Chapter 671: Competition Begins
“It really is a battle formation!” Tian Mengzi muttered to himself while standing somewhere in the training plaza. He watched as Mu Songfang and the others forced Ju Hang into a passive state and he couldn’t help but sigh to himself, “It’s too bad we learned of it too late.”
Tian Mengzi couldn’t help himself as he turned to Shang Xia to grumble. “That’s not very nice of you! Since you decided to bring out something as good as this, why didn’t you think of your old friends?!”
There were several Custodians and teachers of the Upper Division beside Tian Mengzi and they clearly didn’t think Tian Mengzi would speak to Shang Xia so casually. They were greatly taken aback by his casual attitude.
Shang Xia chuckled in response, “I didn’t know if it would work. I wouldn’t dare to play around and spread this to the Upper Division without testing it out.”
The moment a student in the Tongyou Institution entered the Upper Division, they could easily join the Protection Division, the Outreach Division, the Contributions Division, or any other division for that matter. They would be thrown into the workings of the enormous faction that was the Tongyou Institution for real.
If Shang Xia used them as his test subjects, things might go very wrong. If everything went smoothly, there would obviously be no problem. However, the moment he messed up, he would have to pay a massive price.
Shang Xia’s reply shocked those beside Tian Mengzi. They didn’t know their fellow teacher had such a great relationship with the mighty Talisman Grandmaster of the Tongyou Institution. His position in their hearts was immediately elevated by a few levels.
One of the teachers of the Upper Division muttered suddenly, “Ju Hang’s losing on purpose… He hasn’t gone all out!”
Shang Xia and Sun Haiwei merely smiled at the side without saying a word.
Tian Mengzi glanced at the teacher from the Upper Division from the corner of his eye and sighed, “He’s not letting up on purpose. He probably grew stronger recently and is afraid he would fail to control his strength and injure the students. He’s suppressing his cultivation to the small competition stage of the Martial Intent Realm on purpose.”
The face of the Upper Division teacher who spoke flushed red but he quickly realized what Tian Mengzi meant. He gasped in shock, “Ju Hang… Has he already broken through to the large completion stage?”
The various teachers and Custodians present could be said to be the outstanding students nurtured by the institution in recent years.
Even so, they were finding it a little difficult to advance after reaching the Martial Intent Realm. They would have to spend a large amount of time and effort in order to make a small breakthrough. They would normally take 3 to 5 years of time to advance once.
Ju Hang was one of the younger ones among them, and he had only cultivated for a short amount of time. Who would have thought that he wouldn’t be weaker than them in any way? He might even be slightly stronger than them. The Custodians and teachers couldn’t help but feel a little oppressed by his progress.
Of course, that was because Ju Hang’s cultivation was comparable to theirs and they could make a proper comparison. If they were talking about students of the same generation in the institution, they would have to include people like Shang Xia and Sun Haiwei. They were considered monstrous freaks and had long since been kicked out from the comparison pool.
It was then that a sudden change in the battlefield occurred.
Maybe it was because he was forced into a corner by his students and Ju Hang didn’t wish to embarrass himself in front of his fellow cultivators, he burst forth with his full strength after blocking the combined strike and broke out of their encirclement.
In the past, he had always been defending himself while staying within their battle formation.
Now that the practice was gravitating more towards actual combat, Ju Hang naturally wouldn’t allow them to surround him easily. The students of the Fifth Class would also try their best to prevent Ju Hang from escaping from their battle formation.
Unfortunately, his sudden burst of strength caught them off guard. His original plan was to break out of the battle formation before breaking it from the outside.
Who would have thought that their battle formation would start to change with Mu Songfang’s instructions? Originally, they were only able to utilize each other’s extremity qi to support themselves. With an intention from Mu Songfang, their extermination qi separated and gathered on both far ends of the battle formation.
As soon as Ju Hang escaped from their battle formation, the giant scissors made from their extremity qi appeared and snipped at him!
That instant, Ju Hang felt a sense of danger. The hair on the back of his neck stood upright and the seasoned expert who had been through many battles felt a sense of death approaching.
With a weird cry, he tossed out a talisman before rushing into the air. He didn’t forget to swing his whip behind him.
Crack! Boooom!
After the massive explosion, 2 protection screens that were created from 2 tank three talismans were ripped apart. The powerful attack crashed into his whip and a loud ring rang through the plaza.
When the dust finally settled, the members of the Fifth Class flopped down onto the ground. They seemed completely exhausted as their inner qi was drained from their bodies. At the same time, the plaza was wrecked. There were several large cracks in the ground that extended all the way to the walls.
Ju Hang flew through the air and landed outside the plaza. He stumbled slightly when his feet touched the ground. When he turned to look behind him, his face turned pale and fear lingered in his heart.
He wasn’t the only one who was shocked. The various Custodians and teachers who were watching the battle revealed solemn expressions.
The students of the other classes who had gathered outside the plaza to watch the battle were dumbstruck.
