A City Echoed with "There Was Once a Beast..."

That afternoon, ten women from Xiaoxiang Academy came to Changyu Academy, saying they wanted to challenge its top ten students.

The students of Changyu Academy were no strangers to challenges. After all, they happened all the time. The academies around the city often sparred and exchanged pointers like this.

So Changyu Academy's top ten readily accepted the challenge and agreed to wager on the outcome.

About a quarter of an hour later...

The final result was beyond everyone's expectations: Xiaoxiang Academy had won all ten matches.

The students watching below the arena burst into an uproar, crying out in shock:

"How is this possible? How could they all have lost?"

"Weren't the results usually mixed, with some wins and some losses? How did the women from Xiaoxiang Academy become so strong?"

"Did they take some kind of medicine?"

Though the students knew it couldn't have been medicine, the outcome of the challenge was still hard to believe.

In fact, it wasn't just the students watching below the arena who were stunned. Even the top students from Changyu Academy who'd been challenged were still reeling.

Especially Yi Yongxin, Changyu Academy's top-ranked student. He was still staring blankly at An Youyi's retreating figure. Suddenly, her small frame seemed to grow much taller in his eyes. It felt as though he would never be able to surpass her in his entire life.

A moment later, Yi Yongxin abruptly shook his head, banishing the thought from his mind. By rights, the gap between them shouldn't have been that great.

Then it had to be because...

Yi Yongxin recalled what had just happened. He'd only just escaped the illusion and returned to reality when, in the blink of an eye, he found that familiar sledgehammer resting on his shoulder. Yi Yongxin had broken out in a cold sweat.

At the same time, he felt a little relieved. Thankfully, it had only been a friendly spar. Otherwise, he'd have been done for today.

But how had he suddenly lost?

He hadn't even shown his full strength yet.

At that thought, those words echoed through Yi Yongxin's mind: "There was once a beast..."

"That's what did it."

"But an illusion that can be used in battle..."

Yi Yongxin murmured to himself, turning over one thought after another.

Just then, a voice interrupted his reverie.

"Yi Yongxin, they've all left. Looks like they're heading to Qingyang Academy. Should we notify Wei Huarong and the others? Tell them Xiaoxiang Academy's secret weapon is an illusion, and they should be careful."

Yi Yongxin knew Wei Huarong well. Wei Huarong was one of Qingyang Academy's top three students, often claiming the top spot. He also frequently came to Qingshan Academy to issue challenges. He was Yi Yongxin's old rival.

Since he was an old rival, then...

"No need to warn him! Wei Huarong's always so arrogant. I want to see how he handles this one."

As Yi Yongxin spoke, he pictured Wei Huarong being beaten until he wept bitterly and begged for mercy on his knees. The thought was... simply delightful.

As he dwelled on it, Yi Yongxin suddenly burst out laughing.

Jiang Zhi, who'd been about to keep persuading him, caught sight of Yi Yongxin's strange grin and shuddered. He swallowed the rest of what he'd been about to say.

He thought to himself, That bastard's plotting to screw someone over again.

Yi Yongxin had no idea Jiang Zhi was badmouthing him. He glanced over the crowd below and saw that most of the onlookers had followed the people from Xiaoxiang Academy. He called out, "Come on, let's follow them and see!"

"Definitely. We should go watch!"

The few students who'd been brooding over their defeat immediately broke into smiles. They could already picture their old rivals suffering a crushing loss.

After all, as the old saying went, joy shared was joy doubled.

Share blessings and weather hardships together. That was the proper attitude for rival academies.

At once, they exchanged knowing smiles and headed toward the crowd.

At the head of that crowd were the women from Xiaoxiang Academy. Heads high and spirits soaring, they looked like generals leading troops into battle as they marched proudly into another academy.

Today was their moment in the spotlight. They might never get another chance like this in their entire lives, so of course they had to make the most of it and seize the moment.

About a quarter of an hour later, the great procession poured out of Qingyang Academy and headed down another street.

From within the crowd, someone shouted excitedly:

"Next up, Feixue Academy!"

"Feixue Academy!"

