The Villain Saint is my secondary account

“Well, since the brothers of the Seven Stars Society have expressed their willingness to join, then we are now one.” But just then, Dong Hu spoke up to smooth things over, “Alliance members should not harm each other. If we start fighting, then our alliance will become a joke.”

Tu Chou was stunned. He didn't expect Dong Hu to even protect this small guild, even though the other party had openly said such arrogant things as "the rankings are just a bunch of noobs".

This was not the expected plot, and Tu Chou was not a truly reckless man. Since Dong Hu made such a statement, he must have had some considerations that he was unaware of.

So Tu Chou scoffed, lay back in his chair, and remained silent.

Seeing this, Ye Xiao stroked his chin and nodded slightly.

That ability to control the flow so freely is quite interesting.

He was thinking of using this guy to demonstrate the strength of their Seven Stars Society and establish their authority, but since the guy had already backed down, it wouldn't be appropriate to take the initiative to beat him up.

"It's a pity, I was really looking forward to seeing you beat them to a pulp, Brother Ye," Li Cheng said to Ye Xiao in a low voice with a smile.

"Ah, if it really comes down to a fight, then you'll definitely have to go. How can a mage like me possibly defeat so many people?" Ye Xiao said in surprise.

"Huh?" Li Cheng's lips twitched.

This brief incident quickly passed, and after Li Cheng signed the guild's name on the contract, there were no further disturbances in the subsequent procedures.

After one round, not a single guild left the round table.

“Very good, thank you all for your trust. From today onwards, we are a big team.” Chairman Dong continued his impassioned speech, “Next, let’s finalize the cooperation plan for this imperial selection mission.”

The details of the subsequent discussion among the group need not be elaborated upon.

Although many guilds have already established financial ties with local nobles at different levels, the current player status is not yet high enough to directly contact the core figures of the Royal Selection, those princes and princesses.

Therefore, in the first stage, players need to cast a wide net and find an opportunity to board the ship of a certain crown prince faction.

The general admissions selection that the National Noble Academy will hold tomorrow will be a great opportunity.

The founder of the National Noble Academy, who was also the first academy president, established a rule that in addition to providing special admission quotas for noble children from all over the country, the academy would also open a selection process for a group of "ordinary people" of relatively lower status to enroll as regular students in April and October each year.

This practice aims to select talented individuals from among ordinary people to provide fresh blood for the upper echelons of the Loren Empire.

This rule has continued for many years, and many of the places for general admission have actually been manipulated by nobles to be placed in the hands of second sons or collateral descendants who could not get special admission places.

Even so, this is still the best way for ordinary people at the bottom of the Loren Empire to take the "academic" route and advance into the imperial system.

"Tomorrow's admissions selection will require everyone's cooperation. We can't possibly take all the admission slots. In fact, if four or five players can enter the academy, we will have achieved our goal this time," Dong Hu explained. "The number of people is limited, and most of the princes' faction in the academy are relatively young. Someone like me with an old face, even if I lied about my age to get in, would just be an elderly boarding student and wouldn't be able to get along with any of the princes and princesses."

"Therefore, we need to recommend a few young, highly skilled players, and preferably good-looking ones, to work together to get them admitted during tomorrow's recruitment."

"But how do we submit these recruitment and selection applications?" a guild representative asked, puzzled. "Aren't these all tests of individual ability?"

"We're all from Earth, and you all know how many tricks we have up our sleeves," Chairman Dong laughed. "With a community system that can communicate from outside the venue, even a closed-book exam is practically the same as an open-book one; we can eliminate threatening opponents in one-on-one matches, and give points to those who are guaranteed admission; in team trials, we can help our teammates if we're matched with other players, and act as teammates if we're matched with competitors, drugging them, creating chaos... there are too many methods. Tomorrow, you just need to follow the instructions, and there shouldn't be any major problems."

"We have already obtained the application list and selection method for the general admissions from nobles and academy personnel with whom we have made arrangements. At that time, some of the participants will be replaced with players and different fake backgrounds will be prepared. Except for a few specific people who have gone through back channels, don't mess with them. Everyone else can just mess with them as much as they want tomorrow."

