Chapter 433: So Pitiful (2)
Inside cage number one, the water elemental slowly returned to his original form. But his body looked somewhat dim compared to before. Previously, his body was crystal clear but now, his body had turned somewhat dark and murky.
"Chen Yong...it has been so many years. And you've still not broken through. You sure are patient."
The water elemental's emotions were complicated.
As a seventh-stage Cloudbreach, even in a weakened state, he wouldn't be completely helpless. Yet Chen Yong had been able to so easily squeeze a drop of water essence out of his body.
Chen Yong ignored the water elemental and looked at Su Yu with a smile, "Even though the fire crow is willing to refine your weapon, you might not be able to withstand the power of his lifebound fire. This water essence is a treasure. In fact, the essence of the five elements are all treasures. With this water essence around, you can protect your sea of willpower from the power of fire."
"Thank you, Martial Uncle."
"Don't worry about it." Chen Yong smiled, "These beasts are all weaklings. Don't take them too seriously. If you really don't know what to do with them, just kill them. I can see that you're intending to subdue them, but that's pointless. Teacher still has a few Mountainsea beasts locked up deeper inside the floor. If you really want a mount, you can get your grandteacher to tame a Mountainsea beast for you instead. Those beasts have been locked here for too many years. Your grandteacher has been thinking about slaughtering them already. If you intend to make them your mounts, they will probably agree."
Su Yu was dumbstruck.
Mountainsea beasts?
Holy shit!
Just what was his grandteacher planning?
He was actually rearing Mountainsea beasts in the research center?
The expressions of the beasts in the room changed. When Su Yu visited them in the past, they had always carried a sense of superiority before him. But Chen Yong had actually personally arrived to help Su Yu with the refinement of his cultural weapon. Chen Yong had even squeezed a drop of water essence out of the water elemental for Su Yu's sake. On top of that, he was also offering to get Su Yu some Mountainsea mounts.
If that really happened, wouldn't things be over for them?
Even the suanni, a member of a powerful race, could no longer keep silent. He hurriedly said, "L-Lord Chen, this little one is willing to become Lord Su's mount!"
Chen Yong glanced at the suanni with cold eyes.
"Do you think you're worthy of that? Shut your mouth."
Rumble!
A bolt of lightning struck the suanni and left multiple fresh wounds on his body.
"A mere ninth-stage Skysoar is dreaming of becoming my martial nephew's mount?"
Chen Yong coldly said, "Know your place. You are merely livestock. On the Allheaven Battlefield, I have killed even ninth-stage Cloudbreach suannis before."
"..."
Su Yu looked at Chen Yong blankly. Really?
But...didn't his teacher say that his martial uncle had not entered the Allheaven Battlefield for many years? Also, his martial uncle seemed really domineering today. Was his martial uncle aware that he was acting completely out of character?
Chen Yong said nothing else and left with the fire crow and Su Yu.
After walking out of the room, he smiled and said, "There is no need to be too gentle with these beasts. You need both carrot and stick when dealing with them. I won't stop you from trying to subdue them, but if you don't thoroughly subjugate them, they might end up turning against you in the future."
"Thank you, Martial Uncle!"
He could see that Chen Yong was helping him subjugate the beasts. One of them would be the good cop while the other would be the bad cop.
As for how well this would work, they would need to wait and see.
...
Prison zone.
All the beasts sank into silence.
After a long while, the shadow sighed, "It's time for us to cease our delusions. Su Yu is much more important than we thought. You guys understand what Chen Yong said earlier. Even back when Bai Feng tried to subdue us, Chen Yong had not shown his face. But now...We can see that Su Yu is probably more important than even Bai Feng."
None of the beasts said anything.
Suddenly, the water elemental said, "Even now, Chen Yong has yet to reach the Mountainsea Realm. He has already been a ninth-stage Cloudbreach for a very long time. The Myriad Text Sutra of the human race requires no more than a fusion of eight apertures for their advancement. He must have fulfilled the requirements long ago. Why is he still stuck?"
The Myriad Text Sutra only allowed one to open 72 apertures. Thus, one only needed to fuse 8 apertures at the maximum to become a top-tier Mountainsea.
Was Chen Yong still incapable of that?
Impossible!
It had been too many years. And Chen Yong wasn't someone who had barely reached the Cloudbreach Realm. Back then, this fellow was also a famous top genius of the multiple character faction.
The suanni and mountaindrill bull were naturally unaware of that. But the shadow knew about Chen Yong's past. He said, "His advancement won't be that big of a help to the multiple character faction. He might even attract more unwanted attention to them. Is it possible that this fellow is deliberately holding himself back? Maybe he has fused seven apertures into one fused aperture before moving on to fuse seven more apertures into a second fused aperture. And he can keep repeating that..."
The water elemental understood what the shadow was insinuating.
The white civet also understood.
The white civet said in shock, "You mean that he only has nine fused apertures and nine unfused apertures left in his sea of willpower?"
The implication behind those words were too scary.
Did that not mean that he could complete the nine fused apertures any time he wanted? He could instantly jump from the ninth-stage Cloudbreach Realm to the ninth-stage Mountainsea Realm.
That was because each stage of the Mountainsea Realm required one fused aperture. Meanwhile, he had nine fused apertures ready. Each of those fused apertures was a product of fusing seven apertures together. In truth, he was already capable of advancing if he wanted. But he wouldn't be forced to advance as he still had some unfused apertures left in him.
The shadow sighed, "I don't know. But he has really been stuck at this level for too long. Even if my guess isn't completely correct, there is no way he has only produced one fused aperture after so long. He might be waiting for something. And if my guess is right, he is basically a future peak Mountainsea."
The white civet said with shock, "If that's true, he is way too patient. Also, forcefully suppressing his advancement might result in the collapse of his sea of willpower. His willpower will be too powerful for his sea of willpower to contain..."
"I don't have an answer to that."
The shadow did not have a concrete answer. He had merely been guessing. He said, "If he is really capable of instantly reaching the ninth-stage Mountainsea Realm, he will definitely be able to gain a powerful strength. But he might also destroy his own physical body easily as his body won't be given any chance to adapt to his sudden increase in strength. Is that fellow planning to completely give up on his physical body?"
The beasts were unable to guess what Chen Yong was truly planning. Eventually, they gave up trying to figure him out and stopped talking.
The multiple character faction was simply filled with freaks. From the members they had seen, Bai Feng was actually the least talented one, also the friendliest one among the multiple character faction members...
Yes. Apart from the times when Bai Feng was there to extract their blood, he was actually quite friendly and easy-going most of the time. Meanwhile, Chen Yong was always gloomy and unpredictable.
As for Su Yu, he was too treacherous. He had been lying to them from the very beginning. He had never cared too much about their lives.
There wasn't even a need to mention Hong Tan. In his eyes, they weren't even life forms. They were nothing but materials.
They sank into silence again. It seemed like surviving would only become harder and harder.
...
Zhao Li's research center.
The fire crow started spitting fire from his mouth. Since there were two Cloudbreach experts present, he was trembling with fear. The two Cloudbreach experts were giving off a pressure that was just as heavy as the presence of a Mountainsea.
The fire crow had the urge to start cursing.
Was there a need for this? He was only helping the kid temper his cultural weapon. Was there a need for the kid to get two Cloudbreach monsters that could basically be viewed as Mountainseas to monitor a puny Skysoar like him? Was he really so scary and devious?
Zhao Li stood there silently, completely ignoring Chen Yong. He didn't really like Chen Yong that much.
Instead, he was smiling as he talked to Su Yu, "This fire crow isn't completely useless, I suppose. The lifebound fire of their race is known as an excellent fire for smithing. What a pity that this lifebound fire is a racial ability instead of a character ability. Even if you can form a character of the fire crow language, it still won't be of much help in smithing."
Su Yu asked curiously, What if I can learn their racial ability? Will the resulting fire be even better than the one you're using?"
