Area Fierce Beasts, Point Rules

Hearing his director's instructions, Secretary Hong immediately gave his response.

"Director, rest assured. I know the chief referee of this Youth Martial Tournament. I helped his son out a little with his internship training last time. No one dares to make false calls and mess up the judgment now. But he can strictly follow the rules—if Jin Fan crosses even a single line or violates any regulation, he will punish him severely."

Hearing his secretary's words, Young Master Liu nodded with satisfaction.

Not winning Xia Zhao's heart wasn't a loss of face. Xia Zhao was one of the top talents in the Southeast Region, promoted to Eighth Grade at thirty. With that kind of talent and potential, her standards were naturally high. But this time, he had been outshone—a Grandmaster's disciple had bested him, a direct descendant of the Liu family. That would be embarrassing if it got out. Besides, in Young Master Liu's view, he was no worse than some Grandmaster's disciple.

Meanwhile, Secretary Hong chimed in from the side. "Director, you're just too honest, unwilling to use those tricks. This Jin Fan is clearly far inferior to you, but look—he still managed to catch Miss Xia's attention, even making her take the time and effort to inquire about him." Secretary Hong was indeed a top-tier secretary; his words sounded like criticism, but were actually a clever flattery. Young Master Liu felt much better hearing this, though his resentment toward Jin Fan only grew.

At the same time, Xia Zhao was also on the phone. Xia Zhao focused on the martial path and didn't have many connections of her own. Unlike Young Master Liu, who had already taken a post in the relevant departments and built a network, Xia Zhao had to rely on her elders' connections when she needed help. After going through several intermediaries, Xia Zhao finally received a reply, even later than Secretary Hong's.

"Are you sure the person using that identity is named Jin Fan? And he's Grandmaster Yao Jianyue's disciple?" Xia Zhao asked politely, confirming once more. The voice on the other end was full of confidence and immediately replied, "Jin Fan has used the identity of [Wuling Education] before, and he also fits the criteria of outstanding martial comprehension. Miss Xia, would you like me to arrange a meeting for you?"

Hearing this, Xia Zhao quickly declined politely. She only wanted to help quietly, with no intention of disturbing him directly. In her mind, she pictured Li Yuan's face, but now it matched the name "Jin Fan." A moment later, Xia Zhao picked up the phone again. She could request an extra qualification for the training retreat at Snow Shadow Mountain. Xia Zhao would go to Snow Shadow Mountain too, but she didn't plan to meet Li Yuan face-to-face. She would just watch from afar and lend a hand if he needed any help.

At midnight, the bus finally arrived. This was a town under Fengyuan City, and ahead lay the competition area for this Youth Martial Tournament. Border towns were never too prosperous, and this one's territory was usually two or three times larger than other towns, since there were no industries—just empty land. The local administration's workload wasn't too heavy. Also, border towns always had garrisons stationed nearby. The military would help manage things and handle trouble. The Youth Martial Tournament was a major event, a platform to assess the growth of young martial artists in a city. Based on the tournament results, the decision-making level would adjust relevant policies.

It's not surprising to prepare so much for a large-scale competition like this.

Upon arrival, Director Zeng led everyone to check into the hotel.

In border regions, there's usually a large hotel, the kind with a building over a hundred meters tall.

Besides serving as a hotel, it's also an excellent lookout post.

From the highest point of the hotel, you can see very far, easily spotting issues related to the border front line.

With the help of equipment like binoculars, the effect is even better.

Li Yuan's room was arranged on the twenty-sixth floor.

It was already late at night; after everyone arrived at the hotel, they each went back to their rooms to rest.

The Youth Martial Tournament was about to begin.

Everyone tried their best to stay in optimal condition.

At seven thirty in the morning, Li Yuan went downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast.

While eating, he checked his phone.

In the group chat for this Youth Martial Tournament's participants, Deputy Director Zeng Chang had posted a notice.

All contestants, after breakfast, were to go to his room before eight twenty.

He was in room nineteen on the twenty-sixth floor.

Li Yuan arrived at the designated time.

The others trickled in one after another, all fairly punctual.

Director Zeng looked around, confirmed the headcount was correct, and began giving some reminders.

He led everyone to the window and pointed into the distance.

"Beyond that line of guard posts is the competition area for the Youth Martial Tournament.

Some of you here aren't first-timers at the Youth Martial Tournament, so you might think you're familiar with all the rules.

But I'm telling you, this year's Youth Martial Tournament has major changes.

All martial artists must enter separately, fight alone, and are forbidden from helping others to snatch points."

Zeng Chang's emphasis on this point made some of the others around him look impatient.

"Director Zeng, didn't you already cancel the established tactics?

Who are we supposed to give points to?"

The person who spoke had a point.

Without Jin Fan, everyone was now fighting for themselves.

Getting more points meant earning rewards in the Youth Martial Tournament.

"Just make sure everyone understands the rules. Next, I'll give you some intelligence related to the Youth Martial Tournament.

I got this intelligence by begging on my own behalf, so don't spread it around.

Just know it yourselves, and let it give you a little help."

Deputy Director Zeng Chang had really put some effort into this Youth Martial Tournament.

He truly wanted to earn some merit from it and compete for the next director position.

But now, this intelligence wouldn't bring much help.

"In this Youth Martial Tournament's competition area, the strongest beast is the B-level Beast, the Golden Scale Tiger.

There shouldn't be more than three of them.

The area is mainly dominated by C-level Beasts and D-level Beasts, with a large number of them.

Most are snake-type beasts and wolf-type beasts.

I know everyone wants to compete for rankings, but for your own safety, don't set your sights on the B-level Beasts."

As he spoke, Director Zeng handed each person a sheet of paper.

On it were printed profiles of common beasts.

The ranking in the Youth Martial Tournament is determined by points earned from killing beasts.

Depending on the danger level, the points for beasts also differ.

One C-level Beast is worth ten D-level Beasts.

Killing one B-level Beast counts as a hundred D-level Beasts.

Director Zeng was also afraid that everyone, for the sake of results, would throw away their lives and charge at the Golden Scale Tiger.

According to danger levels, Fourth or Fifth Grade martial artists can handle D-level Beasts.

Fifth or Sixth Grade martial artists can attempt to handle C-level Beasts.

The oldest contestant in the Youth Martial Tournament is only thirty years old.

Sixth-rank strength is pretty much the limit.

There might be the rare martial artist who's touched the threshold of seventh-rank, but whether they'll actually show up to compete is hard to say.

Top-tier geniuses like Xia Zhao aren't necessarily arranged to participate in this kind of tournament.

A genius like her can't represent a city's youth standard.

One person alone could yank the rankings sharply upward, which would be too disruptive to fairness.

Having said what needed to be said, Director Zeng told everyone to go back and rest.

Tomorrow afternoon, the Youth Martial Tournament will officially begin. Prepare yourselves.