Chapter 127: Top 100 Starry Sky Martial Arts University

Chapter 127: The Hundred Elite Starry Martial Academies

While tens of thousands of students below cheered and roared for the fierce competition of the freshman tournament, a completely different scene unfolded within the highest-level circular observation tower of the "Arctic Crown."

This was an exclusive space reserved solely for the lead mentors of the various elite martial high schools, high-ranking imperial officials, and specially invited guests.

A massive circular floor-to-ceiling crystalline wall offered a panoramic view of the entire "Arctic Crown," as if the entire magnificent arena lay trampled beneath one's feet.

Suspended in the air were refreshments and beverages formed from pure energy particles, emitting a faint halo, available for anyone to take at will.

At this moment, the lead mentors from the most prestigious "Seven Elite Martial High Schools" of Qiming Star were gathered in small groups, holding energy drinks, seemingly engaged in leisurely conversation.

Mentor Gu Yue, dressed in a sharp black combat suit, stood silently before the crystalline wall, his gaze sweeping over the countless arena platforms below, each no larger than an ant.

"Mentor Gu Yue, your school is truly riding a wave of momentum this year."

A voice tinged with laughter came from the side.

The speaker was the lead mentor of the Golden Dragon Martial High School, a middle-aged man named Jin Chengwu.

He wore a splendid gold-and-red mentor uniform, was slightly stout, and always bore a genial, merchant-like smile on his face, though a glint of shrewdness and calculation occasionally flickered in his eyes.

"I heard that even those long-established promising talents like Feng Ruyun and Li Daoyi have graduated early. Such bold moves truly put the rest of us to shame."

Jin Chengwu's words seemed like flattery but were actually full of probing intent.

"The children have their own choices. As teachers, we merely support them."

Mentor Gu Yue's tone was as calm as still water, without a ripple. He did not even turn to look at Jin Chengwu.

"Haha, why be so modest, Mentor Gu Yue?"

Jin Chengwu laughed nonchalantly and continued, "We've heard that a kid who skipped a grade from the first year has turned your entire third year upside down. I'm quite looking forward to seeing him go head-to-head on the arena with my worthless disciple, Chen Tian."

Nearby, the lead mentor of the Tianshu Martial High School, an old man with an immortal aura dressed in a blue-and-white robe, stroked his long beard and spoke slowly: "The younger generation is formidable, indeed formidable. To have made even a proud child like Feng Ruyun submit—he must have mastered three complete killing techniques?"

The old man's words were like a pebble thrown into a calm lake.

The breath of every mentor present seemed to catch for a moment.

Mastering three complete killing techniques was indeed the top-tier combat power among veteran students.

Yet Mentor Gu Yue remained as expressionless as an ancient well. He slowly turned around, his gaze sweeping across Jin Chengwu and the old man from Tianshu Martial High School, and said flatly, "Whether they can go head-to-head on the arena depends on whether your students have the ability to make it to the end. As for strength... the match will reveal all."

His words were watertight, deflecting all probing attempts with ease.

Seeing this, the other mentors could only silently curse him as a "wily old fox" and stop wasting their efforts.

They were all shrewd individuals, knowing that no valuable information could be extracted from Gu Yue.

After a round of Tai Chi-like verbal sparring, the observation tower fell into a brief silence.

Just then, Mentor Gu Yue suddenly fixed his gaze on Jin Chengwu, his eyes turning sharp in an instant.

"Mentor Jin,"

His voice was a few notes lower and colder than before, "During last year's freshman tournament, a student from your Golden Dragon Martial High School, even after the opponent had already conceded, still delivered a heavy blow, severely injuring one of our students, nearly to the point of death. I hope such an incident does not recur this year."

Though his tone was calm, the warning it carried seemed to drop the temperature inside the observation tower by several degrees.

The smile on Jin Chengwu's face stiffened slightly but quickly returned to normal.

He spread his hands, putting on a rather helpless expression.

"Mentor Gu Yue, you and I both know what the 'Qiming Rising Star' means."

