Chapter 536: Top Hundred Banquet, Anniversary Day (2)
4th of December.
Great Xia's anniversary celebration.
The academy was full of joy.
Early in the morning, the academy was already filled with unceasing cheers.
The Source Soul Research Center had also been decorated for the occasion. When Su Yu walked out of his cultivation room, he stumbled upon Wu Lan and the others who were busy decorating the building. Thanks to the decorations, the research center was looking quite festive as well.
Su Yu smiled and waved at Wu Jia, "Senior Sister!"
Wu Jia ran over and happily asked, "Junior Brother, are you going out later? The capital will be very lively today..."
"I won't be going out." Su Yu smiled and said, "Senior Sister, I'm afraid you won't be able to go out as well."
"Ahh?"
Wu Jia looked dispirited. She couldn't leave?
Su Yu exhaled lightly and said, "Senior Sister, it's the 4th of December. We only have 26 days left before the year ends."
"..."
At that, Wu Jia recalled something. Her expression turned anxious as she said, "Yeah..."
"You need to start challenging the top 100."
Yes. She had to do it.
Su Yu said, "Martial uncle is an intermediate researcher and the head manager of the books depository. You have been in the academy for over two years. Martial Uncle does not have any other recent achievements he can use as a substitute for the performance of his student. If you don't challenge the ranking, he might even end up demoted from the position of intermediate researcher. In that situation, keeping the books depository would be even harder. This year's evaluation is going to be much stricter. Forget about the second evaluation. Even the first evaluation is hard to get through."
According to Old Huang, he would focus on cracking down on corruption during the first evaluation. But if one could plug the holes, they might be given a second chance. After all, there was no way they could punish all their higher-ups in one go.
At the second evaluation, things would be different. If any wrongdoing was found during the second evaluation, one would be held accountable. That was no longer a matter of plugging the holes.
Different researchers would be faced with different levels of evaluation depending on their levels. Chen Yong could be considered one of the upper echelons of the academy, so he would also be subjected to a strict evaluation. Thus, if Wu Jia couldn't get into the top 100, Chen Yong would encounter trouble during the evaluation.
Wu Jia completely forgot about playing around. She hurriedly said, "You're right, Junior Brother. I'll do it today!"
"Alright." Su Yu nodded, "It's the anniversary day today. The academy will be paying more attention to the challenges performed today. The judges will be a lot more careful. Even if you encounter someone you can't defeat, there is no risk of injuring yourself heavily. This is actually the safest time to challenge the ranking.
"And since it's the anniversary day, Great Xia King himself might visit the academy. All the top 100 students will be present so you will also have more flexibility on who you challenge."
Otherwise, one would normally be forced to waste time and wait or challenge a different student if the student they challenged wasn't around.
At this time, Jiang Mu walked over and asked, "You're challenging the ranking today?"
This wasn't proper, right? It was the anniversary day. Was it proper to challenge the ranking today?
"Yes." Su Yu said, "We don't have much time left. We still have 26 days before the month ends, but all challenges will end on the 25th. Thus, we only have 21 days.
"If she loses now, she can continue trying. But if she waits until the final three days, she might be able to win two consecutive matches and keep her ranking until the following match. But would things be so smooth? After the first victory, someone would definitely appear to obstruct her climb."
"And all these people are waiting for the 22nd. I can't let things play out according to their plans."
At this time, Hu Qiusheng and Wu Lan had also walked over. Xia Huyou was not around as he was probably very busy today.
Hu Qiusheng frowned and said, "Today is indeed a good day to challenge the ranking, but what would you do after today? Those challengers would still appear. You might as well wait until the 22nd and try your luck. You only need two victories to get a three-day immunity."
That was a benefit meant to help newly ascended challengers. That had been Wu Jia's initial plan. Thus, she looked at Su Yu inquiringly. Should they wait? She wasn't weak at all. Not only had she reached the Infinite Strength Realm, but he had also opened some apertures, reached peak Mental Tempering Stage, and formed nine characters.
If she really couldn't get into the top 100, she could even push herself and try to enter the Skysoar Realm within the month. After her advancement, her performance in the top 100 would naturally not be a part of her teacher's evaluation anymore.
Su Yu smiled, "It's better to play it safe. If we wait until the last minute, there would be too many variables. In truth, I want to see what the single character faction is going to do after we disrupt their initial plan."
Seeing that he was so confident, the others stopped persuading him.
