Chapter 619: Come over here, Zhang Yu

Chapter 619: Come Here, Zhang Yu

Because the Four Heavenly Demon Academies had fallen far behind in the previous team match, they had secured fewer spots for advancement, with their advancing students accounting for just over thirty percent of the fifty-five present. Meanwhile, the Four Myriad Law Academies, having taken the lead in the previous team match, had fought for just over sixty percent of the spots.

Zhang Yu's gaze swept over Kuang Tianqing and the students standing beside her, and he thought to himself, "Aside from Kuang Tianqing, Yan Xiang, the top student from the Netherworld University, Mu Qiansi, the top student from the Hehuan University, and Di Lianzhong, the top student from the White Bone University, have indeed all advanced."

However, Zhang Yu was not entirely surprised by this. After each academy team received their advancement quotas based on the capture rankings from the previous match, the schools were free to select their own advancing candidates, making these top students from the Four Heavenly Demon Academies absolute must-picks.

In the next moment, a projection of the Spirit Realm materialized in the air, and as the names of the contestants popped up one by one, they gradually formed a personal ranking of the top eleven.

"First place, Dao Qiankun, seven captives."

"Second place, Tian Shenggong, six captives."

"Third place, Kuang Tianqing, five captives."

...

Looking at this ranking, Zhang Yu's heart stirred, and he mused, "This is the personal ranking based on the number of suppressed captives in the previous team match? And in the event of a tie, those who captured them first rank higher."

Because it was tied to the number of captives, and the Four Heavenly Demon Academies had suffered a heavy loss in the previous match, the majority of these top eleven contestants were once again from the Four Myriad Law Academies, with the Four Heavenly Demon Academies in the minority.

Gazing at the names on the ranking, Zhang Yu thought to himself, "These people... are almost all renowned powerhouse contestants from their respective academies."

The top three from each of the Ten Great Academies possessed incomparably formidable strength, standing as the ultimate trump cards at the very top of the hierarchy.

Yet, as the Ten Great Leagues progressed and the elites of each academy gathered, even after a round of eliminations, there were still a full twenty-seven trump card figures from the various academies present at the scene.

These prodigies, who originally stood high above the rest, rarely seen and towering over thousands of students in their respective academies, had now gathered in a group of twenty-seven, creating the illusion that prodigies were as common as dirt.

But an illusion is merely an illusion; compared to the vast population of university students, including those in junior colleges, these twenty-seven individuals, now seemingly as common as dirt, were in fact the exceedingly rare few standing at the pinnacle of the pyramid.

Although this ranking was based solely on the number of personal captives and did not represent the contestants' true comprehensive strength, these top eleven were undoubtedly the ones in whom each academy placed its highest hopes.

Zhang Yu thought, "So what is the purpose of revealing this ranking? Does it have anything to do with the upcoming match?"

In the blink of an eye, as the names of the top eleven contestants were all listed, the rules for the second match also materialized.

Glancing over it briefly, a hint of realization dawned in Zhang Yu's mind: "The second match is a competition that lies somewhere between a team event and an individual event."

Reading through the rules, Zhang Yu summarized in his heart, "The top eleven contestants will become team captains, selecting teammates from the remaining forty-four people present to form eleven teams of five members each."

"And these eleven teams will compete in a relay race, with the top six teams ultimately advancing in full to participate in the grand finals."

Looking at the details of the relay, Zhang Yu fell into deep thought once more: "To advance in this match, how the captains choose their members and allocate tasks... will be of utmost importance."

Within Zhang Yu's ocular cavity, the specific details of the five relay events were projected.

"The first event requires breaking through the siege of eighteen Great Strength Divine Demons in succession, breaking out to the target location at the fastest speed to hand off to the next contestant."

"Then the second event is Mountain Moving, the third is Stealth, the fourth is Aquatic Sprint, and the final event... is Altering the Celestial Phenomena."

"Ultimately, the times spent on all five events will be added together, and the six teams with the least total time will advance."

Observing the content of these five relay events, Zhang Yu also pondered which event he was most skilled at and best suited to participate in.