He sighed and said, "It's not just honor—it's a massive influx of resources capable of changing a family's destiny, a golden ticket straight to the Hundred Elite Starry Martial Academies of the Canaan Galaxy. Only one per cohort."

"Faced with such temptation, I can't control those spoiled little brats."

"Besides,"

He shifted his tone, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes, "Even if someone dies, it's within the bounds of the rules. On the arena, weapons have no eyes, and life and death are determined by fate, isn't that right? What the Empire needs are wolves that can fight their way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, not flowers carefully nurtured in a greenhouse."

Though his words were cruel, they were the truest reflection of this empire.

Mentor Gu Yue gave him a long, deep look, offered no rebuttal, and simply nodded slowly: "I understand."

He was merely fulfilling his duty as a mentor, issuing a preemptive warning.

Whether the other party heeded it was beyond his control.

But he believed that with Qin Feng's strength, the one who needed to worry about safety would never be his own student.

Just as the atmosphere in the observation tower grew slightly tense, the space suddenly rippled.

In the central area of the tower, one by one, light gates—some bright, some dim, some blazing, some icy—opened out of thin air.

Then, humanoid projections of various forms stepped out from them.

There were over a hundred of them!

Some of these figures wore luxurious robes, some donned form-fitting technological combat suits, and others were clad in retro martial arts attire.

Though merely projections, the auras they exuded were still immensely powerful—each one had reached the planetary level!

And the bizarre, varied badges on their chests revealed their identities—recruitment mentors from the "Hundred Elite Starry Martial Academies"!

At the arrival of these uninvited guests, the mentors from the Seven Elite Martial High Schools, including Gu Yue, showed no surprise on their faces, nor did they display any of the reverence they had shown when meeting Zhou Xiong earlier.

They simply remained seated, nodding politely at the projections as a greeting.

Because the two sides were on equal footing.

These lead mentors of the "Seven Elite Martial High Schools" were, without exception, planetary-level powerhouses themselves.

More importantly, they were present in person, while the others were merely virtual projections crossing countless star domains.

In terms of presence, they even slightly overshadowed the visitors.

In the vast Canaan Galaxy, the number of registered starry martial academies numbered in the hundreds of millions.

But the ones that all intelligent life in the galaxy fought tooth and nail to enter bore only one title—"One Supremacy, Hundred Elite."

"One Supremacy" referred to the Canaan Galaxy's sole and strongest legendary academy, "Canaan Starry Martial Academy."

Its status was as stable as Mount Tai, unchanging for eons—the ultimate dream destination for all geniuses.

"Hundred Elite" referred to the top one hundred academies in comprehensive strength, excluding "Canaan Starry Martial Academy." This ranking saw slight changes every year, with competition fiercer than ordinary people could imagine.

At this moment, the recruitment representatives of the vast majority of these "Hundred Elite" schools had descended here.

Everyone knew why they had come.

"Heh, it seems the news of Lord Zhou Xiong's visit to observe the tournament has still leaked."

The old man from Tianshu Martial High School stroked his beard and chuckled, his voice carrying a hint of understanding.

"These guys have noses sharper than the Zerg."

Jin Chengwu curled his lips and muttered under his breath.

As for the recruitment mentors of the Hundred Elite Starry Martial Academies, they too knew the score.

For a black hole-level powerhouse from the Limit Warrior Battle Group to personally attend the tournament, there must be a peerless genius hidden behind it—one capable of driving all starry martial academies wild with desire.

"Gentlemen, long time no see!"

Among the projections of recruitment mentors, a seemingly enthusiastic middle-aged man cupped his hands toward Gu Yue and the others with a smile. "We heard that Lord Zhou Xiong of the Limit Warrior Battle Group recently graced your esteemed institution. Surely, he must have discovered some extraordinary prodigy. We've come specially to see the excitement—to find out which family's unicorn child is blessed enough to catch Lord Zhou Xiong's eye!"

Another round of tacit probing.

Ancient Tutor merely picked up his energy drink, took a sip, and said calmly, "How could we ever fathom the actions of Lord Zhou Xiong? You all overthink it; the lord simply had a whim and came for an inspection."

His words kicked the ball right back.

