Desolate beasts that consume the brains of other desolate beasts sometimes can acquire the memories of those they've eaten, meaning the experiences and sights of the devoured beast could be digested by another.
If this green caterpillar was squashed by Long Guocheng, then it implies that the green caterpillar saw Xiang Beifei and his people!
Even if the green caterpillar couldn't understand human language, the images and scenes would still remain in its mind!
What exactly did they say when they encountered the green caterpillar? Could it have remembered?
Eating the brains of other desolate beasts to compensate for their own deficiencies and broaden their knowledge, these kinds of beasts would inevitably grow more intelligent the more they ate!
Desolate beasts that are strong but simple-minded are not frightening; it's the intelligent ones that are truly terrifying!
For now, it's uncertain what kind of impression of these people the green caterpillar, stepped on by Long Guocheng, actually left behind.
Li Zimu's stone huts were stacked up, providing individual rooms for everyone. There were no beds, no blankets—although crude, such niceties were not expected in the desolate wilds outside civilization.
When Xiang Beifei returned from his duty, Long Guocheng was leaning against the door with his arms crossed, saying, "Can I ask you a question?"
"What?" Xiang Beifei responded.
"You're not an N-tier Awakener, are you? You are at least SR, right?"
"Is that important to you?"
"It would make me feel better," Long Guocheng reluctantly admitted.
If he lost to an SR like Li Zimu, he wouldn't feel too humiliated, as his talent was not inferior to his own. Both of them were SR; he could win back the loss next time.
But losing to an N-tier Awakener left a lump in his heart.
"That's your own problem, not related to me," Xiang Beifei didn't like explaining his abilities to others.
Because he didn't have a system to begin with.
"We're a team! I've told you about my abilities! But we don't know anything about yours! Since we are a team, there should be mutual understanding," Long Guocheng emphasized.
"Now you admit we're a team? I thought you always liked showing off," Xiang Beifei said.
Long Guocheng huffed but didn't refute that point.
He did like to show off; without it, he couldn't collect system points.
"If you tell me you are SR or even SSR, then I would be totally convinced by my loss," Long Guocheng stated.
"Do you look down on people with a lower system rank than yourself that much? What's wrong with being N-tier? Or R-tier? What about S-tier? Aside from their cultivation progress, in what aspects are they inferior to you? Their character, morality, behavior... Do they deserve your disdain? Do you just like to find a sense of superiority over those with lower tiers?" Xiang Beifei spoke sternly.
"I..." Long Guocheng was left speechless by the retort.
He looked down on people with less talent than himself because he believed they'd never amount to much, especially the lower-tier N-tier Awakeners.
He would only respect the strong.
And yet, his pride would always be crushed when faced with Xiang Beifei.
He hoped deep down that Xiang Beifei's system was at least SR-tier, or even SSR. That way, he could accept his defeat without feeling too undermined, maintaining the proud principles he revered.
But the one thing he absolutely could not accept was the fact that Xiang Beifei could be N-tier!
"I just can't believe an N-tier Awakener has so much potential. Their systems are so flawed; they'll achieve so little in their lives, that strength is impossible," Long Guocheng gritted his teeth.
"Why can't an N-tier Awakener beat an SR? Shang Tianxiong is also an N-tier Awakener; how many can surpass him? Those with real strength can kill SSRs even being SR-tier! Everyone is living in this world, all human; you are no more noble than anyone else. You just had a higher starting point, it doesn't mean you'll be above others in the future. You should stay humble," Xiang Beifei advised.
Xiang Beifei, having said this, went straight back to his own compartment.
Long Guocheng's face was a mix of light and shadow as he pondered Xiang Beifei's words.
Around nine o'clock at night, Ye Changfeng gathered everyone together as he had obtained the schedule and rules for tomorrow's competition.
Elder Luo said, "We need to discuss tomorrow's situation first. Everyone should be on high alert."
The rules were already clear to everyone: the freshman competition was divided into individual matches and team pioneering.
For the individual matches, nine schools would compete in a round-robin, facing off against each other only once, meaning each school would fight eight matches - thirty-six in total, spread over two days.
It would be decided by the roll of a dice whether the Meridian Opening stage or the Qi-Controlling stage contestants would participate.
"Tomorrow's schedule, the first match, Jizhou University against Yanzhou University. Our match is not the first, which is good. We can observe the strength of other schools first. However, the second match is Qingzhou University against Liangzhou University."
Ye Changfeng distributed the flyers to everyone; they all looked at the schedule with grave expressions.
"Yuchi Shen, you tell them about the current strength situation of each school this year," Elder Luo said.
Yuchi Shen glanced at Xiang Beifei emotionlessly, then began the briefing.
"But as the rules stipulate, a person can compete in no more than two matches, so we'll need to analyze the situation with other teachers and then decide how to allocate which of you five will enter the matches and against whom," Yuchi said.
This was like a game of competing horses, but not quite the same. During those races, there were three rounds to show one's prowess, while here, schools only had one round against each other, which was mostly luck-based. Generally, you'd hope that other schools first deal with the strong students from another school, using up their two turns, so that when it was your turn, they'd have to send weaker students.
Take Qingzhou University and Liangzhou University, for instance. Qingzhou University had two SSRs this year, each needing to compete in two matches, meaning their two SSRs could fight at most four matches in total.
Thus, Ye Changfeng hoped that Qingzhou University would use all four opportunities of the two SSRs against the other seven schools, so by the time it was their turn, those chances were gone and they'd have to face SR-level students instead, increasing their chance of winning.
However, all the schools were elites, and the teachers leading them certainly understood this principle. Therefore, the allocation of students for the matches amounted to psychological warfare. Until they competed, no one could be sure if the opponent would send their strongest or weakest.
"As you should be aware, our school does not have any SSRs this year, which means we're at a disadvantage compared to other schools. In individual matches, it will be hard for you to gain the upper hand," Yuchi Shen fixed his gaze on Xiang Beifei.
"Aside from Qingzhou University, Yanzhou University, and Jizhou University, the other schools also only have one SSR, which is just one person at the Meridian Opening stage. We don't need to worry too much, after all, we have classmate Xiang Beifei," Xi Keyao timidly interjected.
"The situation is not that simple," Elder Luo said, "For individual matches, there are only eight to play, one point per match. The total score is very important. But have you considered that other schools will definitely try to secure an easy point for a higher total? And that easy point is almost necessarily taken from whom?"
Long Guocheng and the others realized the implication: "From us at Liangzhou University?"
The other eight schools shared a common understanding that Liangzhou University didn't have any SSRs this year, meaning no students at the Meridian Opening stage.
Therefore, to secure an assured point, they would definitely send an SSR at the Meridian Opening stage to face Liangzhou University!
Because if their SSR faced a school's SSR, both at the Meridian Opening stage, it would inevitably result in a loss for one.
If by chance they lost, it would not be worth it.
But all schools assumed that every student from Liangzhou University was only at the latter stages of Qi-Controlling, so sending a Meridian Opening stage SSR to face a Liangzhou University that had only Qi-Controlling students was almost a guaranteed victory.
Everyone wanted to pick the lowest hanging fruit, to grab an easy point first!
"Yes, which means our opponent in each match might be an Meridian Opening stage SSR!" Elder Luo said meaningfully.