Chapter 296: Main Team Selection Quota
“Thank you for your hard work. This round of testing concludes here. We’ve finished compiling the results and will now announce them.”
The Director of Studies stepped forward, looking at the fifty students before her.
Standing here were the top fifty students of the Lian City Branch Academy. Nearly every one of them had reached the Long-Lived stage. Some were even prodigies who had already stepped into the first tier of Long-Lived.
They had been locked inside overnight, fighting one another for a single purpose—
The seven slots clenched in her hand.
Even those who knew full well they likely had no chance still looked at her with a trace of hope. The Lost Land was simply too important to extraordinary individuals. If they missed the academy’s opportunity, then after graduation, obtaining qualification again would require paying a price.
“There are seven Lost Land slots this time. I will now announce the selected names.”
Her gaze swept slowly across the students below before she began reading them out, one by one.
“Fifth Year, Chu Xiaoyue.”
“Sixth Year, Tong Zhou.”
“Sixth Year, Qiu Hou.”
“Sixth Year, Shu Yushan.”
“Fifth Year, Su Ran.”
“Fourth Year, Ji Muge.”
“And…”
She paused briefly, then her eyes settled on Xu Zhi.
“First Year, Xu Zhi.”
—The entire hall erupted.
Even though many had already expected Xu Zhi to make the list, actually hearing her name still brought undeniable surprise.
Amid a cluster of upper-year students, there was only one—
A first-year.
“That’s all for this selection. These are the members who will represent our academy in the upcoming inter-academy league.”
“Among them, Fourth Year Ji Muge and First Year Xu Zhi will serve as substitutes.”
Listing Xu Zhi as a substitute was not because they thought her strength insufficient. On the contrary, it was precisely because they recognized her potential and power that they decisively placed her in that position.
If one had to put it into words, it was… a tactic.
After all, anyone seeing a first-year substitute in the league would assume she was there to polish her resume.
Or simply to gain experience.
If Xu Zhi were placed directly as a main team member—a first-year main team member, something unprecedented—that would be far too eye-catching. It would draw excessive attention to her and possibly even provoke wariness. No one was stupid. If you put a first-year on the main roster, then either you were insane, or that first-year truly had something extraordinary.
No one would assume the Light Institute had gone mad.
Which meant the only conclusion would be that this first-year was dangerous.
They had no desire for other academies to be on guard against Xu Zhi. So the substitute position suited her better. In fact, placing her as a substitute was not a slight—it was treating her as a trump card. Precisely because they valued her so highly, they made this choice.
As for Xu Zhi, she was quite satisfied with the substitute role.
No matter how she looked at it, it was the perfect position to slack off and still collect rewards.
Meanwhile, the other students—especially those who had once been thoroughly beaten by her—wore rather subtle expressions.
They almost instantly understood what the academy was thinking.
“Dirty.”
“So dirty.”
“But… I support it.”
“Heh heh. Heh heh. Guess what I’m thinking?”
“I bet you’re imagining students from other academies getting beaten up by our junior.”
“How did you know?!”
“Because I feel like getting beaten by her has twisted you psychologically.”
“…You’re the twisted one. Don’t tell me you don’t want to see it.”
“…I do.”
“Other academies will definitely assume she’s just there to gain experience, right? They’ll never guess she’s actually a devil!”
“Just imagining the audience’s reaction when they see her in the league—I could eat three extra bowls of rice!”
The Director of Studies coughed lightly. “Quiet.”
“Remember this. What happened during the test stays in your stomachs. From the moment you walk out that door until the league ends, you are not permitted to reveal anything to anyone.”
Xu Zhi was their secret weapon. Naturally, her strength had to remain confidential.
“Understood!”
It just meant that for a while, the junior might have to carry the blame of “pulling strings.”
But as they glanced at Xu Zhi’s calm, unruffled expression, they figured she probably wouldn’t care about such things.
It wasn’t a big issue anyway. The Inner Academy had always been united. And Xu Zhi’s talent sat firmly at the top of the rankings. Even if she had “pulled strings,” once outsiders mocked her, most people would instinctively defend their own junior.
They could already imagine the forum posts:
[Her talent is that high—what’s wrong with letting her gain more experience?!]
[Give her a few more years and she’ll crush other academies easily! If you don’t nurture someone like that, are you supposed to nurture someone less talented?]
[Okay, I’m jealous too, but the academy’s decision is understandable.]
Jealous to death in their hearts, yet defending their own in public.
That was the Light Institute.
When it came to internal fights, they could beat each other senseless. But externally, they were extremely united.
After all, they were the most talented generation of their era. They grew in the same academy, shared the same honors. Barring accidents, even after graduation they would likely remain colleagues.
They were true insiders.
That was the academy’s culture: fierce competition, but not a bad atmosphere—provided you were from the Inner Academy.
Yes.
The Outer Academy was not included.
The good atmosphere applied only within the Inner Academy. How could prodigies lack pride? Among the Inner Academy, everyone had talent—they were peers—so this balance could be maintained.
But when it came to the Outer Academy, almost every Inner Academy student was indifferent. Detached. Many didn’t even consider them part of the same academy.
Of course, this arrogance manifested mainly as coldness. Most of the time, when disputes arose involving the Outer Academy or other academies, Inner Academy students merely watched with cool detachment. Unless the Inner Academy itself was implicated, they would rarely intervene in matters concerning the Outer Academy.
The Outer Academy students, on the other hand, largely admired the Inner Academy. But due to that cold attitude, they seldom mentioned them.
Though both belonged to Light Institute, the overall vibe between the two could be summed up as—
“Unfamiliar distant relatives.”
Still, while the Outer Academy had no qualification to participate in the league, the league itself was a grand carnival for all extraordinary individuals. Naturally, Outer Academy students paid close attention.
And since the Inner Academy’s league team represented the entire Lian City Light Institute, they followed it closely.
The league roster would be publicly posted in the Outer Academy. During the league period, their classes would even involve watching the matches.
Thus, those who normally had no channel to understand the Inner Academy quickly saw a roster that could only be described as unbelievable.
[First Year, Xu Zhi.]