Good guy.

Ye Xiao was astonished. He never expected that one day in a different world that transcends time and space, he would also see the director culture that once plagued the MOBA ranking system.

All I can say is that the wisdom (and dregs) of Earth is indeed terrifyingly advanced.

In a team trial with five members, if even one actor deliberately drags the team down, causing trouble at crucial moments and inducing mistakes from the others, it's easy for the overall trial score to drop.

It's pitiful for those ordinary students who are seriously preparing for the test. In the face of power struggles, even loose organizations like player teams that are just starting out and don't have a high status can't escape being affected.

The selection of players for the next round of admissions was as expected. The ten players chosen in the final discussion were all from the six major guilds and were ranked high on the arena leaderboard.

Most players in small and medium-sized guilds are not strong enough to make a sound voice.

Ye Xiao then roughly figured out the clues. During this mission, many hidden benefits might be taken by the top guilds in these alliances, such as the opportunity to enroll in the First Academy of Loren. This might be the reason why these six guilds reached an agreement behind the scenes.

As for the other guilds, Ye Xiao estimated that Dong Hu wouldn't completely deny them any benefits, but the basic structure of the entire player group in the Imperial City would gradually solidify during this "cooperation."

Small and medium-sized guilds may seem to share the risks of tasks by participating in some simple work, and they can be protected by large guilds and even pick up some profits.

But every gift of fate comes with a hidden price tag.

"It's truly worthy of Blue Star Culture," Ye Xiao thought to himself with a smile.

Chapter Twenty-Six: General Enrollment and Selection

As for the Seven Stars Society, with Ella in the academy, Ye Xiao naturally didn't care about that spot.

One person going to school is enough; having two people go to school together is too much of a hassle.

It wouldn't make much of a difference for Li Cheng and Xiao Deng to join the academy. As for the rewards, Ye Xiao had information from his previous life about the missions and ruins outside the imperial city, so he could give them more rewards than the missions in the academy.

Moreover, Ella can trigger incredible quests like "Storm City," where one reward point is equivalent to several major quests.

With the Duke's Mansion, there's not much to lack in terms of equipment and items. What everyone has now is considered top-tier military equipment with the current attributes. Since the treasures for the mid-to-late game haven't appeared yet, there's basically no need for anything other than special equipment that requires finding rare materials to craft.

However, academies also have their advantages, so Ye Xiao still asked Li Cheng and Xiao Deng about their wishes. Even if the players didn't recommend it, there were still places available for enrollment at Duke Heville's Mansion and the Loren Sanctuary.

“You know me, Brother Ye,” Li Cheng shook his head decisively upon hearing this, “My grades were already bad on Blue Star, how could you expect me to understand the stuff taught in the academy.”

"I understand, but I feel like you guys could play some arena matches when you have free time. The rewards will be settled in a couple of days, and I've noticed that you haven't been playing much."

Ye Xiao found this a bit strange; it was normal for others not to know that he himself was anonymous.

But the Seven Stars Guild members are quite strong now, and it seems like they have no desire to compete in the arena. "It also helps to enhance the guild's prestige. Look at these players now, they look down on others even though they're not ranked."

"That'll have to wait until we have time, Brother Ye." Li Cheng looked miserable. "We in Storm Harbor barely get a good night's sleep, let alone time to play in the arena."

Ye Xiao understood; after all, not everyone could be like Ella, who didn't need to sleep and could win every game and easily rack up points whenever she had a spare moment.

Although no players from the Seven Stars Society were enrolling, Dong Hu assigned them the job of "actors," and they could earn five silver coins from the alliance by just passing by tomorrow.

"It feels like I've joined an outsourcing work association," Li Cheng complained to Ye Xiao as he looked at the task list that had been handed out.

"Give me this job. I'll go check it out tomorrow. Since we've joined, someone has to represent the Seven Stars Association and do some work," Ye Xiao said, taking on the task.

