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.
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.
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.
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.
