Shen Jianshu opened his thermos and slowly blew on it, scattering the rising white steam. Then, he began to speak.

"I'll give you a brief overview of the Combat Competition's format."

"First, there are the preliminaries, which use a points system. A win earns two points, and a loss deducts one point."

"The universities within the Eastern Alliance and the Western Alliance will compete against each other until 16 seed teams with the highest scores emerge from each side. Then, the preliminaries will end."

"After that, there's the advancement round, meaning a total of 32 teams will enter. The advancement round uses a random draw system. Once the top four teams are determined, it's the semi-finals, followed by the finals."

"These are the rules for the team competition."

Shen Jianshu took a sip of chrysanthemum tea from his thermos, a hint of a smile appearing on his face.

"As for the individual competition, the rules are the same. Ultimately, only 16 individuals will enter the advancement round."

"The order of events is as follows: team preliminaries, individual preliminaries, team advancement round, individual advancement round, team finals, individual finals."

"The Combat Competition is the best stage and the best battlefield for you all."

"There, you will witness true geniuses! They are all elites about to graduate from their respective universities."

"In the Combat Competition, you can throw a brick and kill a dozen geniuses, so you'd better be prepared. If you underestimate your opponents, you'll take a big fall."

Shen Jianshu's throat felt a little dry, and he couldn't help but take another big gulp of chrysanthemum tea.

Yang Xiangdi's eyes lit up as he listened, and he couldn't help but say,

"Professor Shen, if throwing a brick can kill a dozen geniuses, does that mean we'll definitely win if we just bring a pile of bricks on stage?"

"Pfft! Cough, cough, cough!"

Shen Jianshu spat out a mouthful of chrysanthemum tea and coughed uncontrollably.

He glanced at Qiao Yu with some resentment. Birds of a feather flock together. He should have known that Qiao Yu's friends wouldn't be normal people either.

"Qiao Yu, in this competition, I'm not allowing you to use your physical body or that blade, at least not before the semi-finals."

"Ah?" Qiao Yu's eyes widened. Without his physical body and the Zhulong Yanyue Blade, his strength would be almost cut in half.

"Ah what? Feign weakness to deceive the enemy, attack when they are unprepared, strike unexpectedly. What have you learned in the past four months?" Shen Jianshu frowned slightly.

"Okay..." Qiao Yu said with a headache.

Yang Xiangdi was smiling when Shen Jianshu turned his attention to him the next second.

"And you, fatty, you're not allowed to use the powers of the other three elements besides the fire and earth elements you've already revealed, at least not before the semi-finals!"

The smile on Yang Xiangdi's face froze.

"As for the other three, you can perform normally. If your team can reach the semi-finals with the two damage dealers hiding their strength, it means you have a chance to compete for the championship!"

"If not, then you can treat this experience as a dungeon raid."

Shen Jianshu's purpose was very clear. If they could win the championship, of course, they should go for it. If they couldn't, they could treat it as a way to gain combat experience. After all, the five of them were still young.

Thinking of this, Shen Jianshu couldn't help but marvel.

The age limit for the Combat Competition was under 25, and the five teenagers in front of him weren't even 20 yet.

Young people's emotions come and go quickly.

Soon, Qiao Yu and the others regained their composure and ignited their fighting spirit.

Looking at their excited faces, Shen Jianshu felt a little unbearable in his heart.

What he didn't tell Qiao Yu and the others was that the Eastern Alliance had never won a championship since the Inner World was launched.

The best result was only second place, and the previous competition stopped in the top eight.

"Forget it, let's see if these five teenagers can create a miracle and carve a ray of light into that dark sky." Shen Jianshu took a sip of hot tea.

...

Jingda Training Ground.

Terrifying combat fluctuations spread out continuously, and from time to time, flames and hail soared into the sky.

After a long time, the aura slowly subsided.

Inside the training ground, ten young men sat aside, all covered in sweat, obviously having just finished training not long ago.

This was Jingda's largest training ground, and these ten were the first and second teams representing Jingda in the Combat Competition!

It could be said that these ten represented the strongest ten people in the Jingda student body.

One of them was Qiao Yu's fellow villager, Long Xiang.

As the top scorer in the warrior department of the previous college entrance examination, Long Xiang was naturally selected as a participant in the Combat Competition.

"Long Xiang, have you heard? It seems like the school has added another team to participate." The man next to him handed Long Xiang a bottle of soda.

"Oh?"

Long Xiang opened the soda and drank several gulps.

"I haven't heard of that. I've been busy with special training recently. I basically know all the juniors and seniors in Jingda. Besides us, who else can participate in the Combat Competition?"

"Not juniors and seniors, it's said to be five freshmen!"

"Pfft! Freshmen?"

Long Xiang spat out a mouthful of soda, his expression surprised and uncertain.

"Could it be him..."

Soon, the training ground welcomed several uninvited guests.

The guess in Long Xiang's heart was finally confirmed.

"Kyoto University's second team, step forward."

With a light shout from Shen Jianshu, five young people stepped forward, four men and one woman.

"Let me introduce you, these five are your freshmen classmates, Qiao Yu, Zuo You, Ma Fei, Yang Xiangdi, Zhao Ziyue."

The people on the second team were confused. They didn't understand why Professor Shen suddenly brought five freshmen to the training ground.

After the introductions, Shen Jianshu looked at the five members of the second team and continued.

"You may be wondering why I suddenly brought five freshmen here. It's very simple, they are here to challenge you."

"Only one team, either these five or your second team, will be able to participate in the Combat Competition."

As soon as Shen Jianshu finished speaking, the gazes of the five members of Kyoto University's second team towards Qiao Yu and the others were instantly filled with hostility.

They had been training hard for so long, and they were absolutely unwilling to give up their spot in the Combat Competition.

And the news here at the training ground quickly spread.

"Hey?! Did you hear? Five freshmen are going to challenge the second team participating in the Combat Competition!"

"Freshmen? No way, although the second team isn't as strong as the first team, they can't be defeated by a bunch of freshmen, right!"

"Freshmen? Overestimating themselves! If they can beat the second team, I'll livestream myself screwing a ship propeller!"

"That's right, if the second team can be defeated by some freshmen, they can just go to the toilet and find some shit to eat!"

"Upstairs, don't add extra meals for the specially trained team members without permission!"

No one was optimistic about Qiao Yu and the others, and their tone was full of ridicule and banter. After all, no one who could enter Kyoto University was ordinary.

It was reasonable for a few geniuses to crush their peers, but for a genius to be able to challenge juniors and seniors as a freshman? How was that possible!