At nine thirty in the morning, a massive venue spanning over a square kilometer was already packed to the rafters.
It was an enclosed, bowl-shaped arena. At its center stood a ring over five hundred meters in diameter, surrounded by seating for nearly two hundred thousand spectators.
Suspended in the air above the ring was a cube-shaped Virtual Screen, broadcasting the action below in real time.
By then, every seat in the stands was taken.
The Sightseeing Delegation from Guantian Pavilion, the Eight-School Joint Examination representing the highest level of Taihua City high school students—the event had plenty of hype, and tickets had been flying off the shelves.
Su Yuan, waiting in the Taihua High School examinees' area, looked toward the row of seats closest to the ring.
The judges' seats.
Their lineup was simple.
First, each of the eight high schools had sent a prominent representative to serve as a judge.
As expected, Shining Star High School and Xiaoshui High School had each invited a Golden Core Realm cultivator as a specially appointed teacher. They were the only two Golden Core cultivators among the eight schools' judges.
The judges from the other schools were merely elite teachers at Foundation Establishment Peak.
It was worth noting that Taihua High School had sent Taihua Tianji as its judge.
Naturally, the Golden Core powerhouse had already left for the Jinhua Mountain Secret Realm and wouldn't be attending. Only a nameplate bearing his name sat there.
It was all for publicity. Nothing shameful about that.
Even with Taihua Tianji absent, his seat was still the most central among the judges'.
And who sat in the seat at the very center?
That was, of course, the instructor from Guantian Pavilion who had come to observe.
Su Yuan's gaze shifted slightly and settled on the