Chapter 35: The Hour of Intense Battle
Translator: Strivon / Ash Editor: Geoffrey / Lancent
April 12th. Light showers with a slight breeze. 61 Days 13 Hours 22 Minutes and 45 Seconds remain until the university entrance exams!
Today was Crimson Nimbus Second’s annual ‘Hour of Intense Battle’. All the first and second years have the day off, leaving the campus to be a battlefield for the third years. The third years will strive over 10 tickets to the “Youth Limit Challenge Competition”, fighting to the bloody end!
The rules are simple. First, 10 seeded competitors will be chosen out of all the Third Year Students via lottery fashion. Each of these students will receive a ticket to carry on their bodies and each of these students will be dispersed around the campus. It was up to the student to decide whether to go into hiding or to form a group. Anything goes, as long as the student doesn’t leave campus.
And the other students can use any methods, any strategies, and any objects found within the campus to attack these 10 seeded competitors and seize by force their tickets.
All the admission tickets were sealed in special artifact boxes. Every half a minute, these boxes will send a ripple of spiritual energy to notify every student’s handheld crystal processor of the positions of these tickets. So, the students needn’t worry about a ticket holder hiding in a dark corner, camping despicably until the contest was over.
The fierce battle begins at 10 in the morning and ends at 3 in the afternoon — a total of 5 hours. Only the students who still held onto the tickets to the end will receive the qualifications to participate in the Federation’s Youth Limit Challenge!
Early Morning, 8:45
One by one, fluffy puffy balls of flesh opened their round and plump eyes. They were of every color imaginable, like bright colors of the rainbow, and used all their effort to flutter their flabby wings. They flew through the air crying “Puji puji puji”, dispersing around campus.
This was an artificial Demon Beast whose scientific name was Flying Piglet Eye. Experts from the Beast Guild used the blood of piglets, bunnies, and various flying creatures to create this amalgamation. This new species was created after cross-breeding several dozens of generations.
Special crystal camera chips were even installed in the bodies of these Flying Piglet Eyes. Whatever is seen by these Flying Piglet Eyes can be transmitted to crystal processors nearby.
These sorts of things were originally engineered with the purpose of being floating security cameras.
However, due to their fluffy shape, chubby body, and the laughter-like “Puji puji” sounds they made while flying in the air, they soon became popular among every household. They became an extraordinarily hot household pet and were called “Puji Critters” by the masses.
A thousand Puji Critters spread to every nook and cranny across campus, getting into position for surveillance. Over a thousand real-time videos were broadcasted to gigantic holograms installed in three VIP lounges.
The first VIP lounge was set up in gymnasium number 1. It was extremely large and was meant for the family heads to come watch their children. A thousand family heads had already gathered inside, creating a cauldron of voices that clamored loudly.
The second VIP lounge was set up in the school’s assembly room, providing footage of the fights to the teachers and elite students of various sister schools within Floating Spear City… This sort of school exchange was extremely common. Crimson Nimbus Second also sends their elite students and teachers to other high schools to exchange and learn from their admission ticket competitions.
The third VIP lounge was set up directly in the headmaster’s office. All those present were either of school administration or board members.
However, at this moment, the headmaster, head instructor, supervisors of each grade, and even the board members, whose positions exceeded the rest, gathered around a single person like stars cupping the moon. With great reverence and respect, they circled around an extremely scholarly middle-aged man, who’s temple hair has gone white.
This refined and scholarly middle-aged man was called Zhou Yin and was a cultivator of the Building Foundation Stage. He was the elder responsible for nurturing new admittees to the Crimson Nimbus Guild and was the immediate supervisor to the administration of Crimson Nimbus Second!
Zhou Yin was graceful and elegant, lacking completely the air of arrogance. He said with a completely cordial laugh, “We have made much improvement in our education’s quality this year for Crimson Nimbus Second, producing some good saplings. Speaking of which, I’ve heard that a Helian Lie and also a Si Jiaxue are some decent new talent. Oh, that’s right! I remember that Helian Lie is Board Member Helian’s only son, right?”
“Yes. I never thought Elder Zhou would know of my unaccomplished son!” Helian Ba’s entire face glowed red, shining with a smile.
“As long as one has talent, I would remember them without a doubt. The future of the Crimson Nimbus Guild belongs to them~! Alrighty then! It’s exactly 9 o’clock! Begin the games!”
With a wave of his hand, Zhao Yin’s face suddenly turned serious with an expression like an unapproachable stranger; he had entered into his business mode, changing into a different person entirely.
