Chapter 276: Top 100 revealed, entering the hall, unit number is the team name

The third day of the sixth month, nightfall.

The battle for the top 100 spots in the Woodcutting Realm grouping began on time.

It is worth mentioning that because Qiu Peng and the others had to prepare for the Cold-Resisting grouping martial arts tournament in the second half of the night, they handed this final entirely over to Liu Yuan and the thirteen other newly promoted Cold-Resisting level members to take full responsibility.

"Yuan Bai, keep it up! Win one more match and you'll have a chance to enter the top ten."

"Yuankong, keep it up!"

"Third Sister, you must make it into the top three."

"A-Heng, keep it up! Strive to have your ranking surpass Father's."

The first floor of the main building was bustling with noise.

Beside the ten arenas, the air was filled with the sounds of relatives cheering and rooting for their own.

Besides relatives, many Earth-Digging Realm cultivators and contestants who failed to make the top 128 also came. Listening to the cheers beside the arenas, while envious, they were also secretly swearing in their hearts that next year they would definitely step onto the arena and make their families proud of them as well.

Beside the ladder on the second floor, Liu Yuan led a group of Cold-Resisting level members, watching the arenas.

It was said that they were given full responsibility, but in reality, it was just to prevent any accidents in the arena; the arena martial arts tournament was naturally the responsibility of the Camp Needs Department.

"Few new faces. Among the top 128, the majority are still from Xia City. The three Longyou outposts combined only have 14. These lads are quite promising."

Hearing Liu Yuan's words, everyone smiled and nodded.

The people from Wuyuan and Jinggu had moved there from Xia City; they were indeed a bit different from the three Longyou outposts that had recently merged into the camp.

Although they were all people of Great Xia now, looking at the degree of closeness, they naturally still hoped to see that those appearing on the top 100 list were all Xia City people.

Li Yuankun smiled and took up the conversation: "I took a look, the most in the top 100 should be from Wuyuan. Brother Ning is still the cunning one, knowing to let the Woodcutting Realm members from Wuyuan go out with the hunting teams in advance to adapt to the environment. They had 16 teams qualify from the preliminaries alone, occupying a full 98 seats in the top 128."

They were all people who had walked all the way from the dirt slopes in the early days, and Li Yuankun had a close relationship with Xu Ning's younger brother, Xu An, which was why he called Xu Ning "Brother Ning."

Hearing Li Yuankun's last sentence, everyone's faces showed a slight shock.

Occupying 98 seats in the top 128 alone—that meant in the final top 100 list, Wuyuan would likely occupy at least seventy or eighty percent.

Only Liu Yuan's face showed no great surprise; clearly, he had long understood the general situation. He smiled at Li Yuankun and said, "You don't know yet, do you? Brother Ning returned from Wuyuan during the day. I heard the leader rewarded him with three Yang Origin Pills, telling him to pass on his experience to Qiu Peng. From now on, Xia City will likely organize Woodcutting Realm members to go out with the hunting teams as well."

Three Yang Origin Pills!

Li Yuankun and the others, upon hearing this, immediately showed envy on their faces.

"The leader rewarding Xu Ning is likely to make the outposts below form a competitive relationship. From now on, the annual martial arts tournament should be even livelier."

Ying Xuan was very sharp and immediately sensed Xia Hong's intention behind the reward.

Xiao Kangcheng also reacted and nodded, saying, "Definitely. And as the number of personnel stationed at each outpost grows, the three groupings—Woodcutting Realm, Earth-Digging Realm, and even Cold-Resisting level—will very likely have competitive relationships."

"Tsk tsk, Brother Xiao really dares to think. If the Cold-Resisting level grouping also competes, then the number of Cold-Resisting level members in our Great Xia will be incredible."

"Hahaha......"

Hearing Zhu Shun's teasing, Xiao Kangcheng and the others all laughed.

But in their laughter, there was clearly expectation.

Everyone understood the meaning behind Zhu Shun's words.

This time, the competition between outposts in the martial arts tournament was limited to the Woodcutting Realm grouping. The reason was that the total number of Earth-Digging Realm members in Great Xia was not large. Except for the Wu Shuang and Han Qiong outposts, which each had a thousand Earth-Digging Realm members and were qualified to hold independent preliminaries, the number of Earth-Digging Realm members at the other three outposts was too small, so they could only return to Xia City to compete.

