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"You'd best withdraw from the competition as soon as possible." A low threat transmitted directly into their ears. Pang Zheng plastered an unnatural grin across his face and patted Ye Zichen on the shoulder, then puffed up his chest and lead the Grizzly Bears' team towards the arena.

Before entering the venue, all the Grizzly Bear platoon leaders, as well as the ordinary members who'd come to watch the ceremony, turned and stared inquisitively at Anti-Upheaval.

"Hurry up and withdraw."

The ordinary members of Anti-Upheaval couldn't restrain their fury, while Li Hu was so upset, it looked like he wanted to fight even before the event started.

Ye Zichen held Li Hu back, then turned toward Pang Zheng's departing figure. "I'll throw those words right back at you."

Pang Zheng didn't even look back. He just continued leading his people towards the arena.

"Why did you stop me?" asked Li Hu, his face red with fury. "Those Grizzly Bears are too full of themselves!"

Especially Chen Yinian. To think he said they'd 'betrayed their masters in pursuit of private glory.'

Li Hu and Luo Zi had been in the Grizzly Bear Society for close to a hundred hearts. They might have worked themselves to the bone, but they'd still meticulously carried out their orders.

But how did the Grizzly Bear Society treat them in return?

They'd graciously rejected the Pang Family's invitation to join up. From that moment on, they were effectively squeezed out. Even if Pang Zheng didn't say anything directly, Li Hu and Luo Zi weren't stupid. If not for Pang Zheng's command, who among the Grizzly Bears would dare treat them like ha? Besides, Pang Zheng was deliberately feigning ignorance about their mistreatment.

Li Hu wasn't the traitorous type at all, but he wasn't absolutely, blindly loyal either. As a former platoon leader, he knew about many of the illicit activities the Grizzly Bears were involved in behind the scenes. If he wanted to destroy them, all he had to do was make that information public.

And now they said he betrayed his masters for glory?

What a joke!

"If you attack them, you'll fall right into their trap," said Ye Zichen. He pated Li Hu on the shoulder. "The ranking battles are an event the academy organized. If we get into a private spat with them off stage, the academy will definitely revoke our right to participate. Besides, words are just words; they don't mean anything. We'll find out who's stronger and who's weaker once we duke it out on stage."

Li Hu took deep, angry breaths. Off to the side, Xue Beibei clenched her tiny fists, gnashed her teeth, and snarled, "Second Sister, why did you stop me? That guy was way too full of himself! It really pisses me off! He's from the Pang Family, right? When I get back, I'll have dad repress the entire family."

"Little Sister, this is just an issue between our student societies. Besides, the Pang Family's internal factions are complex; it's not as simple as you think." Xue Mo soothed Xue Beibei's emotions. Did that mean she wasn't angry?

No! Of course she was angry!

She was the leader of Anti-Upheaval. Right now, it was her responsibility to stabilize everyone's emotions. Everything was as Ye Zichen said; flinging insults and cracking one-liners before the match was no use. They'd know who was strongest only after duking it out on stage.

"Enough, don't just stand around sulking. Save your energy. Then, once we get on stage, cheer for us as best you can."

"Let's go inside."

Inside, countless minor student societies had taken their spots. Although the academy didn't assign positions, everyone had an implicit understanding; they naturally arranged themselves based on strength and took the corresponding spots.

The top-five student societies were, naturally, at the very front.

When Anti-Upheaval entered the venue, quite a few societies shot them dirty looks. It was clear that quite a few student societies had their eye on Anti-Upheaval's ranking.

"What are you looking at? They're all looking to trample us and take our spot, huh." Luo Zi took in the surrounding people's glares and laughed. When Li Hu heard that, he glared back. Some of the student societies backed down, but most of them stared right back, their provocation even more blatant.

"Momo, over here…." Fortunately, Murong Xue chose that moment to wave them over. Ye Zichen and the others went with the flow and ignored the other societies' provocation, then took their position between the Aspirations Society and the Appearance Association.

"Oh? Beibei's here too!" Murong Xue chuckled.

"Big Sister Murong!" Xue Beibei smiled sweetly at her.

"Did you run into the Grizzly Bears outside?" Jiang Yong approached, then deliberately scanned the Grizzly Bears' representatives. Some of them looked over, and he grinned and hefted his axe.

"Society Head, they're with Jiang Yong and the others now," said Chen Yinian.

"What's so strange about that? Those three student societies have been doing lots of missions together lately. Who cares what they do? They're all just a bunch of riffraff anyway," Pang Zheng sneered disdainfully.

When Ye Zichen heard Jiang Yong's question, he nodded. Li Hu cracked his neck and cursed, "They're really irritating the snot out of me. It's one thing for the Grizzly Bears to be full of themselves, but even those thrash societies are provoking u.s"

"Let it go. Compared to the other top student societies, we really are a little lacking," said Xue Mo.

"Nevermind them. They're nothing but a bunch of dreamers. Is the title of the top-five really something you can get just by wanting it? Nevermind the rest of us; with Brother Ye here, Anti-Upheaval can definitely retain its position," said Jiang Yong in an effort to comfort them."

Jiang Yong laughed and continued, "But Brother Ye, you really are leveling up awfully quickly. Not long ago, you were still just an earth supreme. Now, even I can't quite see through your strength."

"I just got a bit lucky is all," said Ye Zichen modestly.

Anti-Upheaval, the Aspirations Society, and the Appearance Association seemed to have joined together. This sent quite a few other societies into silent contemplation.

"Let me tell you something. Jiang Wei is going to participate in the student society ranking battle too," said Jiang Yong gravely.

"He's participating too?" said Xue Mo, stunned.

The Sword Immortal, Jiang Wei, had always been mysterious and elusive. He'd never participated in any activities. Although some people said he was part of a student society, many others said he'd never joined any at all.

In short, he'd always been a mystery!

Jiang Yong spoke so solemnly due to Jiang Wei's power. In all of Skyspan Academy, Jiang Wei was the only person Jiang Yong didn't think he could take in a fight.

Now that Jiang Way had suddenly decided to participate, he might very well influence which teams made it into the top five.

"Which society is he participating on behalf of?" asked Ye Zichen.

"The Flames of War, but we should probably call them 'the Navigators'" now." Murong Xue chimed in. "Just last night, the Flames of War put in an application to change their name to the Navigators' Society. The Sword Immoral Jiang Wei will be participating in the upcoming ranking battle as their leader."

"Are you for real? Jiang Wei joined the Flames of War? They also have the Xu Brothers, Xu Chao and Xu Lei. If you add Jiang Wei to the mix…." Luo Zi's face was a mask of shock. He turned to Xue Mo and the others, then shrugged, "It seems like we'll have to cede first place to the Flames of War. We can just vie for the top five."

"But why is Jiang Wei participating in this sort of thing anyway? He's never gotten involved in any of these events, right?" Xue Mo didn't know what to say. The Flames of War's Xu Brothers were already dangerous, but if they added Jiang Wei to the mix, well, it was absolutely terrible news for Anti-Upheaval!