Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Yielding
Jack Clark surveyed his surroundings, finding himself amidst a dense sea of people.
These students, like him, had gathered in groups by class, forming over forty different camps, with the number of participants estimated around five hundred.
This was Jack's first time seeing so many freshmen who were Cultivating True Martial Arts, all unfamiliar faces since everyone usually trained in separate buildings.
Besides, those freshmen who had just achieved Foundation Establishment in the past few days chose to give up, or there would have been even more participants.
"Silence!!"
As the announcement blared, the venue fell into a hush.
Looking towards the source of the voice, one could see that over on the main stage, more than ten teachers had taken their seats, among them were James Crane and Lori Parma.
In the center of the teachers, a middle-aged man bearing a full beard held a microphone and spoke with a heavy tone, "I am Vernon Lowe, Class 1's class teacher, and along with the other teachers present here, will be today's judges."
"Cultivation is a monotonous affair, especially for you freshmen. Many of you neglected your training as the initial novelty wore off."
"Therefore, the officials have organized this competition to let you understand the gap between yourselves and your peers, to encourage you to feel shame and thus to become braver and harder-working in your cultivation."
"You have no idea how much the country has paid for your training."
"Do not take these things for granted; you should know that every resource you use was seized back by other soldiers risking their lives on the battlefield."
"Likewise, every Cultivation Method was created by its inventor expending all their efforts, which is why there are initial access rights; because the unworthy do not deserve to utilize them."
"Of course, when I say 'unworthy', I do not refer to those students who are slow to achieve Foundation Establishment, but those who obtain the opportunity to cultivate and then become neglectful, lazy, and complacent."
"Such people will be gradually eliminated by the school over the next three years."
Vernon Lowe continued with a solemn voice, "With that said, let me add a few more words."
"On the internet nowadays, there's widespread talk about those who cannot achieve Foundation Establishment in a month as having no cultivation talent, or that those who only establish it in a month have inferior talent."
"To me, that's all nonsense. Foundation Establishment is just the beginning; what if it's a little slow?"
"Understand that cultivation is a path of constant self-evolution and breaking one's own limits. In later stages, each realm breakthrough is measured in decades."
"Each major realm breakthrough is an elevation, a transformation at the level of life itself. How can it be compared to a month or two slow in the beginning?"
"Remember all of you, cultivation is a long and arduous journey. Only those with unyielding will and perseverance can reach the end."
"The initial speed is but a stumbling stone on the path, easily shattered with a little effort."
"If you cannot even withstand this bit of hardship, no matter if it's in cultivation or stepping into another field, you will lead a mediocre life."
This speech by the class teacher named Vernon Lowe stirred the blood of many students who had established their Foundation within a month.
Including some freshmen in the audience seats who had previously given up, once again felt a surge of faith in cultivation.
Indeed, they had only been slower by half a month or a month; why couldn't they cultivate?
"Alright, time is almost up, let's move on to the competition rules," he stated.
"This competition is divided into three rounds. In the first round, everyone will consecutively battle against six opponents, with each round lasting ten minutes. You gain one point for a win and lose one for a defeat."
"If a victor is not decided within ten minutes, the judge teachers will determine the winner based on their performance in the fight."
"After the first round, the top two hundred scorers will advance."
"In the second round, the competition will follow a defending challenge format. Each person only needs to consecutively defeat four opponents to succeed in defending, and everyone only gets one chance to challenge."
"After determining the Top 50, the third round will begin with a free challenge match; those dissatisfied with their current arena rankings may challenge the top ten."
"The winners continue, the losers keep their rankings unchanged."
"Right, the Top 50 may have different positions, but the Contribution Points awarded each month are the same."
"Okay, now the competition begins. Everyone, follow the names appearing after the Martial Arts Arena numbers on the big screen and start the first round."
"I'm at No.13 Challenge Platform."
"I'm at No.9 Arena..."
"I'm at No.45..."
"I'm at the No.2 Challenge Platform, hehe, Class Leader, Jack, I'm going up first." Saying this, Justin Welan excitedly ran towards the distant No.2 Challenge Platform.
After that, Jack Clark also saw his name, at the No.49 arena.
Giving a wave to Crystal Lewis and the others, Jack also hurriedly trotted over.
There was already a female student standing on the platform, with a plain appearance. Seeing Jack jump up, she said politely, "Classmate, shall we have a simple exchange without weapons?"
"Sure." Jack nodded and then placed his knife at the edge of the arena.
"Attention No.49 arena, the competition will officially begin after three seconds."
Along with the electronic announcement, Jack and the girl both turned solemn, silently counting down three seconds in their hearts. Suddenly, the girl let out a low shout.
"Be careful." As her voice fell, the girl burst forward with astonishing speed, even faster than Sawyer Levin had been initially.
Clearly, the Cultivation Methods she majored in were related to speed.
But... Bang!
Jack's left arm blocked horizontally, stopping the girl's roundhouse kick in its tracks, his arm not moving a hair and completely ignoring the girl's explosive force of hundreds of kilograms.
When stopped in the moment, the girl twisted her body and took advantage of the momentum to deliver a triple kick in mid-air, as fast as lightning, aiming each kick at Jack's head, neck, and other weak points.
But all of them were easily blocked by Jack, who had even faster reactions.
And just as the girl's third kick was losing power, taking advantage of her backward momentum in mid-air, Jack's figure burst forward. His arm shot out like a trunk of an elephant, grabbing her ankle.
Ah! The girl hanging in mid-air was startled.
Immediately after, she felt an overwhelming force hit her, and she was thrown more than ten meters away by Jack, landing with a thud outside of the arena.
The girl falling from the sky gave several classmates in the surroundings a fright.
Looking at the girl sitting on the ground still a bit dazed, unable to stand up immediately due to the pain in her backside, Jack said with a slight smile, "Thank you for the match."
This female student was slightly stronger than Sawyer Levin, similarly skilled in leg techniques and speed.
But unfortunately, she faced Jack Clark, who surpassed the First Layer Heaven Limit in every aspect like speed, strength, and reaction, and was swiftly and decisively overpowered.
From the Martial Arts Arena's loudspeaker came the class teacher's voice, "No.49 arena, student Jack Clark is the winner. Rest for eight minutes before starting the next round."
Jack looked up and, smiling towards the camera on the pillar, said, "Teacher, I think I can go without rest and start the next match directly."
It wasn't that Jack was showing off, but rather that the female student was too weak, making rest an unnecessary waste of time.
"...Okay," hesitated the teacher on the main stage for a moment.
Immediately after, a muscular youth carrying a heavy hammer as a weapon excitedly ran over, leaping onto the No.49 arena.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone