Zhuang Huayang remained the same expression as before amid loud applause, his hands hung low and his smile gentle.

It seemed that he had neither spotted the embarra.s.sed expression on Gu Yunxia’s face behind him nor noticed the delicate and weird atmosphere on the rostrum. After the applause subsided, he continued, “Next, it’s time for maneuver.”

After glancing around the square, he finally fixed his eyes on the last line of people, unmoved, while saying flatly, “I want to remind you again that the first maneuver after you enter the academy is very important to you. It may affect your final achievement in our academy. Therefore, everyone, please try your best to earn a better place in the maneuver. Now, I’m going to tell you how this maneuver will be conducted.”

Zhuang Huayang pointed to the south and continued, “Two kilometers due south from where you’re standing, there is a large maze. Cross it and you’ll see a forest. Then, go all the way east along the forest. Your teachers and I will be waiting for you beside a pool at the edge of the forest. I’ll bring a school bus with fifty seats with me, and the first fifty of those who make it there will be my students until the next maneuver. I’ll be responsible for every student of mine.”

An uproar broke out in the square.

Loud noise swept over the whole place in an instant.

Though most of the freshmen had a rough understanding of the first entrance maneuver, what Zhuang Huayang had said still created a great stir among them.

The first fifty of those who made it to the pool could be Zhuang Huayang’s students.

This simply decided the cla.s.ses division of other students.

Those fifty students would be in the cla.s.s personally led by the headmaster, Zhuang Huayang.

It was not sure that whether or not those fifty people would make the greatest achievement in the future, but it was sure that they were the most outstanding ones among all the freshmen at that time.

They were either stronger or smarter than others or having the best luck…

Each of them had their merits.

More surely, most of the graduates with perfect performance three years later would come from the cla.s.s led by Zhuang Huayang.

The Sky Academy would hold an internal maneuver every three months, and Zhuang Huayang’s cla.s.s would always maintain fifty students.

He would only choose the top fifty students to be his own students in every maneuver. If anyone of them lost their place during the maneuver, they would lose their qualifications to be his students and would be transferred to other cla.s.ses.

No one could deny that if someone could enter Zhuang Huayang’s cla.s.s in the first entrance maneuver, he or she would gain an advantage over the students in other cla.s.ses.

As one of the top ten experts in Zhongzhou State, what Zhuang Huayang taught his students would be much more useful than what other teachers taught, let alone that the other teachers who were in charge of this cla.s.s were the best ones in the academy.

It was no exaggeration to say that this cla.s.s was the core cla.s.s of the academy.

Although the maneuver that held every three months would offer the students in other cla.s.ses a chance to enter the core cla.s.s, as time went by, the advantage of the students in core cla.s.s would grow bigger and bigger, and the chance for other students to enter it would become slimmer and slimmer. No one wanted to be left behind when facing the first chance to enter the core cla.s.s.

The discussions among the students became louder, and everyone’s eyes turned frenzied.

Zhuang Huayang’s voice resounded through the whole place from the rostrum.

“The following five hours will be your maneuver time, and when it’s over, those who don’t make it to the designated location within the time will be deducted fifty credits. The first one to make it there will be awarded eighty credits, the second one to the tenth one will be awarded fifty credits, and the eleventh one to the fiftieth will be awarded thirty credits. Those who arrive later than them will not gain or lose any credit.”

“You can group up with others at will, but make sure there are no more than ten people in your team. After you enter the maze, you won’t get any supply and you can move around freely, thwart, and attack others, only that you can’t kill anyone in this maneuver, understand?”

“Understood!”

The freshmen answered loudly with different expressions on their faces.

“s.h.i.t, this old man is really cold-blooded. He only said that we can’t kill others, but he didn’t mention that we can’t wound others.”

Li Baitian touched his nose as he murmured, standing among the freshmen of the last line.

Li Tianlan smiled at his words, absorbed in thought.

Zhuang Huayang’s words were very informative. Not to mention how muddling the only requirement that Li Baitian had debunked was or how tempting the credits that would be awarded to the students of the core cla.s.s were, the words “move around freely, thwart, and attack others” were enough to leave the freshmen wary.

Zhuang Huayang’s words were telling them that no one should be trusted except yourself.

“He has an evil motive.”

Ning Qiancheng took a deep breath before continuing in a cold tone, “Obviously, he wants us to fight and be on guard against each other. In such a case, no matter how skillful we’ll be trained, we will be loners, not daring to trust others, knowing little about teamwork, and even if we can play a role in the society after we graduate, that’s limited.”

“However, the team with their members trusting each other will be the team of the most trust and rapport.”

Li Tianlan chimed in with a smile. He narrowed his eyes while staring at Ning Qiancheng and Li Baitian with a deep feeling inside them. “You two, do you still want to move on with me?”

“Of course, I do.”

Ning Qiancheng answered without thinking.

“So do I.”

Li Baitian smiled and added, “With our current power, we can surely make it into the top ten.”

“Then, let’s start off now.”

Li Tianlan suggested with a smile. When he was a child, Li Honghe had once told him that one should trust others but not that fully.

As a man came from the dark, it took him much courage to trust others. He had to be very bold yet cautious to make such a decision. He had always been prudent to others, but, this time, when facing Li Baitian and Ning Qiancheng, he had a very strong intuition that they would not let him down if he truly trusted them.

Li Baitian answered him and looked up at the rostrum, finding that not only Zhuang Huayang, Gu Yunxia, Qin Ke but also other leaders of the academy all disappeared from the rostrum.

Obviously, the maneuver had started before anybody officially announced it.

“A group of b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.”

Li Baitian cursed badly. “Let’s go!”

The freshmen on the square broke up, but all heading south.

