70: Dean Tong's Speech
All the new students were soaking wet, though so had already dried.
They gathered in front of the large outdoor screen on the lawn.
First, Chen Qian'ning had Yuyin co up to the outdoor stage in front of the screen. On the screen appeared a floor plan showing the locations and room numbers of the eight available lakeside dormitories.
"Classmate Xia Yuyin, please be the first to choose a room," Chen Qian'ning said.
Just looking at the floor plan didn't reveal much. Yuyin could only choose based on a gut feeling.
"Teacher Zhang, I'll choose room 2076 then," Yuyin said, picking a second-floor room that seed to be in a good location.
Down below, over two hundred new students watched. Most of them had nothing to say. Yuyin's battle earlier had already proven her strength. This was a point they all acknowledged. These elites from all corners of the land, although inherently proud, were also pragmatic. Those with too extre a mindset would find it difficult to achieve what they had today. Of course, with a few peculiar and monstrous talents as exceptions.
"Oh, by the way, Xia Yuyin, the 97 points you earned on the leaderboard will not go to waste. They will be converted into academy credits for you at the Lingdu Source Martial Academy. In the future, you can use these credits to exchange with the academy for what you need for your cultivation," Chen Qian'ning said calmly.
"Eh!?" So of the students in the audience exclaid in surprise.
"Academy credits?" Qin Feizhen frowned. "This... this is too great an advantage for her! Why wasn't this ntioned beforehand?"
Qin Feizhen knew just how precious these academy credits were. However, he didn't know the specific distribution rules, which were strictly confidential.
"Academy credits? What are they for? Academic credits?" a boy asked in confusion.
"How foolish! Half of the people who truly understand the benefits of the Lingdu Source Martial Academy and apply here co for the academy credits. No matter how strong the academy's faculty is, they must be willing to teach, and there must be superior secret thods, cultivation resources, and weapons. And these things, which you absolutely cannot see outside, can almost only be exchanged for with credits," Qin Feizhen said through gritted teeth. He regretted challenging Yuyin at the very beginning. He had only earned 6 points, and though he had barely managed to rank seventh, it was a huge loss! In the future, how hard would it be to earn a few credits? Others might not know, but as a student from the affiliated high school, he did.
"Senior Lian and the others are truly principled. They didn't warn beforehand," Qin Feizhen said, shaking his head in disappointnt.
"Then now, Classmate Yuyin, you may choose a roommate. According to the rules, it can be a male or a female student," Chen Qian'ning reminded her, though if Yuyin chose a boy, she would probably look down on her.
Choose a roommate?
Yuyin was suddenly at a loss. She looked at the several hundred people below... she didn't know most of them, except for those she had fought and gotten to know.
For a mont, the new students, especially the boys, had stars in their eyes, as if expecting sothing impossible to happen. What if Yuyin chose him?
"If you give up your choice, the academy will arrange it according to the wishes of the students ranked after you."
"I choose," Yuyin said imdiately. How could she let soone else arrange it for her? Her gaze fell upon the small, twin-tailed girl in the crowd whose soaked dress made her look a bit pitiful.
Hua Qianyuan. She looked quite cute. If Yuyin didn't choose her, she would probably be chosen by so boy. Besides, Yuyin was only a little familiar with her.
"Then I choose Hua Qianyuan," Yuyin said.
A wave of undisguised, disappointed sighs ca from the audience, though half of it was just joking around. Everyone knew it was unlikely she would choose a boy.
"Yuyin..." In the crowd, Hua Qianyuan's small, pretty face seed to brighten a little. Her eyes, like gentle waves, stirred. In her heart, she had also held a tiny sliver of hope, while also fearing being chosen by a boy.
"It's great... that such an amazing big sister chose ..." A hint of red rose on Hua Qianyuan's face.
After Yuyin chose, those ranked second through eighth went up one by one to choose their dorms and roommates. Ouyang Ning, ranked second, very gracefully chose a handso boy.
But people like Xin Liang and Qin Feizhen chose girls without hesitation. In fact, the purple-haired girl with a sowhat seductive aura chosen by Qin Feizhen looked quite pleased.
There was another long-haired girl among the top eight, and she also chose a female roommate.
The rest felt dispirited. The top eight got lakeside villas, abundant Primordial Energy, and beautiful cultivation partners. They, on the other hand, would be assigned to four-person rooms, or even eight-person rooms, based on their rankings.
