Poaching

Today is destined to be the most exciting day of the year for the Jia Nan Academy, as the Inner Academy Selection Tournament, which has attracted the attention of all Outer Academy students, is coming to an end today.

As the middle-aged referee's voice faded, a thunderous cheer erupted from the square, signaling the true climax of the event.

Xiao Yu, Xun'er, Xiao Yan, Hu Jia, and Wu Hao all displayed their formidable strength in the competition over the past two days. Xiao Yu, who stood out from the crowd, attracted the attention of everyone in the Outer Academy. He was powerful, mysterious, and his various methods were dazzling.

Of course, Bai Shan's early departure allowed Lu Mu, an alchemist from the Alchemy Department, to break in and rank sixth. It's just a pity that his strength is arguably the weakest among the top five.

Today, the square was also crowded with people, not only students from the Outer Academy, but also many people from Jia Nan City. Living in Jia Nan City, they naturally wouldn't miss such an annual event!

As Xiao Yu and his group entered, many people in the square immediately turned their attention to Xiao Yu and Xun'er beside him. Although Xiao Yu had been making headlines these past two days, it was a pity that Xun'er's reputation in the Outer Academy was clearly much greater!

Time passed slowly, and the sun was high in the sky. A clear chime rang out, and the bustling square suddenly fell silent. The final round of the Inner Academy Selection Tournament had officially begun!

The middle-aged referee slowly rose from the referee's stand and announced loudly, "Today, it will still be a one-on-one elimination tournament to determine the remaining fifty people who will enter the Inner Academy. Without further ado, let's begin!"

"Now, all contestants whose names are called, please come up to the stage as soon as possible. If you fail to do so within the allotted time, you will be considered to have forfeited."

The middle-aged referee, his face grim, began calling out names, "Xuan Class Five, Ge Li."

"Xuan Class Three; Luo Fu!"

Upon hearing their names called, two figures who had been unable to contain themselves leaped down from the stands and landed steadily on the field. They looked at each other, sparks flying from their eyes. Different types of Dou Qi surged from their bodies and quickly condensed into a Dou Qi Garment on their bodies.

Xiao Yu yawned as he sat in the stands. He had long lost interest in battles of this caliber. In fact, not only him, but also Xun'er, Xiao Yan Hu Gan the other stands, and Wu Hao, who had formed a vacuum around them, were all in the same boat.

Only Xiao Yu, sitting next to Xiao Yan, watched the battle on the field with great interest, after all, they were all of the same level.

Seeing Xiao Yu's somewhat bored expression, Xun'er whispered in his ear, "I heard that Brother Xiao Yu brought Big Brother and the others with him this time when he came to the Jia Nan Academy?"

Hearing Xun'er's words, Xiao Yu turned to look at Xun'er and said, "You little rascal, you're quite well-informed. Did Ling Ying tell you?"

Xun'er covered her mouth and chuckled, "What else? Haven't you met Elder Ling? He praised you to me many times."

Speaking of Ling Ying, Xiao Yu suddenly remembered that this guy's stealth skills were perfect for assassination. Ling Ying, with his Dark Attribute, was undoubtedly the best candidate for assassination. Now that his older brother and the others were about to arrive in the Black Corner Region, he could arrange for them to stay in Peace Town for a while. When their strength and timing were right, the Underworld should be established.

According to Xiao Yu's thinking, since the Underworld is going to oppose the Soul Hall, it must go into hiding. The Soul Hall is a venomous snake hidden in the dark, so the Underworld must be a hunter hidden in the dark.

Now that the Underworld is newly established, it is in dire need of talent, and Ling Ying is the best candidate. Thinking of this, Xiao Yu suddenly chuckled. Xun'er asked with some confusion, "Brother Xiao Yu, what are you thinking about? Why are you so happy?"

At this moment Xun'er, the little girl, was unaware that Xiao Yu, who was about to dig up her corner of the wall with a hoe, and innocently asked Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu looked at Xun'er and said in a low voice, "Xun'er, I just remembered something that I need your help with. Tonight, call Ling Ying over, and we'll discuss it."

Xun'er frowned slightly and said, "Is there anything I can do for Elder Ling's help? I can just ask Elder Ling to do it."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yu was deeply moved. His wife truly cared for him. However, he knew he needed to speak with Ling Ying in person, so he simply said, "It's nothing major, but you'll need to talk to him. You'll find out tonight!"

Hearing Xiao Yu's words, Xun'er didn't press the matter further. This wasn't a good place to talk, and since she would find out later that evening, there was no rush.

During the conversation, round after round of competition quickly passed. Originally there were 150 contestants, but now only 60 or so remain. If a few more rounds pass, the spots for the top 50 to enter the Inner Academy for cultivation will be determined.

After the final rounds of competition, Xiao Yu, Xun'er, Xiao Yan, and Xiao Yu had all gone up to compete. The strength of the other three was self-evident, and Xiao Yu was also very fortunate to advance. At this point, the top fifty people had all been confirmed.

Just when everyone thought it was over, Hu Gan, the dean of the Outer Academy, suddenly stood up, glanced around, and his powerful voice, like muffled thunder, echoed across the square, "It's still early today. Yesterday, the other elders and I discussed it, and now all fifty of you can enter the Inner Academy to study. However, we still need to determine the top five to enter the Library Pavilion to study."

Upon hearing the name of the Library Pavilion, about a dozen of the fifty people showed a look of fervor in their eyes, all hoping to break into the top five and enter that mysterious Library Pavilion.

The others, including Xiao Yu, had no such intention. They knew their own strength; they weren't even at the Da Dou Shi level, so they had no right to compete for the top five!

As the bullying below the stage grew stronger, Hu Gan smiled with satisfaction and said, "For the final round of this year's competition, we will not be using one-on-one matches. All fifty students, please stand on the stone platform!"

With a slight movement of his earth-yellow Dou Qi, the middle-aged referee caused the scattered small stone platforms to rumble and then merge together to form a large stone platform.

Although everyone looked surprised, they still obediently jumped onto the stone platform. Only Xiao Yu knew that the old man had come up with a chaotic elimination system, but this had no effect on him. Strength speaks for itself!

Sure enough, after seeing everyone standing on the stone platform, Hu Gan announced loudly, "This year, our competition rules are a free-for-all elimination tournament. Whoever lasts the longest in this elimination tournament will rank higher, and vice versa."

Amidst the puzzled looks of the crowd Hu Gan explained the rules of this chaotic elimination tournament, and everyone understood. Many of them started to have their own ideas.

Upon hearing the rule, Xiao Yan immediately laughed and said, "This rule is clearly giving us the top five spots!"

Xiao Yu chuckled and said, "We'll just form a group of four later and kick everyone else out."

Xun'er smiled and nodded.

"Yu'er, why don't you join my team?" Suddenly, a cheeky voice came from beside me.