Monarch Night

Mountain Master Gao Qingyu’s voice continued, as name after name spilled from his lips.

All the students of the academy were carefully memorizing them.

Because everyone knew that the likely influencers of this cohort, more than ninety percent of them, were among these hundred names!

"Second place, Huo Churan. Two hundred eighty-five points."

"Third place, Ding Jie Ran! Two hundred eighty-one points."

"Fourth place, Qiu Yunshang! Two hundred eighty points."

"Fifth place, Xie Gongping, two hundred seventy-nine points."

"Sixth place, Mo Gan Yun, two hundred sixty-nine points."

"Seventh place, Ximen Xuri, two hundred fifty-one points."

"...Tenth place, Jing Shuanggao, two hundred forty-two points!"

"...One hundredth place, Kang Zijian. Two hundred and one points."

Fang Che was somewhat surprised.

That guy, Kang Zijian, had somehow just made it by the skin of his teeth.

Huo Churan and others, ranked one by one, stood beside Fang Che, each of them looking at him with complicated expressions.

Ding Jie Ran and Huo Churan, especially those with higher rankings, looked at Fang Che with hostility.

Is this the guy who won against us using such cheating tactics?

You can cheat when gaining points, but how will you cheat when it’s real combat on the stage?

I must beat you so badly that you’ll make a public fool of yourself!

Especially Huo Churan.

His face was pockmarked and rough, looking below average, at the end of the ugly spectrum.

He was holding his breath: When I fight him, I’m not going to hit anywhere else!

I’ll aim specifically for that face!

Some people muttered thoughtfully.

"This batch of students’ names share something in common with the names from every other cohort."

"What is it?"

"Those ranked at the forefront don’t necessarily have pleasant-sounding names, but they all possess a certain unique charm, standing out from the ordinary."

Those who heard this sentence thought it over and were startled to find that it was indeed the case.

Fang Che, Qiu Yunshang, Ding Jie Ran, Huo Churan, Xie Gongping, Mo Gan Yun...

Compared with the names of past movers and shakers, like Jun Hefang, Hua Kaixie, Dongyun Yu, Wu Zhibing...

Thinking about it, they all took a breath.

"When you put it that way... it does seem to make some sense?"

"But this seems like superstition, right? Can having a good name really..."

"Not necessarily."

"..."

There was discussion below.

Up above, the proceedings continued normally.

"The rules for the top hundred new students’ competition are as follows."

The speaker had changed to Dean Lv Jiao Mountain: "There will be five stages, taking turns to battle, deciding the top three and top ten, and the rest considered within the top hundred."

"The reward for the top hundred includes a High Grade Soul Pill for the Martial Master Realm, ten High Grade Qi Gathering Pills, and ten points."

"For fourth to tenth place, the rewards are one High Grade Soul Pill, ten High Grade Qi Gathering Pills, one High Grade Vein Expanding Pill, one High Grade True Essence Pill, and thirty points."

"Second and third place get one Soul Pill, ten Qi Gathering Pills, one Vein Expanding Pill, one True Yuan Pill, yes, all Elixir Pills are top grade. Fifty points."

"The champion, two top-grade Soul Pills, twenty Qi Gathering Pills, two Vein Expanding Pills, two True Yuan Pills, and a hundred points. And there’s also a ’Championship Gold Medal’."

"From the day the champion is decided, as long as fellow students aspire, they can challenge the champion. Win, and you take the gold medal!"

"Whomever holds the gold medal becomes the target! If they remain unbeaten for a month, there are additional rewards! The rewards continue monthly! Unbeaten for half a year, the rewards double! Unbeaten for a full year, they double again! If they graduate unbeaten, they can enter the academy’s Hall of History."

The new students were abuzz below.

These rewards were undeniably heavy.

But they also came with a burden.

Of course, some considered the Championship Gold Medal a burden; but there were others, in no small number, who yearned for it!

Different strokes for different folks.

At last, Dean Lv Jiao Mountain raised a point that was rather puzzling.

"Gambling is prohibited within the academy, but for competitions like this, betting is not forbidden. However, the bets can only be placed with points!"

Upon these words, all eight thousand new students erupted in commotion.

Could there be such a thing?

Points are so important!

One point can be exchanged for a High Grade Qi xue Pill of the same level!

In the outside world, a High Grade Qi xue Pill for the Martial Master Realm would cost nearly fifty thousand taels of silver and still might not be available!

To bet with points was absolutely high-stakes gambling!

Every person, from the day they enrolled, received ten points.

From then on, within the Martial Arts Academy, neither gold nor silver, nor inner core spirit crystals, nothing else was recognized.

Only points were recognized!

Including all expenses for eating and cultivation. If you couldn’t earn them, you could take out loans. Borrow one point, pay back two points’ worth of resources upon graduation.

That’s worth ten thousand taels of silver in resources.

Of course, you could also borrow, as long as someone was willing to lend to you.

Meanwhile, some of the upperclassmen debt-ridden people were gleaming with anticipation.

The chance to turn things around had arrived!

In just a moment, all the information for the top hundred had been piled up like a little hill in front of them.

"The stage battles begin tomorrow morning. At that time, there will be places and staff available for placing bets. I advise everyone to bet cautiously!"

When Dean Lv Jiao Mountain said this, there was some profundity to it.

But the gamblers in the crowd were already red-eyed with excitement.

