at dawn, the entire tianhen academy became thoroughly bustling.

    apart from the students of tianhen academy, a large number of the citizens of tianfeng city also poured into the giant sword square of tianhen academy.

    giant sword square is the largest square in tianhen academy and can accommodate up to one hundred thousand people; thus, the next four days of the academy competition would all be held here.

    since the academy competition was open to the public, the square was already full of people early in the morning.

    "so many people? the draw of this academy competition is too strong, isn''t it?" xu nian, standing in the qinglin academy''s preparation area, couldn''t help but exclaim as he looked around at the crowded scene.

    "that''s right, the academy competition is a rare grand spectacle in the whole of east field county, gathering the top talents from the ten great colleges. it''s naturally very popular, and many people have even come from other places," chen xifeng remarked.

    xu nian nodded. the tianhen empire had always revered martial arts.

    although many people could not cultivate, their admiration for the strong and talented was exceptionally intense, which could be seen from the enthusiasm of the people in the square today.

    xu nian didn''t say much more, nor did he look around, but closed his eyes and focused his mind.

    there was still some time before the start of the competition, and the prefectural governor, who was hosting this grand event, had not yet arrived.

    as for the other contestants, chen xifeng had analyzed them for him yesterday. looking again would be pointless, and there were only a few he needed to pay serious attention to.

    the square was noisy, with all the spectators discussing the prodigies they knew.

    ji yun, zhao yan, feng rain, and dugu jingcheng''s names were naturally mentioned many times. as for xu nian, the spectators probably hadn''t even heard of him, let alone mentioned him.

    "haha, this year''s academy competition is even more exciting than previous years!"

    just then, an incredibly loud voice resounded across the sky, followed by a figure appearing in the air.

    "look, lord governor, lord governor is here!"

    as soon as this figure appeared, the audience immediately exclaimed, their eyes filled with immense reverence as they looked at the figure.

    xu nian and others pricked up their ears too, very curious about what the rules and rewards of this academy competition would be.

    "first, let us discuss the rules of the competition. there are ten colleges, thirty contestants, and the competition will be divided into the preliminary, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals, held over four days. today is the preliminary round, where we will have a thirty-person melee elimination, narrowing it down to sixteen," elder song heng said.

    "a thirty-person melee?" the audience exclaimed in surprise.

    xu nian and others were also somewhat astonished. a thirty-person melee?

    this was unexpected; in previous years, it was either a small group duel or combat against demon beasts, but this year it was a thirty-person melee.

    "a thirty-person melee, interesting!" the prefectural governor on the high platform laughed heartily.

    beside him, the dean of tianhen academy smiled ceaselessly; naturally, this method was his idea.

    this method emphasized team strength and was especially advantageous for strong academies like theirs. conversely, it was very disadvantageous for the slightly weaker academies, as could be seen from the unhappy expressions on the faces of several deans from weaker academies.

    "alright, i''ll stop here about the rules, and now let me talk about the rewards," elder song heng said.

    the audience immediately perked up, their eyes filled with excitement.

    the rewards each year were especially generous, and this year would likely be no exception.

    "first, let me talk about the rewards for the top eight. the students who place in the top eight will directly qualify to enter the battle mansion, an old rule, which i assume needs no explanation," continued elder song heng.

    the audience all nodded; the reward for the top eight was always the same in each competition.

    "next, let me talk about the rewards for the top three. the third place, apart from having the qualification to enter the battle mansion, will also receive a heavenly rank low grade battle technique," elder song heng announced.

    "good heavens, a heavenly rank technique! the third place gets a heavenly rank low grade battle technique; isn''t that reward a bit too lavish?" the audience suddenly exclaimed.

    xu nian was also somewhat surprised; he hadn''t expected such a huge reward for the third place.

    although these four grades of battle techniques were only useful below the saint realm and saints afterward would have their own created combat skills, a heavenly rank technique was something many marquis level powerhouses might not even obtain.