Chapter 674: Choice

“Alright, our opponents have been drawn. We’re facing the second-placed team from the fifth group. They’re a team from the Outreach Division,” Ju Hang frowned as he spoke. However, he quickly regained his composure and laughed, “Just do what you normally do. Let’s show them the strength of our Fifth Class. Since we already managed to advance from the group stages, we have already achieved our goal. If we get anything more, that will be great. However, you don’t have to feel pressured!”

When he was done with his speech, Ju Hang sent them away to practice. He then turned to Shang Xia with a serious expression. “Have they really started to act against us?”

“They’re acting against the battle formation. Do you think the Fifth Class will be the only ones to know the principles behind it after the competition ends?” Shang Xia chuckled.

Ju Hang grumbled softly, “That isn’t fair! Didn’t the First and Second Classes also learn the battle formation? Why aren’t they targeted?”

Shang Xia smiled, “Not everyone can practice the Extremity Yin Yang Formation. Otherwise, those classes would have used it during the competition. The Second Class was eliminated, and the First Class was barely ranked second in their group.”

Ju Hang didn’t stop complaining. “Didn’t they say that they didn’t have too much time to practice their battle formation and failed to grasp the core of it? Isn’t that why they didn’t use it during the competition?”

Shang Xia didn’t reply and he merely maintained the smile on his face. Instead, Ju hang fell into contemplation as though he had realized something.

With Shang Xia’s instructions, the members of the Fifth Class could challenge Ju Hang after a period of training. The stronger students from the First and Second Classes didn’t choose to listen to Shang Xia’s personal instructions. They chose to train alone, and even after half a month, they failed to grasp the fundamentals of the Extremity Yin Yang Formation.

It wasn’t as though both classes didn’t think to use their battle formation. However, some of them had a strong resistance to the principles behind it and they were unable to coordinate with the others. Even Sun Haiwei was unable to do anything about it. She could only allow them to make their own decisions.

What Shang Xia and Ju Hang didn’t know was that the students of the First and Second Classes had a falling out because of the Extremity Yin Yang Formation right after the group stages were concluded.

There wasn’t a need to mention the Second Class. They were eliminated from the group stages and their discussion of the formation mostly revolved around if they could have advanced if they worked harder and utilized the battle formation well.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

If they were honest with themselves, there was no need for any doubt. They would definitely have done better if they used the formation. After all, the reason the Fifth Class could emerge victorious was because of it!

No one would think that the Fifth Class managed to get so far based on their personal cultivation level. After all, the teams they defeated weren’t exactly useless. There were 2 teams from the Protection Division and it was impossible for the Fifth Class to have defeated them easily.

There was only one reason behind their victory, the Extremity Yin Yang Formation.

The students from the Second Class managed to get the chance to learn the same battle formation used by the Fifth Class thanks to Sun Haiwei’s recommendation, but they chose to give it up.

That led to the stronger members in the Martial Extremity Realm facing a lot of doubt from the other members.

…

The chief disciple of the First Class of the Inner Division, Zhuang Su, had already reached the grand completion stage of the Martial Extremity Realm. Facing the pressure and doubt from his fellow students, his face flushed red with rage and he yelled, “That battle formation walks down the unorthodox path and I’m sure our cultivation will be negatively affected if we choose to comprehend the principles behind it! We’ll just get further and further off the path of cultivation and never be able to advance again!”

“Chief Zhuang, are you so sure?”

“Wouldn’t the other members of the institution discover its weakness if it’s as bad as you say? Wouldn’t our teachers, or the various Instructors know?”

“That’s right! Teacher Sun is an expert at the Martial Extermination Realm and she brought us over to Teacher Shang to learn the battle formation. Are you saying that she planned to harm us by doing so?”

“We managed to advance from the group stages and doubled our cultivation resources for the year. What if we manage to advance again and enter the top 8? We will be able to enter the Polarity Essence Gathering Pool to cultivate!”

“Heh, Chief Zhuang has already entered the Polarity Essence Gathering Pool in the past. He has already reached the peak of the Martial Extremity Realm and is a step away from entering the Martial Intent Realm. The Polarity Essence Gathering Pool is useless to him!”

“...”

Zhuang Su could no longer endure his anger and he snapped at the rest, “If you wish to use the battle formation, go ahead! I won’t stop you, but I will not be joining no matter what!” He stormed off after speaking.

A portion of students from the First Class left with him, including some in the Martial Extremity Realm.

It became a little awkward after they left, but the next moment, one of the students in the large completion stage of the Martial Extremity Realm coughed once before breaking the silence, “We’re going to face a team from the Contribution Division next and I went to ask around. They swapped out several disciples during the group stages and we can’t be sure who their strongest disciples are and their respective cultivation levels. In their final battle in the group stage, they sent out 5 disciples at the small completion stage of the Martial Extremity Realm. The only thing we can be sure of so far is that they have at least 4 disciples in the large completion stage. We have no idea if there are any grand completion stage Martial Extremity Realm experts among them.”

With someone breaking the strange atmosphere, everything became lively again.

“There might be very few cultivators who entered the grand completion stage of the Martial Extremity Realm, but we cannot forget that we’re up against the Contribution Division. They are in charge of judging the sinners of our institution and they wouldn’t be able to do that without sufficient strength!

