The distraught young man snapped out of his daze, looked at the tattered bracelet on his wrist, and a look of shame crossed his face. He lowered his head deeply.
"Sigh, you've always been impetuous. Failure isn't necessarily a bad thing; hopefully, you can learn from it."
The powerful figure from the Mountain and Sea realm sighed softly and offered a reassuring remark. Immediately afterwards, staff members came and led the young man named Zhou Qun away from the venue.
Zhou Qun's appearance was just the beginning. As time went on, martial artists who had been eliminated early would appear in the square from time to time, sometimes even three or four at a time.
For the many powerful figures standing on the high platform, this scene was not unexpected.
Although the first heaven is the most vast, it also has the largest number of people. In fact, compared to the base of more than 200,000 people, the current elimination rate is far lower than expected.
At this moment, a commotion suddenly arose on the high platform. Ning Zhiyuan, with a sullen face, strode past the other powerful figures from the Mountain and Sea Realms. To everyone's surprise, Ning Zhiyuan walked directly to the center of the high platform.
On the circular viewing platform, there was a cloud platform that protruded forward. It had only a dozen or so seats and seemed somewhat empty, but even ordinary experts from the Mountain and Sea Realms would feel suffocated just by looking at it.
That was an area reserved for kings and nobles.
Each of those seated figures, even if it was just an avatar, was a being that mountains and seas had to look up to.
And so, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Ning Zhiyuan walked over with an unpleasant expression.
At this moment, even those standing on the high platform, mostly mature and composed top-tier mountain and sea masters, couldn't help but feel a little curious and quietly glanced over.
"Zhiyuan, what is it?"
As a deep voice sounded, Ning Zhiyuan stopped in his tracks at the edge.
Even though those kings and nobles who had their backs to Ning Zhiyuan did not turn around, Ning Zhiyuan could still clearly feel several gazes directed at him, which instantly increased the pressure on him.
But Ning Zhiyuan did not back down. He took a deep breath and said, "Principal, I have a question."
"Speak." After a brief silence, the Earl of Pingyang's voice rang out.
"I don't quite understand why... some students were directly teleported to that 'Misty Forest'?"
Ning Zhiyuan asked.
His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but it was loud enough for the hundreds, even nearly a thousand, powerful figures on the high platform to hear.
For a moment, many people were stunned, and then subconsciously turned their attention to the virtual projection.
Although most of the powerful figures present were unaware of the full competition format, they had all participated to varying degrees in the initial setup of the basic formations.
They also understood in their hearts how complex and vast the terrain of the Nine Heavens World was, in order to give the younger generation the greatest possible experience.
That was a world drawn from the materials of dozens of "gates" behind the world.
Therefore, every realm inevitably contains dangerous or forbidden areas.
The first level of the world has the fewest forbidden areas, with only one "Misty Forest" and a place called "Valley of Extinction".
Furthermore, considering the vast First Heaven world, both of these places are located in the corners. Although students may not be aware of the forbidden areas, the chances of them accidentally entering them are not high.
And now, according to Ning Zhiyuan, someone was sent there right at the start of the game.
To everyone's surprise, when they turned to look closely, they were all taken aback.
Sure enough, on the shrunken projection of the continent, in a small area shrouded in mist on the northeastern edge that no one had paid attention to before, there was a cursor flashing.
The kings and nobles on the cloud platform probably noticed it too, but for a moment they remained silent, including the Earl of Pingyang.
Many people subconsciously glanced at the center of the dozen or so seats, but quickly looked away, as if they were even hesitant to linger.
Although the infrastructure of the First Heaven World was built by powerful figures from the mountains and seas, its final form was entirely controlled by kings and nobles.
The establishment of the "gate" was also the work of one person.
For a moment, everyone was astonished by Ning Zhiyuan's audacity.
If Ning Zhiyuan's words are interpreted too much, they could even be interpreted as him questioning the ethereal figure in the center.
No one spoke, but the atmosphere was almost frozen.
"Are they students from Jiangzhong Military Academy?"
At this moment, a soft laugh rang out, easing the atmosphere and causing many people to subconsciously breathe a sigh of relief.
"Yes," Ning Zhiyuan replied, then paused and continued, "Minister Wu, regardless of which school the students are from, they are all teleported to the forbidden area as soon as they enter, and it's the Misty Forest, which is almost impossible to navigate and is located behind a B-level 'gate'. Isn't that a bit unfair?"
Seeing that Zhou Yiwang didn't react, Wu Wei shook his head and smiled.
"Teleportation is random; it's impossible for all students to meet each other as soon as they enter. As for the teleportation location, there will be good and bad ones. I've seen some people being sent to the Valley of Extinction, but that's just an isolated phenomenon and there's no need to worry about it."
"But... I still feel it's not fair."
Ning Zhiyuan hesitated for a moment, but continued speaking.
At this moment, many powerful figures from the Mountain and Sea Realm on the high platform looked at Ning Zhiyuan in surprise.
After all, Wu Wei's explanation was quite reasonable, and as the Minister of Martial Arts and a top-tier noble, his patience in answering Ning Zhiyuan's questions was beyond reproach.
Ning Zhiyuan, however, was still like a naive young man, repeatedly questioning Jiang Zhongjunwu simply because one of his students had been sent to the forbidden area, which showed a lack of understanding of the situation.
Wu Wei frowned slightly. He was about to say something when he caught a glimpse of the cursor's number out of the corner of his eye. It looked somewhat familiar, and a thought struck him.
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