"The day after tomorrow, 100 red stones will be scattered around the neutral grounds." ZhongQi Sect Master continued to speak.
"Whenever you find one stone, your team will get 1 point. They can be found anywhere, on trees, in the soil, in spiritual beasts, in caves, underwater and such. There is no limit to where it could be found."
The hall started to become excited and the groups whose points were deducted started to feel relieved as this could be an easy chance to get the points back.
ZhongQi's Sect Master faintly emitted his pressure to silence the hall before continuing.
"This will be an ongoing test until the 100 red stones are accounted for, or until the end of the conference. Throughout the month, we may also throw out sudden tests or tasks just like your first test today."
"I forgot to mention the most important part. Because these red stones are magically enhanced, only your Silver People teammates are able to touch these red stones. Gold people who attempt to touch the red stones will immediately burn to the touch. So I suggest you don't try."
"Once a red stone is retrieved, you have to bring it to the main hall to give it to us before we can record it as a point. We will only register the person who hands in the red stone in the hall, regardless if they are the ones who found the stone or not."
This announcement shocked many. Not only are the stones limited to be carried by Silver People, but the moderators also won't care if the stone was stolen or snatched, and would only acknowledge the one who turned in the stone at the main hall.
A mix of complicated expressions appeared across the participants in the hall. Those who were unhappy can only suppress it for fear that voicing out unhappiness will cause points to be deducted from their team.
"Please direct any other questions you have towards your team moderators. Dismissed." ZhongQi Sect Master announced and disappeared once again.
"Very clever." Mu Yang nodded as he pats his closed wooden fan on his chin gently as the group started walking out of the hall.
"Clever?" Ye Chen asked.
"The Conference has found a way to make the Scholars an important part of this test. Because they are the only ones who can make contact with the red stones, they have to be protected throughout. Each team only has 2 Silver people, and if any of them are compromised, the chances of submitting a red stone is affected." Mu Yang explained as his eyes drifted to the red-robed group mates walking ahead.
--
The next morning, everyone appeared in the main hall on time. As a Conference, its main objective is to exchange knowledge, so it's morning lessons are filled with various teachings to help each other understand the strengths and weaknesses of each other.
Many of the participants are from good families so most of them did not sleep well in the shabby cabin. Dark circles were visible and the occasional yawns could be heard across the hall. When lessons ended, it was near noon. Everyone started to feel hungry so they started to look around for the food hall.
"Until the end of the Conference, no food will be provided so participants are expected to find their own food." ZhongQi Sect Master casually said before disappearing.
"What? How come we were not told that?" Someone from the crowd finally burst out in unhappiness.
"But the neutral grounds are quite dangerous and don't have much to offer…" Another chipped in.
Despite all the happiness, the ZhongQi Sect Master was nowhere to be seen anymore and participants started exiting the hall in panic, looking for their moderators that seem to have disappeared all together.
"Let's solve the food issue first." Wang Ze Li suggested as everyone started to make their way back to their cabins.
"Please give me a few minutes." Mu Yang politely asked before heading towards Mu Lian's group. Ye Chen wanted to follow but was told by Mu Yang to stay behind to protect the two scholars in the team since there was quite a bit of traffic now with everyone making their way out of the hall.
Mu Lian saw his twin walking towards his group. "Excuse me for a while" He said and walked towards him.
"How's everything? Any abnormalities?" Mu Yang glanced at his older brother before digging into his sleeve to pass a map to him.
"Not at the moment." Mu Lian replied while calmly opening up the map.
The map had marked the location of Team 19's cabin.
"Looks like our cabins are total opposites. Yours is located in the south and mine in the north." Mu Lian brows wrinkled into a frown and pointed the map with the location of Team 3's cabin to Mu Yang.
"It's hard to meet, so be careful." Mu Yang responded while keeping the marked map back into his sleeve.
Mu Lian nodded and hesitated before asking "Who are you rooming with?"
"A nice person called Wang Ze Li." Mu Yang's eyes cheekily glanced at Mu Lian.
"What about Ye-Di?"
"With two others."
Mu Lian glanced towards Group 19 and casually said, "Liu CongHai from ZhongQi Sect and Yan Lide from JianZhu Sect?"
Mu Yang looked at his older brother and his brow lifted slightly. "Impressive, already done your research."
"Mmhm. You know Ye-Di's situation. Just be careful as well..."
"Don't worry, I will be careful to ensure my brother-in-law won't be stolen away."
Before Mu Lian can respond, Mu Yang has already drifted back towards Group 19, leaving a trail of laughter.
"..."