Even before the top hundred on the platform had left, the booklets below were snatched up in an instant.

"Give me one!"

"One for me too!"

"Damn it, I’m going to make a fortune!"

"..."

Dean Lv Jiao Mountain watched the frenzy below expressionlessly.

Internally, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes endlessly.

The Mountain Master looked every bit the refined scholar, so why was he so underhanded?

On the very first day of enrollment, he had laid such a huge trap for all the new students!

This time, the bets were to be recorded in their files!

In other words, all those who participated in the gambling had essentially tarnished their reputations. If it was just a small game, it would eventually fade into obscurity.

But those who placed huge bets and lost miserably would be documented in the Academy’s records after further evaluation.

After these guys graduated, no matter how capable they were, they would certainly never hold any lucrative positions!

Because here, their character was already defined.

Too prone to gambling!

So the elimination, in fact, had begun from the first day they entered the Martial Arts Academy.

And there would definitely be countless students who lost all their points. These guys needed points to eat and to cultivate... they were bound to start fighting desperately from that moment on!

It was also beneficial for the advancement in Martial Arts.

No matter how you look at it, measures have their pros and cons.

But even if there were benefits, they couldn’t hide the Mountain Master’s manipulative nature. That was certain!

...

When Fang Qingyun’s classmates wanted to chat with Fang Che, they discovered he had already vanished without a trace.

A bit disappointed, they then became excited.

"Qingyun, Qingyun, who do you think we should bet on?"

Everyone asked Fang Qingyun with great enthusiasm.

There was a troubled look on Fang Qingyun’s honest and upright face: "You know I never gamble, including last year when I didn’t place any bets."

"So you’ve had a much more comfortable year than us!"

The crowd sighed.

"Didn’t you learn your lesson from last year? You still want to bet this year?"

Fang Qingyun said, "Old Du, Old Wu, Old Liu, you guys have been paying off debts all year long, and you only just cleared them a few days ago."

"It’s okay!"

The three shook their heads like rattle drums: "As long as we win this year, all losses can be recovered!"

Fang Qingyun shook his head: "I won’t advise you, you decide for yourselves."

After saying that, he quickly walked away.

In these past few days, he suddenly felt that his memory had improved a lot. Cultivation had also become much faster. Some previously elusive and arcane moves were now easily executed.

Now his entire being was impassioned about cultivation, he paid no attention to anything else.

Fang Qingyun left.

The rest huddled together for discussion.

"Who should we bet on?"

"Of course, our cousin!" the six girls said in unison.

As die-hard fans of looks, they were that straightforward!

Some of the boys were hesitant, however.

"But cousin... this first place is tantamount to cheating. We haven’t seen his true strength."

"What cheating? Can you cheat without any strength?"

"But this is trickery."

"Exactly!"

The girls suddenly bristled: "At most, you could say he used a trick, what cheating! Do you even know how to speak?"

The boys instantly backed down: "Yes, yes, it’s a trick, not cheating."

The group exchanged glances: Let’s discuss this separately, don’t discuss it with the girls. It’s pointless!

Absolutely!

Let’s go!

Let’s go!

...

Fang Che returned home.

Sun Yuan was already there.

During this time, Sun Yuan had traveled nearly ten thousand miles.

Within several thousand miles, Sun Gong had continuously robbed, stolen from, and extorted over a dozen Shi Families!

The disciple’s aptitude wasn’t a problem, attack techniques weren’t a problem, Cultivation Techniques weren’t a problem, cultivation resources weren’t a problem.

So what was missing?

Lacking precious Elixir Pills to assist in Divine Soul cultivation.

Lacking precious Elixir Pills to assist in physical body cultivation!

As a King-level Master, Sun Yuan naturally understood the importance of these, and his biggest regret in life was that he had nothing during his foundational years, leading to his accomplishment plateauing at King-level!

Since Sun Yuan had placed all his hopes on his disciple, he was naturally willing to pay any price to provide for him!

For this purpose, Sun Yuan had nearly plundered the smaller families affiliated with the Yixin Sect, as they were obedient, convenient, and easy to rob.

And those other families could easily provoke a joint retaliation. This was his own personal action, and with the sect embroiled in major affairs, they couldn’t afford any slip-ups.

So this time, Sun Yuan had completely robbed their own people!

While he was robbing the fourteenth family, he received a message from the sect: The Martial Arts Academy’s grand competition is about to begin, what are you doing?

So, Sun Yuan rushed here in a frenzy.

...

"Master, you’re here. Please come in and take a seat, Ye Meng, make some tea."

As Ye Meng responded, the master and disciple entered the study.

"Che’er..."

Sun Yuan was greatly heartened. "You’re already at the Fourth grade Martial Master Realm, I’m truly very happy. This time I’ve come because there’s a teaching..."

"Master!"

Fang Che interrupted him, turning to the maid who came in with tea, "You can leave, I’ll look after Master myself. Close the door."

"Yes."

Ye Meng left obediently, her eyes downcast.

"The girl better knows less, for her own safety and ours as well. It’s better to be cautious."

Fang Che said.

Sun Yuan was extremely gratified by his disciple’s cautiousness to such an extent, even dismissing the personal maid from the conversation.

He patted Fang Che’s shoulder and said: "That you can be so cautious puts my mind at ease. After reporting this, the Sect Hierarch will also have more confidence in assigning you tasks."

...