Clearly, Xiaoxiang Academy had won another resounding victory.

But judging by how excited the crowd following them looked, you'd think they were the ones who'd won.

Perhaps following along made them feel as if they'd taken part in this miracle too.

They shared in the glory!

Next came Feixue Academy...

Then Nixia Academy...

Then Baihong Academy...

Liyao City was one of the few cities in Great Chu Kingdom where academies held sway.

It had more than twenty advanced academies, making it the city with the most advanced academies in Great Chu Kingdom apart from the capital, Ying Capital.

But today, a curious tale unfolded in Liyao City, one that left everyone talking.

They said the people from Xiaoxiang Academy had swept through more than half of the city's twenty-odd advanced academies, winning almost every match and suffering virtually no defeats.

The result was truly baffling.

Could the difference in fighting strength between students of the same level really be this great?

If one student had occasionally appeared with strength far beyond the norm, that would have been understandable. Some people really were gifted with extraordinary talent or came from powerful families.

But now ten had appeared at once, all from the same academy?

There had to be something fishy going on.

Everyone who heard the news was itching to uncover Xiaoxiang Academy's secret to victory. That way, they too could win every battle.

However, with academy teachers escorting them along the way, no one had yet dared to kidnap Jiang Zichun and the others.

But what about later? That was anyone's guess.

By nightfall, Jiang Zichun and the others had returned to Xiaoxiang Academy.

Even now, excitement still showed on their faces. It was hard to tell whether they were thrilled to have won the challenges or to have earned Earth Luck Points.

"Are we really not going tomorrow?"

Yang Huan wasn't quite satisfied. She'd only earned a little over four hundred Earth Luck Points. That was already a lot, but who didn't want more?

You could never have too many Earth Luck Points!

An Youyi glanced at Yang Huan, thinking that greed had probably gotten the better of her. "Didn't the teacher tell us not to go anywhere tomorrow? We're supposed to stay at the academy."

"Exactly. You have no idea how dangerous it is out there right now, or how many people want to know the secret behind our winning every battle. If the teachers hadn't sensed something was wrong and come to protect us, we might not even have made it back."

"Don't go out! You don't want to earn money with your life and then have no life left to spend it."

Seeing everyone object, Yang Huan finally let go of her lingering hope. "Fine, I won't go out."

"Speaking of which, today's spectacle was huge. I've never seen anything like it."

"Absolutely. You have no idea how many people were shouting the name of Xiaoxiang Academy. My heart nearly leaped out of my chest."

"Me too, me too! I was so nervous, but luckily I performed beyond my usual ability in the end. Otherwise, I'd have been humiliated."

"Have you found out yet?"

At Changyu Academy, a handsome young nobleman flicked open his fan and questioned the person before him.

"Young master, we found out. It's a newly emerged divine ability called 'Mathematics: Chicken and Rabbit in a Cage.'"

"Chicken and Rabbit in a Cage? Then it must be the one."

The young nobleman recalled the illusion he'd fallen into during the duel. It had indeed been the "Chicken and Rabbit in a Cage" problem.

A moment later, he gave an order. "Have the Lineage determine the scope and effects of this divine ability as soon as possible."

"Yes, young master!"

At the same time, Qingyang Academy, Feixue Academy, Nixia Academy, Baihong Academy, and the others had also discovered the divine ability.

As for everyone else, like the ordinary people on the streets, they naturally had no idea what had really happened. But one line spread far and wide: "There was once a beast with six heads and four feet; a fowl with four heads and two feet."

Hundred Schools City lay at the junction of Great Gan, Great Chu, and Great Wei.

It was home to the headquarters of the Hundred Schools of Thought.

The headquarters of most of the schools, including the Confucian School, the Taoist School, and the Legalist School, were located here.

A sprawling complex of buildings stood in the east of the city. It was the headquarters of the School of Mathematics.

At that moment, a scruffy young man in the complex suddenly exclaimed, "Huh? Why have tens of thousands of copies of the Classic of Sunzi suddenly sold?"

"What's going on? Is anyone still studying this?"

"Could the School of Mathematics finally be on the rise?"

"No, I have to report this right away."