Chapter 930: Pre-Battle Instruction

"That's true!"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

To become stronger, one must experience life and death.

Without the great fear between life and death, it is difficult to break through in one's state of mind.

Although he had not been cultivating for long, his current strength was earned through countless life-and-death dangers; no one's strength could be achieved overnight without付出.

Master Teachers themselves are formidable in combat, and War Teachers are naturally even more terrifying. To attain such strength, one must invest several times the effort of an ordinary person.

Take him, for example. To冲击 a higher-level Origin Embryo, it took him two months to advance from early Half-Saint to peak... If he had been practicing ordinary Heavenly Dao techniques, he would probably be a Saint Domain expert by now.

Such is the cost and effort!

"I wonder how the War Teacher Hall conducts its assessment? Have the three deans heard any news?" Zhang Xuan asked.

"The specific rules are not yet clear, but usually, each academy holds a competition, and the top hundred are naturally admitted!" Wu Tianqiong said.

Although the selection rules vary each time, the War Teacher Hall has only one requirement: strength!

Regardless of the means, as long as one defeats an opponent at the same level without using any treasures or spirit beasts, one is a success.

"A competition?"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

This was indeed the most直观 and direct selection method, and it could convince everyone. The only drawback, as Shen Pingchao said, was the involvement of life and death.

In such circumstances, when one goes all out, it becomes difficult to control one's strength, and the casualty rate inevitably increases.

"Yes, by the way, since the War Teacher Hall hasn't arrived yet, why don't we let the selected students from the four academies meet each other and demonstrate their skills? That way, they can prepare in advance and avoid being flustered during the competition!"

As if recalling something, Wu Tianqiong smiled and looked over.

"Good idea. Let them demonstrate first! That way, they can understand each other's strength."

"Master Teachers should communicate more to improve; being complacent only makes one shortsighted!"

Shen Pingchao and Wu Ran nodded simultaneously.

"Alright!" Since three of the four academies agreed, Zhang Xuan found it hard to refuse.

Moreover, he also wanted to see the strength of the other academies' students so that his own students could be mentally prepared.

Upon hearing the agreement, the deans gave orders, and soon, several hundred students emerged from the flying boats, ranging from the Harmony Realm to the Cocoon Seal Realm, with every level represented.

Like Hongyuan Academy, each level had twenty selected students from each academy, making a total of one hundred per grade across five grades.

Three hundred young talents from the three academies walked forward in unison, exuding a formidable aura.

His Eye of Insight squirming, Zhang Xuan looked over these students.

Each had dense muscles and vigorous true qi, making them outstanding among their peers.

"Elder Mi, bring out our students as well!"

Zhang Xuan instructed.

Elder Mi acknowledged, and before long, the hundred selected students from Hongyuan Academy also came out.

This was his first time seeing these students. Comparing them with those from the other three academies, he couldn't help but shake his head.

Although they were at the same level and similar in age, their aura and true qi density seemed weaker than the others.

If they were to fight, it was likely that very few would pass the selection.

No wonder the Ten Great Elders could even forget such a grand event and needed Jinyuan Ding to remind them. It seemed that the War Teacher selection was indeed not a big deal for Hongyuan Academy; on the contrary, it was embarrassing, and no one wanted to remember it.

Over time, they simply forgot.

"I am Wei Chang, a first-year student from Yunxu Academy!"

The four hundred selected students sat before the martial arts stage. A student from Yunxu Academy leaped onto the platform, and with a shake of his arms, a powerful aura burst forth. His acupoints, like whistles, emitted a sobbing sound.

Although he was only at the Harmony Realm, he gave the impression of piercing the heavens.

"So strong!"

"Indeed, even second-year students would find it hard to defeat him?"

"If I faced him, I would surely lose..."

"Too powerful. The top-ranked Yunxu Academy is truly unmatched!"

...

Seeing Wei Chang's display of strength, the first-year students below looked solemn.

Though also at the Harmony Realm, his strength was clearly far superior to theirs. Not to mention first-year freshmen, even second-year students might not be a match.

With one move, he intimidated them.

Zhang Xuan frowned.

Although this demonstration was flawless, it could easily put psychological pressure on his own students.

It seemed that after suffering a loss at his hands, they wanted to regain face through the students.

"I am Zhang Lin, a first-year student from Luoqing Academy..."

"I am a first-year student from Qingzhu Academy..."

...

Soon, students from the three academies leaped onto the stage one after another. These students, all at the Harmony Realm, possessed extremely strong combat power.

Some even had special bloodlines; when activated, their combat power doubled, rivaling that of Wang Ying and others during their Harmony Realm days.