Therefore, Li Tianlan, Li Baitian, and Ning Qiancheng, who had been in the last line, now became the front line of the group.

Among the crowd several meters behind them, two striking girls moved forward gracefully, several lines apart from them.

The air surrounded the two girls was filled with fragrance. Everyone who pa.s.sed by them would take several looks at them subconsciously, no matter how hurried they were moving.

The girls were at a similar age, looking about eighteen years old. They were both graceful but had different auras.

The girl on the right side was pretty. Though she was not of unrivaled beauty, she looked gentle and lovely, like the girl from a humble family. Her eyes were clear and bright as she observed the people around her curiously.

“Sister Yuetong, let’s move faster.”

The lovely girl held her companion’s arm and said in a clear voice.

“Walking faster won’t make you arrive earlier at your destination in such a maneuver. Do you know anything about the maze ahead of us, Qingyan? I heard that Senior Yu had a close relationship with Headmaster Zhuang. Did Senior Yu especially inform you of anything about it?”

The other girl, who was called as Sister Yuetong, asked with a smile. Even from the most critical view, she was a perfect stunner, like nothing in the world.

Her beauty was absolute, extreme, flamboyant, and aggressive. Her every move could catch others’ eyes.

She looked innocent yet had a faint glamor and charm that others could not ignore. She looked more alluring than fairy as she walked, becoming the center of everyone’s eyes.

At that moment, the faint smile on her face dazzled not only the nearby students but also Yu Qingyan, who was a girl like her.

“Sister Yuetong, you look so beautiful.”

Yu Qingyan tightened her hands on Yuetong’s arm and said with admiration.

“You little flatterer, don’t try to sidetrack me.”

w.a.n.g Yuetong beamed with pleasure and fondled Yu Qingyan’s head, looking even more lively.

“No, I didn’t.”

Yu Qingyan shook her head honestly and continued in a soft voice, “Grandpa told me nothing about the maneuver except that I should study hard and observe more.”

She paused and did not go on speaking. In fact, Yu Donglai also told her to connect more with Li Tianlan, but it had nothing to do with the maze.

With a fluid glance of her eyes, w.a.n.g Yuetong looked even more resplendent and charming. “It’s true that we should observe more. This maneuver is not easy at all. Wait and see, those who are walking in the front and enter the maze first may have a worse ending. Therefore, there is no need for us to hurry. It’s best for us to enter the maze last.”

“Really?”

Yu Qingyan looked at w.a.n.g Yuetong with a puzzled and cute look.

w.a.n.g Yuetong smiled and did not answer her but kept moving. She casually glanced over the people walking in the front, who might be the unluckiest ones among them.

Right then, she caught sight of a thin figure.

She was a bit surprised and took another careful look at the two people walking beside the figure.

In her sight, those three people were in front of the crowd.

The thin figure was walking on the left of the three, and w.a.n.g Yuetong also saw a familiar figure on the right.

Between the two people, a not outstanding figure walked forward with firm steps.

“He is Brother Li.”

Yu Qingyan followed w.a.n.g Yuetong’s sight and said surprisedly.

“Brother Li? You know him?”

w.a.n.g Yuetong asked with a smile, not turning a hair.

“Yes, he is Li Tianlan. My grandpa told me to connect with him more. Do you know him as well?”

Yu Qingyan nodded and answered without thinking.

“I don’t know him, but I know the two people with him. It looks that your Brother Li isn’t a simple man as he can make two of the top ten young experts his companions.”

w.a.n.g Yuetong’s smile grew bigger, and she had two dimples on her face, stunning as the most beautiful scene of the Sky Academy.

“Let’s go over there and have a look.”

w.a.n.g Yuetong held Yu Qingyan’s hand and walked faster.

They were getting closer to Li Tianlan.

Li Baitian’s laughter sounded exaggerate and heroic. “I’ll kill whoever dares to stand in my way.”

“Tianlan, what kind of weapon do you use? Bare-handed? If you don’t have any weapon suitable for you, I can give you one. Don’t be shy to tell me what kind of weapon you prefer. Drunbility Cheng uses a sword, and so do I. You should use a sword too. Then, we will be “Three Swordsmen”, isn’t that impressive? Or we should name us “Three Clowns”, even more impressive, isn’t it? Hah hah.”

w.a.n.g Yuetong had a weird expression on her face on hearing those words.

Yu Qingyan looked dumbfounded staring at the thin and laughing figure, Li Baitian.

Li Tianlan’s gentle voice echoed in front of her at that time.

“I have my own weapon.”

“What kind of weapon? Show me please.”

Li Baitian asked casually and continued, “Don’t hide it from us. You’ll have to use it later anyway. Show me now.”

The corner of w.a.n.g Yuetong’s mouth twitched, and she ground her snow-white teeth.

“I didn’t hide it on purpose. It’s just that it’s convenient carrying it in such a way.”

Li Tianlan replied with a smile. He waved his arms and a silver metal rod appeared in his hand.

Under w.a.n.g Yuetong’s curious eyes, Li Tianlan waved one of his hands forcibly.

There seemed to be a thunder of wind roaring in the air.

The metal rod perfectly held by the hand was elongated into a silver spear over two meters long in a sudden, piercing through the air.

The blades of the spearhead were expanded to the left and right sides, and there was silver light flowing along its body, making it look more powerful and domineering.

w.a.n.g Yuetong’s clear eyes were full of lights as she saw it.

Apart from her, the students nearby all looked at the spear with sparkling eyes.

“Oh my G.o.d!”

Having observed the spear closely, Li Baitian remained silent for several seconds before crying out in an inflated tone, “Tianlan, it this your big halberd?”

“…”

Li Tianlan was dumbfounded, and after several seconds, he answered angrily, “d.a.m.n you.”