"You just saw me and wanted to run?" The girl with a ponytail stared at Gu Qianghan.
"No, I just wanted to go to the bathroom," Gu Qianghan quickly shook his head.
"Really?" The ponytail girl looked at him with suspicion.
"Really," Gu Qianghan insisted firmly.
"Then why didn't you go?" The ponytail girl kept her gaze on him.
"Seeing you made me not want to go anymore," Gu Qianghan blurted out.
"Stop lying. If you want to run, just say so. Anyway, when I want to hit you, you can't escape," the ponytail girl huffed.
Nearby, a pretty girl started laughing.
Gu Qianghan's face turned green. Just a moment ago, he was bragging about how strong he was.
"I'm not talking to you anymore," the ponytail girl said, tossing her head. She then looked over at Lin Lanyue not far away, her eyes lighting up as she jumped over. "Sister Yueyue!"
"East East, long time no see," Lin Lanyue smiled and opened her arms to hug the ponytail girl.
Lin Lanyue was half a head taller than the ponytail girl, like an older sister hugging her younger sister.
Li Yuan watched the two from the side.
After releasing Lin Lanyue, the ponytail girl curiously looked at Li Yuan and hesitated, "Are you Li Yuan?"
"Yes," Li Yuan nodded.
"You look a bit more handsome than what Sister Yueyue described," the ponytail girl revealed a small tiger tooth and extended her hand. "Hello, I'm Wu Dongdong."
"Wu Dongdong?" Li Yuan looked at the ponytail girl.
"That's her," Lin Lanyue smiled at Li Yuan. "In the January test, she ranked first in Jiang City. Don't be fooled by her looks."
"Okay," Li Yuan nodded lightly, still feeling it was a bit unreal.
Full marks in both martial arts skills and physical constitution in the college entrance exam.
A martial arts genius that was hard to come by in the entire Jiangbei Province, and probably one of the top in the world for her age. It was hard to connect that with the ponytail girl in front of him.
"Sister Yueyue said your martial arts skills are impressive. Not many people can earn her respect," the ponytail girl looked at Li Yuan and extended her smart wristband. "Let's add each other. We can spar on the combat network later."
"Sure," Li Yuan smiled and added her as a friend.
Li Yuan could tell that Wu Dongdong was innocent and had incredible talent. She was also very familiar with Lin Lanyue, so her background must be significant.
"Dongdong, sparring on the combat network is fine," Lin Lanyue said softly. "But during the technique evaluation later, if you encounter Li Yuan..."
"I understand," Wu Dongdong nodded eagerly, like a chick pecking at rice. "If I run into Sister Yueyue or Li Yuan, I'll take out the other people first, and then we can have a one-on-one."
"What about me?" Gu Qianghan leaned in, looking excited.
"I'll take you out first."
...
Time passed, and after a quarter of an hour, flying vehicles began to arrive one after another.
By four in the afternoon, everyone had finally arrived.
Then, Professor Ming gave an inspiring speech and announced the start of the invitation tour.
After that, everyone received their campus identity cards.
The first item was a campus tour.
...
Li Yuan had to admit that Jiangbei Martial Arts University was indeed huge, much larger than an ordinary university.
They took a sightseeing bus and quickly toured the main campus, which took about an hour.
This didn’t even include visiting the insides of each teaching building.
"So, Li Yuan, you see, students at the martial arts university mostly run to get around," Gu Qianghan pointed to the students running on both sides of the road. "Students aren't allowed to ride bikes inside the martial arts university."
Li Yuan looked around.
Indeed!
There were very few students strolling leisurely; most were jogging or even sprinting.
Previously, Li Yuan had only heard about it online, but this was his first time seeing it.
It was rare to see boys and girls chatting casually in the grass or exploring the woods like in a regular university.
After a brief tour of Jiangbei Martial Arts University, Li Yuan's impression could be summed up in four words: "Very big! Very fast!"
...
After the tour, it was time to eat.
"Ten Blue Star Coins?" Li Yuan looked at the abundant nutritious meal on the table, somewhat surprised.
Outside, it would easily cost at least two hundred Blue Star Coins.
"This ten coins is to prevent waste; essentially, it's all provided by the school," Gu Qianghan laughed beside him. "Martial arts university students receive a monthly allowance on their campus cards, and normally, they can't finish it. In fact, accommodation and meals are all free, plus extra allowances... Of course, the resources for cultivation are limited."
"Every month, there are rankings. The higher the rank, the more cultivation resources you get."
Li Yuan listened to Gu Qianghan's explanation while eating.
It was clear that Gu Qianghan knew a lot about the martial arts university.
"If Jiangbei Martial Arts University has such benefits, what about the five major martial arts schools?" The more Li Yuan learned, the more determined he became. "I must get in."
"And aim for the core level."
Once he got into one of the five major schools, it would greatly relieve the financial pressure on his uncle and aunt.
"Uncle?" Li Yuan thought of the war in the Lobu Sea Star Realm, his eyes dimming as he lowered his head to eat.
Wu Dongdong suddenly slapped the table and muttered, "I'm going to get another serving."
Then, she stood up and dashed out.
"Eating so fast?" Li Yuan was shocked.
He had only eaten half.
"Are you comparing your eating speed with hers?" Gu Qianghan looked at Li Yuan with a strange expression. "Li Yuan, this is her territory."
Li Yuan smiled.
