Zheng Liyuan, Li Wumian, and a group of high-level figures from the Celestial King Academy stared daggers at Zheng Zhuhe.

He was the one who had given Zeng Quan the idea. If Zheng Zhuhe weren’t the strongest prodigy of the Saint Bone Zheng Family, they would have beaten him to death.

At this moment, Zheng Zhuhe hadn’t yet noticed their glares.

A graceful figure occupied his mind—Wu Yiyi of the Hundred Flames Trading Company. In truth, the idea had been hers.

"The deans of the academies from the various Small Kingdoms are practically the strongest experts in those kingdoms. As long as you win over these deans, the Celestial King Academy will surely win the hearts and minds of the Hundred Countries."

Those were Wu Yiyi’s exact words, which had filled Zheng Zhuhe with even greater admiration for her. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

’But why hasn’t anyone praised me yet?’

Lost in his reverie, Zheng Zhuhe didn’t get the reaction he wanted. When he finally looked at Zheng Liyuan and the others, he saw their eyes were filled with disappointment. He asked stupidly, "Why... why are you all looking at me like that?"

Soon enough, Zheng Liyuan explained the situation with the first trial to Zheng Zhuhe.

Zheng Zhuhe was completely dumbfounded. He seethed with rage, "Damn it! It’s that goddamned Fake Lu Chao again."

As he spoke, he frantically searched for Fake Lu Chao in the crowd and quickly found him.

He then shot a murderous glare in that direction without a hint of politeness.

What enraged him even more was that Fake Lu Chao met his gaze, smiled, and even nodded. ’Is he greeting me?’

’Damn it all! Do I even know you?’

Angry as he was, Zheng Zhuhe obviously couldn’t rush over and start a screaming match with Lu Chao. He could only withdraw his gaze and ask, "Uncle Li Yuan, what should we do now? Should I go stop Zeng Quan?"

In response, Zheng Liyuan glanced toward the Beast Flame Gate, his voice rolling with hatred. "It’s too late."

As soon as he finished speaking, powerful figures could be seen rushing from the direction of the Beast Flame Gate. It was Zeng Quan, leading the deans and high-level figures from over a hundred academies as they streaked toward the finish line of the first trial.

The strongest representatives from the hundred-plus academies seemed to be racing against one another.

For the first trial of the qualification battle, the students had to take a winding mountain path to reach the finish line, a much longer route. The academy experts, however, were taking a direct path and would arrive shortly.

Sure enough, a short while later... SWOOSH!

The first figure landed, touching down on the roof of the large courtyard. It was a bald old man.

He laughed heartily. "Everyone, I was the first to arrive."

"Haha, General Dean Zeng truly lives up to his reputation as Beast Flame’s top expert." A voice from behind closed in instantly, and another figure landed on the roof. This was an old man with pale gold hair who looked like a fierce lion.

The bald old man was none other than Zeng Quan. He replied softly...

"Dean Lion, you jest. Beast Flame’s top expert is someone else, not me."

The old man with pale gold hair was the dean of the Lion Flame Academy—now the dean of the Lion Institute within Beast Flame Academy.

Immediately after...

One after another, more figures landed. The third to arrive was the dean of the Tiger Institute.

Normally, the deans of the Seven Great Inner Courtyards should have been the fastest, but the fourth to land was... Sun Shijin.

His arrival caused the expressions of the first three to turn slightly cold, but they said nothing.

Everyone knew that although the Dragon Flame Academy was in decline, Sun Shijin’s personal strength was undeniable.

Of course, speed didn’t necessarily equate to true combat power.

After Sun Shijin, the remaining four deans of the Inner Courtyards landed. The ninth to arrive, surprisingly, was Yu Fei from the Dragon Flame Academy, who hadn’t even reached the Transformation Realm. Only then did the deans from the other academies, large and small, arrive.

Unlike the deans of the seven Inner Courtyards...

Everyone, including Sun Shijin, looked toward the finish line of the first trial as soon as they landed. When Sun Shijin and Yu Fei saw Lu Chao and the other nine, they immediately breathed a long sigh of relief.

This was followed by a mix of surprised cries, disappointed sighs, and furious roars erupting from the gathered experts.

The surprised cries naturally came from the deans of the academies who never thought they’d pass the first trial. The roars came from the deans and leaders of the nineteen University Institutes. And the disappointed sighs came from those whose students had failed to pass.

At the same time...

Zeng Quan and the other six deans also noticed the problem and, as expected, were all stunned.

By the time all three high-level figures from each academy had arrived, Zeng Quan and the others had learned about what happened in the first trial from Zheng Liyuan. Their faces instantly darkened, completely losing their earlier cheerfulness.

"Fake Lu Chao..."

Likewise, the two words "Fake Lu Chao" echoed in everyone’s ears, and nearly every eye was fixed on Lu Chao.

If looks could kill, Lu Chao would have been pierced through countless times.

If it were an ordinary young man, he probably wouldn’t even be able to stand steady under the force of so many glares. But Lu Chao simply stood calmly in front of the nine from Dragon Flame Academy, a smile still on his face.

Marquis Longyin acted as if it had nothing to do with him, standing casually among the Order Enforcement Team Members.

He just whispered to a few of his trusted subordinates, "See that? Fake Lu Chao can maintain absolute composure even under such terrifying scrutiny... My Brother Wang didn’t send me here for no reason."

A few of the trusted men nodded discreetly. They had already witnessed Fake Lu Chao’s capabilities firsthand.

They had already guessed what Marquis Jilong had said to the Dragon Flame King—he must have recommended Fake Lu Chao.

"The kid’s got guts, but it’s a shame he’s one of Yin Ye’s people," one of the trusted team members said with some frustration.

Marquis Longyin didn’t reply, instead continuing to scan the area...

"This is where it gets interesting. Zeng Quan is in a real bind now. As long as he still wants to win people over, he definitely won’t dare to call for a do-over."

His trusted team members understood, and each of them wore an expression like they were about to watch a good show.

Slowly, all eyes in the field focused on Zeng Quan. The deans of the nineteen University Institutes glared at him viciously, as if to say, ’If you dare to finalize these results, we’ll fight you to the death.’

Meanwhile, the deans of the Small Institutes were thinking, ’If you, Zeng Quan, dare to deliberately favor the University Institutes, we’ll fight you to the death.’

Then there were those who didn’t care either way...

They watched Zeng Quan with great interest, their faces clearly asking, ’Let’s see how you’re going to handle this.’

Even though Zeng Quan was old and had seen his fair share of grand occasions, he felt his scalp crawl. No matter what he decided, he would offend a large group of people. ’That damned Zheng Zhuhe, what kind of rotten idea did he give me? Now there’s no way to manipulate things behind the scenes.’

’One wrong move, and instead of winning hearts and minds, I’ll end up being hated by everyone.’

’What do I do? What am I supposed to do?’

Suddenly, Zeng Quan spotted a figure in a corner...

His heart slowly steadied. He then spoke, "Everyone, the results of the first trial are out, as we have all witnessed. I now declare... the first trial of the qualification battle is complete."

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The experts and deans from the nineteen University Institutes all erupted with True Qi. Yan Jun and the others’ faces changed drastically.

In the very next moment, Zeng Quan quickly added, "Next, allow me to introduce a Vice Dean of our Beast Flame Academy. He is the man recognized as the number one expert in all the Hundred Countries, Dongfang Ren!"

The moment the name was spoken... HISS!

Everyone in the crowd gasped, their eyes widening in disbelief.

And Lu Chao’s gaze also froze for a moment.