185: The game begins

"However, I must say the ugly truth upfront, Chen Du. While we are familiar with each other..."

"...don't harbor any other ideas. I will only step in to save you when your life is in danger."

"Which also means you will be eliminated."

"Other than that, I will not and cannot do anything extra."

"If you want a good result, you must rely on your own efforts!"

Chen Du smiled and nodded; naturally, he had no thoughts of taking shortcuts.

Everything he had today was entirely due to his own hard work!

In the past, Chen Du would look down on those who used connections to get ahead, believing they were undeserving of their reputations.

But as he grew older, his perspective gradually changed.

As he sees it now, combat power, potential, decisiveness, execution, effort, financial resources, material resources, human resources, and all other such 'powers' are all forms of strength!

They are simply expressed in different forms.

For instance, using connections is actually just one manifestation of potential!

The other two protectors were wearing clothes bearing the emblems of Black Dragon Martial Arts University and Tianfeng Martial Arts University.

This indicated that the protectors chosen this time were teachers from their respective universities.

The purpose of doing this was not because Qilin Martial Arts University lacked manpower.

Although 60 Sky Soaring Warriors were many, this was the First Ecological Zone!

The place where the power of the High Martial Civilization was most concentrated!

The reason for assigning teachers from each respective university was to ensure there was a clear party responsible in case any accidents really happened.

This prevented any buck-passing or disputes between the three parties later on.

When enemies appeared, the three universities would unite against them, acting as one.

But normally, for the sake of the students' growth, the three parties were in a competitive mode.

"Perform well later, Chen Du! Although only students from your Qilin Class are participating in this competition..."

"...many freshmen from the Three Great Academies, as well as sophomores and above, are watching the battle inside the Little Giant Egg."

"You are the representatives of the freshmen; even if you lose, you must show your own style!"

Although Chen Du had never been to the Little Giant Egg, he knew it was a stage specifically provided for Martial Artists to spar.

However, this kind of sparring was usually for major competitions.

Normal, everyday sparring didn't have any audience.

If students wanted to spar individually, they only needed to find a supervising teacher, and they could do it in any Martial Arts Room.

After all, they were in university now, so there weren't as many restrictions as there were in high school.

As long as both sides agreed and booked a supervising teacher, they could fight whenever they wanted in any bookable Martial Arts Room.

"Rest assured, Teacher. I wouldn't dare say too much, but I am confident in reaching the top ten!"

Chen Du said confidently. He had originally wanted to say top three, but that was too ostentatious and didn't fit his low-key personality.

Peng Fei looked surprised upon hearing this. After all, he was in charge of recruitment, and he didn't know the specifics of Chen Du's strength.

He could only say that he was quite strong. He heard that on the way to the First Ecological Zone, Chen Du had single-handedly wiped out the Dune Squad that had come to surround them.

Analyzing the opposing leader, those were students from second-rate institutions, but there were Martial Artists among them.

At that time, Chen Du was not yet a Martial Artist, yet he still defeated them. From this point of view, Peng Fei did not think Chen Du was bragging.

But he still cautioned him:

"It's best to have confidence, but don't underestimate your opponents. You are in lane 5, and your opponents are the number 5 students from the other two universities."

Chen Du nodded confidently; he naturally understood this, but he was very confident in his own strength!

This wasn't just because his Life Strength had increased to level 12 and he had awakened the Fifth Secret Treasure.

It was also because the effect of the Zhan Zhan Fruit could be triggered by the Crystal Space!

Plus, with the Life Goddesss Favor, Chen Du was crazily improving his Life Strength talent and Martial Skill talent every day.

His rate of progress every day exceeded the day before!

Chen Du's confident words and firm gaze made Xiongfeng Jiantichiro and Inokong Yukiko cast surprised glances at him unconsciously.

Confident in the top ten?

One had to know that the Three Great Academies had a total of 19 A-grade students combined.

Among them, Black Dragon Martial Arts University and Tianfeng Martial Arts University each had 7, while Qilin Martial Arts University had 5.

In terms of quantity, Qilin Martial Arts University had the lowest probability of entering the top ten.

Moreover, there was a hidden message in Chen Du's words: no matter if he went head-to-head with the 5-A or 5-B students, he could win!

If he didn't have that kind of confidence, how could he claim that the top ten was no problem?

Being in the weakest university, how dare he make such bold claims?

Was it genuine ability, or was he just talking nonsense?

Xiongfeng Jiantichiro and Inokong Yukiko both looked at Chen Du seriously.

They were both elite students; they wouldn't look down on him, but would only be cautious.

Since Chen Du was so confident, he must have some skills. However, as the number 5 students of Black Dragon Martial Arts University and Tianfeng Martial Arts University...

...in terms of talent alone, it wouldn't be wrong to say they were in the top ten of this generation for the entire civilization.

They were also extremely confident people and couldn't be scared off by a single sentence from Chen Du.

...

The Little Giant Egg was shaped like an egg with the top cracked off.

Usually, apart from maintenance personnel, there were no outsiders, but at this moment, because of the Three-School Joint Martial Arts Competition, it was packed with crowds of people.

On the wall was a huge rectangular electronic screen displaying the number 4396.

This was the number of people who had entered the Little Giant Egg by scanning their wristbands, including teachers, students, and relevant staff.

The Three Great Academies only recruited 1000 students each year. After accounting for those who died on the way, the actual number of new students for the three parties combined was around 2850 each year.

At this moment, the vast majority of the 4396 people on the field were freshmen from the Three Great Academies.

There were far fewer sophomores, and as for juniors and seniors, basically no one came.

After all, this was a competition for this year's freshmen. Once they reached their sophomore year, watching such a competition didn't feel like much.

The reason many sophomores came this time was mainly because the competition format was different from the past, and they wanted to see something new.

As for the veteran juniors and seniors, many were no longer at the school.

At this moment, they were divided into three parties, sitting in a triangular formation.

Among them, Qilin Martial Arts University had the most people due to being the host, with about 2000 people.

Black Dragon Martial Arts University and Tianfeng Martial Arts University had similar numbers, each with just over 1000.

Now, there were only two and a half minutes left until the competition started, and basically everyone who wanted to watch had arrived.

In the center of the arena was a huge four-sided screen. Everyone present was a Martial Artist, so even those sitting in the last row could see clearly.

In the front row sat three men with extraordinary bearing.

One of them was Pang Tian Ce, who represented Qilin Martial Arts University and was sitting with the Vice-Principals of the other two schools.

This time, Qilin Martial Arts University was the host, so he sat in the middle.

"I'll congratulate you in advance this time, Ma Rui."

"I've seen that Gao Zhongwang once before; he is indeed outstanding."

Pang Tian Ce faced left and chuckled at a middle-aged man with a slicked-back hairstyle.

"Not at all, not at all!"

"Although Xiao Gao is excellent, I wouldn't dare say he is in a league of his own. Besides, this competition has dark horses every year; one cannot be careless!"

The Vice-Principal of Tianfeng Martial Arts University, [ Ma Rui ], said modestly with a fake smile.

"You guy are still pretending. He is the only S-grade in the whole field; who else could be his opponent?"

Sitting to Pang Tian Ce's right, the Vice-Principal of Black Dragon Martial Arts University, [ Ka Tu ], spoke up.

Beep!

At this moment, the big screen suddenly emitted a long beep, and the previously noisy venue instantly quieted down.

The competition had begun!

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