"That would be hard to say. After all, fire is merely one of the tools you can use when smithing. It isn't compulsory. But there are indeed several types of fire that are actually quite good. For example, the fire of the fire elemental race, the fire of the fire crow race, the fire of the fiery dragon race...They are all excellent for smithing."
Su Yu nodded. He could try getting the fire crow race's racial ability.
This ability was probably related to apertures.
Since this fire was useful for smithing, there was no harm in giving it a try. After all, he had promised Zhao Li to help finish his incomplete earth-grade weapon after reaching the Cloudbreach Realm.
"Are you doing this in preparation for the tournament tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
"This is actually a good idea. But this fire is also quite a vicious weapon since it can harm one's sea of willpower. Don't use it unless you're faced with an actual enemy. You will turn anyone who is not an enemy into your enemy if you use it on them. You can slowly recover your willpower after it is burned, but the damage to one's sea of willpower will actually harm the root of one's willpower cultivation. That will be much harder to recover from."
Su Yu nodded. He was aware of that.
"Teacher, would this flame be useful for you as well? If it is useful, I can leave this crow with you..."
"Forget it."
Zhao Li showed no interest. He said, "This crow is too weak. He's only a seventh-stage Skysoar. I might consider him if he's a seventh-stage Cloudbreach. A seventh-stage Skysoar is basically garbage. Even when I encounter something like this in the Allheaven Battlefield, I would be too lazy to capture one. Hong Tan sure has a lot of free time in his hands to be capturing weak birds like this."
Fire crow: "..."
He continued trembling in fear.
He also felt like crying.
He wanted to say that he was useful. He wasn't garbage. But...why did even he himself feel like he was garbage? He couldn't even serve as a stove well enough!
"L-Lord, I can fl-fly very fast! Lord Su can use me as a flying mount!"
Zhao Li shot the fire crow a bored glance. He couldn't even be bothered to give a reply.
Ignoring the fire crow, he said to Su Yu, "Enter the Skysoar Realm as soon as possible. Stop wasting your time messing around with those people. As for the slot, if you really want one, there is no need to join the tournament. I can get one for you."
Su Yu stared at Zhao Li blankly.
Zhao Li said, "If they refuse, I will ban their faction from the Source Qi Secret Grotto. What's the big deal?"
"..."
Chen Yong kept his mouth shut. Inwardly, he didn't know what to feel.
Zhao Li was right. If he really asked for one, would Zhou Mingren agree?
Yes!
Even if Zhao Li was asking for a slot on Su Yu's behalf, Zhou Mingren could only sullenly agree to it.
Su Yu was somewhat speechless. This old man was making it seem so simple and easy. He said, "It's fine, Teacher. I'll get it myself!"
If Zhao Li did it, he would end up owing Zhou Mingren a favor. You could ask for someone's favor occasionally if you were worthy of it. But it was never a good idea to ask for favors too many times.
Thanks to the influence of the fourth principal, Zhao Li had been able to live a comfortable life in the academy. That would all change the moment he involved himself in these internal struggles. Anything could happen after that.
One of the reasons Zhao Li had such high status in the academy was his neutrality. After granting the academy the rights to run the Source Qi Secret Grotto, the entire academy owed him a favor.
But if he involved himself in these internal struggles, his special status in the academy would start being challenged. Hearing Su Yu's words, Zhao Li made no further offers. At this point, the fire crow was almost done with the weapon refinement.
When the refinement was done, Zhao Li took out his hammer and broke the water essence before covering the weapon with it. He reminded, "You can remove this layer of water essence when you want to use the fire. When you're not using the fire, you can keep it sealed with the water essence. It won't affect your normal use of the weapon.
"Remember, the moment you release the seal, you will be harming your opponents sea of willpower with each attack. This is the water essence of a seventh-stage Cloudbreach. It is powerful enough to keep the weapon sealed for several months. If you remove the seal entirely, you will be able to unleash the full power of a seventh-stage Skysoar, but you will only be able to do it once. This can be considered a trump card. Use your discretion when deciding when to use it."
Su Yu nodded. He couldn't help asking, "Teacher, does this mean that with this weapon, I might be able to kill even Skysoars as well?"
Zhao Li looked at Su Yu and said, "You stand a chance against those below the seventh stage. Forget about those higher than that. This fire crow is only a seventh-stage Skysoar. Even against Skysoars below the seventh stage, this fire will only be a threat to cultural researchers. As for warriors, they can still deal you a heavy blow even with their sea of willpower injured."
"I understand."
Su Yu nodded. This would indeed serve as one of his trump cards from now on.
Against Skysoar cultural researchers at around the third or fourth stage, he might really be able to kill them if he could catch them by surprise.
One could never have too many trump cards. Su Yu was very pleased with this new trump card. From now on, he would no longer need to fear opponents capable of fighting Skysoars.
The water essence seal on his saber could be freely adjusted to control the output of his fire attack. With this, his saber would finally be worthy of its name: the Sealing Saber!
He couldn't help but say, "With this, my Sealing Saber has finally obtained an ability befitting of its name." Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novel✶fire.net
"..."
Both the Cloudbreach cultivators decided to ignore him. Sealing Saber? Did this kid know no shame? Was this even a weapon used for sealing? Could this kid be less shameless?
Beside them, the weakened fire crow had a gloomy expression. Even after paying such a huge price, he was still being ignored by everyone. How pitiful.
And he didn't even have the courage to attempt an escape. This Great Xia Cultural Research Academy was feeling more and more dangerous nowadays. Even when he was volunteering himself as a mount, nobody wanted him. How pitiful.
Chapter 434: Team Formed (1)
20th of October.
The Character Faculty was holding a tournament with five slots of the Willpower Grotto as the rewards. Countless students had signed up for the tournament. There was a large arena in the Dao Preaching District. This massive arena was generally used as the venue for any large-scale events at the academy.
...
The arena was already filled with people early in the morning.
These tournaments had always been able to garner the interest of the various students. Even the ones who were too weak to participate could have a good time as spectators.
This tournament, in particular, was even more interesting since the old students were also allowed to join. Rumors were also floating about that teams of grandparents and grandchildren would be fighting side by side, further stoking the interest of the masses.
Amid the crowd, Yang Sha looked at his junior brother and frowned as he whispered, "Junior Brother Lin, the rules have yet to be announced. And Teacher has been staying silent about it as well. How did you find out about it in advance?"
Lin Yao hurriedly scanned their surroundings before whispering back, "Senior Brother, be careful when you're speaking. There are too many outsiders here!"
This senior brother of his was really giving him a headache. Was this the kind of matter you could mention in public?
"Just trust me. If you're unwilling to trust me, there's nothing I can do."
Lin Yao felt very strongly that his senior brother still needed to be tested more. His senior brother was too bad at keeping secrets. If someone like that was recruited into the Mutual Aid Club, he could easily be the leak and end up exposing the club's existence.
In Lin Yao's eyes, the Mutual Aid Club was a great and impressive organization. The club was filled with countless hidden big shots.
Not long ago, a catalog was released in the voice transmission talisman. And the items available for sale in the catalog had nearly given him a heart attack.
Heaven-grade cultivation methods, heaven-grade martial techniques, top-tier yellow-grade foundation cultural arts, earth-grade cultural weapons All sorts of treasures he had never dreamed of seeing had appeared in that catalog.
If it weren't for the fact that he had been getting along well with his senior brother recently, he wouldnt even have been willing to pull his senior brother into the club. Yet his senior brother wasn't even taking his words seriously! His senior brother was definitely going to regret this!
There was basically zero chance that he and his senior brother would be given any slots. Their teacher had only been given a single slot and he would definitely keep it for his own breakthrough into the Cloudbreach Realm.
The slots were too valuable. Even a lot of the top 100 students had yet to get a slot. And here was Yang Sha, doubting him when he was giving them a chance to get a slot for each of them.
Yang Sha shut his mouth. But he was still doubtful of Lin Yao's words. If they hadn't even been informed anything by their teacher, who was in charge of the tournament, how had Lin Yao found out about the tournament format?
