As Zhang Wen led the students of the Almuth Academy’s Psionics Department into the seats by the training ground, the audience in Training Ground No. 7 was still reveling in the immense victory they had just witnessed.
Almuth Academy’s Psionics Department had long cast the deepest shadow over the Psionics Department of Themis Academy. Unlike Almuth Academy’s Physical Arts Department, Themis Academy’s Psionics Department was far from weak—it was renowned throughout the Empire. In fact, in the southern territories of the Empire, Themis Academy’s Psionics Department was the only one that could confidently claim superiority over all others except for Almuth Academy’s Psionics Department.
Although Almuth’s weak Physical Arts Department had allowed Themis to gradually rise as the de facto number one in the south, the instructors at Themis understood clearly: as long as they hadn’t defeated Almuth’s Physical Arts Department, they could never truly claim the pinnacle of the southern region.
In order to become the undisputed number one in the Empire’s southern territories, Themis Academy had tried nearly every means possible over the past decade. Yet Almuth Academy remained like an immovable mountain pressing down upon them, no matter how hard Themis struggled to shake it off.
But today, a decade of humiliation was about to be avenged! The day when Themis Academy would officially be crowned the number one in the south was finally at hand!
With dominance in both Physical and Psionic Arts, and with the full backing of Governor Callahan of Fira, the most important planet in the southern territories, it was no exaggeration to imagine that Themis Academy could one day rise to become the third super academy capable of rivaling the two giants in the Imperial Capital.
Of course, achieving all this hinged on one condition: defeating Almuth Academy’s Physical Arts Department in the upcoming match.
In the Empire, it had always been tradition to climb to the top by stepping over the corpses of your enemies. In Training Ground No. 7, nearly no one doubted that today Almuth Academy would become the stepping stone for Themis Academy’s ascent from a top ten academy to a superpower. Naturally, they also didn’t doubt that Almuth would never willingly allow themselves to be used as a rung on another’s ladder to glory.
“Rianke, who do you think Almuth will send out for this match?” Ted whispered to his companion.
“Heh! Isn’t it obvious? The Physical Arts instructor at Almuth only has two choices left,” Rianke confidently held up two fingers as he answered Ted. “The first option is to send out their weakest fighter, hoping to face our strongest, Link. That way, their ninth-rank student might at least secure one victory. The advantage of this strategy is that Almuth’s ninth-rank fighter gets a win, and since their ace hasn’t been defeated, it can’t be said that Themis has achieved a complete victory. This allows Almuth’s Physical Arts Department to exit the competition with some dignity.”
“Oh! That’s true,” Ted nodded thoughtfully before quickly catching on. “But wouldn’t this still mean Almuth’s Physical Arts Department has lost?”
“Exactly! That’s the downside of the first option. If their instructor chooses this path, it would appear as though Almuth’s Physical Arts Department has maintained a stalemate with ours. But who really takes Almuth’s Physical Arts Department seriously? Especially since their ninth-rank fighter clearly avoided facing our Link out of fear. So this choice would essentially be Almuth ‘graciously’ conceding defeat and acknowledging that Themis Academy is truly the number one in the south.”
“You can’t be serious?”
“Heh! If they refuse to concede, then things will get interesting! No matter how they choose, they’ll have to get past Link somehow. But haven’t you heard about how that Almuth Physical Arts instructor performed recently? He’s completely lost his nerve against Link. How could he possibly dare to face him head-on? As long as he doesn’t want to throw his life away, Themis Academy will also consider the upcoming Imperial Academy Evaluation Tournament six months from now and won’t deliberately pit Link against their ninth-rank ace. This way, Almuth would have lost, but it would be a loss in the Psionics Department. For their Physical Arts Department, drawing with Themis Academy would be a huge honor. Do you really think their Physical Arts instructor would risk his career just to boost the academy’s reputation?”
In fact, Rianke’s thoughts were shared by the vast majority of the audience in Training Ground No. 7. Many supporters of Themis Academy were even thinking that Themis was practically recognized as the number one in the south already. Wouldn’t it be better for Almuth to just acknowledge this and comfortably settle for second place?
“It looks like today’s match is over already,” General William cast a glance at the few team members Zhang Wen had brought in and stood up.
“Ah? General William, you’re leaving already? Not planning to watch the rest of the match? Almuth hasn’t even sent out their ninth-rank fighter yet!”
“Yes. They did send out a ninth-rank fighter,” General William’s gaze lingered briefly on Xiaoxi. “But even an Over-ranked warrior without the will to fight won’t deliver a satisfying match.”
“What a pity,” Countess Melissa smiled as she watched General William walk toward the exit.
In truth, Countess Melissa herself had little interest in the upcoming match. If it weren’t for the presence of the “Third Prince” from the Alliance in the upcoming lineup, she probably would have left even earlier than General William.
