In a round of cheers, the teacher on the stage cleared his throat, stomped lightly on the stage, sending out a wave of air. He waved his blue sleeves and announced loudly:
“Fellow students, there were some minor accidents just now. Our world champion is actually attending this competition as an honorary professor of this school and will also be scoring and judging for you.”
“Let’s get down to business. As per the usual rules for this exchange competition, we will first select 30 students from the 100 participants to advance. The competition content is very simple: both sides will use their beast pets to battle. Priests are not allowed to intervene, but they can cast special buffs on their beast pets.”
“If it’s a draw within three minutes, the judging teacher will score based on the performance of the priests. The one with the higher score wins!”
The referee did not elaborate further. After explaining the competition rules, he slowly retreated to the referee’s bench. The next moment, two names were announced through the amplified microphone.
“Mo University – Lin Can!”
“Imperial Capital University – Huang Qiaoer!”
Upon hearing her name, a figure in a gold-trimmed school uniform slowly walked onto the stage. She was the girl who had a brief encounter with Su Jiu on the train. She glanced warily at the left side of the judges’ bench, then closed her eyes slightly and muttered,
“My opponent isn’t her, what am I afraid of…”
As if to overcome her nervousness.
However, after more than ten seconds, she opened her eyes again and found that there was still no one in the opposite position. She couldn’t help but frown:
“What’s going on? They’re not really going to not show up, are they?”
“I heard that senior Lin Can took leave a few weeks ago to go back to his hometown. I didn’t expect him to still not be here.”
“Lin Can is from a prominent family, he’s probably dealing with some internal affairs?”
Subtle discussions came from the audience. With one step forward and another back, the competition became quite dramatic.
“Mo University – Lin Can!”
The referee realized something and called out again. After about ten more seconds, seeing that the stage was still empty, he looked up at the judges’ bench, seemingly waiting for a decision from them.
At the judges’ bench, after a brief discussion among the main judges, Director Yun stood up, scanned the crowd below, and said in a deep voice, “Lin Can cannot participate due to unavoidable circumstances. Mo University has chosen to forfeit.”
“Lin Can forfeits! Huang Qiaoer wins!”
The referee on the stage nodded slightly at this, then raised his left hand to announce the result of this match to the audience below.
Huang Qiaoer was taken aback. She looked around to see if anyone would come up to challenge her. After confirming her victory, she finally breathed a sigh of relief:
“I scared myself…”
After the incident with Su Jiu, she had developed some PTSD.
Just as she was about to leave, the referee called out to her, “Student Huang, please don’t leave yet. We’ve adjusted the list, and you’ll be competing again next.”
“Okay.”
Huang Qiaoer was stunned, then nodded. She tidied her collar, appearing a bit more composed this time. After all, she was a Battle King Level expert, and she wouldn’t be timid in such a competition.
Meanwhile, below the crowd, the female reporter had not left. She silently raised her camera and used her microphone to contact the writer on the other side:
“The news is accurate. You can start preparing a custom news draft. Use ‘Mo University priest’s timidity and refusal to fight, guided by teacher Mu Rongcheng’s priest team’ as the headline.”
She remembered that there was more than one sensational piece of news this time.
The world champion not participating was just an appetizer. The real headline news was the collective refusal of Mo University students to compete, which was the news that could grab the headlines!
The writer on the other end acknowledged and replied, “The draft is already finished and can be published at any time. The editor-in-chief has asked you to start the live broadcast from your end.”
On stage, the referee smiled and nodded, then waved his hands again, continuing to use the amplification equipment to shout:
“Imperial Capital University – Huang Qiaoer!”
“Mo University – Tu Bai!”
As the announcement fell, time ticked by, but no one walked up. The referee was dumbfounded and could only repeat the same tactic:
“Mo University – Tu Bai!”
After about half a minute, Huang Qiaoer was still the only one on stage, with her gold-trimmed school uniform fluttering in the wind, giving her a sense of solitary beauty.