And how was Lin Yao so sure that they could each get a slot? How was he supposed to trust Lin Yao?
But since he was already here, he might as well go with the flow. He wasn't going to be able to get a slot himself anyway.
...
At the same time, Wan Mingze and company arrived.
Hu Qiusheng looked at Wan Mingze and said, "Mingze, are you not participating? Maybe you can get an extra slot for yourself if you do join."
Wan Mingze merely shook his head and said nothing.
Too many people were participating in this tournament. And a lot of them were at the peak Mental Tempering Stage and ninth-stage Infinite Strength Realm. Thus, even someone like him wasn't confident in getting a slot. There were too many variables. Since he already had a slot, there was no need for him to take part in the tournament.
Apart from the 5 slots given as rewards of the tournament, the single character faction had also given out 13 slots to the various elders. In total, they had given 18 slots away. And the recipients of those 13 slots had mostly been decided by this point.
Hu Qiusheng smiled and said, "What a pity. Among us, you stand the highest chance of getting something out of the tournament. By the way, is Su Yu participating?"
Su Yu was very strong as well. But Hu Qiusheng didn't think that Su Yu was strong enough to become the ultimate winner of the tournament. That was especially true since the single character faction might target him. With them targeting him, he would have an even smaller chance at winning anything.
Wan Mingze frowned and softly said, "I'm not sure. I hope he's not joining since he will only find himself in more trouble. The single character faction is currently furious at him. And they have quite a lot of students over 30. A lot of them have been stuck at peak Mental Tempering Stage for a long time..."
Hu Qiusheng asked, "Even if they're going to target him, they won't dare to do it too openly, right?"
"We can't be sure."
Wan Mingze shook his head. After all, those people were the organizers. They had probably planned a series of actions to deal with Su Yu if he decided to join the tournament.
While they were talking, a group of people arrived.
Zhao Ming and the other referees of the top 100 challenges stood on the stage. With a hearty laugh, Zhao Ming said, "As a referee from the House of Hundred, I am an embodiment of justice and fairness. Therefore, I will be the head referee of this tournament."
A lot of people felt relieved to hear that. It was good that the referees weren't those from the single character faction. The referees from the House of Hundred could still be trusted.
Next, a different Cloudbreach stepped onto the stage and loudly announced, "The Discipline Hall will be monitoring this tournament."
...
At the spectating zone beside the stage.
Liu Hong had a wide smile on his face as he stood behind Elder Sun. With a frown, Elder Sun grumbled, "We are clearly the ones who have offered the slots for this tournament. Why are these people here again? Must they get involved in everything?"
Liu Hong said, "Don't worry, Elder Sun. Fairness is what we need for this tournament. After all, the academy has also paid 10,000 merit points for this tournament. Since they want to get involved, let them be. That way, they won't have the chance to accuse us of being unfair after the tournament."
"Has Su Yu registered?"
"Yeah."
Liu Hong smiled, "Don't worry, Elder Sun. I will take care of him."
Elder Sun nodded. Liu Hong continued speaking, "As for Qian Hai and the other martial nephews, I will try to assign them into teams with strong students. That way, they will have a higher chance at winning something."
Elder Sun said nothing. Qian Hai and company were the students from his line of the faction. They weren't his direct students, but they were mostly the students of his students. Thus, he would naturally be happy if they could get some of the slots. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs NoveI-Fire.ɴet
The single character faction had over 100 researchers. But they only had 32 slots for themselves. Even as an elder, he was not able to get too many slots. He had only gotten 3 slots in total. After all, they had to split the slots between too many people. But that was not enough for him.
After all, students were not the only ones allowed to enter the grotto. The Skysoar teachers could enter as well. According to the rules, a single Skysoar would occupy two slots all by themselves. A Cloudbreach would occupy three slots. Of course, the grotto was not that big of a help to a Cloudbreach so this wouldn't really be a concern.
But in a situation where Skysoars could enter, nobody would say no to more slots.
Elder Sun's expression remained the same as he said, "Is Pingsheng fine with this?"
Liu Hong said, "Senior Brother Zhou won't mind. His favorite students are Di Feng and Qiu Yi. But you know that these slots are no longer that useful for him with the ban on his students."
Zhou Pingsheng had six students. Two of them were Skysoars. As for the rest, apart from Di Feng and Qiu Yi, he had two students over 30 that were below the Skysoar Realm.
As for Zheng Yuming, Huang Qifeng was one of his six students. Four of them were Skysoars. And one of them was a student over 30 who was stuck below the Skysoar Realm.
Of Hu Wensheng's two students, Chen Qi was too weak while Guo Shengquan was decently strong. But he was an outlier that wasn't too close to the single character faction.
Zhou Pingsheng had actually been given two slots. The slots had been given before the scandal. Those two slots were meant for Di Feng and Qiu Yi. With the ban on them, he could no longer use the slots on them. But instead of returning the slots to the faction, he gave them to the other two other students of his who were still below the Skysoar Realm.
Everyone noticed the special treatment Zhou Pingsheng was enjoying, but nobody said anything. It was unknown how many of them were unhappy with that.
Liu Hong softly added, "Elder Sun, I'm actually trying to prevent Senior Brother Zhou from getting more slots."
"..."
Elder Sun said nothing and waited for more explanation.
"Senior Brother Zhou has already been given two slots. And he only has two students who can put those slots to use. He doesn't need more slots. However, he had still requested more slots from me...But there are already a lot of eyes on him. I'm worried that if we keep giving him what he wants, more unfavorable things might happen to us."
Elder Sun glanced at Liu Hong and asked, "Did he really ask for more slots from you?"
"Yeah."
"Ignore him. What an idiot. Why is he still so active? Does he really think that everyone is blind? Old Zhou can protect him once, but not forever. Also, did we really buy the formula for 100,000 merit points previously?"
"We only spent 82,000 merit points on it..."
Elder Sun nodded. Old Zhou had already taken the blame for all that. It was not worth arguing with Old Zhou over those things.
"Liu Hong, keep your mouth shut. Don't run your mouth around. Do you understand me?"
Liu Hong smiled bitterly and said, "I understand. But Elder Sun, I am actually quite afraid. I have been maintaining a low profile since my teacher entered seclusion. But this time, Senior Brother Zhou had requested for the matches to be rigged in favor of his people. I don't dare to disobey him, but it really isn't a good idea. I have no choice but to tell you about this. If he comes after me, I hope Elder Sun can speak out on my behalf.
"If I really listen to him and help him get more slots, he will definitely sell them since he no longer has anyone under him that can use the slots. It will be fine if he ends up selling to our own people. But what if he sells to outsiders? Elder Sun, I will end up as the scapegoat. I will be the one to suffer. In that case, I might as well come clean, even if it will offend Senior Brother Zhou."
Elder Sun indifferently said, "Just do what you need to do. Little Zhou has forgotten himself recently. It's time for him to get a good wake-up call. You're the person appointed by Old Zhou to oversee all our members below the Skysoar Realm. Just do your job and ignore him."
"Thank you, Elder Sun."
Liu Hong expressed his gratitude with a relieved expression on his face.
Elder Sun said nothing else. After checking the time, Liu Hong flew into the sky before landing on the stage.
Chapter 435: Team Formed (2)
"All of you already know the purpose of this tournament. A lot of people are participating. Since no age limit has been placed, we have 8,330 participants."
Numerous students exclaimed in surprise. There were so many of them? That was a terrifying number. With so many participants, just how long would the tournament last?
Liu Hong smiled and said, "To save everyone's time, we have decided to adopt the format of team matches for this tournament. Generally, we work in teams of five or ten when operating on the Allheaven Battlefield. Thus, we will be holding our matches in teams of five as well. This will both save time and help all of you get used to team battles in advance.
"All of you will be randomly assigned into teams of five. Someone will ask this: Why aren't you guys allowed to form your own teams?
