Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

This squad of disheveled students had clearly rushed over without gathering all their members.

There were only eight of them.

The minimum requirement for the Qualification Tournament was ten Innate Students. An insufficient number was an automatic disqualification.

The person leading the group below the stone stele spoke up again, his voice booming, ”All academies, listen up! You must have ten Innate Students to enter the first trial, and you must have at least ten Innate Students when you reach the finish line...”

”In other words, if someone from your team falls behind and you only have nine members by the time you reach the finish line, you will be considered to have failed and will be eliminated.”

Hearing this, another uproar erupted in front of the Beast Flame Gate...

As for the disheveled team, they could only rush back to where they had been sleeping to shake their groggy companions awake.

”Don’t be hasty. Bring your Weapons, or you’ll be in trouble if you run into a fight on the way.”

The man under the stele added calmly.

At his words, the crowd before the Beast Flame Gate descended into chaos once again...

”Damn it, why aren’t you awake yet?”

”Hey, Young Miss, what makeup are you doing? Look at the time! We need to go, now!”

”Don’t pull me! I need to use the bathroom! I’ve been holding it all night, I’m dying here!”

Amidst such chaotic shouts, more and more academy teams charged to the Beast Flame Gate, grabbed their maps, and entered. In the blink of an eye, thirty academies had already gone in, making everyone else even more anxious.

Meanwhile, in the corner where the members of Dragon Flame Academy were, everyone was already fully prepared.

It went without saying for Lu Chao. With his years of combat experience, he had been the first to get up the instant the announcement was made.

The same was true for Luo Wendeng and the other four.

Back in the Chaotic Hundred Countries, they had long since developed the habit of being ready to enter a battle state at a moment’s notice.

The three original Dragon Flame students, the Jiang Family Siblings among them, were a little slower, but they too were ready in no time. To everyone’s surprise, however, Iron Shield was even faster than the Jiang siblings...

The ten of them were assembled.

But Lu Chao suddenly said, ”We’ll take a side path. Otherwise, people will intentionally block our way.”

Because they had been placed in a corner...

It was arguably the spot furthest from the Beast Flame Gate. If they charged straight ahead, they would run into students from all sorts of academies. Judging from yesterday’s events, those academies would surely try to make things difficult for them on purpose.

Don’t forget, each academy also had its higher-ups and instructors present, and they didn’t have to participate in the first trial.

Just like that, Lu Chao immediately led the other nine and set off.

Sun Shijin, Yu Fei, and the others flanked them, ever vigilant for any potential dangers.

Along the way, Yu Xiaoping couldn’t help but curse, ”This is bullshit! They put us in the farthest spot. No matter how fast we prepared, we’re still behind everyone else. And to top it off, the first trial just has to be a race of speed.”

Hearing this, Luo Wendeng said coldly, ”It’s obvious we’re being targeted. This was deliberate.”

Placing them in the corner furthest from the Beast Flame Gate was a targeted move, designed to put them in a difficult position right from the start.

If they hadn’t taken this side path, they would have been blocked as well.

”Get used to it,” Lu Chao said calmly. ”There will be plenty more targeting to come. We just have to crush them. Besides, we aren’t the only ones being targeted. You must have noticed that some of the powerful academies were already fully dressed and reacted the instant it started, right?”

His words sent a chill through everyone...

’Certain academies must have been notified in advance that the first trial would begin abruptly, allowing them to be fully prepared.’

Sure enough, at that moment, a loud voice rose from the crowd in protest, ”This is unfair! Why were those teams that just went in already fully dressed? You must have notified them ahead of time!”

As his voice faded, the area in front of the Beast Flame Gate fell instantly silent. In truth, many people had harbored the same suspicion.

Two breaths later, a tyrannical, savage voice boomed, ”You, the one who just spoke! Which academy are you from?”

The voice belonged to none other than Guan Zanyi, who had just stepped out from within Beast Flame Academy.

The protester immediately replied, ”I am from Mengshan Academy of the Mengshan Kingdom! I’m the dean—”

”Very good. Mengshan Academy’s participation in the Qualification Tournament ends now. You are disqualified.”

Guan Zanyi’s voice rang out icily, causing the protesting dean’s eyes to fly wide and the surrounding crowd to gasp in shock.

Then, Guan Zanyi continued with a savage grin...

”Trash will always be trash. How dare you accuse Beast Flame Academy of cheating?”

”Don’t you know that you must be prepared at all times?”

”We of the Hundred Countries are sandwiched between two great enemies, the Great Wu Empire and the Nanye Dynasty. As the genius students of the Hundred Countries, if you lack even a shred of combat awareness, then you are unworthy of joining Beast Flame.”

Following Guan Zanyi’s sanctimonious speech, the entire area fell silent. No one dared to speak.

As for the protester, the dean of Mengshan Academy, the sound of his teeth grinding in fury was still audible. Finally, he clenched his jaw and began to apologize and plead, begging Guan Zanyi to let his students continue to compete...

But it was useless. Guan Zanyi was utterly ruthless and refused to yield.

He even added coldly, ”This is the price for daring to question the fairness of Beast Flame Academy.”

With that, he gave a dismissive wave of his hand, and his subordinates dragged the screaming dean of Mengshan away.

Then, Guan Zanyi’s gaze swept across the crowd once more...

He muttered to himself, ’What about that Fake Lu Chao? Don’t tell me he still hasn’t figured it out?’

’I haven’t gotten to see the main event yet. I want them to get blocked, cause a scene right then and there, and then let them fall right into my hands.’

’Inside Beast Flame, so many people want to crush them. I can’t let anyone else beat me to it.’

Within Beast Flame Academy, far too many people wanted to cripple or kill the members of Dragon Flame Academy, including those from Celestial King Academy.

And as one of the Commanders of the Beast Flame Order Team—the one responsible for maintaining order at the gate—Guan Zanyi naturally had an advantage over everyone else. He could strike first and eliminate Fake Lu Chao’s entire group.

As long as Fake Lu Chao and the other Dragon Flame Students had their path blocked, the Dragon Flame higher-ups would be forced to intervene.

He could then use the pretext that they were causing a disturbance to swat one or two of them dead.

Now that the Qualification Tournament had begun, the Dragon Flame King’s warning was void. Blood could be shed...

The one who had arranged for Dragon Flame Academy to be placed in the most remote corner was, of course, Guan Zanyi himself.

But just as Guan Zanyi was lost in his triumphant fantasies, a calm voice spoke up. ”Here is our Battle Order from Dragon Flame Academy.”

As the voice faded, Guan Zanyi whipped his head around...

...only to see Lu Chao and the ten Innate Students of Dragon Flame. They had already appeared beneath the stone stele and were in the process of receiving a map from his subordinate.

’Son of a bitch, where the hell did they come from?’

The next moment, Lu Chao had the map in hand. He looked back at Guan Zanyi and said, ”Grand General Guan, it’s a shame that a great general like you isn’t even one of Beast Flame Academy’s higher-ups. This is as far as you go. We’re heading in.”

”You just do a good job of maintaining order out here at the gate.”

With that, Lu Chao led Luo Wendeng and the others, stepping past the gate and into Beast Flame Academy proper.