Chapter 314: No Longer the Protagonist

Chapter 314: Chapter 314: No Longer the Protagonist

A thick atmosphere of competition had settled over the entire freshman class of Azure Sky Martial Arts Academy.

All classes were suspended as everyone began preparing for the upcoming Global Freshman Tournament.

After dinner, at almost the exact same time, all the students from the ten major institutes began their online meetings.

The Azure Sky Sixth Institute was no exception.

In the Martial Arts Room of Villa 01.

Lin Qi, dressed in a black Martial Arts Uniform, logged into the Sixth Institute’s online meeting room.

On the large screen projected before him, Teacher Lu Wei’s delicate face appeared.

"Hello, everyone. The main purpose of today’s online meeting is to go over the rules and important details of the Global Freshman Tournament."

She projected another large screen filled with images and text, and began her explanation.

"The Global Freshman Tournament, as the name suggests, is a massive competition involving the Martial Arts Universities of every country on Blue Star."

"There are currently 96 countries on Blue Star. Twenty of them are small nations that have chosen to withdraw due to tense situations at home."

"So, at present, contestants from 76 countries across Blue Star will be participating in this event."

Hearing this, the mood grew somber as everyone could feel the crisis those twenty nations were facing.

These small countries were on the verge of being destroyed by Calamity Beast invasions, so naturally, they weren’t in the mood to compete.

"The Global Freshman Tournament is divided into two regions: the Eastern Region and the Western Region."

"Our Xia Country is in the east, so we’ve been assigned to the Eastern Region."

"Both regions will hold their preliminary rounds simultaneously over the first two days. Once the final 1,000 contestants are determined, the regions will merge for the main tournament at the global level."

"Of course, qualifying for the global tournament is extremely difficult, because there are only 1,000 spots!"

A silence fell over the students at her words.

Azure Sky Martial Arts Academy alone had nearly 9,000 freshmen. Even if every spot in the global tournament went to them, it would still mean only one in nine would make it.

And that wasn’t even counting the competition from Nether Sea, Shanyu Martial Arts University, and the geniuses from other countries. In the end, not even the top 10 from each institute were guaranteed one of those 1,000 spots.

This meant that over ninety-nine percent of the students present would likely be eliminated in the Eastern Region’s preliminary rounds.

Lin Qi sighed internally. ’The competition really is fierce.’ Everyone who got into Azure Sky was one of the top geniuses from their city.

But in the end, most wouldn’t even qualify for the global tournament and would be ruthlessly eliminated.

Lu Wei continued,

"But don’t be discouraged. Not every student is eligible to participate in this Global Freshman Tournament."

"Only the fifteen thousand students who made it to the main tournament of the National Freshman Tournament can participate."

"Additionally, a re-selection was held over the past two days to pick another five thousand contestants. That makes a total of twenty thousand contestants, which is the entire roster for our Xia Country."

Lu Wei’s words startled everyone.

Xia Country had over 1.5 million freshmen, meaning only about 1.3% of its geniuses were qualified to compete.

"Every contestant who qualifies to participate, even if they’re eliminated in the preliminaries, will receive a reward of one million Xia Country Coins."

At this, everyone nodded silently. It was a small consolation.

Those who could participate weren’t short on one million, but it was a comforting gesture nonetheless.

"Next, please make your preparations to advance through as many rounds in the Eastern Region as possible..."

After briefly explaining a few more rules, Lu Wei ended the meeting.

Soon, the top ten geniuses from each institute, including Lin Qi, received a link.

Lin Qi entered his Virtual Cabin, logged into the Red Realm, and followed the link from Teacher Lu Wei into a virtual conference room.

HUM!

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a tiered lecture hall.

A large number of people materialized around him out of thin air.

"Brother Qi!"

Lin Qi turned his head. The people from the Azure Sky Sixth Institute were sitting around him—familiar faces like Jiangtao, Guo Heng, and Guan Mountain. Including himself, there were fewer than twenty of them.

Just like last time, only the top geniuses from each institute were qualified to attend this meeting.

"Lin Qi!"

Lin Qi also saw Deans like Huo Wanyang, Ao Feng, Duan Chuchu, and the twin sisters, Ruan Qian and Ruan Language.

They all nodded to each other in greeting.

Geniuses like Ao Feng and Duan Chuchu looked at Lin Qi with complicated expressions, feeling as if he were already on a completely different level.

They had heard about Lin Qi’s feat on the forums: defeating Xiang Long, the third-ranked genius of the Tenth Institute.

’He’s absurdly strong, no longer someone we can compare ourselves to.’

"The geniuses from the Tenth Institute are here!"

Someone’s voice was low, but many people still heard him.

In the very center of the front rows, a few figures materialized out of thin air. Once everyone saw who they were, they gasped in unison.

"The geniuses from the Tenth Institute are here!"

"I heard all the Tenth Institute geniuses are participating in the Global Freshman Tournament, even the SS-level ones!"

HISS— Quite a few people sucked in a sharp breath.

"They’re the real stars of this global tournament. Who could possibly beat them?" someone lamented under their breath.

The moment the geniuses from the Tenth Institute appeared, the air suddenly went still. Almost no one dared to speak.

Their gazes swept across the crowd, as if they were looking down on everyone.

"Brother Qi!" Wan Ming was spotted smiling and waving at Lin Qi.

A few others beside him also waved and nodded in greeting.

In response, Lin Qi simply gave a calm nod, which secretly astonished those around him.

It made everyone aware of the difference in their status and attitude.

"That’s Lin Qi for you. He even has Tenth Institute geniuses calling him ’Brother.’ Usually, they look down on everyone."

"This is the first time I’ve ever seen them act so friendly."

"Well, look who it is. Lin Qi is the guy who defeated the third-ranked Xiang Long."

Everyone looked at Lin Qi with a mixture of envy and awe.

At the same time, the leadership began to log in. They were all instructors from the various institutes.

Lin Qi, for instance, saw Teacher Lu Wei sitting in the front row.

This time, the speaker was an instructor from the Tenth Institute: Teacher Wang, a woman with glasses and an intellectual air about her.

"Hello, students!"

"Welcome to the online meeting. Our main topic today is the Global Freshman Tournament, which begins tomorrow."

A massive screen, also filled with images and text, was projected before the crowd.

Teacher Wang began to speak slowly,

"Your respective institutes have already gone over the basic rules of the competition, but here, I will introduce them in greater detail."

"This is because all of you are the top geniuses of your institutes, and you have a high probability of becoming one of the 1,000 who qualify for the global tournament."

"According to data from previous years, out of the 1,000 contestants who advance from the Eastern Region, 43% are from our Xia Country."

"Among those, students from our Azure Sky Martial Arts Academy account for another 40%."

"In other words, if 430 contestants from Xia Country advance, then approximately 172 of them will be from Azure Sky Martial Arts Academy."

"Excluding the geniuses from the Tenth Institute, that’s an average of 17 people per institute."

"This means that even for everyone present here, the probability of advancing is not 100%."

Hearing this, everyone’s heart sank. There were about 200 students present.

This meant that nearly 30 of them would ultimately fail to make it to the global tournament.

A suffocating pressure settled over everyone in the room.

No one wanted to be among those who were eliminated.

...