Chapter 154: The Championship’s Opening Ceremony

　　Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

　　January 10th.

　　The National New Students’ Championship had officially started!

　　Early in the morning, countless people were already gathered in front of MCMAU’s gates.

　　Many journalists had occupied the first row of seats, cameras flashing non-stop.

　　“Magic City’s Governor Huang is here!”

　　“The Department of Education’s Deputy Minister Zhang!”

　　“The director of Magic City’s Department of Investigation Services!”

　　“Hey, those are people from the Military Department, aren’t they?”

　　“Business people have come too. That’s Fosun’s vice president, isn’t it?”

　　“The director of Pacific Insurance is here too. That can’t be good. It couldn’t be that he’s here to settle claims for people who lose their lives, could it?”

　　“…”

　　Away from the crowd, Fang Yuan stood on tiptoes, so frantic that she was sweating profusely. She was annoyed. “I can’t even see anything. Why won’t they let us in?”

　　Tan Zhenping smiled and said pacifyingly, “After these big names enter, it’ll be our turn.”

　　Compared to the big figures at the center of attention, them being able to observe the battles was already not bad. Tan Zhenping did not have too many requests.

　　As for his boss’s boss… A deputy minister from the Department of Education came, but that had nothing to do with Tan Zhenping.

　　There were too many small-fries like him. How would anyone know which one he was?

　　“What about the students from martial arts universities?” Someone asked curiously.

　　Tan Zhenping did not care who asked and replied casually, “It seems they’ve entered earlier from a different gate.”

　　Wu Zhihao grumbled, “What did that jerk Fang Ping leave for? I thought he would personally bring us in, but he’s just gone and disappeared.”

　　“My brother said he has matters to attend to and told us to go in first by ourselves.”

　　Fang Yuan explained on her brother’s behalf. Fang Ping would not have ditched his little sister without a reason.

　　The small group followed the crowd, pushing and shoving while talking loudly.

　　The big figures at the center of attention had already entered one after another. Soon, it was their turn.

　　It was quick and efficient. After the big figures entered, people from MCMAU were leading teams to arrange the audience’s entrance.

　　…

　　After seven or eight minutes, everybody followed the teams and entered MCMAU’s gym together.

　　As everybody had just entered, it was very noisy.

　　Before long, a powerhouse stepped onto the gym’s Central Battle Stage and shouted, “Silence!”

　　“Everyone is to find their own seats and loud chattering is not allowed!

　　“This is a martial arts championship, not a celebrity’s concert!

　　“Maintaining silence is the ultimate respect to every single martial artist!

　　“Nobody is allowed to interrupt the fights, make unnecessary noise or insult the participants!

　　“…”

　　The powerhouse gave a long list of regulations and the crowd eventually quietened.

　　Only then did the audience realize this was no usual event. The championship was not a theatrical troupe either.

　　Any martial artist occupied a special tier in society.

　　Allowing spectators to watch the battles today was already breaking the mold. Other than those underground types, normal people could never watch an official competition between martial artists of such a high caliber in the past.

　　After announcing the rules, the martial artist onstage continued. “The first National New Students’ Championship has officially started!”

　　Momentarily, the people below the stage could not wrap their heads around the statement. That fast?

　　The leader was not going to say anything?

　　No introductions for the special guests either?

　　As the audience was having a brain fart, somebody came onto one side of the stage holding a microphone and said loudly, “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for maintaining your silence!

　　“I and the lovely lady martial artist beside me will be explaining the procedure of this competition.

　　“Let me introduce myself. I am Liu Huarong, a Rank-4 martial artist from the Martial Arts Alliance.”

　　“I’m Chen Xueyan, a Rank-4 martial artist from the Department of Education.”

　　Liu Huarong looked very young, like he was in his early thirties, and he had a smile on his face from start to finish.

　　Although Chen Xueyan was also smiling, hers was not as natural.

　　The championship was open to the public and allowed normal people to observe the battles. There was no precedent for this, so everybody had many suggestions for how to host this competition.

　　Someone suggested appealing to the citizens more and even invite a few established and popular hosts to explain it.

　　However, many people disagreed. They felt it should be more serious. The championship was not silly entertainment, and it was not a performance competition either.

　　This was a very serious martial arts competition in essence.

　　There were many things involved, including the feeling of the participating martial artists. These people were pillars, not circus members.