Meanwhile, after giving the eleven captains half an hour to think, the venue commenced the selection process.

Starting with Dao Qiankun, ranked first, the eleven captains took turns selecting one contestant to join their team, and then starting from Dao Qiankun again, they selected their second member, continuing until all members were chosen.

Under the gaze of everyone present, and the anticipation of countless live-stream viewers, Dao Qiankun smiled and beckoned towards Zhang Yu: "Come here, Zhang Yu."

Zhang Yu seemed not the least bit surprised by this; with a calm expression, he walked towards Dao Qiankun and stood behind him.

However, Dao Qiankun's choice caught many off guard, bringing a look of astonishment to the eyes of numerous contestants.

An Zhen Zhenjun, who was watching the match, also frowned slightly, thinking to himself, "Why choose Zhang Yu with the very first pick?"

"Zang Shenyu focused entirely on defense in the last match and didn't personally capture many, just missing out on the top eleven to become a captain..."

He looked towards Zang Shenyu among the forty-four people present, feeling that this top student from the Vajra University, in terms of both strength and wealth, was the most worthy candidate for the first pick.

On the other side of the arena, Jiu Tianliu, also one of the eleven captains, thought to himself, "Although Zhang Yu's advertising quote ranking previously rose to third place, that only reflects his popularity, not his actual strength."

Jiu Tianliu looked at the other contestants present, thinking, "At the very least, among the contestants here, there are quite a few whose strength is firmly above Zhang Yu's, and several more who possess an absolute advantage in these five relay events."

"Wasting the first pick on Zhang Yu... is Dao Qiankun too confident, or just too hasty?"

At the same time, the second-ranked captain, Tian Shenggong, the top student from the Immortal Weapon University, smiled and said to Dao Qiankun beside him, "Since that's the case, I won't stand on ceremony."

Tian Shenggong looked at Zang Shenyu and said, "Old friend, come join my team."

Following this, as the captains made their selections one by one, Dao Qiankun's team quickly assembled its full complement of five members.

Zhang Yu's gaze swept over his few teammates; aside from himself and Dao Qiankun, the remaining three were Yan Qianji, Wen Rongjue, and Li Shiwei.

As the third in the entire academy and the first in the Artifact Refining Department, Yan Qianji's strength was naturally beyond doubt.

Li Shiwei was the second in the Dao Arts Department, and Wen Rongjue was the third in the Finance Department, both possessing remarkable strength in their own right.

With the selection complete, the next step was the allocation of events, with each team arranging their own members for the different tasks.

Dao Qiankun said indifferently, "The final event of the five-part relay requires altering the celestial phenomena; I will take charge of this stage. Tell me, which event does each of you wish to handle?" Yan Qianji said, "The first event requires breaking through eighteen Great Strength Divine Demons. I am quite familiar with these military-grade puppets, so I will take charge of it."

Wen Rongjue smiled slightly and said, "I have studied a great deal about concealing one's fortune and aura, so I will take charge of the third event, Stealth."

Li Shiwei, second in the Dao Arts Department, said, "Of the remaining two stages, one is Mountain Moving and the other is Aquatic Sprint. My Dao arts are better suited for moving mountains, so I will choose that."

Listening to everyone's discussion, Dao Qiankun nodded slightly; it was pretty much in line with his own arrangements.

However, Dao Qiankun still looked at Zhang Yu and asked, "Zhang Yu, what do you think?"

After reviewing the specific details of each of the five relay events, Zhang Yu felt that he was most skilled at and best suited for either Mountain Moving or Aquatic Sprint.

Especially now that his Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor had been upgraded to level twenty, his advantage in the Aquatic Sprint had greatly increased.

Thinking of this, he nodded confidently at Dao Qiankun and said, "Then I will take charge of the fourth stage, the Aquatic Sprint."

After the five of them reached an agreement, they reported their event assignments and then headed to their respective positions in the arena according to their instructions.

Zhang Yu looked at the map and thought to himself, "This five-part relay basically goes all the way around the entire floating continent."

