264: Chapter 264 New Rules for the Hundred Schools Competition

Gou Fugui and Xiang Batian huddled in chairs in the corner, with at least a two-meter "safe distance" between them.

Qiu Yunan and Senior Ji Youyou sat at opposite ends of the long table, heads bowed, pretending to study the ingredient lists on the mineral water bottles.

Meanwhile, the Tier 5 Great Demon Bai Lan sat thoughtlessly beside Su Nuonuo, munching on potato chips with a crunching sound.

Gu Changfeng, Cong Nanshan, and the others were also already seated. Beside them sat Xie Fuyao, the once top-ranked student in the school, the peerless "Moonlight Male God."

At this moment, Xie Fuyao was slumped in his chair, staring hollowly at the chandelier on the ceiling, his eyes filled with a world-weary deadness.

"Ow, damn it..."

As Principal Pang Ban entered the room and prepared to find an empty chair, he sat down, only for a faint muffled groan to suddenly come from beneath him.

"Principal Pang... you're sitting on my leg..."

Wearing striped pajamas, Mo Wu seemed to have spawned out of thin air, poking half his head out from under Principal Pang Ban's backside with a grievance-filled expression.

"Hiss!"

Principal Pang Ban was startled, springing up as if electrocuted. Glaring at the substitute member whose presence was so low even a Tier 5 Grandmaster could be shielded from it, his old face twitched. "Mo Wu... could you please stick a reflective strip on your forehead for the next meeting? I almost thought this chair had become a spirit!"

After this abstract little interlude, Principal Pang Ban walked to the front of the conference room.

He stood before the whiteboard and slammed his hand heavily on the table, drawing everyone's attention.

"Everyone, perk up!"

Principal Pang Ban's bloodshot old eyes swept across the room, his tone becoming unprecedentedly serious and grave.

"I won't even mention how heart-stopping and embarrassing tonight's dinner was!"

Hearing this, Jiang You and Lu Xingye below moved their gazes away with tacit understanding.

"But tomorrow! Tomorrow is the day the Hundred Schools League officially begins!"

Principal Pang Ban took a deep breath, his voice resounding firmly. "The final reward for this Hundred Schools League concerns the priority exploration rights for the newly emerged S-Rank Dungeon, 'Dragon Fall Abyss'!"

"The divine sources and ancient ruins within are enough to change the foundation of a martial arts university for the next ten years!"

"It is also a peerless opportunity for everyone here to soar to the sky!"

"Therefore, the Martial Arts General Administration has made unprecedented and major modifications to the rules for this competition!"

Upon hearing "modified rules," everyone present sat up straight.

Even Jiang You, who had been yawning just a moment ago, perked up his ears.

"First!"

Principal Pang Ban raised a finger, his gaze like a torch. "The rules for this Hundred Schools League are no longer the traditional one-on-one arena matches, but an extremely brutal survival battle royale!"

"All participants will be randomly deployed by the Martial Arts General Administration's super teleportation array into a large secret realm controlled by the Imperial Capital Martial Arts University!"

"Note! It is random teleportation!"

Principal Pang Ban emphasized his tone. "This means that as soon as you enter, you will be completely separated from your teammates! You might be chatting with a teammate one second, and the next second when you land, you're surrounded by enemies from other schools or perverted demon beasts that have been starving for half a month!"

As soon as these words were spoken, a collective gasp of cold air echoed through the conference room.

Random teleportation? The probability of being eliminated immediately upon landing is just too high!

Yet, in the audience, only three people's eyes erupted with an extremely bizarre light at this moment.

The first was the late-stage chuunibyou, Lu Xingye.

His single eye flickered with the cold light of destiny beneath his bangs. "Random teleportation? Heh... casting a lone wolf into the unknown dark abyss? This is exactly what I desire."

"A true Demon King never needs to huddle for warmth!"

The second was the peerless profiteer, Gou Fugui.

He was trembling with excitement, his gold-rimmed glasses reflecting light crazily as he scribbled furiously in his notebook. "Business opportunity! A massive business opportunity!"

"Everyone is scattered upon landing and will definitely need to regroup! If I make a batch of special signal flares in advance and sell them at a high price in the secret realm to those lost rich second-generation prodigies... I'm going to be rich, I'm going to be rich!!!"

The third was the top-tier slacker, Jiang You.