Ye Xiao has already maxed out several sword master-level skills and master-level mage skills. He has a huge shortage of general points for the next higher level of attributes, and the rewards from regular small tasks are already insufficient.

As for the higher-level transcendent sword skills... these can't be bought with the system; you can only comprehend them yourself. You can't rush it. That's why in the previous life, only a small number of players were able to break through to the transcendent level in the same amount of time.

Most skills rely on time to accumulate proficiency, but once you reach the expert level, you basically hit a bottleneck, and further improvement can only rely on your own understanding.

However, Ye Xiao's participation in the entrance exam as an "actor" wasn't just to kill time. He also wanted to find a few promising players, help them get into the academy, and then have Ella connect with them.

The saintess's initiative to find people was too purposeful, but when Ye Xiao sent players into the academy and they happened to meet by chance, that was a different story.

The Players Alliance sought an opportunity to connect with the Empire's high command, and Ella also wanted to take advantage of this large and special group.

“Alright, if the Imperial City doesn’t need our help right now, then tomorrow I’ll pick a small one from the list of ruins the Holy Maiden gave us and take everyone to farm it and collect some materials.” Li Cheng nodded.

The first "Loren Players Alliance" meeting finally came to an end, and Ye Xiao and Li Cheng discussed their next steps.

Although there were some unexpected incidents during the meeting, they did not detract from the peaceful ending.

It was after the meeting, when Li Cheng was exchanging friends with some small guild leaders, that his strange ID made Ye Xiao feel a little embarrassed, as it almost made the others lose their composure.

Nothing else happened after that, and everyone dispersed. Time quickly passed and the next morning arrived.

As dawn breaks and the sky clears, pedestrians begin to bustle about in the streets and alleys.

Despite the king's passing, the chaos so far has been concentrated at the top of the empire, with the power struggle between the crown prince faction remaining hidden beneath the surface.

With the bureaucratic system in operation for so many years, maintaining the empire's apparent order and stability was not a problem.

The news of the king's death had not even been announced to the public by the palace.

Therefore, to ordinary people, the city still appears peaceful and harmonious.

Ye Xiao led Greta to the second floor of a hotel near the entrance of the academy's training grounds early in the morning, where several members of the Red Lion Comrades were already waiting.

From the second-floor window, one can already see the towering, solemn, carved gate of the academy, beneath which stand rows of young students in various outfits, ready to take the general entrance exam.

"Let's add each other as friends first, what's your ID?" asked a player from the Red Lions Companions across the table.

They are responsible for liaising with Ye Xiao and the other "actors" and assigning task instructions through the community system.

"Late-night snack, the snack we have with dinner tonight."

"Sake Peach Blossom" requests to add you as a friend.

“Okay…uh,” the player from the comrades-in-arms group paused for a moment. He suddenly felt that the name seemed familiar, but after looking at Ye Xiao’s unfamiliar appearance, he thought it was probably just his imagination. “Alright, brother, what you need to do next is very simple. I have already given you the list in the chat window. It has the names of the players we want to recommend and the names of the noble families’ offspring that we should not provoke. Apart from these people, just try your best to eliminate the other candidates. Don’t worry about encountering trouble. We will guide you through the chat window.”

"No problem, Brother Peach Blossom."

Hearing the title Ye Xiao used, the player's lips twitched slightly. "...Send me the name you want to use for registration."

After a brief exchange, Ye Xiao went downstairs and joined the long queue on the steps.

The cat on my shoulder is yawning as usual.

"Why do you always look like you're about to sleep?" Ye Xiao glanced at Greta and asked, puzzled.

"Meow." Greta looked at Ye Xiao with an expression as if he were an idiot. Did this guy want her to speak in public?

"Okay, I thought there would be some kind of special telepathic magic or something." Ye Xiao didn't know why he understood what the cat face was trying to express, and subconsciously replied.

Upon reaching the entrance on the steps, the college staff member in charge of registration saw Ye Xiao and the cat on his shoulder and immediately frowned slightly. "This candidate, pets are not allowed in the examination room."

