Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
When the third day arrived, faint undercurrents began to stir a little in Great Zhou City as numerous factions turned their gazes towards the Great Zhou Institute in unison.
They knew that today was the class ranking exam.
Of course, a mere class ranking exam was naturally incapable of drawing the attention of so many factions. It was because this class ranking exam concerned the struggle between the royal clan and Qi Manor.
Everyone knew that Qi Manor had been eyeing the institute for many years and had used all sorts of methods to infiltrate it. It was now time for them to reap their harvest. As long as the B class was able to take the number one spot in the class ranking exam this year, Qi Manor's representative, Xu Hong, would likely replace Chu Tianyang and become the new headmaster of the institute.
If so, the Great Zhou Institute would secretly become the Great Qi Institute.
This would be a huge blow to the royal clan because it also meant that Qi Manor was gradually gaining the upper hand in the struggle between the two parties, a fact that would undoubtedly sway the stances of the other factions towards Qi Manor, hence furthering the royal clan's decline.
Thus, the outcome of this class ranking exam could be said to even shake the royal clan's position and its importance was self-evident.
…
Great Zhou Institute, A class courtyard.
When Zhou Yuan once again stepped into the A class courtyard, he immediately felt the many students within look over before being stupefied by the subsequent orderly applause.
Zhou Yuan asked in bewilderment, "What are you guys doing?"
Su Youwei, Song Qiushui and Yang Zai were all smiles as they approached. "Are we not thanking you? If it weren't for you winning an additional two hours of Jade Spirit Waterfall training time from the B class, our A class would have no hope for this class ranking exam."
Zhou could not help but smile when he heard this. "Looks like you guys have grown substantially stronger over the past two months."
Su Youwei's little mouth was pursed as she let out a soft laugh. "The three of us have already unblocked our sixth meridian channel."
Yang Zai also chuckled as he said, "It's all thanks to the additional Jade Spirit Waterfall training time. Or else, we would likely need another month to unblock our sixth channel."
Zhou Yuan was somewhat amazed. Looks like the two additional hours of Jade Spirit Waterfall training time had done a rather huge service to them.
Zhou Yuan asked with interest, "What about the B class? With only an hour of Jade Spirit Waterfall training time left, they should not have made much progress, right?"
Song Qiushui pondered a little before she replied, "The morale of the B class has been rather low recently and they seem to hold some resentment towards Qi Yue."
After all, three quarters of their B class' originally four hour long Jade Spirit Waterfall training time had been lost by Qi Yue. Who could tolerate such a huge drop? Even if they did not dare to say anything due to Qi Yue's status, some resentment could not be avoided.
"All of you will be gravely mistaken to believe that the B class' strength has fallen just because they lost those three hours." A voice was suddenly heard while they were talking.
Zhou Yuan's looked over and saw a solemn-face Chu Tianyang walking over with his hands behind his back.
Everyone greeted one after another. "Class master!"
Chu Tianyang waved his hand and glanced at Zhou Yuan as he slowly said, "As far as I know, Qi Yue has secretly brought several B students to Qi Manor over the past two months."
"Oh?" Zhou Yuan's eyes narrowed when he heard this. "He plans to do all he can to groom them with Qi Manor's resources?"
Chu Tianyang's expression was ugly as he nodded. Qi Yue's actions were nauseating but there was nothing the former could say. After all, outsiders did not have any right to comment on how others were training.
Qi Manor had abundant resources and it was a very simple task for them to groom another handful of people.
However, this also made the other B class students feel rather unhappy and unfairly treated. Thus, there had been a lot of complaints recently from the B class about Qi Yue, complaints that ended up forcibly suppressed by Xu Hong.
Chu Tianyang said in a stern voice, "So don't become complacent just because you have unblocked your sixth meridian channel because Qi Yue has already reached seven channels!"
The numerous A class students turned silent as worry emerged in their eyes. The pressure Qi Yue gave to the A class was really too great. Although Zhou Yuan had defeated Qi Yue in the Jade Spirit Waterfall that one time, it was after all a very limited kind of contest and was nothing like the upcoming class ranking exam where one needed to rely on one's own strength.
As the crowd worried, several gazes turned towards Zhou Yuan. After all, he was the only person who had been able to 'defeat' Qi Yue in the past year. Hence, they naturally held some expectations for him.
Zhou Yuan smiled as he looked at Chu Tianyang and said, "Relax class master, I will deal with Qi Yue."
Chu Tianyang nodded. However, there was still some worry in his eyes. After all, the class ranking exam was nothing like the Jade Spirit Waterfall contest.
However, he also understood that he could not allow the A class' morale to be affected at such a time. Hence, he waved his hand and said, "If everyone is ready, follow me to the class ranking exam site."
He turned around the moment his words faded while Zhou Yuan, Su Youwei and the rest of the A class students flocked over.
…
The class ranking exam site was the northern district of the Great Zhou Institute.
An enormous field sprawled across the place. Five tall platforms of varying heights rose on the field, platforms which were also known as the class ranking exam stages.
At this current moment, the surroundings of the field was already a sea of people. Practically all of the students had gathered here and even quite a number of people from the city had come to watch.
Thunderous noises echoed across the field.
Zhou Yuan and the rest of the A class students arrived at the field. Their gazes turned towards the five tall platforms before ultimately stopping at the tallest one, the platform that represented the leader of the classes.
Every year, the first amongst the classes would place their class flag upon it.
Currently, a tall flag fluttered on the class leader platform. A flag marked by a bold 'B'.
"Our A class has lost the class leader platform for two years." Chu Tianyang sighed softly from the side. This was the shared pain of every A class member. The glory that was originally theirs had been monopolized by the B class for two years, making their title as leader of the classes nothing but an empty name.
Zhou Yuan pursed his lips as a stern look emerged in his eyes. If the B class still wanted to dominate the leader class platform this year, they would have to first ask his fists.
As the sun hung high in the sky, the crowd surrounding the class ranking exam field grew larger and larger.
"His and her majesties have arrived!"
A loud shout suddenly rang out across the area. One could only watch as Zhou Qing, Qin Yu and Yaoyao appeared on the central viewing platform and seated themselves on the highest seats.
This class ranking exam was so important that even Zhou Qing could not help but personally make a trip over.
"King Qi has arrived!"
Not long after Zhou Qing arrived, another loud shout rang out. One would turn only to see a procession of people rushing over from another direction under the attention of countless gazes.
Zhou Yuan's eyes were fixed at the front of the procession where a middle-aged man in official-looking robes was located. His steps were as majestic as a tiger, his expression cold and stern, while his eyes shined brightly. An invisible pressure spread, making it such that no one to dared to look directly at this man.
"King Qi, Qi Yuan…" Zhou Yuan's eyes narrowed as he looked at the man. This person was the biggest tumor of Great Zhou and the secret needle Great Wu had stuck here.
King Qi had the strength of the AlphOrigin stage and was one of the top experts in Great Zhou.
Chu Tianyang frostily remarked, "It seems that today's class ranking exam is also very important to king Qi."
On the central viewing platform, Qi Yuan cupped his fists together towards Zhou Qing but did not offer him the greetings of a subject.
Zhou Qing expression did not change as he nodded. The level of hostility between the royal clan and Qi Manor was clear as day.
Dong dong!
After Zhou Qing and Qi Yuan appeared, the excitement in the air reached its peak as the sound of a gong reverberated across the area.
"The class ranking exam begins!"
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