After Edward and the others checked-in in the tournament authority building, they were taken to an open field at the backside of the building. Old Summer wasn't a participant so he stayed outside the open field, on the spectators' area.

The open field was quite spacious and well-managed, According to the information they got, it was a training ground for the army. This was a special training ground where a handful of elite soldiers trained. Today, for this event, the training ground was reserved for the participants.

As they waited inside the training ground, more and more participants kept coming. Finally, after several hours, the training ground was full. From a total of 100 countries, there were a total of 500 participants divided into 100 teams.

As they were waiting for the event to begin, a large carriage came flying above the training field.

"His Majesty The Grand Sky Emperor and The Honoured Lord Grand Sky Scholar has arrived!", at this moment, the soldiers in the front announced.

The carriage landed before everyone as two people came out of it. One of them was a sturdy middle-aged man wearing an imperial outfit, the other one was an old man dressed as a scholar.

Everyone could guess who was who, seeing their appearances.

"I am glad that you all have come here!", the Emperor began to speak.

"First of all, I would like to tell you more about the Grand Academy Tournament and its purpose. As all of you know, you, the academy students, are the best talents in your respective nations. You are a great asset not only to your country but also to the empire and this entire continent. The purpose of the Grand Academy tournament is to hone your talents and turn yourselves into true warriors. The venue for the tournament is the ancient grounds of the Empire. The ancient ground of the Empire is situated in a different dimension. It was created by powerful cultivators of ancient times. The founding ancestors of this Empire found the entrances to the ancient grounds and built the Empire surrounding them. The training field you are standing in has one of the entrances to the ancient grounds. Lord Grand Sky Scholar will send you to the ancient grounds by activating the array beneath you. Your job is to survive inside the ancient realm for the next six months. Remember, the ancient realm is full of opportunities, so it's a place where you can grow stronger at a fast pace, triggering your true talents. There are treasures, ancient legacies, and many other hidden opportunities. But these opportunities don't come without risk. There are many powerful beasts as well as other unknown threats. For the next six months, whether you live or die will depend on you. If you live, you will be a gainer, and if you die, you will be forgotten. Only those who can survive inside the ancient grounds for the next six months will move on to the next round of the Grand Academy Tournament. So, let's begin!", the Emperor announced.

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Everyone braced themselves. Most of them were excited about this ancient realm. they wanted to see what kind of place it was, and what kind of fortune will they come upon.

The Grand Sky Scholar raised his hand. "Best of luck everyone! Prepare to be transported to the ancient ground! This array is about to be activated! Hold tight to your teammates, or the team might get separated.", he shouted.

As he started the transport process, something hit Edward's mind. For some reason, he found the Grand Sky Scholar's voice familiar.

"Where have I heard this voice before?", he wondered.

Before he could finish wondering, a bright flash of light covered everyone. When the bright light vanished, Edward and his teammates discovered themselves standing below a mountain. the other participants were nowhere to be seen.

"It seems we have been transported inside the ancient grounds. All the teams were sent to different locations, in order to avoid clashing earlier.", Edward said.

"But at least we don't have to worry much for the next six months. Because this is a survival round, there won't be fights among participants, am I right?", Daniel said.

"Not really. This is why it is a tournament. Although this is a survival round, if two or more teams find a treasure or a legacy, they will clash to gain the treasure or legacy for themselves. There is also a chance that some team will intentionally make things harder for other teams. In this ancient ground, it is very likely for the teams to have clashes of interest, thus they will end up fighting each other sooner or later. If this place is really full of various treasures, as they say, battles are unavoidable.", Edward said.

"I guess you are right.", Daniel said.

"So, what's the plan, Edward?", Robert asked.

"If we stayed where we are right now for the next six months, I believe we can pass this round without any effort. But if we do this, we won't grow much in strength for the next six months. The best thing to do is to excavate the ancient grounds. If we travel throughout the ancient grounds, we might be lucky and find something which may help us gain strength. We might face dangers along the way, but facing those dangers will only make us stronger. We should make use of the ancient grounds to hone our strength as much as possible.", Edward said.

Everyone nodded and agreed to Edward's suggestion.

"Now, all of you stay here for a while. As I can fly, I will be flying around as far as I can and try to check out the entire ancient grounds if possible. With my speed, I believe it shouldn't be a problem. Till I come back, all of you can cultivate here.", Edward said.

Wings made of 'formless Qi' appeared on his back. In an instant, he had flown high up in the sky.

Edward flew very high up in the sky so that he could see as much as possible from above. He was trying to get a bird's eye view to cover all the grounds and see everything.

Flying above the sky, he kept scouting around. As he flew farther, he saw more and more. He saw other teams scattered around here and there. Many teams had already started searching for treasures. Checking more, he saw a few ruins scattered throughout the land. It seems that these ruins had something to offer.

After flying around for a while, he had pretty much finished checking whatever he needed to check. He decided not to check the entire ancient grounds as he didn't know how big it was. He returned to the place where he left his teammates and flew down.

"I've scouted a lot of areas, and I've found several places to visit. Let's go!", he called as soon as he appeared before his teammates.