The National University Glory Battle is divided into preliminaries and finals.

The finals' location is not fixed and is hosted in rotation among the twelve base cities. This time, it's Shangjing's turn.

As for the preliminaries, nine times out of ten, they are held in Shanghai, and this edition is no exception. The competition venue is located at Shanghai's 24th Other-dimensional Space Gate 'Jade Seal'.

This Space Gate has a danger level of 6 stars and suppresses Martial Artists of the Seventh Grade Flying Realm.

The Space Gate is named after the city within it, 'Jade Seal City'.

The main reason for setting the preliminaries at the Jade Seal Space Gate is because there's a Secret Realm within it.

The Secret Realm has some special places, like the Spiritual Qi Pool and the Land of Enlightenment, which greatly help students improve their strength.

To reach the Secret Realm, one needs to enter Jade Seal City.

This preliminaries is not the students' first encounter with the Alien Race, but it can be said to be the first time for the vast majority of students to enter a city of the Alien Race.

The rule for the preliminaries is not to have team battles or hunt Demon Beasts; the only rule is to survive in a city surrounded by the Alien Race.

Those who survive will automatically enter the finals.

Each of the twelve major base cities has a Guardian Divine Artifact. Shanghai's Guardian Divine Artifact is called 'Venus'. It stands 168 meters tall and 124 meters in diameter, resembling a golden five-pointed star suspended over the base city, emitting a faint golden protective barrier that envelops Shanghai, which can accommodate billions of people.

Compared to Guanglin and Jiang City, as the former economic center, Shanghai is notably more prosperous.

"Here they come, here they come."

"The gray uniforms must be Nanming University."

"I see Captain Wang Peng, truly handsome."

Underneath the Guardian Divine Artifact in Times Square, the area is already covered by a crowd of over a hundred thousand people, a sea of humanity.

As the university teams from all over the nation arrived in Shanghai through the Guardian Divine Artifact's space transmission and landed in Times Square via hovercars, the crowd erupted into enthusiastic cheers from time to time.

For the people of Shanghai, the preliminaries of the once-every-two-years National University Glory Battle is a time of excitement.

On this day, if free, people would gather in Times Square to welcome the various university teams from afar.

"The red uniforms, Red Cloud University is here!"

"I see Lin Feng."

"Emperor Kai, look at those muscles and height, so imposing!"

As silhouettes of Lin Feng and others appeared on the light curtain in the square, even more passionate cheers resounded through Times Square.

The Three Heroic Academies are already more popular compared to the other Nine Elite Joint Schools, and Lin Feng and Yun Kai are renowned super-geniuses across the nation, the future children of glory.

Everyone knows that their future will be extremely bright.

Many in the crowd are fans of the two and have come specifically for them.

"This gap is just too big."

The recently landed team members of Nanming University looked at each other, shaking their heads with wry smiles.

All eyes were now on Red Cloud University; they were completely ignored.

As part of the Nine Elite Joint Schools, even though their strength was not equal to the Three Heroic Academies, it shouldn't be to this extent.

Or rather, the discrepancy wasn't due to the universities, but rather their popularity was far behind Lin Feng and Yun Kai's.

"Why do I have an unreal feeling?"

Riding the open-top hovercar, descending from the Guardian Divine Artifact, and looking at the crowd below like black dots, with cheers like waves filling her ears, Little Sister Dong's face was slightly red, and while her blood was boiling, she also felt somewhat unreal.

She, Lin Feng, and Yun Kai, as top-tier recruits, joined Red Cloud University. She had imagined this day, but in two years' time.

She never thought she'd be able to participate in the most prestigious national university event when she just entered her third year.

Compared to Little Sister Dong, Yue Mingming felt even more unreal. Not long ago, he was still the underdog, but now he was part of the main lineup.

Everything before him seemed like a dream.

"Thank you, Brother Feng."

Thinking of this, Yue Mingming couldn't help but glance at Lin Feng. If it weren't for Lin Feng, he would still be troubled over cultivation resources.

Perhaps, he could never have become a Summoner in his life.

"I finally made it," Yu Qiao said excitedly.

The hovercar landed in the spacious Times Square, and facing the warm crowd around them, Lin Feng and others politely waved, inciting even more passionate cheers.

Perhaps to let reporters take photos, or maybe to let guests from afar feel the enthusiasm of Shanghai's people, the hovercar lingered briefly for five minutes in Times Square before traveling along a special path.

"We'll have a meal in a bit and take a short rest. Tonight, there's a banquet, which is also a press conference. The preliminaries officially start tomorrow, and you'll enter 'Celestial Jade' at nine o'clock sharp," Coach Huang introduced the competition process to everyone aboard the hovercar.

