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Chapter 58: Preliminary Round

Before announcing the rewards for first place, Teacher Linus briefly paused, letting the students digest the previous information. After about five seconds, she continued, “And finally, the first place will receive 500,000 star coins, 15 Essence Heart Pills, a core spell, a ring spell, a meditation technique, and a Purple Cloud Fruit!”

Once again, interesting animations of the said rewards appeared on the large holographic screens. But this time, there was a strange silence after the rewards were announced. It took a couple of seconds for the crowd to react, and the first to react were the teachers.

“Purple Cloud Fruit?” one of the teachers said in astonishment, staring at the screen in an attempt to ascertain what he had just heard.

“Is it really the Purple Cloud Fruit from the depths of the Duskfield Forest?”

“It actually appeared in our academy!?”

The teachers animatedly discussed amongst themselves with shocked expressions before turning towards Principal Green. According to tradition, the principal of Red Oak Spirit Academy would personally provide one of the rewards for the winner. Although Principal Green had always been generous, this time, he had outdone himself by giving away a Purple Cloud Fruit.

Just as the teachers were surprised, some knowledgeable students also hastily informed their peers, and another wave of shocked exclamations rang out.

Ain controlled his expression well, but his eyes were intently focused on the Purple Cloud Fruit displayed on the screen. This fruit wasn’t foreign to him because he had learned about it in the spirit master inheritance book.

The Purple Cloud Fruit was an incredibly rare Rank-1 spirit fruit. It could be directly consumed, permanently increasing the spirit energy quality by 10%, spirit energy quantity by 30%, and boosting one’s perception of spirit energy.

All of these effects were very desirable to spirit tamers. Just the increase in spirit energy quality was equivalent to consuming 30 Essence Heart Pills, and having more spirit energy was always preferred. But the most significant effect of the Purple Cloud Fruit was the last one.

Methods to increase spirit energy perception were very rare, and it could lead to a direct increase in one’s training efficiency in all aspects. Furthermore, consuming it could alleviate a Rank-1 Spirit Tamer’s innate weakness in terms of general perception.

As a Rank-1 spirit fruit, its effects were negligible to those beyond Rank-1, but that didn’t decrease the Purple Cloud Fruit’s rarity. Rare meant that it was a difficult item to find. In a place like the depths of Duskfield Forest, one was more likely to encounter common Rank-2 and Rank-3 resources than the rare Rank-1 Purple Cloud Fruit.

The relevant information about the Purple Cloud Fruit slowly spread in the arena. Ain also informed Hugo, who was clueless about the item.

Hugo’s innate talent, Sensory Enhancement, could also boost spirit energy perception, so he was aware of how beneficial the Purple Cloud Fruit was.

As the venue was abuzz with noise, the two vice principals also glanced at the principal, who remained unfazed, with slight surprise. It seemed that other than Teacher Linus, who recently obtained the rewards list, not many were privy to this information.

The world was unfair, and resources congregated towards the powerful. A precious resource like this was unlikely to end up in the spirit academy if it weren’t personally provided by Principal Green.

After a couple of minutes, Teacher Linus drew everyone’s attention, moving towards the beginning of the actual competition. “Now that you all are aware of the rewards, be sure to give it your all! Let’s begin round one. The preliminary round will be conducted by Vice Principal Pictor!”

After finishing her piece, Teacher Linus moved aside, gesturing to Vice Principal Pictor to take the stage.

On cue, Vice Principal Pictor left his chair and slowly walked onto the arena as the students watched with a mix of confusion and excitement.

After reaching their proximity, Vice Principal Pictor stood still with his hands behind his back, quietly observing the students. Under his gaze, the mood became tense, and the hushed whispers slowly dissipated.

After nearly twenty seconds, Vice Principal Pictor finally broke the silence, “Let’s begin round one. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Just as the students were perplexed by his words, Vice Principal Pictor’s narrow eyes suddenly widened.

Boom!

