Chapter 100 – Leaving Everyone in the Dust

After Purple Jade briefed everyone about the upcoming tour, she let the elite members behind her show their guests around the headquarters.

Meanwhile, when the various Academies' students and instructors got to see and try out the top-tier training facilities available in the headquarters, they couldn't help but be awed and drool in envy. According to what they experienced, they could tell that these training facilities could help an ordinary expert become a Refinement Realm expert in just two or three years. The efficiency of these facilities was beyond anything their Academies had access to.

After touring the headquarters for several hours, the Secret Pavilion's elite members led everyone to the underground training field to begin today's main event.

The freshman competition!

The underground training field was much larger than the area the two headquarter buildings occupied on the surface, and it could easily fit four full-sized stadiums. With such a huge area, over ten thousand people could train here simultaneously. Currently, though, there were only a little over a thousand people gathered here, so the field looked empty.

"The freshman competition this time is going to be slightly different. We won't be holding one-on-one matches. Instead, we will have all participants attempt the Trial Tower," Purple Jade said as she scanned the crowd before her. "The Secret Pavilion will award the top ten participants of each Academy with one bottle of S-rank Nutrient Fluid, and those who rank within the top ten of the overall ranking list will receive an additional three bottles. In addition, those who manage to rank within the top five overall will also get to join the Secret Pavilion's genius training program."

As soon as Purple Jade finished speaking, the freshmen of the various Academies immediately grew excited. None of them thought that the Secret Pavilion would be so generous. Not only did they have an opportunity to acquire S-rank Nutrient Fluids to strengthen their bodies, but they even had a chance at becoming one of the Secret Pavilion's internal members and receiving the training of one.

I must get into the top ten! When Gu Tong heard Purple Jade's words, he couldn't help but look at Wu Lingling with eyes burning with fighting spirit. Just you wait! I'll make you understand who's the true number one genius in Jin Hai Academy!

Top five in the overall rankings? I'm getting in for sure! Over at Tianxing Academy's group, fighting spirit similarly filled Liu Xuanyi after he heard Purple Jade's words.

The top five will get to join the Secret Pavilion's genius training program? When Chen Ziyou watched as the various Academies' freshmen climbed into the prepared virtual gaming cabins one after another, a look of envy appeared on her face.

As a transcendental power in God's Domain, the Secret Pavilion was in no way inferior to the Five Great Super Guilds. Even a genius like Wu Xiaoxiao did not have the qualifications to join the Secret Pavilion and receive priority training.

Yet, now, the Secret Pavilion had loosened its requirements and allowed the various Academies' freshmen to fight for a spot in its training program. It was a much more extravagant reward than when she participated in the Secret Pavilion's tour.

"There's no point in envying the opportunities of others, Ziyou," Qi Lianshan said when he noticed the envy on Chen Ziyou's face. "What you need to do now is figure out how you can pass the God's Domain Association's selection. So long as you pass the selection, the training and resources you'll receive from the Association will not be inferior to what the Secret Pavilion can offer in any way."

"I understand."

Chen Ziyou nodded, the fighting spirit in her eyes flaring up. Although she couldn't receive training from the Secret Pavilion, the God's Domain Association's training was equally good.

"I wonder how many of our Academies' students will get into the top five of the overall rankings?"

"Hard to say. I heard that the Secret Pavilion has many monstrously talented recruits this year. The only students I can think of who have a chance of getting in would be Tianxing Academy's Liu Xuanyi and Liufeng Academy's Xia Cheng."

"Indeed. Liu Xuanyi is the apprentice of Soaring Snake, the leader of Ouroboros's Twelve Apostles. I heard that he has already learned two-thirds of Soaring Snake's skills."

"Liufeng University's Xia Cheng isn't any worse, either. I heard that Liufeng University's dean is teaching her personally and that she has already mastered an Advanced Combat Technique."

"I heard that Jin Hai Academy also has a shining star this year. I believe her name is Wu Lingling, and she is that Wu Xiaoxiao's younger sister. According to my sources, Wu Lingling is even more talented than Wu Xiaoxiao, and she has achieved rapid improvements after entering the Academy, so she should have a chance as well."

"Impossible. Wu Lingling's teacher is incredibly weak. I heard that he used to be the Guild Leader of a second-rate Guild, but he ended up getting fired. There is no way the resources he has can compare to Liu Xuanyi's and Xia Cheng's instructors."

"Indeed. I heard about Wu Lingling's situation as well. If she could find a good instructor, she might have stood a chance against those two little monsters and could have competed for the top five positions."

While watching the freshmen getting into the virtual gaming cabins, the instructors from the various Academies discussed who could enter the overall rankings' top five.

Although the Secret Pavilion's freshman competition wasn't an accurate representation of the overall strength of God's Domain's latest generation of players, those who could rank among the top of the overall rankings could still be regarded as one of the top talents in the country. In a situation where veteran powerhouses were reluctant to enter the Miniature Ancient World, the new generation's top talents would undoubtedly become the various powers' leaders in the Miniature Ancient World in the future.

