On the high platform stood several individuals, one of whom was the red-robed elder they had seen before, the one who spoke without opening his mouth.
Beside him were several more people, including one remarkably conspicuous in a purple and gold uniform.
In the entire Ziwei Academy, only the headmaster, or as they called him here, the Sect Master, could wear such a purple and gold uniform.
He did not appear old; indeed, for a powerful cultivator, it was often difficult to discern their true age from their appearance.
The others were also elders, though their specific ranks were unknown.
Elders were indeed categorized, such as入門 Elder, Outer Elder, Inner Elder, Core Elder, and Supreme Elder.
The silent elder they had first encountered was an入門 Elder, seemingly named Han Li.
Everyone saw the Sect Master of the academy and was greatly surprised. None of them had expected to see him here.
They hadn't seen him at the start of the semester, and now that they had, curiosity naturally piqued.
"The Sect Master looks so young; I thought he'd be an old geezer."
"That's hard to say. Maybe he is an old geezer, and you can't tell his real age from his looks. He might be hundreds of years old."
"My family has plenty of great-grandfathers who are hundreds of years old, and they look like teenagers in their twenties. What's so strange about that?"
"Did you see the red-robed elder next to him? She has a great figure."
"She's indeed very beautiful. I wonder what her name is."
...
After all the paper boats had landed, everyone followed their respective head instructors down from the vehicles and gathered below the high platform, forming ranks to await the Sect Master's address.
Approaching the elders and the Sect Master, they observed that the Ziwei Academy's Sect Master was even younger than they had imagined, appearing more majestic, with wisdom glinting in his eyes.
Of course, he was also very handsome. Though his exact age was unknown, it was unlikely he was very young.
The beautiful elder they had noticed earlier had a cold demeanor and sharp eyes, indicating she was no ordinary person.
They had expected the Sect Master to speak during their first meeting, but he did not step forward.
The one who addressed them was, once again, their入門 Elder, Han Li.
He remained silent, yet his voice reached everyone's ears, stating, "This is the first exchange battle for new students. We wish to assess your strength. This exchange battle is divided into Territory Battles and Individual Battles."
"Furthermore, there will be rewards for both individual and territory battles. As for what those rewards are, you will know once you receive them."
"This exchange battle is primarily for newcomers. The senior students will observe from the sidelines."
"This exchange battle will pit adventure-type lords against farming-type lords. You may begin."
As his words fell, Elder Han Li stepped back.
Following this, the head instructor of each class addressed their students, saying, "Follow me."
They moved to another area, where Yang Junming instructed the senior students to stand aside and then told them, "You will each come forward to draw lots."
Ahead were two black boxes, one for the adventure-type classes to draw from, and the other for the farming-type lords.
After listening to the head instructor, the students stepped forward one by one to draw lots.
The items drawn from the black boxes were round balls about the size of ping pong balls. These balls could be opened to reveal a number.
Zhou Yan opened his and saw that his number was 10, quite near the front.
Once all students had received their numbers, an elder stepped forward, waved his hands, and a beam of light landed on the ground, rapidly transforming into a vast arena, pulsating with light and imbued with a peculiar Daoist charm.
The elder then spoke, "This competition is for individual battles. This arena before you is a combat space where the environment will change randomly. No one knows which type of battle environment you will appear in."
"In your battles within this space, killing your opponent counts as victory. Of course, the defeated will not truly die, so you can unleash your full strength without hesitation to defeat your opponents."
"No matter what methods you employ – surprise attacks, assassinations, deception, poisoning – as long as you can defeat your opponent, you will win."
This announcement surprised many students, who had not expected the rules to allow such unscrupulous tactics.
"So any method can be used."
"Isn't that great? Since no one actually dies."
"This combat space is truly peculiar, but rather interesting."
"I hope a battle environment favorable to me appears."
This indeed exceeded their expectations, but after some thought, since defeating an opponent within the space didn't lead to true death, it wasn't a major issue, and they relaxed.
The elder waited for the students to discuss for a moment before asking again, "Are there any further questions? If not, we may begin!"
The students had no more questions; the competition rules were straightforward – defeating the opponent within the space meant victory.
"Let the battle commence!" The elder waved his hand, and the two students holding number one were teleported into the combat space.
The combat space immediately displayed the images of the two students. They were currently in a desert world, with vast amounts of sand swirling in the wind.
Their luck wasn't great; fighting in such an environment would have a certain impact on their strength.
However, one of the students was quite clever. He dug a hole directly in the ground and buried himself in the sand, preparing for an ambush.
The other student, weapon in hand, began searching for his opponent. After a while, he finally approached the area where the other student was hidden.
That student was in danger.
As expected, the student in the sand, like a hunting predator spotting its prey, bared its fangs.
"Swish!"
The student seized a perfect opportunity, leaping forcefully from beneath the sand and launching an attack.
Everyone thought the student would be killed by the surprise attack, but to their astonishment, vines suddenly emerged from the sand; no one knew when they had appeared.
As the attacking student launched his assault, the vines wrapped around his legs, pulling him directly onto the sand. Then, the student who had been buried, decisively turned around and brought down his sword.
"Puff!"
With a flash of light, the ambushing student was thus easily counter-killed and vanished from the combat space.
The onlookers were astonished by this sudden reversal. The student who had been buried had detected the hidden opponent long ago and waited until the last moment to counterattack.
This served as a lesson to the students present, reminding them never to be too careless.
With a flash of light, the student who had been killed reappeared beside the combat space, perfectly unharmed.
He looked a bit dejected, a bit bewildered, and didn't even know how he had died.
Surprises, often, were delivered when least expected.
The other student then appeared. The elders nodded in satisfaction, saying, "Well done. You understood how to leverage your advantage to remain hidden until the critical moment to reveal yourself."