40: Chapter 4 is quite a coincidence!
On the main viewing platform, Jiang Baihe slowly stood up. His gentle yet penetrating voice clearly resonated in every corner of Sacred Martial Mountain.
"I trust everyone has clearly heard Dean Zhuang's words."
"Here, I would like to add one more point for all of you."
"For this Academy Tournament, any student who manages to secure a spot within the top one hundred of the Qi and Blood Academy, or the top one thousand of the Transcendent Academy, will obtain a precious qualification. That is, the right to enter and explore a soon-to-open Ancient Ruin on our Ancestral Star for training! I hope everyone will give it their all!"
BOOM!!!
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere across the entire Sacred Martial Mountain was instantly and completely ignited!
Previously, rumors about the Ancient Ruin had only circulated as hearsay within a small circle.
But now, with Jiang Baihe, the Dean himself, stating it outright, its authenticity was set in stone!
Countless students flushed with excitement at this moment, their breathing becoming rapid!
They rubbed their hands together, eyes brimming with unprecedented desire and fighting spirit.
An Ancient Ruin!
Those often represent lost cultivation techniques, powerful secret arts, and heaven-defying opportunities capable of changing one's destiny!
It must be known that the total number of students in the entire Qi and Blood Academy amounts to several hundred thousand.
To stand out from these hundreds of thousands and fight one's way into the top one hundred—the difficulty is imaginable.
But at this moment, every person present was filled with confidence in themselves!
Who among those standing here isn't a genius?
Especially those exchange students from various races of the Starry Sky—their eyes gleamed with determination, each resolved to succeed.
Why did they travel billions of light-years to this relatively resource-poor and backward Ancestral Star of humanity for an exchange program?
Humanity's martial arts techniques are fundamentally different from their own bloodline systems; they simply cannot learn them, at best gaining some tangential insights or inspiration.
Their true purpose, more often than not, was to wait for an opportunity like today's—a chance to enter the Ancient Ruins of the Ancestral Star!
Because, among the Ten Thousand Races of the Starry Sky, a legend has always circulated.
The greatest secret behind humanity's rapid rise lies hidden within these mysterious Ancient Ruins!
Within the Golden God Clan's camp, a confident and arrogant smile appeared on the handsome face of Goldhorn.
"Excellent! If I can obtain an opportunity within this ruin, surpassing that Jin Lin will be just around the corner!"
He had always been filled with resentment and dissatisfaction towards the clan for sending Jin Lin, hailed as the strongest of their generation, to the human's Xuanhuang Supreme Academy, while banishing him to this godforsaken Ancestral Star.
Why!
He would use his own strength to prove to those old fogies in the clan that he, Goldhorn, was the strongest prodigy of the Golden God Clan's current generation!
A mere top hundred?
No, his goal was first place!
He would crush all opponents beneath his feet with an unrivaled posture!
He swept a disdainful gaze across the entire arena.
On the podium, Jiang Baihe looked down at the young faces below, each filled with fighting spirit, and smiled with satisfaction.
"The Void Battlefield is being generated. All participating students, please relax your minds and do not resist the summoning force."
After speaking, he glanced down at the Heavenly Communication device on his wrist, which displayed a message he had just received.
His brow imperceptibly twitched upward.
Then, he cast a slightly surprised glance towards Ning Yuan in the crowd, who wore a look of utter leisure.
Seeing that brat across the way winking and making faces at him, he couldn't help but chuckle inwardly and shake his head.
"Go for it, Boss! Go for it, Second Brother!"
Lu Sheng and Zhou Qi, standing to the side, vigorously waved their fists, cheering on the two who were about to enter the arena.
Jiang Mingyue, however, wore an expression of sheer dominance.
"Hmph! The top spot in the Qi and Blood Academy is mine for the taking!"
Hearing this, Ning Yuan merely responded with a half-smile:
"Oh?"
Jiang Mingyue's imposing aura faltered for a moment before she snorted lightly and added defiantly:
"You... you're the exception!"
Ning Yuan feigned confusion and asked, "Why?"
"Because you're simply not human!"
Jiang Mingyue really wanted to shout these words out loud.
What a joke!
What kind of normal Qi and Blood Realm martial artist could be strong to such a monstrous degree!
Her own limit of eighteen million jin seemed like a mere chick in front of him, unable to muster even a shred of resistance.
She even seriously suspected that this guy's current qi and blood strength had probably already surpassed the twenty million jin mark!
This kind of inhuman guy...
Couldn't be compared to.
Soon, the entire Sacred Martial Mountain erupted with dazzling silver light!
On the mountain's surface, silver lotuses constructed from energy slowly bloomed, then rose gracefully into the air.
