Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

Just as Luo Wendeng had said, Lu Chao hadn’t known during the first trial if there was anyone at Beast Flame Academy who would ensure fairness.

Therefore, he had needed to rally all the Small Institutes to expose the tyranny and targeted attacks of Beast Flame Academy’s leadership. But now, with Marquis Longyin and even Dongfang Ren backing them, it was no longer necessary to go to such lengths. They could just confront them head-on.

Even Sun Shijin was a little baffled when he saw the brimming confidence of the five young people from the Azure Flame Sect.

’Do they not care about the group battle in the second trial at all?’

In the crowd, Lu Chao had already walked up to Li Wumian.

When Li Wumian saw him, he couldn’t help but snicker. ”Go ahead and draw. No matter who you get, your fate is already sealed.”

Lu Chao casually drew a lot from Li Wumian’s hand, glanced at it, and said, ”What a coincidence. Zhongyue Academy.”

With that, he turned and walked away...

Staring at Lu Chao’s utterly unfazed back, Li Wumian froze for a second and frowned.

He had a feeling this Fake Lu Chao wasn’t the least bit afraid, which reminded him of how Lu Chao had blocked their path before.

’Could it be he’s still fearless, even when facing so many people?’

’That’s right. He dared to charge a thousand people all by himself. He and the other Descendants of Azure Flame fought in the war in the Chaotic Hundred Countries. They have far more experience in group battles than students who have never seen combat. I’m afraid this plan might have some hidden risks.’

’Especially with twenty institutes fighting together. It’s just too chaotic.’

As he was lost in thought, the lots in his hand were gradually drawn until none were left. The matchups for the second trial were now decided.

He hurried back to Zeng Quan’s side and shared his concerns.

Zeng Quan couldn’t help but glance toward the group from Dragon Flame Academy...

He nodded and mused, ”Twenty institutes with no real leader are just a disorganized mob, easily picked off one by one. It seems I need to add another rule to force them to unite.”

In that instant, an idea formed in his mind...

Taking a deliberate step forward, Zeng Quan addressed the entire assembly. ”The lot drawing is complete. However, I have one more rule to announce.”

”Beast Flame Academy was established to face our two great enemies, Great Wu and Nanye. In the future, every one of our students will find themselves on a battlefield. Therefore, for this second trial, all combatants will be... accompanied by warhorses.”

As soon as he spoke, the entire crowd was stunned. The grounds fell deathly silent once more.

”In other words, the duels in the second trial will be cavalry battles. We will provide a number of warhorses equal to the number of combatants.”

Having said this, Zeng Quan immediately changed the subject. ”And now, we will announce the matchups for the second trial.”

With that, he stepped back, leaving the dean of the Lion Flame Institute to announce the results of the drawing.

Meanwhile, Li Wumian and the others hurried over to Zeng Quan, asking in a daze, ”General Dean, why add warhorses? Fake Lu Chao and those few from Azure Flame have been to war. Aren’t they likely even better at mounted combat?”

Li Wumian couldn’t understand the rule Zeng Quan had just added...

”It’s simple. Warhorses may not be particularly powerful Demon Beasts, but they are Demon Beasts nonetheless.”

”They are all sentient. By deploying a thousand well-trained warhorses, the students from the twenty institutes will be forced to unite under their influence. Besides, some warhorses are stronger than others.”

”It will be much easier to tamper with the warhorses.”

As Zeng Quan explained, it immediately dawned on Li Wumian. ’So he’s using the sentience of the warhorses to unite the disorganized rabble!’

”Look,” one of the higher-ups from Celestial King Academy said, pointing toward the Dragon Flame Academy group. ”Fake Lu Chao and the others are scared. Every single one of them has that look on their face.”

And Li Wumian noticed that Lu Chao’s expression was no longer confident, but had become a comical picture of wide-eyed shock...

This greatly reassured Li Wumian.

What they didn’t know, however, was that Lu Chao, Luo Wendeng, and the others were indeed dumbstruck.

Adding warhorses... This was an absolute godsend.

Over with the Dragon Flame Academy contingent...

Dean Jiang, also thinking Lu Chao and his students had lost their confidence, trembled as he spoke. ”Those bastards! They’ll definitely tamper with the warhorses. Isn’t having a thousand people team up against you enough? They have to be this vicious, leaving you no path to survival.”

Seeing Dean Jiang’s despair, Lu Chao and the others decided not to explain; there were too many people around.

After the matchups were announced, Zeng Quan declared that everyone would rest and the competition would resume the next day. He also ordered that the Weapons and Elixir Pills confiscated by those who had blocked the paths must be returned.

The second trial was originally supposed to begin immediately after the first.

But that was impossible now. The sixty institutes needed time for recruitment, and more importantly, those injured in the first trial needed time to recover.

It was, once again, a tactic aimed squarely at Dragon Flame Academy.

And so, all the academies were led into the Beast Flame Institute to rest.

Each academy was given its own private courtyard. This time, Dragon Flame Academy was not assigned to a place with poor conditions, but merely to one of the smaller courtyards.

As soon as they arrived in their courtyard, Yu Fei and Dean Jiang started cursing and grumbling again.

Many people were now deliberately walking past their courtyard, making snide remarks...

”Where is Zhongyue Academy’s courtyard?”

”We at Xiaolong Academy are good friends with Zhongyue Academy. We have to help them get through the second trial.”

”Same for us at Wind Wolf Academy! I’ve long admired a certain senior sister from Zhongyue. I must help her pass the trial and defeat her opponents.”

Voices like these echoed endlessly outside Dragon Flame Academy’s courtyard, grating on the nerves of Dean Jiang and the others.

Yu Fei couldn’t resist deliberately shouting back, ”You’ve all been eliminated! What the hell are you still caterwauling about?”

Of course, the people outside heard him...

The crowd outside immediately responded: ”We hear there’s a revival round in the third trial! But that probably won’t matter to certain groups that can’t even scrape together ten students. For those with exactly ten, if they lose just one, they can forget about even qualifying for the revival round.”

Those words made Yu Fei clutch his chest, his face turning ashen with rage.

In the end, he could only retreat resentfully into the courtyard’s main hall...

’The third trial has a revival round!’

Zeng Quan was letting the University Institutes get their revenge on Lu Chao in the second trial, while the third trial was his way of appeasing them.

Just as Yu Fei was about to say something, he heard Lu Chao’s voice. ”Victory in this battle is certain, but underestimating the enemy is a grave mistake. We only have ten students. We must not only win, but do so without a single loss.”

He saw Lu Chao laying out the strategy for the second trial to Luo Wendeng and the others.

What surprised Yu Fei was that Lu Chao had said victory was certain, only that they couldn’t afford to be careless.

’Could it be... easy?’

Sun Shijin, Yu Fei, and Dean Jiang listened to Lu Chao’s planning without a sound. They slowly realized that every part of his strategy was focused on how to keep all ten of their students safe.

The three of them exchanged glances and finally understood: they had been worrying for nothing.

Lu Chao, Luo Wendeng, and the other Descendants of Azure Flame had never been afraid in the first place.

Suddenly... KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

The sound of knocking came from the door. It was Cheng Yunsu, Cheng Chuming, and even Su Shangmo arriving from outside, with Fan Jinhua in tow.