So, Wu Dongdong was a foodie.
Within ten minutes, Wu Dongdong returned with four large servings of nutritious meals and finished them all.
Li Yuan prided himself on being able to eat a lot, but he had to admit defeat.
"Li Yuan, Dongdong has a very special physical talent," Lin Lanyue said. "Her digestion speed... is unmatched by ordinary people."
"Besides normal high-level cultivation, she also has to eat two Source Power Pills every month," Lin Lanyue smiled.
"Impressive," Li Yuan sincerely marveled.
In body cultivation, growth usually has limits.
For martial artists, being able to eat and digest quickly is a fantastic talent, and their physical growth is bound to be rapid.
"Indeed."
"At school, it feels like being in a small pond. Besides Lin Lanyue, no one else is my match." Li Yuan put down his chopsticks and casually glanced at Wu Dongdong, who was still focused on her meal.
In the distance, all the students around him had a physical constitution of level 8 or above.
"Coming to this event and seeing the top seniors from the province made me realize my shortcomings." Li Yuan recognized one of the purposes of the national invitation event.
It was to tell these students.
Ranked first in the grade? First in the county? High martial arts talent?
Even if they are one in a thousand, Jiangbei Province can produce over a thousand such talents in a year.
What about the Xia Country? The whole world?
How many martial arts geniuses emerge each year in human civilization?
"Step by step."
"From middle school until now, I've worked hard to earn the chance to participate in this invitation event." Li Yuan's eyes held desire. "This time, I must seize the opportunity."
...
At eight in the evening.
All the participating students, each holding their student cards, entered the accommodations arranged by Jiangbei Martial Arts University.
"A flat layout?"
Many 'poor students' like Li Yuan were somewhat shocked.
"Normally, two students share a martial arts room, with an area of over 800 square meters, including a martial arts room, bedroom, therapy room, dining room... There will be someone to manage it regularly," a junior student leading them smiled. "Every semester, the top 20% of students in the rankings get their own martial arts room."
"Students in the top 5% of the martial arts class get a standalone villa, not including the garden, with a total area of 1200 square meters."
"You guys are here to compete, so you'll share a room. Don't complain," the junior student laughed.
Li Yuan and the others finally understood why the martial arts university occupied such a large area.
Just the dormitory area was astonishingly big.
"No wonder the country's martial arts student quota has always been limited," Li Yuan sighed. "Not counting cultivation resources, just accommodation alone consumes a lot of resources."
Jiangbei Martial Arts University can accommodate about fifty thousand students year-round, not including teachers and support staff.
The martial arts university is a five-year program.
With many resources comes great responsibility.
...The dormitories are separated by gender.
Li Yuan and Gu Qianghan were assigned to the same room.
After dropping off their bags, they went straight into the virtual network pod in the lounge.
Connecting their consciousness.
"Just like the junior said, after entering the campus card information, we can temporarily access the campus space of Jiangbei Martial Arts University," Li Yuan smiled broadly.
With a thought, they entered.
...Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Shadows appeared out of nowhere and directly sat down.
This was a super-large battle space.
Quickly, nearly a thousand people had appeared on the massive circular viewing platform, creating a lively atmosphere.
In the center was a circular arena with a diameter of over 200 meters.
"Li Yuan." A crisp voice rang out; it was Lin Lanyue, sitting next to him with red-dyed hair.
Students from Guanshan District appeared in succession.
Clearly, the system tried to arrange students from the same school and district to sit together.
"You arrived quite early," Li Yuan smiled, then scanned the surroundings. "Do you know the battle rules? By number? Or random?"
"It should be pseudo-random selection," Lin Lanyue replied.
"Pseudo-random?" Li Yuan was taken aback.
"It means they try to separate students from the same school or district to avoid multiple people teaming up, ensuring fairness," Lin Lanyue explained with a smile. "For example, if it were completely random and accidentally selected ten students from our school for the same battle, wouldn't we team up to eliminate others first?"
Li Yuan understood.
Two minutes later, all the students participating in the invitation event had their consciousness descend into this arena space.
Everyone knew that the first real test of this invitation event was about to begin.
"Good evening, students from all over the province," a deep voice echoed.
Whoosh!
A tall man in a black martial outfit, nearly two meters tall, appeared above the arena, standing in mid-air with an extraordinary presence.
"I'll repeat the rules," his voice carried an amplification effect, resonating throughout the space.
"Cage Battle."
"Each match will select 200 people to randomly compete, for a total of 6 matches." The man in black said gravely. "During the battle, you will continuously attack each other. The more enemies you defeat and the longer you survive, the higher your score."
"Until only one person remains."
"Your virtual physical qualities are all identical, all at level 10.0."
"This is a skill evaluation."
"The top 2-9 in each match will receive a reward of one hundred thousand Blue Star Coins."
"The first place in each match will receive five hundred thousand Blue Star Coins!" The voice of the man in black was powerful, echoing throughout the battle space.
Li Yuan's eyes lit up instantly.
"Five hundred thousand Blue Star Coins?" Li Yuan's gaze sharpened.
With his uncle's fate uncertain, Li Yuan had already made up his mind that if things got bad, he had to support the family.
What is responsibility?
First, it means making money.
Not only for his own cultivation but also to earn enough for his younger siblings' education.
"My goal is to be first," Li Yuan decided, his eyes filled with desire. "No one can stop me!"
(End of Chapter)