199: The fun begins

Xu Ruoying listened, dumbfounded. It was just an Inter-school Competition; was there really a need to fight so hard?

To her, an Inter-school Competition in a third-tier base like Fengyang was nothing more than children playing house. If it weren't for Long Yuan participating, she wouldn't have come specifically to watch it!

It could be said that the reason the big shots from the Xu Family and Geng Family came to watch the competition this time was entirely because of Long Yuan. Otherwise, even offering them more money probably wouldn't have moved them. Even if they wanted to watch such an Inter-school Competition, they would be keeping their eyes on the matches between the super high schools in the Northern Capital; after all, there were many potential future powerhouses in those super high schools, and building a friendly connection in advance was quite good. As for a small third-tier base like Fengyang, it was already quite good if one presentable Genius could emerge every few decades or a century.

However, this was from Xu Ruoying's perspective. For the high schools in Fengyang, it was completely different. The annual Inter-school Competition was a real, no-holds-barred fight for them. They were competing for their school's status in Fengyang. If their ranking went up and their reputation spread, they could attract more parents and students to apply for enrollment. Furthermore, they could fight for greater authority from higher management departments and receive more resource allocation. The saying "strong in one step, strong in every step" was the logic here. Over the years, with the gradual rise of Qianlong Middle School and Fengming Middle School, the advantages of Fengyang No. 1 High School had been continuously eroded. Now, it had presented a three-way standoff, which was inextricably linked to the outstanding performance of these two private high schools in the Inter-school Competition in recent years.

"Princess, with this Zhou Yuan holding the line for Qianlong Middle School this time, I'm afraid we have to bet on Qianlong!" Qin Fu Yi sighed.

"Giggle, I'm just participating casually anyway to support Long Yuan, so I'm still betting on Fengyang No. 1 High School! Just don't bet too much. Hmm, let's just bet 10,000 superior xuan stones!" Xu Ruoying giggled.

"What?!" Qin Fu Yi almost lost his composure upon hearing this. Xu Ruoying's casual bet was 10,000 superior xuan stones, and that was even after significantly reducing the betting amount. This made Qin Fu Yi's face turn liver-colored, and his heart pounded uncontrollably.

"Is there a problem?" Seeing him like this, Xu Ruoying asked, surprised.

"Ah? No problem, no problem... Princess, please do as you wish!" Qin Fu Yi hurriedly said.

"And what about you? Are you betting on Qianlong?" Xu Ruoying asked.

"I... I'm also betting on Fengyang No. 1 High School!!!" Qin Fu Yi gritted his teeth and said. In order to curry favor with Xu Ruoying and Long Yuan, he was going all out. He would just treat this money as if it were thrown into the water.

"Oh? How much are you betting?"

"This... I naturally cannot compare with you, Princess. Let's just bet 1,000 superior xuan stones!" Qin Fu Yi said. His heart was practically bleeding. He didn't know how many big things these 1,000 superior xuan stones could accomplish, but now he had to bet along with her. If he bet too little, it would naturally show a lack of sincerity. Therefore, he had to take out one-tenth of Xu Ruoying's betting amount. This way, it would show the distinction between superior and inferior while also preventing the Qin Family from losing too much face. Otherwise, he wouldn't even have the opportunity to get to the negotiating table, let alone cooperate.

"Giggle, not bad. It seems the Qin Family Head also supports Long Yuan quite a bit!" Xu Ruoying laughed.

"It's only right! It's only right! Actually, I have always been optimistic about Long Yuan. If it weren't for his short Cultivation time, that Zhou Yuan could never be his opponent!" Qin Fu Yi said.

Xu Ruoying hummed, "Zhou Yuan? Never heard of him. If he really is a Genius, then he should at least first enter the top 1,000 in the Daming Cloud Challenge Competition, right?"

Qin Fu Yi wiped sweat from his brow and said, "Princess, you might not know, but anyone who can enter the top 10,000 in the Cloud Challenge Competition can be called a Genius! I just checked his information; Zhou Yuan's current ranking in the Martial Master Realm is 1,876th. This is already a genuine Genius, after all, he is not even twenty years old! His future development space is immense!"

"Then what if it were a Martial Grandmaster who is not even twenty years old?" Xu Ruoying retorted.

"What? A Martial Grandmaster not yet twenty? That must be a super Genius of our Daming! Such a person could potentially grow into a backbone force of our Daming in the future!" Qin Fu Yi said excitedly.

"So, this Zhou Yuan isn't strong to such a terrifying degree yet. Perhaps Fengyang No. 1 High School still has a chance..." Xu Ruoying laughed.

"This... the Princess makes sense! Ahead is Qianlong Middle School. I heard that there were cultists causing trouble here this morning. Fortunately, it was suppressed in time by the government and the Xuanwu Guard, but we should still be careful..."

"No matter..."

The two chatted while getting off the car. Following Geng Yun, Xu Guanghu, and others, they entered the school and took their seats in the already arranged positions. The arrival of this large group of prominent figures, coupled with media personnel eagerly stepping forward to interview them, constantly asking about the morning's operation to suppress the cultists, as well as the outlook for this Inter-school Competition, caused the atmosphere inside Qianlong Middle School to instantly reach a peak. Everyone was greatly energized, knowing that the good show was about to begin...

The members of the various representative teams were even more excited when they saw this scene. They knew their opportunity to make a name for themselves had finally arrived!

This was especially true for those students selected for the representative team for the first time. Due to the county-wide live broadcast, their performance in the competition would be seen by countless people. If they had a good performance, they would naturally be remembered. Even if they were eventually defeated, they would still have gained exposure. After all, having the ability to be selected for the representative team already proved something; at the very least, they were among the top tier of high school students in Fengyang County currently. And this was certainly a shining resume for them. It was foreseeable that after this competition, many external forces would surely approach them for signing and investment. Whether official or private, signing meant a considerable income, and this income was definitely a guarantee and support for their subsequent Cultivation. A good signing might even allow them to soar into the sky, from then on walking wider and further on the path of Martial Dao practice...

Regardless, participating in a competition of this level was in itself an excellent opportunity to enhance personal value. Almost every one of these representative team members had given their all to stand out from the numerous students in their respective schools. They were indeed qualified to have such an opportunity.

However, official signings were generally standard and followed the conventions of Daming. In order to compete with the official side, private ones generally offered better terms than the official ones, but they would all have corresponding restrictions. For example, during the signing period, one must do some things for them, or after graduation, serve them for a certain number of years, etc. This was a bit like signing a contract of indenture; if one wasn't careful, they might fall into a trap. Therefore, when signing, one still had to keep their eyes wide open and look carefully before signing...