There were only twelve of them in total, all top-tier geniuses. Though they possessed pride, they were all prodigious talents, and they quickly became acquainted with each other.
The group chatted about their hobbies and experiences, soon addressing each other as brothers. Ye Bufan even knew a few of them; they were from noble families. Someone like Zhou Yan, who wasn't from a noble family but possessed such formidable strength, was indeed extremely rare.
"Although we represent the nation in the Divine Dragon Country's Grand Competition, the Divine Dragon Academy will actually send two more individuals to participate with us. I suspect you all didn't know this, did you?"
A senior student in his fourth year, named Wei Honghe, revealed something to Zhou Yan and the others.
"Oh, I thought it was really just us twelve participating," Yin Jiaqing said with great curiosity.
"The Divine Dragon Academy is very mysterious. Never underestimate any of them. Those who can represent the Divine Dragon Academy must possess extraordinary abilities."
"I'd like to see that," Hua She also said.
"Don't worry. If my guess is correct, the people from the Divine Dragon Academy will surely show us their skills tonight."
"You seem to know quite a bit," Hua She looked at Wei Honghe and said.
"You'll know when the time comes."
...
In the evening, everyone was neatly dressed and, led by Gu Long, headed towards the banquet hall.
There were already quite a few people inside, but in total, there were less than fifty. Everyone spoke elegantly, holding beverages—yes, beverages—and conversing with each other.
These people were all students. As for Gu Long, after bringing them here, he left immediately, stating that this was a student banquet and he would not participate.
After Zhou Yan and the others entered, those people, led by a tall and handsome man, walked towards Zhou Yan and said, "Welcome to the Divine Dragon Academy. I am the person in charge of this banquet. My name is Mo Han."
Everyone stepped forward to shake hands. Mo Han then warmly welcomed Zhou Yan and his group, and they all stepped forward to shake hands with him.
Zhou Yan picked up a beverage and walked to a table, beginning to eat the snacks on it.
"You must be Zhou Yan. Hello, my name is Jin Nuanmeng. I've watched the footage of your matches from a few days ago. Your strength is quite impressive, and you're very smart," Jin Nuanmeng said, approaching Zhou Yan.
"Oh, hello, I'm Zhou Yan."
Zhou Yan nodded and continued to devour the snacks on the table, as if this girl was less appealing than the snacks.
Jin Nuanmeng didn't mind and sat down. She then said, "Why do you like to stay by yourself? Aren't you going to talk to everyone?"
"What's there to talk about? We're only staying for half a month. After this half month, we probably won't see each other for the rest of our lives. Why talk about pointless things?" Zhou Yan replied.
"Your way of thinking is truly peculiar." Jin Nuanmeng smiled charmingly, wanting to say something.
But Zhou Yan directly said, "If you have nothing else, you can leave. We'll only meet at this time; from now on, we'll be strangers."
After speaking, Zhou Yan continued to devour the food on the table. He hadn't eaten these snacks for a long time, and he found the taste quite good at the moment.
Jin Nuanmeng was dumbfounded. She had never encountered a man like this before.
Someone actually told her to leave proactively? Wasn't she a beauty?
Did she look very ugly?
Did she say something wrong?
Jin Nuanmeng was merely curious about Zhou Yan. After all, Zhou Yan had performed exceptionally well in this competition, making it impossible not to notice him.
As the banquet progressed, Ye Bufan suddenly found Zhou Yan and said, "This banquet is indeed not that simple. The people from the Dragon Youth Academy want to spar with us. I think they doubt our strength."
"Spar? What kind of spar?" Zhou Yan inquired.
"We don't know the details yet, but they've proposed it, so how can we refuse? We can't let them look down on us," Ye Bufan said.
"I also want to see what skills the people from the Dragon Youth Academy possess. Let's go take a look," Zhou Yan stood up and walked towards the crowd.
Mo Han saw that everyone was present and said, "Since it's a spar, we definitely can't harm our harmony. Let's go to the virtual battlefield."
"What is the virtual battlefield?" someone asked.
"It's a virtual world. Even if you die inside, you'll just be teleported out," Mo Han replied.
After hearing this, everyone nodded and said, "Then where do we go?"
Mo Han smiled and said, "You don't need to go anywhere else. We can teleport from here."
After speaking, Mo Han led everyone to the back of the banquet hall, where a teleportation array was located. It was clear they were prepared; otherwise, they wouldn't have been so thorough.
"Everyone, please come in." Mo Han stepped into the teleportation array first and disappeared from the banquet.
Zhou Yan and the others also entered. When they opened their eyes again, they were already on a fortress in the sky. This was also a small world, from which they could observe the changes of the entire world.
"Welcome, everyone, to the Divine Dragon Academy's virtual battlefield. Here, you can summon your heroes and your territories. What would you like to compete with us on?"
Mo Han and the others looked at Zhou Yan and his group and asked them to state the competition item.
"Any form is acceptable, right?" Wei Honghe stepped forward and inquired.
"Of course," Mo Han replied.
"Good, in that case, let's compare the strength of our territories," Wei Honghe said.
"Alright," Mo Han nodded.
"You are Wei Honghe, a third-year student. We will also send a third-year student to participate," Mo Han said, then looked behind him and asked, "Is there anyone who wants to challenge?"
"I will," a short-haired girl walked out and said, "I am a third-year student of the Divine Dragon Academy. My name is Li Bailan."
"Good, then we will wait and see. First, let me explain that the place we are standing now is the core of the entire battlefield. After the competition ends, you will all be teleported back."
"Since both sides have chosen a territory battle this time, let's narrow down the map that appears for both sides. This will allow us to see the results faster," Mo Han said to the two.
"No problem," both of them nodded simultaneously.
"Alright, since there are no issues, both sides should stand on the teleportation array," Mo Han spoke again.
Behind them, a teleportation array appeared. The two stood on it. After Mo Han activated the array, they were directly teleported to the competition map.
In front of them, a massive screen appeared, showing the map where the two were located.