Hu Qiusheng said, "The single character faction does not have a lot of options when it comes to removing Senior Sister Wu from the ranking. Those with enough strength to do so are only Di Feng, Qiu Yi, Chen Huan, Liu He, and Guo Shengquan. The rest are probably not her match anymore, including Huang Qifeng. After missing the Willpower Grotto, he can no longer defeat Senior Sister Wu."
But that was still quite a lot of people. Of the five, apart from Qiu Yi, the rest had entered the Willpower Grotto previously. And Qiu Yi was already strong even before this.
Hu Qiusheng looked at Su Yu and asked, "Are you going to fight as well?"
Su Yu did not answer the question. He looked at Wu Jia and said, "Senior Sister, I can't be the one to do everything. That would be an insult to your hard work. But if Di Feng tries to drop his ranking to challenge you, I'll wait until he reaches my rank before crippling him."
He would be more than happy to do things fairly. As long as Di Feng did not do something like dropping rank to challenge Wu Jia, Su Yu would not be bothered to do anything. Su Yu was still unable to challenge the 1st ranked Di Feng as he was still ranked 30th.
But if Di Feng started dropping ranks, Su Yu would not hold back. He couldn't be bothered to climb the ranking, but he wouldn't mind giving Di Feng a beating.
Wu Jia clenched her teeth and said, "Don't worry, Junior Brother! I'm not afraid of them! Even if Qiu Yi drops her ranking to challenge me, I'm not scared!"
Su Yu smiled, "That is only natural. My senior sister is great."
But according to his guess, Di Feng was probably the person with the highest chance of defeating Wu Jia. Thus, sending him after her would be the safest choice for them.
Qiu Yi's chance of victory would not be as high.
"Defeating Di Feng..."
After defeating Di Feng, the single character faction would realize that not even Di Feng could suppress him anymore. At that time, who would they send after him? They might no longer be confident with Skysoars. Perhaps they would send their Cloudbreach cultivators? And ordinary Cloudbreach cultivators wouldn't do either.
They needed some capable individuals. People such as Liu Hong, Zhou Pingsheng, or Hu Wensheng would be perfect.
Liu Hong was too crafty to participate in something so stupid. Thus, their best option would be the two students of Zhou Mingren.
Numerous thoughts appeared in Su Yu's mind. Dealing with Di Feng was not enough for him. At most, he would only be able to implicate someone like Zhou Pingsheng with Di Feng. But if he could involve the students of Zhou Mingren himself, things would be different.
That was the core of the single character faction. The significance of his involvement was a lot bigger.
...
House of Hundred.
As it was the anniversary day, even the House of Hundred looked a lot more peaceful than before as there were very few challenges on this day.
A Top Hundred Banquet would be held at the House of Hundred later today.
Su Yu had already received a notification the night before. According to the message, Great Xia King himself might show up. Even if he did not show up, there would be a representative from the Xia Family present to see the top 100 students. These students represented the future of Great Xia. Thus, doing this was necessary.
Outside the House of Hundred, a large screen had been set up. On the screen, Marquis Xia and the upper echelons of Great Xia could be seen. All of them were smiling and talking as they greeted the soldiers of Great Xia.
Including those from the Devil Subduing Army, the Martial Dragon Guards, the Great Xia Army, the Windcatcher Department, and the city guards of the various cities, there were millions of soldiers in Great Xia.
Nanyuan was so small that it was more like a village than a city among the 28 cities of Great Xia. Even so, there were still a lot of soldiers stationed there when one included the guards and those from the Windcatcher Department.
Thus, greeting the soldiers was not a part they could skip when celebrating the anniversary of the prefecture. This act of inspecting the various armies would also ensure that the various armies had maintained their combat strength. Due to Xia Longwu's seclusion, morale had dropped slightly among the soldiers. Thus, the Xia Family was using this chance to repair morale.
If Great Xia King could show himself today, they would be able to raise morale and keep it at a high level for quite some time after this.
This was what Su Yu and company saw when they arrived.
A scene of joy and harmony.
Looking at the smiling face of Marquis Xia on the screen, Su Yu smiled. He did not pay the screen much attention and entered the House of Hundred. Everyone was present during the anniversary day. How convenient.
Wu Lan and Wu Jia stayed outside as only top 100 students could enter the House of Hundred.
...
House of Hundred's main hall.
