"That wasn't me," Wan Xiao quickly waved his hands.
The martial arts room had good soundproofing, but with the door open and Li Yuan having sharp hearing, he naturally caught the voices coming from outside. He turned to look.
A boy dressed in a black martial arts uniform, with a well-proportioned build and a buzz cut, quickly approached the door of the 4011 martial arts room. He was shorter than Wan Xiao by half a head, about the same height as Li Yuan, and had a rather handsome face.
"Wan Xiao, how could you jump out the window... Hey! Why does this martial arts room have an owner now?" The boy was about to speak when he noticed the green sign on the door.
Each martial arts room had three types of signs showing different statuses—owner present, unoccupied, or breached. The green sign meant it was opened normally by the owner.
"4011 isn't unoccupied... Who are you? How do you have access to 4011?" The boy finally noticed Li Yuan inside the room, looking puzzled.
The boy wasn't foolish. He had thought Wan Xiao had opened the room by jumping out the window. But from Wan Xiao's words and the green sign, he quickly figured out that Li Yuan was the owner.
"Wan Xiao, aren't you going to introduce us?" Li Yuan smiled.
He could tell the boy meant no harm; he just spoke very directly and wasn't very cunning.
"This is Gu Qianghan from Class 1 of the senior year," Wan Xiao introduced with a grin. "His nickname is 'Not Strong.'"
Class 1 of each grade was the elite class.
"Wan Xiao, I’ll say it again, call me Gu Qiang. If you call me by my full name again, I’ll get really mad." The boy's expression turned unhappy.
Wan Xiao just smiled and ignored him, pointing at Li Yuan. "Gu Qiang, a few days ago after Teacher Xu's class, weren't you always talking about Li Yuan? Well, here he is."
The boy, who had looked unhappy before, suddenly brightened up and stared at Li Yuan. "You're the Li Yuan that Teacher Xu said has amazing spear skills?"
"Uh, amazing spear skills?" Li Yuan chuckled. "I'm not that great, but if Teacher Xu was talking about Li Yuan from Class 2, then that’s me."
Li Yuan already knew who the boy was. When he looked at the end-of-term rankings for the second year, he had paid attention to the top ten students.
Gu Qianghan was indeed the third in martial arts scores for the end-of-term exams.
However, his appearance was a bit surprising to Li Yuan; he looked much more refined than his name suggested.
"Teacher Xu said you’re impressive, so you must be good," Gu Qianghan's eyes sparkled. "I checked, and for the last term's exams, your martial arts technique score was the highest in the whole grade."
"Yeah." Li Yuan watched the boy with interest.
"I want to challenge you," Gu Qianghan said, his excitement evident as he looked at Li Yuan, eager to try.
"Li Yuan, don't underestimate him."
"This kid is quite cunning. When I first got to the elite class, I was fooled by his looks," Wan Xiao quickly spoke up.
"What do you mean fooled? I’m not sneaking up on you; I’m here to spar openly," Gu Qianghan said disdainfully. "You look like a bear, and yet you couldn’t even take ten punches from me. How can you say that?"
Wan Xiao was momentarily speechless.
He had nothing to say back. When he first arrived in the elite class, he had faced Gu Qianghan in a challenge, thinking he would be easy to beat because of his pretty face. The result... was a crushing defeat.
"Ten punches?" Li Yuan nodded slightly, not surprised.
Based on the end-of-term scores, Gu Qianghan had slightly higher raw scores than him, so it made sense he could defeat Wan Xiao.
"So, what do you say?" Gu Qianghan stared at Li Yuan. "Let’s fight in full armor; I want to see your spear skills."
Gu Qianghan's eyes glimmered with fighting spirit.
Li Yuan smiled.
From their earlier conversation, Li Yuan had guessed why Gu Qianghan wanted to challenge him. It was probably because Teacher Xu had used his spear skills as an example in the elite class, saying some not-so-nice things.
For instance, "You call yourselves an elite class? I don’t see any of you matching up to Li Yuan from Class 2."
"A guy who hasn’t even awakened his martial spirit, and his spear skills could take all of you down."
Using students from other classes to belittle the students in his own class was a common tactic for many teachers. This also unintentionally created a lot of resentment towards Li Yuan in the elite class.
"Li Yuan, if you're a martial artist, accept my challenge," Gu Qianghan said, looking at Li Yuan.
Li Yuan found it quite amusing and glanced at Wan Xiao. It had been a while since he heard such a childish phrase.
Wan Xiao shrugged, indicating that "he's always been like this."
"I won’t accept," Li Yuan shook his head.
Gu Qianghan glared at him. "Li Yuan, don’t you have a martial artist's spirit?"
"I'm not even a martial artist, so naturally, I don’t have that spirit," Li Yuan rolled his eyes at Gu Qianghan.
"Enough, this is my martial arts room, and I need to train now."
In truth, Li Yuan didn’t want to fight not because he was afraid of Gu Qianghan.