However, the reason for Countess Melissa’s lack of interest wasn’t the same as General William’s explanation about the two sides having “no fighting spirit”—it was because the level of the match was simply too low.
In the most famous Royal Colosseum in the Imperial Capital, Countess Melissa had always maintained a private box reserved especially for her. In that arena, which gathered the strongest warriors in the Empire, it could truly be said that “Over-ranked warriors are common, Saint-ranked fighters are everywhere, and tenth-rank fighters are like dogs.”
Moreover, every match held in the Royal Colosseum was real combat—brutal, no-holds-barred fights where the combatants used the most powerful weapons and techniques with the ultimate goal of killing their opponents.
The real battles that took place in the Colosseum were as different from the academy matches as the gladiatorial combats of ancient Rome were from modern Olympic wrestling.
Having witnessed the highest level of combat in the Empire, it was only natural that Countess Melissa would find these students, who were barely ninth-ranked and not yet tenth-ranked, uninteresting.
“Alright, the second phase of the much-anticipated Southern Territories showdown is about to begin!” As Zhang Wen and his team exited the locker room not long after, the event host had already walked into the center of the arena and begun shouting energetically.
Of course, the host knew perfectly well in his heart that at this point in the competition, the second phase Physical Arts match could hardly be called “highly anticipated.” But he still shouted out the flattering words without batting an eyelash.
“Woo!” The audience in Training Ground No. 7 enthusiastically cheered along with the host’s voice.
It wasn’t that they were particularly looking forward to the upcoming match—it was just an expression of their excitement that Themis Academy was about to become the number one in the south.
“What format will this Physical Arts showdown take? Let’s find out!” The host deliberately built suspense as he pulled out an envelope.
This was the envelope Zhang Wen had handed to the host before coming out. According to Zhang Wen’s instructions, no one was to know his strategy before the match actually began.
“Tch! What a pretentious guy,” the host thought to himself. With Almuth’s Psionics Department already defeated, could their Physical Arts Department really turn the tide? Well, whatever, if those fools from Almuth wanted to put on a show and make Themis Academy’s victory more legendary, that wasn’t a bad thing.
The host gave a slight smirk, his eyes scanning the thin piece of paper.
Then, Zhang Wen witnessed the host’s expression transition from indifference to confusion, and then from confusion to shock.
“A… team match?” The host blinked for more than a second before looking at Zhang Wen with an expression as if he had seen an alien.
“That’s right,” Zhang Wen solemnly nodded.
Zhang Wen really wanted to burst into laughter at the host’s dramatic expression change, but he knew it wasn’t time to relax yet.
“Huh?” As the host’s words fell, the already slightly noisy audience, who had been impatient during his suspenseful pause, became even more chaotic.
Team match—by definition, meant sending all the participants from both sides onto the stage at once for a decisive battle.
The biggest difference between a team match and a regular single-elimination match was that in a team match, there was no gray area like “inconclusive results.” Once all the participants from both sides stepped onto the stage, one side would inevitably fall!
Almost no one had expected that in the current situation, Zhang Wen would still choose to go head-to-head with Themis Academy!
“That’s right! A team match!” Amidst the uproar, the host hurriedly looked at the small piece of paper in his hand again.
“Seriously? Has Almuth gone completely mad?”
“Who knows?” Murmurs of confusion spread again.
Even as the host repeatedly called for silence, he couldn’t stop the audience from discussing, making the noise in the training hall grow louder and louder, like a primary school classroom without a teacher.
Zhang Wen’s gaze swept across the surroundings. From the faces of the audience, almost all of whom were wearing the traditional purple of Themis Academy, he could clearly see expressions of doubt and worry.
Zhang Wen turned his gaze to the Themis Academy preparation area. From the students about to take the stage, he also found similar emotions. The weaker the students, the more obvious their anxiety.
“No matter how the world changes, human nature remains the same,” Zhang Wen steadied his heart and murmured to himself.
Back in his previous life, psychological warfare had been an extremely important subject of Zhang Wen’s research. Now, caught in a crisis that could be called desperate, Zhang Wen had no choice but to bring out his secret techniques that he had kept hidden for so long.
If one were to simply describe Zhang Wen’s strategy, it would be very simple—just four words: “deliberately creating mystery.” He had used a series of previous performances—sometimes arrogant, sometimes seemingly desperate, and hardly participating in any training sessions in the past few days—to keep Themis Academy guessing about the true strength of his students.
As the saying goes, the unknown breeds fear.
Of course, how much effect this psychological tactic would have was something even Zhang Wen himself didn’t expect too much from. After all, Almuth Academy and Themis Academy had been dealing with each other for decades—how could either side not know the other’s capabilities?