“Is this the true strength of your Extremity Yin Yang Formation? Did they actually manage to unleash it?” Sun Haiwei asked.
As an expert in the Martial Extermination Realm, Sun Haiwei’s knowledge and insight were far above the other teachers and Custodians.
What she paid attention to wasn’t the power behind their final strike. Instead, it was how Shang Xia managed to prove his way of cultivation with the use of their battle formation. The power of their extremity qi tied in with Shang Xia’s concept of the Yin and Yang. Those extremity qi might be different, but they managed to transform them at the end of the day to unleash their final attack.
Shang Xia expected everything to happen when he observed their training back then. However, he still felt gratified that his hard word didn’t go to waste.
The Martial Extremity Realm students of the Fifth Class eventually managed to help each other up.
Shang Xia’s gaze landed on Mu Songfang and Shi Huai and a meaningful look could be seen in his eyes as he laughed, “Even though you guys aren’t very proficient in it and the final strike was forced, you managed to prove the feasibility of transforming your extremity qi.”
Tian Mengzi spoke suddenly, “Weren’t you a sword user when you were in the Martial Extremity Realm?”
“Yeah,” Shang Xia replied with a smile.
“How many types of polar sword intents did you comprehend back then?” Tian Mengzi asked seriously.
Seeing no point in hiding anything, Shang Xia replied, “I comprehended 7 pairs of opposing sword intents back then.”
Glancing at the 7 students of the Fifth Class, Tian Mengzi wondered out loud, “Is that why there’s 7 of them in the formation?”
Shang Xia couldn’t help but chuckle in response. Strands of extremity qi appeared in his palm as he displayed it for the rest to see. They transformed from time to time and swirled about his fingers.
Clear and turbid, light and heavy. Ice and fire, high and low. Long and short, fast and slow. There were extermination qi that represented life and death, real and fake. Reality and illusory, movement and stillness… All sorts of extremity qis were displayed for the rest to see.
“The Yin and Yang represent every manifestation of nature. The 2 extremities are merely the shallowest representations of it. Even I don’t know much and barely scratched the surface of it. How can there only be 7 pairs of them?”
The qi in his hand dissipated, but Tian Mengzi’s gaze lingered on his palm. He was still dumbfounded.
…
It wasn’t as though the Tongyou Institution didn’t hold any competitions or contests in the past. However, the scale this time was much larger than before.
In 1 short month, the students of the Inner and Upper Division would be able to catch up on their training. However, the disciples of the various divisions would need the time to rush back to the institution!
Because of the rich rewards the institution was giving out, the various divisions gathered their best Martial Extremity Realm disciples to take part.
There were 40 teams in total, as Shang Xia had mentioned. They were split into 8 different groups and the 5 teams in each group would challenge each other in a round-robin fashion. The 2 strongest teams would advance. Moreover, every single battle would be held in the central plaza of the Tongyou Institution.
When all 40 teams had gathered, Deputy Patriarch Ji Wenlong appeared to take charge of the splitting of groups.
Ju Hang represented the Fifth Class in their draw and they were sent to the fourth group. They would have to face 2 teams from the Protection Division, 1 team from the Warehouse Division and the Seventh Class of the Inner Division.
“Our luck isn’t the worst…” Ju Hang told the students about who they were up against, “As long as you manage to do what you have been doing, it shouldn’t be a problem to advance from the group stage.”
Yan Weihai and the rest turned to look at Shang Xia.
Shang Xia laughed, “Custodian Ju Hang is right. In the competition, the disciples of the Protection Division and Outreach Division should have a lot more combat experience. All of you have been practicing with your teacher the whole time and you might not be familiar with their fighting styles as you have never challenged them before. There’s also the Seventh Class. It’s no secret that you guys have been practicing your battle formation and I believe the various divisions have also learned of it. It’s best if you don’t think you’re superior just because of your battle formation.”
When Yan Weihai and the others entered the main plaza to make their preparations, Ju Hang couldn’t help but turn to Shang Xia. “You were too harsh earlier! They seem a little nervous after your speech…”
Shang Xia chuckled mirthlessly, “Hehe, you best not underestimate your students.”
“What do you think of them? How optimistic are you about their strength? I believe it shouldn’t be a problem for them to advance out of the group stages, right? Do you think they can still win a little more and enter the top 8? Also, there’s the top 4…” Ju Hang blabbered on after a short pause.
“Haha! Looks like you’re the nervous one!” Shang Xia chided.
On the plaza, the Formation Masters of the Tongyou Institution had already arranged 5 massive platforms that were 500 feet long. It was more than enough for the 10 or so students who would be taking part in the battle.
Also, there were protection formations on each of the platforms to prevent any accidents.
The battles were mostly arranged by their experience and the battles would usually involve teams of the Inner Division, followed by those of the Upper Division, and finally, the other Divisions.
The fourth group consisted of 2 teams from the Inner Division and they were the first to take the stage.
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