During the special training, they did nothing but their daily exercises and nonstop sparring matches with their abilities restricted.
With Chen An's resources in ample supply, everyone's abilities improved. Meng Yiran and Ning Rongrong made especially great strides.
Take Ning Rongrong, for example. She had nearly mastered the Tianshan Plum-Plucking Hand, and had also greatly strengthened the defensive aspects of the Golden Light Divine Incantation.
After all, being used as a moving target for people to break through every day was bound to make her improve.
Meng Yiran's various techniques had also advanced another step. She could now control her puppets with ease.
"Come on, let's go. To the arena."
Today was the day they were heading to the arena, and Chen An would lead them in person.
Since it was their first visit, he had to be there himself. Even if nothing unexpected happened, his students were going to compete. As their principal and teacher, how could he not go?
"Dad, what are you doing here too?"
Ning Rongrong looked at Ning Fengzhi, who had disguised himself and joined the group, and felt a headache coming on. She was under a lot of pressure, too.
Just like Meng Yiran, her grandmother would be coming as well, leaving Dragon Duke to guard the academy.
"Haha, it's my precious daughter's first time competing in this sort of match. How could I not come and watch?"
Chen An had sent Ning Fengzhi a letter the day before yesterday. After mulling it over and turning the matter around in his mind all night, Sect Master Ning had finally sent a reply and come straight over. As for the Soul Fighting matches, he had no objections.
After all, the arena was an enterprise under the jurisdiction of the Seven Great Sects Alliance, so he had known about the revamp from the beginning.
He had even played a part in pushing the revamp forward.
"Oh."
Ning Rongrong wasn't exactly happy. She was under so much pressure! She looked over at Meng Yiran, only to find that the other girl seemed much more composed.
Soul Masters traveled at a different pace from ordinary people. Even with a whole group like this, they moved much faster than a lone ordinary person.
When they arrived in Suotuo City, the guards at the city gate didn't stop them at all. They had all received orders from their superiors.
"Stop! What do you think you're doing?"
Seeing Chen An's group stroll in without a hitch, someone else tried to enter directly, too.
"Why can they go straight in, but I can't? You're abandoning your post! You're covering for them!"
The man ranted like he'd gone mad, drawing a crowd of onlookers. The captain of the guard came over to find out what had happened, then promptly arrested him.
Later, there were even rumors that he'd said things like, "Blundering into the imperial household," and "Black! They're black!"
But that was all idle chatter over meals and tea.
Now that they had arrived at the Suotuo Arena, the children seemed stunned by its sheer scale.
Some of them had seen other Soul Fighting Arenas, but they had never heard of anything like this. The lavish decorations and distinctive style were unlike anything they had seen before.
After Chen An finished coordinating with Di Ao, he returned to the group.
"Quit gawking and hurry up to register. You've got matches tonight."
They called it registration, but Chen An had already brought everyone along. They only needed to sign up in this VIP room.
At his words, the students hurried back into position. Chen An commanded a great deal of authority at the academy. How could they not stand properly when he told them to?
Then they obediently followed the instructions.
"What's your name?"
"Zhu Zhuqing, level 33. Codename: Master of Shadow Flow."
"Meng Yiran, level 32. Codename: Thousand-Change Puppet."
"Luo Xiaoshi, level 25. Codename: Heaven-Battling Great Sage."
"Ning Rongrong, level 27. Codename: Seven Treasures Glazed."
They each gave their level, title, and team name.
During this period of special training, most of them had advanced by one level, and some by two.
Their various two-on-two team names were rather plain. Little Zhu and Little Meng called theirs the Cat and Snake Duo, while Little Stone and Rongrong named theirs the Seven-Battle Duo.
When Chen An found out what titles the children had chosen, his face darkened. How could all his students be so bad at coming up with names? They were hopeless!
Unlike him. He had come up with the names for the seven-person team battle: the Phantom Star Elite Team and the Phantom Star Team. What great names, hehe, hehe.
Simple yet elegant, with a touch of class. He really was a naming genius.
"Dean Chen, here's tonight's list of competing teams. Which match would you like to start with?"
Di Ao had agreed to give Phantom Star fair matches, not to give everyone else fair fights. That was called knowing which way the wind was blowing.
Once Chen An picked their opponents, all Di Ao needed to do was put a few resources to use.
For example, a match counting as two wins, or offering money. Besides, he had already spotted Ning Fengzhi.
Anyone who became a regional supervisor had to know which people to watch out for.
"Let me see."
He took the list Di Ao handed over. It contained more than a dozen teams.
Now that the competition had become more formal and the rewards had increased, naturally more teams had signed up.
"Cat and Mouse Duo? Berserk Team? Not ideal. Hmm, Shrek Five Monsters? Three-Five Duo?"
Chen An's thoughts raced as he flipped through the pages, scanning the names on the list.
At last, his gaze settled on a page. It listed an old acquaintance with whom they had some history: Shrek Academy!
He saw that the five of them had registered to compete in the seven-person division and couldn't help feeling puzzled.
"What's the deal with the Shrek Five Monsters?"
Di Ao had been at the arena lately, taking charge of its affairs. He was definitely the right person to ask.
"They insisted on competing in the seven-person division as a team of five. I thought they were strong enough, so I decided to give it a try. The audience was especially interested in the team, so I kept the arrangement," Di Ao explained.
Once he had explained, Chen An understood. He thought to himself that it really was possible to do things that way. No wonder Di Ao was a businessman—he had a keen nose for business.
It proved an old saying: the ancients might have been old-fashioned, but they weren't stupid.
He looked at Zhu Zhuqing and the others, considering whether to follow suit and let his students form a team on their own.
But when he saw how hard the students had worked to secure their spots, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He sighed and dropped the idea.
"Then it'll be them. Arrange all the matchups."
As he spoke, Chen An marked them down on the paper. The Three-Five Duo, as well as the team of Dai Mubai and Oscar, all got their opponents assigned: Cat and Snake against Three-Five, Seven-Battle against Prisoner Dai.
Perhaps because the timeline had been thrown into disarray by his presence, the Shrek Five Monsters hadn't yet settled on an opponent for their team battle. And all the matches had been packed into these two days.
"Yes, sir. I'll make the arrangements right away."
Di Ao took the matchup sheet Chen An handed back, bowed, and left. He even closed the door behind him.
"Dean, it looks like you've arranged the matchups already."
Sect Master Ning smiled as he came over. He had handled this sort of thing plenty of times himself, so he knew what Chen An had been busy with.
He had waited until Chen An was done before approaching to ask. After all, this was the first time his daughter was doing something like this. He was concerned—truly concerned.
"Yeah. I've arranged for them to fight Shrek's team," Chen An replied honestly.
"What? Shrek? They're competing too?"
Ning Fengzhi remembered that he had once sent Ning Rongrong to Shrek. His old face flushed slightly.
He knew how strong Shrek's students were. They were all young geniuses, and that was exactly why he had agreed to let Ning Rongrong attend Shrek.
"Yeah. Think of it as a trial by fire. Besides, the two biggest academies in Suotuo City are us and them."
"True." From the sect's perspective, it was only natural for disciples to compete for influence like this.
"Then I'll look forward to the show tonight."
Ning Fengzhi smiled. He remembered what Chen An had written in his letter: Ning Rongrong had improved a great deal. He was curious just how much she could have improved in such a short time.
He couldn't get a straight answer out of her. Both Ning Rongrong and Chen An had said he'd find out tonight.
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