Now that she had impressed the gravity of the situation on all of them, Vice Principal Su Xin returned to her usual, soft, and kindly manner.

"And there’s one more thing to talk about: the format to choose the ultimate winner.

"After the first hall-level battle, there will be four victors—the four strongest students. They will each be awarded a golden resonant tree brooch..." She summoned the image of one to show them a small, gold badge about half the size of her palm. The image of a tree was carved on the flat, shiny gold, its majestic canopy...