The screams and cries of both joy and mourning were heard as those who made bets and won successfully claimed their bounties whilst those who lost looked as if their souls were stolen from their bodies.
After winning his match, Ye Qin waited for the other classes to finish their matches. Once every class had a champion the winners of each class all gathered in one place before moving to their designated fields to battle.
The battles were based on groups namely Class 1 vs Class 2, Class 3 vs Class 4, Class 5 vs Class 6, and Class 7 vs Class 8. Wang Tao is in Class 1 whilst Ye Qin is in Class 5, the two of them stood on their respective fields as they battled their opponents simultaneously.
Ye Qin's opponent in Class 6 was a male student, as they stood across from each other, a student from Class 6 shouted "Do it for our class!". As for Ye Qin basically his entire class besides Lang Hui, Xie Xuefeng, and Tang Yaling cheered for him.
According to Ye Qin's observations on his opponent, they had barely won the last match. This meant that Ye Qin easily defeated his opponent who had an Uncommon grade monster, in fact, Ye Qin's opponent is weaker than Xie Xuefeng which bagged him another easy win.
After winning his match, Ye Qin sat down and waited for his next opponent while the winner of Class 6 looked slightly dejected as his class cheered him up.
"Seems like he's popular." Ye Qin thought.
After waiting for just a few minutes, Wang Tao too had won his match and sat down next to the former as they waited their turn.
"You sure took your time." Ye Qin said.
"Cmon boss, I just wanted to have a little fun by holding back just like you were." Wang Tao replied quietly so that no one else could hear them.
…
After the four battles between classes, the top four within the third year in Ye Qin's school was determined, Ye Qin and Wang Tao naturally took two of those four spots.
The top four of the school stood aligned in a row and faced the referee as he said "Now that the four of you are determined, we will draw lots to decide your next opponents for the semi-finals. The number at the end of your lot will decide your opponent, for example, 1 and 2 will be matched as well as 3 and 4."
The four of them nodded as they each pulled out a strip of paper from a box. Ye Qin looked at the end of his paper and saw a clearly printed number 3, Wang Tao patted his shoulder as he revealed the number 2.
"Hehehe boss looks like we will be facing off in the finals. Should we still hold back for that and then shock the entire stadium when we beat the other schools?" the fatty smirked and asked.
"..."
"Whatever you prefer." Ye Qin replied.
"..."
"..."
Staring at each other for a few moments, Wang Tao shook his head as he went to his field and faced his opponent as Ye Qin did the same.
…
"Battle 1: Wang Tao vs Tan Jiang"
"Battle 2: Ye Qin vs Feng Wei"
"The two battles will be held simultaneously as per the other matches previously." the referee said then turned around and spoke to the other referee quickly before they both made their way towards the two fields for the semi-finals.
"Begin!" the two refs said at the same time.
Woosh!
Feng Wei made the first move as a flash of grey light illuminated the space in front of him.
Roar!
A slightly transparent rhino appeared out of the monster sea as its huge body shook the field as it landed before slowly hovering itself in the air.
[Monster: Spectre Rhinoceros]
[Grade: Rare]
[Level: 10]
[Type: Beast, spirit]
[Element: Ghost, Earth]
"A rare ghost type monster huh, no wonder he won his matches with a monster of that level." Ye Qin thought.
Suddenly with a flash of golden light, a koi jumped out of the monster sea as it leaped through the air as if it were trying to become a mighty dragon.
With the few battles Ye Qin had been through, his koi gained a tiny amount of xp making it as if he hadn't battled at all. As he leveled up more and more, the required xp amount increased exponentially as the initial 25k xp suddenly became over 100k with just a difference of 5 or so levels. The journey ahead is truly a long one.
Feng Wei didn't give any leeway as his Spectre Rhino immediately moved its large body and flew towards Ye Qin's golden koi while its large horn picked up momentum and slowly started becoming red the closer it flew.
The Golden Koi naturally didn't allow itself to get hit and waited until the last second before impact and twisted its body around, dodging the horn before giving the Spectre Rhino a headbutt on its head.
Bang!
The power of Ye Qin's Golden Koi wasn't weak even in it's weakened form. The large spider web-like crack under the Spectre Rhino is proof of this. However, Ye Qin knew that a rare grade monster wouldn't be so easy to take down as even the former's classmates' monsters of the uncommon grade still required a few hits before taking them out of the game.
The Spectre Rhino picked itself up after crashing and taking some damage as it lifted its huge body upward and kicked its legs at the Golden Koi.
Woosh!
Woosh!
The Rhino's hind legs stretched as earth type energy protected its feet as it made way towards the Golden Koi floating in the air.
Woosh!
The Golden Koi instantly dived down between the gap of its stretched hind legs as it headbutts the Rhino's bottom.
Crash!
Roar!
The Spectre Rhino swung its leg and hit the Golden Koi slightly before flying away from the impact of the headbutt. Ye Qin's Golden Koi which had taken some slight damage moved around as if nothing had happened as it suddenly sped up and headbutt the Spectre Rhino at blinding speeds.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Awhuu!
Within just a few seconds, the Golden Koi landed dozens of headbutts which each carried amazing force and knocked out the Spectre Rhino completely before flying off towards Ye Qin disappeared into his Monster Sea.
"Winner, Ye Qin of Class 5!" the referee shouted.
"Whao!!!!"
"Ye Qin! Ye Qin! Ye Qin!" the students of Class 5 chanted in unison as if they were reciting the words from an occult group.
"..."
Ye Qin then nodded at his opponent Feng Wei before turning around and sat down next to Li Yutong, Tang Yaling, and Mo Qiu.
"You won again…" Li Yutong whispered into his ears.