　　After arguing back and forth, they reached a compromise. They invited Liu Huarong, who could appeal to the public, to do a simple explanation on the day itself and invited the Department of Education’s Chen Xueyan to be his counterpart, her main purpose being to uphold strictness.

　　Her job was to prevent Liu Huarong from getting the audience too excited to the point of interfering with the competition.

　　After the two introduced themselves, Liu Ronghua swiftly smiled and said, “Truthfully, this is also my first time hosting such a big martial arts championship in front of so many people.

　　“I won’t blather on. Let me give a simple introduction of this championship’s background.

　　“The Sino Nation has a total of 99 martial arts universities of which Capital City Martial Arts University and Magic City Martial Arts University are the most well-known.

　　“Of the other 97 universities, Sino Nation Martial Arts University, Capital University, East Sino Nation Normal University, South Capital Martial Arts University… 8 martial arts universities make up the body of the Eight School Alliance.

　　“The other 89 martial arts universities make up the Martial Arts University Alliance.

　　“This time, 4 teams are entering the championship, which are Capital City Martial Arts University, Magic City Martial Arts University, the Eight School Alliance and the Martial Arts University Alliance.

　　“The competition is based on a team battle system. Each team can only have a maximum of 5 people entering the battle during each competition, but only one-on-one confrontations.

　　“The loser of a match leaves the stage, and the winner can continue accepting challenges!

　　“Whichever team that remains on stage wins.

　　“The rules are very simple. Moreover, the order of the participants’ battles will be assigned in advance. For the first round of the competition, it’ll be decided through drawing lots!

　　“Today’s opening ceremony is mainly to introduce the members of each team and draw lots to decide their opponents.

　　“The nation has 99 martial arts universities and tens of thousands of new students in martial arts universities. The ones who made it to the competition today, even if they’re on the reserve team, are the prodigies of Sino Nation’s next generation of martial artists!

　　“Next, let us get to know these prodigies. Years later, perhaps we’ll be able to admire their figures as the leaders of various industries!

　　“Now, let’s welcome the host team, Magic City Martial Arts University’s competing team!”

　　…

　　Backstage.

　　Fu Changding straightened his clothes, saying edgily, “I’m a little nervous suddenly.”

　　“Me too.”

　　“There are so many people. There are even many Grandmasters on the second floor!”

　　“…”

　　All of them were quite nervous, and Fang Ping was no exception.

　　At the side, Bai Ruoxi placated them. “Don’t be nervous, this is just a formality. You won’t be competing today. You guys must overcome it!

　　“If you guys are getting worked up over this, it’ll be a big problem when you get on the battle stage.”

　　Everybody nodded hastily. The upcoming fights on the battle stage will have a huge audience as well.

　　If this reduced them to a bag of nerves, any mistakes made during the upcoming battles could lead to death.

　　After hearing the shout from the front, Fang Ping released a breath and steadied himself. “Let’s go. On the stage!”

　　Although they were a little uneasy, they still had the qualities of elite students and followed Fang Ping after hearing his words, walking toward the stage together.

　　…

　　The front of the stage.

　　While Liu Huarong waited for them to come on stage, he flipped through his notes and smiled. “I’ve seen some of the news previously on the Internet too.

　　“At the time, Magic City Martial Arts University’s Student Zhao Lei was very popular. Zhao Lei was Magic City’s Year 08 Gaokao’s first place and was already a Rank-1 martial artist before he entered the school.

　　“Everyone felt Student Zhao Lei would definitely be stronger now… This is for sure!

　　“As you’d expect, Student Zhao Lei is in MCMAU’s participating team as one of the main team’s members.

　　“However… The team leader of MCMAU this year is not Student Zhao Lei. Of course, the leader is not necessarily the strongest, but a student who isn’t strong definitely would not be the leader!

　　“Just who, then, is the team leader of MCMAU?”

　　As Liu Huarong spoke, Fang Ping was already stepping out.

　　“Has everyone seen him? The person walking in front of MCMAU’s team is MCMAU’s team leader, Student Fang Ping!

　　“Student Fang Ping, why don’t you greet everybody?”

　　Onstage, Fang Ping bowed slightly. He opened his mouth and said, “Hello, everyone. I am a freshman at Magic City Martial Arts University under the School of Weaponry, Fang Ping!”

　　…

　　Below the stage.

　　Fang Yuan was thoroughly dumbfounded.

　　“That’s my brother?”

