Watch out! Something's wrong with this guard.

The first Heroes' Gathering, the entrance examination for elementary students of the Boundless Academy, officially began the following day.

At this moment, many elementary school students have gathered both on and off the mountain, all for this so-called 'Heroes' Gathering'.

"I heard that this Heroes' Gathering was jointly organized by the strongest among the elementary students, with the aim of seizing the crystals from others."

"Huh? Then who would dare to fight?"

"Hey, that's not quite right. Although they're co-organizing, they've certainly given others a chance. Putting aside whether they're the strongest or not, the rules clearly state that there are seven challengers, each with 600 mid-stage crystals and 100 late-stage crystals. If you win, those crystals are yours."

"And if you lose, you only need to pay half of the crystals as a price, which is a huge temptation for everyone."

"Wow~ I'm starting to feel tempted."

"Haha, if you're interested, I see you're also in the late stage of Body Tempering, why not give it a try? Win a match and leave, it's a free win, and even if you lose, you still have another chance, right?"

"This... damn it, let's do it, I'll give it a try, I'm going to sign up right now."

"Hey! Brother, I forgot to mention, you need to pay thirty gold coins to enter."

"I have!"

"Then you must keep it up!"

The handsome young man stretched out a hand, as if gently pushing the back of a child about to step into the abyss.

"Heh... I tricked another one." Lu Yunshi withdrew his arm, his expression returning to calm. In the past half hour, he had already tricked three beginner students in the late stage of Body Tempering into coming up the mountain. His record was not bad.

He looked back and saw that the mountain was already packed with people. "There must be at least a thousand people. I should have found a bigger place."

"These people can bring you at least tens of thousands in revenue, and even allow you to sweep the top five spots in the academy's assessment?" Lu Yuan slowly walked over and stood beside Lu Yunshi, asking.

Even now, seeing so many people drawn to this gathering of heroes among beggars, he was still astonished.

"Aren't you afraid that among them there might actually be someone capable of defeating you and taking all the crystals from your bodies?"

"Where did this 'tens of thousands of yuan in profit' come from? That kid is just lying." Lu Yunshi chuckled twice, but seeing Lu Yuan staring intently at him, he suppressed his smile and explained.

"The most important aspect of this idea is our confidence in our own capabilities."

“Confidence… Hmph.” Lu Yuan sneered. “If you’re so confident, then return my three thousand gold coins.”

"Master, all your money, including the money I earn in the future, is going to buy things for the young lady. You wouldn't want her to be worse off than others, would you?" Lu Yunshi said earnestly in his defense.

"Tsk! You're quite the smooth talker. You'd better really spend your money on Yunxi, otherwise... even if I spent three thousand gold coins to save your life, I'd consider it a loss."

Lu Yuan is a man of his word. Although he was not happy about it, he figured that once the money was given away, it was gone and he wouldn't hold a grudge against a junior. Besides, although this junior was of lowly status, he had always been special and was someone that Lu Yunxi valued.

The two went up the mountain together, and the first duel had already begun.

The challenger was an unknown late-stage Body Tempering cultivator with strong blood and energy. He was not weak among the beginners and must have cultivated incognito to reach this level, just waiting to be assessed and rush up the mountain.

In fact, he was almost ready to meet all the requirements to pass the assessment, but he was still missing a few dozen more late-stage crystals.

With only two or three days left until the assessment, it's not easy to collect dozens of late-stage crystals in such a short time, and those people are basically hiding now.

This gathering of heroes has come at just the right time.

He was very confident in his strength, having previously achieved a high win rate against more than a dozen late-stage Body Tempering Realm opponents, so he naturally wouldn't take his current opponent too seriously.

Moreover, his opponent's qi and blood were fluctuating, making him look like he had just broken through.

What the hell? The strongest late-stage Body Tempering expert? How dare they show their face in public?

Of course, the opponent who dares to be challenged must have some strength, but not much. As long as I win this one, I'll leave.

On his opposite side, his opponent, the eighth brother, looked on warily. He was the first gatekeeper among the seven people. Incidentally, the second gatekeeper was the ninth brother.

Having just broken through to the late stage of Body Tempering, they were the perfect first choice, allowing them to hone their skills.

As for winning or losing? The boss himself said that there's no need to care about winning or losing, just fight with all your might.

"The challenge rules are as follows: fight with all your might in a 100-meter arena. The one who falls off the arena is the loser and must offer a crystal according to the rules. All challenges have a time limit. When the time is up, the one with the weakest aura loses. We ask everyone present to help verify this to avoid accusations of cheating."

"Finally, no drugs are allowed during the challenge; violators will be considered to have failed."

"If the challenger wins, they can choose to adjust their breathing and continue the challenge, or they can choose to leave."

A person wearing a pig-face mask stood between the two, quickly explained the rules, and then left the field.

After the pig-headed man left, Lao Ba and his opponent exchanged a glance and gripped their weapons tightly.

At this moment, Lao Ba recalled his previous conversation with Lao Da.

"Boss, with these rules, if they win and we just leave, wouldn't we be helpless? I think it would be safer to put Fifth Sister, who is stronger, in front. Ninth Brother and I have only just broken through, and I'm afraid..."

"Hey, that's not quite right. It's precisely because you've just broken through that you need some whetstones to improve. As for your other questions... haha, you don't need to worry. Most people won't leave if they win; they'll fight until they lose."

"Ah? Why is this?"

"Because they always feel that once they adjust their mindset, they can continue to win."

Those few people will wisely choose to leave, but what good will leaving do? The academy is still in the assessment period. As long as they leave, they will face new challenges, and no matter how much they win in the end, they will still have to give it all back.

A smaller group will win and leave, but they won't leave the mountain; instead, they'll stay there. We don't need to worry about these people, because their numbers are destined to be small, and we're destined to win enough. As long as we win enough and achieve our goal, we don't need to care how much they get.

"Boss, I'm very confused. Why did they come here? This is clearly very dangerous. Most of them have already met the standards to pass the test. They could have gone up the mountain safely by simply hiding and doing nothing. Why go through all this trouble?"

"Because the benefits we offer are enough to make them lose some of their rationality. Although the academy's mysterious grand prize is mysterious, everyone knows it won't be bad. If they have the chance to get a large number of crystals to gamble on, most people would be willing to do it. At least that's what I thought at first. And now look at how many people have come. Doesn't that prove my point?"

"Similarly, the number of people who came is the main reason why I am certain that the highest percentage of the winning challengers chose to continue the challenge."

"Phew~ Boss, then I can fight without worry and even if I lose without worry." Muttering to himself, Lao Ba let go of all the pressure in his heart and charged towards his opponent.