"Because that is not the luxury you have at the Allheaven Battlefield. There, you will be receiving your assignments from the military, and your teammates will be different depending on the assignments you have been given. You will not be able to form whatever team you want as well.
"You are either strong enough to work alone or you will be working with random teammates. The military will not change the way they operate for you alone. And you are not qualified to question the way they do things. Whether your teammates are strong or weak, that will depend on your luck."
"Therefore, don't even bother questioning this tournament format. That will be the same as questioning the operation of the entire human race. If you are unhappy with this format, you are free to not participate. We won't force anyone to join."
What else could the students say if he was putting it like that? Indeed, this was how the military operated for missions of smaller scale. If the students thought that this was unfair, they could simply not participate. It wasn't like participation was mandatory.
Liu Hong said, "Fate will decide who you get as your teammates. Remember, you are not allowed to harm your own teammates. Nor are you allowed to abandon your teammates."
Someone couldn't help but ask, "What if a teammate is too weak and keeps ending up as the target of our opponents? Are we supposed to keep protecting the weakling?"
"Remember this. They are your comrades-in-arms. You should not be leaving them behind."
Liu Hong's voice turned cold, "This is the principle we operate by in the Allheaven Battlefield. Even if you are assigned to a team with your enemy, both of you need to watch over each other. If one of you ends up dead during the mission, the survivor will also be executed. That is how things work. That is how we do things at the Allheaven Battlefield. Nothing will change for the sake of your feelings.
"If you don't like this, if you're unhappy, if you think this is wrong, feel free to not participate in the tournament. This system of random team assignment is one of the reasons why the people of the various prefectures, academies, and armies have been able to work together in the Allheaven Battlefield.
"Of course, there are exceptions to the rule of not leaving anyone behind. When your teammate is in a situation of sure death and the act of helping that teammate will lead to your death as well, there is no need for you to throw your life away. The military does not encourage you to lose your life needlessly. At that time, you can elect to flee or to pick your fights.
"Today, all of you will be given a chance to experience the assignment system of the military. This will give you more experience working with strangers, and it will be beneficial for your own survival when you head to the Allheaven Battlefield in the future.
"There are 8,330 of you. 1,666 teams will be formed. Only a single team will last until the very end and grab all the slots available."
The moment Liu Hong was done speaking, a clamor erupted from the students. This was a terrible tournament format. Five slots were offered, yet all of them would be won by one team.
Liu Hong gestured at the crowd and shouted, "Silence! The other participants won't be getting any slots, but the top ten teams will still receive other rewards. For the second place, you can get a Mountainsea willpower text each. For the third place, you can get an earth-grade martial technique manual each. For those in the fourth through the tenth places, you will be given a Skysoar willpower text of the Myriad Text Sutra each."
That placated the students to some extent. Fortunately, the other rewards were actually quite good as well.
Mountainsea willpower text, earth-grade martial technique, Myriad Text Sutra's willpower text...all these were treasures. With all these rewards, they would have a much higher chance of getting something out of the tournament.
After all, with all the additional rewards, a total of 50 students would be able to win something from the tournament.
Noticing the satisfied expressions of the students, Liu Hong smiled and said, "I'm glad to see that you're happy with these rewards. The Character Faculty has taken the initiative to hold this tournament and offer these precious rewards in order to help everyone grow better and enter the Skysoar Realm as soon as possible. Hopefully, this will also strengthen the human race as a whole."
"..."
Done with his speech, Liu Hong waved his hand. At his order, a large machine was lifted onto the stage.
"Everyone, each of you will draw a plate from this machine. A total of 8,330 plates are in there, numbered 1 through 1,666. Each number will be etched onto five different plates. Those with the same number will be assigned to the same team.
"Regardless of whether you're in the academy, on the battlefield, or somewhere else, luck is a part of your strength. Do not make the mistake of thinking that luck is not real. A non-factor. Know that some races out there specialize in cultivating the dao of luck. Luck is very real.
"If you end up with weak teammates from your draw, do not be prejudiced against them. Every single person has their own use. If you end up with strong teammates, do not forget yourself. Think about the fact that you are now baggage. Will they be prejudiced against you? If you don't want that to happen, do your best to showcase your abilities."
At the same time, a Cloudbreach walked up the stage and stopped before the machine. After sending his willpower into the machine and giving it a scan, he shook his head in the direction of the spectating zone. No problems had been found. This update ıs available on novel·fire·net
Old Huang was standing in the spectating zone. Apart from him, a lot of other people were there as well. Chen Yong was there. Zhao Li was there. And so on.
Only a few Mountainseas had arrived, but there were a lot of Cloudbreach cultivators present.
Old Huang said nothing. Nothing unusual was found. In that case, there was nothing he could say.
On the stage, Liu Hong smiled. Why even bother inspecting the machine? He was a good guy. How would he do something like mess with the machine? That was a cheap trick unbefitting of him. He would never do something so stupid.
The students themselves were the ones making the draws. If he was going to do something, he was naturally going to do it against the students, not the machine.
Sure, they could inspect the machine. Could they inspect every single one of the students as well? More importantly, those students wouldn't be willing to receive a thorough scan either.
"Get on the stage and make your draw."
With that, the students started getting on the stage to make their draws. There were a lot of them, but they were moving in an orderly manner. It didn't matter if they made the draw earlier or later, so it would be unbecoming for them to squeeze against each other just to make a draw. As cultural researchers, they had enough self-respect to not do something so barbaric.
...
Beyond the stage.
Amid the crowd, Su Yu did not know what to feel after looking at the crowd.
He saw an old man with white hair getting on the stage, walking alongside a bunch of teenagers. He couldn't help but think of his own father when he saw that.
His father was nearly 50. If his father was a member of the academy, he would also be one of the pitiful ones who was still stuck at the Infinite Strength Realm at such an old age. And he wouldn't even be one of the stronger Infinite Strength cultivators. He would be one of the weaker ones. He would probably be weaker than even some Great Strength students. How pitiful.
Su Yu couldn't help but feel some sympathy toward those grandpas and grannies.
Perhaps he should just end the match for them cleanly when encountering them in the tournament. They were too pitiful. He would do them a favor and help them retire earlier, giving them the break they deserved.
One student after another stepped onto the stage and drew a plate from the machine. Some were busy looking around for their teammates. Some were focused on the stronger students, trying to figure out the number drawn by those students.
This was actually quite an interesting tournament. This segment was more like a gamble than a test of skills.
The students were moving at a fast pace. Before anyone knew it, over a thousand students had taken their draws. Before long, it was the turn of Lin Yao and Yang Sha to make their draws.
Yang Sha took another glance at Lin Yao. He was starting to understand what his junior brother had been talking about previously. The tournament would be held in teams of five. With this format, they would naturally stand a chance if they were assigned to a team of strong students. Perhaps...they would be assigned to Zhan Hai's team? Or a team of some powerful old students?
How did his junior brother find out about this? And how could his junior brother be sure that they would be assigned to a strong team? He did not think too much and reached into the machine.
Nothing had been done to the machine. But something had been done to some students. Yang Sha had no idea what happened, but when his hand reached into the machine, a plate fell into his palm.
Number 600.
Beside him, Lin Yao nonchalantly reached into the machine and took out a plate. On the plate, the number 600 could be seen as well. The two exchanged gazes in shock. They had really been assigned to the same team!
Nearby, Liu Hong was cursing inwardly. What were these idiots doing? Why were they still standing on the stage? Get off the stage already!
Old Huang was also paying close attention to the stage. His eyes flickered as he glanced at Elder Sun, who remained completely still. Old Huang frowned. He seemed to have sensed a faint aura flashing over the bodies of those two. Instead of grabbing a plate from the machine, the plates had actually been attracted to them.
His face changed slightly as he sent his willpower over.
Elder Sun indifferently said, "Old Huang, don't just scan a student randomly. This is not proper."
"You..."
Old Huang had an unsightly expression. He cursed inwardly.
