Chapter 216: First Place with 0 Points? The Empress is Completely Dumbfounded

At the exit of the Secret Realm.

In the waiting area, the chief referee’s gaze slowly swept over the crowd as he began to speak:

"Alright, the Points situation is now very clear."

"Next, I will announce the results of this academy competition."

"The Elixir Academy, with 800 Points, takes first place."

"The Beast Taming Academy, with 5 Points, takes second. The other five academies have zero Points, tying for last place."

As his voice fell, Gu Yuexi breathed a sigh of relief. In the end, she had still won the academy competition.

Or perhaps, it was more that her loss hadn’t been quite so disgraceful...

But just then, out of the corner of her eye, Gu Yuexi saw Chu Sheng move again.

He suddenly flew up and went directly to the chief referee.

"The award ceremony will be held on the main stage in the Central Plaza..."

The chief referee was still speaking. He frowned when he saw what Chu Sheng was doing.

Chu Sheng slowly approached the chief referee and pointed at the ring in his hand—it was Gu Yuexi’s captain’s ring.

"What’s the meaning of this?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment before someone immediately understood what Chu Sheng was implying.

"Is he saying... they haven’t counted Empress Lin’s ring yet?"

"What’s there to count? Lin Zhixia was on camera the entire time. There’s no need to waste time counting it now."

"Exactly. They would’ve secured the win with just two or more Inner Cores. Besides, Lin Zhixia’s ring must have over a hundred, at the very least, right?"

The crowd looked at Chu Sheng as if he were a clown.

’What, is he only refusing to admit defeat now? Where was this energy earlier?’

He was just asking for humiliation!

Everyone had witnessed Gu Yuexi’s performance during the competition with their own eyes. There was no room for doubt.

The chief referee said sternly:

"I personally oversaw Lin Zhixia’s entire competition..."

"You should still check it. Not doing so goes against procedure."

Gu Yuexi cut the chief referee off. She also stepped forward and looked at Chu Sheng.

’This guy, he still refuses to accept it?’

’Fine, then. This Empress will show you the fruits of my labor! Even if you hadn’t slacked off and had given it your all, you could never achieve what I have!’

The chief referee paused for a moment, then nodded.

"Very well. Then we will re-confirm and tally the Elixir Academy team’s Points."

As he spoke, he began to inspect Gu Yuexi’s ring. However, the moment his consciousness entered the Storage Ring, he froze.

"How is this possible?"

"Nothing? This ring is completely empty. There’s absolutely nothing inside?"

The chief referee’s voice trembled as if he had seen a ghost. He immediately scanned all the Elixir Academy’s rings again, only to find them all completely empty. Not a single Inner Core remained.

The chief referee’s words left everyone dumbfounded.

’What does he mean, nothing?’

Gu Yuexi’s expression changed. She rushed over to inspect her own ring... Gone! The hundred-plus Inner Cores that were there before had all vanished into thin air!

She stood stunned for a moment, then her head snapped toward Chu Sheng. ’It was him. This guy must be behind it.’ Her mind raced, replaying every scene from her battle with Chu Sheng, analyzing every detail.

’Back then, Chu Sheng’s combat power seemed weaker than before, and he was constantly dodging and defending. It was as if he was stalling for time, but for who?’

’And the Inner Cores in my Storage Ring must have disappeared around that time too. Thinking back, there seemed to be a strange, fleeting aura at that moment. Were they stolen then? But he was clearly trapped in my Divine Thought Cage!’

’Also, if he stole all my Inner Cores, where did they go? Why didn’t he take them out to be counted for Points?’

Gu Yuexi was utterly baffled, a thousand questions flashing through her mind. She couldn’t stop herself from rushing to Chu Sheng’s side and hissing in a low voice:

"You damn mosquito, how in the world did you do that?"

Chu Sheng:

"HSSSSSS... (Want to learn? I’ll teach you.)"

...

Unfortunately, Chu Sheng couldn’t speak, and he couldn’t be bothered to explain it to Gu Yuexi. She could figure it out on her own.

「A little over half an hour ago.」

After reaching the final circle, Chu Sheng had decided to help the Beast Taming Academy take first place. The rules of the academy competition were complex, but winning was actually quite simple: just wait for the final circle and steal from everyone else.

His only concern was that too many people might withdraw early. However, if Gu Yuexi also wanted to win, she would surely prevent that from happening.

And just as he’d expected, not only had Gu Yuexi done it, but she’d also plundered every last Inner Core for herself!

That made things very simple. All he had to do was steal the Inner Cores from her ring. When Chu Sheng learned that Gu Yuexi’s ring contained Inner Cores worth 800 Points, his eyes practically lit up!

Eight hundred Points was equivalent to 160 Fifth-Grade Early Stage Cores. Inner Cores could also be absorbed. Despite some loss in the process, 160 Fifth-Grade Early Stage Cores could provide at least 500,000 Life Essence!

’Steal them. I have to steal them!’

Since the Blood Covenant would allow Gu Yuexi to sense him if he got close, Chu Sheng used a new Skill—Celestial Thunder Illusion.

He used the illusion to challenge Gu Yuexi one-on-one, grabbing her attention and stalling for time while his real body looked for an opportunity. Using Instant Teleportation, he stole all the Inner Cores from Gu Yuexi’s Storage Ring in a single moment!

He had to admit, Gu Yuexi’s Divine Thought Cage was quite formidable; his illusion couldn’t break out of it right away. In the end, Chu Sheng had to have his real body appear, creating the illusion that he had "escaped" at the exact moment the illusion vanished.

And that was the truth behind the disappearing Inner Cores in Gu Yuexi’s ring.

Furthermore, after getting his hands on the hundred-plus Inner Cores, Chu Sheng didn’t put them in a Storage Ring to be tallied for Points. Instead, he placed them in his Lifebound Space.

Tally them for Points?

There was no need!

Winning with five Points was the same as winning with eight hundred!

After clearing out every other team’s Points, Su Li’s five Points were all they needed. As for the other Inner Cores, of course he was going to hide them away to harvest their Life Essence!

...

「Back inside the Secret Realm.」

Amidst everyone’s bewilderment, the chief referee, who had reviewed the surveillance footage several times without finding anything amiss, could only make the final announcement:

"A correction on the Points situation."

"The Elixir Academy team’s Points are... zero."

"Therefore, the Beast Taming Academy, with a score of 5 Points, is the winner of this academy competition... First place!"

Even after the chief referee finished speaking, no one in the crowd could figure out what had just happened.

Chu Sheng, however, couldn’t care less about any of that.

He stood at the front, extended a foreleg, and beckoned to Su Li.

Su Li’s mind was in a whirl.

"Me?"

"You want me to come over?"

She dazedly walked over to Chu Sheng’s side.

Chu Sheng continued to beckon to the remaining Beast Taming Academy members. As if in a dream, they came forward one by one, gathering around and behind him.

Then, Chu Sheng used his Mental Power to control a drone camera, aiming it at himself and the Beast Taming Academy students. He pointed a "hand" toward the sky.

"HSSS!"

"..."

"We are..."

Having snapped back to their senses, they finally shouted out those two words with excitement:

"FIRST PLACE!"

「Outside the Secret Realm, on the main grounds.」

In that instant, every screen was dominated by this single shot.

CLICK. The image froze: nineteen team members surrounding Chu Sheng, their faces beaming with brilliant smiles.