Nine Star Burden

Chapter 71: Double Upgrade

“The Star Power in his body has faded quite a bit. His clothes are all tattered and torn and his Star Beads are at the side. He can’t replenish his Star Power.”

“Surround him, don’t let him get his Star Beads. It’ll be a matter of time before we win,” said an extremely excited Zhu Wu.

“Maybe, we should destroy or pick up these Star Beads?” Jiang Xiao asked as he glanced at the referee.

The referee was stunned for a moment. The Star Beads were Gao Junwei’s personal property, which was equivalent to money. If they were to be destroyed or snatched away, it seemed to be unaligned with the style and original purpose of the competition.

Star Beads were not allowed to be used for replenishment during other competitions with regular rules. However, the rules were more lenient due to the fact that it was an internal competition in school.

The referee gave it some thought and waved the flag before saying, “No, you’re not allowed to do that.” He was considering things from the school’s perspective.

Jiang Xiao said, “That means Gao Junwei isn’t allowed to snatch our Star Beads for replenishment either.”

The referee was dumbfounded this time because he realized that it was a trick question. So this is the kid’s true intentions?

The referee burst into laughter and said, “Nope.”

“There you go!” Jiang Xiao chuckled and surrounded Gao Junwei together with the Zhu brothers.

Gao Junwei was indeed in a terrible state. When he was fighting the Year Two students previously, he had used the Gold Quality Star Technique, Roar of Fear, twice.

Along the way, Jiang Xiao seemed to be in control of him as the latter got agitated by Jiang Xiao’s taunting and provoking. Besides, his arrogance blinded him and he failed to realize how serious the problem was. Hence, he did not absorb any Star Beads to replenish his Star Power.

There were differences between various Gold Quality Star Techniques. The amount of Star Power depleted by Roar of Fear was incredibly large.

While battling the Year One champions, Gao Junwei used his Gold Quality Star Technique, Roar of Fear, twice.

He also used Charge, Green Glow, Bursting Flames, and Burning Flame, which depleted plenty of his Star Power, leaving him with barely any Star Power to support himself.

Theoretically speaking, he could stop covering his body with Burning Flame and ration the pathetic amounts of Star Power he had left. However, his lower body would be exposed.

It seemed he did not wish to run around naked in front of the entire school.

Gao Junwei continued to retreat and was about to be in line with his team.

Meanwhile, Han Jiangxue and the other two teammates were standing by the boundary of the football field. In other words, if Gao Junwei were to continue retreating, he would be disqualified for crossing the boundaries.

“The few of you, come here to help,” Gao Junwei said helplessly while staring at Han Jiangxue.

He would never seek help from Li Weiyi, and he also knew that Xia Yan was extremely angst. The conflict was already obvious, and he felt that Han Jiangxue was the only one whom he could seek help from because she was the only objective person.

Xia Yan sneered. “Oh? Are you not going to vie for the MVP award? Do you not want any rewards? Are you going to let us take on the battle?”

Gao Junwei gritted his teeth and hollered. “Xia Yan! Defeat them first! We’ll settle our differences amongst ourselves after this is over! Don’t embarrass the Year Three students.”

Xia Yan drove the wooden sword into the ground and chuckled coldly.

Gao Junwei turned to look at Han Jiangxue and asked, “Commander?”

Han Jiangxue stared at Jiang Xiao who was continuously approaching and her facial expression finally softened. She glanced at him in satisfaction and said, “Enough, we’ll admit defeat.”

Everyone was flabbergasted.

“Wait a minute! Admit defeat? What for!?! Are the three of you planning not to fight by remaining still? Why must we surrender? Just because he’s your younger brother?” Gao Junwei yelled.

Gao Junwei’s words made the chaotic noises in the field quieten down immediately as the students looked at the people in the arena with shock in their hearts.

Jiang Xiaopi is Han Jiangxue’s brother?

There must be many more stories, eh?

Has Han Jiangxue been holding back because he’s her brother? Was she planning to let her brother win?

The viewers of Su Rou’s live-stream had broken into a frenzy and were cursing their hearts out.

“I was wondering why those three did not move. Turns out that toxic healer is her brother.”

“My heart goes out to Gao Junwei. Not only did he have to fight another team alone, he even got bullied by his teammates.”

“Damn it, those two traitors. They actually betrayed their teammate for the sake of sucking up to their commander.”