The single character faction seemed inept at everything except these cheap tricks. He suspected that the same trick had been used on some other students as well. Damn those bastards!
As for the proof of that...even if he knew what was happening, it would be hard to find one.
He might be able to find something if he could arrest some students and scan their bodies for foreign auras before proceeding with that line of investigation. But that would be a lot of work and any proof he found that way wouldn't even be strong enough for him to do anything with. The single character faction could easily refute a proof so weak.
Sure, he could always perform a deeper investigation to find out more, but what would be the end result of that?
Canceling the tournament?
Old Huang suppressed his anger and decided to wait and see. If some of the students actually started complaining, he could perhaps use that as a chance to do something about it.
His gaze landed on Su Yu. Were these guys doing this to target Su Yu?
Or were they only doing this for the slots?
And sure enough, he sensed the same unusual aura on the bodies of a few other students. He looked at Elder Sun and snorted, "A mere Mountainsea is stooping so low for a few slots? If you're unwilling to give the slots to outsiders, be honest and don't waste everyone's time with this tournament."
Chapter 436: Team Formed (3)
Elder Sun nonchalantly said, "Old Huang, as the master of the Discipline Hall, you should be careful with what you say. Also, weren't you guys the ones who had forced us to give out these slots? We are paying out of our own pockets to open a grotto. But a bunch of greedy individuals came together to force our hand. Is this fair? Old Huang, think about it."
Old Huang was actually speechless.
Yes. That was indeed unfair. The single character faction was paying with their own resources to open the grotto. The elders had indeed attended the meeting with selfish agendas.
Everyone was clear about that.
Even if the other elders were here, they would have nothing to say.
Old Huang sighed inwardly and said nothing else.
At that moment, a certain student stepped onto the stage. And all the other students parted to make way for him.
"Zhan Hai!"
"He already has a slot, right? Why is he here? Shameless!"
"Damn it! This fellow is capable of reaching the Skysoar Realm even without the grotto. Why is he fighting us for this chance?"
"What's his number?"
"..."
A clamor erupted among the students. Zhan Hai was the number one student in the Top 100 Ranking. He was a peak Mental Tempering Stage and ninth-stage Infinite Strength student.
A student like him was already guaranteed to enter the Skysoar Realm even without the help of a grotto.
Zhan Hai ignored all the students and made his draw. After taking a look at his plate, he indifferently announced, "Number 988. Where are my teammates?"
Someone amid the crowd cheered. Clearly, that person had drawn the same number as well. After Zhan Hai, one strong student after another made their draw as well.
Jiang Mu, Li Minyu, Dai Qing, Hu Zongyu, Lin Qing, Liu He, Wang Peng...
Numerous famous top 100 students could be seen walking up the stage.
And some of them were people that had already been given their slots. After all, the single character faction had not restricted anyone from participating in the tournament. With one extra slot, one would be able to get an additional person from their side into the grotto.
Eventually, it was Su Yu's turn to get on the stage as well. He was trying very hard to keep a low profile. But when he stepped on the stage, the crowd still sank into silence. Whispers started coming out of the crowd.
"Su Yu is here as well."
"He is way too bold. This is a tournament held by the single character faction. Is he not afraid that the single character faction will target him?"
"Yeah. The tournament is going to be held in team battles. He won't be fighting alone. What if the single character faction assigns their people with strong teammates and sends him into a weak team? He stands no chance at all!"
"..."
Su Yu's appearance had attracted a lot of attention.
Su Yu said nothing. He silently walked forth before reaching into the machine. Just as he was about to reach further, he felt a plate flying into his palm. He glanced at Liu Hong and smiled before leaving the stage silently.
Liu Hong must have done something to him during their previous meeting. He should be more careful in the future.
After taking a look, he saw the number 600 on his plate.
While he was thinking, he suddenly noticed someone nearby. He cried out, "Senior Sister..."
Wu Jia had just finished drawing her number. When Su Yu called out to her, she awkwardly said, "I'm only here for fun. Don't worry. I'll surrender if I'm faced with an opponent I can't defeat. I won't mess around. I'm only here to annoy them more. If I can meet some single character faction members during the tournament, I'll be sure to beat them up!"
"..."
Su Yu was speechless. What was she doing here? When he turned his head to look at Chen Yong, his martial uncle merely smiled and said nothing. It wasn't a bad idea for her to join a tournament and gain more experience.
Of course, she also needed to hold back from doing something stupid like fighting an opponent she couldn't defeat to the death. If she could control herself, this tournament would be a good opportunity for her to improve her skills.
Liu Hong was right. This was actually how the Allheaven Battlefield worked. It was a good idea to get used to it during their time in the academy. At the very least, one would not be completely clueless when one entered the Allheaven Battlefield in the future.
One would be able to experience the feeling of having a useless teammate in advance. That way, one would be able to stay calm in the future when encountering useless teammates at the Allheaven Battlefield.
As someone with the combat strength of a top 70 student, Wu Jia was not weak at all. Out of the over 8,000 participants, only around 100 of them would actually be able to defeat her. Su Yu could only accept their decision. There was nothing he could say about it.
The two walked off the stage together. Wu Jia happily said, "I got the number 888. This is a good number! How about you, Junior Brother?"
Su Yu suddenly laughed and softly asked, "Senior Sister, do you think anyone will notice if we exchange our numbers now?"
Right after he asked the question, someone squeezed through the crowd and stopped beside him. With a gloomy voice, that person complained, "Forget it. We can't exchange numbers. I was about to buy a few hundred plates before selling them to interested buyers. But I have only sold one before the Discipline Hall caught me. I was even fined 100 merit points for that! How greedy!"
"..."
Su Yu stared at Xia Huyou speechlessly. What an incredible fellow. Even in such a situation, he could still come up with a way to make money.
"You're not participating?"
"No. Isn't it tiring to fight all the time?" Xia Huyou declared confidently, "I am a businessman. My motto is to get rich and coexist peacefully. I don't enjoy fighting. It's only a slot. I won't fight for something like that. In any case, I already have one. Why bother?"
"You already have one?"
"Yeah." Xia Huyou laughed heartily, "Guess who I got it from."
"Who?"
"Vice Principal Xia Changqing." Xia Huyou smiled smugly, "I went straight to him demanding for a slot. We're both from the Xia Family. He has no excuse to reject me. Imagine my surprise when he really gave me one. It feels really great to get something without spending a single cent!"
Su Yu did not know whether to laugh or cry. True. Since Xia Huyou had personally visited Xia Changqing to ask for a slot, could Xia Changqing say no? Not many people knew who Xia Huyou actually was, but would Xia Changqing not know who this little fatty was?
He really had no good excuse to reject this little fatty so he could only say yes. It would seem like this little fatty was actually quite good at being a menace.
Xia Changqing had definitely been unwilling to give Xia Huyou a slot. After all, his own grandson, Xia Yuwen, was in a competition against Xia Huyou for the position of prefect.
Xia Huyou smiled and asked, "Are you interested in buying some information I have? I can tell you about the teams of the stronger students. I gathered a lot of information when I was running around buying the plates earlier."
"Has the single character faction formed any strong teams?"
Su Yu did not care about anything apart from the single character faction.
"Yes." Xia Huyou softly said, "They have one. That's a very strong team. The two students of Zhou Pingsheng are in that team. Both of them are over 30 in age. They used to be top 100 students when they were younger.
"The other three students in the team are in similar positions. One of them is Elder Zheng Yuming's student while the other two are respectively the students of Elder Yu and Elder Li."
When Wu Jia heard that, she asked, "Isn't that cheating?" Latest content publıshed on ⓝovelFire.net
Su Yu sighed before saying with a smile, "Senior Sister, they are the organizers of this tournament. It isn't surprising for them to pull something like this. It is pointless to say all this."
But Wu Jia was still unhappy. That was too shameless.
Xia Huyou said, "That's a very strong team. All five of them are former top 100 students. They have reached the very peak in their cultivation of martial techniques, cultivation methods, physical body, willpower, and Divine Characters. In truth, they are probably strong enough to face a Skysoar when working together."