Jiang You forcibly suppressed the urge to let his mouth curl up into a crazed grin; in his heart, he almost wanted to kowtow three times to the planners at the Martial Arts General Administration!

This is amazing! Random teleportation!

He had originally been worried about being dragged around to hack people up and do labor if he teamed up with these workaholic roommates. Now, it's great; he can go solo the moment he lands!

Doesn't this mean that as long as he enters the secret realm, finds a hidden abandoned rooftop, or finds a dry cave to lie down in, and blocks the door with stones... isn't this just the perfect paid vacation, a fully enclosed immersive sleep experience card?

Principal Pang Ban looked at the crowd below, their expressions varied, and continued to drop the second bombshell in a deep voice. "In the secret realm, while individual valor is important, the core of this competition tests team collaboration and social alliance capabilities!"

"The secret realm is extremely vast. Teams that can quickly find teammates and form battle formations will possess an absolute advantage in crushing lone wolves!"

"More importantly, the rules allow and even encourage free alliances between the various universities!"

"In this secret realm of survival of the fittest, how you utilize your social skills to win over allies, divide enemies, and establish an absolute alliance advantage will be the key to determining whether you can achieve a good ranking!"

Hearing this, Jiang You sneered with extreme disdain in his heart.

Alliances? Socializing? After the abstract operation of "CEO Arrival and Soloing the Entire Server" tonight at Zhaixing Tower, in the eyes of all the contestants across the Great Xia, he must already be the ultimate villainous scum who bullies men and women, right?

It's likely that in the secret realm tomorrow, everyone will want to keep a wide berth when they see him, or find their little friends to come up and beat him up. How could anyone be willing to form an alliance with him?

"Isolate me! Go ahead and isolate me! What I, Jiang You, fear least in this life is being isolated; this is simply the perfect natural barrier for me to sleep soundly!"

Watching Jiang You's increasingly undulating slacker expression, Principal Pang Ban seemed to guess what kind of bad water this kid was brewing in his stomach. He snorted coldly and threw out the last, and most critical, rule.

"Third!"

Principal Pang Ban fished out a jade talisman emitting a glowing white light from his bosom and displayed it before everyone.

"For this competition, in order to let you, the future sparks of the Great Xia, kill and plunder without any scruples and completely let loose, the Martial Arts General Administration has spent a huge sum to issue a teleportation jade talisman to every participant and substitute!"

Principal Pang Ban's tone revealed a fanatical fighting spirit. "Wear it! In the secret realm, whether you encounter a fatal attack from a high-tier demon beast or are dealt a lethal blow by a prodigy from another university—as long as this jade talisman determines you are about to receive fatal damage!"

"The jade talisman will instantly trigger a shield and shatter, forcibly teleporting you safely out of the secret realm!"

"Of course, the jade talisman shattering also means you are eliminated!"

"So, tomorrow, everyone just let loose and fight! Use all your strength! Don't fear death, because with this jade talisman, you simply cannot die! Just use all your might to fight for first place!"

Boom! Hearing this absolutely safe security mechanism, all the battle maniacs in the conference room, such as Qiu Yunan, Xiang Batian, Su Nuonuo, and others, all had their eyes light up!

No life danger? Then what are we waiting for? Tomorrow, just go in, turn on rampage mode, and nuke the map!

However, in the midst of the blood-pumping atmosphere, "Swish!" A fair arm, in the standard posture of a primary school student raising their hand, was raised abruptly in the front row of the conference room.

Jiang You's eyes were shining; those dead fish eyes were currently filled with a terrifying thirst for knowledge. He stared burning-eyed at the jade talisman in Principal Pang Ban's hand and asked with a trembling voice, "Principal!"

"I have an extremely critical tactical question I want to ask!"

Principal Pang Ban was stunned, thinking, this slacker is actually taking the initiative to care about tactics today? Did the sun rise from the west?

"Oh? It's rare for you, kid, to be this active. Ask!"

Jiang You swallowed a mouthful of saliva, extremely serious and rigorous, even carrying a hint of irrepressible ecstasy, and asked loudly, "The rules say that if you take fatal damage, the jade talisman will shatter, and then you can be teleported to the safety zone outside, right?"

"Then if... if I enter the secret realm, just to be safe, and I accidentally... shatter this jade talisman myself."

"Does that mean I can be eliminated within one minute and then return to this hotel suite with air conditioning and a soft bed..."