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The Flames of War had once been ranked sixth among student societies. The Xu brothers were a pair of twins, and they were both eighth-stage sky supremes.

Because they were twins, their hearts and minds were connected. So long as they fought together, they could give even ninth-stage sky supremes a headache.

Adding Jiang Wei to the mix presented an absolute threat to the current top-five student societies.

It was fair to say that after changing their name to the Navigators, the former Flames of War had become a huge thorn in the current top five student societies' sides. If Anti-Upheaval wanted to keep their position, they'd have to contend with the current fifth place society, the Proud Heavens Society.

But Di Long of the Proud Heavens Society was no 'soft persimmon' either!

Everyone from Anti-Upheaval looked dejected. Ye Zichen, however, was actually rather interested to see this mysterious Sword Immortal, Jiang Wei.

"He must be here too, then, right? Which one is he? Can you point him out to me?"

"He's the one over there, the guy with the rusted sword." Jiang Yong indicated with his lips. Ye Zichen easily located him.

He was simply too eye-catching. Nevermind his bizarre outfit; that cold, aloof presence alone made him a crane amongst chickens.

He sat cross-legged on the floor, his eyes shut, holding his rusted sword. No one dared get within half a meter of him.

Suddenly, his eyes popped open and his eyes met Ye Zichen's.

Ye Zichen felt sharp sword intent surge right towards him.

As a fellow sword cultivator, Ye Zichen was, naturally, also capable of condensing his will and giving it form.

Shortly after their eyes met, Jiang Wei nodded and smiled at Ye Zichen, who did the same back. Then they both looked away.

"Brother Ye, did you just cross blows with Jiang Wei?" Jiang Yong arched his brows.

"That Jiang Wei really is exceptional." Ye Zichen nodded. The Sword Immortal, Jiang Wei, was truly no ordinary man. His comprehension of the sword had reached extreme heights; he was practically infatuated with it. His entire body was full of sword intent.

During their brief exchange of sword intents, Ye Zichen had used the Heaven Plundering Strike, First Stance. Even then, he'd only barely managed a draw.

It was easy to imagine just how deep Jiang Wei's comprehension of the sword was.

"It's really troublesome! Why did Jiang Wei decide to participate?" Xue Mo seemed somewhat irritated.

Nevermind the rest. She could endure the Grizzly Bears' cold mockery or the other student societies' provocative jeers. It was Jiang Wei's participation that put her out of sorts.

"I heard that Jiang Wei joining the Flames of War and changing their name to the Navigators has something to do with the changes to this year's event," said Murong Xue.

"The event is going to change?" Xue Mo didn't quite get it.

"We're not too sure of the details either, but I heard that this year's ranking battle will be different from those before it; something big is going to happen. As for the details, we'll just have to wait until the academy sends someone to explain."

Xue Mo's heart sank even further. The current set-up was already unfriendly to their Anti-Upheaval. Jiang Wei's participation was like adding insult to injury, and now the competition's rules were changing too?

"Don't be afraid, Second Sister! It's just Jiang Wei. When the time comes, I'll just knock them all down." Xue Beibei noted Xue Mo's unsightly expression and tried to console her.

"That's right! With Beibei here, what do you have to worry about?" Murong Xue smiled.

Xue Mo forced a smile and nodded, but her heart was incomparably heavy.

In the blink of an eye, an hour passed. There was a burst of green smoke in the center of the arena, and before long, an elderly man came into view.

"It's him?" When he saw the elderly man, Ye Zichen couldn't help but arch his brows. It was Qiu Enhuai, the vice dean of Skyspan Academy. According to rumor, he was a ruler-level expert.

"The vice dean?" Luo Zi and the others froze in place. Although the ranking battles were a big deal for students, they weren't important enough to attract such an important figure's attention.

It sounded like Murong Xue and the others were right; the rules really were going to change this time!

Otherwise, Qiu Enhuai would have no need to show up in person!

Qiu Enhuai looked calmly over the crowd of students. "You all must be wondering why I came here today?"

None of the students said anything out loud, but their meaning was obvious.

"If I had a professor give this announcement, many of you might as questions or object, so I decided to just do it myself. It's like this: the ranking battles are canceled."

Whoosh.

The students broke into uproar.

They'd waited for the ranking battles for far, far too long. How could he cancel it just like that?

Even though the person standing there was the vice dean, quite a few society heads started firing off questions.

"Stop, everyone. I can understand your feelings, but the ranking battle is canceled. Alternatively, it's not canceled, per se, but rather, we'll conduct it in a different way."

The students still didn't quite get what Qiu Enhuai was trying to say.

The vice-dean continued, "The Yao and Demon Realms invited our God Realm to participate in a Competition of Geniuses. His Excellency, the God Emperor, agreed, and ordered all nine Divine Mountains' academies to send teams of their top students into battle."

"They'll be fighting on the central divine mountain, at the Divine Martial Academy. Every Academy can send up to five teams. Each team will be the same size as the ones in the ranking battle: six people. I have already decided to send our top five student societies. That is: the Anti-Upheaval Society, the Grizzly Bear Society, the Aspirations Society, the Appearance Association, and the Proud Heavens Society."

"Of course, whoever we send to represent our Skyspan Academy and their performance will deeply influence both the school and the Northern Divine Mountain as a whole. We must choose the very best, so the current top-five teams are not our final choice. If you think yourselves stronger than them, you may issue a challenge. If you win, you can take their spot and come with us to the Central Divine Mountain."

The top-five student societies looked around. It was fair to say that the vice-dean's words had instantly turned all the other students present into their enemies.

Of course, the academy couldn't be blamed for this. They hadn't don't anything wrong.

The strong reigned supreme, while the weak had to submit. This was an eternal law.

The team in the direst position was Anti-Upheaval. Everyone here knew that Anti-Upheaval's position amongst the top-five student societies was the weakest. However, right now, no one wanted to be the first to step up. In the end, despite being ready and raring to go, no one actually issued a challenge.

More importantly, the Navigators had yet to make an appearance!

"The Navigators!" At that moment, the Xu brothers of the Navigators raised their fists and walked on stage.

The current top-five societies' expressions grew solemn. Jiang Wei! None of them could afford to underestimate the Sword Immortal.

Even Pang Zheng, who thought himself above all others, narrowed his eyes instinctively as the Xu Brothers took the stage.

However, most people's gazes fell on Anti-Upheaval. As a whole, they were the weakest of the top-five student societies. Furthermore, not one of the academy's top twenty individual students belonged to Anti-Upheaval.

Anti-Upheaval lacked an expert capable of acting as their pillar. Unless something out of the expected happened, the Navigators would surely challenge Anti-Upheaval. That was true even if Jiang Wei gave them the capital to challenge any one of the current top-five.

Anti-Upheaval's representatives started to sweat, but to their surprise….

"I challenge Proud Heavens."