Chapter 187 - Tournament Announcement

Tournament.

A simple word that was enough to make the minds of all the students in the classroom inflame. It wasn't just about getting rewards for their achievements, their pride as martial artists came into play.

It was known that even when the challenges were still in place, few people would choose such a method, especially in the first year. It was because it meant revealing your skills to multiple people, which could have penalized them later. After all, even though they were fellow students, they were still rivals. To reach the top, they had to get the best possible result in every trial.

The students knew that the academy's official trial had good prizes, and therefore they did their best to keep their ace cards hidden. In this way, conflicts and tensions between students were repressed in view of a bigger goal. In the trial in the forest, there had been some skirmishes between the various groups, but the cockroaches attack had changed the cards on the table. But now they finally had the opportunity they so longed for.

"Usually, the academy doesn't assign trials as a tournament, but it has been decided that an exception will be made this time," explained Song Yazhu. His gaze quickly passed over the students who were enraptured by the excitement for the tournament, "In addition to the students and teachers of the academy, all the important families in the Southern Region will be invited to the tournament, including representatives of the Eight Big Families and the Imperial Family. Obviously, to better host an event of this magnitude, the academy plans to remodel its land to build a stage suitable for the number of guests."

At those words, the listeners' hearts began to beat faster. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. Not only would they settle the outstanding accounts, but they could earn great prizes and, above all, gain the attention of famous families. Many of the students had a common background, and to continue on their cultivation path, they needed to join powerful families. Even those with a noble background were excited; their victory would highlight their families, and the more results they brought, the more their respective families would reward them.

Suddenly a palpable tension spread in the air. Those who had enmities began to look at each other while others scrutinized the people around them to start battle plans against their future opponents. Numerous glances were directed in particular towards Long Tian, ​​Feng Chen, Hu Jie, and Hei. These four were the ones who had most distinguished themselves in the test of the forest and were, therefore, the most feared. However, there were also people whose strength was unknown. Not everyone had joined Long Tian or hid out of fear of cockroaches; some had survived by relying solely on their skills. Finally, there were the new arrivals who were eager to show that they had nothing to envy towards the students who had started before them.

Song Yazhu smiled. He knew his students would react that way but decided not to intervene. That tension would spur them on to give their best, bringing out their potential.

"It is quite obvious, but considering the modalities of the final test and the status of the guests, it isn't possible to let all of you fight on the stage set up by the academy. So there will be preliminaries. You will be divided into 32 groups, and the members of each group will fight each other. Those with the most wins in their group will move on to the tournament's main phase, gaining the right to perform in front of everyone. As for others, they will have to be content with being spectators. However, even if they don't enter the tournament's main phase, they can earn rewards based on their achievements. So you should give your best in all the fights of the preliminaries."

"What about us supporting martial artists?" asked one of the new arrivals. He was a supporting martial artist; therefore, fighting wasn't his forte. Actually, it wasn't just him, but all the supporting martial artists would have a handicap if the final test took place in the form of a tournament.

Song Yazhu quickly replied as if he was expecting such a question, "Unless they expressly state their intention to fight, support-type students are not forced to participate. Instead, they will be able to nominate a teammate to support during the entire tournament, including the preliminaries. The points awarded to the supporting martial artist will be calculated based on the result achieved by the person they support. If you wish, you can nominate up to five people and increase the number of points earned. But I warn you that the preliminaries will take place at the same time, so I advise you to devote yourself to helping only one person per time. In any case, your support is valid only outside the battle and not during its course."

"Teacher Song Yazhu. But doesn't that nullify the purpose of finding the strongest? If the tournament serves to decree the number one of our academic year, it is assumed that those most likely to go to the main phase are those with the most fighting skills. But if one has a supporting martial artist, then this difference in strength will become less relevant because it will be possible to be treated and restore one's spirit power. In practice, there will be a clear difference between who owns a partner to support him from those who do not." Another student raised his hand and expressed his doubt.

"It's just like you say," Song Yazhu replied before continuing, "as I said earlier unless you have a force capable of wiping out everything and everyone, the strength of the individual will lose in comparison to the power of a group. You were given nine months to build relationships between yourselves and the trial in the forest was input to encourage you to work together. If you want to be a simple soldier, then to focus only on your own strength isn't wrong, but if you're going to be a leader and command an entire army, then you need more than your power alone. If you don't have the qualifications to be followed by other people, then it's just your shortcoming. You have no right to blame the academy and say the test is unfair.

However, the academy isn't even that cruel, not to give you solutions to that problem. You can recruit an external martial artist as your support. But there are rules - its cultivation doesn't have to be superior to yours and, unlike students, it can only support one person. Also, outsiders won't be entitled to any reward from the academy. If you intend to recruit them, then you will have to pay for it yourself.

