Nine Star Burden

Chapter 195: Dang-dang-dang-dang

“They’re coming, they’re coming!”

“Another team has exited. There are so many exiting on the last day, all of them are here on time.”

“Hmph, I really don’t know what they’ve been doing in there for such a long time. They act like they’d get one more point by staying a minute longer.”

“Yeah. In the end, they would still have obtained only two or three hundred points. Haha.”

...

The sounds of students gossiping loudly in the hall on the first floor of the sports hall could be heard.

The students had all come out of the Arsenal.

However, they did not leave the sports hall immediately. Even though they had spent three to five arduous days in the Arsenal where they could not eat well or sleep well, they still did not want to go back to the hotel to rest and chose to stay there instead.

Why?

It was because the scores of the competition would change in real-time.

Each team that exited would have their spoils counted and the scores would be tabulated.

There was still half a day to go before the end of the competition, and the three teams that were ranked sixth, seventh, and eighth place, respectively, were all tensed up and overwhelmed with fear.

While waiting anxiously, the group of students did nothing else except go around gathering information.

They knew very well that at least three of the elite teams had yet to come out, as well as a few others that were rather competent.

When Jiang Xiao’s team walked out of the room facing the east on the first floor, the students on the first floor were instantly flabbergasted.

Some of the students were excited, some were full of expectations, while some of were anxious and worried.

However, only eight teams would be entering the semi-finals, after all. Compared to the few who made it, a large number of teams were cheering and watching the show.

Enjoying the thrill of watching a scene was a habit that the Chinese could not kick.

“You’re finished, you’re finished. You guys are finished. Haha, this is the formidable team from Jiangbin High School,” said one of the male students, laughing and looking at the team from Shiyou High School No. 10, which was in eighth place.

There were two male and two female team members who were all tensed up and seemed to be fantasizing about something. Upon hearing the gossip and snide remark, the members of the team were suddenly unhappy and retorted. “What are you blabbering about? You probably didn’t even get 100 points. Why are you gloating?”

“100 points? Haha, yeah, I just got 100 points. What’s wrong? What’s the point of you getting 300 points? You’re on the same flight as me. You can’t get into the semi-finals or get any rewards. Hahahaha...”

“Damn it, shut up! Are you asking for a beating?”

The students from Shiyou High School No. 10 were feeling nervous and tensed up in the first place. After being mocked and made fun of, they immediately flew into a rage and got ready to take action.

“Hey! Calm down!” One of the boys hurried forward and opened his arms before pushing the students from Shiyou High School No. 10 forward. He continued, “Ignore those shameless, foul-mouthed people. If you guys get into a fight here, you’ll never be qualified for the competition at all!”

The members from Shiyou High School No. 10’s team suddenly recovered from the shock and thought to themselves that the situation was too dangerous and that they almost got into trouble.

Even if their team did not enter the semi-finals in the end, getting into a fight with each other would impact their school and themselves negatively. They still wanted to represent the school in the semi-finals.

Everyone in the nation was watching the broadcast. They ought not to act rashly.

The four students from Shiyou High School No. 10 stared at the person trying to stop the fight and finally discovered that he was from the same city. He was a Shield Warrior from Shiyou High School No. 23.

The team from Shiyou High School No. 23 was currently ranked fourth with a total score of 610 points.

They were bound to take on the burden of bringing honor to Beijiang Shiyou City.

“There are so many people?” Li Weiyi looked at the crowded hall and walked in front of his team while keeping his guard up.

On Earth, fighting would result in legal consequences.

However, given the current circumstances, he would really fight anyone who had the audacity to touch his battle spoils.

The semi-finals meant more than just rewards. It also signified their qualifications to enter the national league.

What was wrong with the organizers?

Why did they allow the scoring venue to become like a market?

“Silence! All of you, back away!” the staff members yelled into the microphone while seated behind the table on the east side of the hall.

The students moved towards the sides to make away for them to walk towards the scoreboard.

Jiang Xiao had a peculiar expression and felt like he was attending a wedding.

Uh.

The staff member sitting behind the scoreboard was like the person in charge of noting down the monetary gifts at a wedding, except there were no peanuts, sunflower seeds, and fruit plates on the table.

The students standing on both sides seemed to be guests who had come to congratulate the newlyweds.

Although they were all pretending to smile and welcome them while pretending to congratulate them on returning safely, Jiang Xiao knew that they were actually filled with complicated emotions that included envy, jealousy, anticipation, and indignation. Some were even waiting to make fun of them...

Isn’t that just like a wedding?

