Chapter 26: Dormancy

News that Su Chen would not be competing in the end-of-year competition spread rapidly.

Bai Yihong, Bai Ou, and many others were extremely let down and unhappy about this development.

Night Blade, who had been defeated by Su Chen during the Three Mountains Region Exam, claimed that Su Chen was afraid of participating in the end-of-year competition. Otherwise, he would have dealt with Su Chen, settling the score from his earlier defeat at Su Chen’s hands.

Frigid Despair Gan Erlei, who had also been defeated by Su Chen, also expressed his desire to teach Su Chen a lesson.

However, their words were spurned by Wang Doushan and Jin Ling’er.

Jin Ling’er’s relationship with Su Chen after the Three Mountains Region exam was always pretty good and they still often interacted with each other. When she discovered that Su Chen was not participating in the end-of-year competition, Jin Ling’er personally went to find him and ask why. When she heard Su Chen’s reasoning, she could only sigh.

As for Pan Hao and his lackeys, because of the dirt that Su Chen had on them, they could not say anything in the end. All they could do was endure silently.

In comparison, Ji Hanyan’s method was much simpler. She went to Su Chen directly and tried to fight him.

She argued that since she could not battle with him during the end-of-year competition, they should have a secret battle.

There was nothing Su Chen could do. He helplessly followed Ji Hanyan to the arena to exchange a few blows.

Utter defeat!

Unsurprisingly, Ji Hanyan’s strength had once again increased since the Three Mountains Region exam. In the past year, she had been bitterly cultivating the entire time.

As for Su Chen, he had spent his first three months merely analyzing new Origin Skills. Apart from that, all he had done was research, study, study, and research. It would’ve been strange if he had been able to win.

Contemporary Origin Skills emphasized experience and practice - this was not just a saying.

Even so, Su Chen did not change his mind.

It was just as Shi Kaihuang had said.

Before you succeeded, you would be just a piece of trash.

After you succeeded, you would become someone with great stature.

Su Chen didn’t pay any attention to what others thought of him. He continued to bury his head in his own studies and research.

If Shi Kaihuang wouldn’t allow him to study Origin Energy, he would research it after his classes.

Using the Brooke Formula to calculate how certain variations affected the skill’s output and how to best complement Kaihuang’s Heaven seemed simple. However, the actual components involved were extremely complex; otherwise, Shi Kaihuang wouldn’t have been stumped for such a long time in the first place.

Origin Energy Talismans were already quite complex in their own right, not to mention Origin Energy Patterns. When the two of them were combined, the number of variations was like the number of stars in the sky. As he performed calculation after calculation, Su Chen felt like his head was about to explode.

Even so, Su Chen was quite happy.

He ignored the suffering as he continued to calculate, searching for a final answer that could resolve the issue. At the same time, he was becoming more and more familiar with Kaihuang’s Heaven’s method of conducting Origin Energy, deepening his understanding......

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The day of the end-of-year competition had finally arrived.

The tournament was set up as a single-elimination bracket.

All of the students were seeded based on the rankings they had when they first entered the Institute. After the weak were eliminated, the top 200 would be placed on the Dragon Transformation List.

Because there were so many people, the end-of-year competition lasted for ten days.

The students of the Hidden Dragon Institute were busiest during this time of year.

The students atop the stage strove to triumph over their opponent while the students below the stage watched intently, whispering to each other and commenting on the performance of each student. All of them were in high spirits. There were even those who had started a betting match based on perception, strength, and financial ability.

But everything that was happening was completely unrelated to Su Chen.

He silently went back and forth between the lecture halls and the Origin Energy Tower. He had completely moved out from the Clear Sky Tower to the the Origin Energy Tower. He spent all his time studying and performing research. No matter how chaotic the outside world was, he was completely unaffected and unaware.

It wasn’t until the fourth day after the end-of-year competition that Su Chen was finally informed of the results.

As per usual, Ji Hanyan was extremely powerful. She was ranked fourth, reaching the top five of the Dragon Transformation List. However, it seemed that she was extremely unhappy with her result. As someone who had been at the top for so long, it was unsurprising that she couldn’t accept the fact that others were in front of her.

But that was reality. The Hidden Dragon Institute gathered heroes from all over the country. Every student was a well-known genius in their hometown, but when they all gathered together, they would all be ranked and divided by their strength.

But in comparison, Jin Ling’er’s fate was even more tragic.

Her bloodline wasn’t suited for battling on a stage; the Hidden Dragon Institute wouldn’t permit her to control someone else in battle.

Thankfully, her strength had somewhat increased during this period of time, as had her consciousness-controlling technique. By relying on that technique, she was able to force her way into the top 200.

Jin Ling’er felt so wronged that she was about to cry.

Wang Doushan had achieved a better ranking. He was not weak in the first place and he had also improved. During the end-of-year competition, he was able to achieve 98th place.

Li Qingyun and Bai Li did not fall behind either. The two of them also entered the top 200, earning their spots on the Dragon Transformation List. One was 148th place and the other was 149th. While the difference in strength between the two of them was still very small, Bai Li was slightly ahead of Li Qingyun this time around.

As for Night Blade and Frigid Despair Gan Erlei, who said they were going to teach Su Chen a lesson, neither of them entered the top 200. Night Blade was better at concealment and ambushing at night. Like Jin Ling’er, he was not suited for battle on a stage. As for Frigid Despair, he was just a genius from a small and relatively rural location. Once he left his small pond for the real world, he realized that he was just a frog in a well. Defeating Su Chen naturally became a joke; he couldn’t even be placed on the Dragon Transformation List.

Lin Jingxuan was also unable to be placed on the Dragon Transformation List.

Although the disciples of the Lin Clan were able to enter the Hidden Dragon Institute, they were still quite a ways away from being able to establish themselves in such a fierce environment.

As for Su Chen...... Because he hadn’t participated, he received absolutely nothing.

He lost his status as a second-tier seedling.

Thankfully, with Shi Kaihuang’s support, his privileges within the Institute were preserved even though he had lost his status.

Many people laughed at him because of this.

Even the Flying Snow Guild, which had looked on him with great importance, couldn’t help but sigh.

Their attempts to recruit Su Chen also slowly subsided.

He was no longer the pride of those without bloodlines. He was just an average student who had experienced a short moment of fame.

Perhaps not long afterwards, he wouldn’t even be average anymore.

After the first year had passed, the rookies had become even more experienced. The students were all ranked relative to one another and the gaps between them also slowly began to show.

Those who had placed on the Dragon Transformation List were considered a certain tier while those who had not were considered to be a different tier. Different rankings also represented different levels of strength.

Although these divisions didn’t seem too important on the surface, as time went on, they sank into people’s hearts until they became a routine, almost into a sort of unspoken rule…...

However, Su Chen had nothing to do with all of this.

He buried his head in his studies, focusing all of his attention on studying Origin Energy.

Today was no exception. After listening to the lectures, Su Chen returned to the Origin Energy Tower.

Upon arriving at the tower, however, Su Chen discovered a person passed out in front of the door.

After taking a close look, Su Chen exclaimed in surprise, “It’s you?”