Chapter 2198

"Yes, yes." The crowd below was in a state of chaos.

Xi Muzheng pressed his hand down, silencing all the noise. "From now on, you have one hour for each formation duel. Today was an accident. The time spent today does not count toward the ten-day competition. The official time starts tomorrow."

The others thought about it. Formations were indeed strange and unpredictable. Limiting the time was necessary, and one hour was acceptable.

"Dean, can you build more duel platforms?" someone suggested.

Xi Muzheng knew that having only one platform was indeed too slow. She thought for a moment and said, "Since you raised this point, let’s rest tomorrow. The competition will be postponed to the day after tomorrow. I will have people build four more duel platforms tomorrow. Starting the day after tomorrow, five platforms can be used simultaneously." She then turned to Zhu Yanyi and asked, "Do you want to divide your team? Maybe ten people per platform?"

Zhu Yanyi waved her hand. "No need. We have fifty people anyway. Those who haven’t competed yet can go up when it’s their turn."

Indeed, for them, since the competition was unavoidable, there was no need for strict rules. Moreover, if they fixed the number of people on each platform, it would be easier for others to scheme against them. Zhu Yanyi’s method seemed loose, but it was actually hard to manipulate.

The other forty-nine people nodded, agreeing with Zhu Yanyi’s approach. Seeing that Zhu Yanyi’s side of fifty people agreed, Xi Muzheng had no objections. "It’s getting late today. Everyone go rest. Come back on time the day after tomorrow."

Zhu Yanyi did not refuse. The sky was indeed darkening. So, Zhu Yanyi and the others returned, but not to their dorms. Instead, they went to the cafeteria for a meal together.

They had originally planned to go to Ouyang Tianyun’s place, but that would mean Ouyang Tianyun couldn’t eat. So, they decided to go to the cafeteria. Although the food there wasn’t as good as what Ouyang Tianyun cooked, it was still quite good.

In the cafeteria, they chose to order dishes.

At the Sage Academy, eating was more about satisfying one’s craving for delicious food. Most people there had already reached the stage of fasting from grain. Except for a few ordinary people studying there, others rarely came to the cafeteria.

Zhu Yanyi notified Yu Qingyun, and then everyone gathered in the cafeteria for the meal.

Zhu Yanyi ordered a lot of dishes. It had to be said that the Sage Academy’s cafeteria had many delicious foods. Most of these foods were filled with spiritual energy. Eating them allowed one to absorb the spiritual energy inside. This was also why some people still liked to come to eat.

However, people like Zhu Yanyi, who came purely for a gathering, were rare.

As dish after dish was served, Zhu Yanyi took out some Meng Po's soup, giving one bottle to each person. They toasted and then started eating.

"Junior Sister Yanyi, what formation did you use today?" Zhuo Yue asked, very curious about formations.

Zhu Yanyi explained, "It was a simple Big Dipper Formation. Usually, the Big Dipper Formation only has seven formation flags. But I used forty-nine low-grade spirit stones to set up seven Seven-Star Formation layers. Each layer became an independent part of the formation. Thus, there were formations within formations. Each formation seemed independent, yet none could be missing. Together, they formed a huge Big Dipper Formation."

Zhuo Yue nodded, understanding. "Junior Sister Yanyi, you mean this formation can change?"

"Of course, formations can change." Zhu Yanyi tilted her head, looking at Zhuo Yue. "Senior Sister Zhuo Yue, have you never tried to change a formation? The mystery of formations lies in their variability. If a formation never changes, it is a dead formation, meaningless."

"No," Zhuo Yue shook her head slightly. "I always thought formations required every position to be precise, and every material to be correct."

"That’s right," Zhu Yanyi nodded. "But if a formation cannot change, how can it show its variability? Senior Sister Zhuo Yue, many formations can change. For example, the Clear Water Formation is usually set up to guide water. But using this formation method to guide fire is also possible. Thus, it can evolve into the Dazzling Fire Formation. This is my own insight after changing it."

Seeing Zhuo Yue’s confused look, Zhu Yanyi paused for a moment, then took out a thin notebook and handed it to Zhuo Yue. "I rarely write down insights, but sometimes when I’m bored, I write a bit. Take a look. If you don’t understand, come ask me."

"Junior Sister Yanyi, thank you in advance." Zhuo Yue happily accepted it and put it away. Although Zhu Yanyi said the insights were incomplete, it was enough for her.

"Junior Sister Yanyi, why did the Dean set up five duel platforms?" Sikong Xuran asked Zhu Yanyi.

Zhu Yanyi did not answer directly but asked instead, "How do you think about it?"

"I feel like the Dean did it on purpose," Yi Yunfei said.

Sikong Xuran also said seriously, "I think so too. I feel like the Dean did it on purpose."

Zhu Yanyi smiled. "It’s not just a feeling. It’s true. The Dean is curious about our combat power. She wants to know how capable we are. Secondly, she wants to suppress them." She made a gesture, and everyone understood what Zhu Yanyi meant. Naturally, they understood that "them" referred to the other students of the Sage Academy.

Xi Muzheng did this simply to make the other students of the Sage Academy lose convincingly. She gave them a chance, but they couldn’t seize it. Then, they couldn’t blame Zhu Yanyi and her team.

Zhu Yanyi also saw through this, so she did not object. No matter what, since things had reached this point, Zhu Yanyi and her team had no way to refuse. It was better to accept it calmly.

"Actually, after seeing Junior Sister Yanyi go on stage today, I wanted to go up too. It’s been a long time since I fought someone. I really feel like finding someone to beat up." Jian Feiyan was obviously still that violent girl.

Sikong Xuran smiled and looked at Zhu Yanyi. "Junior Sister Yanyi, how do you think we should arrange the first batch of people for the day after tomorrow?"

Zhu Yanyi smiled. "The first batch is usually for probing. So, there probably won’t be many strong opponents. They will likely test us in the afternoon. So, for the morning, we can let Junior Brother Changjiu, Junior Sister Chang’an, Senior Brother Niu, Senior Brother Wen, and Senior Sister Zhuo Yue go first. If there are any surprises, we can adjust. If it really doesn’t work, I’ll go up first."