Another thing to add is the conditions regarding the beast tamers. As you know, the beast tamers fight together with their spirit beasts, using only one spirit beast at a time. But you are allowed to make changes if you have multiple spirit beasts. Since the tamer must also be able to handle the fight alone, it is allowed to fight in pairs only for a third of the matches. If you still want to send your spirit beast forward, even after exceeding the permitted number of matches, it will have to fight alone.

Okay, now. The lesson is over. More information about the preliminaries and the subdivision of the groups will be given later on. You can go now."

With that, Song Yazhu dismissed the class and left. The students were still excited about everything they heard today, and they were already starting to prepare for the tournament. It was a priority for them to recruit the best supporting martial artists as soon as possible.

"Let's go to our room," Hei announced to his companions. Since their group contained four supporting martial artists, they were in a better situation than others. However, they still had to organize for the tournament. After all, they were five offensive martial artists while there were only four supporting ones. One of them would be left without support.

Once in the room, Hei began to take stock of the situation, "Song Yazhu said that the preliminaries for the 32 groups would be held simultaneously. Consequently, there is no way that you four, Haruno, Mareo, Lilian, and Mia, can take care of each of us. Furthermore, it also adds that we could end up in the same group. I hope this doesn't happen, but in that case, only one can advance to the main phase."

Hei's words brought silence to the room. The five offensive martial artists, Hei, Lian, Leon, He Fen, and Lang, were all determined to advance to the main phase, at least, especially the last two who came from a family with a certain reputation. Their victory would bring honor to their families. And even if they didn't finish first, as long as they could perform well, they could get recognition from the elders of their respective families.

"Isn't it possible to ask Long Tian about it? With his help, we could avoid ending up in the same group. Although it may appear sneaky and a little dirty, it's not that we're asking him to move us to the main phase of the tournament." Leon proposed. As Hei's trusted companions, they had learned about the details of the challenge with Feng Gengxin and the fact that the academy headmaster was Long Tian's uncle.

"It's not a bad idea. And then, I strongly doubt that the academy will leave the combinations to chance. Surely the students with the most potential will be placed in distinct groups to avoid colliding too early. Considering the scale of the tournament, they will try to keep the audience's excitement at a peak." He Fen supported Leon's idea, and Lang also gave her consent with a nod. Fenrir made a small howl to say that he too was in favor.

"Hei, can't you ask Long Tian to resolve the matter?" Lian asked Hei.

"I can try, but even if he says it can be done, it doesn't change the fact that we have to decide how to split up for the preliminaries. Song Yazhu said that supporting martial artists can nominate up to 5 people. Therefore, the four of you," Hei turned to the four supporting martial artists of his group, "will name the five of us. In the main phase, they will likely make us fight one at a time. This way, you will have time to treat each of us. As far as the preliminaries are concerned, each of you will support one of us other than me."

Hearing this, Leon, He Fen, and Lang frowned. They knew that Hei would come out with such a thing, deciding to be the one at a disadvantage. But before they could reply, Lian explained the reason for this decision.

"It's not what you think. Hei's choice is not due to a feeling of being a hero or because he considers us weak, and therefore we need help while he does not. If you think about it carefully, Hei is the most favored from all of us."

"More favored?" Lang asked that she couldn't understand what Lian meant. The same was true of others.

"Yes. I give you a suggestion. According to Hei's reasoning, the second most advantaged is none other than you, Lang." the young blue-haired woman replied.

Lang looked confused for a moment before she understood what Lian meant. Instinctively she looked down to where Fenrir was, the spirit beast wolf who was her faithful companion.

"Beast tamers, now I understand." Lang murmured.

"Yes. Normally, beast tamers aren't very strong in fighting one vs. one, similar to supporting martial artists. But they make up for their shortage by teaming up with their spirit beasts. Now, it is possible to fight with only one spirit beast at a time and only for a third of the matches. However, Song Yazhu also said that spirit beasts could fight alone, overcoming the limit on the matches. Therefore, I am not participating as a single individual but as three. You know how strong Ye and Xing are. They will take care of the preliminaries, while I will mainly just watch. So there's no point in assigning me a support martial artist right now. "

Hei's explanation made sense. Indeed, Ye and Xing, even without being able to use the elemental laws, were spirit beasts capable of defeating most of the first-year students.

"As for Long Tian, ​​leave it to me. Now, all we have to do is focus on getting to the best conditions for the preliminaries. I know the strength of all of you well, and I have no doubt that you can get the top position in your respective groups. So let's all get to the main phase, okay?" Hei said to incite his companions.

"Yes!!!" the others answered. Their morale was charged. They had worked so hard to get the progress they had made to date. And finally, they would have the opportunity to show them in front of everyone else.