“That’s right. The Contribution Division sent 3 teams into the competition, and all of them advanced from the group stage. Not even the Protection Division or Outreach Division can match their achievement.”

“It wouldn’t be strange if a disciple or two in the grand completion stage of the Martial Extremity Realm appears…”

“In that case, wouldn’t that mean that we don’t stand a chance?”

The student who analyzed the situation earlier spoke up again. “That’s exactly the reason we should bank all our hope on the battle formation. We can’t match them in experience or cultivation, and we can only hope this works!”

“...”

…

Ju Hang stared at the bunch of crossbow-wielding disciples on the platform and felt his back drenched in cold sweat.

They released their arrows the next instant and sent 2 members of the Fifth Class off the platform. The team that consisted of 7 students was left with 5, and Ju Hang spat in anger, “Are the disciples of the Outreach Division all so sinister? They even made use of crossbows to launch a long range attack. They might as well…”

Before Ju Hang could finish his sentence, the 5 disciples of the Outreach Division brought out 5 rank two talismans and flung them at the students of the Fifth Class.

“... What the fuck?!” Ju Hang’s eyes widened in shock. He continued, “Are they really going to be so damn shameless?”

“Hmph, you’re still a Custodian of the Inner Division. Aren’t you embarrassing yourself by spewing out so much vulgarities in public?” A female voice came from behind him.

Turning around, Ju Hang glared at Mu Qingyu who appeared out of nowhere. He growled angrily, “This is just a competition held in the institution. Your disciples seem to be going for the kill… What’s the matter? Are you bullying them because they are not as experienced as the disciples of your Outreach Division?”

Mu Qingyu didn’t seem to care much about him as she turned to glance at Shang Xia whose gaze was still fixed on the battle. She replied casually, “Well, you can always buy some talismans for them with your own money.”

“I don’t need you to try to piss me off over here… Do you really think that I don’t have the means to buy them each a talisman?” Ju Hang snapped.

His angry reaction was met with ridicule by Mu Qingyu. “Brother Ju, of course there’s no need for me to doubt your spending power. However, it doesn’t matter if you bought them talismans. They might not be able to use them anyway.”

Ju Hang quickly turned back to the platform to see his students fumbling around the platform. After the initial attack from the crossbows and the follow-up assault from those talismans, the students of the Fifth Class were unable to organize their battle formation.

When 2 students from the Fifth Class were knocked out by those crossbows, there were many Custodians, teachers, and Deacons in the crowd who sighed softly.

“Those students are just too inexperienced. They are unable to react swiftly to the changes in the battlefield.”

“It’s going to be difficult for them to use their battle formation now that they lost 2 people…”

“It’s a pity. After those talismans were used, those students had to fend for themselves. The battle is already over.”

“Hmm… The power behind their formation is pretty good. However, there seems to be some sort of defect…”

“Huh? I thought there would be something special about the battle formation. It’s a pity… We won’t be able to use those things we prepared for them!”

“It’s already amazing for them to achieve what they did. After all, those battle formations developed by those holy lands went through countless generations of changes and refinement. At the very least, our institution possesses a battle formation of our own now. In the future, we can continue to work on it. After 100 years, it will be a core part of our fighting strength.”

“Hmph, 100 years?! You wish!”

“I heard that Talisman Master Shang was the one who came up with the battle formation, am I wrong?”

“Who are you calling Talisman Master Shang? He’s Grandmaster Shang now!”

“I heard that he’s about to enter the Martial Dipper Realm…”

“Impossible! Do you think experts in the Martial Dipper Realm are cabbages that grow by the side of the road? His grandfather, Deputy Patriarch Shang Bo, just completed the advancement! Do you think he will be able to break through so quickly?”

“Hey, we’re talking about the battle formation here, not Talisman Master… Not Young Master Shang. Haven’t you guys noticed the strangeness of the battle formation? It’s said that Young Master Shang is planning to work on the unification of the different types of extremities…”

“Huh? That’s strange! Look at that! The students of the Fifth Class seem to be holding on quite well under the assault!”

“Hey, aren’t you guys…”

“This… This… They’re still using the battle formation! They split into 2 groups consisting of a pair and a trio respectively!”

“What?! Wasn’t their battle formation made for 7 people?”

“Do you still not understand? I’m afraid the battle formation Young Master Shang developed isn’t as simple as we thought. They don’t need 7 people to use the formation! If they’re able to work together when there’s only 2 or 3 of them… Wouldn’t that mean that they would be able to utilize the formation with 5 people?”

Everyone watching the battle with a cultivation base of the Martial Intent Realm and above started to discuss fervently among themselves. Shang Xia’s attention might be on the platform, but he was able to hear everything that was going on. He was just too lazy to respond to any of them.

As the battle raged on on the platform, a shocking scene played out on the other platform.

There were 2 teams from the Inner Division left, and the other team was made up of students from the First Class. After losing a student at the grand completion stage of the Martial Extremity Realm and 2 students at the small completion stage, they eventually managed to gather whatever fighting strength they had left. Their team of 7 was made up of 2 students in the large completion stage of the Martial Extremity Realm, 3 in the small completion stage, and 2 who had just entered the Martial Extremity Realm. They managed to forcefully deploy the battle formation and defeat the team from the Contribution Division!

Just like that, they entered the top 8, shocking everyone in the process.