Should I Challenge Him?

"Now, we'll hand out your trainee cards," Yang Xue finally said.

At that moment, Ma Jun walked over and looked at everyone. "Instructor Yang and Instructor Luo have awarded you points based on your performance in the mechanical puppet rooms yesterday. Those points have already been credited to your trainee cards."

"Once you have your cards, you can return to your rooms. There's a machine in each room where you can check your points."

"Also, yesterday's lounge numbers aren't necessarily the same now. Once you receive your trainee cards, the numbers on them will be your lounge numbers, so some of you may have different lounges this time."

Yesterday's lounges had only been assigned roughly. Today's specific rankings had been determined after the two instructors watched all the surveillance footage.

At those words, anticipation appeared on some faces, especially Yu Yang's and Xu Fei's.

They felt that they had another chance to get lounge number one.

"Who do you think will get number one this time?"

"My guess is Yu Yang."

"Not necessarily. What if it's Qin Chen again?"

"Probably not. Handing out the trainee cards publicly this time isn't that simple."

At those words, everyone's expressions shifted slightly. They were all smart people, and they quickly caught on.

With the cards being handed out publicly, everyone would know each other's card numbers, and those numbers represented their points.

The person with the number one card definitely had the most points, and the farther down the rankings, the fewer points they had.

Likewise, this also represented everyone's strength. After all, the person with the most points was bound to be the strongest, and even if there were discrepancies, they probably wouldn't be too great.

And Yang Xue had just announced the training camp's rules: they could challenge one another.

Knowing each other's approximate points and strength was meant to encourage them to challenge one another.

"In that case, if Qin Chen still gets the number one card, he'll have the most points. But he got in through connections and doesn't have the strength to match. I'm afraid people will be tripping over themselves to challenge him," someone said with interest.

This time, everyone wanted to see whether Qin Chen still dared to rely on his connections to take the most points.

"Number 34, Xiao Ming."

Just then, Ma Jun began handing out the trainee cards.

Xiao Ming stepped out of the crowd and came forward to collect his card, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief.

Although he ranked last and had probably performed the worst yesterday in the instructors' eyes,

he also had the fewest points, so he was the least likely to be challenged. After all, others might not even think that small number of points was worth their time.

Besides, they were all geniuses. Challenging him, the person in last place, would make them lose face.

"Number 33..."

"Number 32..."

Ma Jun continued calling out numbers and names. As more and more people received their trainee cards, everyone's expressions began to change again.

They all looked at Qin Chen in surprise, baffled.

"He really dares to take first place?"

They had reached the top five, and Qin Chen's name still hadn't been called.

"Number 4, Du Hui."

"Number 3, Xu Fei."

"Hmph!" Xu Fei snorted coldly.

He hurried over to collect his trainee card, then returned to his place, his face full of resentment.

Losing to Yu Yang was one thing; Yu Yang's strength was plain to see. But losing to Qin Chen made him deeply uncomfortable.

"Brother Fei," a trainee beside him whispered, "should I challenge him?"

Xu Fei turned to look at him. This person had been trying to curry favor with him ever since they had entered the training camp yesterday. He remembered that the other man was called Mo Qing.

He was already used to people currying favor with him and hadn't paid Mo Qing any attention before, but now his heart stirred.

"All right. If you beat him, I don't want the points. They're all yours. Also, from now on in the training camp, if anyone challenges you, you can give them my name," Xu Fei said with a nod.

He had originally planned to challenge Qin Chen himself, but now that someone had taken the initiative to show him goodwill, nothing could be better.

Besides, if everyone knew that the person who defeated Qin Chen was his underling, that would prove all the more how low-key and powerful he was.

"Thank you, Brother Fei!" Mo Qing was overjoyed.

He was currently ranked seventeenth. At that rank, his points were neither too many nor too few, making it the most dangerous position. There were bound to be plenty of people who wanted to challenge him.

With Xu Fei looking out for him, anyone who wanted to challenge him in the future would probably have to think about the consequences.

"Number 2, Yu Yang."

"Number 1, Qin Chen."

Ma Jun continued calling out the names.

Only after Yu Yang had collected his trainee card and returned did Qin Chen step forward and walk up to Ma Jun.

"This training camp will be different from the ones before. In the time ahead, get as strong as you can," Ma Jun said seriously, patting Qin Chen on the shoulder.

Qin Chen nodded and didn't think much of it.

"From here on out, how you spend your time in the training camp is entirely up to you. If there's anything you don't understand about cultivation, you can come and ask me. If I don't understand it, I can ask Instructor Luo and Instructor Yang. Of course, the guidance isn't unconditional. Each time, a corresponding number of points will be deducted!"

Ma Jun's voice rang out, and the expressions of those present changed. Only now did they finally understand how important points were. Even asking questions about cultivation cost points.

"All right, dismissed!" Ma Jun waved his hand.

"Instructor!"

Suddenly, a voice drew everyone's attention.

Seeing everyone looking at him, Mo Qing raised his head and said, "Instructor, the challenge rules you mentioned earlier weren't very specific."

"I'd like to know whether a person can refuse a challenge, and how we issue one."

"It's my fault for not explaining clearly before!" Yang Xue stepped forward and smiled. "Besides the rules I mentioned earlier, if you challenge someone and it's the first time they've been challenged that day, they cannot refuse."

Everyone understood at that. The meaning was simple: within a single day, they couldn't refuse the first challenge, but whether to accept any after that was up to them.

Of course, if they lost the first challenge, no one would continue challenging them anyway, because a single loss would cost them all their points.

No one would challenge a person with no points who was about to be eliminated.

"Also, a reminder: after your points reach zero, you won't be eliminated until eight the next morning. So if you lose a challenge, you'd best find a way to get points within the allotted time. Even a single point might allow you to stay."

"As for how to issue a challenge, it's simple. Do you see that over there?" Yang Xue pointed into the distance.

Everyone turned to look and saw an arena.

"That arena was set up specifically for your challenges. There's a gong beside it. Strike the gong and say whom you want to challenge, and someone will bring that person over!"

"Any more questions?"

Everyone was silent.

Yang Xue waited three seconds, then left with Luo Bin.

Ma Jun waved his hand. "Dismissed!"

Qin Chen turned and headed for his lounge. He wanted to check how many points he had, then go to the fire-element cultivation room as soon as possible to condense an elemental mark.

But he had only taken a few steps when the sound of the gong being struck rang out with a clang.

Everyone who had been about to leave stopped at once.

Even Ma Jun, who had already gone some distance, turned to look with interest.