Douluo Continent: I ushered in this era

Chen Xinjie said in a deep voice, "I'm just giving you a chance. How much success you achieve depends on yourself."

At this moment, Chen Xuanyu stepped forward, pointed to himself, and said anxiously, "Clan leader, look at me, where am I?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xinjie turned and glanced at Chen Xuanyu, his eyes showing disdain.

"Did you sleep your way through the last six months?"

Chen Xuanyu was struck dumb, feeling completely overwhelmed.

Chu Ci tried her best to keep it up, but the corners of her mouth still turned up slightly, and she reached out and patted Chen Xuanyu's shoulder in a comforting manner.

In fact, Chen Xuanyu has made great progress in the past six months, but he is still far behind Chu Ci.

Chen Xinjie said, "Chu Ci, I've made arrangements. Let's go back first thing tomorrow morning. If we don't go back soon, Yun Ming will come to take her away."

"Understood, Lord."

The next morning, Chu Ci boarded the warship for the return journey.

Shrek Academy, your king has returned!

……

Shrek Academy, Outer Courtyard, First Year, Class 1.

As Wu Changkong stepped into the classroom to the sound of the school bell, Tang Wulin was about to get up and call out when a familiar voice came from outside the door.

"report!"

The people in the classroom all looked in the direction of the sound, and when they clearly saw the handsome young man standing at the door, their eyes lit up with surprise and delight.

A hint of joy flashed in Wu Changkong's eyes, but he remained as cold and aloof as ever on the surface.

"Enter!"

Chu Ci walked into the classroom and sat down in his seat. His classmates around him could not hide their excitement. If Wu Changkong had not been on stage, they probably would have already been asking Chu Ci all sorts of questions.

"Class begins!" Wu Changkong's cool voice rang out.

"Stand up!" Chu Ci called out loudly.

"Hello, teacher!" the students in the classroom shouted in unison.

Today's classes for Class 1, Grade 1 at Shrek Academy begin.

The morning's classes ended quickly. As soon as Wu Changkong left, many people gathered around Chu Ci, asking him all at once why he had been gone for so long and what he had been through.

Chu Ci looked at the crowd in front of him and smiled as he briefly explained what he had been doing for the past six months.

After satisfying everyone's curiosity, Chu Ci pulled Gu Yue, who had been keeping her head down, away from the others, leaving them to complain that he valued women over friends.

When the two walked along the academy path to a secluded spot, Gu Yue finally couldn't resist throwing herself into Chu Ci's arms.

Chu Ci's eyes softened as he tightly embraced the pretty girl in his arms, whispering, "Gu Yue, I missed you!"

Gu Yue closed her beautiful eyes, rested her head on Chu Ci's shoulder, her pretty face slightly flushed, and murmured, "I...miss you too."

……

After the young man and woman poured out their hearts to each other and enjoyed a warm lunch, Chu Ci received a message from Wu Changkong.

"Come to my office."

Chu Ci glanced at Gu Yue and showed her the message.

Gu Yue was very understanding. She nodded and said softly, "Go."

Chu Ci got up, affectionately patted Gu Yue's head, and then hurried to Wu Changkong's office.

"Teacher Wu, is there something you need?" Chu Ci asked casually as he sat down in the chair.

Wu Changkong gave Chu Ci a cold look, first asking him about his experiences over the past six months, and then talking about why he had been summoned this time.

“I remember at the beginning of the school year, you proposed to challenge Class 1 of Grade 3, right? I applied to Dean Cai for this, and Dean Cai approved it. You can start preparing now. But it's not just our class challenging alone, but Class 1 of Grade 2 together. Grade 1 plus Grade 2, challenging Grade 3.”

Chu Ci's heart skipped a beat. "What about the format of the competition?"

Wu Changkong said, "There will be three one-on-one matches, one two-on-two match, and one seven-on-seven match. This competition will be included in your annual assessment. The results will affect your final exams."

Chu Ci asked, "Then how do we decide on the number of people to fight alongside the second-year students?"

Wu Changkong said, "I don't care about that. You can discuss it with Class 1 of the second year yourselves. Let's decide based on our abilities."

"I understand, leave it to me."

The meaning of "dancing in the sky" is quite clear: it's about hoping to secure more spots. This is very simple for the Chu Ci (Songs of Chu).

That evening, Chu Ci went to the work-study student dormitory and knocked on Yuan En Ye Hui's door.

"Who is it?" Yuan Enhui's voice came.

"I am Chu Ci."

The door opened, and Yuan En Ye Hui, now dressed in women's clothing, peeked out.

Yuan Enhui asked in surprise, "You're back?"

Chu Ci nodded and said, "I just got back this morning."

"Come in." Yuan Enhui stepped aside at the doorway.

Chu Ci entered her room, and Yuan En Hui said, "You came for the competition against the third-year students, right?"

"Yes." Chu Ci nodded without hesitation.

Yuan Enhui asked, "Have you chosen who will appear?"

Chu Ci said, "I'm here to discuss this with you. What about you guys? Three one-on-one matches, one two-on-two match, plus one team battle. Which matches are you planning to participate in?"

Yuan Enhui said, "Chu Ci, this competition should actually be between our grade and the third year. Generally speaking, the academy does not have cross-grade competitions. It's not fair because the age difference is too great, and it's also meaningless."

