The Deity of War

Chapter 62: Please Enlighten Me

To those who packed their schedules each and every day, time always passed by quickly. It was often the case that they wished for there to be more hours in a day, and before they knew it, a long time had passed them by.

Four days of recuperation and eight days of cultivation; twelve days flew by in a flash.

When Qi Ying returned to the Celestial River Academy, the schoolyard was deathly silent. However, on the plaza in the distance, a raucous commotion could be heard, and it was no less bustling and lively than the scenes at the Colosseum!

...

The Celestial River Plaza was in an uproar.

“As expected of the Eighth Energy Martial Stage Tiger Heavenly Monarch! He just defeated the Sixth Energy Martial Stage Li Ergou in one move!”

“Looks like he’ll be definitely taking one of the thirty spots.”

“Look over there! Sun Changyu of the Sun family has also just defeated his opponent with one strike!”

“There is no chance for any disciple outside of the High Division to stand in the ring at the very end. Even High Division disciples have to rise above a lot of competitors.”

There were thirty rings set up on the Celestial River Plaza, and two disciples were engaged in battle on each of those rings. According to the rules, if one wanted to secure a spot for the upcoming competition, they had to defeat the ring leader to take their place, then guard their ring until the very end. They would only receive a spot once contenders stopped challenging them.

If one were to be eliminated from a ring, then they would lose the opportunity to win a spot for themselves.

As such, most people were exercising caution when picking their fights. Some of the more powerful disciples couldn’t even be bothered to fight in the early stages; they were only going to challenge one of the rings very late into the event, thereby minimizing the number of battles they would have to face.

Of course, there were some people who used underhanded tactics, such as getting a bunch of disciples to challenge one ring leader in quick succession. Once the latter became worn out, that disciple would then issue the final challenge and secure victory.

However, the fallacy in that plan was that more powerful disciples could still kick them off after that, thereby making all of their efforts go to waste!

As such, the disciples who were given the spots were guaranteed to be the most powerful ones in the entire Celestial River Academy!

In order to conserve energy, most people tried to end their battles as quickly as possible. It was still very early into the afternoon, and thirty disciples stood on the rings, but most of the others had already lost the right to issue further challenges. At that point in time, another group of powerful disciples appeared. None of them had challenged anyone, but they soon managed to replace one of the ring leaders; they stood on the ring, basking in the envious gazes of all of the other disciples.

The academy didn’t take any tuition fees, and even gave out subsidies. As such, the disciples naturally had to pay a price.

According to kingdom laws, all male academy warriors that were twenty-one years of age had to undertake a minimum of two years of army service. That was a very dangerous task, not to mention the fact that the loneliness and harsh conditions were quite difficult to bear.

However, if one were to secure a spot to compete in the Celestial River County Youth Battle Tournament, they had the chance to be selected as young generals of the kingdom. As such, they would be able to move to Yun Xiao City. Even if they missed out on that opportunity, they would still be given special attention by the county army, and once they left the academy, they would be able to earn themselves a job there.

All of the disciples standing on the rings were nineteen or twenty-year-old High Division warriors. There was occasionally a younger ring leader that emerged, but they were all at least eighteen years of age as well. Furthermore, their cultivation bases were all at the Seventh Energy Martial Stage or above.

There were barely any challengers left, and some of them stepped onto the rings in blind hope more than anything else. As expected, they were all soon defeated.

All those disciples lamented their ill-fortune.

“Looks like that’s about it for this year.”

“I haven’t seen Duan Gucheng yet; where is he?”

“I heard that he’s still resting at the Duan mansion to recover from his injuries. Besides, he can take one of the ten spots given to the Duan family, so there’s no need for him to enter this tournament.”

“By the way, where’s Qi Ying? He should be powerful enough to easily secure a spot!”

“Him? He must have fled the Celestial River County a long time ago! There’s no way he would stick around after incurring the wrath of the entire Duan family. If he dares to appear anywhere in the county, he’s going to be immediately chased down and killed! He must be long gone by now!”

Wang Mazi was seemingly quite pleased with himself as he showed off his knowledge of the situation. However, a burst of commotion suddenly erupted. “Qi Ying is here!”

Er...

An awkward expression appeared on Wang Mazi’s face, and offered an unconvincing retort. “No way... are you sure it’s him?” “I’m positive! It really is him!”

Everyone parted to create a path down the middle.

A slightly thin young man with an eye-catching silver glove on his left hand emerged.

Everyone stared intently at him with bated breath. He had recently become a celebrity in the Celestial River County. He was the number one Low Division disciple of the Celestial River Academy, the notorious Nameless Warrior of the Colosseum, and the man who had severely wounded Duan Gucheng, slain Duan Jinhong, and survived a full-force attack from the almighty Duan Xilai...

He was once just some underprivileged disciple, but had since become one of the most famous people in the entire academy!

“Qi Ying?”

“It really is him!”

“He still dares to show himself?”

All of the disciples were stunned.

They were thinking that Qi Ying’s appearance would immediately draw countless bloodthirsty members of the Duan family to the scene.

However, that didn’t prove to be the case. Qi Ying stood tall and proud as he made his way toward the rings. At the same time, he announced in a clear voice, “I have never broken any kingdom laws; all the people that I killed or injured was in justified self-defense. Why do I need to hide and cower in the shadows? I’m here to participate in the intra-academy tournament today!”

Whoosh!

A layer of purple True Energy appeared on his hands, as a formidable aura erupted from his body.

All of the disciples were astonished.

“The Fourth Energy Martial Stage? Wasn’t he only at the Second Energy Martial Stage just a few days ago?”

“No, even the Fourth Energy Martial Stage is definitely not his true cultivation base! Do you really think a Second Energy Martial Stage warrior could kill Duan Jinhong and disable Duan Gucheng?”

Whoosh!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

At that moment, officiating elders all rushed to the scene.

Principal Gu Shiwei was also among them, and he asked, “Qi Ying, are you sure you want to participate in the intra-academy tournament?”

“Yes.”

“I must inform you that if you receive a spot, you will not be able to relinquish it, and you will be required to enter the Celestial River County Youth Battle Tournament. That tournament is going to consist of a free-for-all battle held in a secluded forest, where killing is not prohibited. Let me ask you again; are you sure you would like to participate?”

“I’m sure!”

Qi Ying was very determined.

He was well aware of what Gu Shiwei was trying to say. Almost half of the people that would secure spots to the Celestial River County Youth Battle Tournament were related to the Duan, Wang, and Sun families! As such, he was definitely going to be targeted and ganged up on, thereby placing him in great peril.

However, to enter the tournament had always been his objective, ever since he decided to go to the Celestial River County!

How could he give up in the face of such insignificant hardships?

He had been in far more dangerous situations in the past.

“Alright, please choose a ring to challenge!”

Gu Shiwei stood off to the side to allow Qi Ying through.

Qi Ying’s eyes scanned across the thirty rings, and quickly settled on one of them.

Whoosh!

His body transformed into a black shadow, and he rushed forward before stepping onto a ring and facing the ring leader. “Please enlighten me!”