The second stage of the challenge was indeed carried out according to Jiang Haiyi's plan. After Ding Meng defeated Mu Hua, no one else came to challenge him. At this moment, everyone was challenging Jiang Haiyi, and this Jiang Haiyi was indeed strong. He basically defeated all his opponents in an instant. Ding Meng observed his matches with great interest.
Du Mo's call came in again, and his tone was even more serious. "Ding Meng, I feel that he is scheming against you."
"He" was naturally referring to Jiang Haiyi. Ding Meng asked curiously, "How is he scheming?"
Du Mo sighed, "Ding Meng, do the math yourself. Other than you and me, if everyone challenged him and he won all of them, or if they deliberately let him win, he would have at least 40 points of being challenged. Plus the 26 points of the reward, he would have 66 points. Then he would challenge others, and if he won 10 matches in a row, plus the reward, he would have 170 points, which would be a total of 236 points. No matter what, you would never be able to surpass him. Do you find it strange now that no one has challenged you? It's not because you are strong, but because they have discussed it beforehand."
Ding Meng reacted. "Do you mean that Yong Bang and Mu Hua are testing me?"
Du Mo said, "Yes. If you are easy to deal with, then the others will beat you until you are crippled. You will not be able to make a comeback. If you are not easy to deal with, then no one will challenge you. In the end, your points will not be as high as his …"
He seemed to feel that he was being too tactful, so he simply told the truth. "Ding Meng, as far as I know, as long as these students lose to Jiang Haiyi, the Jiang Family will give them all kinds of rewards afterward. Take Yong Bang for example. He is definitely not as good as Jiang Haiyi, but the Jiang Family has also promised that as long as Yong Bang loses to Jiang Haiyi, the Jiang Family will be willing to give 2% of the profits of the joint project between the Jiang Family and the Yong Family in Blue Pole Star City. Don't tell anyone about this, but it is absolutely true."
Ding Meng was silent and said, "I understand. Thank you, Du Mo."
Du Mo sighed. "Ding Meng, quickly think of a way!"
The call was quickly cut off, and Little Rascal immediately shouted, "How can this be?
He's obviously cheating. "
Xiao Ai rolled her eyes at her. "Even if he cheated, it was still within the scope of the rules. He didn't disobey the rules. There's no such thing as a perfect rule. It's up to you to make use of it."
That was indeed the case. No matter how perfect the rules of this world were, with the shrewdness of humans, they could break them down in a matter of minutes.
Little Rascal was unconvinced. "This Jiang Clan is willing to bleed, huh? They spent so much effort to nurture a champion of the examination."
Xiao Ai said, "This is called double insurance."
Ding Meng muttered to herself, "No, he won't succeed."
Little Rascal and Little Rascal asked curiously, "Why?"
Ding Meng said, "Even if he's ranked first in terms of points, his total score might not necessarily be first."
Little Rascal immediately understood. "I get it now. The overall score is based on points and popularity."
Although the first stage's overall strength score had been finalized, the popularity score had not been turned off. It was still displaying its current value. The current popularity score ranking was as follows:
First place: Jiang Haiyi, 48,955 points.
Second place: Liang Yiran, 47889 points;
Third place: Sun Shiling, 46121 points;
Fourth place: Du Mo, 32,910 points;
Fifth place: Mu Hua Song, 30,717 points;
Sixth place: Dongfang Liyan, 25,671 points;
Seventh place: Ding Meng, 24,222 points;
…
It could be seen that Ding Meng was still far in the lead. Liang Yiran and Sun Shiling were still the focus of the students' attention. Du Mo and the other two had attracted attention because of their family background. The reason why Ding Meng was able to occupy seventh place was all because of the popularity he had won in the previous challenge.
"Is there a way to increase my popularity?" Ding Meng asked.
Little Rascal's round smiling face was very sinister. "Don't worry, there's definitely a way. Prepare a feast for them. Ding Meng, listen to me from now on …"
The challenges were still ongoing. Just as Du Mo said, almost everyone was challenging Ding Meng. Surprisingly, no one was challenging Ding Meng.
This pattern was quickly discovered by Cartel. He couldn't help but say angrily, "Hey, Teng Ma 'er, isn't it a little inappropriate for your nephew to do this?"
Teng Ma was puzzled. "What do you mean by inappropriate? Love Addict, what are you talking about? I don't understand."
"Stop pretending!"
Cartel was a little angry. "Everyone is challenging your nephew, but no one is challenging Ding Meng. Don't you think it's strange?"
Teng Ma said, "What's so strange about that? In everyone's heart, Hai Yi is the strongest. If they don't challenge the strongest, are they going to challenge someone weaker than them?"
Cartel was speechless by his twisted logic. Transit String continued, "But no matter how they challenge, Hai Yi and Ding Meng will definitely fight."
This was the truth. As long as Ding Meng and Jiang Haiyi had a brain, they would definitely challenge each other as their last opponent. This was because whether or not they could achieve ten consecutive victories was the deciding factor.
They weren't the only ones who thought of this. Dai Yi and the other two were also secretly discussing this. Now, as the competition continued, the rankings were changing drastically. However, no matter how much it changed, Ding Meng's four points didn't change at all.
