Chapter 100: Matchups

After listening to Lan Haitan, the representative from Butian Daoist Academy furrowed his brow and proposed a possibility. “What if the top scorer’s score isn’t high enough for admission to our Four Great Daoist Academies?”

“Wouldn’t that be even better? Then we’d have a legitimate reason not to admit anyone.”

Lan Haitan’s words caught everyone present off guard, but then they all came to a realization. The admission requirements for the Four Great Daoist Academies were extremely stringent, generally prioritizing quality over quantity each year. This led to criticism from many cultivators in society, who argued that the academies monopolized most of the cultivation resources in the Immortal Sect but were unwilling to contribute to the general populace, making them too selfish. The Immortal Affairs Hall, one of the Immortal Sect’s Three Great Halls and the highest authority overseeing the operations of all departments in the Thirty-Six Grotto-Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands, conducted a public opinion survey every decade. The public’s criticisms of the Four Great Daoist Academies had accumulated for over a century, and it was time for a response. Therefore, this year, the head of the Immortal Affairs Hall specifically invited the deans of the Daoist Academies and established this combat trial as the theme for admissions. The requirement was that as long as a student ranked first in the combat trial and met the admission score, the Four Great Daoist Academies could not refuse their enrollment. Finally, to prevent students from relocating solely to gain an advantage in the entrance examinations, the Immortal Sect also issued a notice: students must have attended a local academy within a Grotto-Heaven or Blessed Land for at least one full semester to be eligible to participate in the local admission test. The Four Great Daoist Academies, giving face to the head of the Immortal Affairs Hall, all expressed their agreement. However, after the announcement, it sparked strong opposition from within the academies. “Why, in our era, did we have to compete against two to three million people across the entire Immortal Sect to barely gain admission to the Four Great Daoist Academies, and now it’s so simple?” The Four Great Daoist Academies annually admitted a maximum of 49 students. In total, fewer than two hundred true “Immortal Root Dao Seeds” were selected, literally one in ten thousand. According to the Immortal Affairs Hall head’s request, there would be at least one student from each Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land, potentially doubling the number of admissions. It wasn’t that the academy personnel felt it was unfair, but rather that they believed lowering the standards would tarnish the reputation of their academies in the future. “How can a top scorer from some remote backwater also get into the Four Great Daoist Academies? Do they even possess that talent? If you want to enter a Daoist Academy, you should, like us, legitimately compete and win among millions of candidates.” However, the higher-ups had already made their decision, and even with student grievances, the representatives of the Four Great Daoist Academies could only follow their leaders’ orders. Lan Haitan’s suggestion, however, provided the representatives of the Four Great Daoist Academies with a legitimate reason to refuse admissions. Among them, Shang Qing of Jumang Daoist Academy didn’t care at all. With Qing Nü, a Heavenly Spiritual Root, their academy’s student quota in Danxia City was already fulfilled ahead of schedule.

“This is good too. If, according to past practice, these 47 people wouldn’t be qualified for the Four Great Daoist Academies and would ultimately enter the Ten Great Academies, then having them tested together would actually allow the academy representatives to better assess the talent and level of this group of students.” The representative from Butian Daoist Academy nodded, saying something that made the academy representatives look pale. But they couldn’t voice any opposition because they genuinely needed to expand admissions.

Consequently, everyone’s gaze turned back to the Crimson-Robed Daoist. He was still the one to make the final decision. “I think it’s feasible. Let’s proceed with this. Holding the admission tests for the Daoist Academies and the Great Academies jointly will also save resources for my Danzhu Academy.” The Crimson-Robed Daoist made the final decision, and the representatives from the Daoist Academies and Great Academies had no further objections, nodding in unison.

The scribes immediately reconfigured the pairing formula in the document, then merged and imported all the previously separate slots: 47 for the Daoist Academies and 233 for the Great Academies. With a flourish, a new combat pairing chart was generated. “Make a few more adjustments, then send it to all the major academies. The combat trial will be held in three days. Since there are many participants in the first round, it will be conducted in multiple sessions…” After reviewing it, the Crimson-Robed Daoist added a few more points. For example, students from the same school should avoid facing each other if possible, and higher-realm cultivators should ideally be matched against lower-realm cultivators, ensuring that high-realm cultivators don’t encounter each other in the early rounds to guarantee exciting final rounds. After two more rounds of rearrangement, the representatives from both the Daoist Academies and Great Academies were satisfied, and so the combat pairing chart was distributed to all high schools in Danxia City.

Classroom 203. He Jingshan skillfully turned on the projector, first displaying the entire large combat pairing chart, then entering “Fifth High School” as a keyword to instantly filter out the pairing information for each student in the classroom. “Everyone, make a note for yourselves. The first round will have 140 matches, 20 matches per day, totaling seven days. Check which day you’re scheduled for.” Chen Mobai looked up at his own entry. He was lucky; his match was on the very first day, against someone from Third High School. Mo Simin even recognized the opponent, describing him as a Qi Cultivation Level 7 genius with dual spiritual roots, likening him to Song Zheng. Chen Mobai responded with an “Oh,” deeply impressed by her analogy, which immediately clarified the opponent’s level for him. “Everyone’s quite lucky; you haven’t encountered any strong enemies. Only Chen Mobai’s opponent, Qiao Xingwen, is in the late stage of Qi Cultivation, so that might be a tough fight.” Before coming to the classroom, He Jingshan had already reviewed the pairing chart and was well aware of each student’s opponent. Seeing everyone in the classroom look his way, Chen Mobai had to stop playing on his phone. Feeling the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Chen Mobai thought it necessary to say something. “Everyone, let’s work hard. As the top student of our high school this time, I will lead by example, strive to defeat my opponent, and spread the renown of Fifth High School in Danxia City.” After hearing his statement, Mo Simin immediately turned her head away, pretending not to know him. Song Zheng was also a bit surprised, never expecting Chen Mobai to say something so embarrassing. “Ahem, Chen Mobai, I’m happy you have such ambition, but I’ve also heard about your opponent. It’s said he might be close to breaking through to Qi Cultivation Level 8. When battling on the arena, always prioritize your safety. There’s no shame in surrendering.” He Jingshan felt it necessary to temper the students’ enthusiasm. While the admission test was important, it wasn’t worth risking their lives. They had a long future ahead. Even among the Hundred and Twenty Prefectures, there were examples of Nascent Soul True Lords emerging. He emphasized that they must not lose their composure on the arena due to a momentary surge of impulsiveness.

After a lengthy speech, the principal shared a tip. “Combat talismans can be changed. As long as you don’t exceed the allowed grade and quantity according to the rules, if conditions permit, you can change your set after each round of combat. This way, your opponents won’t be able to figure out your true abilities.” Upon hearing this rule, Chen Mobai felt there were pros and cons. Familiarity with talismans also takes time; using a set of talismans one is most proficient with would certainly be more effective than using unfamiliar ones. However, the principal also made a valid point: if one encountered an evenly matched opponent and revealed all their spells and talismans, even if they won, the next opponent would surely prepare counter-talismans. In such a situation, changing talismans would indeed be an excellent tactic to disrupt the opponent’s strategy. This, however, made the combat trials much more interesting. Should he first assemble a less commonly used set of talismans as a decoy to attract others’ attention in the initial rounds?