A look of surprise appeared on her face, and she even suspected that people knew she was a Battle King Level expert, so they were all acting like cowards.
At this moment, discussions erupted again in the audience.
A priest from outside the university raised a question: “Why haven’t the students from Mo University been participating? Wasn’t there just a teacher-led ‘face-slapping’ plot?”
The reporter, dressed in casual clothes, put down his camera and squeezed into the crowd, saying, “This Student Huang is a top student from the Priest Department of Imperial Capital University. Although she can’t compare to Mo University’s top student, she’s also a Grand Priest of Battle King Level.”
Someone below chimed in, “Are you saying that the students from Mo University are afraid of losing face and have decided to forfeit directly?”
The response came again, “You know what, that’s quite possible.”
Someone from Mo University who knew the student named “Tu Bai” came forward to retort:
“Senior Tu is also a Battle King Level expert in her fourth year and has even participated in the Monster Battlefield. How could she be afraid of a student from an ivory tower?”
But this voice was quickly drowned out by the doubts, as if everything was due to the fear of this Battle King Level student named Huang Qiaoer. The scene became quite lively.
“Please wait for another round. According to the rules, everyone has to participate in two matches and cannot have two byes.”
The referee was somewhat helpless, so he smiled apologetically at Huang Qiaoer and then called out to the audience below again:
“The competition continues. The next match will be between Zi Yi from Mo University and Huang Qiaoer from Imperial Capital University.”
“Will this one also be a no-show?”
“It’s probably unlikely. Zi Yi is Dean Zi’s granddaughter, and it’s said she has Half-King Level strength…”
“Hmph, the previous one you said was Battle King Level, and they didn’t show up either.”
As the voice fell, whispers could be heard from the audience. Even the local students from Mo University were uncertain if the opponent would participate normally.
Time ticked by, and Huang Qiaoer crossed her arms, her extreme confidence returning to her face. She said to the referee with a faint smile, “Are the people from Mo University too cowardly to come up?”
The referee looked troubled, unsure how to handle the situation.
The crowd below also began to stir. No one showed up for three consecutive matches, and Mo University was probably greatly embarrassed this time. Amidst the clamor, the live broadcast voice from below could be heard:
“Mo University forfeits three consecutive matches. Are these the high-scoring but low-ability geniuses? They only know how to study and are afraid to participate in even the slightest public competition…”
The female reporter suddenly popped out again, holding a microphone and asking Huang Qiaoer with a smile, “Student Huang, you’ve won three consecutive matches. Facing these cowards, do you have anything you’d like to say?”
Huang Qiaoer glanced at the reporter, still with her arms crossed, and a faint smile appeared on her face: “It’s useless for the world champion to be strong; that’s only her individual strength. A group of priests who only know how to be turtles will probably not even be able to hold their weapons when the monster war begins, and will only be able to cry and wait for death…”
The Mo University students who were swept by her gaze immediately became agitated, wanting to emulate Hu Yang and draw their swords to attack, but they realized that the opponent was a Battle King Level expert…
They really couldn’t defeat her.
On the far right, Mu Rongyun watched the live broadcast below with satisfaction. He leaned forward slightly, then turned to look in Su Jiu’s direction with a smile of satisfaction.
Heh heh, what’s the point of being strong?
Not a single student from Mo University could compete with his students; they all chose to forfeit. Finally, it wasn’t too embarrassing.
Listening to the reporter’s voice, Su Jiu felt an indescribable feeling. She lowered her head again to look at the text on her phone, feeling a stuffy sensation in her chest.
She understood that none of her seniors were timid. On the contrary, they had chosen a path that few dared to take, a path that constantly faced death.
However, the domestic information was distorted.
“If my guess is correct,”
Su Jiu thought for a moment, her eyes sinking. She opened the browser app and searched for the previously published “Journey of Freedom,” her eyes scanning the text.
She found that the article that was previously ranked first in search results had been replaced by advertisements and some irrelevant short essays with the same name.
At this moment, her feeling of stuffiness in her chest intensified. Although she was already a Duke, she felt an inexplicable shortness of breath.