The Earth-Digging Realm was not a problem. Looking at the breakthrough wave of this martial arts tournament, by the time of the martial arts tournament next June, the number of Earth-Digging Realm members in Great Xia would certainly be enough to support independent preliminaries at each outpost. At that time, comparing the number of Earth-Digging Realm qualifiers at each outpost would naturally be a matter of course.

But if it were really as Zhu Shun said, and the Cold-Resisting level grouping also competed, the difficulty would suddenly increase. At the very least, each outpost would need to have enough Cold-Resisting level members to hold their own elimination tournament first, right?

"I estimate this day won't be too far off. Our Great Xia already has 37 Cold-Resisting level members, and from now on, there will only be more and more. Perhaps in three to five years, it will be achieved."

Li Yuankun's bold words made everyone's expressions slightly stir.

Although they didn't quite believe it, as they looked up at the top floor, a trace of expectation inexplicably rose in their hearts.

They had a leader who excelled at creating miracles.

Perhaps, it really could be done!

"First place, Tie Xinchuan."

"Second place, Zhou Yalong."

"Third place, Ji Hong."

Following the announcement of names on the first floor, Liu Yuan and the others stopped talking and focused on listening to the upcoming top 100 list.

"Seventh place, Zhao Yuanwu."

"Eighth place, Zhao Yuankong."

"Ninth place, Yuan Bai."

"Tenth place, Liu Peng."

"Eleventh place, Lu Dong."

"Twelfth place, Zhao Yuanwu."

"Eighteenth place, Xiao Heng."

"Seventy-eighth place, Qin Zhan."

"Seventy-ninth place, Luo Cheng."

"One-hundredth place, Ning Dong."

"Tie Xinchuan, Zhou Yalong, Ji Hong—I've never heard of any of them. Looking at their age, they seem quite old!"

As soon as Li Yuankun spoke, everyone cast their eyes toward the top 100 queue below, at the three people in the very front. They discovered that the three were indeed around seventeen or eighteen years old, and a trace of surprise appeared in their eyes.

Before the martial arts tournament, the record for breaking through to the Earth-Digging Realm in Great Xia was just over fifteen years old. During this tournament, that record had long been raised to twelve years old, and now the average age for breaking through to the Earth-Digging Realm had even dropped to sixteen.

Breaking through to the Earth-Digging Realm only at seventeen or eighteen—the talent of the three, Tie Xinchuan and the others, could not even be considered qualified by Great Xia's current standards.

"Cultivation realm doesn't entirely determine strength. Breaking through early only proves high talent; it doesn't mean strength is necessarily stronger than others!"

"Tie Xinchuan and these three are said to be the living maps of the Logging Department. Their reputation in Xia City is not small. They have long been hanging around in Red Wood Ridge and know the locations of all kinds of medicinal plants and fruit trees by heart."

"That's no wonder then. These three must have dealt with cold beasts quite a bit. Beating these little brats must be easy for them."

Hearing the words of Xiao Kangcheng and the others, Liu Yuan, who had been staying in Longyou, finally understood. After pondering for a moment, he also nodded.

Indeed, someone like his younger brother, Liu Peng, who broke through to the Woodcutting Realm and even the Earth-Digging Realm very early, naturally had high talent. But when it came to strength, there was certainly still a gap compared to those who were older and had already gone out to train in advance.

Thinking about it this way, Liu Peng being able to rank tenth was already considered very strong.

"The three Zhao siblings are amazing. The oldest, Zhao Yuanwu, is only fourteen and is already ranked 7th; Zhao Yuankong is thirteen, 8th; Zhao Long's son, Zhao Yuanwu, only broke the Woodcutting Realm record last year, and this year he not only broke through to the Earth-Digging Realm but also ranked 12th. These three siblings not only have high cultivation talent but also shockingly high combat talent."

"If we're talking about combat talent, I think it's still those three. Look......"

Xiao Kangcheng finished speaking and pointed toward the back of the queue below. Everyone followed the direction of his finger and looked, their expressions slightly stunned.

Woodcutting Realm!

In the top 100 queue, there were actually people who hadn't broken through to the Earth-Digging Realm.

