As fellow assessors, despite being rivals, there was no deep-seated animosity between Chu Tianle and Bai Shengyi, so all their matches so far had been conducted with restraint.
Moreover, while the academy encouraged competition, it did not wish for its students to harm each other. Therefore, whenever such situations arose, the presiding academy teacher would promptly announce the outcome, preventing the losing party from struggling pointlessly.
Bai Shengyi's gaze darkened, and she suddenly crouched down.
Zhou Yi watched her movements warily, only to see Bai Shengyi lean in and whisper a few words.
Zhou Yi's expression changed drastically.
She opened her mouth, "I..."
Jin Ruyi, watching intently from below the stage, sensed something was amiss when she saw Zhou Yi's expression. "Zhou Yi, do you not care about your brother's life? If you dare to disobey me, this county princess..."
"I surrender!"
Zhou Yi no longer hesitated and declared loudly.
Bai Shengyi looked at the referee, "Teacher, can you announce the result now?"
Yun Ying stared intently at Zhou Yi, "Classmate, are you sure you want to surrender?"
Bai Shengyi narrowed her eyes.
Chu Tianle's face turned grim.
Fortunately, Zhou Yi heeded Bai Shengyi's words and replied, "Yes, I surrender."
With the opponent's decision made, Yun Ying had no reason to delay the match any further and reluctantly announced, "The match is over. The victors are Bai Shengyi and Chu Tianle."
Bai Shengyi and Chu Tianle immediately prepared to register for the next match but were stopped by Yun Ying.
"Stop! Have you no manners or character? Help the classmate on the stage for treatment before you leave!" As for her, she couldn't be bothered to deal with such bloody and dirty matters.
Bai Shengyi was amused by this.
At this point, even if Chu Tianle pulled her, she would not pay attention.
She could not swallow this insult, much less curb her desire to cause trouble for others.
"Firstly, she and I are opponents; I have no obligation to take care of her. Secondly, you are the teacher, and you failed to promptly announce the result in the first place. Lastly, the assessment rules do not include this. Therefore, why should we listen to you?"
"Or are you a new teacher at the academy and don't quite understand the rules of the Battle Arena?" Bai Shengyi coldly appraised Yun Ying.
A female cultivator who appeared to have a much higher cultivation than herself was always looking down at her with arrogance and excessive pride, yet Bai Shengyi didn't recognize her.
Yun Ying felt that Bai Shengyi was challenging her dignity as a teacher, and trembling with anger, she pointed a finger at Bai Shengyi, "You... you..."
She reached out to teach Bai Shengyi a lesson, but saw Wen Jiuyin walking over hastily from not far away, "Junior Sister Yun, wasn't I supposed to send you back to school first? Why did you come here?"
The others responsible for this arena looked surprised.
"Ah? Didn't Senior Yun say she was the referee for today?"
"Yes, and she even made the decision to reduce the assessment score to 2 points."
Upon hearing the hushed whispers, Wen Jiuyin knew something was amiss and hurried to ask everyone what had just happened.
Yun Ying knew she couldn't teach Bai Shengyi a lesson today and, remembering how she had been rebuked by Bai Shengyi, couldn't help but let out a cold snort and flicked her sleeve as she left.
After Wen Jiuyin understood the cause and effect, his face, filled with speechless anger, darkened.
"This is outrageous! Utterly willful!" This was not how an elder or a teacher should act! This was hindering these promising talents!
Wen Jiuyin shook his head and had to immediately clean up the mess Yun Ying had left behind.
Changing the scores was impossible, as Yun Ying had already publicly announced the match results, which were heard not only by students but also by cultivators from Qianlian City who had come to watch out of boredom. If he reversed the decision, it would affect the reputation and image of Shenqi Academy.
So, he hurriedly made arrangements, ordering someone to immediately find opponents for Bai Shengyi's group.
"Our opponents are here! It's Liu Ping and Zhan Rong." Bai Shengyi exclaimed in surprise, "So quickly!"
The speed today was much faster than usual.
"Then let's hurry to the Battle Arena," Chu Tianle said.
Feng Wuya quickly explained to them.
"Your opponents now are Jin Ruyi's group and Tang Ying's group. When I came over just now, Tang Ying's group had already started their second match. If they win this one, they'll catch up to you immediately, so you need to hurry. These two are from Qizhou Kingdom. Pay attention to Zhan Rong; he is a proud scion of the Zhan family's collateral line..."
With Feng Wuya, the know-it-all, Bai Shengyi and the others immediately understood. Upon entering the arena, they first stalled Zhan Rong, eliminated Liu Ping, and then the two of them swiftly ganged up on Zhan Rong.
Zhan Rong seemed to realize that his chances of advancing were slim and promptly cut his losses, decisively stating, "We surrender."
"I announce that in this match, Bai Shengyi and Chu Tianle win!"
At the same time, the team rankings on the recommendation posts began to update in real-time. Bai Shengyi and Chu Tianle's team, being the 25th to break the 100-point mark, snagged the last spot.
"Slap!"
Bai Shengyi excitedly high-fived Chu Tianle in celebration.
"That's great!"
They had done it!
"You guys are amazing, Shengyi!" Luo Feihua, Zhu Wu, and Chen Qiyang rushed over. Luo Feihua, usually reserved and composed, hugged Bai Shengyi tightly, "We can still be teammates!"
"Yes," Bai Shengyi said happily, allowing Luo Feihua to hug her and jump around.
"What's so great about it? It's just a bit of luck. If you hadn't used tricks to harm Sister Ruyi, how could you have had such an opportunity!"
Everyone was happy, but someone was being inconsiderate and spoiling the mood.
"Sun Yun, watch what you say." Luo Feihua separated from Bai Shengyi and stared coldly at her. What was wrong with this person, always unable to see the good in others?
"What should I watch? I'm not saying anything wrong! If it weren't for you, Sister Ruyi would have advanced!" Sun Yun asked Qin Zhao beside her, "Ah Zhao, you agree with me, don't you?"
Seeing this, Bai Shengyi couldn't help but marvel. In such a short time, their relationship had actually reached this point?
Qin Zhao truly lived up to the label of a manipulative scumbag that Bai Shengyi had previously given him. In a short period, he had completely captured Sun Yun.
He said to Sun Yun, "Miss Yun, you are so beautiful, gentle, and polite. Why bother arguing with them? You'll be the one at a disadvantage, won't you? We still have things to do, let's go."
"You're right, Ah Zhao." Sun Yun, after hearing Qin Zhao's words, immediately reverted to her obedient demeanor. She turned and glared at Luo Feihua before leaving.
"Stop!"
Bai Shengyi said coldly, "You just said such unpleasant things, shouldn't you apologize to us?"
Luo Feihua and Feng Wuya quickly chimed in, "Exactly!"
Sun Yun stopped, but did not turn around.
Bai Shengyi let out a cold laugh, "Since you claim to be polite, you should know how offensive your words were just now, right?"
Sun Yun turned around, just about to speak, when she heard Bai Shengyi continue.
"Don't say you're right. Do you have any evidence? Without evidence, you are spreading rumors, which is a sign of poor character and moral decay, completely contrary to your polite demeanor!"
Sun Yun was so choked by Bai Shengyi's words that she couldn't breathe in or out.
"Hurry up, apologize!"
As Bai Shengyi finished speaking, the other five people, with great tacit understanding, surrounded Sun Yun and Qin Zhao.
They exuded the aura of preparing for a group fight.