The next morning, Xiang Ning woke up very early to make a huge breakfast. 

“All the best! I’ll buy you something good when I’m on my way back,” he said with a chuckle, stroking his sister’s head. Today was his qualifier among Marsh City’s top ten schools, as well as her exam day. Although she couldn’t personally watch her brother compete, she was sure her brother would qualify. All she had to do was do her exams in peace and get good grades. 

The school basically let Xiang Ning do whatever he wanted. They had no choice. Although he was only there as a part-time student, he had passed his cultural subjects with full marks. One must remember that Qiling Academy wouldn’t have recruited a student who was bad in both martial arts and academics. 

On the subject of martial arts, he was already able to challenge an entire school. Regular exams were nothing to him. This competition was just something that fit in his schedule, too. 

He personally sent Xiang Xiaoyu to school, then met the rest at the school gates. 

They stood out like a sore thumb. It was exam day for the entire school and there were many parents present. They all knew of the tournament through their children and looked at Xiang Ning’s team with admiration. Just look at other people’s children! 

Soon, a van arrived with Lei Zhongyuan and Qi Jiuming inside. They were headed to Hanwu Academy. Since it was a military academy, they had Marsh City’s best combat arena there. That was where ten schools’ best teams would compete. 

Although they didn’t have much hope of winning, no one was about to give up. 

Very quickly, the van entered Hanwu Academy. Due to being on the other side of the city, they were the last to arrive. Within the arena, the teams of the other nine schools had already taken their seats, among them several major figures who were rarely seen in public, like the richest businessmen, government officials, family members of participants, and many other civilians. 

These were the children of Marsh City. If the kids could achieve a good rank, Marsh City would greatly benefit as this tournament held the attention of the world. 

Passerby One said, “Why isn’t it starting yet?”

“Be patient, we’re lacking one more school.” 

“What school is it? How dare they make us wait?!” 

“Hehe, you haven’t been keeping up with the news, have you? It’s Qiling Academy, of course they’d dare make us wait.”

“Why?” To be honest, he hadn’t really paid attention to the affairs of Marsh City, as he wasn’t a local. Many people like him had decided to stay a few days after Annot’s concert since it was usually expensive to travel between cities. 

“You’ll understand later.” 

He looked at the rest, who were smiling without a word.

“They’re here.” 

Xiang Ning’s team poured through the entrance. All the students of the nine schools looked in his direction at once with smiles on their faces, making him nervous. 

“Uh… I guess they’re good looking, but if you say they’re strong, I really can’t tell. None of these members look as strong as the Hanwu students.” 

“Sigh, although we know the outcome, we still want to watch.” 

“Yeah, I want to see how strong these teenagers are.” 

Passerby One said, “What’re you talking about? What do you mean you know the outcome? It hasn’t even started yet, and you know who’s going to win?” 

After everyone had arrived, the City Lord of Marsh City, Fang Zhenyuan, officiated the commencement of the tournament on stage. 

There were ten teams, broken into two groups. The top two teams of each group would advance to the next round. In the first round, every team must battle the four other teams, with the number of victories determining the final rank. There was only one chance. 

Of course, the matches relied on drawing lots. 

Coincidentally, Qiling and Hanwu Academies were assigned to Group A, allowing Group B to heave a sigh of relief. They felt sympathy for the other three schools in Group A. All that awaited them was death. 

Due to the tight schedule, there were no unnecessary announcements. The battle began after the lots were drawn. Nobody knew if they had made an agreement beforehand, but Qiling and Hanwu didn’t let Xiang Ning and Wu Rui fight. 

The event proceeded to the finals. There were no dark horses or anything out of expectations—Hanwu and Qiling were indeed the final two teams. 

......

It was already noon. Wu Rui, who had been benched for the entire morning, got up and walked to the arena. He looked at the figure who also stood up at the same time and smirked. “We meet again.” 

“Yeah.” Xiang Ning kept it simple. 

Everyone who had kept up with recent events had been looking forward to this moment. 

“I comprehended a little more during these past few days. Let’s spar.” 

“Alright.” 

Both of them took out their weapons. There was no polite dance in the beginning, only a momentous eruption of power. The magnitude of a duel between two tier fours was vastly different from the rest. 

The duels before theirs were intense, but Xiang Ning vs Wu Rui was a level higher. 

Every student from the other schools had their eyes fixed on the combatants, almost everyone pulling out their cameras to record the event. This was a duel between Xiang Ning and Wu Rui, thus every move was worth analyzing and learning from. 

The people who were unfamiliar with them cocked their eyebrows. What were these students doing? The tournament’s ending soon, why’re these people recording them? The results of this fight aren’t official. 

Before Passerby One understood the situation, a Peak Mastery Mountain-Splitting Slash collided with a Peak Mastery Mountain Crash. The shockwaves and deafening boom shocked the audience, who remained stunned for a moment before gasping. 

But what happened next wasn’t the passionate duel they hoped for. Wu Rui took a few steps back and admitted defeat. 

He had never thought he could beat Xiang Ning. This strike was just to measure his progress after these past few days. 

“What was that? Is that it?” 

“Duh?” 

“No, these are the finals. How can they strike once and decide the duel has ended?” 

“Hehe, if they both wanted to fight for real, I wouldn’t be surprised if this arena collapsed. We’ve already confirmed that they’ll represent Marsh City, so what’s the point of fighting for first place?” 

Passerby One was confused as ever. When he saw all the excited and satisfied students, he wondered if the students in Marsh City were sick in the head. But the finals had really ended. You guys all have no chance to represent your city! Why’re you grinning like that? 

“Ah, my camera angle was really bad. I think Third School had a better view from their seats. Should we exchange videos with them?” 

“Of course! I could only capture the moment Teacher Xiang Ning unleashed his attack, but not the moment both attacks collided.” 

“Don’t worry, Teacher Xiang Ning and Wu Rui will be participating in the tournament, there’ll be many more chances to watch them fight.” 

“Oh, yeah!” The sudden realization excited the students very much. 

Passerby One was puzzled. “Have these students gone mad?!”

The fight ended so fast that I didn't even had the chance to grab my popcorn. Also that poor passerby didn't even know what was happening hahaha