“Professor Su, you…”
Dean Zi’s voice sounded from behind her, with a slight pause before he slowly spoke, his aged voice filled with hope, “Do you know where Xiao Yi and the others went?”
“They…”
Su Jiu snapped back to attention, unsure how to answer for a moment. After a long silence, she said softly with her head down, “They should have all gone to Aers.”
“Aers?”
Dean Zi was stunned, but then he seemed to recall something, and his expression changed slightly. The wrinkles on his aged face seemed to deepen, “That’s the country that’s at war. What are they doing going there?”
“They went there to treat illnesses and save lives. The domestic news says Yela is resisting Aers, but in reality, Yela is invasively invading the small country of Aers by any means necessary…”
Su Jiu pursed her lips, sighed, and slowly explained the situation. Her words also attracted the attention of others nearby.
The girl’s voice drifted through the air, clear yet exceptionally low, “In the small cities of Aers, they faced power outages and a lack of clean water. That winter, some people starved to death on the streets.”
“Many women and children were intentionally caught in the crossfire of stray bullets. After being injured, they had no priests or potions. If the women were unwilling to sell their dignity, they could only die from infected wounds amidst the invaders’ cold laughter.”
A vice dean couldn’t help but ask, “Wouldn’t this be tried in a military court?”
As he asked halfway, he suddenly stopped, as if realizing something, and his body froze.
“No.”
Su Jiu glanced at him and shook her head slightly, her gaze shifting to the competition stage where they were calling for the next participants, “After all, the Yela soldiers did not directly kill civilians.”
“What about the local doctors? Don’t they have priests there?” the vice dean asked again.
“They are dead, killed under the guise of battlefield doctors. Yela people even dare to kill international doctors, so how could these local doctors survive?”
Su Jiu said softly, her blood-red pupils seeming to reflect that cemetery, watching the lonely Yela elder ignite the grave and fall into the flames along with it.
“Then them, those students from our academy…”
The vice dean first looked at Dean Zi, seeing the wrinkles on his forehead, then turned to look at the girl with her head bowed, as if suddenly understanding something.
“They volunteered for the International Red Cross. I harmed them. Those damned past deeds shouldn’t have been publicized.”
Su Jiu’s voice was low, and she clenched her fists, then suddenly stood up and turned to face the aged face. She bowed slightly, “Dean Zi, please rest assured… I will find a ship from Moon Sunken Sea to bring them back.”
However, the blame that the girl expected did not come. Dean Zi patted her shoulder. After a long while, his gentle tone seemed to comfort her instead:
“Professor Su, you should be proud of them, just as I am, not blame yourself. The duty of us priests is to save the dying and heal the wounded. Since childhood, I have taught that girl this, but unfortunately, her talent is too great, and her temper is also very arrogant…”
Feeling the weight on her shoulder, Su Jiu was stunned for a moment. She looked up and met a helpless smile.
His aged voice slowly sounded, “I originally thought she would live like a little devil forever, constantly making mistakes, and I would constantly clean up her messes until I could no longer clean them up…”
“But your appearance changed her, making her seem to have a goal and become more stable, until now, from a little devil to a true doctor.”
Dean Zi chuckled, withdrew his hand, and returned to his seat, sighing lightly with a hint of relief:
“If what you said is true, and she went to Aers solely to save those women and children, even if she unfortunately sacrificed herself, I, as her grandfather, would only feel proud of her.”
Su Jiu’s story caused the two directors in the center to fall into deep thought. It seemed that competing here was incomparable to rescuing women and children in a disaster-stricken area.
At this moment, everyone began to understand:
The so-called timidity was merely a form of courage called a hymn.
“Did we really win?”
The gray-robed elder lowered his head to look at Huang Qiaoer below, who was crossing her arms, and swept across her proud, swan-like chin. He sighed, but then shook his head and turned to Director Yun, saying with a wry smile,
“Let’s pause the competition.”
When the truth was known, this was already a competition that was won but lost.
