Team selection

Inside the laboratory in Cloudtop Academy's Outer Court.

"Wu Yi, the Soul Master Tournament is almost here. Has Li Chen still not returned?"

At the workbench, Wu Yi was trying to brew a new potion. Without even looking up, she said, "I do not know the Lord's whereabouts."

Seeing her like this, Zhong Yiheng was puzzled. She could brew those miraculous potions and had access to this laboratory, so she ought to be a core member of Heaven Beyond Heaven. Why was she so indifferent?

Although his wager stipulated that he would join only if he lost, over the past year or so, he had decided to join regardless of the outcome.

It was not because of the strength or influence Li Chen had displayed. If strength and influence were what mattered, why wouldn't he join the Upper Three Sects or Spirit Hall?

What had led him to this decision was the novel knowledge Li Chen had brought. Some of it had always existed, but no one had ever organized it for research and further development.

Seeing that Wu Yi remained wholly focused on researching potions, he stopped disturbing her. Next, he sought out Fei Yi, the patrol captain, only to find that he, too, showed no concern whatsoever about Li Chen's prolonged disappearance.

Zhong Yiheng could not make heads or tails of it. These people obeyed Li Chen's every word, much like death sworn retainers he had raised. Even though he had been missing for nearly nine months, they were still carrying out his orders.

Yet they showed no concern at all for Li Chen's safety. The two attitudes seemed utterly contradictory.

After giving it some thought, Zhong Yiheng finally decided to assemble the team for the Soul Master Tournament first. Normally, the team should have been formed at least six months in advance, followed by training to develop the members' coordination.

Since Li Chen had already appointed him Honorary Dean, he could access every student's records, as well as the various rankings.

After all, Her Excellency Wine Fox had originally been responsible for compiling the rankings. After they left, that responsibility had fallen to him.

Zhong Yiheng began selecting suitable students from the Level Rankings. The top ten were all from the power attack system and agility attack system, so he would have to make some choices.

He tapped the table as he thought. If he simply chose them himself, some students were bound to object. After a little consideration, he decided to hold an arena competition: the winners would become starting members, while the losers would serve as substitutes.

The remaining four slots would go to the support system and control system. The highest-ranked control system students would likewise compete in the arena, but selecting the support system students was a little trickier.

There was not much time left before the Preliminary Tournament, and the team members still needed to learn to work together. Pressed for time, he could only hurry to make the arrangements.

The next day, team selection began.

In just one night, five arenas had been erected on the training field. The top five students in the Level Rankings would defend the arenas, while the next five could each choose one to challenge. The winner would become the arena champion, and the loser would be eliminated.

An arena champion who lost would receive one chance to challenge someone else. The rules were simple.

"Dean Zhong, you can make your own decisions about something this tedious. There's no need to call me next time. The Lord doesn't actually consider the Outer Court as important as you think." After saying this to Zhong Yiheng, Wu Yi turned and returned to the laboratory.

"Dean Zhong, my duties are limited to guarding the Outer Court and patrolling," Fei Yi added before leaving as well.

Soon, only Zhong Yiheng, Feng Yi, and five teachers remained.

"Don't take it to heart, Dean Zhong. Wu Yi is just a total shut-in."

Zhong Yiheng waved a hand to show that he did not mind. For one thing, those two were Soul Saints just like him. For another, he had only invited Li Chen's people to witness the proceedings and verify that there was no backroom manipulation in his selection of the team.

Looking at the students below, Zhong Yiheng announced loudly, "The team selection competition now begins."

The top five students in the Level Rankings stepped onto the arenas one after another to become the defending champions. All of them underwent Martial Soul Possession, though their cultivation was only at the Soul Elder level.

"Boss Xiao, Soul Elders! When will we become Soul Elders? I heard their annual scholarships are over ten thousand now, and they even get one-on-one guidance from a Soul Saint." Liu Long watched the five students on the arenas with envy.

"If we could get guidance from a Soul Saint too, we'd have to settle the score with that Tang San when we returned to Nuoding City. How dare he ambush us with hidden weapons?" Ling Feng added from beside him.

"If we could get guidance from a Soul Saint too, we'd definitely have to settle the score with Tang San and Xiao Wu when we returned to Nuoding City. We fought them fair and square, but they ambushed us with hidden weapons!" Ling Feng added from beside him.

Wang Sheng had been keeping his head down without saying a word. When he heard Ling Feng bring up Tang San and Xiao Wu again, he finally could not help raising his head and sweeping his gaze over the three of them:

"You'd already acknowledged Sister Xiao Wu as your boss back then. Besides, aren't hidden weapons part of someone's strength too?"

"Wang Sheng, what's that supposed to mean?" Liu Long's expression darkened. "Boss Xiao only took you under his wing because you're from Nuoding City too and he felt sorry for you. Now you're defending that underhanded little snake?"

Xiao Chenyu glanced over. "Enough. Stop arguing. Since I didn't know about it or notice it back then, that means I wasn't as skilled as he was."

He had been at the academy for over a year now. After seeing more of the world, he could only think how childish his former self had been.

Originally, Xiao Chenyu and his two companions would have attended an Intermediate Soul Master Academy, while Wang Sheng's student days would have ended altogether.

The main reason they were here was that, in the year they graduated, they had encountered a recruitment team.

Applicants only had to be no older than fifteen. There was no level requirement, and neither talent nor background mattered. With guidance from Soul Saints, cutting-edge knowledge and theory, guaranteed job placements upon graduation, and so on, they had signed up for this academy they had never heard of before.

Within a month of arriving, he knew he had come to the right place. Attending any other academy would have been nothing but drifting through his days. Here, he could truly learn something worthwhile.

There was all that novel knowledge, along with some unusual ideas.

He had heard that every Iron Golem patrolling around the academy was equivalent to a Soul Saint. Although his studies had yet to touch on anything related to Iron Golems, perhaps they would teach it in the future.

Of course, he was more interested in those potions that produced miraculous effects when consumed. They were just a little expensive-even a single bottle cost over a thousand Gold Soul Coins.

As a level-twelve Soul Master, drinking one bottle of potion would qualify him to fight a Soul Grandmaster across the gap in rank. If he learned to brew them, he would be an honored guest wherever he went.

What he most wanted to learn now was how to brew these potions. Unfortunately, the academy's Potion Brewing teacher seemed never to hold classes.

"Boss Xiao really does see the bigger picture, unlike that fellow who only knows how to pull shady little tricks."

"You..." For a moment, Wang Sheng did not know how to argue back. Since coming to this academy, he had learned many things he had never known before.

In the match during their graduation year, they had agreed to a fair contest, yet Tang San really had won by secretly using hidden weapons. It was difficult for him to defend that anymore.

Besides, since they both came from Nuoding City, Xiao Chenyu would sometimes even look out for him.