It was just pointless and risky.
Sparring with Teacher Xu was safe because the teacher's strength was far above that of the students, allowing him to control the situation and ensure no one would get hurt.
But when two students of similar strength spar, it’s impossible to control everything.
Even with full armor and using unsharpened cold weapons, serious injuries or even death could easily happen.
Such incidents were not rare. Li Yuan didn’t want to take risks for something that had no benefits.
"You..." Gu Qianghan was about to say something.
"Gu Qianghan, who gave you the guts to challenge someone to a private fight?" A low voice suddenly came from outside the door.
Gu Qianghan's face stiffened. Instead of being angry at having his full name called, a hint of fear crossed his eyes.
"Sis—" Gu Qianghan suddenly turned around, placed a hand on Li Yuan's shoulder, and smiled broadly. "I was just joking with Li Yuan, right? You agree, don’t you, Li Yuan?"
Li Yuan was taken aback for a moment, caught off guard.
Wan Xiao shrugged, indicating this was normal.
Gu Qianghan shook Li Yuan’s shoulder vigorously, giving him frantic looks.
But Li Yuan stood firm, like a rock, his gaze fixed on the figure at the door.
A girl around seventeen or eighteen years old stood there, dressed in a tight-fitting training outfit of bright red. She had a delicate yet strong face, bright eyes, and a determined expression.
Her long black hair was neatly tied up, giving her a very capable appearance.
However, the most striking feature was the fiery red sword hanging at her waist.
"Li Yuan, hello, I’m Lin Lanyue from Class 1 of the senior year." The girl also looked at Li Yuan and introduced herself. "I’m here to apologize on behalf of my brother. He tends to get carried away, so I hope you won’t take it to heart."
"I'm fine," Li Yuan waved his hand and smiled.
The girl nodded, her gaze sharpening as she turned back to Gu Qianghan, making him feel uneasy.
"Sis!" Gu Qianghan instinctively pulled his hand away from Li Yuan's shoulder.
"If I find out you’re challenging someone to a private fight again, you’ll regret it," the girl said coldly.
Gu Qianghan awkwardly scratched his head, not daring to speak.
Since childhood, Gu Qianghan had always felt a natural fear of this cousin who was only half a year older than him.
"It’s just a small matter."
"No need to blame him; we’re all fine," Li Yuan said with a smile.
Li Yuan recognized the girl at first glance.
She had spoken at school assemblies more than once.
Since he entered school, she had always been on the honor roll.
She was the top martial artist in the senior year, also recognized as the most likely candidate to enter Starry Sky University—Lin Lanyue.
"It’s good that you’re not upset."
The girl nodded, her eyes still fixed on Li Yuan. "Li Yuan, my brother was wrong to challenge you, but Teacher Xu said your martial arts skills are better than everyone in our class. It’s not just my brother who feels this way."
"Actually, I feel the same way."
Li Yuan was taken aback.
Wan Xiao was also stunned.
Gu Qianghan's eyes lit up with excitement; he knew his cousin's personality very well.
On the surface, she seemed kind, but deep down, she was very strong-willed.
"I also want to ask you about your spear skills, which Teacher Xu said are almost perfect, but not in a real fight." The girl looked at Li Yuan. "How about a match on the Star Combat Network?"
The Star Combat Network was a virtual combat platform where no one would get hurt.
"What’s in it for me?" Li Yuan shrugged and smiled. "I never do things without benefits."
"Benefits?" Lin Lanyue frowned.
"How about this, let’s make a bet," Li Yuan said with a smile. "If you win, I’ll publicly acknowledge you as the top martial artist in the whole grade."
"And if I win, you’ll owe me two thousand Blue Star Coins. What do you think?" Li Yuan smiled.
"What kind of bet is that?" Gu Qianghan exclaimed. "That’s a sure win for you; you’re dreaming."
"Suit yourselves," Li Yuan said with a smile. "If you don’t agree, please leave and don’t waste my training time."
"Fine, I accept," Lin Lanyue looked at Li Yuan.
"Sis!" Gu Qianghan was shocked.
"Shut up," Lin Lanyue frowned.
"Then let’s meet at two o'clock on Sunday afternoon, okay?" Li Yuan smiled. "Add me on V, and I’ll send you my account name."
"Sure."
Soon, they became virtual network friends.
"Gu Qiang, let’s go." Lin Lanyue turned to leave, with Gu Qianghan following helplessly behind.
Only Li Yuan and Wan Xiao were left.
"Li Yuan, you really lost out," Wan Xiao couldn’t help but say. "You don’t know, Lin Lanyue’s family is very wealthy. If you had bet five thousand or even ten thousand Blue Star Coins, I’m sure she would have agreed."
Li Yuan shook his head. "You’re foolish."
"The laws of Xia Country state that bets on the Star Combat Network for minors cannot exceed two thousand Blue Star Coins."
"Anything over two thousand Blue Star Coins isn’t protected by law."
(End of Chapter)