Chapter 665: Competition

…

“We ran into a group of cultivators from the Azure Spiritual World who looked similar to us in age. After we came back, Teacher Sun Haiwei of the First and Second Classes told us that those were disciples from the Changbai Holy Land. They were also sent to the battlefield between the two worlds to temper themselves.” Yan Weihai described what happened back in the battlefield between the two worlds.

Shang Xia chuckled in amusement, “So… You guys weren’t their opponent and lost to them?”

A look of dissatisfaction could be seen on Yan Weihai’s face and he seemed wholly unresigned to admit the fact. However, he eventually grunted once in agreement.

After all, that was where the Fifth Class suffered their greatest loss. 2 fellow students were killed, and 2 more were crippled. 2 others were heavily injured and one of them suffered an injury to his dantian. Even if he didn’t succumb to his injuries, he would no longer be able to cultivate.

Seeing as Shang Xia was barely older than them and his attitude when talking to them seemed pretty mild, Wang Chenglin quickly lost all the caution he initially had when Shang Xia appeared. He became slightly angry after thinking back to what happened. “Even though all of them are mostly Martial Extremity Realm cultivators, we might not lose to them in a one on one battle! However, it became an all out brawl after we ran into each other and the disciples of the Azure Spiritual World knew how to advance and retreat. Their teamwork was also really good. In the end, we were defeated.”

“Oh? So in that case, I won’t be wrong to say that you guys are bad at team battles and don’t know how to coordinate with each other.” Shang Xia chuckled.

Shaking his head hastily, Wang Chenglin yelled, “No, that’s not it! They’re just better than us when it comes to group battles!”

Shi Huai, who was standing beside Wang Chenglin, added, “It’s a battle formation! The disciples of the Changbai Holy Land should know some sort of battle formation. They were able to fight against us even when outnumbered. 2 of them could hold off 3, or even 4 of us! With 3 disciples, they could hold off 5 of us! If they had 4 people in the formation, they could fight 6, or even 7 of us! That’s how they managed to gain an advantage and force us into defeat.”

Shang Xia nodded slowly and explained, “That’s not strange at all. After all, the Changbai Holy Land has hundreds of years of foundations. They’re a holy land and have multiple ways to raise the ability of their disciples.”

“Teacher Shang, from what I know, the other classes are also practicing battle formations so that they can work better with one another. The students of the first and second classes are the strongest, and our Fifth Class can be considered weaker than the rest. Right now, almost half of us are injured and need some time to recover. The distance between us and the rest will only grow bigger. Please give us some advice on how we should proceed!” Yan Weihai asked suddenly.

His question was clearly a test for Shang Xia, and he stared at Yan Weihai with a strange look in his eyes. Even so, he didn’t expose Yan Weihai’s intentions and he chortled, “Actually, I have another piece of news that I need to tell you guys. It might not be that great…”

The students of the Fifth Class stared at Shang Xia in fright.

“Before coming over, I received a notice from the Teaching Division. The 8 classes of the Inner Division and 6 classes of the Upper Division will form teams of Martial Extremity Realm students to compete in a competition organized by the institution. The Protection Division, Outreach Division, Contributions Division, Warehouse Division, and Scripture Depository would also send their teams to take part in it.” Shang Xia explained.

The students of the Fifth Class of the Inner Division were dumbstruck after hearing the news.

Shang Xia quickly continued, “Originally, I thought that the institution came up with the competition on a whim. Now that I heard your experience in the battlefield between the two worlds, I understand why they’re holding it.”

Wang Chenglin yelled indignantly in response, “This isn’t fair! Even though the cultivation level has been restricted to the Martial Extremity Realm, all of our achievements in the Martial Extremity Realm are different! The students of the Upper Division and cultivators of the various Divisions have much more experience than us! They also have a ton more real-life combat opportunities…”

The smile on Shang Xia’s face remained. “That is why the institution made several extra rules. Any team in the Inner Division can consist of 7 students. Teams from the Upper Division, Scripture Depository, and Warehouse Division will only contain 6 disciples. Teams from the Protection Division, Outreach Division, and Contribution Division are limited to 5 disciples.”

“Why will the Scripture Depository and Warehouse Division be a part of this?” Shi Huai asked.

Shang Xia explained, “Well, as long as one is in the Martial Extremity Realm in the institution, they have the right to join the competition. It doesn’t matter which division they belong to.”

One of the other Martial Extremity Realm students of the Fifth Class asked, “Teacher Shang, do we know how many teams will be taking part and the rewards given to the winner?”

“The Inner and Upper Divisions consist of 14 classes, and there should be 14 teams in total. The 9 deacons of the Protection Division will send a team each, and the 4 deacons of the Outreach Division will send 2 teams of their own subordinates. The Contribution Division will send 4 teams, and the Warehouse Division gathered 3 teams. The Scripture Depository should also be able to form 2 different teams and there should be 40 teams in total.” Shang Xia broke things down clearly for them.

The faces of the students from the Fifth Class of the Inner Division immediately turned ugly.

