After announcing the groups, Mu Jin cleared his throat.
"All right, since none of you have any major objections to the groups, let's get down to business and go over the competition rules."
"Once I'm done, you can take the afternoon off to get some proper rest and prepare for tomorrow's matches."
At this, even Chen Ping set down the pen he was using to draw a Core Array by hand and looked up at Mu Jin.
Although he had a vague recollection of the Freshman Competition's rules, having someone explain them to him again was still better.
"Simply put, our academy's thousand-plus freshmen will be divided into roughly three hundred groups to compete, but in the end, only half of you will get to stay."
Here, Mu Jin's tone grew a little more serious. "I'm sorry, but this time, elimination won't be based solely on scores. It will be based solely on percentages."
"That means no matter how hard everyone works, half the students will be unable to continue studying at the academy."
Mu Jin's words made quite a few students' hearts sink. Fortunately, he soon continued, "Over these past three months, you've all taken your studies and training very seriously."
"After dropping hints and quietly making inquiries in the freshman teachers' office over the past few days, I can confidently give you some good news."
"In terms of physical fitness, our Freshman Class Nine is the best of the ten classes apart from Class One. That also means our class's final retention rate should be much higher than the other classes'."
"My final estimate is that our students' retention rate could exceed sixty percent. Even seventy percent isn't impossible. Add in the lingering effects of that incident, and the academy might further increase the number allowed to advance."