“Examiner, this is my familiar.”

"Didn't you list a swordsman as your login class here?"

“I have a part-time mage.”

"But it's not a monster, is it? It's just a cat."

"Gredia, give the examiner a performance."

"Awooo!" The kitten opened its mouth impatiently and spat out a small ball of flame.

"Uh..." The examiner looked extremely conflicted, but finally stamped Ye Xiao's application form.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Sacred Duel

The morning's proceedings mainly consisted of a written test.

Because Ye Xiao wasn't considering entering the academy, he kept flipping through his exam paper in the exam room, which made all the other candidates glare at him angrily before he went up to the stage and handed in a blank paper.

During this time, Peach Blossom Bro from the comrades-in-arms group also asked him a few questions on the exam paper through the community system for a fee. These questions were about imperial history and basic magic, probably questions that the ten players didn't understand and were seeking answers to.

Players primarily rely on the system for growth, and what the nobles consider essential magical skills that warriors should master are practically incomprehensible to them.

However, with the communication system allowing for brainstorming, and the major guilds also finding several local mages in the capital to provide paid consultations, this was not considered a major obstacle for them.

So Ye Xiao simply explained his idea based on Ella's magical knowledge. Anyway, he figured he might as well make some general points from the big guilds.

After the written test, the process moved on to the one-on-one trial phase.

The testing session was held in the academy's training ground. Ye Xiao entered through the first-floor passage, where a huge and magnificent circular plaza immediately came into view.

The last time I was here was when Ella and the First Princess had their one-on-one match. Back then, the two big names occupied the entire training ground, and the audience seats were also filled with students who came to watch the excitement, making it quite lively.

The vast training ground has now been divided into several foundation areas using rock magic. Each small area is a different examination room, overseen by different examiners. This one-on-one approach makes the examinations much more efficient.

The stands were almost empty, with only a small number of students watching casually.

During these general entrance exams, various factions and clubs within the academy will send some people to scout out any promising candidates for future recruitment, but they won't invest too much effort in it.

What they were really concerned about were the specially recruited elite students from various noble classes, and those students had already completed their enrollment in early September.

Therefore, Ye Xiao was not worried about being recognized by the eldest princess in the academy. Regardless of the fact that he had disguised himself before, the eldest princess would not be so idle as to watch a bunch of weaklings fighting in such a large field, let alone find him accurately among the densely packed examinees.

Since Ye Xiao registered his exam profession as a swordsman, he will only be assigned a warrior-type opponent in a one-on-one fight.

After all, if he chooses the mage class, without revealing his miracle mage abilities, he would only have mastered a few elemental spells, which wouldn't guarantee that he could eliminate opponents who might threaten the players who are guaranteed a spot in the promotion.

However, proficient mages are actually very rare among the students. After all, the former First Princess Skadi was only a proficient swordsman and was hailed as a swordsmanship genius.

It can only be said that Ye Xiao made a more conservative choice.

"Candidate Ye Xiao, go to examination room number two to prepare." The examiner at the entrance of the training ground quickly arranged a place for Ye Xiao and told him to go and wait.

Ye Xiao strolled leisurely to Examination Hall No. 2, and following the instructions of the examiner, took a wooden sword and walked onto the arena made of rock magic.

The rules of this test are simple: you get five points for a win and zero points for a loss. The test ends when you win three times or lose three times.

During the process, the examiners will match and register opponents of the same profession based on the candidate's number of wins and losses. For example, an opponent who has won two games and lost one game will also be matched with someone who has won two games and lost one game.

However, this does not mean that candidates who lose all their tests will receive zero points and fail the test. The examiners will also give up to three bonus points based on the candidates' performance. Therefore, a win may result in more than five points, and a loss will not necessarily result in zero points.

Finally, all scores are tallied to determine the candidate's score for this stage.

The bonus points rule is intended to prevent some candidates from being unlucky enough to be matched with overly strong opponents in a row, but it has also become a way for many people to get in through back channels.