Chapter 135: The Shocking New Spirit Realm!

Chapter 135: The Shocking New Spirit Realm!

"This Victor is no ordinary guy!"

"He's truly exceptional. He consistently achieved S-class task evaluations for the first three Spirit Realms, and this time, he made a remarkable comeback, earning an SS-class task evaluation. It's incredibly impressive."

"He's a genius, no doubt. His achievements are unprecedented, but he's had some bad luck being in the same batch as Goddess Song, which has overshadowed his accomplishments, making him seem like a silent achiever."

"Indeed! If it weren't for Song Haitang's sudden rise, this guy would be the strongest newcomer of this batch."

"Do you think this kid has a chance of catching up to Song Haitang?"

"Haha, the person above is thinking too much!"

...

Online, the discussions about Victor were intense.

Some netizens even predicted that Victor could become a future rival to Song Haitang.

When Zhao Zheng saw the news about Victor, he was also surprised.

Earning Martial Arts Points in the fourth layer of the Spirit Realm was not an easy feat.

It was crucial for Victor to have gained tens of thousands of points, as he was well-versed in the plot.

If he hadn't successfully challenged the experts in Pig Cage Village and the Fiery Cloud Evil God, his points would have been at least halved.

Additionally, without his knowledge of the plot and his acquaintance with the Old Beggar, he wouldn't have attained such strength.

With such a significant advantage, he was able to secure 110,000 points.

However, Victor certainly didn't have the same advantage as Zhao Zheng.

Obtaining over 30,000 points was already an impressive feat.

He was indeed a talented individual!

It seemed that in the fourth layer of the Spirit Realm, Victor must have had incredible luck, acquiring an internal cultivation technique, surpassing others in strength, and successfully challenging numerous experts to earn so many points.

...

The next day, Zhao Zheng woke up early and headed to school.

Today, Old Chu was going to lecture on the fifth layer of the Spirit Realm.

Zhao Zheng didn't want to miss out on the information about the Spirit Realm, so he made sure to attend the class.

As Zhao Zheng entered the classroom, he noticed the complex gazes of his classmates.

He was familiar with these looks, as they were the same every time he excelled in the Spirit Realm.

When the bell rang for class to begin, Old Chu entered the room and started the lecture.

"Today, I'll be talking about the fifth layer of the Spirit Realm."

"This layer is quite unique and is officially called the Competition Spirit Realm. However, many universities privately refer to it as the University Grand Competition Realm."

At this point, the students' curiosity piqued.

Old Chu continued, "This Spirit Realm can be considered a group realm, accommodating up to three hundred people holding hands and entering simultaneously. They are regarded as a single entity, and there are no restrictions on who can enter as long as they are Extraordinary Beings."

The students were astonished by this revelation.

A group realm for three hundred people?

That wasn't even the most shocking part.

"No restrictions? What does that mean?"

If even the strongest could enter the Spirit Realm, wouldn't the newcomers be at a significant disadvantage?

"Are you concerned that the lack of restrictions might negatively impact you if stronger individuals also enter?" Old Chu asked with a smile.

Many students nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry! The Spirit Realm wouldn't make such a basic mistake," Old Chu assured them. "Regardless of the group size, even if it's the maximum of three hundred, only ten newcomers will be selected in the end to represent the group in the competition!"

"In essence, each group represents a university."

This statement shocked the students once again.

One student immediately asked, "Teacher, are you saying that each group can only choose ten members to represent the school, leaving the rest to just watch?"

The last sentence was meant as a joke, but to everyone's surprise, Old Chu confirmed, "Yes, that's right. The others are there to watch the show."

The students were stunned.

This Spirit Realm concept was indeed novel.

"Does that mean many of us won't have to face the dangers of fighting monsters this time?" a student asked.

"Yes," Old Chu nodded again and continued, "The fifth layer of the Spirit Realm can be considered the safest among the first ten layers, without exception. Only the ten members representing the group in the competition will face some life-threatening situations."