Chu Ci raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, crossed her arms, leaned against the wall, and said calmly, "So? What are your thoughts?"

Yuan Enhui stated directly, "This competition should primarily feature us second-year students. We'll take two of the three one-on-one matches and one of the two-on-two matches. For the team battle, we'll field four players, and you'll get three spots."

"Ha, are you kidding me?" Chu Ci couldn't help but chuckle.

Yuan Enhui sneered and said, "Chu Ci, I'm not joking with you. I'll tell you frankly, I know the situation in the third year better than you do. There are two One-Word Battle Armor Masters. Our grade knows our opponents better, and we can hold our own against them..."

Yuan Enhui was interrupted by Chu Ci before she could finish speaking.

"The opponent is very strong, so what should we do? Should we avoid their strength and send out the weaker units to mislead them?"

Yuan Enhui said angrily, "Chu Ci, what do you mean? What do you mean by sending the weak ones up?"

Chapter 149 Confirming the Challenger Tournament Spots

Chu Ci spread his hands and said coldly, "Am I wrong? Me, Wu Lin, Gu Yue, Xing Lan, Si Duo, Gui Xing, just the few of us, besides you and Zheng Yu, who else in your second year can deal with us?"

Yuan Enhui's lips moved slightly, she hesitated several times as if she wanted to say something, but she just couldn't utter a word. Because she knew very well that Chu Ci's words were perfectly in line with her weaknesses.

Seeing that Yuan Enhui remained silent, Chu Ci said calmly, "Let me explain my plan. I'll give you one match for one-on-one, two matches for two-on-two, and two spots for seven-on-seven."

"No way." Yuan Enhui refused almost without hesitation. "Are you kidding me? We're second-year students. How am I supposed to explain this to my classmates?"

"Hmph," Chu Ci snorted coldly, and said in a chilling tone, "If you're not strong enough, what face do you have to give!"

Meeting Chu Ci's sharp, cold gaze, Yuan En Ye Hui felt as if a sword was hanging over his head, causing him immense pressure.

Yuan Enhui swallowed hard, suppressing his fear, and asked with feigned composure, "What is the arrangement for your class's participants?"

Chu Ci pondered for a while before giving his reply.

“One-on-one: me, Gu Yue, and someone from your class. Two-on-two: Wu Siduo and Luo Guixing. Seven-on-seven: Wu Lin, Xie Xie, Xiao Yan, Xing Lan, Li Zhi, and you and Zheng Yu.”

Upon hearing this, Yuan Enhui frowned slightly and said, "None of your three duels were the same."

“There are many strong players here, enough to arrange different people for each match,” Chu Ci said.

Yuan Enhui pinched his fingers together, biting his lip, and after a long while said, "I still need to discuss this matter with the class."

"Okay, I'll wait for your decision, but hurry up, otherwise we first-year students won't wait for you. Anyway, it won't make much difference whether you're here or not." Chu Ci looked indifferent.

"Okay, you can go now, I need to rest." Yuan Enhui angrily chased Chu Ci out.

Then he collapsed onto his bed, feeling utterly dejected. There was nothing he could do; the first-year students this year were indeed much stronger.

Chu Ci returned to her dormitory, informed the class of the first year of the challenge about the arrangements, and then went to sleep peacefully.

In the end, Class 1 of Grade 2 did not agree to Chu Ci's suggestion. Yuan Enhui summarized the opinions of the class and the teacher, and approached Chu Ci again the next day.

“Let’s have a selection competition. That way, everyone will feel it’s unfair, and we can let our abilities speak for themselves,” Yuan Enhui said to Chu Ci.

“Okay,” Chu Ci agreed without much thought. “Tell me your objections to the contestants in that round.”

Yuan Enhui said, "Zhengyu and I will try to win the two-on-two match."

“Okay, no problem.” Chu Ci nodded, then asked, “Any objections to a seven-person team battle?”

“We have objections to Xu Yan and Xie Xie’s selections. I will choose two students from our class to have a two-on-two match against them. Whoever wins will represent us in this competition, how about that?” Yuan Enhui said.

“Okay. It’s a deal.” Chu Ci agreed without hesitation.

Seeing how readily he agreed, Yuan Enye frowned. "Are you really that confident?"

"Of course, to be precise, it's because you second-year students are incredibly weak," Chu Ci said.

"You!" Yuan Enhui was furious for a moment, but she suppressed her temper in front of Chu Ci's sharp eyes.

The timing of the selection competition was easy to decide: two days later, the Shrek Academy Sparring Arena.

There were two matches, both two-on-two. In the first match, Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan faced off against Duan Hunxiao and Ye Xingmo from Class 1 of the second year.

In the second match, Wu Siduo and Luo Guixing faced off against Yuan Enyehui and Le Zhengyu.

In both matches, the students from Class 1 of the first year were not favored, which is understandable.

In the first round, Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan were the two least outstanding members of Chu Ci's group. In the second round, Wu Siduo and Xu Xiaoyan faced the most dazzling twin stars of the second year, so they were not favored.

But we'll have to wait and see in two days to find out the truth.

Two days later.

At 2 PM, the first and second-year students from the outer academy had already arrived at the sparring arena, waiting for the internal selection competition to begin.

"Are you confident?" Chu Ci looked at Xie Xie and Xu Yan beside him.