Sophia was deeply unsettled by the fact that Rocky was supposed to face a challenge from an external champion in three weeks'' time, while she had been overlooked.


    The condescending tone with which Liam looked at her as if she was not a big deal, made Sophia feel jealous to her core as that gaze kept her up at night, preventing her from a good night''s sleep.


    In her perspective, she was every bit Rocky''s equal; however, the way her peers and instructors at the university regarded her made her feel distinctly inferior.


    Under these circumstances, she believed that defeating this third champion before Rocky had the chance, could significantly boost her stature within the university and help her earn the respect that she so desperately craved from everyone around her.


    Over the following week, as Rocky had dedicated himself to mastering his newly acquired strength and honing his skills for the anticipated duel, Sophia kept herself equally busy.


    Having her sight set on uncovering the identity of this mysterious external champion, she aimed to challenge him herself, intent on proving her own worth.


    To achieve this, she utilized the vast resources at her disposal through the Olympian n, orchestrating a thorough investigation into the champion that was enrolled at Shaolin Monk University, with but a single goal in mind, which was to issue a challenge for a one on one duel before he could face Rocky.


    After a few days of investigation, her scouts reported back to her that the Champion from the Shaolin Monk University was a devout follower of the Ancient God Buddha, who himself was an inactive god whose status was in a limbo.


    He was not an active part of the tower politics for several millennia now and had not involved himself in any major conflicts for centuries.


    Apart from the selection of a new champion every few centuries, following the death of the previous one, the god Buddha had shown no signs of life in the tower, and hence in Sophia''s mind he was not a figure thatmanded her respect.


    Despite the active continuation of his religious practices and the preservation of hisbat techniques through ancient schools of thought, Sophia dismissed the new champion, Zhi Cook, as a inconsequential weakling, as in her view, Buddha was a forgotten deity with no current relevance and hence his Champion was bound to be average at best.


    And hence, after Zhi had epted her challenge, Sophia entered the Shaolin Monk University with a brazen and defiant attitude, ready to assert her dominance,pletely unaware of the kind of beast that she was going to face.


    As she crossed the threshold into the Shaolin Monk University, her nose immediately wrinkled in distaste.


    The training environment of the ancient school was a far cry from the polished, modern training facilities she was ustomed to at the university for nourishment of young talents.


    Instead of modern training halls and training dummies, around her, students dressed in loose robes moved through uneven ground, grappling and training in muddy courtyards with their equipment seemingly as ancient as the techniques they practiced.


    As Sophia observed this scene, she couldn''t help but scoff quietly to herself, as  these training methods seemed too primitive and too out of touch, whenpared to the advancedbat strategies she had mastered.


    As her guide led her through the campus grounds, her disdain only grew.


    ''How could anyone who trained in such a ce pose any real challenge?'' She wondered, as her evaluation of Zhi dropped even further, before she even met him.


    Eventually, as her guide led her into the university''s only properly tiled dual arena, she finally gazed upon Zhi Cook, her opponent for today.


    Zhi was practicing a sequence of fluid, controlled movements that seemed to embody the tranquility of a flowing river before Sophia entered, however, to Sophia he and his movements looked unremarkable and certainly unlike something that the formidable opponent she hoped to face would do.


    As she stepped forward, Zhi stopped his movements and turned to face her.


    With his face bearing a serene expression, Zhi deeply bowed, his palms pressed together in a traditional gesture.


    "Amitabha," Zhi greeted her warmly. "Wee to our humble school. It is my pleasure to face the Champion Of Poseidon today- " he said, as Sophia unsheathed her sword and pointed it towards him, in a rude disy.


    Sophia''s lips thinned into a polite, yet cold smile. "I''m not interested in making small talk, only here to fight-" she announced, not bothering to return his courteous gesture.


    Zhi blinked twice in confusion, before looking at the long bearded monk behind him, who was his master.


    "Hohohoho, we have an uncultured monkey before us-" the old monk said as he chuckled heartily.


    "Drop the courteousness brother Zhi, she doesn''t deserve it-" a small kid with snot running down his nose said, as Zhi looked towards his master for approval to be discourteous, to which his master agreed.


    Almost instantly, his whole demeanor changed from that of a monk to one of a street thug, as his serene eyes were reced by a sharpness and his taught posture was reced by a natural arrogance.


    "Okay, listen to me you piece of shit-" Zhi began, as Sophia widened her eyes in disbelief.


    "I''m only fighting you as a warm-up. It''s public knowledge that you have never beaten the Champion Of Gemini in your university and are the number two fighter around.


    The only reason I''m facing you is because I want to gauge his strength level and nothing more.


    So drop the arrogance and be humble bitch-" Zhi said, as it was Sophia''s turn to blink twice now as she waspletely dumbfounded by his words.


    "What?" Sophia said, unable toprehend Zhi''s sudden rudeness, as all the monks around her began tough at her.


    "First of all, while I haven''t beat Rocky yet, all that is in the past, ever since I''vepleted my tier promotion, I''m confident that I''m stronger than him.


    And secondly, you will pay for the impudence with which you just talked to me-" Sophia dered angrily, as Zhi Cook covered his yawn with a palm and pointed three fingers towards Sophia.


    "Three moves….. just survive three moves and the victory will be yours-" he said confidently, as Sophia clutched her sword hard in annoyance.


    ---------


    /// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the PS target, good job everyone! ///