Chapter 584 Commencement of the Contest
Old Bai behaved so arrogantly that he didn’t even look like who he usually was.
It was because everybody knew that the Thug Academy’s rise was inevitable. Now that the Thug Academy had revealed itself in front of the 36 towns again after thirty years, they must be prepared.
In particular, Han Fei had delivered a shocking performance in the Wind Thunder Arena the previous day by crushing two experts above his level and subduing a legendary creature. That incident alone had made the presidents and mayors understand that the Thug Academy’s rise to the top was unstoppable.
It was also why the mayors and presidents demanded that some contestants from the Thug Academy not use their spiritual beasts in the arena during the meeting in the previous day.
They were still allowed to use it when experts on par with them showed up, but if they used it when none of these people showed up, their rise to the top would be of little significance.
At this moment, Xiao Zhan led Han Fei and the others to the seats of the Blue Sea Town. There were ten seats at the front row that had been reserved for them.
Under countless people’s watch, Han Fei and the others walked to their seats with a smile.
Qu Jinnan and Ling Yuan were mumbling to each other.
Qu Jinnan said, “I feel that everybody is strongly hostile to us.”
Ling Yuan rolled her eyes. “What do you mean by ‘strongly hostile? I think they’re literally going to beat us up.”
“Did Senior Brother do anything big again in this place yesterday before we arrived?”
Ling Yuan nodded. “Definitely did.”
When Han Fei and the others passed by the Fiery Dragon Town, the students’ eyes were burning with fury. When they passed the Cloud Soaring Town, the students and teachers looked at them enviously.
Someone even said in a low voice, “It’s him! He helped us yesterday!”
Someone said with mixed feelings, “I’m told that this Senior Brother was so strong that the Hidden Fisher of the Wind Thunder Arena had to intervene yesterday.”
Someone sighed, “How great it would be if the Cloud Soaring Town also had a genius like him!”
Suddenly, Zhang Xuanyu sensed something and said to Han Fei telepathically, there are people we know here. Huh? We’re in another town. How can we know anybody here?
Don’t forget that we saved a lot of people back in the Abyssal Chasm. A few of them just greeted me.
Hardly had he said that when a few voices echoed in Han Fei’s head.
Brother Han, I’m Zhang Qian from the Yuan Engraving Town. Thank you for saving my life. Brother Han, I’m Yu Guangdong from the Water Spread Town. Thank you for saving my life in the Abyssal Chasm.
Brother Han, I’m Wang Cheng from the Peace Town. I’ll be sure to entertain you should you ever visit Peace Town.
Han Fei looked at the sources of those voices, and some of them nodded at him here and there.
Han Fei had a lot of complicated feelings. In the beginning, he rescued them simply because he didn’t want them to starve, which was more miserable than being killed.
However, many of those people, as the best of their towns, had come to this match and met him again after they regained their strength.
Xiao Zhan turned back and looked at Han Fei and Zhang Xuanyu. “You two have a lot of friends!”
Both Han Fei and Zhang Xuanyu grinned.
Hardly had Han Fei and the others sat down when the mayor of the Wind Thunder Town spoke, “Referees, to your position. Students from the 36 towns, be prepared. The first round of match-ups has been settled. The contests will begin in one hundred seconds.”
Dozens of referees emerged in the arena. They were all Dangling Fishers. Each of them took up a spot.
The whole arena was divided into ten fields. It appeared that ten matches would be held simultaneously.
It did make sense on second thought. After all, there were too many contestants from the 36 towns. Although each academy only had 300 contestants, the 36 towns had 10,800 of them in total. If ten matches were held each time, the first round, which meant 5,400 matches, couldn’t possibly be finished in one day. Le Renkuang couldn’t help but ask, “Is it really possible for us to watch ten games at the same time?”
Luo Xiaobai said, “You can focus on the matches that you’re interested in. It will be best if you can compare their performance to yours and learn from them.”
Zhang Xuanyu grinned. “It’s slightly boring, but it will be fine as long as you find something that can grab your interest.”
Wenren Yu looked at Qu Jinnan and Ling Yuan and said, “You two watch carefully. Even the weakest players often have something you can learn.”
Not just Wenren Yu, the teachers from almost all the towns were educating their students at this moment.
One of the teachers said, “Open your eyes as widely as possible, especially if you are a grand fishing master. You are still in the level of mortals. You must seize this opportunity. A match among the 36 towns doesn’t happen regularly. Every player here has their specialty. Their techniques may be dazzling. It’s up to you how much you can absorb.”
