My starting summon is a small skeleton-Chapter 172 - 170 Goblin Evolution

The high school competition’s top eight advanced rapidly.

The quarterfinals began on the 27th.

The next day, it was straight to the semifinals.

And the first match of the semifinals was team 003 versus team 044!

As Jiangnan’s new hope, and the only team to have defeated foreign teams in recent years, team 003 received the crowd’s overwhelming support from the start of the match.

"Go team 003! Defeat team 044!"

"Go team 003! Snatch the championship!"

...

The cheers roared like the waves of the sea.

Banners and props were waved fervently.

Even a blind man could see that the audience had tremendous expectations for team 003.

They were hopeful, team 003 would recreate their past glory.

They aimed to end the history of Jiangnan high school competitions being dominated by foreign teams!

As for team 042? Well, they were once hopeful, but now? Sorry, please stand aside and cool your heels, it wasn’t their turn yet.

Lu Wu wasn’t too affected by this.

On one hand, it was because he was broad-minded, on the other, he had grown accustomed to such things from watching competitive matches in his past life.

Such things were common in competitions.

More than that, he was currently concerned about Lin Jianying’s state.

It was evident that yesterday’s defeat had hit him hard.

Although he had rested for a day, his mentality hadn’t recovered, in fact, it had grown even tenser.

Because today’s match was even more important than yesterday’s.

Lin Jianying was truly worried about his performance today, afraid of holding Lu Wu back again, so his current emotional state was especially terrible, ready to collapse at any moment.

This worried Lu Wu, but under such circumstances, conventional consolation was useless.

To quickly stabilize his emotions, Lu Wu had to resort to an extraordinary method.

"Old Lin, this afternoon I hope you can help me take down at least one of team 002’s Summoned Beasts!

Can you do it?"

Lu Wu’s sudden statement caught Lin Jianying somewhat off-guard.

"I..."

Lu Wu didn’t give him a chance to speak, changing his tone: "Sorry, there was a problem with what I just said.

I shouldn’t have asked if you can do it, let me rephrase what I just said.

I demand that you, no matter what, must get it done!"

"But I..."

Lu Wu didn’t give Lin Jianying the chance to doubt himself, cutting him off.

"You can do it!

This is not my trust in you, but my trust in myself.

I’ve invested a lot of effort into the goblin for this battle, and now it’s in a unique state. I confidently tell you, it can do it!

And you must do it too!"

After dropping these words, Lu Wu left Lin Jianying and the goblin in the resting room while he went off to watch the match with Dudu.

He had done what he needed to do; the rest was up to Lin Jianying.

...

On the side of the arena.

When Lu Wu arrived with Dudu, carrying two large buckets of popcorn and grasping two large cups of milk tea, the match between team 003 and team 044 was just starting.

Amidst the audience’s cheering, team 003 and team 044 each sent out their starting Summoned Beasts.

On team 003’s side, the starting Summoned Beast was an Elite 2 Star Big Rock, and on team 044’s side, it was still Li Kui’s Iron Armor Black Bull.

As the Summoned Beasts entered the arena, the atmosphere reached a peak.

"Go team 003!"

"That bull has been arrogant for too long, it’s finally met its match!"

"Go Big Rock, crush that bull!"

...

Clearly, the audience had confidence in team 003.

Filled with anticipation, they were waiting for an evenly matched battle.

Amidst that anticipation, the battle erupted, but it also ended in an instant.

In the moment the battle commenced, the two Summoned Beasts collided with pure brute force.

In such a contest of strength, Big Rock was vastly inferior; upon the collision, it was directly toppled by Iron Armor Black Bull’s horns and with a further push, the Big Rock was knocked out of the ring.

The whole match from start to finish lasted less than 60 seconds, which even included the time it took for the Summoned Beasts to enter the arena.

The audience, originally cheering, was stunned on the spot, unable to believe what they had seen.

This was completely contrary to their expectations.

They thought that since team 003’s Iron Blade Mantis was so strong, Big Rock shouldn’t be too far off.

They expected, at the very least, for Big Rock to put up a back-and-forth fight.

The result was a defeat in the blink of an eye, and the gap was so large that the entire arena fell completely silent, save for the sound of Lu Wu and Dudu heartlessly eating popcorn.

Had the arena not been so large, it would have likely been quite awkward for Lu Wu and the others right now.

But no matter how awkward it might be for them, it wouldn’t compare to 003’s embarrassment.

Although they held little expectation for the battle from the start, they hadn’t anticipated losing so miserably.

In an attempt to save face, they sent out the Iron Blade Mantis for the second match.

When the audience saw that the Iron Blade Mantis from yesterday’s stunning three-in-one victory was taking the field, their sunken hearts leaped back to their chests.

Right, why were they disappointed?

The strongest of 003 was the Iron Blade Mantis, not any other Summoned Beast.

Even the 042 squad had trash like the goblin; it was normal for 003 to have weak links.

Now that the Iron Blade Mantis was out, it would surely shine again...

The audience’s mental fortification had only gotten this far, not yet complete, when the battle on the platform ended once again.

As soon as the Iron Blade Mantis took the stage, the Iron Armor Black Bull took control with a "Barbaric Bull Roar" that targeted the mantis’s weakened state.

Then with a "Wild Bull Charge," it ended the battle.

At that moment, the audience couldn’t believe what had just transpired on the platform was real.

They couldn’t accept that the Iron Blade Mantis, which had been so dominant yesterday, was now effortlessly defeated.

They even felt like they were dreaming.

Otherwise, how could such a fantastical, surreal event occur in reality?

The spectator stands fell silent once more.

Lu Wuyi fed Dudu another handful of popcorn while muttering to himself.

"It’s pretty normal; if the mantis doesn’t erupt with Talent, its raw Power is indeed inferior to the bull, especially in a weakened state. Seems like this match is about to end."

Sure enough, 003’s third Summoned Beast entered the arena.

Similarly, it didn’t last three rounds before being knocked out by the same bull.

Thus, this eagerly anticipated battle by the audience ended in less than half an hour since the match began.

This short-lived battle, like someone’s quick defeat, took the audience through an emotional roller coaster.

Such dramatic rises and falls were the most devastating.

Originally, the audience was confident and felt they could watch on, no matter what happened in the match.

After all, they had steadfast dedication; their hearts had been steeled over several years of shock, and they believed they could withstand anything else thrown at them.

However, this match where 003 failed made many realize their limits; they really couldn’t endure it.

The moment 003 lost, at least twenty percent of the audience stood up and left.

They couldn’t take it anymore.

They no longer wanted to watch a match destined to be hopeless.

Now that 003 was out, what was there left to anticipate? 042?

That team was even less reliable.

Although Little Skeleton and the pig were decent, the goblin was really a no-go.

Even if Little Skeleton and the pig could defeat their opponents, in the end, they would probably be dragged down by the goblin. Rather than face certain disappointment, they felt it’s better not to watch.

Be kind to yourself, to your own heart.

One after another, people ’came to their senses’ and left.

The number of spectators onsite continued to dwindle, and the live stream viewership also plummeted from nearly ten million at its peak to less than five million, even lower than the attention garnered for the qualifier matches.

This irked Lu Wu quite a bit.

Damn it, with so few people, the advertising effect later would greatly diminish.

But this wasn’t something he could control.

All he could do was play a great match.

Soon, the time came to 2 PM.

The match between 002 and 042 officially began.

By then, the crowd in the stands was less than a third of the morning’s, filling Fang Bai with pride. He mocked Lu Wu during the handshake phase.

"Looks like they’ve already predicted the outcome of today’s match.

Are you going to struggle a bit, or would you rather just concede?"

"Sorry, but I’m going to smash your head!" Lu Wu said, slapping away Fang Bai’s hand and gesturing that their conversation was over.

And so, the match officially started, with both sides sending out their respective Summoned Beasts.

002’s opening beast was an Elite 3 Stars Little Demon, while Lu Wu’s was Lin Jianying’s goblin.

The moment the goblin stepped onto the field, several more people in the stands got up to go to the restroom.

In the live stream, of the few million still watching, many switched to other entertainment.

They were tired of watching one-sided matches; they were sticking around not for crushing defeats, and it’s better to skip unpleasant scenes.

However, what they didn’t realize was that they were skipping one of the most thrilling matches of the high school league.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

Those who went to use the bathroom, switched to watching TV shows or short videos, or engaging in chats, all froze when they switched back.

Stunned, they watched as the goblin chased the Little Demon around the field.

Little heads popped with big question marks.

"What did we miss?"

Well, they missed the goblin’s unprecedented Evolution!