The semi-finals featured twenty selected contestants. They would fight to narrow the field to ten, then to five, with the final five competing in the finals tomorrow.
Pairings were decided by drawing lots. The box contained two sets of ten numbers. Matching numbers meant a match. Zhu Yanyi drew number six, pairing her with Xu Shen from their own Sage Academy.
Xu Shen’s eyes lit up. "How about I surrender now?"
"Twelve, keep some dignity. Don’t show your joy so openly, or we’ll get jealous," Jian Feiyan warned.
Xu Shen quickly hid his smile. Not having to fight further felt wonderful.
The other pairings were mostly internal Sage Academy matches, except for two students from other schools paired together.
Number one was Lei Danfeng versus Yang Ruochen, both from Sage Academy. They played rock-paper-scissors. Lei Danfeng lost. "I lost. He wins," Lei Danfeng said, pointing at Yang Ruochen.
There was no host, only judges. The judges couldn’t criticize this childish behavior since it was voluntary. They could only watch in silence as the students performed these bizarre maneuvers.
The second and third pairs, also from Sage Academy, did the same. Rock-paper-scissors decided the winner. The losers left happily, while the winners looked dejected. This contrast left the judges and audience speechless. Sage Academy was truly unreliable.
Thankfully, the fourth pair was normal. It featured students from Divine Emperor Academy and Shangmo Academy. Qiao Wenjian from Divine Emperor Academy faced Guan Gu from Shangmo Academy. They actually fought for twenty or thirty minutes. To the judges, this was a proper match, unlike the Sage Academy students who finished in under thirty seconds.
The fifth pair was Jian Feiyan against a student from Yuanwu Academy. Jian Feiyan was a sword cultivator; her opponent was a body cultivator. The judges expected a good fight. The Sage Academy students, however, just wanted to see Jian Feiyan beat someone up or use her medicine.
As expected, Jian Feiyan drew her sword, and her opponent fell asleep instantly. Jian Feiyan glared at the judges, annoyed they hadn’t found her a worthy opponent. The judges were stunned.
The sixth pair was Zhu Yanyi and Xu Shen. No rock-paper-scissors this time. Xu Shen stepped up and said, "I lost." She walked off gracefully.
Zhu Yanyi sighed and shrugged at the judges. "Sorry. My seniors seem to be sleepwalking today."
"Fifteen, who are you calling a sleepwalker?" Ouyang Tianyun, part of the seventh pair, called out.
Zhu Yanyi made a funny face. "Did I say anything? Maybe I’m sleepwalking. Good luck, Third Senior Brother."
Ouyang Tianyun glared at her. He didn’t want to fight. If not for their plan, he would have surrendered too. This competition was unnecessary for him.
The pattern continued. Fighting Sage Academy students yielded no results. Finally, Cui Chang’an spoke up. "I wanted to fight you properly, but our elders said it’s bad if too few outsiders reach the top ten. The competition needs to be watchable. So, I surrender. Good luck. I hope you make the top five."
Qiao Wenjian, Cui Chang’an’s opponent, nearly exploded. This was a deliberate concession. He didn’t need it, but no one believed him. Everyone assumed he would accept the favor.
The top twenty to ten matches ended before noon. The organizers announced a break until the afternoon for the top ten to five matches.
Back at the Sage Academy side, Zhu Yanyi looked at Xu Shen with a frown. "Twelfth Senior Brother, you’re too polite. You should have fought. I could have rested."
"Fifteen, you can’t rest. We want to see what else you can do," someone answered for Xu Shen.
Zhu Yanyi sighed helplessly. With such seniors, she had no choice but to sigh.
In the afternoon, the top ten competed for five spots. Three outsiders remained because Sage Academy students had voluntarily surrendered to make the competition look better. These three were from Yuanwu, Divine Emperor, and Shangmo Academies, one from each.
The pairings were drawn again. Fate was cruel to Yuanwu and Shangmo. Only Qiao Wenjian from Divine Emperor Academy faced a Sage Academy student. The other three pairs were internal Sage Academy matches.
Predictably, they played rock-paper-scissors again. The judges, having seen the morning’s events, were now calm. They couldn’t object to voluntary choices.
There was only one real match to watch: Qiao Wenjian versus Yi Yunfei from Sage Academy. Everyone knew Yi Yunfei had defeated Qiao Wenjian before and was at the mid-stage of Soul Formation. They expected Yi Yunfei to win easily.
Instead, Yi Yunfei smiled and surrendered without fighting. His excuse was: