His strength among the SR-level Awakeners was considered very top-notch, basically invincible, and few among his peers could stand against him.
Of course, Long Guocheng automatically disregarded Xiang Beifei.
He didn't count Xiang Beifei in because once he did, his confidence would dramatically drop a notch!
So far, the only one who could handle Long Guocheng was Xiang Beifei, whose ability completely neutralized Long Guocheng's, making his [Vision Pressure] basically just for show.
However, in his own eyes, Long Guocheng believed he was invincible now during the Qi-Controlling phase.
After all, since Xiang Beifei was no longer in the Qi-Controlling phase, the title of invincibility in that phase could finally "change hands"!
Without a tiger in the mountains, the monkey becomes king!
"These people are really weak; they should have let me take the stage earlier. A simple glance would have solved everything," Long Guocheng said, his easy victory over Lu Zhen bolstering his confidence greatly.
Suppressed by Xiang Beifei these past few months, he hadn't had a chance to strut, and at last, he could regain his confidence through others.
He walked back to the resting room with his head held high, and then he saw Xiang Beifei face to face, deflating immediately.
Damn it! Was he watching me the whole time?
What else has he figured out?
Long Guocheng guiltily avoided Xiang Beifei's gaze, instantly losing his previous arrogance, cursed inwardly for a moment, and then sat down to the side, disgruntled.
Each school had to participate in eight matches, with only four scheduled on the first day; Liangzhou University had completed its schedule for today.
However, they didn't leave immediately because there were matches from other schools still going on, which they continued to watch.
Xiang Beifei was also analyzing and recording, needing to recognize all the competing students from each school.
"Yanzhou University, Zhu Pengfei."
"Jingzhou University, Xue Hanyan."
Two people stood on the platform, and as usual, Xiang Beifei focused on them, observing their system interfaces.
Yet just then, Xiang Beifei felt something was off, because the system interface of the male student from Yanzhou University seemed a bit strange.
[SR-level, World Control System]
[Realm: Early Stages of Meridian Opening]
Upon seeing this system interface, Xiang Beifei was slightly stunned!
Why did this system look so familiar?
Wasn't that the highway couple serial killer he dealt with during the summer vacation?
Wait, wasn't that guy arrested?
He stared intently at the one named "Zhu Pengfei" on the platform, confirming the system interface of the other person once again.
It was indeed the same system he encountered before!
But the current "Zhu Pengfei" had a different appearance than the "Zhu Xinjue" Xiang Beifei had seen before.
What was most important was that this match was in the Qi-Controlling group!
In the Qi-Controlling group matches, normally the students sent out were SR-level Qi-Controllers, and it was forbidden to send out those at the Meridian Opening stage!
To make sure he wasn't mistaken, Xiang Beifei looked over Zhu Pengfei's system interface again and checked the system logs, quickly coming across a familiar interface—
[In the cruise ship world, you killed He Yun and acquired her cultivation.]
Xiang Beifei was even more astonished; it was indeed Zhu Xinjue!
"Meridian Opening stage? Zhu Xinjue? How did this guy become a freshman at Yanzhou University?"
All of a sudden, Xiang Beifei thought of something, and his gaze grew denser.
This guy should've been captured by Uncle Lu and then handed over to the Alliance Prison according to procedure, essentially a death sentence, but why was he now bouncing around alive and well in this year's freshman competition?
Had he changed his identity?
Xiang Beifei couldn't even recognize Zhu Xinjue's original face shape, as if—he had undergone plastic surgery!
In a world assisted by systems, medical technology was highly advanced; changing a face with a scalpel was simple. Xiang Beifei could see through the disguise of systems, but if the person had undergone surgery, then he had no way to ascertain their original true face.
However, no matter how one alters their appearance, the system itself will never change.
Xiang Beifei felt more and more that something was off.
"I'll step out for a moment, I'll be right back," he said.
