CHAPTER 102: CHAPTER 102 REACTIONS FROM ALL PARTIES_1

Ao City.

As referees, the three Martial Kings all wore stunned expressions, staring in disbelief at the screen before them.

Only when they saw the rescue personnel actually escorting the Royal Martial Arts Academy team away did they finally regain their senses.

"This is big trouble now." King Xing’s tone carried a hint of shock. "Wang Zhan, that kid, is too audacious! This is the Federal Martial Arts Tournament, and he eliminated one of the Four Great Academies... How dare he!"

"Hmph. Anyway, what’s done is done, and it’s too late to say anything. We should think about countermeasures," the King of Thunder let out a long sigh, sounding somewhat worried.

The Federal Martial Arts Tournament was the most important annual event for the Federation’s academy system. The tournament’s results determined the resources allocated by the Federation to the various martial arts academies in the coming year.

The four major Martial Arts Academies had been strong for many years. This was because they had consistently ranked in the top four in the tournament, always enjoying the best resources.

With the best resources, they naturally attracted good teachers and then recruited talents from across the Federation.

This recurring cycle led to the four major Martial Arts Academies of today.

But this time, the team competition, scheduled to last a full month, had been underway for less than a week, and the Royal Martial Arts Academy, one of the four majors, was eliminated so prematurely! One should know that thirty to forty teams were still in the competition area!

In other words, the Royal Martial Arts Academy’s team ranking in this competition was destined to be at the bottom.

This was especially true given that Wang Zhan had seized all of the Royal Martial Arts Academy’s beast cores.

"Has the leaderboard been updated?" King Xiong asked.

"It’s updated. Chu State Military Martial Academy is first with 4,800 points. Royal Martial Arts Academy has 0 points... ranking last." King Xing’s voice trembled slightly.

That the three Martial Kings were so shocked underscored the severity of this matter.

Because academy rankings first considered points, and if points were the same, then elimination time, the Royal Martial Arts Academy, with 0 points, naturally secured last place.

"The Royal Martial Arts Academy has cultivated many talents over the years. Most of them now hold important positions throughout the Federation. They won’t sit idly by and let the Royal Martial Arts Academy be humiliated like this," King Xiong said solemnly. "And if that old fellow from the Royal Martial Arts Academy finds out about this... I’m afraid..."

At this point, the three Martial Kings exchanged glances and instinctively stopped the discussion.

"First, report the facts to the Federation, including the cause and consequences. Submit all recordings," the King of Thunder said. "Actually, the Royal Martial Arts Academy also eliminated other martial arts academies before. This matter could be considered major or minor, depending on how it’s handled."

"Ultimately, it depends on the powers backing each side." King Xiong nodded. "Chu State Military Martial Academy definitely can’t protect Wang Zhan. In matters like these, fairness has never been a factor. I hope that kid Wang Zhan has some other trump cards, or else he will definitely suffer a major loss this time."

"Sigh..."

"I’m going out to make a call." The King of Thunder waved his hand and walked out of the room.

...

Meanwhile, at the Royal Martial Arts Academy across the ocean.

In a room on the top floor of a magnificent castle.

A Westerner with long hair and a long beard was quietly watching the screen in front of him.

The screen showed live broadcasts of each team in the competition.

In theory, only referees had the privilege of watching such footage, but in the Federation, there were always a few truly high-level individuals who could ignore the rules.

Edward Bawell, the head of the Royal Martial Arts Academy and one of the seven Elders in the Federation, had broken through to the Martial Emperor Realm over a decade ago.

He hadn’t made a move in many years now, and no one knew how much further Edward had advanced.

Had he reached the peak of Martial Emperor, or perhaps Martial Saint, or even stronger?

No one knew.

But everyone who knew Edward understood that this seemingly ordinary old man was definitely one of the people in the Federation one should never provoke.

"So, we’re eliminated just like that, huh?" A smile actually touched Edward’s lips as he watched the Royal Martial Arts Academy team’s elimination on the screen.

"Those fools in the academic faction, all they know is how to pursue flashy, superficial innovations. Ridiculous."

As his voice fell, Edward rose from his chair, stretched, and looked out the window.

"I need to go have a word with them. I don’t accept this outcome."

"And that young fellow who eliminated our Royal Martial Arts Academy team... Wang Zhan, was it? We should see if he can be recruited. If not... well, the Federation has plenty of talents. Losing one won’t be a significant loss."

Edward’s monologue ended there.

The moment his voice faded, his figure also vanished from the room.

「Oceania, wilderness, northeastern area.」

A team was resting in an open area. Beside them, the corpse of an intermediate Soldier-level beast lay quietly.

"The Royal Martial Arts Academy has been eliminated, and Wang Zhan from Chu State did it again." Yuan Mengru turned off her personal terminal, looking somewhat surprised. "Chu State Military Martial Academy’s ranking has actually surpassed ours, while the Royal Martial Arts Academy has fallen to last place... Interesting."