　　The girl’s brain felt heavy. Why was Fang Ping onstage, and why was he the team leader?

　　Xiaoling’s eyes alighted. With a look of reverence, she said, “Big Brother Fang is a chosen participant from MCMAU, and he’s even the team leader! Yuanyuan, your brother is too amazing!”

　　…

　　On the other side, Wu Zhihao and the others looked as if they were test subjects for a paralysis technique.

　　They stared at each other. Half a beat later, Wu Zhihao spoke with a bitter expression on his face. “He’s the team leader?”

　　“This bastard… He’s MCMAU’s team leader, and he didn’t tell us!” Yang Jian was at a complete loss for words.

　　Liu Ruoqi was relatively calmer and said in a low voice, “How strong is Fang Ping exactly?”

　　“This…”

　　They did not have to guess. On one side of the stage, Liu Huarong smiled as he said, “Student Fang Ping is from MCMAU’s School of Weaponry. He is Peak Rank-1 and is also the top student of the Year 08 martial sciences examinations in Auspicious Sun City.

　　“Of course, this is the information their school passed. Don’t take it seriously, everybody. MCMAU won’t necessarily expose all of their students’ strengths.”

　　Chen Xueyan, who had been silent all this while, cut in. “It’s not ‘not necessarily’. They definitely won’t expose all of their strength.

　　“According to the information MCMAU gave, their team leader Fang Ping is adept… adept at the Lion’s Roar. Do you believe it?”

　　“Ahem ahem ahem, I actually missed this line. My apologies…”

　　Onstage, Fang Ping was also feeling awkward. Could this person not follow cues!

　　MCMAU could have chosen someone more serious to handle the information!

　　As Fang Ping was not the only person onstage, Liu Huarong and Chen Xueyan talked about Fang Ping for a while before moving on to other people.

　　“MCMAU’s main team has 5 members. Aside from Fang Ping, the team leader, the team member Zhao Lei is more familiar to everybody. Student Zhao Lei, how about you introduce yourself to everyone?”

　　“Freshman of Magic City Martial Arts University in the School of Weaponry, Zhao Lei!”

　　“Student Zhao Lei is very cool, huh. The information says Student Zhao Lei is adept at… Iron Head?”

　　Liu Huarong dissolved into laughter. “It seems MCMAU is not ready to expose their students’ true strengths. Student Zhao Lei is also Peak Rank-1.”

　　“MCMAU’s third member is Student Fu Changding.”

　　“Hello, everyone. I am Fu Changding, a freshman of the School of Weaponry.”

　　“Student Fu Changding is also Peak Rank-1 and was fourth place in Capital City’s Gaokao. The three people who placed higher than him enrolled in Capital City Martial Arts University.

　　“I think MCMAU and CCMAU’s meeting will definitely be very interesting and will be the catalyst of many battles among top students!”

　　“MCMAU’s fourth member of the main team is Yang Xiaoman. Although Student Yang Xiaoman is a girl, women are not inferior to men. Yang Xiaoman’s performance at MCMAU has been excellent, and she was also the top student of Haian Province in Year 08!”

　　“…”

　　“The fifth member of MCMAU’s main team, Zhao Xuemei, is also a girl and also entered MCMAU as a top student. Zhao Xuemei was the top student of Clear Lake City in Year 08 and was also third place in Donglin Province.”

　　“…”

　　“Chen Yunxi, a member of MCMAU’s reserves team, is Peak Rank-1 and the top student of Jingnan Province!”

　　“…”

　　“Tang Songting, a member of MCMAU’s reserves team, is Peak Rank-1…”

　　“…”

　　“Jin Lei, a member of MCMAU’s reserves team, is Upper-stage Rank-1…”

　　“…”

　　Liu Huarong gave a simple introduction of the 10 team members and smiled at the end. “A grand line-up!

　　“7 Peak Rank-1 members and 3 Upper-stage Rank-1 members, all also close to Peak Rank-1.

　　“The top students of provinces and cities gathered together—this is MCMAU’s new students’ team!

　　“As I recall, after I entered a martial arts university myself, I became Peak Rank-1 in the second semester of sophomore year and only entered Rank-2 in junior year. I was still Rank-2 when I graduated.

　　“The youngsters now are very impressive!

　　“I think it might not take even a few years before these prodigies surpass us.”

　　Liu Huarong lamented a little but quickly smiled and said, “Next, let’s invite the participating team members of CCMAU onstage!”