The hour of intense battle — officially begins!
A sharp, beautiful bell rang throughout campus. A thousand third-year students, with bloodshot eyes, leapt out from various nooks and crannies within the school buildings. Each of these students had their head lowered, looking at their micro crystal processors.
Soon, they discovered the 10 ticket bearers among the crowd — their targets.
“Found one. He’s over there! Eliminate him quick!”
The 10 seeded competitors were chosen at random, so their strengths weren’t necessary strong and oppressive. With a blood-curdling shriek, they were engulfed by the tide of people.
Several dozen medical flying shuttles circled endlessly in the sky to be readily available at all times. Doctors and nurses from the nearby major hospitals were temporarily hired and stationed on these flying shuttles. They, along with several healing-specialized cultivators, would put an end to any accidental mishaps from occurring.
Since the fighting will last until three in the afternoon before coming to an end, the students who emerged first weren’t necessarily the ones with the strongest power. For example, practically none of the students of the Important Class has made a move so far. They rested with closed eyes in incomparable luxury within their classroom.
The students currently participating in the fighting were doomed with no chance of holding onto a ticket until 03:00 PM.
However, that was not a problem since the school had something to motivate these students. They specifically set up incentives of every level. As long as a student seizes a ticket for a moment, no matter if it's 5 or 10 minutes, they will receive a prize.
And so, these students of the Ascending and Common Class also fought with their lives at stake. Even though their power weren’t that special, the hair-raising rage and blood-bath attitudes they exhibited caused the scenes of fighting to be quite lively.
“AHH! DIE!!”
A student who held a ticket in his pocket leapt down the stairwell and was trampled with a kick to the sternum by another student hiding in the corner, who then seized the ticket away.
And once this student discovered that there was nobody in his surroundings, he connivingly hid himself away into the girl’s restrooms. Only to be raided by a male student who had hidden himself in ambush at an earlier time within a bathroom stall. The admission ticket changed hands again!
Similar scenes played out in the various nooks and corners around campus. Every now and then, heads were broken and blood flowed, muscles snapped and bones fractured. These injured students were lifted into the medical treatment shuttles.
Within the third VIP lounge, the VIPs commented one after another on the scenes displayed on the giant hologram.
“This student’s speed is very fast! His reactions are extremely quick! The only problem is his attacking power; it’s a little bit weak. Otherwise, he may be able to enter into the Important Class!”
“I’ve heard that Crimson Nimbus Second has, over the years, introduced several ex-military combat experts to their school. You all look! When their students fight, they bring forth a hint of military killing techniques. It looks likes Crimson Nimbus Second has large ambitions. Who knows what eruptions they will bring at this year’s university exams!”
The second VIP lounge.
Behind a placard written with the words ‘Phoenix Ridge Second’ was a person in deep sleep. This person snored loudly, covered under a school uniform that permeated with the air of alcohol.
To the side of him, a young female teacher from Phoenix Ridge Second wrinkled her brow. She prodded him without batting an eyelid and said, “Big Dong, you pestered the school cause you wanted to come over and watch the fight. Why is it that once you came here, you started sleeping again, snoring loudly?”
A voice filled with discontent grumbled out from beneath the uniform. After some time, a puffy, swollen eye opened up and a fat face snaked out. The head was oily and the face covered with makeup — it was clear that this person engaged in excessive debauchery. He squinted his eyes in the fashion of a cat and gazed indifferently at the hologram. He yawned once again, digging back under the uniform.
Zheng Dongming’s voice came lazily out from under the uniform, “Don’t be noisy. The person I want to see still hasn’t appeared yet.”
“Are you waiting for Si Jiaxue? Or are you waiting for Helian Lie?” asked the young female teacher.
A chuckle came from under the uniform. “If it’s just those two, why would I ever crawl up from my bed with 7 beauties on it and come to this damnable place?”
The young female teacher asked baffled, “Si Jiaxue and Helian Lie are both widely known to be Crimson Nimbus Second’s strongest. If even they don’t have the qualifications to attract you here, then who are you waiting to watch?”
The uniform was still for a moment. A fat wily hand suddenly extended out, groping towards beneath the young school teacher’s skirt. The female teacher’s body trembled with a shiver, and she nibbled with her pearly white teeth. But, she didn’t resist.
As Zheng Dongming groped, he spoke lazily, “The one I’m waiting for is not the strongest, but the fiercest!”