These silver lotuses swelled in the wind mid-air, eventually transforming into incredibly sturdy arenas!
Dense and layered, they extended all the way to the horizon, endless to the eye!
Immediately after, all students registered for the tournament felt a gentle summoning force.
Their figures were uncontrollably teleported to their respective arenas.
Each arena followed the standard 1v1 duel format.
Although the Qi and Blood Academy had several hundred thousand students, only tens of thousands had actually registered for the competition.
After all, many students whose cultivation hadn't yet reached the Advanced Warrior level knew they would be nothing but cannon fodder if they went up, and naturally wouldn't subject themselves to that humiliation.
"Look! That's Brother Ning Yuan! He really joined too!"
In the crowd, the three Li Hu brothers watched excitedly at a figure on one of the arenas.
"We hope everything goes smoothly for Brother Ning Yuan!"
As soon as their words fell...
THUD!
A dull thud sounded as Ning Yuan's opponent, a rather sturdy-looking youth, was casually swatted off the arena with a single, effortless slap from him.
A bubble enveloped that student, floating him gently back to the ground.
The three Li Hu brothers were left utterly speechless on the spot.
"So strong! As expected of Brother Ning Yuan!"
On another side, Lu Sheng and Zhou Qi also raised their voices, shouting loudly.
"Boss is awesome!"
"Second Brother is awesome too!"
On Jiang Mingyue's arena, the battle had also ended in an instant. Her opponent couldn't even touch the hem of her clothes before being swept off the platform by an invisible force of energy.
The cruel yet efficient elimination rounds had officially begun!
The rules were simple.
Fight round after round.
Victors advance, losers are eliminated.
Until only the top one hundred remain.
It must be said, sometimes the difference between one genius and another is far greater than the difference between a genius and a dog.
Most students stepped onto the arenas with immense confidence.
However, harsh reality would soon show them how utterly vulnerable they were in the face of stronger geniuses.
The pace of the battles was astonishingly fast.
Top ten thousand!
Top five thousand!
Top one thousand!
...
Round after round proceeded swiftly.
The Qi and Blood Academy students who hadn't participated also watched with great excitement, their blood boiling!
Among them, some particularly outstanding prodigies shone especially bright, capturing everyone's attention.
For example, Goldhorn of the Golden God Clan.
For example, Yu Ling, the Six-Winged Maiden of the Feather Clan.
For example, the brute-force monster Niu Man of the Green Ox Clan.
The battles involving these three ended almost instantly, with their opponents utterly powerless before them.
Among the human students, the most dazzling performers were still the former top-ranked student of the Qi and Blood Academy, Ye Lingjun, and another young girl named Liu Yunhuan.
They too effortlessly crushed every opponent they faced with overwhelming dominance.
However, soon, two completely unfamiliar faces that no one had heard of before caught everyone's attention.
Those were Ning Yuan and Jiang Mingyue.
Watching their clean, efficient, even relaxed and effortless fighting styles, everyone couldn't help but grow curious.
"Who are these two? They're so strong! We've never seen them in the academy before, have we?"
Hearing this, Zhou Qi immediately puffed out his chest proudly and chuckled.
"Heh, well you're seeing them now!"
"Let me tell you! Our Boss and Second Brother are destined to take the top two spots in this tournament!"
His words immediately drew many unfriendly gazes from the surrounding crowd.
But he and Lu Sheng showed no fear, instead raising their heads even more proudly.
Soon, after several brutal rounds of elimination...
Only the final two hundred contestants remained on the arenas high in the sky!
All the spectators present grew excited.
Because they knew the most thrilling duels were about to begin!
After just one more round, the top hundred seats for the Qi and Blood Academy in this Academy Tournament would be officially decided!
In the sky, the two hundred silver lotus arenas began to continuously shift and merge.
Finally, they combined in pairs, forming one hundred even larger arenas.
On one of these arenas...
Jin Yan of the Golden God Clan was momentarily taken aback before a ferocious and cruel smile spread across his face.
"Lowly insect, we meet again. What a coincidence indeed!"
"It seems fate has decreed that I step into the top hundred by crushing you beneath my feet! That ruin opportunity is destined to be mine!"
"Now, kneel on the ground and beg for mercy immediately! Perhaps I'll consider only breaking your limbs. Otherwise, hmph..."
As he spoke, he cracked the joints of his fingers, producing sharp popping sounds.
However...
A brilliant smile also appeared on Ning Yuan's face across from him.
Of course it was a coincidence.
If he hadn't given his Martial Uncle a heads-up to arrange this little 'coincidence', this escaped fish might have truly slipped through the net.
Not using one's connections would be foolish.
A little maneuvering wasn't too much, right?
Ning Yuan was in a very pleasant mood.