Chapter 514

The person standing at the door was none other than Ma Ming, the director of the Alchemy Workshop.

He smiled, nodded at the people inside the room, and asked, "Why is it so lively today? So many people have gathered here."

"Director, it's about Director Jiang!"

Teacher Li hurriedly said.

"About Director Jiang?"

Ma Ming was stunned, then reacted.

He had something to do, so he couldn't go watch the match; it's already afternoon, and the competition should have ended long ago.

"How did Director Jiang perform? Did he make it to the second round?"

Ma Ming asked.

Although he had reminded Jiang Cheng to sign up, deep down he didn't hold much hope for him.

"The second round?"

"The second round..."

Upon hearing this, the faces of the people inside the room lit up.

"What's wrong? Could it be that he didn't?"

Ma Ming sighed.

Although not making it to the second round is regrettable, it's unavoidable; after all, to advance, besides strength, luck also matters.

If luck is bad, you might draw an opponent capable of making the top ten right away; even if they are a Fourth- or Fifth-Level Grandmaster, you'd only be eliminated.

Although Jiang Cheng passed the assessment, he is fundamentally a First-level Grandmaster; even if he drew a Second- or Third-Level Grandmaster, it would still be hard for him to win.

"Director, Director Jiang has already made it to the finals round," Director Li said, laughing and crying.

"Oh, he made it to the finals round, what!" Ma Ming's eyes widened, his mouth opened wide, as if he'd heard an Arabian tale, "Director Jiang, he, he made it to the finals round?"

"Yes, Director, Director Jiang has advanced three times in a row and is now in the finals round."

"Director Jiang, he, he's this strong?"

Ma Ming couldn't believe it.

Making it to the finals round must mean he's at least in the top fifty, right?

Each Grand Competition has nearly two hundred participants; at most, it's been close to three hundred!

"Is that fake? Now the whole academy knows about Director Jiang; if you don't believe me, you can just go ask anyone."

"It's true, Director Ma, congratulations to your Alchemy Workshop for producing such a talented person; I think, given Director Jiang's ability, he has a chance to make the top ten!" The speaker's tone was full of envy.

They also learned from Teacher Li's earlier analysis that Jiang Cheng isn't as simple as he appears; he likely still has hidden trump cards he hasn't used.

"The top? Top ten?"

Ma Ming was completely dumbfounded, mouth open, unable to speak.

His greatest expectation for Jiang Cheng was to make the top thirty; even if not, the top fifty or sixty would be fine, after all, the highest record for the Alchemy Workshop in past Grand Competitions has been just that.

As a result, someone ran up to him and said, "Jiang Cheng has a chance to make the top ten?"

That, he didn't even dare to think about!

"Ladies and gentlemen, you wouldn't be joking with me, would you?" After a while, Ma Ming asked with a chuckle.

Too exaggerated, too exaggerated.

Making the top ten—how could that be so easy?

Aren't the other teachers not just eating for free?

"Director Ma, we're not joking with you; Director Jiang is really strong, he even defeated Teacher Sun Tong."

"What, Director Jiang defeated Sun Tong? The dean's brother?"

"That's right, it's him!"

"This, this?"

Ma Ming was shocked to the extreme.

Indeed, Sun Tong is exactly the person he thought had a good chance to make the top ten; if it weren't for bad luck last time running into a strong opponent, he definitely could have made the top ten.

But, he was defeated by Jiang Cheng?

"Director, you don't need to doubt; these are things we saw with our own eyes!" Teacher Li hurriedly said, "If you don't believe us, come watch the finals tomorrow with us."

"Right, right, let's go watch together!"

Others also chimed in agreement.

"Good!"

Ma Ming nodded heavily.

He isn't particularly interested in combat.

In past academy Grand Competitions, he would only go watch when it came to the final match, just to join the fun; if he was too busy, he wouldn't go.

But the situation now is clearly a bit different.

He originally thought Jiang Cheng would definitely be eliminated, yet he managed to advance all the way to the finals round.

Therefore, as the director, he ought to go help cheer him on, and also see just how strong Jiang Cheng really is, to be able to defeat Sun Tong.

"By the way, what were those three matches like? You should still remember; quickly tell me."

"No problem, Director."

While the atmosphere in the Alchemy Workshop office was heating up, the chat group of the Seventh Squad also exploded.

However, Jiang Cheng was unaware of this, because the group only had four people; in other words, this was the Seventh Squad's chat group before Jiang Cheng joined, and after he joined, the squad leader Yu Yang added another person.

"This is huge, Captain, this is huge!"

After leaving the venue, Xie Jianfeng was excited and couldn't calm down for a long time; he really wanted to find someone to tell about what he saw and heard today.

Thus, as soon as he sat down in the office, he hurriedly sent a message in the group and even @-ed everyone.

Soon, someone bubbled up—it was Deputy Captain Di Yun.

"What's the big deal?"

"Yeah, what's the big deal?" Jiang Ping also appeared quickly.

Based on their understanding of Xie Jianfeng, he is not someone who panics over things; for him to be this agitated, something unusual must have happened.

"A big deal, a big deal!"

Xie Jianfeng typed quickly and asked at the same time, "Where's the captain? Isn't the captain here?"

It's better to say this kind of thing in front of the others, so we don't have to explain it again later after making changes.

However, after the message had been sent for a while, Captain Yu Yang still hadn't appeared.

"The captain is probably in closed-door cultivation, or maybe doing a simulation drill at headquarters." Di Yun said: "I just finished cultivating myself, was about to relax, and then I got your message. But since it's such a big deal, why post it in this group? Why not just send it to the new group?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Jiang Ping also expressed agreement.

After all, we're all on the same team; we should discuss any matter together. If Jiang Cheng later finds out we talked behind his back, even if we don't say it outright, he'll surely mind—putting ourselves in his shoes, they'd feel the same.

"That's fine."

Xie Jianfeng explained: "The thing I'm about to say actually concerns Teacher Jiang; saying it in this group is no problem. Once I finish, you'll understand—too bad the captain isn't here right now."

"You're looking for me?"

Just then, another person sent a message.

(End of chapter)