Chapter 100: Chapter 100: Versus Table_l
Translator: 549690339
After hearing what Lan Haitian had to say, the representative from Repairing Heaven Institute frowned, proposing a potential issue.
“What if the first-place finisherin the end, doesn’t meet the cut-off scores for admission into our Four Great Daoist Academies? What are we to do then?”
“Isn’t that even better? It gives us a legitimate reason not to admit any.”
Lan Haitian’s words caused everyone present to startle before their expressions cleared in understanding.
Admission requirements for the Four Great Daoist Academies were strict, preferring to have fewer but superior students each year. This led to criticisms from cultivators, accusing the academies of hoarding the most cultivation resources from the celestial schools and being overly selfish.
In every ten years, the Xianwu Hall from the Three Great Xian Halls, which was the highest governing body overseeing operation departments of thirty-six heavenly caves and seventy-two blessed lands, would conduct a public opinion survey.
With the public’s criticism for the Four Great Daoist Academies mounting over hundreds of years, it was about time to issue some responses. Hence, this year, the Hall Master from Xianwu Hall invited the dean of the Daoist Academy to set the theme of a magic duel for admissions.
The requirement was that if the first place in the magic duel scored sufficient points for admission, the Four Great Daoist Academies could not refuse the student’s enrolment.
In the end, to prevent examination migration, a notice was issued by Celestial Schools mandating the completion of at least one semester at a local academy before taking the local admission test.
The Four Great Daoist Academies agreed to this in respect to the Xianwu Hall Master.
But, when they announced it, they faced strong opposition from within the academy.
“Why did we, in our time, had to beat out two to three million people from across the Celestial Schools to barely gain admission into the Four Great Daoist Academies? How could it be so simple this year?”
Each of the Four Great Daoist Academies would only admit a maximum of 49 students every year.
Adding up to less than two hundred, they were truly the chosen ones amongst myriads.
According to the Xianwu Hall Master’s requirements, at a minimum one student from each Heavenly Cave and Blessed Lands may be admitted, potentially doubling the intake numbers.
It was not that Daoist Academy members felt this was unfair, they were mainly concerned that lowering the standards would tarnish their academy’s reputation.
Could the first-place finisher of some obscure place also qualify for admission into the Four Great Daoist Academies? Did they even have the aptitude for it?
If you wanted to join the Daoist Academy, you should earn it by outcompeting millions of candidates, just like them.
But the higher-ups had already decided, so even if students nursed resentment, the representatives of the Four Great Daoist Academies could only follow their leaders’ directives.
Lan Haitian’s proposal, however, provided a valid reason to reject students.
Among them, Shang Qing from Jumang Daoist Academy, in particular, wasn’t concerned at all.
They had Qing Nu with the Heavenly Spiritual Root, so they had already secured a student slot in Red Sandstone City in advance.
“That’s even better. If we follow past practice, these 47 people might not be qualified for the Four Great Daoist Academies, and will end up joining the ten schools. Mixing exams together will allow the representatives of the academies to better judge the students’ potential and level.”
The representative from the Repairing Heaven Institute nodded and made a remark that turned the representatives from the academies pale.
Yet, they could not utter a word in protest because they indeed intended to increase enrolment.
Therefore, everyone’s gaze turned to the True Man in Red Robe.
He was still the one to make the final decision.
“I find it feasible. Let’s go according to this. Daoist Academy and the academies holding joint entrance tests can also save resources for Cinnabarite Institute.”
As the Man in Red Robe made the decision, there were no objections from the representatives of the Daoist Academy and the academies, who all nodded in agreement.
Subsequently, the clerk swiftly reconfigured the duel’s formula on the file, mixing together all 47 Daoist Academy entrants and 233 academy quota.
In a flash, a new duel table was generated.
“Make some final changes and then send it to all schools. The magic duels will be held three days from now. Since there are many participants in the first round, it will be divided into several sessions…”
After reviewing it, the Man in Red Robe added a few points.
Suggestions such as prioritizing students from the same school to avoid each other, those with higher realms to duel first with those with lower realms, to prevent those with high realms from encountering each other early and ensuring the excitement in the final rounds.
After two more rounds of modifications, the representatives of the Daoist Academies and the academies were all satisfied, and this duel schedule was distributed to all high schools in Red Sandstone City.
Classroom 203.
He Jingshan skillfully switched on the projector, first showing the entire enormous dueling table, then inputting the keyword “Fifth High School”, immediately filtering out the rivalry information for every student in the classroom.
“Each of you should take note of this. The first round has 140 duels. There are twenty duels a day, which will take seven days in total. Check to see which day you are scheduled on?”
Chen Mobai looked up at his own, and was lucky – it was on the first day, and his opponent was from Third High School.
Mo Simin even recognized her and said he was a seventh-layer Qi Cultivation genius with a dual spiritual root. She made a comparison with Song Zheng.
Chen Mobai responded with an “oh”, greatly admiring her comparison, which instantly clarified his opponent’s level for him.
Everyone’s luck is good, no one has encountered a strong opponent, only Chen Mobai’s Qiao Xingwen is in the late stage of Qi cultivation, there might be a fierce battle.”
He Jingshan had checked the duel table before coming, and had a good idea of everyone’s opponents.
Seeing that everyone in the classroom were looking at him, Chen Mobai could not help but stop playing with his phone.
Feeling the atmosphere was a bit stiff, Chen Mobai thought it was necessary to say something.
“Everyone must work hard. As the top scorer of our high school this time, I will set an example and strive to defeat my opponent to uphold the honour of Fifth High School in Red Sandstone City.”
After hearing his words, Mo Simin immediately turned her head away, pretending not to know him.
Song Zheng was also surprised, not expecting Chen Mobai to actually utter such an embarrassing statement.
“Cough cough, Chen Mobai, I’m pleased to see your spirit, but I’ve heard some things about your opponent. It’s said that he might soon break through to the eighth layer of Qi cultivation. Safety should be your priority during the magic duel on the stage. It’s not shameful to surrender.”
He Jingshan felt the need to cool the students’ ardor. Although entrance exams are important, they should not risk their lives for it – the journey ahead is long.
Even among the many houses, there were cases of Nascent Soul seniors.
Remember, one must not lose their sensibility on the dueling stage because of a moment’s zeal.
After rambling for a while, the school principal then shared a tip.
“The talisman used in the magic duel can be changed as long as it doesn’t exceed the grade and quantity set in the rules. If feasible, you can all change to a new set after each round of magic duel, which will keep your opponents from detecting your secrets.”
Upon hearing this rule, Chen Mobai felt it had its pros and cons.
Getting acquainted with talismans takes time; using the magic duel set one is most proficient at will certainly be more effective than sets with which one isn’t familiar.
But the principal made a point too. If an evenly matched opponent were met, revealing all of one’s spells and talismans might win them the duel, but the opponent in the next round would definitely prepare talismans in restraint.
At this point, changing the talismans would indeed be a very good strategy, which can disrupt the opponent’s arrangement.
This made the magic duel even more interesting.
Should an uncommon set of talismans be assembled as a decoy, to attract attention in the early rounds?