"At tonight's press conference, journalists will, as usual, pose questions to the thirteen teams. Some reporters may deliberately ask difficult questions to generate topics and hype. You can choose not to answer, or to dodge the difficult parts," the coach said, glancing at Lin Feng.

This year, among all the contestants, the most talked about is Lin Feng.

The combined topics of everyone else are still not as much as his.

The scandalous rise and the past antics with major brand ambassadors and Juxing Club, news about Lin Feng can always make headlines.

"This is my first time attending a news conference."

Yu Qiao seemed a bit excited, seemingly looking forward to this news conference.

"Keep a low profile for me."

Bu Zheng cast a faint glance at Yu Qiao, who immediately restrained his smile and sat upright.

The old schemer was quite arrogant, daring even to ambush a mentor, but even with several guts, he wouldn't dare provoke Bu Zheng.

He was one of the few students who knew about Bu Zheng's glorious past.

Half an hour later, the floating train stopped at the Xuanting Grand Hotel in the city center.

This is the best hotel in Shanghai.

At this moment, at the hotel entrance, a group of ten just got out of the car, and hotel staff were leading them inside. Just as they entered the hotel reception area, they encountered another team of ten.

"Great Wall University."

Dong Yunan was surprised.

Encountering Great Wall University wasn't surprising; what was surprising was the familiar faces among them.

Yang Ningbing and Ye Qiu.

After not seeing them for two days, upon seeing Yang Ningbing again, her identity had changed, becoming a member of Great Wall University, turning into a competitor.

Little Sister Dong, Yue Mingming, and three other substitutes' expressions changed slightly, while the other side also seemed a bit surprised by the arrival of the Red Cloud Team.

"Oh, Red Cloud Team!"

Many team members from the Great Wall Team eyed Lin Feng and others as they arrived, then their gaze lingered on Yang Ningbing, revealing a hint of ridicule, as if they were expecting a show.

Yang Ningbing, although she spent four years in Guanglin, was not unfamiliar to many at Great Wall University.

As the favored daughter of the Yang Family, Yang Ningbing demonstrated her talents in junior high, refining an Earth Chart demon spirit by high school, making her a super genius known throughout Shangjing.

As a scion of a great family, her outstanding talent coupled with good looks made her well-known among the student circles in Shangjing.

It was because of her exceptional talent that her family had high hopes for her, sending her to Guanglin, traveling far to enter Red Cloud University.

Yet who could have thought, after working hard for four years and building a team and influence, it ultimately got snatched away.

If not for her strong abilities and the operations of the Yang Family, she would have missed the national college glory battle.

"Should we go over and say hi?"

Beside Yang Ningbing, a young man asked blandly.

The young man stood at 1.9 meters tall, with a high nose and thin lips, handsome in appearance, with hair draped, giving him an unruly look, yet the occasional spark in his eyes commanded respect.

"There's no need for a greeting."

Seeing Lin Feng again, only two days later, staring at the familiar red armor, Yang Ningbing's eyes showed complexity.

"Zhan Tianyu, you..."

Yang Ningbing had no intention of reminiscing, but the young man was already heading toward Lin Feng and his group. The teammates glanced at each other, smiling, and followed suit.

A group of six walked toward Lin Feng.

Yang Ningbing stayed put, so did Ye Qiu.

The youth's action made the Great Wall University's coach frown slightly, but the leading middle-aged man maintained a calm face, nodding to Bu Zheng in greeting.

As the two teams drew closer, many in the hotel sensed the unusual atmosphere.

Several people were aware of the past grievances between Lin Feng and Yang Ningbing, hence their gazes carried a hint of amusement.

The young man slowly approached Lin Feng, glanced over him, then smiled: "Lin Feng, I know you."

Lin Feng remained expressionless, not responding; the opponent was obviously aggressive and unfriendly, with no need for pleasantries.

He knew who he was; before coming, the coach had collected data on the main lineup and substitutes of the other twelve teams, with Great Wall University as a key object of study.

The young man before him was named Zhan Tianyu, a descendant of the Zhan Family, one of the Ten Great Clans of Shangjing, a senior college student in his fourth year, and of the Sixth Grade Divine Fist Realm, having refined the thirty-second ranked demon spirit, the Six-armed Celestial Demon, from the Earth Chart.

The Six-armed Celestial Demon, a unique demon spirit from the Divine Martial Continent, extremely rare, allowing a Demon Spirit Master to possess six arms.

Three Heads and Six Arms, a divine ability in myths.

Six arms allowed him to wield six weapons simultaneously, attacking opponents with rapidity, a soul skill of the stellar Diamond level.

He was this time's captain for the Great Wall Team.

Seeing Lin Feng's lack of response, Zhan Tianyu wasn't concerned, but his smile slowly faded, as he leaned in slightly toward Lin Feng and whispered three words: "Illegitimate child."

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