"Yea." he nodded as he saw her bright red face.
He then thought to himself "Sigh looks like being handsome is a great sin." as he waited for his match against his best friend.
Looking ahead, Ye Qin watched the match between Wang Tao and Tan Jiang. The match is quite interesting since Tan Jiang's monster is also a cat type monster just like Wang Tao's Blackgold Python Tiger.
Looking at the blood-red cat monster before him, Ye Qin looked at its stats.
[Monster: Blood Clad Jaguar]
[Grade: Uncommon]
[Level: 13]
[Type: Beast (Cat)]
[Element: Fire]
[Additional Information: Extra type: Speed]
"Hmm, I don't think that extra information is any use since it is a cat type monster… Now let's see it's evolution branch."
"..."
"..."
"I see, there are quite a few branches." he thought as the battle continued.
******
Wang Tao's Blackgold Python Tiger roared as it faced the Blood Clad Jaguar which holds a similar bloodline to itself and suppressed it.
The Blood Clad Jaguar infused large flames into its claws and fangs as it pounced towards the Blackgold Tiger. Wang Tao's tiger waited for its opponent to close in before moving its claws and swiped at the smaller cat above its head.
Phwack!
Awhuu!
The Blood Clad Jaguar stood no chance as it flew out of the field spinning like a person swatting a fly from a single slap to its face, sending it flying next to another school's field.
"Ah crap! You slapped it too far!" Wang Tao shouted at his monster which kept its dignified manner as it disappeared into Wang Tao's Monster Sea.
Tan Jiang's eyes became blood red and stared at Wang Tao who shrugged as he ran towards his partner.
Ye Qin sitting in the stands thought "Wtf doesn't this seem like a cliche face slapping scene from a xianxia novel?"
…
After resting for twenty or so minutes even though they didn't need it in order to let the other schools catch up, Ye Qin and Wang Tao got up from their seats which were literally next to each other as they made their way to the field for their match.
"Good luck." Li Yutong said quietly to Ye Qin who nodded.
The two brothers who walked next to each other did some small talk just before splitting off, "Boss are you ready for the battle between men?" Wang Tao asked.
"..."
"Battle between men??" Ye Qin replied.
"Yup the battle between men, when we go up there I will say some lines that fodder characters like to say in novels before suffering a mighty defeat by you the main character!" the former laughed.
"..."
"When did this become a comedy skit?" Ye Qin wondered.
*******
Facing each other on the field, the referee shouted "Begin!". Wang Tao's chubby face moved as he shouted "It's time for your arrogance to end! With just a single slap I will send you to your mommy making you never want to appear again!"
Boo! Boo!
"Drop the comedy act!" someone shouted in the crowd.
"It's not funny!" another student shouted as well.
"..."
Ye Qin shook his head as the two brothers sent out their partners at the same time.
Woosh! Woosh!
Two flashes of golden light appeared on the field as their respective monsters returned to battle. The monsters naturally understood the intentions of their masters and looked at each other since they had been comrades who fought together through thick and skin in the Abandoned Lands.
Ye Qin's Golden Koi and Wang Tao's Blackgold Python Tiger that was in its chibi form the entire day flew off at the same instant and headbutt each other.
Bang!
Bang!
The force of their clash equaled as the minor shockwaves pushed the dirt backward creating sand clouds that blocked the vision of the spectators.
Bang! Bang!
The clashes of headbutts continued endlessly as the two monsters moved throughout the entire field. The attacks and speed of both monsters made the spectators only see blurs of movements before the mighty impacts of physical contact once again blocked their visions and created ringing sounds in their ears.
"No way! The two were holding back the entire time?! They were just messing around even against the champions of the other classes!" a defeated student shouted.
"Those headbutts are on a league of its own! They pack at least double the force that they did during the previous matches!" someone else said.
Bang! Bang!
The battle between the two monsters which reminded the crowd of a certain anime from a millennium ago continued for minutes on end.
Bang! Bang!
Bang!
After ten or so minutes of non-stop headbutting, the two monsters stopped attacking as they faced each other.
The two brothers looked at each other and nodded as the Golden Koi jumped back and gathered Gold element energy in its mouth. Similarly, the chibi Blackgold Python Tiger gathered the Gold element energy as the two monsters prepared to end the match with a single move.
Wang Tao thought inside his head "Hahahahaha, this is a tribute to the masterpiece D*agon B*ll!"
"It's time for a clash of K*meh*meh*!"
Once enough energy was gathered, the two monsters blasted out at the same time.
Woosh! Woosh!
Two beams of golden light flashed as two powerful beams of golden element energy clashed. The endless pouring of energy caught the attention of recruiters from some of the Universities who swayed away and paid attention to the match between the two brothers.
******
Woosh! Woosh!
The two beams of golden energy pushed back and forwards creating a beautiful sight to see. After pushing and shoving for a few minutes, the two monsters aimed their attacks upwards as it slowly dispersed into small golden rays of light that sprinkled downward like rain.
After this display of lights, the Golden Koi sped up and appeared in front of the Blackgold Python Tiger as if it had teleported and headbutted it. The Python Tiger went along with the act and jumped backward as it flung itself into the air in a beautiful arc before crashing and stuck out its tongue.
"..."
"What the f*ck?" someone shouted.
"Are they playing with us?"
"Look on the bright side at least the lights were nice to see!" someone hinted with a pun.
"..."
"What a s*itty pun…"
After winning the match, Ye Qin and Wang Tao sat down on the stands after getting the top two positions within the school. The recruiters who were watching previously shook their heads as they thought "Did I really just pay attention to these clowns? Though they are pretty good."
Sitting down at the stands, the two boys were lectured for making a joke out of the exam as they waited for every school to finish their matches.