Dawnless Sovereign-Chapter 14: A Man of Few Words

A platform had been erected on the field where the assembly had taken place the day before.

There were already countless spectators from all year levels gathered around the platform, and many of them had placed their own merit points on the line.

Merit points were extremely important and difficult to come by.

There were several ways through which one could earn merit points:

1. Make contributions to the academy.

2. Complete academy missions.

3. Invent techniques for the academy's warrior vault.

4. Kill fugitives wanted by governments of different levels.

5. Kill fugitives wanted by the Hall of Protectionists.

6. Kill members of the Church of the Self-Righteous or any of its subsidiary churches.

7. Obtain natural treasures and submit them to the academy.

8. Slay demon beasts and submit their spirit cores (must be at least fifth-tier demon beasts).

9. Rank in the top hundred in each cohort's annual tournament.

10. Improve rank from previous year.

There was simply no easy way.

However, it was very easy to spend merit points. They were required for food, cultivation, and one could even be penalized merit points for committing transgressions or damaging academy facilities.

Hence, everyone was jumping at this opportunity to earn some potentially easy merit points, particularly those who were in debt.

Around a dozen academy instructors carried out tables onto the field before quickly assembling them into a makeshift betting station, beside which were introductions to all of the top one hundred new students and accompanying images.

The information provided for each student was very brief, merely mentioning their age, their background, their ranking, and the number of points they had secured.

However, no information on cultivation base, weaponry, or techniques was presented, so it essentially all came down to luck.

Most of the students were looking back and forth over the top ten or the top three, but some were also looking beyond that elite group for a potential dark horse.

Betting on one of the top three only gave 3:1 odds, while betting on anyone outside the top ten gave 10:1 odds, so it was certainly a case of high risk, high reward.

If one were to bet on the dark horse that won it all, then they would be rich!

Fang Che had never seen anything like this before.

There was a large number "1" beside his name with a red circle drawn around it, indicating that he was a hot favorite, but to his amusement, not many bets had been placed on him.

It seemed that word of his "cheating" had already gotten out.

Right at this moment, he suddenly sensed someone standing beside him, and he turned to discover that it was Assistant Dean Huang Yifan.

Fang Che extended a respectful greeting, and in response, Huang Yifan patted him on the shoulder as he advised in a meaningful and heartfelt manner, "Don't go too hard out there."

He then vanished into the crowd without any further elaboration.

???

Fang Che was a little perplexed.

What did he mean by that?

However, a look of realization then instantly appeared on his face.

Man, these academy leaders really are nasty pieces of work!

As a veteran of two lifetimes, Fang Che instantly understood the intentions of the top brass.

What felt even stranger to him was that someone of Huang Yifan's status seemed to have been constantly wandering around him.

It seemed that Huang Yifan knew something.

Fang Che had already suspected this to be the case, but after brushing shoulders with Huang Yifan yet again, Fang Che felt like his suspicions had been confirmed.

Fang Che immediately became the center of attention upon his arrival.

A gong was struck, signaling the official commencement of the tournament, and it was time to draw lots.

All odd-number-ranked students were going to draw lots at once, and Fang Che had drawn number seventy-five as his opponent.

After that, the rules were announced.

There was no repechage, so there was a huge factor of luck at play. For example, if you possessed the power to claim the second spot, but you encountered the eventual champion in the first round, then you would be eliminated, and that would be that.

***

As the top seed, Fang Che's battle was the first to take place, and his opponent was Lin Ziqing.

The referee loudly declared the two combatants before inviting them onto the platform, and Fang Che sprang up into the air without a word.

He resembled a black shadow, with the golden embroidery on his back shimmering like a miniature expanse of stars on his back under the light of the sun, and in the blink of an eye, he had already ascended onto the platform with the utmost grace and elegance.

It was as if he were blessed by the light of the sun itself, and he had made a grand entrance that was truly fitting of the top seed.

In the instant that he ascended onto the platform, all of the chatter instantly died down.

Even the referee and instructors couldn't help but be impressed by his flair and elegance, while countless spectating female students felt as if their hearts had been pierced through by Cupid's arrow.

The moon in the sky was unattainable, but the man of their dreams was right before their eyes.

They felt as if they were witnessing the living embodiment of the perfect knight in shining armor that appeared in their dreams.

Standing on the platform, Fang Che looked around to search for familiar faces.

He was surprised that Kang Zijian had made it into the top hundred.

