Tournament Reserve

"Strongest junior college student!" Those words gave Chen Zhuo nothing but sheer shock. *Still, what does that have to do with me?* *Right now, I'm just an ordinary freshman at the fourth layer of Qi Refining...* Suspicion rising in his mind, Chen Zhuo looked up at Counselor Yuan. Counselor Yuan seemed to notice everyone's confusion as well. He gave a light cough and spoke up: "Of course, this doesn't have much to do with you. "Generally speaking, the tournament is conducted in divisions, with five years per division. College lasts twenty years in total, divided cleanly into four divisions. You are currently in the first cohort, so if you were to participate in the tournament, you would naturally enter the first-cohort division." Counselor Yuan continued, "However, the college's annual roster of tournament competitors is always selected from students who have already been enrolled for five years." *Then why the hell are you telling us?* Chen Zhuo inwardly griped, though he knew there was bound to be a 'but.' "However, under college policy, starting today the college will select first-year students with talent for tournament combat to serve as members of the 'tournament reserve.'" Counselor Yuan quickly followed up, "'Tournament reserve' members will receive additional resource support from the college, such as interest-free loan quotas and free spells. Furthermore, future official tournament competitors will also be selected from the reserve!" Counselor Yuan paused, looked around the room, and continued, "Any interested students may come to my office after class to talk. I will be putting together a list." Having said this, Counselor Yuan tucked the booklet into his storage bag and added, "My office is Room 307 on the third floor. Everyone remember to bring your ID and student cards. If anything is unclear, you can contact me on Lingxun first." With that, Counselor Yuan swept his gaze across the classroom, lingering for an extra moment on Meng Yan with what seemed like deep meaning, before stepping out. *What was that about?* Chen Zhuo had noticed that odd look from Counselor Yuan as well, and was immediately baffled. Once Counselor Yuan left the classroom, the room erupted. "The tournament reserve! If you get chosen for that, wouldn't you take off?" "Extra resource support from the college! I heard there's even a special monthly stipend of forty or fifty spirit coins!" "The standards must be super high, though. Can we really make it?" "..." The buzz of whispered conversations rose without pause. Sitting in the back row, Chen Zhuo sank into contemplation. *Tournament reserve...* *Sounds good. If I can get some of the college's preferential resources, that would be ideal.* *More importantly, if I actually make the cut, I can also get some support in cultivating spells, which would conveniently make up for my shortcomings in that area.* *Buying them from the Spell Repository costs spirit coins, after all.* Chen Zhuo had other uses for his spirit coins. At this thought, Chen Zhuo also began observing the other students. The first person he noticed was Wang Heng. It wasn't that Chen Zhuo held a grudge; Wang Heng was just too conspicuous. Right now, Wang Heng was hunched over, asking Xiao Yu in a low voice, "Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu, do you think I can make it into the tournament reserve and qualify for the tournament?" Wang Heng's voice was very soft, just as it had been back then. Yet Chen Zhuo was no longer who he used to be. With his sharp hearing and keen sight, he could catch their conversation when focusing his attention. "Participate in the tournament? You think far too highly of yourself! I recommend you head to the restroom right now, take a piss, and look at your reflection to see what kind of sorry sight you are! Even someone like you thinks they're worthy of entering the tournament? Can you even beat a cultivator at the second layer of Qi Refining with an artificially implanted spiritual root?" Wang Heng: "..." *My Xiao Yu seems to be broken.* Ever since their last magical duel... well, it couldn't really be called a magical duel—ever since their last brawl, where he had been careless, caught off guard, momentarily negligent, and narrowly lost to Chen Zhuo by a single move, his Xiao Yu had turned sharp-tongued and caustic. *Xiao Yu clearly wasn't like this before...* An unspeakable bitterness welled up inside Wang Heng. *I'm so exhausted.* Wang Heng took a deep breath and murmured, "Xiao Yu, then what should I do starting today to change myself?" "Our recommendation here is that you drop out of school immediately and find manual labor in a mortal neighborhood. You'll be entirely capable of feeding yourself..." Hearing that, Wang Heng's fists clenched hard. On the other side, hearing Xiao Yu's words, Chen Zhuo couldn't help feeling strange. The upgraded paid version of Xiao Yu didn't seem all that great either. Once upgraded, Xiao Yu was granted all kinds of user permissions and knew the user's current cultivation methods and realm down to the letter, leaving zero privacy. His free version was better—an offline encyclopedia. No need to worry about his privacy leaking, either. Chen Zhuo let out a breath, ditching his earlier decision to spend 68 spirit coins on a one-month subscription to the paid version. It really felt useless as hell. From what he'd seen online, the Yuqing Domain primarily applied Tianyuan to artifact crafting. The cluster flying swords currently co-developed by the Yuqing Domain and Shangqing Domain were extremely formidable, equipped with AI algorithms that could autonomously split sword light and target enemy weak points. Deploying dozens or hundreds at once was practically blanket fire coverage; a cultivator only needed a single divine sense command to lock down an entire area without having to bother manually maneuvering them. As for intelligent companionship models like Xiao Yu, one could only say the Yuqing Domain hadn't really developed them much further. Still, seeing his classmates' eager enthusiasm showed that becoming a tournament reserve member truly had its perks. *In that case...* *Maybe it's worth a shot?* Chen Zhuo stroked his chin, then immediately stood up, walked out of the classroom, and headed toward Room 307 on the third floor of the office building. Aside from entering this reserve selection, Chen Zhuo had another objective. A loan! Just as Yuan Mingde had said, even Foundation Establishment cultivators and Golden Core True Persons took out loans—how could you grow without borrowing? Other cultivators were blessed with extraordinary talent, born with heavenly spiritual roots possessing a natural spiritual energy sensitivity of at least 60+. But if he could secure a loan of eight hundred thousand or a million, that was a talent of his own! Who said the ability to take out a loan wasn't a talent? What if he couldn't pay the loan back? Then he'd just fly. Taiqing folk could fly; people of the Immortal Mansion could fly! Just as Chen Zhuo reached the office door, Counselor Yuan's voice drifted out casually from inside: "No need to knock. The door's open, come on in." Chen Zhuo didn't find this surprising. After all, at the Qi Refining pinnacle, divine sense was divine sense; picking up on someone over this distance was effortless. "Teacher Yuan." Chen Zhuo entered with polite deference, a slight smile on his face as he saw Counselor Yuan seated in his desk chair, sipping tea from a thermos. Before Yuan Mingde could even speak, Chen Zhuo said earnestly, "I want to sign up for the tournament reserve!" Hearing this, the faint smile on Counselor Yuan's face vanished instantly. He merely slid open a drawer, casually pulled out a sheet of paper, and said without even turning his head, "Sit down and fill out the form." Seeing this, Chen Zhuo was momentarily taken aback. Yet he quickly realized the reason, and immediately followed up, "Teacher Yuan, after signing up, I'd also like to consult you about bank loans..." Hearing that, the smile returned to Counselor Yuan's face. "Student Chen, put that form aside for now. I'll fill it out for you later—let's talk about the loan first!"