Not stopping there, Shang Xia continued, “The teams would be split into 8 different groups and all every team would have to battle it out with the other teams in their group. The strongest 2 teams will advance. As long as you enter the top 16 teams, you’ll receive double of your yearly stipend. The 16 teams that remain will draw lots to decide their opponent. The winners will gain a chance to enter the Polarity Essence Gathering Pool to cultivate. If you win again and enter the top 4, you will obtain substantial benefits. Everyone in the top 4 teams will be given a rank three advancement medicine after reaching the grand completion stage of the Martial Extremity Realm. If you manage to fight your way into the finals, the institution will craft a suitable low-rank weapon for each of you. Hehe… If you manage to come out on top, you will be able to obtain 50 essence crystals or a piece of rank four talisman.”

The students of the Fifth Class were listening carefully to the rewards. They were moved when they heard that the resources they received would double if they entered the top 16, but after hearing how they would be able to cultivate in the Polarity Essence Gathering Pool if they won again, many of them let out gasps of surprise. However, there were also some of them who had no idea what the Polarity Essence Gathering Pool was.

When they heard the next level of rewards that would allow them to enter the Martial Intent Realm for free, their expressions started to turn a little ugly.

It only got worse when Shang Xia spoke about the low-grade weapons that would be custom-made for those who entered the finals. Many people even started sighing.

After Shang Xia revealed the prize for the winners, looks of confusion could be seen all around.

“Even though rank four talismans can only be used once, it’s definitely a treasure we can use to turn the tides during the critical moment. It can even be said to be a trump card we can use to stay alive. However, what are essence crystals?”

“To be able to choose between a rank four talisman and 50 essence crystals… They should be of similar worth if the institution allows the winners to choose between them.”

“We haven’t even seen rank three talismans, much less rank four talismans! I heard that our institution has a Talisman Grandmaster who can produce rank four talismans! The final rewards should come from our Talisman Grandmaster, right?”

“Is there a point in thinking about all that? As if our Fifth Class can be the champions…”

“It will be great if we manage to make it out of the group stages. At least we won’t have to worry about cultivation resources for the rest of the year…”

“Hehe, with our strength, there won’t be a need to talk about leaving the group stages! As long as we don’t end up last, we should be thanking the gods!”

“Looks like all of you are thinking too much already. We might not even be able to gather 7 Martial Extremity Realm students to form a team!”

The more they spoke, the worse it got. When the final sentence was spoken, no one else felt like saying anything more. The atmosphere in the plaza fell to a freezing point and morale had never been worse.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The smile on Shang Xia’s face never faded since he arrived, and he stared at all of them without any intention of interfering.

When everyone finally fell silent and no longer spoke, he decided to break the silence. “Well, even if you can’t gather 7 people, you can join with 6.”

At that point, none of the students bothered replying. There were some who even felt that their new teacher’s brain was filled with water. They weren’t even confident about breaking out of the group stages with 7 people… Joining with 6 Martial Extremity Realm disciples seemed no different from giving up before the battle started.

There were even some who could imagine how their teams would be defeated again and again before turning into a laughing stock of the institution.

Yan Weihai felt that he couldn’t allow the feelings to fester any longer. Otherwise, every student in the Fifth Class would truly fall into despair. After a short moment of contemplation, he decided to speak up, “Teacher, dare I ask… When will the competition take place?”

Shang Xia swept his gaze across those present and maintained an air of nonchalance before replied, “You guys only have a month left.”

“Huh?! A month?! That’s not a lot of time! What can we even do?! We might as well give up and admit defeat!” Wang Chenglin yelled in a fit of anger.

“Wang Chenglin, what the hell are you talking about!” Yan Weihai snapped suddenly.

“We still have a month… If we manage to get lucky, Mu Songfang might be able to recover and join us. With her, we will be able to gather 7 Martial Extremity Realm students.” Shi Huai mumbled.

Wang Chenglin sighed, “So what if she manages to recover? We don’t know how much she would have recovered by then… She might not be able to help us and might even be a burden in the battles…”

Yan Weihai had enough and he snapped, “Wang Chenglin, would you shut up?!”

Shi Huai also seemed a little unhappy by that point. “We have to help her recover as quickly as possible. Let’s gather all the silver essence we have and get her a proper portion of rank two recovery powder.”

Wang Chenglin also realized that he angered everyone with his negativity and hurried to agree. “Yes, yes, yes. I agree! I’ll take out all the silver essence I have!”

With everyone agreeing, they managed to gather 300 silver essences. Handing it over to Yan Weihai and Shi Huai, they planned to head over to the Medicine Hall after class ended.

Only then did they realize that they were supposed to be having lessons at the moment. Their new teacher had been standing there and smiling at them the entire time.

Awkward expressions quickly appeared on the faces of the students of the Fifth Class.

Coughing once, Yan Weihai muttered, “This… Teacher Shang, since there is a month till the competition, what should we do?”

“I’ll teach you guys a battle formation too. It’s called the Extremity Yin Yang Formation.” Shang Xia laughed in response.