Chapter 328: Start The Show (1)
6th of October.
A storm was brewing in the academy.
Early in the morning, a certain piece of news started spreading all over the academy.
"Have you heard? Su Yu is out of seclusion. He's going to start accepting challenges today."
"Do you know who's challenging him? Su Yu is not weak. Just look at Huang Qifeng. A second-stage Infinite Strength and peak Mental Tempering Stage cultivator was reduced to such a miserable state. Who would still dare to challenge him?"
"Yeah. Are they tired of living?"
"Su Yu is no pushover. Not everyone can push him around."
All over the academy, people were talking about Su Yu.
He was not a weakling. Huang Qifeng was strong, right? So what? Even now, he was still unconscious. He would probably need a few months to recover from his willpower injury.
Huang Qifeng's actual combat strength should be somewhere around the fifth-stage Infinite Strength Realm. Someone like him had suffered such a miserable fate in Su Yu's hands. Nobody below the top 50 would actually be Su Yu's match.
Only the top 30 students were probably the ones with an actual chance of defeating Su Yu. All the top 30 students were as strong as late-stage Infinite Strength cultivators. But that was not absolute due to the existence of the Mental Tempering Stage.
If one encountered a Divine Character that was a perfect counter to one's ability, one might still end up defeated even with a stronger cultivation. The Top 100 Ranking of the cultural research academy was not as straightforward as the ranking in the war academy. Apart from Divine Characters, there were also talismans and tamed beasts to be taken into consideration.
While the crowd was talking about the upcoming challenges.
Wu Lan was walking behind her sister with her head lowered dispiritedly. Her usual arrogance was nowhere to be seen.
"Are you feeling discouraged?"
Wu Qi smiled. When the nearby students saw her, they hurriedly greeted her before moving away. Wu Qi was also known as the great demon in the academy. Thus, a lot of people were terrified of her.
Wu Lan gloomily said, "No. Elder Sister, I just don't understand why such a stupid Divine Character has appeared in my sea of willpower."
"Stupid?" Wu Qi laughed, "Say that after you actually form a stupid character."
"Is this not stupid?" Wu Lan sullenly said, "Why is it the weak character? I want the strong character!"
This was too embarrassing. Any character would be better than this.
Wu Qi was getting tired of speaking with her. She asked, "How's the ability?"
"It can weaken others."
"And how is that bad?"
"How is it not?" Wu Lan unhappily said, "I don't want to weaken others. That will only turn them into garbage. I want others to be strong with me being the stronger one."
Wu Qi decided to ignore her little sister. She was afraid that she would get a heart attack if she continued talking to her sister. That weak character could weaken her opponents, not herself. She was unhappy with such a useful character? In that case, she might as well give up on all characters.
Wu Qi continued heading toward the House of Hundred. A big show was going to unfold there today. The appearance of Su Yu was a turning point in the conflict between the single and multiple character factions. Because of him, the conflict had increased in intensity. The hostility between the two was made even more blatant than before. Thus, a lot of researchers would probably be around to watch the show.
Bai Feng had injured Hu Wensheng. Huang Qifeng had injured Wu Jia. And Su Yu had injured Huang Qifeng. The conflict kept on escalating. If it wasn't for the academy rules and the fact that Bai Feng and Chen Yong had been keeping to themselves, the conflict would have escalated into a battle between Skysoars long ago.
From how things looked, the multiple character faction stood no chance. Hong Tan was not around. What could Su Yu do by himself? The multiple character faction could only rely on the protection of the academy rules to reduce the suppression on them.
House of Hundred.
A large crowd had gathered to watch the show. Apart from students, a lot of teachers were present as well. Some instructors, researchers, and old students were here as well. Su Yu had vanished from the public eye after the 3rd.
His silence lasted until today when a rumor started spreading that he was going to be accepting those challenges. Everyone wondered if today would be a repeat of what happened on the 3rd.
Suddenly, the crowd exclaimed, "Zhan Hai is here!"
Number one under the Skysoar Realm, Zhan Hai. His arrival astonished many students. Most of the teachers were only here to enjoy the show. As for Zhan Hai, he was most likely here to judge Su Yu's strength. Thus, this signified that Su Yu had even attracted Zhan Hai's attention.
"Jiang Mu is here as well!"
"So many people are here today. Almost half the top 100 students have arrived. Look, isn't that Li Minyu?"
One top 100 student after another arrived, causing the excitement of the crowd to further increase. Even some top 10 students had arrived today.
