But they couldn't decide anything, so they found the teachers of Long Qing Academy, hoping to offer their opinions.
"Let them in!" Zuo Jianyuan, the principal of Long Qing Academy, immediately summoned them upon hearing that teachers from two academies had arrived.
"Since opinions are to be offered, how can our Zi Wei Academy be left out?" Chu Luoyan also brought people over.
Thus, the teachers from the four major academies expressed their views on Zhou Yan's behavior.
Zuo Jianyuan listened very carefully. After hearing both sides' opinions, he smiled slightly and said, "Actually, we know what you mean."
"Indeed, none of us expected this outcome, nor did we expect Zhou Yan to be so outstanding."
"Someone as outstanding as Zhou Yan could win even without using such tactics. In fact, his advantage was very clear from the beginning. I believe everyone can't deny this, can they?"
The surrounding teachers nodded. Zhou Yan's advantage was indeed immense, but it was still hard to say who would ultimately stand victorious.
They also understood Zuo Jianyuan's meaning: he was not prepared to change the rules and wanted the match to end sooner.
Although some were still dissatisfied, as Long Qing Academy was the organizer, they had no other recourse.
The teachers from Zi Wei Academy left content, very satisfied with the outcome.
After they left, an external student was eliminated by Zhou Yan, a student from Long Qing Academy.
Although there were still sophomores, juniors, and seniors competing, everyone was essentially drawn to the situation Zhou Yan had created and continued to discuss it.
As time slowly passed, the countries eliminated by Zhou Yan fell one after another, even including students from Zi Wei Academy itself. At this point, Zhou Yan had become the biggest winner.
It was also thanks to Xiao He's powerful capabilities that he could manage the timely handling of affairs amidst Zhou Yan's rapid conquest of these countries. Otherwise, these countries would have also had a certain impact on the soldiers.
Inside the competition space, several days had already passed. At a rate of two to three countries per day, Zhou Yan had eliminated a full quarter of the countries.
This speed was beyond anyone's expectation, yet Long Qing Academy still had no intention of changing the rules.
However, as time went on, Zhou Yan also discovered that this method was not entirely feasible. The main problem was that the soldiers lacked weapons, which put them at a disadvantage.
At this moment, Zhou Yan had already occupied a quarter of the entire world's territory, becoming the undisputed overlord.
Zhou Yan did not continue to attack other countries. Instead, he focused on development, pacifying the civilians of various countries internally and strictly guarding the borders externally, transporting newly forged equipment to border cities.
Zhou Yan stationed at least ten thousand soldiers in each border city. Although the territory had expanded, the number of neighboring countries he faced also increased.
However, Zhou Yan possessed the resources of all eleven countries, giving him the strongest military strength. Moreover, the students from these countries were unaware that Zhou Yan had become the overlord.
Within three days, some students began to attempt to attack other cities. Battles had essentially erupted comprehensively from this moment.
The outside world also shifted its focus to others, no longer solely on Zhou Yan.
Some people also launched attacks on Zhou Yan's countries. Unfortunately, these enemies never expected that Zhou Yan would have so many soldiers in the border cities, leading to their soldiers' complete defeat and even their invasion of the cities.
Zhou Yan did not allow his soldiers to pursue victory, as attacking other countries too quickly had led to internal turmoil in many nations, with some organizing small-scale rebellions, which Zhou Yan had not anticipated.
This competition was indeed not simple. It not only tested the strength of the soldiers under a lord but also tested the lord's ability to handle these sudden incidents.
Zhou Yan would certainly suppress these incidents, but after suppression, he would detain these individuals and incorporate them into his own army.
Simultaneously, Xiao He also informed Zhou Yan about many matters, such as corrupt officials acting wickedly in various regions, even colluding with merchants. If not handled properly, it could lead to peasant uprisings.
It was precisely because of these numerous sudden events that Zhou Yan halted his offensive and began to comprehensively address these issues in various regions.
Conquering a country was indeed easy, but governing one was not. It required a significant amount of time and effort.
Zhou Yan was now primarily focused on defense, no longer able to spare attention for the battles outside. He began to comprehensively address the problems within the conquered countries.
He even dispatched troops to quell numerous sudden incidents of uprisings and restorations, not just targeting Zhou Yan. Any student who had conquered other countries would face similar situations.
It was simply that Zhou Yan had conquered too many countries and had too many matters to handle.
Everyone had previously thought Zhou Yan's conquest of these countries was too easy. However, seeing the numerous internal issues within Zhou Yan's country, they were eager to see how he would handle them.
The results surprised them. Zhou Yan, along with Xiao He and others, handled these matters quickly and effectively.
Those who needed to be suppressed were suppressed, those who needed to be executed were executed, and those who deserved justice were given it.
As Zhou Yan resolved the sudden incidents in various regions one by one, the entire country finally regained peace.
However, by this time, a month had already passed within the competition space.
This equated to three days in the outside world.
During this month, Zhou Yan's overall strength had increased significantly, primarily reflected in the equipment. Not only were all soldiers equipped with weapons, but they were also outfitted with armor.
Even Ouye Zi and the others, due to the hundredfold forging effect, saw their forging experience skyrocket.
It wasn't just them; all those with secondary professions experienced a substantial increase in their professional experience.
Upon seeing this, Zhou Yan resumed his offensive against other cities. The internal problems had been completely resolved, and it was time to deal with the external countries.
At this moment, the outside world was in the midst of intense conflict. Competition between various countries was fierce. Some cities had changed hands multiple times, and both sides had suffered heavy losses fighting for even a single city.
Zhou Yan, having recuperated for a month, was now strong and well-equipped. Coupled with surprise attacks and the advantage of weaponry and armor, no one could resist Zhou Yan.
Thus, wherever Zhou Yan's soldiers marched, there was no match for them; they were all defeated and eliminated.
The people outside already knew that Zhou Yan was now preparing to sweep through the other students.