In contrast, his own students were far inferior—weak in combat power and lacking in martial technique understanding. If they fought, winning would be difficult, and they might even suffer serious injuries.

Among the twenty selected first-year students, only one or two were barely passable; the rest were incomparable.

No wonder. These students had been selected at least three months ago and had been personally instructed by Seven-Star Master Teachers along the way. It was hard for their combat power not to improve.

Meanwhile, his students had just returned from the Xuan Yuan Empire and were meeting him for the first time. They had received no guidance—how could they compare?

Even if Zhao Bingxu, Elder Mi, and others had done their best, their vision and insight were limited compared to the guidance of a Seven-Star Master Teacher.

"How can they fight like this?"

He rubbed his forehead.

Without even fighting, the comparison alone had crushed his students' confidence. In an actual match, they would probably not last a few moves.

Then came the demonstrations from second-year, third-year, fourth-year, and fifth-year students, and Hongyuan Academy performed even worse.

Yunxu Academy was the strongest; almost all of its twenty students could fight above their level, far beyond what his students could match.

"If only Xue Zhenyang, Long Cangyue, and the others hadn't broken through..."

These few had received his personal guidance, especially after the incidents in Wuxu and Lucheng, their combat power had greatly increased. If they were to fight, the fifth-year might still secure a few spots... Unfortunately, they had already突破 to Half-Saint and lost their eligibility.

Although he had also taught at the Xuanxuan Association, they had only entered the academy this year and had a low starting point. Few had reached the Harmony Realm, and they were far inferior to senior students who had been at the academy for years.

Most of them had not passed the selection.

"Dean Zhang, your students look... not very promising!"

After watching the demonstrations, Wu Ran frowned.

As a Seven-Star Master Teacher with exceptional insight, he could naturally see that Hongyuan Academy's students were noticeably weaker than those from the other three academies.

In such a state, it would be extremely difficult for them to achieve any ranking.

"Hmm," Zhang Xuan shook his head and looked at Wu Tianqiong and the others. "Since the War Teacher Hall hasn't arrived yet, may I take this opportunity to teach these students some combat techniques?"

"Teach? Now?"

Hearing his words, Wu Tianqiong and the others were startled.

Although last-minute cramming might have some effect, according to the news, the War Teacher Hall would arrive within an hour. Teaching at this point probably wouldn't be of much use!

"Yes," Zhang Xuan nodded.

Seeing the state of these students, if no changes were made, even if they selected two or three hundred instead of just one hundred, very few would pass.

The only option now was to quickly teach them some combat techniques and help them comprehend as soon as possible.

"Dean Zhang, there's no harm in instructing your own students, but since the selection is about to begin, I'm afraid that learning now might shake their mindset, causing their strength to regress rather than improve!"

After a moment's hesitation, Wu Ran advised.

Having been selected from many students, they were undoubtedly cultivation geniuses with their own combat systems.

Teaching them now and asking them to change might, if unsuccessful, result in a mess—neither improvement nor decline, but a drop in strength.

"I know, but let me try anyway!"

Knowing the other party meant well, Zhang Xuan smiled and had Elder Mi gather the hundred selected students. He set up a soundproof barrier and then looked at them.

"Is there anyone who doesn't want to become a War Teacher?"

Looking around, Zhang Xuan surveyed them.

Although being a War Teacher was good and meant strong combat power, many people were still unwilling to do it.

"No!"

Everyone shook their heads simultaneously.

Since they had passed the selection, they had already made up their minds.

"All of you want to become War Teachers, meaning you all hope to become stronger in combat."

Seeing that no one was unwilling, Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes and looked at them. "Very well, I will now explain techniques to quickly improve your martial skills and insights into combat. I hope you will study earnestly!"

There was no time to make their cultivation more profound; the only way to enhance combat power was to improve their understanding of martial techniques and their adaptability in battle.

"Yes!"

Hearing that the dean would personally teach them, most students' eyes lit up.

The confidence they had lost after seeing the strength of students from other academies was rekindled.

They still remembered the sensation caused by the dean's lecture during his inauguration ceremony, which was given to the entire school without specific focus, yet had such a powerful effect...

Now, with targeted instruction, what effect would it have?

The thought alone was exciting.

"The purpose of martial techniques is to better utilize the true qi within the body, making power more pure. Therefore, to make martial techniques stronger, one must first have a pure heart, a state of mind that forges ahead and refuses to admit defeat..."

Seeing everyone's eyes shining with anticipation, Zhang Xuan did not hesitate and immediately began speaking in a calm voice.