However, just before the match began, the crushing defeat of the Psionics Department gave Zhang Wen an unexpected opportunity he hadn’t foreseen! The students of Themis Academy’s Physical Arts Department certainly hadn’t expected that, after the Psionics Department’s defeat, Zhang Wen would still maintain such a strong stance!
Zhang Wen’s inexplicable confidence, combined with his previous feints and bluffs, and the pressure of this decisive match… with all these factors together, Zhang Wen had truly exhausted every trick he had.
Completely opposite to the bustling scene in the main hall of Training Ground No. 7, the rest area of Almuth Academy’s Psionics Department was oppressively silent, almost to the point of suffocation. Most of the students who had just finished their match had gone to the showers, leaving only a group of grim-faced instructors sitting in silence.
Bang!
An unexpected crashing sound suddenly echoed in the rest area. The Psionics Department instructor who had been left behind by Head Instructor Kajielanna to fill out the victory/defeat forms rushed in through the door, his face flushed with excitement.
“K… Kajielanna Head Instructor!”
“Calm down!” Kajielanna’s expression remained icy. She couldn’t imagine what could possibly make one of her Psionics Department subordinates so excited on this day of humiliating defeat for their department.
“Head Instructor Kajielanna, Zhang Wen… Zhang Wen…” The instructor who had just burst in through the door was out of breath from running.
“Zhang Wen? What new trick has he pulled now?” Irena’s face was already darker than Kajielanna’s.
That Zhang Wen had repeatedly embarrassed her. Every time Irena thought of how that man might be using the Psionics Department as a stepping stone for his own success, she felt a disgust as if she had swallowed a cockroach whole.
Shouldn’t such a Physical Arts Department waste only be fit to follow the Psionics Department like a lapdog, scavenging the scraps they dropped?
“What new trick has he come up with to inflate his own importance? Or has he seized the opportunity to crawl shamelessly to Themis Academy’s stinky feet?” Irena vented her hatred in the most venomous language she could muster.
“No, no…” The Mind Arts instructor rushed into the lounge, finally catching his breath before waving frantically at Irina and urgently exclaiming, “Zhang Wen hasn’t reconciled with Themis at all. He’s chosen the team match—and it’s a free-for-all showdown!”
“What?” The moment the words fell, many people in the lounge couldn’t help but exclaim aloud. Several Mind Arts instructors who hadn’t shouted exchanged glances, their expressions perplexed.
Zhang Wen’s decision left them all at a loss for words.
Considering that Zhang Wen had a good chance of reaching a mutually acceptable draw with the Themis Martial Arts Division, his decision to fight head-on still demonstrated undeniable courage in defense of the honor of Almace Academy.
However, from the outset, no one had ever believed that Zhang Wen’s side could win against Themis Academy. And now, facing an opponent with overwhelming strength, he had deliberately chosen the most disadvantageous format for Almace. This left everyone wondering whether to call Zhang Wen fearless or simply reckless.
Of course, the Mind Arts representatives from Almace knew that Zhang Wen had taught Zack and the others some unusual martial techniques, enabling them to challenge opponents several levels above them. But those who had witnessed the events at the Governor’s mansion also knew that those techniques could only achieve their maximum effect under Zhang Wen’s direct command.
In the chaotic battlefield of a free-for-all match, even if Themis didn’t interfere with Zhang Wen’s actions, there was no way he could command Zack and the others all at once!
Wasn’t this tantamount to throwing away even the slimmest hope they had?
“What exactly is Zhang Wen thinking? Could it be that he’s so scared he’s gone mad?” Several Mind Arts instructors frowned in confusion.
“Hmph! I think he’s not mad at all—he’s actually quite shrewd,” Irina sneered sarcastically, curling her lips. “You don’t see it, but he’s calculated everything. Don’t forget what kind of person Governor Temiso hates the most. Even if he manages to gain the reputation of forcing a draw with Themis Academy, if he really dares to play at faking a tie, Governor Temiso will be the first to deal with him!”
“Hmm! If that’s the case, then for him, it’s better to lose gloriously than to endure a humiliating draw. After all, even if he loses, we Mind Arts instructors will still take the blame.”
“Ha! Maybe Governor Temiso will even admire his determination to abandon the idea of a staged draw with Themis and instead go all-out against them! Damn it!” One of the Mind Arts instructors angrily pounded the wooden locker door.
Under Irina’s influence, the Mind Arts instructors, who had never held Zhang Wen in high regard to begin with, now despised him even more intensely.
“Enough! What’s the point of talking like this now? Even if we’re used as stepping stones, it’s our own fault for not being strong enough!” Kaelena coldly interjected, and the lounge immediately fell silent as the indignant Mind Arts instructors quieted down.
The noisy discussions from the audience in the main hall drifted into the ears of the Mind Arts teachers through the open lounge door, interspersed with the temporary host’s astonished voice.
