After receiving the room key card, Zhou Hong and Changsun Ruoyan arrived at room 1803 of the hotel.
Changsun Ruoyan's face was red all the way.
"Haha, why are you blushing?" Zhou Hong couldn't help but laugh when he saw Changsun Ruoyan's flushed face.
"Nonsense, we're alone in a room, aren't you blushing?" Changsun Ruoyan rolled her eyes.
"Then you still took the initiative to suggest sharing a room with me. I thought you were really that open-minded."
"Get lost, you're the one who's open-minded. I just thought that by being in the same room, we could communicate more."
"Heh heh, not just in terms of martial arts cultivation, but also in other aspects, we can have some in-depth exchanges." Zhou Hong glanced at Changsun Ruoyan's chest and said.
"You dare. If you dare to force me, I'll call for help," Changsun Ruoyan said with a hint of fear.
"Alright, I was just kidding. I'm not some stud horse who wants to jump on any pretty woman he sees." Zhou Hong was speechless. He was just joking with Changsun Ruoyan. Of course, if Changsun Ruoyan was really interested in exchanging ideas, Zhou Hong wouldn't refuse.
After tidying up their personal affairs, Zhou Hong and the others gathered in the hotel lobby.
The dean was already waiting for them in the lobby. It was already lunchtime.
"Everyone's down here, right? Let's go have lunch together."
So, the dean led everyone to have lunch.
After lunch, Zhou Hong and the others returned to their rooms to rest.
At precisely 3 PM, Zhou Hong and the others went together to familiarize themselves with the competition venue.
And so, the day passed.
In the blink of an eye, the day of the official competition arrived.
Early in the morning, Zhou Hong and the others gathered on the first floor of the hotel.
"Is everyone down here?" The dean was already waiting in the lobby.
"Everyone's down."
"Then let's depart immediately for the competition venue. At nine o'clock sharp, the Martial Arts Competition will officially begin, starting with the elimination rounds for the top ten."
Zhou Hong quickly asked, "Dean, will it be the top ten right from the start?"
"Yes, but the specific rankings within the top ten will be determined later. Now, we're just selecting the ten strongest individuals. Then, in the afternoon, it will be for those ranked eleventh to thirtieth. And so on, until all participants are assigned to their respective groups, and then the detailed matches will begin."
"Oh, oh!" Zhou Hong nodded, understanding.
Without further ado, they immediately boarded a minibus and headed to the competition venue.
About half an hour later, they arrived at the Jiangnan Province Martial Arts Stadium.
At this moment, the stadium was already packed with people. There were at least tens of thousands of spectators, and news media were present, broadcasting live.
What Zhou Hong didn't know was that at this very moment, countless people across Jiangnan Province were watching the live broadcast on their phones.
At Jinzhou University, Qiao Xiaoyu, Qin Mengxue, and others were also secretly watching the live broadcast under their desks.
"Everyone, please quiet down. The Jiangnan Province University Student Martial Arts Competition officially begins." Around nine o'clock, a strong individual standing on the podium shouted.
Only then did the audience in the venue quiet down.
"Next, please have the chief judge of this competition deliver an opening speech!"
"Applause!"
Following that, there was a tedious opening speech. After about half an hour, the opening ceremony was finally completed.
"Thank you, Chief Judge. We will now proceed with the group elimination matches," the host shouted into the microphone after taking it back.
The people in the venue became excited.
"I'm sure everyone is already familiar with the competition rules, but as required, I still need to reiterate them."
"The rules of the competition are as follows: first, we will group the participants, and then proceed with the specific rankings. The groups will be as follows: the top ten will form one group, ranks ten to thirty will form another, thirty to one hundred will form a group, one hundred to two hundred will form a group, and two hundred to five hundred will form a group. In total, there will be five groups."
"Now, the first group we will be dealing with is the top ten group. All contestants, please pay attention. Anyone who believes they are qualified to compete for the top ten should come onto the stage immediately. Those who believe their strength is insufficient, please do not waste your energy."
After the host shouted, among all the contestants, those who were stronger and felt they had a chance to enter the top ten stepped onto the arena.
"Zhou Hong, let's go on stage too," Changsun Ruoyan quickly said to Zhou Hong.
"Okay!"
Thus, Zhou Hong and Changsun Ruoyan stepped onto the arena together.
At this moment, at Jinzhou University, Qin Mengxue hurriedly exclaimed, "Xiaoyu, quickly look, in the bottom left corner, Zhou Hong has appeared."
"Mhm!" Qiao Xiaoyu was full of excitement. She had also seen Zhou Hong appear on the live broadcast. However, the live broadcast was from a higher vantage point looking down, so the people appeared smaller.
Under the gaze of countless eyes, about thirty-odd contestants from all over Jiangnan Province stepped onto the arena.
These thirty-odd people were those who believed they had the strength to enter the top ten, or who wanted to try.
The host shouted, "You 30 people, do you see the ten circles on the ground? Each circle can only accommodate one person. After I say start, you will compete with each other until one hour later. Those who are still standing within a circle will have entered the top ten group and qualified for the subsequent top ten battles."
The 30 people immediately became tense, except for Zhou Hong, of course.
"Ready, go!"
At the word "go," the 30 people rushed towards the ten circles. However, some did not rush. Since there was an hour, they feared they would be exhausted if they rushed to grab a circle immediately. It would be better to quickly grab a circle in the last few minutes, thus saving energy and having a better chance. Of course, those who dared to do this must have had great confidence in their strength, otherwise, with only a few minutes left, people without strength would never be able to achieve it.
"Ruoyan, let's not rush. Let's sit aside and watch them scramble for it first," Zhou Hong said to Changsun Ruoyan.
"Are you planning to go grab one in the last few minutes?"
"Yes," Zhou Hong nodded.
"But what if there isn't enough time...!"
"Don't worry, with me here, there won't be a shortage of time. At this point, I should also confess my other identity to you," Zhou Hong chuckled.
"What do you mean?" Changsun Ruoyan looked bewildered.
"Actually, I have another identity, which is that of a Taoist priest. Besides cultivating martial arts, I also cultivate Taoism. Have you heard of the Maoshan Sect?"
"Ah? No way! You can also cultivate Taoism?" Changsun Ruoyan seemed very surprised. Many people cultivate martial arts, but very few cultivate Taoism, because the talent required for cultivating Taoism is far greater than that for martial arts. And now Zhou Hong was saying he could also cultivate Taoism.