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Upon meeting him, Shen Duheng immediately asked, "Was the lecture a success?"

"Success! Jiang Zhi and the others said that the academy hasn't held such a successful lecture in all these years. Didn't you see? This afternoon, many disciples from outside came in to ask questions."

"The disciples outside?"

"They are disciples from outside the Sword Reverence Academy, disciples from other academies. They said they couldn't get answers to many questions in their own academies, so they came to ask me when they heard that I could answer them."

When Shan Heyuan said this, his eyes and brows were full of smiles.

Education should be provided to all without discrimination.

As a teaching assistant, he was quite happy to receive so many students' questions.

Shen Duheng: "So many disciples have come from outside, and your leaders didn't say anything?"

"What's there to say? It's a good thing to expand our influence. Our institute's leaders even gave me a bottle of throat-soothing medicine so I could give a good talk."

"Brother Shen, what would you like to eat? It's my treat today, let's go out for a nice meal."

Shan Heyuan gave a lecture, which was unexpectedly well received.

He felt that the lecture was over once it ended. Although many more students in the academy recognized him, he didn't sense anything else was different.

The free-for-all began after the second round of matches.

Shan Heyuan lost in the second round. To participate in the third round, he must challenge a winning disciple and remain a winner throughout the entire free-for-all to advance.

He, Jiang Zhi, and Li Jian carefully studied the victors' information and finally chose a disciple from the Talisman Academy.

He has an advantage in defense, and he can defend very well every time. As long as he doesn't encounter a player with too high offensive power, he will basically be fine. Therefore, choosing a disciple who is also good at defense will be an advantage.

Although the disciple he chose was neither particularly powerful nor famous, Shan Heyuan still made ample preparations.

He's almost at the Peak Foundation Establishment, making rapid progress. His Dantian is expanding every day, and it's already the size of a small room.

Because he planted a lot of Spirit Plant, he now has a lot more Spiritual Power to draw upon. When arranging the Spirit Plant, he can do it much faster than before, and can almost instantly create a large area of Spirit Plant.

With the current rate of development, he was confident that as long as he didn't encounter someone with Lin Ji's monstrous combat power, he had a chance of victory.

The day the free-for-all started was a bright and sunny day.

The sky was a clear, deep blue, without a single cloud.

This is good weather for the planters, Shan Heyuan is also in good form, so he has a feeling he can achieve good results today.

As Shan Heyuan stood on the training ground, he greeted the disciples opposite him while thinking about which Spirit Plant to throw first.

He had just placed his hand on the storage bracelet, intending to scatter the Spirit Plant inside, when the disciple opposite him smiled gently and voluntarily conceded defeat.

There was an uproar outside the arena; no one expected that the disciple would concede defeat before the fight even began.

"Senior Brother Li, didn't you break through before the competition? Why did you admit defeat before the competition even started?"

"Why did he suddenly admit defeat? Could this senior have gambled and fixed the match?"

"Wait, the fight hasn't even started yet, and one side has already conceded?!"

The noise from the sidelines was so loud that even those standing on the field could hear it clearly. Shan Heyuan had no idea why that disciple had conceded defeat.

He looked at the disciple with a puzzled expression.

The disciple bowed and addressed Shan Heyuan, as well as the audience below, saying, "Assistant Instructor Shan's lecture a few days ago helped countless people. I deeply admire Assistant Instructor Shan's character, and I also know that I have no chance of winning, so I hereby concede defeat."

The audience below didn't accept it.

"How could you not be confident of winning? Senior Brother Li, you've just broken through to the Core Formation Stage!"

"That's right! Senior Brother Li, don't underestimate yourself! Go for it!"

"The competition is already here, why are you still worrying about this?"

The decision to concede has been made, and the referee has raised his hand to indicate that Shan Heyuan has won.

Shan Heyuan wasn't actually that happy to have won this game without lifting a finger.

He doesn't need to give way!

His Dantian was almost the size of a small room, and it was full of abundant Spiritual Power.

Now, with just one strike, he can scatter flowers like a celestial maiden, cultivating ninety-three kinds of plants, and he will never be as disheveled as before.

He can win!

However, the outcome is already decided, no matter what.

The audience below was noisy and incredulous.

Shan Heyuan was also surrounded.

Jiang Zhi and Li Jian rushed over quickly, one on each side, to protect him as he left the scene.

Having finally escaped the encirclement, all three were exhausted.

Jiang Zhi coughed lightly and teased, "How does it feel to win without a fight?"

Shan Heyuan sighed, "I was just trying out the new combat mode and adjusting my fighting techniques, but I didn't expect that disciple to admit defeat before the fight even started."

Li Jian saw it clearly. "That disciple's strength is average. He probably advanced by luck. Even if he wins this time, he will definitely be defeated by someone else. That's probably why he chose to admit defeat."

Shan Heyuan: "But didn't he just advance in his level? It would be such a waste to give up on the third round like this."

Li Jian: "The free-for-all isn't over today. He lost this match, but as long as he wins the rest, he'll be fine. Maybe if he concedes, he can have fewer matches."

Jiang Zhi: "Hearing you say that, I suddenly realize that disciple's strategy is quite good. Fighting fewer battles and getting fewer injuries increases the chances of winning later."

Li Jian: "How many challenges have you received so far?"

Jiang Zhi was annoyed when he heard this. "One hundred and eighty-four matches. Maybe everyone is picking on the weak. They think my skills are relatively poor and that I can advance by luck, so they all choose me."

While they were talking, Shan Heyuan's communicator kept ringing.

Shan Heyuan looked up and saw that all the messages were from the academy informing him that he had been challenged.

He's only been on the field for a few minutes, and already over fifty people have challenged him. I estimate that this number will rise sharply in the near future.

Shan Heyuan showed the communicator to the two of them. "I've also been challenged. It's hard to say whether I can hold out."

Jiang Zhi: "I see you're about to break through too, you should be able to win."

As they were talking, Li Jian suddenly exclaimed "Eh!" from the side.

Li Jian was the kind of scholar who rarely showed his emotions; he was usually expressionless, let alone suddenly exclaim in surprise like this.

As soon as he spoke, Shan Heyuan and Jiang Zhi both looked at him, their eyes asking him what had happened.

Li Jian didn't speak, but simply pointed to Shan Heyuan's communicator, indicating that he should look at it.

Shan Heyuan turned the communicator and saw that all the previous challenges had been cancelled.

It dropped from over seventy to over thirty, and then quickly to zero.

The three people stood around the communicator, completely stunned.

Jiang Zhi looked like he was in a daze. "What's going on? Is the communicator malfunctioning, or is there a problem with the deacons? What's going on?"

Li Jian: "It's hard to say. This situation is abnormal. Why don't Brother Shan go and ask the leaders what happened?"

Of course, we should ask.

Faced with this unusual situation, Shan Heyuan did not wait long and immediately sent a communication to the stewards in charge of the behind-the-scenes work of the competition to inquire.

The deacon remained calm. "We did receive the disciples' requests to withdraw their challenges. They said they appreciated your selfless sharing and decided to challenge others instead of you."

Shan Heyuan: "You can do that?"

Deacon: "Why not? No one is forcing us. The academy has always respected everyone's behavior."

After hanging up the call, Shan Heyuan explained the whole story to Jiang Zhi and Li Jian.

Shan Heyuan frowned. "I still feel like something's not right here. Although the method for making the Fertilizer Pill that I shared is quite comprehensive, not everyone can practice it to my level, and there aren't many disciples in the competition who know how to cultivate Spirit Plant."