About fifteen minutes later, everyone had finally arrived.
Apart from the people from Qingye City, there were also bigwigs from several other Second Stage Cities under Shuzhou City, along with one or two students they brought.
However, the last to enter was a middle-aged man with a round face who seemed not to get along with Wang Haiping.
"Yo, isn't that Director Wang? It's been many years, I wonder how you're doing in Guangchuan City?"
The moment this person came in, his gaze landed on Wang Haiping, a flicker of surprise crossing his face before he quickly approached with his student.
"It turns out to be Director Hu..." Upon seeing him, Wang Haiping's smile immediately faded,
This man was the Deputy Mayor of Zigui City, a Second Stage City, Hu Tao.
Indeed, there was a history between Wang Haiping and Hu Tao.
Originally, Wang Haiping was young and promising, with an exceptional work ability, and he was on track for a direct promotion to Deputy Director.
However, Hu Tao displaced Wang Haiping due to certain reasons, severing Wang's path of promotion. Until today, no new opportunities for advancement had arisen.
Thus, the grudge between the two was not insignificant.
Hu Tao's gaze fell on Su Yuan standing behind Wang Haiping, "Is this the student you brought to participate in the Divine Tree's blossoming? The Star Power fluctuation seems a bit weak, just at the Eighth Stage? That's so like Director Wang, always so unique in your approach!"
With a smile, Hu Tao pushed forward the young man behind him, "Come on, Director Wang, let me introduce you. This is Zigui City's talent, this year's special recruit of Hengzhou Academy, Liu Ru Long."
Hengzhou Academy's special recruit?
Su Yuan and Wang Haiping couldn't help but take another look at the young man behind Hu Tao.
With light purple short hair, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a burly figure, Liu Rulong smirked challengingly, tilting his chin up slightly when he saw Su Yuan looking his way.
"Oh, so it's a special recruit from Hengzhou Academy, impressive indeed~" Wang Haiping responded without expression, just going through the motions.
Hengzhou Academy is ranked eleventh, higher than the colleges in Shuzhou and Wanzhou, indeed possessing something to brag about.
Seeing Wang Haiping's attitude, Hu Tao said with a forced smile, "I hope your Eighth Stage student advances to the Divine Tree Secret Realm, Director Wang. I'll be cheering for you."
Wang Haiping indifferently replied, "It's a certainty to enter the secret realm. There's no need for you to bother yourself."
Hu Tao snorted quietly, then led the young man past Su Yuan and Wang Haiping, striding forward.
...
President Ji Qinghe of the Qingye City Star Card Master Association was a slender, spirited old man.
However, his realm was the highest in the entire room, having reached the Shining Star Level for many years and rumored to be a mere step away from the Radiant Moon Level, possibly breaking through at any time.
Even the Qingye Education Bureau Chief, Yan Chenfei, had to be very polite in his presence.
At this moment, Ji Qinghe slowly walked to the center of the venue. The audience ceased their discussions and looked up as he took his place.
Ji Qinghe cleared his throat and said, "Since everyone has arrived, let us begin the competition for entry into the Divine Tree. To save time, the rules will be the same as before, a tournament-style battle with defending and challenging. Each person has only one chance. If you fail, you're eliminated.
The winner remains on the platform until there's no one left to challenge, thus securing a spot in the Divine Tree Secret Realm.
Any objections?"
"No."
"We will follow your instructions, Elder Ji."
This had been the rule for many years, the same year after year.
To hold two or three rounds of competition to decide the top four would be impractical: first, because the number of participants could vary, making it difficult to arrange; second, the competition among nearly twenty Star Apprentices would not be very entertaining for the audience, who were mostly Shining Star Level elites. It wasn't necessary.
"Alright, let's start then," said Ji Qinghe with a smile, his gaze sweeping over the many youths below, "Anyone eager to defend the stage, step right up to the arena behind me."
Behind Ji Qinghe was an exceptionally large square arena, much more professional than the Duel Arena at Guangchuan Fourth Middle School.
"I'll go first!"
As soon as these words fell, a voice familiar to Su Yuan rang out; it was Zhuang Xun.
Pretty eager...
Zhuang Xun didn't actually want to be the first to go up, but this was Qingye City— home ground advantage could not be given away. Earlier, Yan Chenfei had made it clear, instructing Zhuang Xun to be the first one up and to secure the first spot in the Secret Realm!
Zhuang Xun stepped out from the side and ascended the Duel Arena, shooting Su Yuan a glance from a distance.
Big brother, please don't mess with me!
Su Yuan had intended to go straight up and secure a spot in the Secret Realm so he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.
Although he was supposed to help Wang Haiping deal with Liu Rulong of Hu Tao's camp, judging by Rulong's demeanor, provoking him would likely make him step up to the platform immediately. And in front of such a crowd, challenging him would surely be met with acceptance.
