Chapter 23

After receiving the combat technique from Hu Qian, Xiao Li returned to the temporary dormitory; in a few days it would be the inner court selection tournament, and Hu Qian specially approved that Xiao Li didn't need to attend classes these days, allowing him to focus on training the combat technique.

During these days of Xiao Li's closed-door training, Ji Nan Academy was in an uproar, with most people talking about with great relish how talented this person Xiao Li was.

Only those stuck around the top five and around the fiftieth place are truly worried.

The top five can obtain the academy's library's secret techniques and combat techniques before entering the inner court, while only students in the top fifty can join the inner court.

Only students stuck at these two checkpoints truly worry about Xiao Li's existence.

Xiao Yan's cohort was of high quality; there were several Combat Masters, and their cultivation levels were not bad either. Xiao Li's cohort can only be considered mediocre, with only two Senior Combat Masters.

One was the outer court's first place, Li Hao; the other was the outer court's second place, Chu Junliang.

Li Hao leaned on the railing, gazing at the scenery of the outer court.

"What, feeling nostalgic? It's not graduation, it's going to the inner court." Chu Junliang shrugged and said.

Li Hao slightly shook his head, "Nothing much, just sighing at Xiao Li's strength."

"What's there to sigh about? He's also just a Senior Combat Master; when I see him on the arena, I'll let him know the might of the old students." Chu Junliang clenched his fist and threw a punch, a faint sound of breaking wind coming from the air.

"Hehe," Li Hao shook his head with a chuckle, "When you treat him as an opponent, you've already lost."

"What do you mean?" Chu Junliang turned his head, asking displeased.

"He's still a newcomer, while we are old-timers who will graduate this year if we don't make it into the inner court." Li Hao's figure gradually faded away, but his voice still lingered in Chu Junliang's ears.

Chu Junliang stared, his clenched fist unconsciously loosening. Yeah, from the start, these old students and Xiao Li have nothing comparable.

……inner court selection tournament

The selection tournament is related to the evaluation of teachers' ranks; Su Fei early in the morning brought a bunch of students to cheer for Xiao Li. These days she has also come to terms with it, treating it as a free promotion opportunity—what's not to be happy about? She should take this chance to show off a bit more.

Xiao Li drew his match number and waited for the battle to begin; the inner court selection tournament determines whether one can advance further, and no one wants to let themselves stagnate or fall behind. After checking, it turned out that several hundred people were participating.

After passing through a long, pitch-black corridor and emerging from the opening at the end of the line of sight, at the moment he exited the cave, a tremendous clamor of sounds suddenly flooded his ears, leaving Xiao Li, who had just been in an extremely quiet environment, feeling dizzy and blurred.

After a good while, Xiao Li gradually came to his senses, lifted his head to look at the nearly packed crowd surrounding the plaza, and couldn't help but be shaken in heart and mind.

As long as he enters the inner court, with the support of the Heavenly Flame Qi Cultivation Tower, his cultivation speed will certainly increase a bit, and his confidence for future endeavors will also grow a bit.

Hu Qian sat upright on the judge's platform, his gaze noticing Xiao Li below, and he whispered to the elder in charge of drawing lots beside him: "That, Elder Geng, remember to change Xiao Li's opponent to someone weaker; it would be a pity for such a talent not to make it into the inner court."

Elder Geng rolled his eyes at Hu Qian's words, "He's so talented, he could get into the inner court without manipulating the draw; besides, it's clearly the current academy's old students who don't want to see him."

Hu Qian gave an embarrassed laugh, actually he himself was anxious, fearing an accident, "Well then, I'll announce the start."

Hu Qian stood up, his voice booming, drowning out the shouts of the entire crowd.

"Inner court selection tournament, preliminary round, now begin!"

Elder Geng likewise flew down to the stands with combat energy wings, placing the lots box before everyone's eyes, then casually drew two lots.

"Yellow-rank Class Three Xue Yi versus Mysterious-rank Class Two Li Kun."

The two responded and went up on stage, while the others waited for Elder Geng's next announcement.

