Challenge Tournament!

Lin Xia's brows furrowed tightly the moment he heard Xu Jian say that.

What did he mean by "Imperial University is about to fall from its pedestal?"

"Ahem, students, please quiet down."

At that moment, a deep male voice resonated from speakers positioned all around the area.

This familiar voice belonged to none other than Director Xie Feng, who stood upon the high platform.

As everyone's gaze shifted in unison toward the platform, they saw the director holding a microphone in one hand, while his other hand, palm upturned and fingers pressed together, gestured with extreme reverence toward an elderly man with white hair standing with his hands behind his back.

The white-haired elder wore casual, loose-fitting clothing. Though he stood only about 1.7 meters tall, his posture was upright, and his face bore a resilience that time could not erase.

Lin Xia had seen this man in photographs before—his surname was Yan, and he was the Principal of Imperial University!

Principal Yan took the microphone from the director, his brows locked in a deep frown as he wore a grave expression.

"Students, after the incident at the 'Artificial Secret Realm,' we originally intended to postpone the 'Challenge Tournament.'

"However, Huajing University not only rejected our request but also deliberately slandered us, claiming we were merely trying to escape our fate of being 'demoted' and were too afraid to face them!"

The moment Principal Yan's voice faded, the crowd erupted!

"Bullshit!! We're afraid to face them!?"

"Screw Huajing University, those sons of bitches! Our juniors were maliciously targeted in that tampered realm, resulting in so many casualties... and at such a sorrowful time, they still want the tournament to proceed!?"

"I bet the secret realm was tampered with by Huajing University in the first place; after all, they're the only ones who benefit from this!"

"..."

Lin Xia noticed a detail: most of the freshmen in his year wore confused expressions, looking at one another in bewilderment.

The ones shouting and acting with such intense fury were all upperclassmen.

Of course, there were three exceptions.

Those three were Zhu Tingyu, Wu Ziyang, and Xu Jian.

The expressions on their faces indicated that they were well-versed in the ins and outs of this situation.

Lin Xia immediately asked Xu Jian to explain it to him.

Xu Jian, being reliable, began to speak earnestly.

In City S, there were two universities known as the "Two Supremes of One Gate" and "City-Bound Rivals."

They were Imperial University and Huajing University.

For a long time, these two universities had dominated the top rankings across the entire empire, virtually monopolizing the empire's geniuses, and were dubbed by the outside world as "talent conveyor belts."

However, Imperial University had always held the upper hand over Huajing University.

After all, there could only be one title of [Great Xia First Academy].

Therefore, in order to seize this title and monopolize the vast amount of scarce resources awarded by the government each year, Huajing University had issued a challenge to Imperial University.

Unsurprisingly, the Great Xia Empire had approved it.

According to the rules, as long as Huajing University could defeat Imperial University in the Challenge Tournament for three consecutive years, they could be promoted to the new Great Xia First Academy!

And this year was the third year.

For the previous two years, Huajing University had relied on "that man" to easily defeat Imperial University.

If Imperial University were to be defeated again in tomorrow's match, then... the Great Xia First Academy would no longer be Imperial University, but Huajing University instead!

The entry threshold for the tournament was relatively low, which was intended to give more students a chance to become a "hero."

As long as one's base level reached level 5, they could participate.

As for the upperclassmen whose levels were far above 5, they simply had to compress their levels down to 5.

In simple terms, every Awakener participating would be at level 5.

Listening to Xu Jian's account, Lin Xia roughly understood the cause.

But when he asked who "that man" was—the one who had crushed Imperial University—a flicker of fear crossed Xu Jian's eyes. "An SSR-rank Awakener two years our senior—Qin Tianyu!"

"Qin Tianyu..."

Lin Xia hadn't paid much attention to the geniuses emerging each year during high school, so the name was completely foreign to him.

Just then, as the noise on the sports field gradually subsided, Principal Yan continued:

"Regardless, tomorrow's Challenge Tournament must proceed.

"I trust you students understand that this is the pivotal battle for Imperial University to defend the glory of being the 'First Academy'!

"Once we lose the title of 'First Academy,' all the various abundant resources we currently possess will cease to exist!

"Therefore, I hope that all our faculty and students will come to the competition venue tomorrow to cheer and shout for our participating students!"

Upon hearing this, the students on the field immediately raised their hands and shouted in unison, one after another, promising they would definitely attend.

Seeing this, Principal Yan and the school leaders beside him wore satisfied smiles.

But those smiles quickly froze, replaced by expressions of disappointment.

It was the Director's turn to speak. He took the microphone, fell silent for a moment, and then said, "The five contestants originally confirmed have all withdrawn for various reasons... Therefore, we must re-select our participants, which is the reason why we have called you all here today."

After saying this, Director Xie Feng cast a slightly embarrassed glance toward the Principal and the others standing to the side.

He noticed that these people, much like himself, wore expressions that were extremely grim.

Because Xie Feng had lied.

To be precise, all the school leaders had lied.

In truth, they hadn't recruited a single contestant at all.

Starting six months ago, Imperial University had sent a private message to every student's panel once a week.

That private message was the invitation to sign up for the Challenge Tournament.

Yet, as of yesterday, not a single person had signed up!

As for why this was the case, the school leaders knew the reason all too well.

It was because Qin Tianyu of Huajing University was not only formidable in strength but also incredibly vicious in his methods!

The only restriction in the Challenge Tournament was that one must not cause the death of their opponent.

Consequently, Qin Tianyu precisely controlled this red line, beating Imperial University's participants into critical condition every single time without actually killing them.

However, even if the critically injured participants were saved, their futures were essentially ruined.

This was because Qin Tianyu would deliberately cripple their limbs—what made it most infuriating was that during last year's Challenge Tournament, an Imperial University student had clearly surrendered, yet Qin Tianyu still severed his right arm!

Afterward, he escaped punishment with nothing more than a simple, "I didn't notice he had surrendered."

Therefore, the students of Imperial University were all terrified for their own safety.

This led to the current situation where, even though Director Xie Feng had gathered all the students together and publicly emphasized the importance of the Challenge Tournament, no one stepped forward to volunteer...

After all, one couldn't be expected to sacrifice their own future for the sake of the school's honor, could they?

It wasn't that they lacked a sense of responsibility; they were simply very clear about their own capabilities.

They all knew they were no match for Qin Tianyu.

After all, Qin Tianyu had been born into a family of fighters, and beyond that, it was rumored that he even had ties to a syndicate of assassins...

"How about I sign up for the tournament!"

In the dead silence of the playground, a resolute voice suddenly rang out, though the tone was laced with mockery.