These people were generally extremely hard to meet. In fact, their appearances were even rarer than that of some researchers. Yet today, a large number of these elite students had appeared.
Wu Jia and Chen Yong were also in the crowd. She looked around and worriedly said, "Teacher, is Junior Brother really coming today? I heard that some higher ranked students have shamelessly dropped their ranks to challenge him. Why is the academy letting them do as they wish? This is such an obvious loophole."
Chen Yong said, "What can they do? This is the first time something like this has happened. There is nothing the academy can do."
The Top 100 Ranking existed for the purpose of determining the strength of the students. It was meant to be climbed. It was never meant for students to intentionally fall in ranking. Due to Su Yu's rank, many students were unable to challenge him. Because of that, they had intentionally dropped their ranks to challenge him.
"Can Junior Brother win?"
"I don't know."
Chen Yong was somewhat speechless. How was he supposed to know? In fact, he was only here because Su Yu had told him to come.
When Chen Yong recalled the words Su Yu told him the previous night, he felt extremely helpless. If he did that, then his image would definitely turn into that of a shameless and treacherous person. But he was an honest man! He had stayed silently in the books depository for so many years. But now, Su Yu was going to ruin his reputation!
While he was thinking, the crowd stirred as they parted to make way for a newcomer.
"So handsome!"
Many girls started screaming madly.
Su Yu could be seen walking through the crowd. He was still clad in his white outfit. With a gentle smile on his face, he nodded at the students making way for him. After a few days of research without rest, he was slightly pale. But the paleness gave him an even more scholarly look, making him even more pleasing to look at.
How refined. This was how a cultural researcher should look!
"Thank you."
Su Yu thanked a girl who had just moved aside for him. Step by step, he advanced, completely calm and composed, his white robe flowing behind him. Finally, he arrived before the ring.
He stepped into the ring and turned around to face the crowd. With a smile, he said, "My apologies. This is my first time in the top 100 so I was unaware of the rules. I have been helping my teacher with research so I have not been keeping up with the events of the academy.
"I only found out that some seniors have challenged me when I left the lab last night. According to the academy rules, I should accept these challenges. But before accepting the challenge, I need to make one thing clear. This is only a conflict between me and a certain group of people. Everyone else is only involved in this for profit. There is no need for us to get into a quarrel as well. I don't mind accepting any challenges as long as the rules are followed.
"As for those intending to use me as a stepping stone to earn the favor of some people, my apologies. I will not be lenient when it comes to enemies. Thus, think carefully before entering the ring."
The crowd sank into silence.
Someone from the crowd shouted, "Well said! Junior Brother Su Yu, do your best! Show them how strong you are!"
Yes. The person who had spoken was a female student. She was one of the older students whose cultivation was going nowhere and had given up on going further. Thus, she didn’t really care if she would offend someone with her words.
Very few people dared to voice their agreement to her words. The single character faction was still the dominant faction in the academy with a large number of experts. Thus, many were still worried about offending them.
Apart from the single character faction members, there were also some top 100 students who were thinking of challenging Su Yu for the reward.
The referee today was still Zhao Ming. But there were two referees today. The other referee was the young man who had tried to persuade Su Yu against fighting Huang Qifeng previously. Su Yu did not know who that person was. He had also forgotten to ask Chen Yong about that. But he could feel that this person was rather friendly toward him.
Looking at Su Yu, Zhao Ming grinned and said, "Su Yu, you have a lot of challengers. Just pick one."
Su Yu asked, "Teacher, will I get 10 merit points for each victory?"
"Of course."
"Teacher, are there any students who were previously between the 30th place to the 70th place among my challengers?"
"Let me check..." Zhao Ming looked at the jade talisman in his hand and smiled, "Yes. There are three. Wang He, previously ranked 38th, currently ranked 75th. Hu Yu, previously ranked 44th, currently ranked 77th. And Huang Yi, previously ranked 48th, currently ranked 81st."
All three of them were top 50 students. Yet they had dropped in ranks during the past two days. It was clear what their goal was. Some of the people in the crowd jeered in displeasure.
The expressions of several people in the crowd changed, but they remained silent. A willpower text written by a peak Mountainsea cultivator was on the line here. Since the other students were unwilling to lose face for something like a willpower text, they were more than happy to give it a try.
As for those below the top 50, none of them had bothered dropping in ranking. It was pointless since they might not necessarily be Su Yu's match. Only the top 50 students would have some confidence in defeating Su Yu.