The Challenge

The group looked at each other, none of them hesitating. If they came here and didn't even dare to take on the challenge, what was the point of coming?

The group filed up to the edge of the pool.

The pool is not large, less than 100 meters in diameter, but the water is clear enough to drink.

Upon seeing the arrival of the newcomers, the martial artists resting by the pool all looked up at this group of freshmen.

"The new guy this year."

"I've calculated the time, and it's about right. This group seems to be quite capable."

"I don't know if they're good-looking or not, but they're quite good-looking, especially the girl, and the two boys are pretty handsome too."

"Good looks can't put food on the table. At least the ants down here don't care if you're handsome or not. Getting the Star Crystal is the only thing that matters."

The martial artists discussed amongst themselves, but none of them moved, clearly wanting to see which side these newcomers wanted to challenge.

This kind of thing happens once a year. These people are all former students, so it's nothing new to them. But they are watching with great interest, since life inside the Star Fruit Tree is very boring.

Guang Ge led them to a tree trunk where a piece of bark had been peeled off, and the grouping of the three branches was written on it.

"Here is the grouping of the three tree branches. Remember, each branch can only be arranged into three groups. Your challenge can only start from the third place. Here are their details. Take a look and let me know when you've made your decision."

People gathered in front of the blackboard-like bark and looked at the ranking on the three branches.

The one on the left, the Third Team, students from the Class 495, five team members, team leader Zhang Sicheng.

The Second Team is a mixed student group with five members, led by captain Xu Tianjiao.

The First Team consists of five students from the Class 492, with Nie Zhenwei as the team leader.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Huai couldn't help but swear. "Damn! How come there's Class 492? That means they arrived five years earlier than us. Five years! And these people still haven't left Star Fruit Tree? Are they planning to stay here forever? Are they even letting the new students survive?"

Lin Zhen said from the side, "Don't forget Liang Feng, the guy we met when we first came here. He's been here for eight years."

Jiang Huai sighed, "It seems that it's really hard for newcomers to survive here."

Next, look down. There are also three groups in the middle. The First Team is a mixed group, which includes students from the previous two sessions. The team leader is even a student from the Class 490 who has been here for seven years.

The First Team on the right consists of students from the Class 491.

According to the rules, the team must be a group of five. If a challenger is to take on a challenge, the number of people in the team must be the same as the number of people in the opposing team. They cannot all rush in at once, as having more people is not very useful.

Everyone looked at Ma Mingxing, Ma Mingxing said somewhat embarrassedly, "I... I didn't quite understand either. I thought that more people meant more strength, so I brought more people. But it's okay, we can form two teams. That way, it'll be better if we go hand in hand, hehe."

No one spoke, but they all thought that what Ma Mingxing said made a lot of sense. Since so many people couldn't be used, they might as well form another team.

However, figuring out how to form a team is also a challenge.

Su Mingyue is definitely going to be with Lin Zhen, while Ma Mingxing wants to be with Jiang Huai. Sun Tie and the other four Tianfu Martial Artist don't want to be separated, and the two martial artists from the Capital City Base City want to follow Su Mingyue, since Su Mingyue is practically the flagship figure of the Capital City Base City.

After some discussion, Sun Tie was assigned to Lin Zhen's group, while Jiang Huai Ma Mingxing were paired with three other Tianfu Martial Artist.

In this way, both teams are somewhat competitive. Lin Zhen and Su Mingyue are a given, and the two martial artists from the Capital City are a Advanced War General and a Intermediate War General, respectively. Sun Tie is also Intermediate War General, so their strength is not bad.

The other team, led by Jiang Huai, consisted of three Tianfu Martial Artist, two of whom were Advanced War General. Ma Mingxing and another person were Intermediate War General. Overall, their strength seemed to be similar to that of Lin Zhen's team.

Both teams were formed. Jiang Huai was the captain of the team, and the captaincy of this team was originally going to be given to Su Mingyue. However, Su Mingyue insisted on giving it to Lin Zhen, behaving like a dutiful girlfriend, which left Lin Zhen speechless.

The team captains have been chosen, and Guang Ge Guang Ge been notified. He gave each of the two teams two Number Plate and told them they could start Xuan Ze their opponents.

The people in the Third Team were all looking at Lin Zhen and his group sideways, clearly not taking these two rookie teams seriously.

On the left, in front of the tree branch, Zhang Sicheng, the captain of Class 495, even whistled. "Hey! Hey beautiful, want to spar with us? Your boyfriend is just a Intermediate War General. There's no future in following that team. If you come over here, I'll definitely make room for you."

Su Mingyue remained silent, but Lin Zhen, as the fake boyfriend, naturally couldn't stay indifferent and retorted, "If you vacate all the seats, I'll consider it; otherwise, forget it."

"Haha! You've got some big talk, kid. How about it? You dare to challenge us? If you win, I can't guarantee you'll get more than one or two Star Crystal every week."