Could the Lingdu Source Martial Academy be short of money to build buildings? This was intentional. Being assigned to an eight-person room felt like being a second-class student.
But there was nothing to be done. They had lost, perford poorly, and were outmatched. What could be done?
At this mont, Chen Qian'ning received a phone call. She imdiately said, "Classmates, we were originally going to have you return to your dorms, but there's an urgent notice. The opening ceremony scheduled for tomorrow, with the Dean's speech, has been moved to right now due to an urgent national deploynt. Please follow to the sports field imdiately!"
"Huh? Why so suddenly..."
"My clothes are still wet, and you can see right through them..."
Many students didn't understand, but having co to the Lingdu Source Martial Academy, no one dared to complain too much. They all followed Chen Qian'ning and the other teachers with sullen expressions toward the lakeside sports field.
Yuyin was also a bit puzzled. The Dean of the Lingdu Source Martial Academy… what kind of person was that! Why would he arrange a speech so hastily?
She walked together with Hua Qianyuan. After all, they were roommates now.
Although confused, no one dared to be audacious. They assembled on the sports field, waiting for the Dean's speech.
Under the sky full of fiery sunset clouds, a helicopter roared past and landed not far from the sports field.
"A helicopter? Could it be the Dean?" Yuyin thought to herself.
A mont later, a tall, thin old man, wearing a crisp windbreaker and a new scarf over the outside but a tattered Chinese-style long gown on the inside, walked over with the swift gait of the wind. Following behind the old man were four or five adult n and won, all with extraordinary bearing.
Yuyin's eyesight was excellent. She couldn't help but notice that the long gown was not only tattered but also stained with blood. The old man looked to be about sixty. He walked past Yuyin, who was standing in the front row, and ascended the high platform.
At this mont, Yuyin felt her very soul freeze for an instant.
A powerful expert!
Even more terrifying than Zhang Henglong or Mr. Du.
The terrifying, brutal aura emanating from the bloodstains on his body made Yuyin's legs tremble uncontrollably. What kind of creature's blood was this? How could its aura be so horrifying!?
The old man's gray-white eyebrows were like brooms. His features were handso, and he must have been extraordinarily dashing in his youth. In his sharp, commanding eyes, which commanded respect, there was also a hint of amiability.
He looked at the many exhausted new students, his brows furrowing slightly as a pained expression crossed his face. "My dear students, I am sorry to have put you through hardship."
"I am your Dean, Tong Zizhong."
All the new students were stunned. The Dean? The Dean of the Lingdu Source Martial Academy was a high-level figure in the Huaxia nation. And yet, his first words were an apology to them? To be concerned about them?
Yuyin's chest rose and fell involuntarily. She could feel this old man's imnse power. For such a peerless expert to be so humble? She couldn't help but feel a deep sense of respect.
Tong Zizhong's gaze swept over the new students one by one, his brows knitted with a sorrowful expression. "I know that you must find it very difficult to adapt after first arriving at the Lingdu Source Martial Academy. Why would we arrange such an intense competition for you right at the beginning? Our Lingdu is all-encompassing. Huaxia is a nation of etiquette. Why, as the highest institution of learning, would the Lingdu Source Martial Academy be so demanding of you?"
"If it were possible, I would be the first one to not want to squeeze these children. What kind of hero does that make?" Tong Zizhong's eyes flashed, his spirit high.
"But... we have no other choice." This old man, who had long passed the age of knowing his fate, this one sentence, 'we have no other choice', was filled with deep helplessness.
Yuyin stood below, finding it hard to imagine for a mont why such a peerless expert, a grandmaster of his generation, would feel such helplessness. With such power, shouldn't he be able to live freely and without care?
Tong Zizhong looked at every student with a compassionate gaze. "We, the older generation, failed to accomplish what we set out to do. We can only pin our hopes on your generation... Through harsh cultivation and seemingly harsh school rules, we make you fight! But what I worry about most is... if we don't do this, if you don't fight, then I'm afraid, one day, your next generation won't even have a chance to fight..."
"You are all one-in-a-million geniuses of the Huaxia nation. You are the most precious wealth of our country, and indeed of all humanity. If you don't fight, the several thousand years of human civilization may very well end with your generation. Humanity will have no next generation."
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