Another teacher said, “Observe carefully. Everybody will have to write a report on the match when it’s over. Don’t be slacker.”
Some other teachers reminded their students, “You must not miss this rare opportunity. Observing this match will do you great good for your future training. Don’t be absent minded.”
The most devoted students of all were those from the Cloud Soaring Town. They had all bulged their eyes without their teachers saying anything
This time, six hundred people had come from the Cloud Soaring Town, and only a hundred of them were Dangling Fishers and contestants. The rest were all observers.
Because the Cloud Soaring Town had always been weak, they didn’t want to send many students to the Unknown Place, so they were actually reluctant to even send the hundred contestants.
Ling Ling said, “Everybody, listen up. After the match, go back and continue your training without delay. When you make a breakthrough, you can go to the level-three fishery for higher training.” “Yes, madam.”
While everybody was anxiously or earnestly waiting, Han Fei simply felt extremely uncomfortable.
Xia Xiaochan glanced at Han Fei with a smile. “She’s been staring at you!”
Han Fei murmured, “Don’t laugh!”
He Xiaoyu glared at Han Fei angrily. Han Fei said to himself, I won’t look back. I just won’t look back.
A hundred seconds passed by quickly.
Immediately, the referees in the field began to talk.
“Yuan Yi, from the Golden Dragon Academy of the Million Gold Town, will fight Gan Ji, from the Eternal Peace Academy in the Peaceful Orchid Town in the No. 1 Field! Hu He from the Return Academy of the Triumph Town and Yang Jinchuan from the Red Moon Academy of the Red Moon Town, be prepared.”
“Hu Lixin, from the Scorching Fire Academy of the Fiery Dragon Town, will fight Pang Yi, from the Flying Ocean Academy in the Sea Source Town in the No. 2 Field! Yan Rong from the Furious Tide Academy of the Divine Billow Town and Shui Weiwei from the Heavenly Martial Academy of the Heavenly Martial Town, be prepared.” “Zhang Nanshang, from the Waterfall Academy of the Blue Sea Academy, will fight Cui Yue, from the Heavenly Joint Academy in the Peace Town in the No. 3 Field! Fan Ming from the Phoenix Table Academy of the White Table Town and Liang Qiu from the Thousand Water Academy of the Water Spread Town, be prepared.”
Those whose names were announced rose and walked to the fields solemnly.
On the Blue Sea Town’s side, when Zhang Nanshang, whose name was just read, rose, many people cheered for him.
“Nanshang, keep it up!”
“Brother Shang, take him down!” “Ah Shang, fight him! Don’t hold yourself back!”
The teacher of the third academy roared, “Don’t dawdle and just go there. Remember, don’t hold yourself back. The Dangling Fishers will take action if anything happens.’ Soon, the twenty constants were in position, and those who were going to replace them had moved to the front row. They watched the fields anxiously.
After all, this match was among the 36 towns and wasn’t just about personal honor. They were representatives of their own towns.
Everybody was fully aware of that. They could lose the battle, but they must not lose their face.
In the fields, the referees stood grimly and shouted almost at the same time when the contestants were in position, “Ready… Go!”
The moment they shouted “go”, naturally-endowed spiritual beasts and contractual spiritual beasts were everywhere in the arena.
Weapons were flooding out of the armorists’ weapon boxes.
Some manipulators were rolling out vines with themselves as the center.
Some soul warriors simply activated their secret techniques, raising a storm of sand.
Han Fei was quite refreshed and shocked to see that. “They’re fighting rather hard!”
Wenren Yu was sitting next to Han Fei. “Of course. Don’t you see how many people are watching them? They have to fight as crazily as possible even though they may be weak in your eyes.”
At this moment, Han Fei sensed that He Xiaoyu had withdrawn her gaze from his back. She must’ve been attracted to the battles too.
Qu Jinnan and Ling Yuan’s eyes widened and looked around, as if they wanted to watch all the battlefields at the same time.
However, for some people, such as Han Fei and Li Hanyi, they had only chosen the games fought by worthy rivals. The best contestant on the field was Gan Ji from the Peaceful Orchid Town. He was a soul warrior, and he had an usual gait and a giant sword. He had an aggressive crab as his spiritual beast too.
After only three minutes, the nine matches were over. The unfinished one was between two armorists who were fighting a prolonged battle.
One round passed… Two rounds passed… In the seventeenth round, a referee shouted, “Han Fei from the Thug Academy of the Blue Sea Academy will fight Xie Chuan from the Twin Dragons Academy of the Long Dragon Town.”