Chapter 96: Generous Competition Rewards! The Reckless Li Chengzhi!

"Fairness? How much fairness is there in this world?"

"When you get to the battlefield, are you going to tell those high-grade ferocious beasts to only fight opponents of the same rank and ignore you? That’s ridiculous."

On the podium, the Dean of the Element Academy, Kong Shi, couldn’t help but shake her head slightly.

This idea was simply too naive.

"Aren’t all freshmen like this? After a year—no, even just half a year—they’ll figure it out."

One of the teachers chuckled.

"In any case, at our school, you’d better not harbor thoughts of hiding your true strength."

The stronger your strength, the more resources you can obtain from the school."

"That concludes the introduction to our school’s system. Now, I’ll focus on the upcoming Freshman Competition."

Freshman Competition!

Hearing Ling Shuang reach the key point, the freshmen on the field all grew attentive.

"This Freshman Competition has two stages. The first stage is a hundred-person free-for-all."

The arena is the platform behind you; during combat, the AI Eva will tally each participant’s number of defeated opponents."

The five individuals with the highest number of defeated opponents will advance to the second stage."

The first stage consists of ten rounds; the fifty who advance will be ranked overall by their total number of defeated opponents."

After the overall ranking is established, each person gets three chances to challenge others—if you win, you take their rank."

Ling Shuang continued slowly: "Regarding the rewards for this Freshman Competition, here’s the arrangement."

"First place: a space ring with a capacity of ten cubic meters, an A-grade cultivation resource, and one thousand academic credits."

"Second place: a set of A-grade battle armor, a B-grade cultivation resource, and nine hundred academic credits."

"Third place: a set of B-grade battle armor, a B-grade cultivation resource, and eight hundred academic credits."

"These are the rewards for the top three. I won’t elaborate further on the rewards for other ranks."

Hearing these rewards, the freshmen on the field immediately grew excited:

"A ten-cubic-meter space ring! How much would that sell for?"

"Superficial! You literally can’t buy this with money!"

"Come to think of it, isn’t this space ring made by the vice principal using her space ability? Does it carry her scent?"

"Damn! There’s a pervert here!"

"......"

Anyone with eyes could see the first-place reward was far more luxurious than second or third.

After all, a ten-cubic-meter space ring couldn’t be bought with money!

Of course,

for these freshmen, second and third place rewards were still more than sufficient.

Converted into Daxia currency, these rewards were worth tens of millions at least.

As a result, many freshmen grew eager, especially some provincial top scorers, whose eyes gleamed.

"Also, this Freshman Competition offers you a chance to upgrade your access level."

"The top fifty in the Freshman Competition will receive A-level access."

"Ranks fifty to two hundred will receive B-level access; ranks two hundred to five hundred will receive C-level access."

"The rest will receive D-level access."

Ling Shuang’s voice rang out again, prompting some freshmen to ask in confusion:

"The highest access level is A? What about S-level?"

Many freshmen knew that Xu Jingming, an S-level Awakening, held S-level access.

"S-level access is granted solely by the school and does not appear among Freshman Competition rewards or year-end evaluations."

Ling Shuang said coolly, "That’s all I have to say."

"The opening ceremony is over. I wish all students good results in the Freshman Competition."

"Dean Sun, it’s yours now."

"Understood."

On the podium, Dean Sun Qingxue of the Element Academy nodded slightly, rose, and stepped forward.

The crimson figure of Vice Principal Ling Shuang then stepped into the void and vanished.

This left many male students feeling disappointed.

"Rest in place for five minutes. The Freshman Competition will begin after that."

"But before that, I must remind you: all our deans and mentors will observe each of your performances on the platform."

"Outstanding students will be taken as personal disciples by the instructors, so please give your all."

Dean Sun Qingxue of the Element Academy was a middle-aged woman in her forties.

Compared to Vice Principal Ling Shuang’s cold demeanor, her voice was far gentler.

"Ah! There’s also the selection of personal mentors during the Freshman Competition!"

"Looks like I’ll have to give it my all."

"I hope a teacher notices me—otherwise, things will get troublesome later."

"......"

The rate of advancement for students with personal mentors was incomparably higher than for those without.

As a result, many freshmen secretly steeled themselves, preparing to give their all in the upcoming Freshman Competition.

Xu Jingming, Song Qiuyun, Liu Wentao, and Qi Dongxia had already found their personal mentors during the summer break.

Naturally, they had no worries about that.

Compared to that, they were more interested in the competition rewards.

"First place gets a ten-cubic-meter space ring? The school is really generous."

This was something Xu Jingming hadn’t expected.

He’d been worrying that his two one-cubic-meter rings couldn’t hold his spear—now the school was giving him a massive-capacity space ring.

"Vice Principal Ling has space ability; a ten-cubic-meter ring isn’t much for her," Song Qiuyun said with a smile, having already drawn out her Heaven-Defying Halberd from her ring.

In truth, her family had a long-term partnership with a space ability user.

The space ring she carried, with a capacity of thirty cubic meters, had been crafted by that person.

"That’s true," Xu Jingming nodded slightly.

Five minutes passed quickly, and Dean Sun Qingxue stepped back onto the podium:

"The first stage of the Freshman Competition is about to begin. All freshmen, prepare yourselves."

On the field, the freshmen who had been chatting fell silent at once.

"The first stage has ten rounds. Now, let’s draw the students for the first round!"

At Dean Sun’s voice, the holographic projection of the top-tier AI Eva appeared on the podium.

Still a cute, round little ball.

(*?▽?*): "Eva Eva~~"

The little ball wobbled slightly, then a spotlight-like beam shot down.

It selected over a hundred freshmen from the crowd below.

"Those chosen by Eva will compete in the first round. Go up to the platform."

Over a hundred fully armed freshmen ascended the massive platform.

"Huh? Li Chengzhi is in the first round too?"

Liu Wentao exclaimed.

Xu Jingming followed his gaze and saw a young man standing on the platform.

He had wild black hair and a powerful, muscular build.

Xu Jingming was already 1.89 meters tall, yet this man looked even taller.

He also carried a blood-red great sword.

As if sensing the gaze,

Li Chengzhi turned his head, saw Xu Jingming, and grinned broadly, making a slashing motion across his throat.

"This guy..." Xu Jingming raised an eyebrow.

He hadn’t fully believed Liu Wentao’s claims about Li Chengzhi’s arrogance—until now.

Clearly, he was beyond reckless.

But looking at it this way, it’s truly outrageous.

Song Qiuyun had also seen the gesture; her beautiful eyes flickered, and her hand tightened on her Heaven-Defying Halberd.

Nearby, Liu Wentao nearly burst out laughing.

Good grief, why pick on anyone else but the one person you absolutely shouldn’t provoke?

Now he’s not only made the first one angry—he’s added the second one to his list.

『Hope you don’t get utterly crushed by Ming Ge and the others.』

Liu Wentao silently mourned the doomed Qinghai provincial top scorer.

Liu Wentao couldn’t help mourning the Qinghai provincial top scorer who had courted death.