Seeing that some students were still raising their hands out of curiosity, Old Chu waved them off, saying, "Please hold your questions for now. Let me finish explaining the rules of the fifth layer of the Spirit Realm first!"

With that, the students had to suppress their curiosity and listen as Old Chu elaborated on the rules of the fifth layer.

"The freshmen who don't participate in the competition will receive a basic reward of 20 to 100 Spirit Energy Points."

"The official team members will receive the full reward."

After a brief pause, Old Chu continued, "I might be making this sound more complicated than it is. Let me give you a simple example."

"Take our True Martial University, for instance. Currently, the three classes have a total of only 157 freshmen. There are still nearly half of the spots left, which won't be left empty. The school's leaders and teachers will also participate, and we can invite some Extraordinary Beings as spectators, ensuring we reach a total of 300 people."

"Song Haitang from Class A will definitely compete. If she wins the championship, she and her four main teammates will receive a reward of 275 Spirit Energy Points, with the team leader getting an additional 80 points."

"As classmates of Song Haitang, even if you don't participate, you'll receive the highest-level basic reward of 100 Spirit Energy Points because she wins the championship!"

"We teachers and other invited Extraordinary Beings will also receive a reward of 20 Spirit Energy Points if Song Haitang wins. If she doesn't win, then it's a wasted trip for us."

"In short, only ten people will do the actual fighting, while the rest are just here to earn Spirit Energy Points."

"Does that make sense to you all?" Old Chu asked.

As Old Chu finished speaking, the students looked at each other, surprised.

None of them had expected the fifth Spirit Realm to have such peculiar rules for distributing rewards.

A curious student couldn't help but ask, "Teacher, I recall that there are fewer universities in the Three Kingdoms, and each university has a large number of students. Even the freshmen alone can exceed 300. What happens in that case?"

"It's simple!" Old Chu smiled. "They can be divided into two or even three groups."

"After all, only freshmen can earn Spirit Energy Points, and there's only one champion team. They can divide themselves into as many groups as they like."

"However, there's a restriction on group formation. Each group must have a minimum of 100 freshmen."

"If a school doesn't have enough freshmen, they'll have to borrow students from other schools."

A particularly inquisitive student asked, "What if a group has fewer than 100 freshmen? What will be the consequences?"

"The consequences are severe!" Old Chu replied. "There was a case where a group had fewer than 100 freshmen, and although they could still enter the fifth Spirit Realm, they lost their eligibility and received no rewards."

"The other members of the group were sent to the next Spirit Realm level according to their individual Spirit Realm levels."

"For example, if someone had just passed the 19th Spirit Realm and joined that group, they would be forced to the 20th Spirit Realm alone due to the insufficient number of freshmen."

"Without teammates and proper preparation, encountering such a situation is almost a death sentence!"

Hearing this, the inquisitive student broke out in a cold sweat.

...

At that moment, Old Chu's phone rang.

He took out his phone, glanced at it, and said, "Let's discuss the competition details for the fifth Spirit Realm later. For now, follow me to the school field."

As Old Chu finished speaking, he led the way out of the classroom.

The other students followed suit.

Meanwhile, the students from Classes A and C also left their classrooms and headed towards the school field.

Soon, all three classes gathered on the field.

Most students were curious about why the teachers had assembled them there.

Some smarter ones guessed it might be related to the competition team.

As expected, when all the students had arrived, Teacher Shen from Class A stepped onto the platform in the field, facing everyone.

"Hello, students. I'm Teacher Shen, the head teacher of Class A."

Teacher Shen gave a brief self-introduction, although the students already knew her.

"The reason I've gathered you all here is to announce the ten members from our True Martial University who will participate in the fifth Spirit Realm competition!"

Upon hearing this, the students understood.

The ten team members would undoubtedly be the ten strongest students.

Song Haitang was definitely one of them.

As for the other members...

Joining Song Haitang's team might mean a guaranteed championship! Many students' eyes lit up, their expressions eager.

Unexpectedly, Teacher Shen pulled out a piece of paper and said, "I have a list here. This list of competitors has been carefully considered and researched by the school leaders!"

