Ye Xinglan

"But you can't even remember the distance from home to school." The girl rubbed her brow. "Give me the map. I'll help you look!"

"No. Not remembering the way to school means that those destined for great things don't bother with trivial details. Look, does this match the marking on the map?" Mo Ling picked up the map and compared it carefully.

"It does, it does." The girl compared it carefully and confirmed that it was indeed the hotel where they were supposed to stay.

"But their chimney is a different color."

Ahhh, how could I have trusted a directionally challenged idiot to lead the way? The girl was practically going crazy.

Early in the morning, teams representing various cities had already entered the stadium to wait.

The enormous stadium was packed with people as far as the eye could see. The stands had long since filled up.

Meng Li attended the opening ceremony with dark circles under his eyes. Just like when the dean held meetings, someone talked onstage while he listened seriously, the words going in one ear and out the other.

Beside him stood a boy with dark circles under his eyes as well, and next to the boy was an exceptionally beautiful girl.

"Meng Li, what happened to you last night?" Gu Yue noticed Meng Li looking at a pretty girl, and a sense of crisis rose in her heart. She casually looked for a topic to bring up.

"You should ask him." Meng Li withdrew his gaze and pointed at Xie Xie, whose face was swollen and bruised from a beating.

"Brother Meng, I just wanted to hear a story. Did you really have to go that far?" Xie Xie spoke unclearly.

"Brother, let's get acquainted. My name is Mo Ling. That sword of yours looks pretty nice. Are you selling it?" At some point, someone had appeared in front of Meng Li.

It was the same person with dark circles under his eyes.

"Oh, lots of people have wanted to buy my sword. Not for sale." Meng Li smiled. Murasa at his waist had not merely been with him for a short while like Ghost Cutter; it had been with him for over half a year. He had grown attached to it.

"Oh, what a pity!" Mo Ling sighed. He said no more to Meng Li, closed his eyes, and continued sleeping.

He completely disregarded the fact that they were still at the opening ceremony.

After the opening ceremony ended, the next step was drawing lots according to the different competition formats, with the teachers handling it.

Meng Li saw a raised platform being set up in the center and wondered if they were going to put on some kind of performance.

"What are they going to do?" Tang Wulin could not help asking curiously.

Xie Xie said, "You don't know? There'll be an exhibition match in a bit. I heard they specifically invited experts from Shrek Academy this time, and paid a huge sum for them. Their opponents will be the previous generation's seven-person competition champions of our Skysea Alliance."

This was a good opportunity to see what level he stood at among people his age. He knew Douluo One and Douluo Two very well, but so much time had passed that he did not know whether the standards for judging geniuses had changed. Meng Li was intrigued.

"I'm so hungry. Does anyone have anything to eat?" Just as Meng Li was thinking, a voice suddenly came from beside him. When he turned around, he saw a fat boy.

Xu Xiaoyan and Xie Xie complained about yet another foodie, while Tang Wulin stepped forward and handed him a dried fish.

The chubby boy ate with great delight.

He seems like a simple little chubby kid. Give him something to eat and he'll become sworn brothers with you. Meng Li smiled and shook his head.

The chubby boy was named Xu Lizhi. His personality was similar to Tang Wulin's, and the two quickly started chatting.

As they exchanged contact numbers, a pleasant yet somewhat cold voice rang out. "Little foodie, why did you run over here? All you know is how to eat. It'll be our turn soon."

A girl walked toward them. She looked young as well, about the same age as Xu Lizhi. She wore the same green athletic uniform as Xu Lizhi, with a golden ponytail tied behind her head. Her large azure-blue eyes were beautiful, framed by long eyelashes. Her skin was fair and delicate, possessing a jelly-like texture beneath the sunlight.

Her face was stern, her expression cold.

When Xu Lizhi saw the girl, he panicked slightly. "Sister Xinglan, I was wrong, but I'm so hungry! Look, if I don't eat my fill, I won't have any strength, right?"

"Let's go." Ye Xinglan waved at him, then cast a disgusted glance at Tang Wulin. "Don't just eat food from anyone. Don't you know there are lots of bad people in the world these days?"

Bad people? Do I look like one? Tang Wulin froze, then looked at Meng Li. The one who looked like a bad person was Meng Li, right? Yes, yes, it was that smile. It looked far too much like one.

"Hey, fellow student, your little brother just ate my supreme limited-edition dried fish. He hasn't paid yet." Meng Li extended Murasa and blocked Xu Lizhi's path.

Xu Lizhi was at a loss.

Ye Xinglan frowned, walked over, and glared at Meng Li. "Let him go!"

"He has to pay. Eighteen thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight!" Meng Li chuckled, clearly not taking the girl his age seriously.

Ye Xinglan looked down on Tang Wulin, which meant she also looked down on him in the same school uniform. Tang Wulin did not hold grudges; he usually settled them on the spot.

Why does this feel so familiar? Tang Wulin shuddered.

"Sister..." Xu Lizhi was at a loss.

"Kid, I advise you not to cause trouble!" Ye Xinglan nearly ground her teeth. Who was she? Yet she was being extorted.

"Everyone, come look! This girl named Xinglan ate something and refuses to pay! She ate my family's treasured supreme limited-edition dried fish and still won't pay!"

Before Ye Xinglan could do anything, Meng Li had already begun shouting loudly.

"What happened?"

"I heard she ate someone else's food and didn't pay."

"That girl was acting like she was better than everyone else just now. I already found her annoying. Who knew karma would come so quickly?"

Soul Masters from various academies instantly gathered around them, talking among themselves and criticizing Ye Xinglan.

Money was a small matter; reputation was the important thing. This was Ye Xinglan's first time being extorted in public. Sure enough, there are too many bad people in this world. In front of so many people, not a single one spoke up for me.

"That brat!" In the distance, Mu Chen, a former victim, noticed what was happening here, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Ye Xinglan looked toward her teammates, who were still waiting and clearly did not know what was going on. Lowering herself to ask these people for justice was not her style, and she could not exactly beat up the punchable brat in front of her when she was in the wrong.

The only thing she could do now was pay and put an end to the matter. Ye Xinglan reached into her pocket, pulled out twenty thousand Federal Coins, and flung them at Meng Li.

"Here. Keep the change!"

"You're here to compete too, aren't you? I hope you don't run into me!" Ye Xinglan threw out a threat, grabbed the still-confused Xu Lizhi, and headed back toward the stage.

"Hold it! You can't leave until I finish counting!"

"..." Brother Meng, she already paid you. Are you really going to be this shameless? Xie Xie could not bear to watch anymore.

I know this routine. Seeing someone go through the same experience he had, Tang Wulin inexplicably felt pleased.

"Did you do this on purpose?" Ye Xinglan had never been so angry before.

Meng Li picked up the bills and counted them one by one, looking as punchable as could be.

"What's going on?" A middle-aged man came over to Ye Xinglan's side.

"It's nothing, Teacher. We'll be leaving right away!" Ye Xinglan said.