Chapter 630: Luo Tian's Acceptance Speech

An astonishing spectacle enveloped the entire arena, stirring the Spiritual Qi in all directions.

“A physique awakening!”

“Such an astonishing spectacle… Could it be the Luo Race’s Luo Water Body?”

The entire crowd was thunderstruck!

The Luo Water Body was a legendary physique of the Luo Race. It was incredibly rare and granted the one who awakened it a massive boost and limitless potential!

It was foreseeable that Luo Xiaoting’s future would be brilliant.

At least for now, the Luo Race would surely regard Luo Xiaoting as a priceless treasure. Anyone who provoked her would be asking for trouble.

Du Hongfei’s expression stiffened.

‘I was just supposed to check her condition. What’s this about awakening the Luo Water Body?’

At this moment, Luo Xiaoting became the center of everyone’s attention.

She slowly ascended the Martial Arts Arena, still a bit dazed herself.

Luo Xiaoting hadn’t expected to suddenly awaken her Luo Water Body either. Her mentor hadn’t even given her a heads-up.

She felt a tempest raging within her, but there was no discomfort. Instead, she felt filled with power.

“My mentor told me to give you a beating, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do today.”

Luo Xiaoting stared at Du Hongfei.

“What a joke! You think you’ve already won just because you awakened some physique?”

Du Hongfei sneered.

The moment the words left his mouth, Du Hongfei attacked. A bleak, yellowish Sword Light shot forward, tearing through the air!

Luo Xiaoting met it head-on. A dense, deep-blue aqueous light surged from her right hand, forming a massive whirlpool of water to counter the Sword Light.

VMMMM-SIZZLE!

Du Hongfei’s sword strike sank into the whirlpool. Its power was instantly siphoned away, diffused, and then completely dissipated within the watery vortex.

Luo Xiaoting punched with her other fist like a thunderbolt, sending a blazing torrent of fire hurtling toward Du Hongfei.

WHOOSH!

Du Hongfei soared into the air to evade, then slashed down with his sword.

A moment later, an endless series of explosions rang out in the sky above the Martial Arts Arena.

The two figures crisscrossed through the air, their sword shadows and fist-lights clashing and devouring one another.

‘As expected of the Luo Water Body. Not bad at all.’

Luo Tian smiled and nodded.

He had discovered long ago that her cultivation of the Water and Fire Heaven-Swallowing Technique was accelerating the awakening of her Luo Water Body.

Under normal circumstances, it would have awakened naturally in half a year.

Luo Tian had employed a little trick, using his Divine Vein Power to stimulate it and trigger an early awakening.

And the Luo Water Body was certainly powerful.

When Du Hongfei’s Sword Qi struck Luo Xiaoting, a layer of aqueous light would ripple across her body, weakening the attack’s power by more than half.

Meanwhile, the Water Element Boxing Skill she used became stronger and more resilient. While its offensive power saw a standard boost, its defensive capabilities were truly exceptional.

“So this is the Luo Water Body. It’s truly worthy of being a legendary physique of the Five Ancient Clans.”

“Now, the victor is anyone’s guess.”

The crowd watched the climactic battle of the Chuyang Grand Competition, eagerly awaiting the final result.

Peng Yuweng had lost his earlier calm and composure. A dark cloud had settled over his expression.

‘First place must not be stolen from us!’

But now, even he could no longer predict the outcome.

Even if Du Hongfei had the advantage in cultivation, the Luo Water Body was not to be underestimated.

“Go, Senior Sister Luo!”

Chen Yuan, Deng Xiaoqian, and the others shouted with all their might.

Suddenly!

BOOM!

A tremendous boom shook the sky as waves of fire and water exploded. A figure plummeted downward—it was Du Hongfei!

His chest was caved in and a trickle of blood stained the corner of his mouth. Pale and weakened, Du Hongfei crashed onto the Martial Arts Arena.

Luo Xiaoting landed a moment later, raised her foot, and planted it on his face.

“Master, I’m done with the beating.”

Luo Xiaoting said with a wide grin.

