"Is that so! What on Earth is going on? How can a Ghost-faced Spider be so human-like?"
"It's the disciples from Gonan Academy! Those who were just yelling about Gonan Academy cheating found their 'evidence' and shouted, 'They must have cheated! This Ghost-faced Spider was probably drugged by them!'"
Yan Jiaojiao, annoyed by their words, retorted, "Tell me, what kind of drug can make a Yellow-tier Ghost-faced Spider obedient? If you can name one, I'll send you a dozen!"
The person who had been shouting so enthusiastically fell silent.
What drug could make a Yellow-tier Ghost-faced Spider obedient?
How could such a drug possibly exist!
It was well known that spirit beasts had different physiology than humans, and common hallucinogenic drugs were ineffective on them. When encountering spirit beasts, one could only fight head-on or flee.
Drugging spirit beasts?
Firstly, how would you even get close to a giant spirit beast? Even if you did, the spirit beast, being so large, might just swat you to death before you could administer the drug. So how could you drug it?
Furthermore, by the time the spirit beast digested the drug and its effects began to show, most people would likely be beaten half to death by the beast. What use would drugging it be then?
The more they thought about it, the more unreasonable the accusations of cheating against Gonan Academy seemed.
"How exactly could they cheat? If they said they tampered with the spirit beast orb to make the spirit beast appear directly, I might believe that. But the spirit beast orb was provided by others. No matter how prepared they were, they couldn't tamper with it on the spot, could they?"
"Right, what evidence do they have to prove cheating?"
"Sigh, honestly, they're just looking for trouble. This is the scene of the Academy Grand Competition. You can argue that the rules are unfair, but how can you claim someone cheated? Isn't that underestimating all of us? If cheating were that easy, why would we be here fighting so hard?"
"Exactly. If they were capable of cheating, they might as well cultivate properly. Crushing opponents openly would be more humiliating for them than winning through cheating!"
There were still more sensible people present, and Gonan Academy's performance this time was truly astonishing. Consequently, more and more people began to speak up in their defense.
Yan Jiaojiao curved her lips in satisfaction.
This was precisely why she had chosen to perform first.
The current situation where people dared to step on Gonan Academy was mainly because they knew Gonan Academy had suffered a bloody purge. While she wouldn't comment on the matter of the Demon King Ano Xi, as Ano Xi and Xuan Chen were intricately linked, out of personal interest, people were certainly unwilling to let this matter be exposed.
It was a devastating blow to the disciples of Gonan Academy, and if not handled carefully, it could make Gonan Academy a target for everyone.
Therefore, the sect leaders deliberately downplayed the incident and dealt with the disciples who left Gonan Academy, blurring their memories of Ano Xi at the time.
To outsiders, weakness was the original sin, so they desperately tried to stomp on Gonan Academy to prove their own strength.
The only path available to turn the tide was the one Yan Jiaojiao had chosen.
She would crush everyone with her strength as a powerful individual, and then lead the other disciples of the academy to defeat others with various unbelievable techniques, making others realize that even if Gonan Academy was not what it used to be, its disciples were still formidable and not to be underestimated.
Moreover, these strange and wonderful methods indicated that Gonan Academy's foundation was still intact.
As long as this impression was planted, more and more people would stand with Gonan Academy.
Yan Jiaojiao's plan had succeeded.
Now, half of Yan Jiaojiao's plan had been accomplished.
As long as the subsequent disciple matches went smoothly, Gonan Academy would return to its former glory!
"After investigation by our organizing committee, it has been confirmed that the disciples of Gonan Academy have not engaged in any cheating. Do any other academies have further objections?"
Everyone had eyes and saw that although the Gonan Academy disciples hadn't fought the Ghost-faced Spider, the fact that the spirit beast had opened the gate on its own was undeniable. Now, everyone had completely forgotten their intention to disparage Gonan Academy. They were all desperately curious, wanting to know how the Gonan Academy disciples had made the Ghost-faced Spider open the gate.
"Well..."
A mischievous smile spread across the face of the Gonan Academy disciple. "It's a secret!"
With that said, they walked behind Yan Jiaojiao, ignoring the stunned crowd.
The disciples from other academies, having been toyed with: "..."
"You can't do this! We spoke up for you earlier. Aren't we friends anymore? You should be honest with your friends."
The disciples from other academies weren't giving up, even resorting to emotional appeals.
"You weren't saying that before you came," Yan Jiaojiao said, casting a cold glance at the others. "Our Gonan Academy also has secret techniques that are not to be divulged. If you're curious, why not transfer to Gonan Academy directly? Then these would be techniques you would also learn."
"If we become fellow disciples, we will definitely not hold back anything and will tell you everything truthfully."
The disciples from other academies: "..."
Good heavens, this was open poaching!
Everyone politely declined.
Although their impression of Gonan Academy had improved, Gonan Academy's decline was not a small matter. Currently, it relied entirely on Yan Jiaojiao and others to support it. They dared not bury their future by going to Gonan Academy.
"Don't get too smug. You've only won two matches. You were just lucky to encounter a Ghost-faced Spider with a peculiar temperament. There's no need to be so self-important. There are many more competitions to come. Can your Gonan Academy keep winning until the end?"
The people from Holy Grail Academy harbored the strongest animosity towards Gonan Academy. Seeing others' views on Gonan Academy change, they immediately stepped forward to pour cold water on their enthusiasm.
Upon seeing this, everyone quickly distanced themselves, unwilling to get too close to the Gonan Academy group.
The Gonan Academy group didn't seem to mind.
They had already tasted what it was like to be isolated, so they didn't find the experience unbearable. They only thought these people lacked foresight.
"Then we shall see."
Yan Jiaojiao was very confident in her strategy. Moreover, these disciples were all trained by her personally. Although their raw strength might not match others, combined with the wisdom of Yan Jiaojiao, the Thousand-Year Ancestor, it would be difficult for them to lose unless something unexpected happened.
As expected, in the subsequent group matches, Gonan Academy achieved excellent results, securing first and second place respectively.
The seven-person team came in second because they were somewhat unlucky this time and encountered a late-stage Yellow-tier spirit beast. Furthermore, during their battle with the seven-person team, the spirit beast actually broke through and became a Green-tier spirit beast. Fortunately, they had remembered Yan Jiaojiao's words and handled the situation calmly; otherwise, if one person from the seven-person team had a problem, it could have led to the entire team's annihilation.
"Round two group matches, Gonan Academy wins!"