Chapter 234: Chapter 198: The Provincial Exam Ends; If You Don’t Cultivate, Seeing Me Is Like a Frog in a Well Gazing at the Moon; If You Do Cultivate...
The four of them came from the same school, yet not one had been eliminated in the provincial exam. They were bound to become one of the main topics of discussion!
Seeing the three of them fall silent, apparently sensing trouble, Zhang Yi offered some encouragement. "Don’t worry. In the face of absolute power, any and all schemes are just a joke. Instead of worrying about this now, we should use the remaining three days to get some proper rest. After a day off, we’ll use the final two days to gather intel on any students from other provinces who might pose a threat. Know your enemy and know yourself; only then can you be victorious in every battle!"
"Right, Brother Zhang is absolutely right!" Hearing Zhang Yi’s words, Wan Hua’s courage was restored, and he was the first to agree.
A smile also appeared on Hong Tianyi’s face. "Back in school, I lost to Zhang Yi in several assessments, but didn’t I still make it here today?! Figure out where we stand, seize our opportunities... that’s what we should be doing, not worrying over nothing!"
...
During the remaining three days, after taking half a day to rest, the four from Golden City No.1 Middle School began gathering intel on formidable opponents from the other provinces.
"Brother Zhang, this student from Beihuang Province, Tuoba Yu, is a beast!" Wan Hua said, pointing to the information he had collected. "Tuoba Yu from Beihuang Province. He won first place in his regional provincial exam for the University Alliance Training Camp through sheer individual power! According to the intel, his Clan is the Icefield Mammoth-man! His Clan members possess immense strength and are nearly invulnerable!"
"And, according to news leaked by students from his same region, two students had combat records against him. The records show that in both cases, Tuoba Yu locked down his victory in just over ten minutes. The whole match was over in a little more than an hour!"
"No matter how weak those other students were, anyone who makes it into the University Alliance Training Camp can’t be a pushover. To lock down victory in the first ten-odd minutes, practically one-shotting the Clans other students have painstakingly raised... this Tuoba Yu is definitely a formidable rival! Finishing the assessment in just over an hour!"
"He’s that good?!" Huang Yingtian gasped.
Hearing the news Wan Hua had collected, Zhang Yi’s expression didn’t change much.
This information is incomplete. It doesn’t specify the type of combat or the rules. Leaked information like this has only one purpose: to push this Tuoba Yu into the spotlight.
And it was the same kind of treatment Zhang Yi and his group were getting. The other students who made it through the Donghuang Province provincial exam weren’t fools. The team from Golden City No.1 Middle School had started with one more member than any other school, and they were still at full strength with all four remaining. Naturally, they had become a thorn in the side of the other students from their province.
Even if they couldn’t team up with students from other provinces to directly eliminate Zhang Yi’s group, making it harder for them to win the Yanhuang Federal Region assessment was still a pretty good outcome. When danger comes, you don’t have to run faster than the danger; you just have to run faster than your companions. The other students all had this mentality, which is why they leaked information about the strength and performance of Zhang Yi’s group.
Then, Hong Tianyi spoke. "That student from Beihuang Province, Tuoba Yu, is certainly strong, but we also need to pay attention to this student from Baihua Province, named Bai Keke! Her combat record is also undefeated! And there’s something very strange about her battle records! The Clans that fight against her often show signs of spiritual confusion after the battle. Her opponents’ Clans just inexplicably surrender! Her Clan is suspected to be extremely skilled in Illusion Technique and Spiritual Hypnosis. Very dangerous!"
"Spiritual System?" Huang Yingtian frowned and asked, "Clans with this attribute are the hardest to deal with! Does the leaked information mention what type of Clan she has?"
"I heard it might be a Flower Demon?" Hong Tianyi replied, but as he answered, the expression on his own face turned a bit grim. After all, his Kobold Clan wasn’t exactly skilled in Spiritual Defense.
For the next two days, the four of them practically holed themselves up in their rooms, continuously gathering information on the top geniuses from other provinces and regions. They compiled profiles on any students who seemed particularly outstanding or threatening and shared them in their private group chat.
Of all the profiles they compiled, they had the least information on Shangjing City, the most central province of the Yanhuang Federal Region. The scraps of information they found on the few individuals from there only said that their power was unfathomable, with no other details whatsoever.
And sure enough, just as Hong Tianyi had predicted, the online platforms were rife with undercurrents. Many students from other provinces were already using the online communication platforms to secretly contact students from Donghuang Province, trying to find out the specifics about Zhang Yi’s group. If it weren’t for someone from Golden City Eighth Middle School, who was secretly being courted by another province, passing along the news, Zhang Yi and the others wouldn’t have known about this.
There was even a person from Zhongjing Province, calling himself Hu Jinxin, who sent a direct message, arrogantly demanding that the strongest few from Donghuang Province join his team. Otherwise, they would definitely receive his "special attention" in the final assessment.
"Hah, what arrogance!" Wan Hua fumed upon reading the private message, so angry he almost smashed his personal terminal.
"Just a buffoon," Zhang Yi said coldly. "Would someone with real strength need to resort to such methods to recruit people? Ignore him."
Afterward, when this Hu Jinxin from Zhongjing Province saw that Zhang Yi’s group was ignoring his invitation, he spouted even more nonsense and vicious insults. It made Zhang Yi wonder if the University Alliance Training Camp had set up a courier station, since everyone he met seemed to be either ’oversized cargo’ or a ’small package.’ Thankfully, the personal terminal had a block function, which saved Zhang Yi from wasting his time on such an idiot.
Zhang Yi’s group spent most of their time on the communication channels, focusing on the students from other provinces who were mentioned most often and said to be the strongest. These were the people they would truly have to face in the Yanhuang Federation assessment—their real enemies.
「The three days passed in the blink of an eye.」