Chapter 498: Preliminary Round

In a corner of the hall.

Qin Lao, Qin Yu, and Lin Yue sat there.

"Sister Qin, does everyone feel so excited?" Lin Yue whispered.

"Yeah." Qin Yu nodded, though she was also quite excited inside, but with Qin Lao sitting nearby, she couldn't show it.

"Little Yue, who are you supporting in this Grand Competition?" Qin Lao asked with a chuckle.

"I support Brother Jiang Cheng!"

Lin Yue said without thinking.

"Oh oh, besides Brother Jiang Cheng, then?"

"Well..."

Lin Yue thought seriously and shook her head.

"I only support Brother Jiang Cheng; I believe he will surely get first!"

That remark and her firm tone left Qin Lao and Qin Yu stunned.

"Lin Yue," Qin Yu couldn't help but say, "Do you know what getting first place means?"

Lin Yue instinctively shook her head and asked cautiously, "Is it very, very hard?"

"Of course it's hard."

Qin Yu was speechless: "You know, every Academy Grand Competition sees many senior Grandmasters sign up—Level Five and Six, Level Seven and Eight too. I admit Jiang Cheng is indeed formidable, talented, and fast in cultivation, but frankly, with just a First-level Grandmaster's strength, wanting to beat everyone and take first place is extremely extremely difficult."

Actually, she felt describing it as extremely extremely difficult was already conservative.

In fact, one could call it Arabian Nights!

"Well, well then."

Lin Yue's face turned slightly red.

She knew Qin Yu couldn't possibly lie to her.

But deep down, she still clung to a sliver of hope.

"Is there really no Hope at all?"

"No," Qin Yu sighed lightly, "If Jiang Cheng can make it into the top fifty this time, that's already good; at most he could reach the quarter-finals; as for the semi-finals and finals..."

She didn't continue, just shook her head.

Qin Yu thought that if Jiang Cheng made the top fifty, she'd consider him very formidable.

"Like that..." Lin Yue, discouraged, lost confidence and lowered her head.

"Hahaha."

Just then, Qin Lao chuckled, "Xiao Yu, don't underestimate others—Jiang Cheng is really formidable."

"!"

Lin Yue snapped her head up, eyes fixed on him unblinking.

Qin Yu also turned her gaze, astonished: "Grandfather?"

"If Grandfather were Jiang Cheng's opponent in the virtual system, who would win?" Qin Lao asked.

"Well..."

Qin Yu thought seriously: "Probably Grandfather would win."

Jiang Cheng's talent is indeed high.

But his grandfather has undergone countless battles; his Real Combat experience is rich, something the former cannot match.

"Hehehe."

Qin Lao shook his head with a laugh: "I've sparred with Jiang Cheng in private many times, and each time I was defeated."

"What?"

Qin Yu and Lin Yue stared wide-eyed in unison.

One was shocked, the other delighted.

"Moreover," Qin Lao gave his granddaughter a meaningful look, "he hasn't even used his full strength yet."

The words left Qin Yu mouth agape, unable to speak.

If these words hadn't come from Qin Lao's mouth, she wouldn't believe them even if beaten to death.

But these words truly came from her grandfather's mouth.

"Really, really, Grandfather Qin?"

Lin Yue's face flushed with excitement: "Is Brother Jiang Cheng really that strong?"

"Little Yue, you used to believe Jiang Cheng could get first; why are you asking me now?" Qin Lao teased.

"I..." Lin Yue glanced furtively at Qin Yu beside her.

Then she realized and asked, "Grandfather, does this mean Jiang Cheng can really get first place?"

"First place isn't just honor; it also comes with a reward of one million Contribution Points!"

"One million!"

She couldn't even imagine what it would feel like to have one million Contribution Points.

"Who knows?"

Qin Lao spread his hands: "I can't foresee the future, but,"

His voice paused, his eyes on the huge screen overhead: "It's up to people; maybe he really could get first this time."

Meanwhile, behind the huge screen, in the lounge, over a hundred people had gathered, Jiang Cheng among them.

Beside him sat Xie Jianfeng.

Obviously, those present were the teachers who had signed up for the Grand Competition; with some time before the match began, they formed small groups, chatting quietly.

"One hundred fifty-six, one hundred fifty-seven……"

Xie Jianfeng raised his head, counting numbers while talking to himself.

"Teacher Jiang, if you count you and me, there are a total of one hundred sixty-one people who signed up, but I estimate that some haven't arrived yet, like the few strongest ones—none of them have shown up."

Xie Jianfeng said.

"Really?"

Jiang Cheng swept a glance around; basically everyone were unfamiliar faces, and even if someone seemed vaguely familiar, he didn't know their name.

"Teacher Xie, what's the procedure for this Grand Competition? For example, how many rounds are there, how many days does it last? Could you explain it to me?"

"Of course, no problem!"

Xie Jianfeng patted his chest, "Actually, even if I don't say it, Principal Xu will explain after the opening ceremony later; but since it's pretty much the same every year, even if the principal doesn't say it, everyone already knows the gist."

"Generally speaking, the number of people who sign up each time is around two hundred; after the principal's speech at the opening ceremony, they press the drawing lots button, and each person is automatically matched with an opponent—just like us, we might be matched with someone of similar strength, also a First-level Grandmaster,"

"It's also possible to have bad luck and be matched with a Level Three, or even Level Five or Six; if it's the former, we could still put up a fight, but if it's the latter, we can only chalk it up to bad luck."

Saying this, Xie Jianfeng shrugged his shoulders.

"This round is called the preliminaries; there's only one chance—winners advance to the second round, losers are eliminated and will not be able to participate in the subsequent matches."

"I see."

Jiang Cheng nodded.

There shouldn't be any underhanded tactics in this; it's purely luck which opponent you encounter.

"Then after entering the second round, is it also only one chance?"

"That's right."

Xie Jianfeng nodded, "For the second and third rounds, each person only gets one chance—win and you advance to the next round, lose and you're eliminated. So you must never be careless; in past competitions, many people whom everyone expected to do well clearly had the upper hand in the fight, yet due to a moment's carelessness, they lost the match,"

"Some, after losing, aren't resigned and demand a rematch, which is of course impossible—there's no taking back an arrow once shot, and besides, it wouldn't be fair to the other person either, so a loss is a loss. However, this is something those senior Grandmasters need to watch out for; we two shouldn't worry about such things—just do our best."

(End of chapter)