Universe Infinite Canteen-Chapter 606: Challenge

To ensure the fairness of the challenge, the Ministry of Education officials in charge of overseeing the competition were neither from Lingnan City nor from Ping City, but were drawn from other regions.

However, they were not too far away, having arrived by train early in the morning.

Principal Tang arranged for them to have a meal in the school cafeteria, where they also started talking about the upcoming challenge.

"It's utter nonsense. I think that new Principal Ma from Hou De is just fooling around!"

Principal Tang bristled and glared as he spoke, "Everyone knows the level of Hou De in recent years. Can they really make a miraculous recovery overnight just because they've got a new principal?!"

"I don't mean to look down on them, but we're all in education. Education is about teaching and raising people. Whether it's teaching or raising, none of it can be rushed. Without a few years or even decades, what results can be achieved?"

One of the older Ministry of Education officials did not join in the conversation but simply ate his bowl of tofu pudding without a word.

The younger one immediately agreed, saying, "Exactly, exactly. Minister Gong often says that education is a task that benefits both the present and future generations. Great minds think alike indeed."

"Ah, please, I dare not compare myself to Minister Gong," Principal Tang hastily deflected, but a pleased look crept onto his face.

Later, Principal Tang continued to complain about Principal Ma causing trouble for no reason, inconveniencing everyone and adding to the workload of the Ministry of Education.

The older Ministry of Education official remained composed, leaving the younger official to make small talk with Principal Tang.

By the time the two officials finished their meal, the teachers and students from Hou De had finally arrived.

They had dispatched a total of 16 people, including 11 students, 3 staff members, and 2... journalists.

Bringing journalists to a challenge made Principal Tang's impression of Ma Lu even worse.

He had planned to invite them for breakfast, but now they were only served a few cups of cold tea.

Then, a young instructor with phoenix eyes and wearing military boots spoke out to the students who were about to receive the tea.

"Don't drink any of it. Have you forgotten what I said earlier? Once you leave the school, you can only eat what we brought with us, and you should only drink water from our water bottles."

"Hmph, that's using a villain's heart to judge a gentleman's intentions!"

At these words, Principal Tang was so angered that he bristled and glared once more. "Do I need to resort to such despicable tactics to deal with just Hou De?"

The younger Ministry of Education official also felt aggrieved after hearing this, "We're here to supervise. How can there be any foul play with the food?"

"Li, this is where you're mistaken," Ma Lu turned and said, "Our Principal Tang is a man of dignity. Even if he loses, he'd lose standing. He definitely wouldn't do something so unscrupulous. Let's eat and drink as we should."

Hearing Ma Lu's words, Principal Tang's face grew even darker, and he lost the desire to continue with any pretense. He said bluntly,

"Since you're here, let's get on with the competition. Once it's over, go back to where you came from."

The older Ministry of Education official then looked at Ma Lu, who said, "I have no objections."

"Good," the official said, "I am Jiang Guangtian from the Sheep City Education Bureau, and this is my colleague Chang Qing," as he pointed to the younger official.

"Following higher-level arrangements, the two of us are here to ensure the fairness of this challenge. The challenger—Hou De Talisman Master School, ranked 167th among high schools; the challenged—Church Lingnan Education College, ranked 157th among high schools.

"The challenge request was delivered to the challenged party a week ago and was filed and approved by the local education bureau, adhering to the challenge conditions."

"If the challenge is successful, the rankings will be exchanged; if failed, the rankings remain unchanged. Do the principals have any objections?"

"No," Ma Lu immediately said.

"I don't either," Tang Dewang added, but then muttered under his breath, "This is too unfair. There's no benefit in winning, but you drop in rank if you lose."

Hearing his comment, Jiang Guangtian patiently explained, "Principal Tang, the Ministry of Education has actually been aware of the issue you've raised and will issue supplementary rules in the near future. However, at this stage, there indeed isn't any punishment for failing a challenge."

Tang Dewang felt a stirring, realizing he needed to accelerate his plans to climb the rankings before the supplementary rules were announced.

His mind had already flown to the next match, and as for Hou De, he truly didn't take them to heart.

Jiang Guangtian continued, "According to the rules, the individual battles will take place first; there are five rounds in total for individual battles, with the winner of each round receiving one point. Each student may participate in only one individual battle.

"After the individual battles come the team battles. The team battles require five students to appear on stage simultaneously, and those who participated in the individual battles may also join the team battles. The winning side of the team battle will earn three points.

"Both sides must submit their list of participants and the order of appearance to me before the beginning of the match.

"The side with the most points after the tournament is considered the victor; if the points are equal, it will also be counted as a loss for the challenging side, with no change to the school rankings."

After finishing, Jiang Guangtian looked at the two principals, "I want to emphasize once again that only students currently enrolled in each school may participate, regardless of grade. I will record and keep a list of participants with their signatures, and we will also take photographs as proof.

"If we discover any cheating, not only will the challenging side be immediately deemed the loser, but they will also be barred from challenging any other schools for the next three years. Do you understand?"

Tang Dewang looked up at the sky, a trace of impatience crossing his face, but still managed to reply with forced patience, "Understood, let's get started."

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Ma Lu spoke with righteous conviction, "I, Mr. Ma, have always been known for my honesty and integrity. I aim not just to win but to win fair and square!"

Hearing this, Lu Yingying's eyes sparkled like little stars. She quickly took out her notebook to jot down his words, planning to use them as the headline for her interview.

Afterward, both sides began selecting their participants.

Tang Dewang had already had his secretary prepare a list of participants in advance. After researching Hou De and finding no notable talents there, he completely let his guard down.

For the individual battles, he chose several students with exceptional combat abilities and arranged their order casually. For the team battle, Tang Dewang replaced three of them and added three more to team up with Luo Hengyi.

In Principal Tang's view, as long as he had the unbeatable Luo Hengyi on his side, Hou De would be out of moves.

Because no scheme or trickery could compensate for a gap in strength.

Meanwhile, Ma Lu didn't rush to select his candidates. After Lingnan's list was revealed, he first activated the "Peeping" skill and chose Luo Hengyi as his target.

After finding out that Luo Hengyi was scheduled to appear last in the individual battles, Ma Lu and Li Zhengwei calmly finalized Hou De's list of participants.

Once both sides had submitted their lists, and after Jiang Guangtian had verified them as correct, he immediately announced the participants for the first round.

"The first match, from Lingnan, third-year student Gao Zhiqiang versus Hou De's second-year student Yu Zimei."

From the Lingnan side, a tall and imposing young man stepped forward, while from Hou De's side, a short girl with glasses appeared.

She seemed nervous. As she went forward to sign her name, she tripped over her own feet and nearly fell. It was only thanks to Gao Zhiqiang's timely support that she didn't tumble.

Tang Dewang felt assured of victory at the sight.