Chapter 173: New Student Welcome Ceremony!
"It's about to begin."
Tian Yi said suddenly at this moment, "Based on the usual schedule, the freshman welcome assembly should be coming up next. Be on your best behavior in a moment; all the department heads will be attending. If anyone dares to cause trouble right now, you might actually get expelled."
Hearing this, the others fell silent one after another. They had worked so hard to pass the examinations and get in, and they certainly didn't want to crash and burn here!
Before long, eleven figures walked out from the side to the highest platform and took their respective seats, while the main center seat remained vacant.
"The one sitting in the second seat is the vice president. Legend has it that he has already broken through the limitations of the Supreme Realm and reached the Saint Rank, though he has never admitted to it himself, so his true strength remains a mystery," Tian Yi explained. "As for the other department heads, most of them are powerhouses of the Supreme Realm, with a few at the King Realm. Every single one of them is a legendary figure who once stirred the winds and clouds."
Hearing this, everyone looked at the department heads in astonishment. They had not expected that these heads who came to recruit them possessed such formidable strength.
From this alone, one could tell how much importance Changqi Academy attached to its students.
The department heads themselves came to recruit students directly!
However, almost all of the top five academies operated this way. What they wanted to recruit must be the absolute elite, which was why they never delegated the admissions process to others.
Meanwhile, looking at the vice president, Lin Han felt his heart surging like raging waves. The Saint Rank! There was actually a powerhouse of the Saint Rank within this academy!
Even if this person's Saint Rank status was only suspected, he must at the very least be at the peak of the Supreme Realm, merely a single step away from the Saint Rank!
If the vice president possessed such terrifying strength, wouldn't the president himself be at least a Saint Rank powerhouse?!
Was this the true capability of the premier academy in the Star Dragon Empire?!
At this moment, a thought formed in Lin Han's mind: no matter what, he must never provoke this vice president; the man was definitely not someone he could handle right now!
As a student of Changqi Academy, if he ran into any trouble in the future, he could use this place as a shield... though he wondered if Changqi Academy tended to protect its own.
Just as Lin Han was thinking this, the vice president stood up, and the entire assembly instantly fell completely silent.
"Hello, new students. I am the vice president of Changqi Academy, and I welcome you all to join our academy."
As soon as these words fell, everyone immediately burst into enthusiastic applause. Setting aside whether the man was the vice president, the mere fact that he was a Saint Rank powerhouse was enough to earn their utmost respect.
"Good..." The vice president smiled slightly, and then continued, "First of all, now that you have all joined Changqi Academy, there are a few things I need to make clear to everyone."
"Changqi Academy is by no means a place for you to gain fame and fortune. The very meaning of our existence is to protect our country and defend our homeland!"
"Therefore, any students who intend to use Changqi Academy as a stepping stone to attain wealth and high office can leave right now. Our academy will even pay your travel expenses back."
However, no one spoke at this moment. Even if some of them truly harbored such thoughts, none of them would dare to act on them.
"No one? Then I shall continue," the vice president resumed. "In the days ahead, I hope everyone can treat Changqi Academy as your home. From now on, we are all members of this academy. We are mentors and disciples, comrades-in-arms, and friends!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire venue instantly erupted into a commotion.
Mentors and disciples they didn't particularly mind, and comrades-in-arms were alright, but the most important part was that very last sentence!
A Saint Rank powerhouse was actually capable of saying such words.
When they went out in the future, they would even have something to brag about to others: *Our vice president said we are friends...*
Lin Han could not help but sigh with emotion as well. Although the vice president's primary purpose was likely to deepen the bond between the students and the academy, for a vice president to utter such words showed no small measure of grace.
The thoughts running through that man's mind were profound and formidable!
"Furthermore, I have one more matter to remind you of. Students studying at Changqi Academy must spend one year serving in the military within five years, or else the academy will strip you of your honors as a student of Changqi Academy!"
"If you cannot accept this, you may leave right now. The terms will be the same as before."
Yet at this moment, they all fell silent once more. Entering the military meant fighting the monsters outside; could they really pull it off?
However, this doubt was quickly dispelled. That was something that would only happen four years later—why worry about it right now?
They would cross that bridge when they came to it!
Lin Han thought to herself, *Senior Feihua graduated two years ago, which means she only has three years left before she has to join the military, right?*
He wasn't worried about Senior Feihua's strength, though. Even in the border regions, a Supreme Realm cultivator would undoubtedly be a vital pillar of strength.
Instead, the ones truly worth worrying about were that horde of monsters.
It was just that he had no idea when he would next cross paths with Senior Feihua.
"Since you all possess such resolve, I will not dwell on this topic any longer. What I need to speak of now concerns the very last matter regarding your enrollment."
"Some of you may have already heard that the resources within our academy can be competed for and seized."
Hearing this, Lin Han felt a surge of excitement. This was the information he had truly wanted to know. Although Gongsun Lianxi had mentioned it to him previously, the explanation had been incomplete.
However, quite a few people wore looks of hesitation, or even utter incomprehension. Before long, a student called out, "Vice president, wouldn't that mean the strong only grow stronger and the weak only grow weaker? Is doing something like this really fair?"
Upon hearing this, the vice president burst into hearty laughter. Everyone was instantly dumbfounded—what was going on here?
Had the old man been driven out of his mind?
Then again, considering his advanced age, perhaps it was easy for things like this to happen...
At that moment, the vice president stopped laughing and said, "Not at all."
The student mustered up his courage once again and asked, "Why? If the weaker students cannot obtain resources, how are they supposed to keep going?"
"Can't you hunt monsters and level up simply because you lack resources?" the vice president retorted. "Besides, this only allows the *exceptionally* strong to grow even stronger. It has nothing whatsoever to do with whether someone is merely strong or weak."
"If those others also wish to obtain these rewards, they must strive hard to become a part of that exceptionally strong group."
"Moreover, students, rest assured. These are all supplementary options. You can only obtain these rewards upon completing certain specific missions, and those tasks are generally prepared exclusively for true monsters of talent, not for normal people like you."
"Since the founding of Changqi Academy until today, only a single person has ever successfully obtained them."
"Therefore, if you wish to prove that you are not ordinary mortals, but rather the monstrous talents of everyone's eyes, then bring out all your strength and prove it to us!"
"Let us see whether you truly possess the qualifications to be called monsters!"