　　…

　　The moment Capital City Martial Arts University’s team came on stage, Fang Ping and the others all put them in their line of sight.

　　The person at the head was a skinny boy who was not very tall.

　　Soon, everybody knew who this person was.

　　“The team leader of MCMAU was quite unexpected, but the team leader of CCMAU has been accurately guessed!

　　“Han Xu is Peak Rank-1 and was the nationwide top student in the martial sciences examinations!”

　　“Student Han Xu, are you really Rank-1?” Liu Huarong laughed and asked.

　　Han Xu was very serious and said conscientiously, “I am Peak Rank-1. All 10 of Capital City Martial Arts University’s members are Peak Rank-1 martial artists. None are Rank-2!”

　　“CCMAU’s member line-up is even grander! All 10 of them are Peak Rank-1 martial artists!”

　　…

　　Fang Ping and the others felt a little pressured. MCMAU here had produced 7 Peak Rank-1 martial artists, and that was hard enough. They did not expect that all of CCMAU’s team were Peak Rank-1.

　　When the Eight School Alliance’s members came on stage, their line-up was also very grand.

　　Wei Bin, the team leader, and the 4 members of the main team were also Peak Rank-1. The other 5 people were also Upper-stage Rank-1.

　　Among them was Chen Hongwei, the person Fang Ping and the others met at East Sino Nation Martial Arts University.

　　Of course, seeing so many Peak Rank-1 members, the attention of the audience was slowly dissipating.

　　Then, the Martial Arts University Alliance members went on stage and once again incited a flurry of activity.

　　“Sun Mingyu, the leader of the Martial Arts University Alliance, is Early-stage Rank-2!

　　“Chen Jiasheng, a member of the main team from Donglin Martial Arts University, is Early-stage Rank-2!

　　“Bai Yin, a member of the main team from Nanjiang Martial Arts University, is Peak Rank-1!”

　　“…”

　　“Wang Huaijin, a reserves team member from Dongwu Martial Arts University, is Upper-stage Rank-1…”

　　Fang Ping heard a familiar name—Dongwu Martial Arts University’s Wang Huaijin.

　　He also took a longer look at Nanjiang Martial Arts University’s Bai Yin.

　　As for the two Rank-2 martial artists in the Martial Arts University Alliance, Fang Ping did not spare them a second look.

　　It was not just him. Over at CCMAU’s side, Han Xu also did not pay much attention to the two Rank-2 martial artists.

　　On the contrary, there was some commotion below the stage. They did not expect that the Martial Arts University Alliance would have produced two Rank-2 martial artists when the Big Two and the Eight School Alliance did not have a single one.

　　…

　　The second floor of the gym.

　　A fair number of Grandmaster powerhouses were seated.

　　Somebody laughed suddenly. “The Martial Arts University Alliance playing this slick trick doesn’t hold much meaning.”

　　Somebody coldly stated, “Whether or not it has meaning will be known when the time comes.”

　　“Heh heh, they’ve got a lot of eyes on them now, but when the two Rank-2 students get casually beaten by a Rank-1 martial artist, heh heh, that’s when you’ll know why people say the higher you are, the harder you’ll fall!”

　　Everyone could see through the Martial Arts University Alliance’s intentions in an instant.

　　They wanted attention!

　　The Martial Arts University Alliance was very strong and impressive. They had two Rank-2 martial artists—was that not amazing?

　　CCMAU and MCMAU did not have any, and the Eight School Alliance did not have any either. Only the Martial Arts University Alliance had Rank-2. What did this mean?

　　It supposedly implied the Martial Arts University Alliance had plenty of geniuses and resources.

　　However, the people there were not fools. Some were even sniffing at them skeptically.

　　They had two Early-stage Rank-2 martial artists, but those that make them invincible?

　　Any random member MCMAU and CCMAU’s main team might be able to beat these two Rank-2 students. That would be extremely embarrassing if it happened.

　　The people over at the Martial Arts University Alliance did not mind, smiling lightly. “Watch and see.”

　　“Then we’ll have to see what happens. I really want to see how the two Rank-2 martial artists feel after being defeated in the first round.”

　　The other powerhouses who were not from martial arts universities did not say anything, looking excited to watch the show.

　　The two Rank-2 martial artists from the Martial Arts University Alliance had better have some true strength. Otherwise, if they lost in the first round, they would be bringing shame all the way back to their grandmother’s house.