Yuan Mengru, a third-year student at Yanjing Martial Arts Academy, was their team leader for this tournament.

Before this tournament, none of her teammates had even heard of Yuan Mengru. They only later found out that after Yuan Mengru enrolled in the Academy, she was immediately taken as a direct disciple by the Academy Director. She had trained for three years under the guidance of a Martial Emperor Expert.

At twenty years old, she was a Level 1 Warrior, had surpassed her limits by over 35%, and was learning the most advanced Mental Energy Cultivation Method. She also possessed numerous trump cards.

If not for Wang Zhan, Yuan Mengru could arguably be called the pinnacle of this generation’s young Martial Artists.

Yet now, she was repeatedly being overshadowed by Wang Zhan of Chu State.

I wonder how he did it, Yuan Mengru mused, her large eyes blinking, brimming with curiosity. Did he lead an ambush, seize an opportunity, or directly crush the entire Royal Martial Arts Academy team?

Before arriving, her master, Yun Tianyi, the director of Yanjing Martial Arts Academy, had specifically warned her. In this competition, she could afford to look down on anyone except Wang Zhan from Chu State; she might not be his match.

For a Martial Emperor Expert to speak with such conviction, Yuan Mengru naturally wouldn’t disbelieve or refuse to accept it.

But at the same time, she also developed an intense curiosity about Wang Zhan.

"Speaking of which, your ’Big Brother’ Zhong Lun was so thoroughly beaten by Wang Zhan that he lost all fighting spirit. Didn’t he then go berserk after returning?" Yuan Mengru looked at her teammates and chuckled. "What do you say? Want to go find Wang Zhan for revenge? I remember the Royal Martial Arts Academy’s operational area isn’t too far from ours. We should still be able to make it if we head out now."

Zhong Lun, a top student in his third year, originally had a place on the Yanjing Martial Arts Academy team.

However, after Wang Zhan directly crushed him in Chu State, Zhong Lun’s condition deteriorated. During a previous attempt to break through, he went berserk, severely damaging his meridians. Naturally, he was removed from the Yanjing Martial Arts Academy team.

However, several of Zhong Lun’s former followers were still on the team.

"Captain, let’s forget it," a team member said, shaking his head. "Those guys from the Federal Martial Arts Academy and the Federal Military Martial Academy are teaming up. Our main priority should be dealing with them."

"Hmph. Both are among the Four Great Academies, yet they resort to teaming up. Shameless," Yuan Mengru scoffed.

"Anyway, whether it’s the other two of the Four Great Academies or Wang Zhan of Chu State, we’ll have to face them eventually! Before that, let’s go find some other ’fun’."

Hearing this, the faces of the Yanjing Martial Arts Academy members fell considerably.

The ’fun’ Yuan Mengru spoke of was anything but amusing.

Especially for these Martial Artists who weren’t yet Warriors, this ’fun’ was potentially fatal.

...

Wang Zhan was unaware that his elimination of the Royal Martial Arts Academy had caused a huge stir in the Federation.

Dusk was falling. He was perched on a stone platform halfway up a cliff, eating his rations while checking the map on his personal terminal.

I’m now beyond the area Ke Lan mapped, Wang Zhan pondered. I’m probably only a few dozen kilometers from the edge of the area shown on the terminal’s map.

He still didn’t understand how points were awarded for exploring unknown areas. The competition rules offered no clues either.

Forget it, I’ll take it one step at a time.

Turning off the map, Wang Zhan contacted Song Dongming again.

Wang Zhan was completely relieved to learn that Song Dongming and the others had successfully hunted two more lower Soldier-level beasts that day, and that everyone was unharmed.

It seems I really was redundant in the Chu State Military Martial Academy Team, he thought. They’re actually doing better without me.

They were all geniuses. With Wang Zhan present, the others naturally couldn’t shine as brightly.

But once Wang Zhan left, the talents of the other team members began to emerge.

Six Martial Artists managing to kill soldier-level beasts in high-intensity combat without sustaining any injuries—this was enough to prove their excellence.

After ending the call with Song Dongming, Wang Zhan leaned against the rock wall, closed his eyes, and slowly drifted into a light sleep.

...

Early next morning, Wang Zhan set off again, heading towards the unknown area on the map.

Along the way, he encountered a few lower Soldier-level beasts. However, with his current strength, they couldn’t even withstand three of his moves.

The improvement from Martial Artist to Warrior was immense.

For Wang Zhan especially, his raw power had increased at least fivefold.

Of course, this boost came from his mental energy, and such significant improvements might not be as common in the future. After all, the Martial Artist realm is merely the beginning of the martial arts path; the journey truly starts at the Warrior realm.

Regardless, in this wilderness of Oceania, Wang Zhan could, in a sense, now traverse it with ease, as if walking on flat ground.

By noon, Wang Zhan was only a few kilometers from the target area.

However, he stopped, because he spotted bright flares in the sky not far away.