He didn't see Kang Zijian, but he did spot Wei Zihao, and he was rather taken aback by what he saw.

Wei Zihao seemed to have lost some weight, and his complexion had also grown darker.

Fang Che had a strong recollection of Wei Zihao. After all, the latter was someone that he was planning to bully on a long-term basis at the academy, so he was immediately able to identify these physical changes.

However, he had no time to ponder the matter as it was time for his self-introduction.

"Teachers, brothers, sisters, my name is Fang Che," he declared as he cupped his fist in a salute. "I've always been told that I look like a good and upstanding person, but that's not the case, so don't be fooled."

A chorus of laughter rang out from the spectators, with mostly female students indulging his attempt at humor.

One of them even yelled, "You can fool me all you like!"

This was met with another chorus of laughter.

Fang Che smiled as he continued, "I possess many flaws. My temper is not great, and I'm a bit of a sore loser..."

After rattling off a long list of his own flaws, he concluded in an earnest manner, "I'm also a man of few words and a little reclusive in personality, so please don't take offense if I'm not all that keen for social interaction."

Another burst of laughter rang out from the spectators.

Not only did Fang Che possess exceptional looks and flair, he was also very humorous.

However, over his five years at the academy, they came to realize that Fang Che was being completely serious in this self-introduction.

Meanwhile, Lin Ziqing had also stepped onto the platform.

He was quite a handsome young man as well, but he was completely outshone by Fang Che, like a brick placed next to a jewel.

He silently shuffled away from Fang Che, putting a distance of thirty feet between them.

However, he felt like that was still too close, and he shuffled away even further, only to discover that he had already reached the edge of the platform.

He was just about to begin his self-introduction when he was interrupted by yet another chorus of raucous laughter.

Lin Ziqing's reaction to Fang Che had caught everyone's attention, and everyone knew why he had reacted that way.

Lin Ziqing instantly became flushed with embarrassment, and his self-introduction got stuck in his throat.

He turned to glower at Fang Che with a furious expression.

This is all because of you!

Fang Che was rather taken aback.

What're you glaring at me for? They're the ones laughing at you!

Before Lin Ziqing had a chance to say anything, Fang Che extended a hand toward him and said, "Please enlighten me!"

Once again, Lin Ziqing's words were stuck in his throat, only further exacerbating his fury and frustration.

He drew his sword as he yelled, "You're an unscrupulous piece of scum who cheated his way to the top spot! I'm going to show everyone just how inept you are!"

A resigned look appeared on Fang Che's face as he sighed, "There's no need to be so loud. If you possess true conviction, then there's no need to raise your voice to get your point across. Besides, you're only ranked 75th anyway, so why are you angry at me? It's not like the top spot would've been yours if it weren't for me."

Fang Che's words were like a thorn that had pierced straight into Lin Ziqing's heart, and he was on the verge of erupting into a furious tirade.

He injected all of his fury into his sword, swinging down at Fang Che with

Fang Che evaded the sword strike as he said in an earnest manner, "I apologize for claiming the top spot. If it weren't for me, you would be ranked 74th. Please accept my sincerest apologies."

"I'm going to kill you!" Lin Ziqing roared, completely driven wild by his fury.

"Don't be like that. We are students of the same cohort, so we should be helping each other, not threatening to kill each other. You should go and cool off a little. You're still so young, it would be unfortunate if you did something that you come to regret."

In the blink of an eye, he somehow ended up behind Lin Ziqing before giving him a gentle push.

Lin Ziqing was already on the edge, and he was involuntarily sent flying off the platform with his sword aimed at a fifth-year student.

This particular student seemed to have been the leader of a group of students, and his brows furrowed slightly at the sight of the sprawling Lin Ziqing, but he made no effort to defend himself or take evasive measures.

One of his lackeys immediately sprang forward, eager to suck up to his leader, and he slapped Lin Ziqing away as he yelled, "How dare you to try and assassinate my boss!"

Lin Ziqing had been slapped unconscious.

The referee declared Fang Che's victory, and he bowed to everyone, displaying immaculate etiquette before gracefully stepping down from the platform, quickly vanishing without a trace.

All of the spectators were still mulling over what they had just witnessed.

While it was true that Lin Ziqing was quite weak, Fang Che didn't appear much stronger.

In fact, many people felt like there wasn't much of a gap between them when it came to combat prowess, and that the main damage had been done by Fang Che's taunting words.

Fang Che hadn't displayed much of his power, but he had certainly displayed a very sharp tongue!