That was actually true. A team of five like that would definitely be strong enough to fight even a Skysoar.
Of course, good teamwork was necessary or the Skysoar opponent would be able to separate them and defeat them one at a time.
"How about the other teams?"
"There are also Zhan Hai's team and Jiang Mu's team. Basically, the teams of the top 10 students are all very strong. There are also several strong teams among the old students."
Su Yu nodded and asked, "How about Di Feng and his people? Are they in the tournament?"
"Nope." Xia Huyou shook his head and said, "They aren't even in the academy anymore. I suspect they are out hunting the Myriad Race Cult. They are probably trying to offset their punishment with their contribution and remove the ban placed on them. They will probably return after destroying a cult stronghold or two."
Su Yu frowned and asked, "So have the single character faction been cooperating with the cult before this? This seems too convenient."
"I doubt so." Xia Huyou explained, "Some strongholds have always been known to us. We have only been leaving these strongholds alone to wait for a bigger fish. We have never stopped monitoring these strongholds. The single character faction has a lot of members so they definitely know a few of such strongholds as well. Thus, it isn't surprising that they can find some strongholds when they need to. If they had really been cooperating with the cult, they wouldn't have dared to send their own students out to destroy these strongholds."
Bigger fish!
True. Great Xia was probably aware of the locations of many cult strongholds. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to easily wipe out several cult strongholds each time they needed a scapegoat.
In fact, they had done that not long ago to cover up the conflict between the single and multiple character factions!
First, they blamed the master of the First Divine Sect. Then, they killed the master of the Blood Fire Sect. Finally, the Martial Dragon Guards were deployed to wipe out several cult strongholds. They seemed very well-practiced when doing all that.
"What a pity."
Su Yu sighed. He was quite sad to find out that those fellows wouldn't be in the tournament. He would feel much better if he could meet them in the tournament and give them a beating. While they were speaking, the draw was coming to an end.
Liu Hong said, "You will be given half an hour to group up with your team members. There are 1,666 teams in total. Make your choice after seeing your team members. If you believe you stand no chance, feel free to give up. Or you can approach the tournament with the mentality of learning something new through spars. Just be smart about how you use your time and energy. You will be fighting multiple matches over the course of the tournament. If you go all out and use everything you have during the first match, you won't be able to fight in the subsequent matches. Make smart choices and don't do anything pointless."
With their numbers, one would need to fight in at least 10 matches to get first place. Fighting that many matches in a row would be a great challenge for any team.
Su Yu smiled without worry and yelled, "Number 600, let's gather up!"
He was quite loud. A lot of people heard him. And the faces of several people in the crowd changed. With the plate in his hand, Liu He cursed.
Fuck!
Why was he assigned to this fellow's team?
Not far away, Yang Sha blanked out. Su Yu? He was actually in the same team as Su Yu?
He looked at Lin Yao in shock. Lin Yao, on the other hand, did not look surprised. He softly said, "Senior Brother, this is our chance! He's very strong!"
"I"
Yang Sha felt like shouting at someone. Of course he knew Su Yu was strong. But Su Yu was weaker than Di Feng. More importantly, Su Yu was their enemy! Was his junior brother not aware of that?
Relying on Su Yu to get first place? Was this a joke? Were they supposed to work alongside Su Yu and fight those from their own faction? If they did that, how could they face their teacher after the tournament?
Not far away, Zhou Hao grinned. Instead of walking up to Su Yu, he remained where he was. He scanned his surroundings and started looking at the stronger students such as Zhan Hai and Jiang Mu. Were these his coming opponents? He was starting to get excited. As for the fact that he had to carry three deadweights with him, he didn't seem to care. As long as Su Yu was strong enough, everything would be fine.
He was never one to rely on others, so he wasn't bothered by the fact that he would have some useless teammates. As for his cooperation with Su Yu, it had been proposed by Su Yu, not him. He personally didn't care who his teammates would be.
Liu He might be a top 100 student with a decent ranking, but not even someone like him could catch Zhou Hao's attention. Zhou Hao might only be a ninth-stage Great Strength cultivator, but he was completely uninterested in someone with zero bloodlust like Liu He.
The students started gathering with their team members.
"Number 888..."
Someone shouted.
Wu Jia ran over when she heard the call. When Su Yu looked over, he was surprised to see that it was actually a decent team. There were even a few top 100 students in it. Shortly after, a few students arrived around Su Yu.
Liu He had an unfriendly look in his eyes, Yang Sha looked unwilling to be there, and Lin Yao pretended to be furious.
Su Yu showed a complete disregard for them and said, "During the fights, just stand aside and don't get in my way."
"You..."
Liu He was furious. No matter what, he was a top 100 student. How could Su Yu insult him like that? Su Yu ignored them. All around him, numerous gazes landed on him. When they saw his team members, they nearly roared with laughter.
Liu He, Lin Yao, Yang Sha...and a new student, Xia Huyou.
Was this Su Yu's team? How was he supposed to compete with such teammates?
Xia Huyou did not seem to mind that so many eyes were on him. He was only there to take a look. He wasn't even participating in the tournament. Why were these people looking at him? Then again, he had to admit that this was quite a...shitty team.
The single character faction was truly creative. Sure, Liu He had decent strength, but would he even try his best? In the spectating zone, Elder Sun and the other elders were smiling happily. They all looked at Liu Hong approvingly. Nicely done!
If Su Yu really managed to get the slots offered, that would be an insult for them. But with a team like this, could he still get a slot for himself?
Dream on!
Chapter 437: The Reliable Liu Hong (1)
It was obvious that something was fishy about Su Yu's team allocation.
But none of the students said anything.
At this time, someone from the Discipline Hall asked, "Do any students have any issues with their team allocations?
A lot of people looked at Su Yu. The Discipline Hall had clearly noticed that something was wrong.
With a big smile on his face, Su Yu said, "Nope. Since the team assignment is done and the tournament is going to start soon, I won't waste anyone's time. I can't give those shameless people an excuse to cancel the tournament, right? That would only ruin the day of many seniors here."
Su Yu spoke in a calm and straightforward manner.
He was basically saying that he was letting this slide because he didn't want to give the shameless single character faction the chance to cancel the tournament and ruin the plan of the many students here.
A lot of people exhaled in relief upon hearing that. That would be for the best. After all, some of them were actually quite happy with their teammates. It was clear that something was fishy about Su Yu's teammates. If the Discipline Hall was really allowed to start an investigation, nobody knew if the tournament would end up canceled.
Clearly, all this was actually a part of Liu Hong's plan. If the Discipline Hall insisted on carrying out an investigation, they could simply cancel the tournament and shift the blame to Su Yu. Since Su Yu had refused to question the team allocation, the person from the Discipline Hall said nothing else. And apart from Su Yu, no other students responded to the Discipline Hall's question.
At this point, it no longer mattered if they were happy with their team or not. Su Yu was right. If they questioned the team allocation and caused the cancellation of the tournament, they would ruin everyone's plan and offend the entire academy.
On the stage, Liu Hong smiled and said, "Since there are no issues, take this time to communicate with your team members. This would also be your first priority on the battlefield. You need to first know what each other is good at, make a clear plan detailing each person's responsibilities, and elect a team leader. These are all the things you need to do yourself."
...
Su Yu completely ignored Liu Hong.
Liu He and the others continued staring at him coldly. After a while, Liu He coldly said, "Su Yu, I'm afraid we won't be getting any slots. But with our strength, we can at least get into the top 10."
Su Yu looked at Liu He and said, "Senior Brother Liu, are you offering your help?"
Liu He frowned and looked at Liu Hong as he sank into an internal struggle. Should he help? His big brother and the single character faction had clearly assigned him to Su Yu's team to drag Su Yu down. If he helped Su Yu, what would his big brother think?