“Ah? What? Uh… It seems that Professor Zhang Wen from Almace Academy still has something to say… What? Are you serious?”
“What?”
“Damn it! What are you hesitating for now?” The audience angrily shouted at the stuttering host.
“Um… Professor Zhang says that Almace’s four competitors include substitutes, so he hopes we will also send out our substitutes.” The temporary host, clearly flustered, publicly announced what should have been a private discussion with the Themis delegation.
“What the hell is he talking about?”
“Damn it, are those bastards looking down on us Themis?”
“Don’t let those Almace bastards off the hook!”
“Let them all die!”
Whether intentionally or not, that one sentence from the host instantly ignited the crowd’s fury.
The Themis representatives, riding high after a decisive victory, were already at their most confident moment. And the Almace Martial Arts Division had always been the most despised by Themis. Thus, Zhang Wen’s provocative demand immediately enraged every Themis person in Training Hall No.7.
Almost all the spectators near Zhang Wen’s side began cursing him and the four academy members behind him. Among them were several martial artists at the seventh and eighth stages. As they shouted curses, they poured their battle energy into Imperial silver coins and hurled them like weapons toward the arena in a storm.
As for the spectators farther away from Zhang Wen’s group, they all clicked their tongues in unison, producing a deafening chorus of boos loud enough to lift the roof.
Such chaos wasn’t uncommon in an arena known for its fiery atmosphere. But for a friendly match between two academies to provoke the audience to such an extent—Zhang Wen and the Almace Martial Arts Division were truly without precedent!
Hearing the overwhelming chorus of boos filling their ears, the Almace Mind Arts instructors couldn’t sit still any longer. They turned anxious eyes toward Kaelena.
“Sure enough, that scheming opportunist who climbed up by clinging to the Governor’s coattails! When he saw that winning was impossible, he simply gave up on trying to win and focused only on exploiting others’ failures to the fullest,” Irina continued sneering coldly. “Even if he loses the match now, no one can really blame him. After all, his Martial Arts Division only has four people, while Themis has ten! At that point, he can shift all the blame onto us, saying that our unexpected defeat ruined his strategy and forced him to go all-out. That way, he still earns a good reputation in front of Governor Temiso.”
“I can’t sit here anymore! Professor Kaelena, are you really going to let that bastard Zhang Wen destroy Almace Academy?” Several Mind Arts teachers impatiently jumped up, shouting before Kaelena could speak, then rushed out of the lounge.
Irina didn’t follow the others out, continuing to sneer bitterly. Kaelena shot Irina a glance, then abruptly stood up, her face dark as she strode toward the main hall.
The Mind Arts instructors who rushed out barely reached the corridor entrance when they were stopped.
“The Martial Arts match is about to begin. You’re not allowed into the arena,” several Themis students wearing green armbands blocked the instructors’ path.
“Damn it! We have an emergency! Can’t you see that? Move aside quickly!” The Mind Arts instructors angrily roared, abandoning decorum as they tried to force their way through the Themis students.
Unfortunately, most of the Themis students blocking their path were from the Martial Arts Division. The Mind Arts instructors quickly discovered that trying to overpower Martial Arts students was pure folly.
“What are you doing?” Before the audience in the stands could notice the commotion near the lounge, Kaelena’s voice cut through the chaos, halting the out-of-control Almace instructors.
“Professor Kaelena…” A group of instructors, usually so proud, lowered their heads under Kaelena’s icy gaze.
Irina also resentfully glanced at her inept colleagues before stepping forward, frowning as she gestured toward Zhang Wen. “Teacher…”
“Irini.” At the mere sound of her name from Kaelena, Irini instinctively felt a chill of fear. Since becoming a teacher at Almace, Kaelena had never spoken to her in such a cold tone.
“Yes.” Irini quickly bowed her head.
“No matter how much you despise someone, don’t turn yourself into a fool! Now that Zhang Wen’s decision has been made public, and he’s issued a direct challenge to Themis Academy, do you still want me to step in and stop him?”
“No, no… I…” Irini stammered under Kaelena’s rebuke. Only then did she realize how unforgivable her mistake had been.
Zhang Wen’s decision had already been made public! He had issued a direct challenge to Themis. And at this moment, if Kaelena were to step in and stop him, what would others think? If not for letting emotions cloud her judgment, how could she have made such a foolish decision?
Realizing this, Irini’s face turned pale, drained of color.
“Hmph! All of you, go back to the lounge! Do you want to embarrass yourselves even more?” With a furious shout from Kaelena, the several Mind Arts instructors involuntarily shuddered and slunk back into the corridor leading to the lounge.
Finally, Kaelena cast a deeply disappointed look at Irini, not even calling her name, and simply left the stunned Irini standing alone in the main hall.
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