"67th place Chen Ping, 78th place Qin Zhan, 79th place Luo Cheng."

After pondering for a moment, Zhu Shun turned his head to look at Chen Ying beside him and said, "Not bad, Old Chen. That Chen Ping is your youngest son, right?"

"Hahaha......"

Seeing Chen Ping at the back of the crowd, Chen Ying's mouth had long since split wide open. Hearing Zhu Shun's words, he immediately laughed proudly.

He hadn't made it into the top ten of the Earth-Digging Realm grouping this time and was originally very unhappy, but his youngest son was promising, killing his way into the top 100 with Woodcutting Realm cultivation, which could be considered a good way to save face for him as a father. He was naturally overjoyed.

"This lad indeed has some combat talent. He didn't lose face for his old man!"

Among the crowd, Ying Xuan, Ying Yi, Li Longkai, and other old people from the Rogge Camp focused their gazes on Luo Cheng, their expressions slightly complex.

They already knew that Luo Cheng was Luo Ming's son.

So much time had passed that they couldn't really hold any grudges against Luo Ming. On the contrary, as their strength grew stronger and stronger, they even felt a bit grateful.

After all, if Luo Ming hadn't handed the camp over to Great Xia back then, they likely wouldn't be living the life they were now, and breaking through to the Cold-Resisting level would be even more impossible.

From this perspective, they really had to be grateful to Luo Ming.

Of course, this was just a joke.

As life got better and better and their cultivation grew stronger, they had long been devoted to Great Xia and Xia Hong. Facing Luo Ming, their former master, they almost wouldn't have any ripples in their hearts anymore.

"The candidates are confirmed, bring them all up!"

Suddenly, a voice came from the top-floor hall.

"It's the Secretary's voice!"

"The Secretary has returned from Longyou."

"It must be; the Cold-Resisting level grouping martial arts tournament is starting in the second half of the night."

"Didn't Brother Ning return too? The Cold-Resisting level members must have all returned."

Recognizing it was Xia Chuan's voice, everyone's expressions were somewhat surprised.

After Liu Yuan reacted, he quickly went downstairs and began to summon the top 100 personnel of the Woodcutting Realm grouping, preparing to lead them to the top-floor hall to meet Xia Hong.

Soon, the top 100 of the Woodcutting Realm grouping followed behind Liu Yuan and the fourteen other newly promoted Cold-Resisting level members, ascending to the top-floor hall via the ladder in the center of the main building.

From the 1st place Tie Xinchuan to the 100th place Ning Dong, the top 100 of the Woodcutting Realm grouping were all entering the top-floor hall for the first time.

Vermilion main doors; wooden floors carved with beast patterns; looking up, there was a golden roof, clearly painted with powder ground from Jin Lin wood; around the hall were sixteen two-meter-high cold beast statues carved from beast bones......

Unlike others, having experienced three nights of difficult selection, most of them walked into the hall with a mindset of pilgrimage.

With such a mindset, coupled with the solemn and respectful atmosphere in the hall and various things they didn't see in the camp on weekdays, the hundred people couldn't help but have their breathing grow a bit heavy.

Finally, when everyone cast their gaze toward Xia Hong, who was sitting on the high platform on the east side of the hall, deep reverence and fanaticism appeared in their eyes.

They saw him.

Finally, they saw the leader in person!

Not to mention, as Great Xia's population grew larger and its territory grew wider, for these Woodcutting Realm and Earth-Digging Realm members, seeing Xia Hong once was really not an easy thing.

"Greetings, Leader."

Xia Chuan, who had just returned from Longyou, took the lead in bowing and saluting Xia Hong.

Everyone standing behind him also bowed and saluted Xia Hong.

"Greetings, Leader!"

The 37 Cold-Resisting level members, including Xia Chuan, represented Great Xia's current top combat power;

The top 100 of the Woodcutting Realm grouping behind the Cold-Resisting level members, although not considered the new generation, also represented the most outstanding batch of young people who had gradually grown up in Great Xia.

With over a hundred people in the hall saluting him at the same time, Xia Hong's mood was also somewhat stirred.

"Alright, the rewards for the top 100 of the Woodcutting Realm grouping will be distributed by Qiu Peng later. Now, I will announce two things first."