After a short silence, he said, "I believe that as a genius, I should properly display my strength and grace in battle. I need to show that we of the single character faction are also people with honor. Lin Yao and Yang Sha are weak, but I'm not weak."
Su Yu asked, "So do you mean that you're willing to fight?"
With a toying tone, Su Yu said, "None of you are stupid. I believe you are already aware of what you're supposed to be doing in this team."
Liu He felt even more gloomy. He coldly said, "We are fighting for ourselves, not anyone else. Once we step on the stage, only enemies and allies are left. Nothing else matters."
"I hope you're telling the truth." Su Yu said, "In that case, we'll work together."
Liu He said, "You're the strongest among us. Are you not making a plan or any other preparation?"
He wanted to give it a try. Even if they couldn't get first place, he believed that their team was good enough to survive a few rounds. Su Yu had the strength of a top 20 student. He had the strength of a top 70 student. Yang Sha was only slightly weaker than a top 100 student. Lin Yao was truly weak. As for Xia Huyou, his true strength was still unknown.
Their team was definitely strong enough to defeat some of the weaker teams.
Of the new students, only the top 100 students could pose a threat to them. As for the old students, sure, many of them were strong. But the truly talented ones would have broken through long ago. Thus, there were only around 100 peak Mental Tempering Stage cultivators among the old students.
Additionally, the myriad race students would also be participating in the tournament. According to Liu He's calculation, their team was probably good enough to enter the top 50 in the tournament. After all, they also had several top 100 students in their team.
"Plan?" Su Yu smiled, "Sure. Since you want a plan, I'll make a plan. The three of you only need to do one thing. Target the weakest member of our opposing team. It doesn't matter if you can defeat that person or not. Just keep that person busy."
Liu He was furious after hearing that.
Yang Sha was also angered. He said, "Liu He is a true top 100 student while I am also someone who has challenged the top 100 before. And you're asking us to join hands against students who have yet to even enter the top 100?"
Su Yu indifferently asked, "What else can we do, Senior Brother Yang? Will the single character faction allow me to reach the finals?"
They sank into silence.
After a long while, Lin Yao said, "How about this? We will do our best against those not from the single character faction. As for the single character faction students..."
Liu He snorted and said, "We will do our best against everyone. Su Yu, don't make the mistake of thinking that everyone in the single character faction is targeting you. We don't have the time to waste on something this meaningless. Apart from the main line of the faction, the rest of us don't really care much about you."
The so-called main line was basically Zhou Mingren's line.
Su Yu did not care. He merely smiled and said, "Sure. You guys can fight if you're willing. If you're unwilling, it doesn't matter. I won't force you to do anything. After all, I don't want to take the blame if you guys end up offending your own faction. It will probably be fine if we end up losing. But if I end up winning and you guys have been fighting hard...hehe. I reckon you would start having a hard time in the single character faction."
Su Yu had an amused expression on his face. Liu He completely dismissed those words. Bullshit. There was no way they could win. Whatever. It was understandable for Su Yu to not trust them. He had nothing else to say. He would decide what to do later.
After a short while, Liu Hong announced, "It's time. Since we have a lot of participants, try to end the matches as quickly as possible. A total of 20 rings have been prepared for the tournament. 40 teams will fight concurrently. The winners will remain while the losers will leave."
A single match would last around three or four minutes. Thus, the first round would last around two hours. Nobody had any issues with that. It was good that the first round wouldn't end that fast. That would only give them more time to recuperate after their match.
"As for the opponent allocation, it is very simple. Team one will fight team two, team three will fight team four, and so on. The first 40 teams may get into the rings now."
One team after another started entering the rings assigned to them. The referees also started entering the rings. Su Yu noticed several strong teams among the first 40 teams. Basically, any team with a top 100 student or a peak Mental Tempering Stage student could be considered a strong team. Beside him, Xia Huyou was feeling very curious about the final member of Su Yu's team.
Everyone thought that he was the final member, but he couldn't even be bothered to explain himself. He didn't care what those people thought. But Su Yu was definitely aware that he wasn't the final member. Had this fellow figured out who the last member was?
Instead of asking, Xia Huyou looked at the first 40 teams and said, "Team 16 is probably the strongest among them. They have three strong members, with two of them being top 100 students and one of them being a former top 100 student over 30."
That was a team with three top 100 students. That could indeed be considered a strong team.
Just like that, the tournament started. It was very straightforward. The moment the referees called for the matches to start, booming sounds reverberated throughout the arena.
The gap between the top 100 students and those outside the top 100 was clear for all to see. And the team 16 mentioned by Xia Huyou was able to obtain an instant victory. Their three top 100 students had fought a different opponent each. And they had all defeated their respective opponents instantly.
Some of the Mental Tempering Stage students were actually quite weak. After all, cultural researchers were different from warriors. Warriors would be decently strong even at the Great Strength Realm. But cultural researchers could be very weak even at the Mental Tempering Stage as some of them might not even have a single Divine Character yet at that level of cultivation. And such cultural researchers would basically be completely helpless in this tournament.
Boom!
With a rumble, the match between team 15 and team 16 on ring 8 ended. The members of team 15 were thrown off the ring one after another.
"Team 16 is victorious."
The referee announced the victor, putting an end to that match. At the same time, the referee of ring 1 also declared, "Team 1 is victorious."
Only then did Su Yu notice the first ring. He was quite surprised. That was fast!
Xia Huyou was also surprised. He said, "That's a student specializing in sealing. He's quite strong. All his opponents were instantly sealed at the start of the match. Su Yu, you need to keep an eye out for this team."
Su Yu said nothing. At that time, yet another match came to an end. With a loud roar, a massive beast had appeared in ring 6.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The leopard-like beast moved rapidly and instantly sent all five students of the opposing team out of the ring.
"A student from the beast taming faction. And he is even someone who has formed a beast space within his body. This is not someone to be underestimated as well."
Su Yu suddenly asked, "Are the beast taming faction students allowed to fight with Skysoar beasts?"
Xia Huyou rolled his eyes and said, "What are you thinking about? They can only fight with the beasts they tamed themselves. And only actual students of the beast taming faction can fight with tamed beasts. These so-called tamed beasts refer to the beasts they can take into their beast space. Do you think these students can take overly powerful beasts into their beast spaces?"
"Only students with beast spaces will be considered true members of the beast taming faction. The others can only be considered students-in-waiting. Do you understand now?"
Su Yu nodded as he looked at the team with the beast tamer. A student of the beast taming faction. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novelFirｅ.net
This was Su Yu's first time witnessing the fight of a student from the beast taming faction. He knew what race the leopard belonged to. It was the wind leopard race. This wasn't a particularly powerful race, but the wind leopards were known for their speed. Thus, this was a rather popular beast to tame.
The leopard was at around the fifth or sixth stage of the Infinite Strength Realm. It was actually quite strong.
Chapter 438: The Reliable Liu Hong (2)
Through the matches, Su Yu was exposed to all sorts of students. He could feel his horizons expanding just by watching these matches.
He saw a talisman faction student toss out some talismans to create a swamp in the ring, trapping his opponents and defeating them easily with the help of his team members. Get full chapters from novel_fіre.net
He saw a pillmaking faction student toss a poisonous pill out, instantly knocking both his opponents and his team members out.
"Fatty-cough, cough. Huyou, how about the pillmaking faction? If they get some poisonous pills capable of killing Mountainseas from their elders, won't they dominate the tournament?"
Xia Huyou asked doubtfully, "Don't you know the academy rules very well? How do you not know this?"
"The rules for the top 100 challenges are already fixed. But the rules for this tournament are brand new. Who knows what the rules are?"
Su Yu rolled his eyes. How was he supposed to know that? He reckoned that Xia Huyou didn't have the answer to that question as well. Sure enough, Xia Huyou merely shrugged. He had no idea as well.
Fortunately, the Discipline Hall soon made an announcement, "The students of the beast taming faction are only allowed to fight with their own tamed beasts. The students of the pillmaking faction are only allowed to utilize the pills they have refined themselves. The same applies to the students of the talisman faction..."
