Chapter 533 - Council of the Sea Gods Pavilion (2/2)

Tang Wulin grinned, “If you put it like that, then we’re definitely going to lose!”

Shen Yi scowled as she realized that Tang Wulin had no understanding of the stakes behind this particular competition.“You better win! If you do, everyone on your team will have all of the materials needed to make their one-word battle armor completely covered by the Academy.”

“Really?” Tang Wulin asked, eyes shining. The amount of raw metal needed for a single set of battle armor was enormous, and expensive to boot. Then there were the circuit cores to consider, which required special gemstones that served as the conduits for soul power. The circuit cores were essential, battle armor wouldn’t be functional without them, and each set required two. One for the chest plate and one for the helmet. These circuit cores were the most expensive component in battle armor.

“Yes, I just got approval from Elder Cai. She also mentioned that the Star Luo delegation wanted Shrek to send over a group of students as part of an exchange, and she wants the group to be from the lower grades of the outer court. If you show enough strength in this competition, you’ll stand a good chance of being chosen. That means you’ll have extra resources invested into your development.”

“Wow! That sounds great!” Tang Wulin was on the edge of his toes, holding back the urge to jump up in excitement. Shrek Academy had tens of thousands of years to accumulate resources, and he was certain that they would have have a treasure trove fit for an emperor. He had learned that while the Spirit Pagoda had astronomical amounts of money, not everything could be purchased. He was confident that with Shrek Academy investing resources into his team, they would be able to complete their one-word battle armor in no time at all.

Since she had said everything that needed to be said, Shen Yi dismissed Tang Wulin and Gu Yue.

Once they were outside the teachers’ office, Gu Yue asked, “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to go to the specialized cultivation rooms. Gotta sharpen the blade before the battle, you know,” Tang Wulin replied. Then he looked right at Gu Yue before continuing, “I don’t think we need to worry about our teamwork. So how about this, we’ll all just think about battle tactics and share our ideas tomorrow or the day after? We’ll see how well we match up against the third grade soon enough. Who knows if we stand a chance or not against them?”

Gu Yue pursed her lips in thought for a brief second and then said, “Our odds aren’t good, that’s for sure. Our real opponents are one-word battle armor masters, and none of us will be before the competition. We just don’t have enough time to complete a set. Let’s not forget that the battle armor masters produced at our academy are nothing like the ones outside,” Gu Yue said. Their greatest obstacle to victory were the two one-word battle armor masters in the third grade.

“We’ll just have to do our best then.” Tang Wulin said, shrugging.

☀

Time flew by, and it was now the eve of their competition with the third grade. There was a tense atmosphere had settled on the shoulders of the students from the first and second grades during the past few days, and this was especially true in the working students dormitory.

For two whole days, they exhaustively discussed tactics and countermeasures against the third grade. They had debated endlessly on who would be going up for each of the matches, trying to decide on the best strategy. The duels were each worth a single point, the two-on-two battle earned two points, and the final team battle granted the victorious side five points. On top of this, there were other ways to have points awarded. The team that had the most victories overall would be given three points, and there were two points to be handed out for meritorious conduct. In order to win, they needed to score at least six points. Every single match mattered.

Unlike the match between the first and second grades, this particular competition had garnered the attention of the entire outer court. It was rare even in Shrek Academy’s long history for a competition to happen between classes with such a large age gap. A difference of six years was the divide between heaven and earth.

☀

Over at the third grade classroom, the students were quite boisterous.

“Class President, the Academy has gotta be spurring us on with this competition! I can’t believe those kids in the first and second grades think they can challenge us. They’ve ridiculously overestimated their abilities,” said a slender young man. His lips curled up in an arrogant smile as he crossed his legs and glanced at the young man beside him.

Since they were in the third grade, they were all around eighteen years old.

The class President of the third grade was a tall man with ruggedly handsome looks, akin to a young Nathan Fillion with almond eyes. Although some would argue that he wasn’t exactly handsome, there was an air of mischievous dignity about him. He sat upright with perfect posture, perfectly still as the pillar of the room or as a captain would on the bridge of the Serenity. Even if the sky fell down or the show was cancelled, he seemed as if he could easily hold it up.

He was Li Qiankun, the third grade’s class president and one of their two battle armor masters. He was eighteen years old and a rank 52 defense-type. His martial soul was a peculiar one that was known as the Orb of Heaven and Earth, a rare variant tool martial soul.

“I’ve heard some rumors about the first and second grades. We cannot underestimate them,” Li Qiankun rumbled in his bassy voice.

The arrogant man beside him sat up. “Boss, there’s no need to worry so much. The strongest ones they got only just reached rank 40. How strong could they be? Let me go up for one of the duels. I reckon the Academy also wanted this competition to serve as motivation for those kids to work harder and make sure they don’t get too arrogant.”

This young man was Ye Wu, an agility-type. His battle armor was 70% done. Currently seventeen years old, he expected to finish his armor by the time he turned twenty and enter the inner court. He was one of the core members of the third grade.

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