Xiang Beifei immediately left the resting room and walked to the adjacent corridor to call Lu Hong.
"Beifei? It's been a long time since I've heard from you. How have you been?"
Lu Hong's voice on the other end of the phone was filled with joy.
Since the start of the school year, he hadn't seen Xiang Beifei. He usually only heard about Xiang Beifei's various descriptions at the university from his own daughter and was amazed by him. Unfortunately, Xiang Beifei was busy with his academics and didn't visit the house as often as Lu Zhiwei did.
"I'm fine. By the way, Uncle Lu, I wanted to ask, before the school year started at the end of August, when we went to catch that highway couple killer from Yanzhou University, what happened to that Zhu Xinjue in the end?" Xiang Beifei asked.
"Zhu Xinjue? Oh, him," Lu Hong replied.
Lu Hong's memory of the event was still fresh because Xiang Beifei had used his Qi-Controlling cultivation to forcibly overcome the Meridian Opening stage criminal, an event that still stood out in Lu Hong's mind.
"Afterward, we caught Zhu Xinjue, but since he was from Yanzhou University, they wanted to extradite him. However, I refused. We tried him here and he was incarcerated in Alliance Prison. Even if he was a student, he had to pay the price for killing so many people innocently!" he said firmly.
Lu Hong was very clear and serious about the matter.
"Just imprisoned? Doesn't the Alliance sentence such murderers to death?" Xiang Beifei asked.
"He was sentenced to death! But the specific execution details were out of my hands. The Jiuzhou Alliance's system has always been fair. Alliance Prison will handle the matter seriously and will not show leniency," Lu Hong explained.
Handle seriously? Will not show leniency?
Xiang Beifei's gaze turned icy.
A serious handling, indeed!
Zhu Xinjue was caught before the school year started at the end of August, and now in December, just four months later, he was seriously handled and released from prison?
And now, he even stood on the stage for this year's new student competition!
"Alright, I got it. Thank you, Uncle Lu. Sorry to bother you, I'll come to catch up next time I visit," Xiang Beifei responded politely, then hung up the phone.
He didn't inquire about more details from Lu Hong, who evidently always firmly believed in the Jiuzhou Alliance's system of fairness, assuming that the Alliance would administer justice and prosecute any criminal who violated Jiuzhou's laws!
But there was one thing Lu Hong seemed to have forgotten all along.
This Zhu Xinjue was an SR-level Awakener!
The Jiuzhou Alliance was very lenient towards SR-level, as well as SSR and UR-level, Awakeners. High-level Awakeners could suppress those with lower levels, which for the Jiuzhou Alliance, managing the vast land of Jiuzhou, depended on high-level Awakeners.
Lu Hong was just a small S-level district team leader in Liangzhou; he was upright and diligent, staunchly just, and always handled criminals by the book.
However, once a criminal was handed over to the Alliance, what happened afterward was beyond the control of an S-level law enforcement leader.
He believed the Alliance would deal with such criminals justly and fairly, executing the sentence.
But was the Jiuzhou Alliance really as simple as he imagined?
"With many SR-level teachers and SSR-level individuals present at this freshmen competition, isn't Yanzhou University worried about Zhu Xinjue being recognized so blatantly on stage?" Xiang Beifei pondered.
Logically, a person with serious crimes who managed to escape punishment should lay low for a while instead of showing off in such a grand public setting.
Although Zhu Xinjue had changed his name and his face, he should still be cautious. As a Meridian Opening stage expert posing as a Qi-Controlling stage newcomer, wasn't he afraid of SSR-level referees noticing something amiss?
"Unless even the SSR-level referees couldn't tell!"
Xiang Beifei had already thought of a possibility.
Though there were many powerful professors and Alliance officials present, after looking around, Xiang Beifei realized that the person with the highest system talent was merely SSR-level at most.
To make it impossible for even SSR-level individuals to discern the truth, there was only one explanation.
And it had to be a very powerful UR Awakener at that!