Su Yu had nothing to say about that. That was actually good for him. Otherwise, the other students would stand no chance against the students fighting with pills, talismans, or beasts at the Mountainsea Realm. Someone capable of producing talismans, pills, or beasts at that level would no longer be a mere student.
"The moment a match concludes, the following teams can get into the ring immediately. Don't stand around waiting to be called."
Since so many matches were being held concurrently, it would be a waste of time to sit around waiting for all the matches to conclude before proceeding with the subsequent matches.
...
Out of the first 40 teams to fight, a few of them were strong teams.
Since it was so early in the tournament, the gap between the teams could actually be quite big. Most of the strong teams had been able to easily defeat their opponents when encountering the weak teams. As for the matches that had appeared quite even, they usually involved two similarly weak teams.
One team after another stepped into a ring to fight. The winners advanced while the losers dropped out of the tournament. The gap between the strong and the weak was really too big.
All the teams with at least one top 100 student had been able to win. After all, one of these top 100 students was already strong enough to face several of the weaker students. There was really no suspense to these matches.
In the blink of an eye, half an hour passed.
The tournament was progressing rapidly. At this point, it was team 590's turn to fight. In only half an hour, a total of 295 teams had emerged victorious. If things continued at this pace, the first round would end in around two and a half hours. The turn of Su Yu's team was also fast approaching.
At this time, the referee announced, "Ring 8, team 593 and team 594."
When both teams stepped into the ring, a large number of students cheered. A truly strong student had appeared.
Jiang Mu!
Ranked third on the top 100!
He was also the first top 100 student Su Yu had seen after entering the academy. He still remembered clearly how all the guards had hastily moved aside to make way for Jiang Mu when he was passing by. That was quite an impressive sight to behold.
With Jiang Mu around, there was no suspense to the match. Su Yu had only blinked once, and all of Jiang Mu's opponents had already been sent out of the ring. Jiang Mu had moved so fast that several afterimages were left in the ring.
His opponents didn't even have the chance to make any moves before they were defeated. After the match, Jiang Mu stepped out of the ring with an indifferent expression. It almost felt like he was only there to take a stroll.
...
"Team 599 and team 600, get into the ring."
When team 600 was called up, it attracted a lot of attention as well. The students had heard that Su Yu was in team 600.
Su Yu said nothing and went straight into the ring.
Lin Yao and the rest followed behind him. Suddenly, Lin Yao turned around to look at Xia Huyou who was happily eating some snacks. He asked, "What are you doing? Get moving."
"..."
Xia Huyou looked at Lin Yao like he was looking at a fool.
Nonsense. He wasn't a part of their team. Why should he enter the ring with them?
"You..."
Before Lin Yao could finish his words, a different person entered the ring.
Zhou Hao!
A lot of people were surprised to see him in the ring. Although he had only fought once after joining the academy, everyone knew that he was a strong combatant. Was this fellow a member of team 599?
But when the members of team 599 entered the ring, the crowd looked even more astonished. So this Zhou Hao was in Su Yu's team?
What the fuck? What about Xia Huyou, then?
Numerous gazes landed on Xia Huyou. Meanwhile, Xia Huyou ignored the gazes and continued snacking. Why were they looking at him? It wasn't like he had actually said that he was a member of team 600.
...
Spectating zone.
Elder Sun looked somewhat surprised. He transmitted his voice to Liu Hong, "Why did you assign this person to Su Yu's team?"
Zhou Hao was very strong!
More importantly, he wasn't from the single character faction.
Liu Hong explained, "Xia Yuwen's people are trying to get more slots as well. If we assign Zhou Hao to any other team, he might really be able to get a slot. Considering he doesn't get along well with Su Yu, I decided to put the two of them together and kill two birds with one stone. This way, we can stop both of them from getting any slots."
Elder Sun frowned, "This Zhou Hao isn't weak. If he decides to work with Su Yu..."
"He was nearly killed by Su Yu previously."
Liu Hong said, "Elder Sun, even if the two decide to work together, they won't be able to win. Also, he is Xia Yuwen's student. And Xia Yuwen has just been crippled by Bai Feng. With the kind of person Xia Yuwen is, he will definitely not spare his student for working with Bai Feng's student so soon after that incident. Also, the multiple character faction has the habit of treating any helper as one of their own. If Zhou Hao really decides to work with Su Yu, that puts them on the same side as Xia Yuwen. Hehehe, they might end up forced to help Xia Yuwen as well. That will only drag them into more conflicts."
Elder Sun's eyes flickered.
Liu Hong continued his voice transmission, "Elder Sun, to be honest, I don't really agree with Faculty Head Zhou's decision to work with Xia Yuwen. Don't forget that the prefect has his own son. At the end of the day, he will still be closer to his own son than a distant relative like Xia Yuwen. And the prefect has full freedom in deciding the date of his abdication. He can very well give his own son enough time to grow. It is simply too dangerous for us to get involved in that conflict. Taking Xia Chan into our faction does not change anything. It would be much better to drag the multiple character faction into that conflict instead."
Elder Sun nodded in agreement.
He was about to say something when he turned to look at the stage in astonishment.
Bang!
Su Yu did not waste any time. The moment the match started, he moved rapidly, creating dozens of afterimages all over the ring. Even though his opponents had promptly scattered, he had still been able to instantly kick all of them out of the ring.
With a frown, Elder Sun said, "This fellow has grown even stronger. The multiple character faction...is indeed a faction of geniuses."
After some thought, he said, "For the following rounds, send some strong teams after them. Don't make it too obvious, but try to tire him out. When he runs out of energy, send Little Zhou's student in and cripple him."
Liu Hong answered with a nod.
It wasn't surprising that Elder Sun wanted to cripple Su Yu as well. Of course, he wasn't angry at Su Yu. Rather, he was angry at Bai Feng for killing a Cloudbreach student of his. And he was now venting that anger on Su Yu.
...
In the ring.
Su Yu had decided to end the match promptly. This was only the first match and his opponents were only some weak students. Was he supposed to hide his strength to make him look somewhat equal to these weak students? If he did that, he might really end up ruining his own reputation.
After easily defeating his five opponents, he cupped his hands at them before leaving the ring. The team followed behind him. Instead of separating from them, Zhou Hao was finally standing with them.
Lin Yao and the rest were still slightly dazed. They weren't surprised by the victory. They were only surprised by the fact that Zhou Hao was their teammate. That bastard Xia Huyou had spent such a long time with them earlier. Why had that bastard not said anything to them? They had even wasted quite a lot of time talking to Xia Huyou in an attempt to establish a rapport before the match.
Looking at Zhou Hao, Liu He frowned. Meanwhile, Zhou Hao did not even spare Liu He a glance. All his attention was on the strong students.
...
Apart from one exception, no strong teams had encountered each other so far.
The single exception was the match involving the teams of two top 100 students. The fight between the two top 100 students was intense. A winner was only decided after about seven to eight minutes.
A few students clad in cloaks and masks had also participated in the matches, but Su Yu had not paid much attention to them. Those were probably the myriad race students. They had all been masked and fighting without using any special techniques or abilities, so there really wasn't anything one could discover from their matches anyway.
Before long, it was team 888's turn to fight.
That was the team Wu Jia was in.
With one glance, Su Yu lost interest in the match. Wu Jia had been lucky to be assigned to Li Minyu's team. Li Minyu was the fifth ranked student in the top 100. This was a very strong team.
That was especially true considering the fact that Wu Jia herself was also a top 100 student. She was definitely not a pushover.
It would seem like Liu Hong had not bothered targeting Wu Jia. Her team was actually strong enough to perhaps even enter the top five in the tournament. It was unclear if Liu Hong was fearful of Chen Yong or if there was a different reason. In any case, he had left Wu Jia alone.
With a fifth ranked student in their team, they were able to easily defeat their opponents. These matches had thoroughly exposed the gap between the different students of the academy.