Hearing this, many students with high hopes were disappointed.

Ms. Shen, without paying attention to the students' thoughts, began to read out the names from the list: "Song Haitang, Zhao Zheng, Chen Kai, Jiang Hebin, Zhang Chenggang, Zhang Ling, Zhou Junjie, Yu Zhong, Wang Fei, Su Ziqiu..."

"Students whose names were called, please come forward and stand on the stage."

Ten students stepped forward and lined up on the stage.

Everyone noticed that among these ten, seven were from Class A, three from Class B, and Zhao Zheng was one of them.

As for Class C...

Not a single one.

The teacher from Class C had a grim expression.

In previous years, True Martial University would consider Class C and give them a spot or two in the fifth-layer Spirit Realm for the freshmen.

But this year, they didn't give any spots.

Of course, the Class C teacher understood the reason behind the leaders' decision.

It was because this year, True Martial University had Song Haitang, who had a high chance of winning the championship, so they didn't want any surprises and selected the best students.

"These ten students are the initial confirmed participants."

Ms. Shen continued, "If any of you are confident in your abilities, you can challenge any one of these ten students within the next month. If you succeed, you will replace them and become a participant."

Upon hearing this, some students who were confident in their skills had their hopes rekindled.

Their gazes shifted between Zhao Zheng, Zhang Chenggang, Yu Zhong, Wang Fei, and Su Ziqiu, assessing their strengths and calculating their chances of winning if they were to challenge them.

As for Song Haitang, no one in their right mind would choose to challenge her.

Even fewer people considered challenging Zhao Zheng.

After all, in everyone's impression, although Zhao Zheng's talent was not exceptional, he had completed four SSS-rated tasks, and his accumulated experience made him a top-tier freshman.

"If you have any intention to challenge, you must inform the teachers before making the challenge."

Ms. Shen explained some challenge rules.

"For fairness, each of you will only have one challenge opportunity, so choose your opponent wisely. If you lose, you won't get another chance to challenge others."

"Additionally, you can't challenge all the participants together. It's not allowed to gang up on one person for an easy win. Each designated participant will only accept two challenges per day."

The students nodded in agreement.

This arrangement was indeed fair.

Otherwise, even Song Haitang might not withstand a series of challenges.

"If there are no further questions, you may disperse!"

After saying this, Ms. Shen turned to the ten students and said, "You ten, follow me."

She led them to the office and announced a benefit.

"This year, with Song Haitang on our side, we have a great chance of winning the championship!"

The students were thrilled upon hearing this and looked at Song Haitang.

Song Haitang, however, glanced at Zhao Zheng.

She alone knew that whether True Martial University could win the championship depended entirely on Zhao Zheng.

"Your teachers should have told you that the members of the champion team will receive 100 Spirit Energy Points as freshmen, and even the invited Extraordinary individuals will get 20 Spirit Energy Points."

"Don't underestimate these 20 points. Once the news spreads, countless Extraordinary individuals will be eager to join."

"Currently, True Martial University has a total of 157 freshmen, leaving 143 spots available. The school plans to allocate 20 spots to the participants, which means you."

"So, each of you has two spots to invite two Extraordinary individuals to join us in the Spirit Realm on the first day of next month."

"This is a benefit provided by the school for you to use as a favor."

The students' eyes lit up at this news.

But Ms. Shen quickly poured cold water on their excitement: "If you want to secure these spots, be cautious in the next month. Don't let yourself be challenged and lose your participant status."

"If you are challenged and defeated by your classmates, you will not only lose your spot as a participant but also forfeit your two invitation spots. Do you understand?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Zhao Zheng and Song Haitang, who remained silent.

Ms. Shen didn't mind and reminded them, "By the way, keep the matter of these two invitation spots to yourselves. Don't spread it around, or it might work against you. Do you understand?"

The students nodded again.

If the other students found out that the participants had two invitation spots, it would undoubtedly spark a wave of challenges.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end