Faction Arena

It read: Teyvat Academy was officially opening enrollment.

Below it was a map marking the location and admission rules.

It also listed the date of the entrance exam.

As for the ban on flying over Heaven Dou Imperial City...

Who needed so many rules? The strong had privileges. Didn't they know that?

Even if someone gave Xue Ye ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare cause Su Yun trouble.

"Well, enrollment's taken care of, but finding teachers is still a headache."

They still had too few people. Su Yun decided to use his twenty pulls and see what he got.

He rubbed Paimon's cheeks a couple of times, then rubbed his hands together.

Paimon covered her face in displeasure and muttered:

"Traveler! Stop rubbing my face every time you make a pull!"

There had been no card pulls while they traveled through Teyvat. Paimon meant that whenever they played Genius Invokation TCG, Su Yun liked to rub her cheeks before drawing a card.

"That's because you're lucky, Paimon! Wish me luck. Quick, say, 'Help me pull Ganyu.'"

Paimon didn't quite understand. She scratched her head and said:

"Why do you need to pull Ganyu? Weren't you eating with her just the other day?"

Suddenly, Paimon sensed killing intent.

Killing intent that could only belong to someone with ice powers.

Paimon looked around but found no one. She patted her chest and said:

"That scared me to death. I thought Ayaka was here too."

Su Yun's mind went somewhere else. He asked without thinking:

"Why Ayaka? It could be Citlali."

Crack. Another fracture appeared in the cup Sandrone held.

She had clearly bristled.

Columbina had long known there were many girls around Su Yun, and she liked them too.

"Sandrone," Columbina said slowly, as if she hadn't noticed the cracked cup in her hand, "are you jealous again?"

Sandrone's face was cold. "No."

"But the cup has already confessed for you."

"..."

Columbina popped another cookie into her mouth and laughed, her words muffled.

"I've known for ages. Su Yun has Ayaka, Ganyu, Citlali... and you. I don't mind."

Paimon's eyes widened. "You don't mind?"

"No." Columbina nodded, her voice so light it sounded like song. "Because I like them too. I like Su Yun, and I like the interesting people around him. So, Sandrone, you don't have to crush that cup. At worst... we can line up together from now on."

The cup in Sandrone's hand went crack and split completely.

Su Yun: "...I think I'll go make my pulls."

Paimon: "Traveler, are you sure you want to pull now? What if Ganyu doesn't come, and you get someone else with ice powers..."

Columbina tilted her head and smiled. "Wouldn't that be even better? More fun."

Zhongli silently took a sip of tea. "Objectively speaking, it would be unwise to linger here."

Guizhong laughed so hard she slapped the table.

This was too entertaining. Just as Zhongli had said, the Traveler was a fascinating person.

The enrollment poster soon caught the attention of the entire city, including its nobles and the people in the palace.

But when they saw the academy's name on it, none of them dared utter a peep.

It hadn't even been half a day since the Faction Rankings were revealed.

There wasn't a single person on that list they could afford to provoke.

Forget putting up an enrollment poster. If those people took a dump in the palace, they would have to put up with it.

"Wasn't Xue Ke planning to study at this academy?"

Xue Ye asked.

The attendant beside him nodded at once.

"Yes. Princess Xue Ke said a few days ago that she wanted to attend Teyvat Academy."

"You even had an argument with her over it."

Xue Ye hadn't been poisoned to death, but he nearly choked to death. Had Xue Beng sent this man to anger him into an early grave?

"Hasn't Xue Ke been saying she never has enough money? Raise her monthly allowance to the maximum. Even if she wants to empty the treasury, let her."

The attendant ventured cautiously, "Um, Your Majesty, didn't you say Princess Xue Ke had been spending too much lately and order her allowance cut in half?"

Xue Ye fought back the urge to slap him dead. How had he never noticed this man was so utterly unable to read the room?

"Do as I say! From now on, the royal family's focus will shift toward Xue Ke."

As they spoke, the Sky Screen overhead suddenly changed dramatically again.

Everyone froze. Was the next ranking being announced early?

A line of large characters appeared on the Sky Screen.

[The first ranking has concluded. The Faction Arena will open soon!]

The Faction Arena...

Was it the kind of Faction Arena they thought it was? Then what was the point of competing? They might as well declare Teyvat Academy the winner.

The people of Teyvat, bored until now, burst into applause at the sight of the Faction Arena.

[Great! How many years has it been since we last saw the Emperor fight? I never thought we'd get another chance!]

[People keep saying the Anemo Archon is the weakest of the Seven. Can your god blow apart mountain ranges and scatter blizzards? For Barbatos!]

[Mavuika: Why am I not in it? I'm on the poster, but you won't let me participate? What's that supposed to mean?]

[Xilonen: You want to participate? Have you even fixed your Turbo Twirly? And you want to participate?]

[Yu Xiaogang: Don't think too highly of Teyvat Academy just because it ranked first. Remember, second and third place have God Kings too.]

[Yu Xiaogang: Above God King is World-Class. As long as the two God Kings can fight above their level and defeat Teyvat Academy, the other students won't be a problem.]

Yu Xiaogang was showing off his theories again. Fighting above one's level was hardly unheard of.

If Little San could fight above his level, surely two God Kings could too.

Meanwhile, Gu Yuena and Asura, the two he had singled out, looked grim.

You want me to fight World-Class Zhongli and Venti? Are you joking?

I feel like either one of them could take on all nine of us ranked below them at once.

[Gu Yuena: Look at the Arena's opening time. We have two days. Everyone in the Star Dou Great Forest, come to the Lake of Life for a meeting.]

[Asura: Where's Tang Chen? Get back here for a meeting! If we can't hold on to second place, I'll break your legs!]

[Deep Sea Demon Dragon King: All Sea Soul Beasts, come to the deep sea for a meeting!]

[Snow Empress: ...]

The Arena's announcement clearly stated that its rewards included boosts to strength.

Every member of the faction in first place would receive a 10% boost to strength.

Every member of the faction in second place would receive a 9% boost to strength.

And so on down the rankings.

The Faction Rankings listed each faction's direct combat strength, but the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was a support sect.

Besides, factions could form alliances. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, for example, could join forces with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to take on eighth-ranked Slaughter City.

But the people of Slaughter City were already dumbfounded. Damn it, their boss had run off.

They didn't even have to ask. Tang Chen certainly wouldn't side with Slaughter City.

It was the first place he wanted to smash to pieces.

As for the Asura God... he had gone off to the Clear Sky Sect to enjoy his retirement.

Slaughter City had been abandoned by everyone.

Last place was all but guaranteed.

Yu Yuanzhen was already racing toward Heaven Dou City. He had to get there as soon as possible.

Only two days remained before the Faction Arena opened, and he would have to spend half that time traveling.

With the True Dragon Nine Crowns and Ning Fengzhi's support, he really could go toe-to-toe with the factions in fifth and sixth place.

As for Slaughter City, they had already ruled it out.