"The five of us contestants have five different starting points..."

Seeing Zhang Yu soar into the sky, following the Spirit Realm guidance that appeared in his ocular cavity, he flew at high speed, breaking through layers of air currents, and in the blink of an eye, arrived at a corner of the floating continent.

Looking at the shimmering, boundless expanse of water before him, Zhang Yu thought to himself, "What a massive lake; at first glance, it looks just like seeing an ocean."

"Can there really be a place like this on the floating continent?"

"Truly... what a massive undertaking."

"Just how much money did they spend for this match?"

At this moment, Zhang Yu even had a feeling that, compared to them as contestants, the companies that contracted the arena construction projects were the ones truly making money in the Ten Great Leagues.

As the divine power of Tiankun Mountain Moving circulated, Zhang Yu slowly descended with his sword sheath at a shoreline.

The beach before him was precisely the starting point for the Aquatic Sprint.

And when Zhang Yu arrived, he found that quite a few contestants had already reached this place.

"Zhang Yu, are you also in charge of this stage?"

Hearing this, Zhang Yu looked up, and seeing the information above the other's head, he thought to himself, "Fourth place from the Immortal Weapon University, Ling Pojun."

Zhang Yu still remembered that during the previous match, this guy had tried to leech off his popularity, actively picking a conflict with him, saying the logistics department had nothing better to do and asking why he was building a laboratory.

Ling Pojun looked at Zhang Yu before him and thought to himself, "This guy's popularity is super high right now."

"He may rank in the top three for popularity, but in terms of overall strength, he is far from the top three. His true forte lies in support. The only reason he managed to stall Kuang Tianqing in the last round was with the help of his teammates, the advantage of the formation, and his advance preparations..."

But... faced with such immense popularity surrounding Zhang Yu, how could Ling Pojun possibly resist riding on his coattails?

Only this time, Ling Pojun had changed his approach. Gazing at Zhang Yu with a solemn expression, he said, "Junior, although we were comrades in the last round, we are rivals in this one. I will not hold back."

"Let us fight with all our might and push each other to achieve even greater and better results."

Just then, accompanied by a resounding dragon's roar, a shadow of a dragon descended from the sky, landing upon the very same stretch of beach.

"Zhang Yu, to think you're actually participating in this trial as well? Truly, the heavens are on my side!"

Zhang Yu turned his head to look, only to see a colossal dragon, over a hundred meters in length, staring at him with a pair of draconic eyes.

Sweeping his gaze over the creature's head, Zhang Yu mused silently, "Second place at the Heavenly Demon University, Ying Zhoufan from the Demonic Beast Department."

"Why does that name feel somewhat familiar?"

A moment later, it dawned on him. He seemed to recall encountering a high-bloodline demonic descendant named Ying Yufan, who bore a strikingly human appearance, during the previous team tournament.

Curious, Zhang Yu asked, "What is your relationship with Ying Yufan?"

"He is my younger brother." Ying Zhoufan sneered, his draconic eyes gleaming with cruelty as he fixed his gaze on Zhang Yu. "That fool actually failed to seize the opportunity to capture you when he ran into you in the last round. What a useless wretch."

In Ying Zhoufan's eyes, encountering Zhang Yu acting alone in the previous round, before he had even begun to set up his formations or lay his groundwork, had been the perfect opportunity to take him down.

Yet his good-for-nothing younger brother had squandered the chance for nothing.

"But perhaps it is for the best."

Ying Zhoufan flicked his dragon tail, unleashing a gale that seemed to whip up a tempest along the shoreline.

He mused inwardly, "This Zhang Yu already ranks high on the demonic descendant discrimination list; humiliating him alone would yield ample demonic aura."

"Now that his popularity is so immense, it is the perfect opportunity to devour it all in this round! To digest it completely!"

The more he thought about it, the more exhilarated he became, his draconic eyes seemingly radiating light. "I will utterly shame and insult him, trample his dignity into the dust, and turn him into my very own traffic and popularity."

(End of Chapter)