Xia Hong calmed his mood and continued, "The most important significance of this martial arts tournament is to select talent for Great Xia. Selecting you is only the first step. The second step is the issue of where these talents of yours will go."

Hearing this, everyone's expressions were stunned, including Xia Chuan. Clearly, what Xia Hong was saying at this moment had not been mentioned to him.

"Great Xia is about to follow the example of Longshan and Zhaoyang to form our first official army. Therefore, many people will be drawn from the existing most outstanding hunting teams in the camp. In this way, many teams will face a shortage of manpower. These top 100 personnel, including the Earth-Digging Realm members who have recently broken through in the camp, can just happen to supplement your team members. Therefore......"

The Cold-Resisting level members present, upon hearing this, immediately had their expressions brighten.

Forming an army, drawing people from hunting teams, supplementing team members......

They understood Xia Hong's meaning immediately.

From now on, every year's martial arts tournament would be equivalent to a talent show, and all hunting teams could select suitable team members from this tournament.

What is a suitable team member?

That, of course, was the top 100 personnel currently in the hall.

This batch of people, although they had just broken through to the Earth-Digging Realm, had combat talent that was among the best in the camp, and many of them also had top-tier cultivation talent. If they could become members of a hunting team, it would definitely be a super strong boost.

After everyone reacted and looked at the hundred people in the Woodcutting Realm grouping again, their eyes became much more fiery.

Of course, a small number of Cold-Resisting level members, such as Xia Chuan, Yu Wendao, Chen Yingyuan, Peng Bo, including Yuan Cheng, Luo Yuan, and others, had no wavering in their gazes. They looked at Xia Hong, and their eyes clearly carried some other meanings.

Forming an army!

These people had all seen the Longyou Army and the Blood Guard Army with their own eyes, so in their minds, at this moment, there were only these four words Xia Hong had just said.

Great Xia was going to form an official army.

The leadership style of Xia Hong, this leader, had already determined that he would at most provide necessary support to this army and would not lead it personally.

Therefore, he would inevitably choose someone among them to be responsible.

Who would this person be?

Many people present realized this point, but among them, the most fiery gazes belonged to Xia Chuan and Yu Wendao.

Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo were also somewhat moved, but realizing something, the two looked at each other, shook their heads slightly, and suppressed their emotions.

Yuan Cheng, Luo Yuan, Qiu Peng, Lin Kai, Yue Feng, and others, realizing their strength was insufficient, also sighed slightly.

"It seems you all have intentions. Alright, I won't keep you in suspense. Fair competition: in this Cold-Resisting level martial arts tournament, whoever takes first place will be responsible for building the army. The unit number of Great Xia's first army will also be named after the hunting team where the first-place winner belongs!"

The unit number of the first army would be named after the hunting team where the first-place winner belonged.

That is to say, if Xia Chuan took first, Great Xia's first army would be the Cloud Dragon Army; if the first was Yu Wendao, it would be called the Dragon Martial Army; if the first was Luo Yuan, it would be called the Tiger Leopard Army......

At this moment, the eyes of the Cold-Resisting level members present immediately became incomparably fiery.

"Wild geese leave a cry, people leave a name."

These were the eight words Xia Hong had said to them in his early years. If they could make their own hunting team name become the unit number of an army, it would undoubtedly be a great honor for them.

"Alright, draw lots. It won't do to have no Cold-Resisting level members stationed in Longyou. The martial arts tournament must be finished in the second half of the night. The combat venue will be Red Wood Ridge. After drawing lots, everyone can go directly there."

Xia Hong signaled to Qiu Peng beside him.

Qiu Peng immediately took out a pottery jar and then put twenty-three paper balls marked with numbers into the jar.

"The Cold-Resisting level grouping will adopt random battles, with a total of four rounds of drawing lots.

The first round is 23 into 12, with 1 person getting a bye; the second round is 12 into 6; the third round is 6 into 3; the fourth round is 3 into 2, with 1 person getting a bye; the fifth round, the final, will not involve drawing lots. The winner will battle the person who got the bye. If they win, they are the first-place winner; the loser can challenge the person who got the bye to compete for second place."

After the rules were stated, all 23 Cold-Resisting level members had their expressions tighten. Starting with Xia Chuan, they each drew a paper ball from the pottery jar.

The Cold-Resisting level grouping martial arts tournament officially began!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 277 =====