“They are!”
“Loshen City Mayor, Zhan Wushuang!”
The students below immediately let out exclamations of surprise, not expecting the Mayor to come and watch their competition. This had never happened before!
“Baihua City Mayor, Dan Qiuchan!”
The students below exclaimed again, surprised that even the Mayor of the neighboring Baihua City had come. Is our school’s reputation really that significant?
“Loshen City Card Maker Association President, Long Qifeng!”
The students exclaimed once more, because they had all heard that President Long of the local Card Maker Association was also a cultivator, and a rare dual cultivator of talismans and formations!
“And finally…” Bai Yuntian looked down at Lu Chenxing, who was waving his hands at him, signaling him not to introduce him. A smirk played on Bai Yuntian’s lips, and his voice grew louder!
“He is the owner of Super Martial University’s Super Martial Card Shop! Lu Chenxing!!!”
The students below were about to cheer, but after understanding the name, their cheers got stuck in their throats, and they were simultaneously full of questions.
“Boss Lu? I didn’t mishear, did I?”
“You shouldn’t have misheard, because I heard Boss Lu too.”
“Damn, how did Boss Lu end up sitting with these big leaders?”
Only Guan Yang, upon hearing his master’s name, had shining eyes. He knew his master was not simple! Now it seemed that was indeed the case!
Although his master was young, he possessed various mysterious cards and spells, and knew knowledge and inheritances from other worlds. He clearly wasn't simple! Now, sitting as equals with these great leaders, everything seemed to make sense!
On the grandstand, Lu Chenxing had already covered his face with his hands, but the several old-timers beside him were laughing heartily.
After teasing Lu Chenxing for a bit, Bai Yuntian no longer delayed. “Now, I will open the teleportation gates for everyone. Those who perform exceptionally well might even receive guidance from the Mayor and others. Everyone, do your best.”
With that, he waved his hand, and two large teleportation gates immediately appeared in the stadium. The students consciously divided into two groups and began entering the teleportation gates.
It was clear that every student was now full of fighting spirit, eager to put on a good performance.
And Bai Yuntian looked at the few students below who maintained a faint smile, a smile appearing on his lips.
Even when he introduced Lu Chenxing as a special guest, these few people hadn't shown any unusual expressions. Even now, they wore a faint smile.
If it were before, he might not have noticed, but at a time like this, they were too conspicuous.
As a Phantom Demon, it couldn't learn human emotional expressions. The people it controlled could only display two expressions: a blank face and a nearly perfect smile.
But Bai Yuntian didn't say much, only watched everyone enter the secret realm, then returned to his seat.
Beside him, Long Qifeng flicked his finger, and screens of light appeared before the few of them, including before the audience who were now entering.
Watching the audience enter one after another, Lu Chenxing felt a little puzzled. Now that they knew some uncontrollable things would happen, would letting the audience in really be okay?
But then he understood, these audience members were probably all arranged.
In the images, some students fought individually, some formed groups of three or five, all walking deeper inside, and exclamations of surprise came through.
“Eh? What’s going on? Is this a new secret realm?”
“Holy moly, it really is a new secret realm! The school is so generous!”
“Hurry! New secret realms usually have good things inside!”
And on the screens before them, there were five second-year students, smiling, automatically forming a team. They seemed to have a target already as they rushed towards a certain location.
Watching this scene, Long Qifeng stroked his beard and laughed, “As Principal Bai expected! Our careful arrangements were not in vain.”
“Actually, it was still a bit rushed. If we had more time, we would have prepared more thoroughly,” Bai Yuntian said with a smile.
Everyone present wore a mysterious smile, only Lu Chenxing was full of questions. “No, what exactly happened?”
So Long Qifeng explained, “When we discovered the situation outside the city, Principal Bai calculated the time, and it just happened to conflict with the time of this assessment. Although the assessment time is the same every year, normally no one or no strange beast would come looking for trouble when Principal Bai is around; that would be purely courting death.”
“But this year you are here, so they might not be able to sit still. Because if they want to cause trouble, now is the best time, so we took preventive measures.”
“We cooperated with the military, borrowing a seventh-tier secret realm, and divided the areas with second-tier and third-tier strange beasts for the students’ assessment. If anything happens, Principal Bai can go all out inside without worrying about the secret realm collapsing.”
Lu Chenxing understood why they said now was the best time, because if something abnormal happened in the secret realm or outside the city, or if both happened simultaneously, then the people around him would definitely not sit idly by!
But if they left, even for a moment, he would temporarily lose protection and safety, which is why they said this was the best time.
And if Principal Bai hadn't taken these preventive measures, then those who entered the secret realm would likely become bargaining chips in the hands of the strange beasts, because a secret realm cannot bear too much energy beyond its own tier, otherwise it would shatter, and the people and things inside would be torn apart by spatial turbulence!
At that time, would they protect the students, or protect Lu Chenxing?
At this moment, Lu Chenxing suddenly paused and asked, “Then wouldn’t the Phantom Demon and they not detect that this is a seventh-tier secret realm?”
“No,” Zhan Wushuang explained with a smile. “Because this is the Canglan World, the Phantom Demon’s reach doesn’t extend that far. It can only perceive the surrounding environment through the people it controls. These people are only at the third tier, and their perception of energy is inherently limited, so they can’t detect the overall energy changes of the world.”
“That’s right, and you seem to have a misconception,” Dan Qiuchan said, resting one hand on the table, her palm supporting her delicate cheek. “A secret realm is called a secret realm precisely because it is a world fragment. A seventh-tier secret realm can bear a maximum energy of seventh to eighth tier, otherwise it will collapse. The energy density and stability within it are much lower than in our Canglan World.”
Saying that, she spread her other hand, “So, how would they discover it?”
Lu Chenxing understood after that explanation. A 300ml capacity bottle, no matter if you put it in a bathtub or the ocean, can only hold 300ml. It cannot detect the specific changes in the surrounding water volume.
When Lu Chenxing went to the second-tier secret realm before, besides the environment, he didn't notice any difference from the Canglan World, because for him, there was only so much energy he could absorb. Regardless of the overall energy level of the secret realm, as long as it was enough for him, it was fine.
But it was clear that these controlled third-tier students were like him, completely unaware of any problems.