Meanwhile, when Qi Lianshan and the other instructors from Jin Hai University heard the discussion of the other Academies' instructors, they couldn't help but sigh dejectedly.

Setting aside Shi Feng's teaching standards, just the resources he could offer to Wu Lingling would already put Wu Lingling in a significantly inferior position compared to the likes of Liu Xuanyi and Xia Chen. Unless Jin Hai Academy could attract the attention of international corporations or God's Domain's various superpowers, there was no way Jin Hai Academy's resources could match the various Advanced Academies.

…

Inside the lounge of the underground training field…

"Why didn't you notify me that you would be visiting, Commander Ziqiong? Also, isn't it only a freshman competition? You didn't have to come in person," a burly middle-aged man in his forties said tentatively as he looked at Purple Jade.

"I just thought of checking Leili's progress. You don't need to mind me," Purple Jade replied in a dull tone.

The middle-aged man couldn't help but be rendered speechless when he heard Purple Jade's words. Although he knew that Purple Jade had designated the girl named Leili as her apprentice, and she even pampered the girl quite a lot, he didn't think Purple Jade would prioritize the girl to such an extent. After all, a Tier 6 Sword God had much more important things to do than spectate a competition.

However, he also had to admit that Leili was incredibly talented. Despite starting as someone who knew hardly anything about God's Domain, Lei Li had already become the Secret Pavilion's number one rookie after undergoing just two months of training. Moreover, her position as number one was unshakable.

After all, in just two short months, Leili had gone from being just at the Trial Tower's first-floor standard to the Half-step Refinement Realm standard. Her talent surpassed even Purple Jade.

Most importantly, Leili was only 16 this year…

"Leili will definitely come in first place. There is simply too big of a gap between herself and the others," the middle-aged man said. "If nothing unexpected happens, she should be able to compete against the others in the genius training program after one more month of training."

"It seems she didn't slack off." Purple Jade nodded in relief.

After Purple Jade and the burly man talked for a while, the display hanging off the middle of the underground training field's ceiling started displaying the freshmen's results. Several hundred freshmen participated in the competition this time, and the display revealed every participant's name and performance in the Trial Tower.

"The quality of this year's freshmen is so high! Even the person in last place managed to reach the fifth floor's middle stage!"

"That student even killed 22 out of the 50 monsters in the middle stage. He's almost halfway to reaching the late stage already."

The list started displaying the participants' names starting from last place, so even if everyone lacked interest in seeing who came in last, they still had to be patient and look at it.

Meanwhile, when the various Academies' senior students and instructors saw the last place scorer's performance, they couldn't help but be surprised. Moreover, their surprise grew even greater as more and more students got listed.

This was because the freshman ranked 100th had already reached the late stage of the Trial Tower's fifth floor. Moreover, this freshman had killed 31 out of the 50 monsters on the stage. It meant that he wasn't that far from reaching the sixth floor. Even if put in the various first-rate Guilds, this student would already be treated as an expert player.

…

43rd - Gu Tong, sixth floor's early stage, killed 17 monsters.

42nd - Cheng Yu, sixth floor's early stage, killed 18 monsters.

…

11th - Liu Xuanyi, seventh floor's early stage, killed 25 monsters.

8th - Xia Cheng, seventh floor's early stage, killed 32 monsters.

…

"Crap! Even the seventh-floor early-stage standard isn't enough to get into the top five?!"

"Is this the Secret Pavilion's strength?"

Everyone was astonished when they saw the top-ranking participants. It was especially true for Liu Xuanyi's seniors and instructors from Tianxing Academy.

It should be known that players capable of reaching the seventh floor's early stage would already be regarded as first-rate experts in God's Domain. Logically, having such strength would instantly put one at the very top among the freshmen of previous years. This was also why everyone from Tianxing Academy was confident that Liu Xuanyi could score highly.

Yet, Liu Xuanyi, the person regarded as a genius that would only appear once every decade by the Tianxing Academy, failed to even get within the top ten of the freshman competition, let alone the top five…

I only came in 8th?

When a young girl with long black hair exited her virtual gaming cabin and looked up at the scoreboard, she couldn't help but be a little surprised.

However, unlike everyone else, none of the Secret Pavilion's members were surprised to see the competition results.

"I wonder how much Leili has managed to improve during these past few days?"

"I remember that Leili had already reached the seventh floor's middle stage a few days ago. She might have reached the late stage already by now."

While the Secret Pavilion's members discussed Lei Li's performance, the scoreboard also quickly displayed the number two and number one scorers.

…

2nd - Tang Leili, seventh floor's late stage, killed 5 monsters.

1st - Wu Lingling, seventh floor's late stage, killed 11 monsters

…

TL Notes:

[1]Jin Hai Academy: I will be using X Academy to reference X University's God's Domain Academy from now on to simplify things.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.