“Gao Junwei is left all alone to fight the battle. Indeed, they are the School Tyrants. The commander is really overbearing. It’s no wonder that they can’t get along with each other.”

Xia Yan flew into a rage and snapped. “Gao Junwei, stop being so shameless! You’re the one who wanted to clinch the MVP award and be rewarded for it. You were also the one who said you wanted to teach the Year One and Year Two greenhorns a lesson all by yourself. You were the one who told us not to intervene and yet, you’re blaming us now?”

Gao Junwei retorted self-righteously. “Are you unsure of what’s going on too? Don’t you know that you should be helping me in such a situation?”

“Huh? I...” Xia Yan stomped her feet angrily, dumbfounded, and infuriated by the shameless Gao Junwei.

The comments were overflowing on the internet.

“Psht... the situation is changing...”

“Haha, he wanted the MVP award, so he got his teammates to stay still. Now that he got beaten up into a pulp, he’s actually scolding them self-righteously. Hahahaha.”

“He must have thought that the Year One and Year Two students are all inexperienced pushovers. He’s met his match now.”

“He got beaten up badly and all he does is scold his teammates.”

“He met an overpowering opponent. Haha, he’s digging his own grave now.”

“He’s so greedy. Turns out he got his teammates to stay out of the battle because he wanted to get the MVP award.”

“You didn’t let them intervene and they tolerated you while accepting your willfulness. Yet, you’re getting them to help you now?”

“You can’t say that. They belong to the same team and have been through thick and thin, after all. They ought to help him.”

“Why must others be responsible for your greed and capriciousness?”

“Hey, they belong to the same team. If there’s any conflict, they can just settle it in private. At such a juncture, they should honestly be giving him a hand.”

“How embarrassing must it be to be defeated by a bunch of Year One kids. They should really help.”

“Help? What for? They should teach a shameless person like him a good lesson. Fancy him calling that a team. He wanted to enjoy the rewards of being the MVP all by himself. How can a selfish person like him be considered a teammate?”

Seeing the chaos on the arena, the teachers on the podium finally couldn’t take it anymore. One of the academic heads stood up and coughed into the microphone.

Gao Junwei recovered from the shock and frantically said, “Fine, you don’t have to attack. Toss two Star Beads to me and I’ll go myself. F***!”

All of a sudden, the sounds of whistling filled the air.

Gao Junwei turned around slightly. He had been continuously retreating and facing the Year One students.

Gao Junwei immediately saw Jiang Xiao whistling. All of a sudden, he shivered.

Jiang Xiao asked, “Why have you developed the habit of being spoon-fed?”

“You!” Gao Junwei barked as he turned as pale as a sheet, unable to finish his sentence.

The Zhu brothers got into a perfect attacking stance and slowly stepped forward.

Xia Yan sat on the ground and decided to become a spectator while Li Weiyi slowly moved backward, raised his hands, and acted like he was harmless and innocent. It was an amusing sight.

Han Jiangxue sighed and said, “We admit defeat.”

The referee hesitated for a moment before saying, “You’re the team’s commander, so your words are more valid. Are you sure you’re going to admit defeat?”

Of course, Han Jiangxue felt that Jiang Xiao had already proved himself to be dominant enough.

“Are we really admitting defeat?” Gao Junwei suddenly turned around and looked at Han Jiangxue. “If you give me another Star Bead...”

At this moment, Gao Junwei suddenly leaped up.

Zhu Wu got a great shock because he had let his guard down since he thought that they were going to admit defeat. After all, Gao Junwei actually turned around and showed the loophole.

If Zhu Wu were to take action, he would definitely be deemed as flouting the rules by continuing to attack while the opponent was surrendering.

Gao Junwei continued to rush out while Zhu Wu subconsciously reacted by placing his hands in front of his face.

Bang!

Gao Junwei punched Zhu Wu in the face with his Green Glow-filled fist and seized the opportunity to grab his Star Bead that had fallen on the ground.

Jiang Xiao was alert and so immediately flew towards Gao Junwei to stop him from advancing when he saw what happened.

At the same time, he crushed the Star Bead in his pocket and placed one Skill Point in his Freehand Combat.

However, two pieces of information appeared at this moment.

“Freehand Combat upgrade! Silver Quality Level 0!”

“Star Power upgrade! Stardust Stage Level 5!”