“You were too lenient,” Luo Tian said softly.

Hearing this, the semi-conscious Du Hongfei shuddered and hastily shouted, “I surrender!”

“Luo Xiaoting is the victor, taking first place!”

The referee announced the result.

The entire arena erupted, and thunderous cheers rang out.

This battle brought the Chuyang Grand Competition to its climax.

The battles that followed seemed rather dull in comparison.

The defeated Du Hongfei had not given up. His cold gaze swept over Luo Xiaoting from time to time as he thought, ‘I was careless just now. I’ll challenge you later and take back first place!’

“Number Two, please come forward.”

“Number Two! Number Two, Du Hongfei! Get out here!”

the referee shouted impatiently.

Du Hongfei was stunned.

He was still reeling from suddenly losing first place and hadn’t processed it.

Besides, very few people had ever dared to challenge him before.

Du Hongfei looked up and saw that the challenger was, surprisingly, the seventh-ranked participant.

It turned out that some people, seeing Du Hongfei lose to a cultivator at the Half-step Celestial Pool Realm, figured he wasn’t so invincible after all and boldly issued a challenge.

A short while later, the fourth-ranked Zi Qing also challenged Du Hongfei—naturally, at Luo Tian’s instruction.

After Zi Qing’s challenge, Du Hongfei’s condition deteriorated, and his plan to reclaim first place was ruined.

If he acted too rashly, he feared he might not even be able to hold onto second place, which would be a true disgrace.

As the evening twilight shrouded the distant sky, the Chuyang Grand Competition came to a close.

First Place: Luo Xiaoting.

Second Place: Du Hongfei.

Third Place: Liu Meihong.

Fourth Place: Zi Qing.

Fifth Place: Guan Hongfei.

…

The first-place result was a huge upset.

Among the top five, Liu Meihong and Du Hongfei were students of senior mentors.

The other three, however, were all students of a single new mentor.

“Let’s begin the award ceremony.”

A Dean of the Branch announced.

The top two hundred participants in the Chuyang Grand Competition all received some Academic Credits and Spiritual Essence Coins as a reward.

The top one hundred received even more Academic Credits and Spiritual Essence Coins.

The real prizes were for the top twenty, who were also rewarded with many precious Elixirs of Life.

The top three, in addition to massive amounts of Academic Credits and Spiritual Essence Coins, were rewarded with a Celestial Essence Pill, a choice of one Low Grade Profound Artifact, and one Celestial Level Middle Grade Martial Technique.

As first place, Luo Xiaoting’s rewards were an improvement on the second-place prize in every respect. She received five Celestial Spirit Pills, a choice of three Low Grade Profound Artifacts, and one Celestial Level Middle Grade Martial Technique.

“The mentors who cultivated these outstanding students will also be rewarded. Now, will the mentors of the top twenty students please come to the stage,”

the host announced.

Among the mentors of the top twenty students, there were only eleven, all of whom were Elite Junior Tutors of the Saint Institute.

The sole exception was Luo Tian. He had only been at the institute for a year and had very little seniority, yet he drew the most attention.

When Luo Tian got on stage, he saw that several mentors had sour expressions. It was obvious they were the ones who had previously stood against him.

The other mentors, however, greeted Luo Tian with smiles and nods.

Among them was the sallow-faced old woman from the Celestial Blade Institute. She chuckled and said, “Master Luo, you’ve truly shocked everyone. What a way to bring glory to the Celestial Blade Institute!”

Next, the mentors present accepted their rewards one by one.

Luo Tian was the last one.

For his student winning first place, a mentor’s reward was two million Spiritual Essence Coins, the choice of one Middle Grade Profound Artifact, and one Celestial Level Upper Grade Martial Technique.

‘A Middle Grade Profound Artifact?’

Luo Tian was pleasantly surprised; this was an excellent reward.

Middle Grade Profound Artifacts were generally used by Middle Tier and High Tier Celestial Pool Realm cultivators and were worth five to ten times as much as Low Grade Profound Artifacts!