A lot of top 100 students were already there. Some were paying attention to the show on the screen while some were conversing with each other.
A lot of them were surprised to see Su Yu's group.
Soon, someone greeted him with a smile, "Su Yu, you guys are here."
That was Wan Mingze.
Su Yu returned the greeting with a smile. He scanned the room and noted that Di Feng wasn't around. However, there were other single character faction members there. Both Qiu Yi and Huang Qifeng were present as well.
Su Yu wasted no time and went straight to the registration counter. The person inside was fully focused on the television. When he heard the sound of footsteps, he turned his head and looked over.
"Student Su, the banquet will start tonight. If you're hungry, you can grab a light meal first and spend some time with the others..."
He thought that Su Yu was here to ask about the banquet.
Su Yu smiled and said, "Teacher, almost all the top 100 students are here today. My senior sister wishes to challenge the ranking today. Could I trouble you to contact the referees?"
"..."
The hall instantly sank into silence. Challenging the ranking today? What was Su Yu trying to do?
The teacher was also stunned. He asked with hesitation, "Su Yu, do you want to do this another day?"
Su Yu smiled, "Nope. The war academy students will be here starting tomorrow, right? I don't know how long they will stay here. Rather than embarrass ourselves in front of outsiders, we might as well do this today."
The teacher nodded, "Alright. I will contact the referees. Su Yu, who is Wu Jia challenging?"
Su Yu asked, "Are there any single character faction members in the bottom 10?"
The teacher checked the list and nodded, "Yes. Zheng Hong in the 97th place and Yu Tong in the 91st place."
"Yu Tong? What's her relationsip with Elder Yu?"
"They're from the same family. They're a few generations apart, but they're relatives."
At this time, a girl in the hall stood up and said coldly, "I am Yu Tong. Su Yu, you intend to have Wu Jia challenge me?"
Su Yu turned his head and smiled, "Can't she challenge you?"
Yu Tong coldly said, "Of course she can. I welcome her challenge. I am in a good mood as it’s a day of celebration. Your faction better not create trouble or don't blame me for not showing mercy."
Su Yu unhurriedly said, "How is challenging the ranking creating trouble? A challenge match is fair as one's ability will determine the result. I'm only afraid that some people would shamelessly call their seniors for help after losing. And if those seniors can't help, they would get some shameless people to drop their ranks and avenge the loser.
"How about this? None of us will drop our ranks today. If you agree, I will be willing to accept the result of her challenge even if she ends up losing."
"I—"
"Cough."
Yu Tong was about to answer when someone interrupted her. They couldn't agree. That wasn't something they could agree with. If Wu Jia managed to get into the ranking, they would have to start dropping their ranks so that they could challenge her. Their sole goal was to keep her out of the ranking.
Su Yu smiled, "See? You guys are the ones not willing to fight fairly. What can I do about this? You guys are the ones creating trouble, not me. Otherwise, with my senior sister's strength, she would have been able to enter the ranking easily."
Yu Tong snorted and said, "Get her to defeat me first before saying something like that."
Yu Tong had entered the academy the same year as Wu Jia. Thus, she believed that she was not weaker than Wu Jia. Sure, Wu Jia had a higher rank previously, but things had changed since then.
All of them had been growing constantly while Wu Jia's progress had been delayed due to her injuries. And Yu Tong was also one of the students who had been able to enter the Willpower Grotto previously. She had gained a lot from the benefit and she was confident she could defeat Wu Jia.
Su Yu did not waste his time saying anything else and looked at the teacher, "My senior sister will be challenging her. We'll start after a referee arrives. I hope my senior sister will be able to join the banquet later."
He had decided to come at this time because he was also interested in attending the banquet.
He had heard that Great Xia King might be here. Most of the time, Great Xia King would not arrive empty-handed. As one of the students here, he might be able to get something good from Great Xia King.
Nobody knew if they would be able to get massive benefits from Great Xia King's gift, but a gift was a gift. Nobody would say no to that. Meanwhile, the expressions of the top 100 students started turning solemn.
It would seem like this wouldn't be a peaceful day. If Wu Jia lost, the matter would probably end immediately. But if she won, a lot of trouble would follow.
People like Di Feng and Qiu Yi would probably start dropping ranks to challenge her. This was even more important today as they would not allow Wu Jia to attend a banquet where Great Xia King might be present.
The students started notifying the people they knew about the challenge. Perhaps a big show would unfold on this day of celebration.