The third team gets one day a week, and if they're lucky, they do have a chance to get some good Star Crystal.

Before Lin Zhen could make a decision, Su Mingyue suddenly whispered in his ear, "Just challenge them. This guy has a foul mouth."

Lin Zhen nodded. The other party was from the Class 495, only two years ahead of them, so they didn't seem particularly difficult to deal with.

He turned to Guang Ge and said, "Guang Ge, we've decided, we'll challenge this team from Class 495."

"Okay, you've decided. Team Battle or individual battle?"

"Is there any difference?"

"There is a difference. Team Battle are five against five, a collective battle, while individual battles are also five against five, best of three."

After discussing it, Lin Zhen and Su Mingyue decided to have an individual battle. At least Lin Zhen and Su Mingyue were quite confident that as long as one of their teammates performed well and won a match, they would have a good chance of winning.

At this point, Jiang Huai had also Xuan Ze, challenging the Third Team on the right, which was also an individual battle.

After they made their Xuan Ze, Guang Ge Human Path to both sides, "Now, each of you should arrange your battle order, making sure the other side doesn't see it. Once you've arranged your order, just hand it over to me."

The five Advanced War General walked to the side, laughing and joking, to discuss their battle. This kind of fight happened every week, and they were already used to it.

Lin Zhen and the others immediately began to discuss the matter nervously.

Su Mingyue spoke first, "I'll go first and try to win a match."

Lin Zhen thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll play last. If it's 2-2, I'll try my best to win the last match."

The remaining three Sun Tie in the second match, Fu Haisheng Advanced War General from Capital City, in the third match, Luo Zhen, Intermediate War General from Capital City, in the fourth match.

The order was arranged and handed to Guang Ge, Guang Ge had already received the order from the other party. Then he said to them, "Come over here with me, we'll start right away."

The two groups followed Guang Ge and turned a corner to come to a huge tree stump, which was tens of meters thick and a meter high, just like a natural arena.

Many martial artists who had nothing else to do also came to watch. On the contrary, very few people went to see Jiang Huai and his group. Most of the people who came here were there to see Su Mingyue. After all, beautiful women are pleasing to the eye, and women are a rare sight here.

Guang Ge Human Path to both sides, "In the arena, we have a rule: no killing. It's a point-to-point fight. If anyone accidentally kills the other, your team will be banned from challenging again for a month, and the person who killed will be expelled and never allowed to appear in Ant Nest again. Do you all understand?"

The martial artists all nodded in agreement. Although they couldn't unleash their full power without killing, they were all at the General Level, and there were plenty of ways to defeat their opponents without killing anyone.

"Alright, let's get ready to begin. The first contestant may come on stage."

On the 495th group, Zhang Sicheng was the first to go on stage.

His weapon was a Great Ring Blade, which he brandished as soon as he stepped onto the stage. "Newbies, welcome to the Ant Nest. I, Zhang Sicheng, will give you a good lesson here, so you'll know that once you're here, you should honestly train and pass the time. Don't try to challenge the senior students, or you'll lose miserably."

Su Mingyue snorted coldly, twisted her delicate body, and lightly jumped onto the arena.

Su Mingyue was still wearing her white Priest Robe today. She still couldn't decide whether to continue to believe in the Starry Sky True God, but wearing this outfit had become a habit of hers, and she couldn't change it in a short time.

With her elegant long dress, golden ribbons, Waterfall black hair, and fairy-like face, Su Mingyue received a round of applause as she stepped onto the stage.

"Go, beautiful lady! Defeat that gorilla Zhang Sicheng!"

"What am I seeing? A real-life Beauty and the Beast?"

"Zhang Sicheng, if you go easy on the beauty, I'll let you have one Planet Crystal next time our team gets one, how about it?"

Although people supported Su Mingyue, no one really believed that this delicate girl could be a match for Zhang Sicheng.

Zhang Sicheng was also surprised that it was Su Mingyue who came on stage. He paused for a moment and then chuckled, "Hehe, don't worry, girl. Although I, Zhang Sicheng, may look rough, I am not someone who doesn't know how to cherish women. I promise to handle you gently and not hurt a single hair on your head."

Su Mingyue didn't answer him at all. She took out her gleaming sword and assumed a fighting stance.

"Your posture is quite professional, but I wonder if you can even kill an ant? Someone like you shouldn't be a martial artist. It would be much better for you to stay home, embroider, and take care of the kids. I could support you for the rest of your life."

Zhang Sicheng wasn't an idiot. He flirted with Su Mingyue with his words, but he was actually very cautious, hoping to make Su Mingyue lose her composure in this way.

However, Su Mingyue was not the kind of girl who could be easily disturbed. Her life as Holy Maiden made it difficult for her to be shaken by anything. Taking advantage of the gap in Zhang Sicheng's speech, she suddenly made her move!

When he did make a move, it was earth-shattering, even shocking Lin Zhen!

Because the combat techniques Su Mingyue used were actually stolen from him!