First place: Jiang Haiyi, 56 points;
Second place: Liang Yiran, 54 points;
Third place: Sun Shiling, 54 points;
Fourth place: Yong Bang, 46 points;
Fifth place: Mu Hua, 42 points;
Sixth place: Dongfang Liyan, 36 points;
Seventh place: Dai Ningsheng, 36 points;
…
Du Mo was ranked 12th with 30 points. Ding Meng was ranked last with a pitiful four points.
Looking at the rankings on the big screen, Eirinn's expression became thoughtful. "Little Mengmeng hasn't started his challenge yet. Therefore, his challenge is very important."
Dai Yi understood what she meant. Ding Meng's first opponent would definitely be a heavyweight to gain popularity. Therefore, the probability of him challenging Jiang Haiyi was very high.
"Look, it's changing, it's changing again," Xu Qianqian suddenly exclaimed.
At this moment, the challenge arena began to change. This map was very familiar to any Starlight student — "Training Arena No. 1". This was exactly the same as the enclosed training room in the dojo. It was the size of a basketball court, and there was only a square iron cage. Other than that, there was nothing else. As long as one was an origin ability user, they would have seen it before.
This map was extremely simple, but everyone was very curious. Choosing this map didn't give the challenger any advantage. Who was the weirdo who chose this map?
Soon, the subtitles appeared. "Ding Meng VS Sun Shiling!"
Suddenly, the audience was filled with chatter. Everyone couldn't figure out why Ding Meng didn't choose Jiang Haiyi and chose Sun Shiling instead. Could it be that Ding Meng also had his eyes on the goddess and wanted to show off?
"Is that the case?" Eirinn asked with a grin.
"No!" Dai Yi shook his head firmly. "He must have his reasons."
The image was quickly transmitted to the training room. The blue alloy walls were very eye-catching. Sun Shiling's outfit was a white T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. There was a red heart printed on her chest with the letters "JS" engraved on it. This was her and Jiang Haiyi's matching outfit. She looked youthful, beautiful, and in high spirits.
On the other hand, Ding Meng was still wearing the refugee outfit that Ah Qiao had sewn for him on planet KV303. There were still patches on his knees. The two's outfits were a sharp contrast.
However, no one in the audience dared to look down on this refugee. Everyone was full of anticipation for this refugee's performance. What kind of exciting performance would he put on this time?
Sun Shiling had long since perked up. When she saw that it was Ding Meng challenging her, she didn't dare to be careless.
The two of them had secretly exchanged blows before. Not only was her attack-type spiritual force unable to control Ding Meng, but it was also suppressed by Ding Meng's telekinesis. Thus, she didn't use any of her spiritual force the moment she entered the arena. She knew that it would be useless.
However, what puzzled her was that she didn't feel Ding Meng using any telekinesis. Ding Meng just stood straight in front of her. There wasn't a single fluctuation of energy coming from his body. It was as if he had no intention of making a move. What was going on?
"Do you know who Zheng Ming is?" Ding Meng finally spoke. He went straight to the point as soon as he opened his mouth.
Sun Shiling immediately became vigilant. "Who is Zheng Ming?"
"It doesn't matter if you don't know him. Let me give you a heads up."
Ding Meng spoke bluntly. "When the Sun Family first migrated to Blue Pole Star City, they lived in the underground city, right? Zheng Ming is your neighbor. Old Zheng's eel noodles, remember?
You grew up eating this … "
Hearing this, Jiang Haiyi's face sank. This kid actually knew about these secrets. As expected, he had come prepared.
Sun Shiling's face was also extremely ugly. "What are you trying to say?"
Ding Meng smiled. "Are you sure you want me to continue?"
"Shut up!"
Sun Shiling flew into a rage. She definitely couldn't let Ding Meng reveal this in front of so many people. Thus, she didn't hesitate to make a move.
A crystal-blue ice ball immediately appeared in the small training room and quickly sealed Ding Meng inside. Her "Dark Ice Force" was obviously at the peak level. She could release it at will without any warning.
However, although this "Dark Ice Force" could seal Ding Meng's body, it couldn't seal his mouth. "Zheng Ming was originally your childhood sweetheart. However, after you awakened your origin ability, you turned to Ding Meng's embrace without hesitation …"
As soon as these words came out, the entire audience was in an uproar. No one would have thought that the beautiful goddess Sun Shiling actually had such a past.
This Ding Meng was really awesome. He didn't use any big moves when he came up. Instead, he went straight to the point. What's the point of being an origin ability user? Reporters should be your profession.
The ice ball began to emit steam and then quickly evaporated. In the blink of an eye, the snow collapsed on the steel plate. Within a few seconds, it was melted into nothingness by the heat emitted by Ding Meng.
Sun Shiling wasn't surprised. She was very clear about Ding Meng's origin ability index. However, she didn't expect Ding Meng to be able to melt the "Dark Ice Force" without even moving. Now, she didn't dare to act rashly. She just stared coldly at her opponent.
Ding Meng sneered and said, "When it comes to love between a man and a woman, it's all about mutual consent. No one can force anyone to be with whom. However, you clearly fell into someone else's arms. Why didn't you explain clearly to Zheng Ming?"