The night flew by swiftly...
By the time morning arrived, it was already the next day.
Beep, beep, beep, beep...
The phone alarm beside the bed rang on time and was quickly silenced. Song Qi sat up, eyes bleary, yawning. Influenced by Chu Shaojiang, he no longer lingered in bed but prepared to hone the skill proficiency of Targeted Teleportation.
[Targeted Teleportation LV6: The user can instantly move to any visible location within a maximum range of two kilometers, cooldown time 4 minutes.] (Current proficiency 14/100)
[Maximum level: LV10]
Once he maxed out this skill, Song Qi would be able to teleport without cooldown, greatly enhancing his safety.
Clearing his head, Song Qi got up to wash, then picked up his phone.
“It’s seven in the morning, but...”
“What on earth is this news?!”
Frowning, Song Qi tapped open the pop-up.
[Shocking! A super dark horse from District Seven, his strength eclipses Li Zong? He is...]
He clicked through the sensational article, scrolling directly to the end.
[...After all this, you must be curious who this person is? That’s right, this super genius from District Seven is none other than Song Qi!!!]
“Wait, they really know?!”
Seeing his name there, he was stunned.
Even more bewildering, eight out of ten related articles recommended at the end were also about him!
[Unbelievable! Li Zong suffers his first ever defeat since birth!]
[The man praised by Li Zong—do you know who he is?]
[The legend of invincibility broken, Li Zong’s undefeated status shattered by him.]
...
Although none of these titles mentioned his name, Song Qi instantly recognized himself in the descriptions.
“No, no, no!”
“Wasn’t the Genius Tournament information supposed to be strictly confidential? How did it get leaked?”
“Was it a collective leak?”
“And even if it was leaked, shouldn’t these articles be swiftly deleted? Doesn’t District One have moderators?”
Though, thanks to Di Xin, Song Qi no longer feared the demonic curse killings, the exposure of his information still left him bewildered.
After some brief pondering, he deduced the cause.
“Could it be that this information was deliberately released by the authorities?”
“Yesterday they were trying to keep me low profile, now suddenly a complete reversal, making me famous?”
“Strange... Did something happen last night?”
“Or perhaps... Di Xin’s abilities have been detected?”
From Song Qi’s perspective, yesterday Li Zong had broken his own restraint to defeat him instantly, just to lower his importance in the eyes of the demons. Yet today they were loudly promoting him, deliberately leaking certain details. The contrast was too stark.
The only explanation was that the human leadership already knew the demonic curse was ineffective against him, thus acting so fearlessly.
“But I’ve never revealed Di Xin, so they must have used some method to learn part of the truth without knowing Di Xin’s existence.”
“But what’s their purpose in promoting me so openly?”
“Even if I’m immune to curses, there’s no need for such publicity, is there?”
“Do they value my potential, wanting to cultivate a second Li Zong?”
“Or are they hoping I’ll share Li Zong’s burden?”
Song Qi shook his head. Lacking key information, he had no idea where to start guessing, so he dropped the matter.
Dressed and ready to leave, he noted that although his information was everywhere online, fortunately no photos had been leaked, so his daily life remained unaffected.
“Today’s goal is to raise Targeted Teleportation to level 7!”
............
...............
Whoosh!
At noon, Song Qi appeared once more at the hotel entrance. Feeling slightly fatigued, he pressed his forehead, then took out a vial of elixir and let a drop fall into his mouth, instantly feeling invigorated.
“Excellent!”
“Though I used up two drops of Life Water again, I’ve successfully raised the skill to level 7, and the cooldown is now only three minutes!”
“If nothing unexpected happens, at this pace, it’ll take at most a week to max out the skill.”
The Life Water was a gift from Song Qi’s first meeting with the city lord. He hadn’t finished the first vial yet, and he still had a second, enough to sustain his training.
Returning to his room, he quickly showered, then headed straight for the competition venue.
On his way, he repeatedly used his skill to travel faster and increase proficiency.
Soon, he reached the center of the venue.
The arena was already packed with contestants.
As he entered, every gaze turned toward him.
Most looked on with curiosity and envy.
A few with resentment.
Seeing him, Chu Shaojiang’s eyes brightened and he hurried over.
“Brother Song, news of you defeating Li Zong a couple days ago somehow got out. All the media are...”
“I know already, it’s fine,” Song Qi waved off his explanation and went to the lottery table, casually picking a ball.
“Group A, number 48.”
“You’ll be up in the fourth round today, just be here before 3 p.m.,” the registrar glanced at him and jotted down the details.
This round was an individual contest. With so many participants and to allow everyone to fully display their abilities, no more than six groups could be on stage at once.
They also aimed to accurately identify the strongest individuals, so a losers’ bracket revival round was included.
Thus, the matches would take much longer than before, requiring a full three days.
Song Qi glanced at the contestant roster.
His first-round opponent was... Li Zong?!
“Interesting...”
Song Qi smiled softly.
“They’re determined to make me famous, aren’t they?”