Chapter 86: The Final Challenge

After eating, the group left Jia Family Kitchenette. The dorm brothers, with ulterior motives, offered to walk Xuanyuan Ningshuang, Yang Ning, and Zhang Feng back. As for Jiang Xincheng and Lin Anan, they left the main group and took a walk around the school.

“Xincheng, what do you think of Ningshuang?” For some reason, Lin Anan suddenly asked this question.

Hearing the slight hint of wariness in Lin Anan’s words, a strange smile crossed Jiang Xincheng’s lips. He nodded and said, “Ningshuang is quite good. Her looks are stunning, her talent and aptitude are excellent, her personality is nice, and she is very capable. Her figure is top-notch too. I heard she also has some background. She is really an outstanding girl.”

Listening to Jiang Xincheng praise Xuanyuan Ningshuang and seeing his admiring expression, Lin Anan felt inexplicably upset. She snorted coldly and said, “Since you think Xuanyuan Ningshuang is so outstanding, I’ll try to matchmake you two later. That way, you can successfully win the beauty and become the happiest man at Tianhai University.”

Clearly, the young beauty was a bit jealous.

Seeing Lin Anan’s cute pout, a bright smile spread across Jiang Xincheng’s face. He shook his head and said, “Although Xuanyuan Ningshuang is outstanding, she’s just not my type. People have different tastes, you know. I just don’t like Xuanyuan Ningshuang, the big cabbage. Instead, I prefer a certain little carrot.”

Jiang Xincheng’s words struck a chord with Lin Anan. She turned her gaze toward him, and Jiang Xincheng also looked gently back at Lin Anan. They gazed into each other’s eyes for a long while without saying a word. Lin Anan’s delicate jade-like face slowly turned crimson, and she suddenly looked away. “I’m not a little carrot,” she said.

“Haha.” Jiang Xincheng laughed heartily. He reached out and took Lin Anan’s soft little hand. Lin Anan shuddered but did not pull away, allowing Jiang Xincheng to hold her soft hand as they walked under the dim streetlights…

The next day, banners fluttered, drums boomed, and the entire Tianhai University was bustling with excitement.

Tens of thousands of students swarmed in. They came to the Stadium before dawn to grab seats. By five or six in the morning, the entire Stadium was packed. More and more media reporters from across the Alliance arrived, and various factions also gathered in droves.

Because it was time for the most thrilling and exciting moment of the All-School Martial Examination.

The Challenge Tournament!

The top ten freshmen could challenge sophomores, juniors, and seniors, but they had to do so in order and could not skip grades. Sophomores could challenge juniors and seniors, and juniors could challenge seniors.

If a challenge was successful, the winner would receive half of the opponent’s prize money. However, each senior could only be challenged once, and challenges could not be repeated. Furthermore, unless a student defeated the top-ranked student of that grade, they could not challenge a higher grade.

For example, if Jiang Xincheng wanted to challenge a senior, he first had to defeat all the Chief Students of the sophomore and junior years. Also, he could only challenge up to three times per grade. If he failed, he would lose the qualification to challenge.

These challenge rules still seemed a bit simple and had some unreasonable aspects. But in the current Primordial Force enlightenment era, they were already considered remarkable innovations. That’s why every year, Tianhai University’s All-School Martial Examination attracted the attention of many factions within the Shenxia Alliance.

As the only student from the College of Computer Management and Science to rank in the top ten of his grade, and also the Chief Student of the freshman year, Jiang Xincheng obviously received full support from the entire College of Computer Management and Science.

“Xincheng, Xincheng, united we stand! Go, go, all as one!”

“Jiang Xincheng must win! The College of Computer Management and Science must win!”

“Fearless Jiang Xincheng, defeat higher grades, matchless bravery!”

…

Below the stands, a lively cheerleading squad of nearly a hundred beauties from the College of Computer Management and Science jumped and cheered for Jiang Xincheng. Behind them, all the students of the College of Computer Management and Science were shouting and cheering in support.

The situation was similar for other colleges. Only forty students made it to the final Challenge Tournament, and these forty were the elite of the elite from their respective colleges. Considering that Tianhai University had a total of sixty colleges, only forty students qualified for the final Challenge Tournament.

This meant that, on average, not even one student per college could enter the final Challenge Tournament. It was clear that standing on the Challenge Tournament stage was a celebratory event for any college.

Most importantly, the amount of funding a college received the following year was heavily influenced by its performance in the All-School Martial Examination. No wonder the higher-ups of each college placed such great importance on this event.

Jiang Xincheng becoming the top-ranked freshman in this year’s All-School Martial Examination would at least double the funding for the College of Computer Management and Science in the coming year. This was a tangible benefit.

Not only that, Jiang Xincheng would also unconditionally receive the highest scholarship for the freshman year. So, the All-School Martial Examination was very important for both the college and the students themselves. Moreover, performing well in the Martial Examination could attract the attention of major factions, leading to limitless future prospects.

Fame, power, status, wealth… All of these, Tianhai University’s All-School Martial Examination could bring to the participants.

“Next, the final Challenge Tournament begins!”

With the deafening words of Tianhai University’s principal, the final Challenge Tournament of the All-School Martial Examination commenced.

The Challenge Tournament started with the freshman year. It was a free-for-all challenge. Anyone who wanted to challenge a higher-grade student could directly step onto the stage; there was no set order. Once it was confirmed that no student from that grade wanted to challenge, they would move on to the next grade.

And now, the freshman year challenges began. As the principal’s words faded, Jiang Xincheng, the top-ranked freshman in the All-School Martial Examination and the Chief Student of the freshman year, was the first to step forward. He walked slowly toward the martial Platform.

At this moment, the central martial Platform had combined four smaller Platforms into one, forming a single large Platform instead of being divided into four sections.

“Look, it’s Jiang Xincheng, the Chief Student of the freshman year. I didn’t expect him to be the first to challenge. That’s too bold. I wonder which sophomore he’ll challenge.”

“Wow, Jiang Xincheng is currently the number one cross-grade fighter at our Tianhai University. Now, the top ten sophomores are basically experts at Bone Training Realm middle stage or above. I wonder who he’ll pick.”

“He definitely won’t choose a senior at Bone Training Realm middle stage or above. If he picks anyone, it’ll be one of those few at the Bone Training Realm initial stage. Jiang Xincheng isn’t stupid enough to go straight for the strongest ones.”

“Actually, when you think about it, the strength gap between freshmen and sophomores isn’t that big. Even the top ten students across all four grades aren’t that far apart. It’s just that, compared to lower-grade students, upperclassmen started earlier and trained harder. But even so, the difference in strength is limited. After all, Primordial Force only appeared a few years ago, and the Primordial Ultimate Art has only been around for five years. Everyone basically started from the same line. Unless there’s a huge difference in talent or family conditions, the strength gap isn’t significant. That’s why cross-grade challenges are so common.”

…