An inaudible shockwave abruptly emerged from his body as a bone-crushing pressure suddenly descended upon the students. It was like a calm sea with a light breeze suddenly turning into a raging storm with aggressive waves and murderous lightning.

The students’ confusion immediately turned into shock and horror, as many immediately crumbled onto the ground as cold sweat drenched their bodies.

But not all students embraced the ground at that moment. Nearly two hundred students bent their knees with gritted teeth, as they resisted the mysterious force that threatened to drown both their bodies and minds.

Among the students still holding on, most were trembling intensely, as if they were fighting against their own bodies for control. They looked like lonely little boats being tossed around in an enraged sea.

There were also a few students who stood relatively straight with various expressions adorning their faces. But it was apparent that no one was at ease.

Ain stood straight, struggling to maintain his calm. Right now, he felt as if gravity had increased in the region by several folds as the strength in his body began to dissipate. Furthermore, there was also an invisible mental pressure suppressing him constantly, wearing down his mind.

Ain was concentrated on resisting with all his might and was incapable of observing his surroundings.

After what felt like hours, the pressure suddenly vanished just as abruptly as it appeared. Vice Principal Pictor’s voice sounded simultaneously, “The ones still standing have passed the preliminary round.”

“Huff!”

It was at this moment when Ain finally breathed out deeply. He looked around and found that most of the students had collapsed onto the ground, panting as if they had sprinted at their maximum speed for hours.

Even amongst the ones still standing, many were in a similar state. Ain looked to his right and spotted Hugo still standing, supporting his hands with his knees, panting heavily.

As the students were recovering, Vice Principal Pictor returned to his seat nonchalantly, and Teacher Linus appeared once more. “Congratulations to those who have made it to round two! There will be a fifteen-minute break before round two begins, so please rest well, and prepare yourselves.”

The students were allowed enough time to recover as the ones crawling on the ground finally picked themselves up. Other than some disbelief and weariness, they were otherwise in perfect shape.

The teachers and staff acted as if it was normal, but the students began to discuss what they had just witnessed.

Hugo took in a few deep breaths and said, “What was that? I felt like I was being crushed!”

“I don’t know. It might have been spirit energy suppression,” Ain speculated as he looked around. Among the surviving students, he recognized almost half. It’s not that he had personally interacted with them, but because the students were from the “Red Oak Elite” group chat. Most of them, unlike Ain, used their own pictures for their profiles in the group chat. Ain used a picture of the cat.

The students who failed looked indignant and dejected as they all walked off the arena. Ain followed alongside Hugo while discussing what had just occurred.

Among the varying reactions, the fifteen minutes soon elapsed, and it was time for round two. The arena was clear, and the participants were all seated in a separate section of the venue, staring at the floating holographic screens.

Teacher Linus returned and addressed everyone, “Alright, the rest is over. Let’s begin round two! You have all participated in the intraclass competition, so the drawing format should be familiar. You will be randomly paired with an opponent and assigned your match number. Keep an eye out for your name on the screen.”

As she said that, the holographic screens, which previously displayed the one hundred students who advanced past the preliminary round, were suddenly scrambled in a fascinating animation. The names, now in pairs, appeared on the screens once again. This time, there were numbers next to each pair, identifying their match number for round two.

In total, there were fifty pairs, corresponding to fifty matches.

Ain quickly found his opponent, as well as his match number, which was towards the end. His opponent was one of the members from the group chat.

If he judged based on the intraclass competition, four hours would be needed for the fifty matches in round two.

“Now then, let’s not waste any more time and start the battles! For the first match, we have…” Teacher Linus commenced the round and briefly introduced the two students in the first match.

Ain took a seat in their designated area, alongside Hugo, and began to meditate. Of course, the efficiency wasn’t very high as he still focused on the match. Since he was going to be here for such a long period of time, it was better to make the most of it.

The most basic requirement for circulating meditation techniques was sufficient ambient spirit energy. Even without the usual peace and quiet, it was possible for Ain to train passively for at least some gains.

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