it was not that the teachers of the academy looked down on those from the third group, but the groups for the competition this time were split according to capabilities. Moreover, it was split according to the four ranks – Heaven, Earth, Mystic and Yellow. It was only natural that the four groups would be of different capabilities. He would not have been so surprised if it were the Heaven group, but this was the third group they were talking about.

　　“I apologize, Teacher Yan. Who doesn’t know how powerful the Immortal Academy is? It is said that you even have dragons and tigers hidden in your academy. I suppose the Immortal Academy will win the United Tournament this time.”

　　The other teachers in the academy began to discuss among themselves. Their main aim in going there was to compare their respective relationships with the Immortal Academy. Thus, a fresh wave of business-boasting began.

　　“Eh? I’m not sure what kind of race the Invincible Academy houses? They’ve already gotten two array flags in such a short time,” someone commented after noticing that Invincible Academy was lined up right behind the Immortal Academy. “Has anyone heard of this academy before?”

　　Nobody responded. Instead, everybody carried on with their conversations, not paying much attention to Invincible Academy. Their attention quickly shifted to the other academies. What took place over the next few days, however, made these teachers regret acting this way.

　　This was especially so for the crowd from the Immortal Academy. They thought that the people from the third group had only been lucky to win those four array flags. If their good luck continued, they would probably be able to stay in the mystic realm for ten days. Otherwise, they would likely be sent out of the mystic realm the moment someone else got a hold of the flags in their hands. In any face, they had been sure that the numbers would not change. After all, the disciples in the third group all seemed extremely overjoyed after realizing that they had captured the four array flags. They were so eager to hide themselves that it seemed almost impossible for them to grab hold of anymore flags.

　　Very quickly, however, those teachers were proven wrong. The numbers changed as quickly as the win. In just one day, the third group had obtained ten array flags! By the second day, they had 20, and by the third day, they had almost 30. By the fifth day, they already obtained about 40 flags.

　　40 array flags – that was almost half the entire number. By now, the crowd was no longer shocked. Instead, they were beginning to doubt the authenticity of the competition. Before half-time in the competition, this group had actually obtained 40 flags. This did not seem logical nor realistic. The key thing was the group that held the array flags were only as powerful as they were when the competition started. How could that be? The crowd was almost certain that the group had been cheating.

　　Suddenly, all the teachers present were suspicious. A few of the teachers were crying non-stop. They, too, were confused about what was happening. How did this third group suddenly come into the picture? Unless they were cheating, it was impossible that they would be this good. Although some of the disciples in the group were theirs, the teachers were nevertheless disappointed. After all, this was a competition jointly organized by the various academies. If they were really found to have been cheating, the damage to their reputation would be unthinkable.

　　What’s more, the teachers weren’t stupid. If the group really wanted to play dirty, they could have done it less obviously. It was clearly written on the stone board – they had 40 array flags. Wasn’t it plain as day that they were cheating?

　　Logically speaking though, the rapidly increasing numbers would undoubtedly draw suspicion and wild guesses. Yet, as hard as they tried, the teachers could not track what was happening inside the mystic realm. The Immortal Academy had no choice but to bite their tongues and inspect the disciples who had been eliminated preliminarily. Although this would not do much to resolve the suspicions of others, they did have to try to act justly. In this regard, they were especially strict toward their own disciples.

　　However, they did not find anything out of the ordinary. The disciples who had been eliminated preliminarily explained that they themselves did not know, were not sure, and could not understand the reason why this was so… How could this be? Why were they giving answers like that? The disciples from the other sects gave even stranger answers. Not only did they not see any disciples from the Immortal Academy who were in the third group, they also did not notice anything out of the ordinary inside the mystic realm.

　　The teachers were unsure if they were imagining things, but for some reason, the disciples who had been eliminated preliminarily all did not sound in the least bit regretful. Instead, they sounded a bit… excited?

　　This round of investigations were not telling at all. The Immortal Academy Group Three 23’s numbers continued to increase. By the eighth day, they already had 68 flags. The remaining flags were split among the other groups.

　　Everyone: “…”

　　This was horribly strange!

　　At that moment, inside the mystic realm, a huge thing happened. It was a huge thing that caused the entire mystic realm to go crazy. What happened was that a foreign yet oddly exciting voice began to speak from the tokens of the disciples from the Immortal Academy.

　　[Attention! Attention! There will be a sale – 50% off all beasts. Originally, one million or two million void currencies were required for each beast. Now, they’re going at 500,000! 500,000! That’s right! You’re not hearing things – it’s 500,000! You won’t incur a loss, and this is not a scam. For 500,000 void currencies, you can get red fragrant fishes, single-horned wind beasts, and nine-pointed rouge beasts. Anything that you want to buy, we will sell to you. There are many different types of beasts, and even pure-bred ones! Today, our shop will be open for just two hours. First come first served, while stocks last! The first buyer will be eligible for double the discounts – discounts on top of discounts! This is a rare opportunity – quick, come to the side of the little river in the east of the mystic realm!]

　　When they first heard the announcement, everyone in the mystic realm cursed the announcer under their breaths. That’s crazy! How could this person even think of advertising in the middle of the competition? But some people in the mystic realm at the time were so bored that they decided to go and take a look. Once they arrived, they really gave in and bought the beasts that they needed.

　　Those were rare beasts after all. Every single part of their bodies was valuable – their meridians, their bones, their flesh, their blood. Each part had many different uses. They were utterly invaluable in this world. Moreover, the beasts were fierce and extremely dangerous. Normally, one would have to risk their lives to capture these beasts. Who would have guessed that there would be an open sale like this in the mystic realm, much less that the beasts would be sold at such a good price? Truly, they would be fools to let this opportunity pass them by.

　　At the start, only the disciples from the Immortal Academy knew about this sale. They attempted to keep the information to themselves so that they would be able to benefit more from the goods on sale. They bought as much as they could. However, they had entered to win the competition after all. Naturally, they did not have much cash on them. As much as they wanted to buy, therefore, they had insufficient cash on hand. For those who had friends within the mystic realm, they had no choice but to borrow money. Obviously, they could not borrow money from their fellow disciples from the Immortal Academy – they wanted to buy as many beasts as they could as well. Therefore, they had no choice but to borrow money from disciples outside the Immortal Academy. The more they borrowed, the wider the news spread. Now, the entire mystic realm was going crazy!

　　There was a long line by the side of the river. Everybody could not wait to get their hands on the beasts.

　　Screw the freaking competition – the rare beasts were much more important!

　　Ling Hong and his three other companions that Lonemoon had made use of were now so busy that they could barely talk. At first, they were hesitant about selling the beasts. As more people bought the beasts, their hearts began to hurt because of the low price at which they were being sold. However, as time went by, they became used to making sales. In fact, they even began to push for more sales.

　　“Fellow Daoist, this is a fire-elemental rare beast. I have a couple more – do you want to buy more of them?”

　　“Fellow Daoist, our rare beasts come with the beast elixirs as well. They’re a package deal and there will be no bargaining. If you don’t want them, they will be gone by tomorrow.”

　　“Fellow Daoist, do you need to see the live one? What do you mean you have no spirit beast bag? Don’t worry – you can buy one from us!”

　　“Fellow Daoist, you know how to train beasts? Do you want a cub or an un-incubated egg then? Do you want to find out more?”