Chapter 311: The Early Outbreak of Battle (Requesting Monthly Votes)

Under the moonlight.

Lin Chen, who had originally planned to return to his room and rest, canceled the idea.

Feeling the surging blood qi within his body and the heightened activity of the dantian figure, Lin Chen returned once more to the center of the courtyard.

Boom!

He unleashed the Wind and Cloud Palm.

Winds and thunder rolled in waves, one after another like crashing tidal surges.

Other ranked martial artists rely primarily on spiritual weapons—enhancing the weapon's rank and aligning their spiritual soul with it, thereby breaking through their martial will to advance to the next rank.

But Lin Chen's situation is different; he has no spiritual weapon—even the Dragon Shadow Bow is merely an external tool.

For him, to advance in martial rank, he must reach the next level solely through his own martial will.

Lin Chen's spiritual soul has reached the fourth tier, but that does not mean his martial will has as well.

Martial will is separated from the spiritual soul—it is forged through the fusion of martial techniques and insights within the soul.

The spiritual soul is the foundation; martial will is the main structure; martial techniques are the steel reinforcement.

The firmer the foundation, the higher the structure can rise—but if the techniques and insights fail to keep pace, no matter how deep the foundation, it is useless.

Wind and Cloud Palm, Mountain-Stabilizing Scripture, Azure Waves Finger…

As Lin Chen continuously shifted techniques within the courtyard, the dantian figure within him also trained alongside, its form slowly growing.

…

…

The next day.

The sky was clear and bright.

At the Yan Kingdom's Royal Martial Academy, as always, the square was filled with disciples from all nine nations.

When they arrived, they discovered that in just one night, a fighting platform had been erected in the square.

This time, not only was Elder Murong Song present, but Elder Murong Zheng had also appeared.

Clearly, fearing further interference from foreign elites after yesterday's incident, the royal family had placed Elder Murong Zheng in direct command.

All foreign elites were second-rate; Elder Murong Zheng was a first-rank master—his presence would deter any foreign strongman from intervening.

Additionally, several rows of temporary spectator stands had been erected on both sides, now fully occupied by martial artists.

The Academy Ranking Tournament, a grand event of the nine nations, drew many martial artists eager to watch—but those seated here were all Yan nobility or their descendants.

The moment Lin Chen stepped into the square, he felt dozens of eyes fixed upon him.

After yesterday's point-based matches, in everyone's eyes, Lin Chen was no longer a mere spectator—he was now a force capable of determining rankings.

The biggest dark horse of this year's tournament.

"Is that Lin Chen? He really is handsome—no wonder the Sixth Princess took to him."

"You little minx, do you really think he's handsome, or is it just because his martial power is strong?"

"Men—once their martial power is strong, even if they're not handsome, they're handsome."

On the stands, many young women stared at Lin Chen, whispering among themselves.

Yan's customs were the most open among the nine nations—these women spoke openly about male disciples from other academies.

Among the Yan nobility, others also gazed at Lin Chen, murmuring quietly.

"What a show-off."

On the Han Kingdom side, Ling Ling Tianhao sneered—himself and Bian Bian Xinjie, both top-ranked martial artists, had received far less attention upon entering than Lin Chen had.

"Let him bask in the spotlight for now—when we meet in the elimination round, we'll see who's truly strong."

…

…

Near the left-front spectator stand, royal clan members had also arrived.

"Sixth sister, why not go down and cheer for Lin Chen yourself?"

Elder Murong Shuang joked half-seriously; Elder Murong Yan shook her head: "Better not disturb him."

Going down to cheer for him now would only draw more hatred toward him—and offer little real help.

A wise woman knows when to stop.

…

"Based on the first-round point matches, the sixty academies are paired off. The first match: Lanlan Academy versus Qi Kingdom's Liuyun Academy." As all academy disciples entered, Elder Murong Song announced the start of the elimination round.

Sixty academies, paired off—losers are eliminated.