Jiang Xiao slowed down and held onto Xia Yan’s slender hand before striding forward.

Xia Yan looked at Jiang Xiao in bewilderment, thinking that he was going to say something.

However, he heard a familiar melody.

The simple rhyme made the members of the team feel rather dumbfounded.

Jiang Xiao suddenly hummed the wedding march. “Dang~ Dang~Dang~Dang~”

Xia Yan stopped in her tracks.

Huh?

Why aren’t you walking?

Jiang Xiao turned to look at Xia Yan.

Oh? Are you feeling shy?

Impossible, I told you long ago that I wanted to make you straight. Yet, you’ve already fallen before I even put in any effort.

...

While playing a fool, the team arrived at the scoreboard and saw some information written on it.

“First place, 960 points, Jiacheng High School.”

...

“10th place, 300 points, Shiyou High School No. 10.”

One of the members from the team of Shiyou High School No. 10 said, “Sigh. Forget it, let’s not harbor any unrealistic fantasies. We can’t enter the semi-finals.”

“Don’t give up, they don’t have any battle spoils.”

“Hah, have you forgotten about Han Jiangxue? The godly figure who has 30 star slots? She has a Spatial Star Technique...”

“That’s enough, damn it! She already has a Gold Quality Star Technique despite being in the Nebula Stage. How impressive.”

“Quite a few people have Gold Quality Star Techniques in this competition. Damn it, they’re all covered in gold. Money means nothing to them. All their Star Techniques are bought with money.”

“Poverty has limited my imagination.”

“Poverty has also limited my strength.”

“This world is unfair! Unfair!”

“Yeah! Damn it, the wealthy deserve to die!”

During the lively discussion, the members of the team from Jiacheng High School felt exceptionally nervous even though they were not facing the dangers of being eliminated.

Coming in first place during the preliminary round of the Beijiang Provincial League should be impressive enough to bring honor to the school and the principal!

Regardless of the final ranking and the type of rewards they would get, they would definitely be handsomely rewarded once they returned to school.

“Don’t worry, Xiaowu. We encountered a battle between tribes and only got to obtain 960 points when we got the opportunity. They didn’t rush to be the first and score more points. They won’t pose any threat to us,” said a girl with short hair that ended at her ears.

The male student addressed as Xiaowu rubbed his hands nervously. At the next moment, he heard sounds of people exclaiming in shock.

Han Jiangxue waved her arms and the space beside her overlapped.

Gold Quality Sky Smasher!

It was a Spatial Star Technique that was considered extremely rare even in all of China. The students who had yet to graduate from High School had finally seen it up close!

What amazed the students, even more, were the bundles of yellow weapons that Li Weiyi took out from the space.

Xiaowu swallowed his saliva and maniacally began to count the number of yellow weapons.

The short-haired girl’s face stiffened and she only spoke again after tens of seconds. “It’s alright, there are only 60-odd weapons. They’re only worth 600 points...”

“Ah!”

“Oh my god!”

“Ah... f*ck!”

The short-haired girl fell silent amidst the exclamations.

Standing in front of the scoreboard, Xia Yan grabbed the bottom of her military backpack and shook it continuously while pulling it up, after which numerous medals spilled out.

There were at least 30 to 40 medals!

Those were not only the achievements of Xia Yan’s team, for they also included the ones that were robbed from Gao Junwei’s team.

The students were dumbfounded because of the medals.

They would have never thought that they would be able to see such a large amount of medals.

Are Ape Ghouls that easy to kill?

You must be joking with us.

41 medals? That’s more than a thousand points...

The medals alone would be enough for you to take the first place. However, you still have more than 60 weapons!

The short-haired girl had a sullen expression on her face and was completely speechless. Regardless of how optimistic she felt, that was the truth.

Xiaowu shook his head helplessly because there was no longer any hope for him.

“Ah!” Jiang Xiao suddenly patted his head and caught everyone’s attention.

He reached into his pocket and fumbled about...

Everyone watched curiously as he took out two large red medals.

Is this the large red medal that comes from the Ape Ghoul King!?!

“Damn it, are they even human?”

“Ape Ghoul King... Ape Ghoul King red medals? Each one is worth 300 points?”

“They actually managed to kill the Ape Ghoul King? I’m not dreaming, am I?”

“What else is there to do? Can I withdraw from the competition?”

“You don’t have to withdraw from the competition. Your scores won’t allow you to qualify for the semi-finals...”

“Shut up!”

“One red medal would allow you to get into the top ten.”

“How many points did they get from the medals?”

“About 2000-something. That raises the bar for the first place to more than 2000 points.”