But now that Zhuang Xun was up, it was worth waiting a bit longer...
"Is this one of the two specially recruited students from Shuzhou in Qingye City?"
"It should be, speaking of which, Qingye City really did well this year, not only did they have two special recruits of their own, but they also produced two more below them."
"Yes, this year Qingye City really made a killing. Director Yan's career prospects are boundless..."
The young students sized up Zhuang Xun on the stage while the big shots casually conversed in small groups.
These tycoons weren't concerned about who the special recruit students from Qingye specifically were; they were only interested in the number of special recruit students that had emerged, since this was also an indicator of performance appraisal for the education departments to assess the various levels of educational bureaus below them.
"Does anyone want to challenge first?"
"I'll go!"
A dark-complexioned young man stepped forward in a few strides and then leaped onto the duel arena. He raised both hands and drew out a black hammer with an exaggerated design.
There was a layer of thin yet profound gray light wrapped around the hammer, which was also a green star artifact!
"Yanyun Second Middle School, Luo Feng!" the dark-skinned youth shouted sternly.
Zhuang Xun saw that his opponent was not simple and, with a wave of his hand, summoned his own black and red longsword: "Qingye High School, Zhuang Xun!"
Without needing a referee to start the match, the two exchanged looks and then moved at the same time, fighting together.
In fact, this Luo Feng was indeed not simple; he was the nephew of a Beginner Stage Star Card Master at the Shining Star Level from Yanyun City.
A blue low-grade soul card with strength at Talent C-level. Having a solid foundation from childhood and strong talent, although not a specially recruited student, Luo Feng, under the long-term guidance of a Shining Star Level uncle, believed he was no less competent than these elite school's special recruits.
Luo Feng activated strength enhancement as soon as he started, his muscles bulging and intertwined. The huge iron hammer seemed like it was made of plastic, swirling in his hands, creating a fierce gale!
"Clang, clang, clang, clang!"
The two engaged in close combat, and after several clashes, Luo Feng actually forced Zhuang Xun back several steps in succession.
Zhuang Xun suddenly exerted force, briefly withstanding Luo Feng's onslaught, and then quickly retreated.
Twisting his somewhat numb arm, Zhuang Xun couldn't help but curl his lip.
Well, the strength is really impressive, I indeed can't compete~
But having strength alone is useless... This battle ends here!
Zhuang Xun became serious, as in this kind of defense battle, not only did he have to win, but he had to win decisively!
Only by demonstrating an overwhelming strength could he deter others; otherwise, once showing weakness, everyone would want to come up and try it, turning it into a war of attrition. With the limited star power of star apprentices, even the strongest would eventually be worn down.
Seeing Luo Feng swinging his hammer and charging again, Zhuang Xun quickly formed several seals with his hands and then stomped his foot. A rich fire element erupted from under his feet, and as the flame light ascended, six fire snakes burst from the fierce flames, heading straight for Luo Feng's face!
Luo Feng was startled and quickly swung his hammer to smash at the approaching fire snakes, easily shattering one with a single blow.
However, the fire snakes were extremely agile, and the hammer, a relatively cumbersome weapon, was really not good at handling them. Luo Feng only managed to smash three and was then entangled by the remaining three fire snakes.
The next moment, the bodies of the three fire snakes brightened violently!
"Not good..."
"Boom, boom, boom!"
The explosions rang out, and the three fire snakes burst one after another. The blooming orange flames engulfed Luo Feng's body, even shocking the many students watching from below.
However, including the deputy director of the Yanyun City Education Bureau who had brought Luo Feng, there was no intention among the tycoons to intervene.
"Don't think you can defeat me just like that!"
Just then, Luo Feng suddenly reached out a hand from the midst of the fierce flames!
His exposed skin was covered with a layer of dark green scales, barely holding off the roaring flames from the exploded fire snakes.
Yet before Luo Feng could fully dissipate the fierce flames' aftereffects, he suddenly felt the temperature in front of him skyrocket. Looking intently, he saw a large fireball with a diameter of more than half a meter already rolling unstably between Zhuang Xun's hands.
The fire snakes were only meant to entangle the enemy; the Flame Explosion Technique was the true killing move!
"Go, Flame Explosion Technique!" Zhuang Xun spared no courtesy.
As the light of the flame intensified, the huge fireball containing immense energy sped towards Luo Feng, who had not yet recovered from the previous explosion of the fire snakes.
Luo Feng's expression changed drastically: "It's over..."
At the critical moment, a figure suddenly appeared beside Luo Feng, reaching out to catch the incoming giant flame explosion fireball.
It was Ji Qinghe!
The fireball was caught by Ji Qinghe, and instead of exploding, it deflated like a punctured ball.
Feeling the residual heat from the giant flame explosion fireball, Luo Feng couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief with lingering fear.
"Zhuang Xun wins!"