The other tutors chimed in, nodding or smiling, but none took the bait.

Are you kidding?

That was a black hole-level existence!

Who would dare gossip behind his back? If one wrong word displeased that lord, the consequences were something none of them could bear.

Seeing the tutors from the seven elite high schools turn into tight-lipped mutes, the admissions teachers from Starry Sky University understood the message.

They exchanged glances and, with tacit agreement, stopped pressing.

Yet among the hundred or so virtual projections of admissions tutors, one female tutor's eyes gleamed with a unique, determined light.

Her name was Zhang Ruoyu, from "Duna Starry Sky University," ranked seventy-third on the Hundred Strong List.

Unlike the others, who only grasped at shadows, she had a piece of absolutely reliable inside information.

"These old foxes sure keep their mouths shut."

A confident smile curled at the corner of Zhang Ruoyu's lips as she thought to herself, "But... no matter."

"An old friend of mine works in the logistics department of the Limit Warrior Battle Group. One favor from me bought a single sentence—Lord Zhou Xiong's attention that day was fixed on a student from Qiming First High!"

The value of this intel was immeasurable!

It narrowed the target from the entire Qiming Star down to a single school.

"Qiming First High..."

Zhang Ruoyu's mind quickly linked to the Empire's education network, searching for relevant information.

"Let me see, who stood out at Qiming First High last year... Got it!"

Soon, a name jumped into her view.

Qin Feng!

Champion of the last Qiming Inter-School Tournament's freshman competition—the "Newcomer King"!

"That's him!"

Zhang Ruoyu's conviction solidified instantly. To claim the "Newcomer King" title as a freshman in a place like Qiming First High, teeming with prodigies, left no doubt about his talent and strength!

Only someone like that could possibly catch Lord Zhou Xiong's attention!

She immediately pulled up more detailed records on Qin Feng.

"Life force index 1.23 at enrollment... hmm, truly top-tier talent."

"Life force index around 14.0 during the freshman competition... astonishing progress!"

"Perfect, all the signs match!"

Zhang Ruoyu's eyes grew brighter as her mind raced, spinning a self-assured, flawless logical deduction.

"He was a freshman last year; this year, he should just be a sophomore. Even if he's a once-in-a-millennium genius, and Qiming First High poured massive resources into him, his life force index couldn't have climbed past 25.0 at most."

"At that level, he'd stand out in this year's senior competition, but he's still leagues behind monsters like Chen Tian and Liu Feixu, who've hit the third-level martial artist limit. This year's 'Qiming Rising Star' is out of his reach."

"In that case..."

A bold, tempting idea sprouted wildly in Zhang Ruoyu's mind!

"No need to waste another precious year in high school, grinding for next year's 'Qiming Rising Star.'"

"I'll offer him an S-level contract he can't refuse right now... no, he comes from humble beginnings—an A-level contract will do!"

"This is someone Lord Zhou Xiong valued! His potential is galaxy-class! Locking in a future powerhouse like this with an A-level contract, earning the Empire's contribution points for recruitment—this is... a steal!"

With that thought, Zhang Ruoyu grew ecstatic.

She acted immediately, using the Empire's official education network to pay for and retrieve Qin Feng's personal communication channel ID.

Meanwhile, the other Starry Sky University tutors in the observation tower, having failed in their probing, began their own moves.

Unable to pinpoint the target, they resorted to the most basic yet safest method—casting a wide net.

They tossed their olive branches to the brightest talents in the records.

"Golden Dragon" Chen Tian, "Celestial Pivot Sword" Liu Feixu, the mysterious "Grade-Holder" Zhou Qi, and any other senior students with perfected killing techniques—their private inboxes were flooded within minutes with dozens of recruitment letters from top hundred Starry Sky Universities.

Of course, Qin Feng was also in their net.

But for Zhang Ruoyu, there was only one target.

She stared at the name "Qin Feng" on her wrist terminal, a confident, hunter-like smile spreading across her face.

In her eyes, she was the ultimate player, holding the final piece of intelligence.

All she had to do was execute a perfect, precise catch before her wide-net-throwing peers even realized what was happening.

(End of chapter)