The preliminary round will last three days, during which several hundred battles will take place; to enter the inner court, one must win at least three matches, which is how to achieve a top-fifty placement among the four or five hundred participants.

Battles proceeded one after another, and soon it was Xiao Li's turn.

"Yellow-rank Class One Xiao Li versus Earth-rank Class Three Zhang Chunbin."

Elder Geng's words spread across the plaza; people fell into a brief silence, then looked toward the rising Xiao Li with either curiosity or awe.

Zhang Chunbin's face darkened; among the hundreds, there were only three Senior Combat Masters, and yet he happened to meet one—even the eight-star Combat Master Wu Jinchang was instantly defeated, so how could a five-star Combat Master like him, just trying his luck, possibly win?

"Elder, I forfeit."

Elder Geng nodded, a wise choice; knowing he'd lose and still go up to get beaten, only a protagonist or a fool would do that, and Zhang Chunbin is clearly a normal person.

The news of Zhang Chunbin's surrender spread across the venue; many people muttered curses, venting their dissatisfaction, for Xiao Li's battle was supposed to be the most anticipated match among the students, yet it ended so abruptly, a tiger's head and a snake's tail.

Although the students were dissatisfied, the battles still had to continue; it's just a pity that Xiao Li's next opponent also forfeited, and when everyone was generally at the Combat Master level, a deep-rooted Senior Combat Master appeared—how could one fight that?

Fortunately, the opponent in the third match was unwilling to just exit like that, choosing to face the difficulty head-on, hoping for a miracle to happen.

"Yellow-rank Class One Xiao Li versus Mysterious-rank Class One Lu Ronglu."

As Xiao Li's figure appeared on the plaza, the atmosphere in the stands instantly rose; especially when Xiao Li wore a black outfit and held a lightning-scale spear in his hand, the atmosphere was directly brought to a climax, with uniform cheers ringing out deafeningly.

Lu Ronglu's blade flashed with a cold light, "Although you're strong, I'm no ordinary person either—watch my blade!"

"No point in saying more, come on." Xiao Li's spear burst forth with sparks of lightning and electricity, its fierce aura making Lu Ronglu feel that his combat energy could not flow smoothly.

"Such strong killing intent; this guy must have killed many people or magic beasts." Lu Ronglu secretly thought it was not good, yet his long blade didn't stop at all, and he launched his strongest killing move as soon as he attacked.

"Golden Tiger Breaking Gate Blade!"

The high-level Yellow-rank combat technique was fully unleashed, a golden tiger head phantom attaching to the blade; relying solely on this strike, if it hadn't met Xiao Li, Lu Ronglu would certainly have had the strength to reach the top fifty.

It's just a pity that luck is also part of strength; meeting Xiao Li, one can only say Lu Ronglu was unlucky, all his previous efforts wasted before the final battle.

Lightning burst forth from the lightning-scale spear, layers of thunder clamoring, the lightning strike activated fiercely; against a Combat Master, there was no need to use the newly learned combat technique.

The thunder that shocked the entire venue collided with the frenzied golden tiger; the tiger's head was instantly split in half by the lightning, the lightning-scale spear surged forward unstoppably, finally stopping just before Lu Ronglu's throat.

Feeling the lightning's sharp edge at his throat, Lu Ronglu swallowed a mouthful of saliva, yet he could not ease the bitterness in his heart.

"I admit defeat."

Xiao Li sheathed his spear and stood still, his face expressionless, merely silently leaving the arena.

Lu Ronglu's bitterness grew even greater; it turned out the opponent had never regarded him as an opponent, "Forget it, let's try again next year."

Regarding whether Ji Nan Academy currently has characters like Lin Xiuya and Liu Qing from the original work...

I personally think not; when these characters appear, they are at the peak of the Spirit Fighter level. According to these geniuses' average growth of three stars per year at this stage (plus the boost from the Heavenly Flame Qi Cultivation Tower), seven years ago they should have been around the Combat Master level, and now they should be genius students of the outer court; I plan to let them enter the inner court after two more years.

If you readers discover these details while reading the original, or have better suggestions, please let me know.

(End of chapter)