All the Profound Artifacts Luo Tian currently had were Low Grade.

As for the martial technique reward, Luo Tian disregarded it completely.

Additionally, Luo Tian had two other students in the top five, earning him a reward of five hundred thousand Spiritual Essence Coins for each.

All told, his rewards amounted to three million Spiritual Essence Coins and the choice of one Middle Grade Profound Artifact.

“Master Luo, your student won first place in this competition, and you have two other students in the top five. Such an achievement is truly astounding.”

“As the mentor of these outstanding students, do you have any thoughts or teaching methods you’d like to share with everyone?”

the host asked with a smile.

“Do I have to?”

Luo Tian hadn’t expected that he would have to speak in public. He was completely unprepared.

As for his teaching methods, those absolutely could not be revealed.

The host was momentarily embarrassed. This was a tradition at every Chuyang Grand Competition, and most mentors would kill for the chance to be in Luo Tian’s shoes and give a lengthy speech.

“Just say a few words. A simple thank you will do…” the host said via voice transmission.

Generally, acceptance speeches followed the same old formula.

Since the host was insistent, Luo Tian decided he might as well offer some thanks.

“My student won first place in the Chuyang Grand Competition, and for that, I really have to thank Mentor Liu Lu.”

And with that, Luo Tian was finished.

The arena fell silent for a few moments as everyone stared, stunned.

Luo Tian’s acceptance speech was far from ordinary.

A moment later, it dawned on the crowd, and they understood the meaning behind Luo Tian’s words.

And so, laughter spread throughout the arena.

Those who were out of the loop soon learned the reason from others.

It turned out, Luo Xiaoting had originally been Liu Lu’s student before transferring to Luo Tian.

Liu Lu was also on stage, right next to Luo Tian.

Upon hearing those words, he looked like a lit powder keg, on the verge of rushing over to fight Luo Tian to the death.

But with so many Deans and Vice Deans of the branches present, he wouldn’t dare make a scene.

Liu Lu could only stand there awkwardly on stage, the butt of the entire crowd’s ridicule. His face flushed beet-red, and he wished a hole would open up and swallow him.

Next to him, Peng Yuweng’s face was etched with resentment.

The Chuyang Grand Competition ended, and the crowd gradually dispersed.

But the crowd around Luo Tian was only growing larger.

“Congratulations, Master Luo.”

“Master Luo, you are truly incredible! To have your student take first place in the Chuyang Grand Competition so soon after you joined the Saint Institute.”

“Master Luo, are you still accepting students?”

Many mentors from the ten branch institutes came to congratulate and try to befriend Luo Tian.

There were also many students hoping to study under Luo Tian.

Not far away, Master Fei watched Luo Tian and Zi Qing, a pang of regret in his heart.

He wanted to speak with Zi Qing to resolve their past enmity, but he couldn’t bring himself to swallow his pride.

“Everyone, we can talk later.”

“Today, I’m holding a victory feast for my students.”

Luo Tian turned them all down and left with his students.

He hadn’t taken more than a few steps when a graceful and beautiful figure appeared before him—it was the Middle Level Tutor, Ye Shuiyun.

“Master Luo, one of your students is also half a student of mine, you could say. Could I tag along to this victory feast?”

Ye Shuiyun said with a sweet smile.

Luo Tian was speechless. ‘She sent one of her students to spy on me.’

“Since you treated me last time, I’ll return the favor,” Luo Tian said, not pressing the issue.

A small smile played on Ye Shuiyun’s lips.

She had deliberately wormed her way in just to find out how Luo Tian taught his students.

Ye Shuiyun thought she understood Luo Tian quite well.

She couldn’t imagine how a mentor who had just entered the Saint Institute could produce so many outstanding students in just one year.

In this Chuyang Grand Competition, Luo Tian had completely outshone every other mentor.

‘There must be a secret to it.’

Chuyang Tower had its Chuyang Grand Competition, and Zhengyang Palace had its own grand competition as well. Ye Shuiyun wanted to ask Luo Tian for some pointers.