The elimination rules are simple: disciples from both academies enter the platform together, and within this hundred-zhang arena, they may choose either one-on-one or group combat.

Liuyun Academy was the lowest-ranked in the point-based matches.

Everyone in the crowd expected no surprise—Lanlan Academy would win easily; the power gap was vast.

The outcome proved true: in the fight against Liuyun Academy, Li Yuan hadn't even exerted himself—he and several other senior disciples swept through Liuyun's disciples in moments.

The opponent had only one eighth-rank martial artist, while Lanlan had two—and their other disciples were clearly stronger.

"Second match: Han Kingdom's Tianque Academy versus Wu Kingdom's Nanli Academy."

This match, too, held no suspense.

Nanli's disciples had almost no fighting spirit—they exchanged a few light blows before surrendering; Bian Bian Xinjie didn't even lift a finger.

"Third match: Han Kingdom's Xuanshuang Academy versus Ze Kingdom's Yelan Academy…"

"Fourth match…"

All thirty matches concluded within an hour and a half—except the final one, between the thirtieth- and thirty-first-ranked academies, which was fiercely contested; all others ended quickly.

All four Han Kingdom academies won.

All four Liang Kingdom academies did as well.

All four Xiang Kingdom academies advanced to the second round—but Xiang had sent six academies in total.

The other six nations each had only three academies remaining.

From this round alone, all nations understood one truth: among the nine nations, Han and Liang were the strongest tier, Xiang second, then the other six.

After the first round, Zheng Kingdom's martial artists had the worst expressions—over the years, Zheng had claimed its strength rivaled Liang's, yet this year, six Zheng academies had only three advance—a humiliation in their eyes.

"First elimination round complete. Second round begins: if academies from the same nation meet, their match is automatically postponed to the next slot, to avoid conflict."

Everyone present was unsurprised by Elder Murong Song's mention of postponement—it was a standard rule from past tournaments.

If the first round's point system prevented strong academies from meeting too early, this rule prevents academies from the same nation from clashing and forcing one to be eliminated.

For small nations like Zhao, meeting a fellow nation at least guarantees one academy advances—but for Han and Liang, an early internal clash means one academy loses its chance at the top fifteen.

The second round brought no major surprises—and was even faster than the first.

The top ten were decided.

Han and Liang each still had four academies in the top fifteen; the other seven nations each had only one left.

The gap among the nine nations was crystal clear.

The other nations accepted the result as expected; only Zheng's martial artists suffered the most.

For years, Zheng had been ambitious, determined to catch up to Liang—but reality had slapped them hard.

Lin Chen had barely exerted himself in both rounds—he advanced by default.

"Both elimination rounds complete. Now, the repechage begins. Each academy sends a disciple to draw lots and select their next opponent."

Elder Murong Song smiled as he spoke—now, the point-based rankings were irrelevant; all academies would draw lots for their next match.

But from this round on, defeat does not mean immediate elimination—losers enter the losers' bracket, and the final champion will be decided between the undefeated winner and the one who fights back from the losers' bracket.

This system ensures maximum fairness—even if two academies from the same nation meet, one may surrender and enter the losers' bracket to await resurrection.

"Lin brother, you go draw the lot."

Li Yuan clapped Lin Chen on the shoulder; though he was the academy's senior disciple, Li Yuan knew clearly that after yesterday's performance, Lin Chen was the true soul of the academy.

Lin Chen made no excuse—he nodded and walked toward the platform.

As the top-ranked academy, Lanlan had the first choice.

In the iron box prepared by the referee, Lin Chen reached in and grabbed a slip at random, pulling it out.

But when he saw the name on the slip, his pupils contracted sharply.

Tianque Academy!

When the crowd saw the slip in Lin Chen's hand, a wave of uproar erupted.

Lanlan Academy and Tianque Academy were facing off in the very first round!

The two most-watched academies were about to clash prematurely.

(End of Chapter)