Moving In, No Match in a Single Exchange

With Gu De leading the way, everything was quickly taken care of. Shi Yan not only received his supplies, but also completed registration and the other formalities.

By now, he had arrived at the dormitory area.

Magic Martial University was enormous, covering a full thirty square kilometers. Naturally, its students' residential area was vast as well.

Setting aside anything farther away, the villa Shi Yan was assigned alone measured three thousand square meters, courtyard included.

The villa was a circular, multi-unit structure designed for four residents. The upper and lower floors each had two separate living quarters, with a shared hall in the middle.

When Shi Yan entered, he found that aside from the furniture, everything inside was empty. Clearly, his roommates had not arrived yet.

That made sense. He had received special treatment, so naturally he was faster than the others.

After looking around, he chose the living quarters on the upper right.

Though it was called living quarters, it was actually huge. It included a bedroom, meditation room, training room, washroom, kitchen, and storage room—far better than the old house he had lived in back in Baiyun City.

Of course, Magic Martial University had also given him a villa in Baiyun City, though construction had only just begun.

Shi Yan did not head upstairs immediately. Instead, he activated the smartwatch he had just received, and a blue light screen appeared.

This was a smart watch that every Magic Martial University student could receive. It had countless functions: communication, positioning, physical-condition checks, and more. It could also be used for shopping.

What he needed now was several sets of Tenacity clothing.

After a round of purchases, one-third of the ten thousand credits the school had given him was gone.

"No wonder they say scholars can be poor, but martial artists must be rich. A few sets of clothes cost more than eight hundred thousand Huaxia currency outside."

Shi Yan could not help sighing. And these were merely practical clothes, not luxury goods.

If he bought higher-grade items in the future, who knew how many credits he would have to spend?

With the purchase complete, all he needed to do now was wait for the package to be delivered.

A few minutes passed. Before the package arrived, however, a call came through first.

"Cousin, people from the Extreme Martial Arts Hall came to install emergency equipment. They also gave my parents a lot of things about safety precautions. Was that you...?"

It was his cousin Gu Feng. There was a trace of confusion in his voice, along with surprise.

What the Extreme Martial Arts Hall staff had done clearly meant that his family had been included within their security coverage, and at no low tier either.

"They moved pretty fast. It was a reward from Magic Martial University—Class A active protection."

Shi Yan had not intended to hide it. If his uncle's family knew, they would be mentally prepared. He simply had not expected Magic Martial University to be so efficient, or for them to choose the Extreme Martial Arts Hall.

There were plenty of martial arts halls and security companies across the country, yet Magic Martial University had chosen the very best one.

With this, he and Gu Feng would have no worries hanging over their heads for quite some time.

"Class A? Th-this is way too valuable!"

Gu Feng cried out in shock. Even the cheapest of these cost millions, and the Extreme Martial Arts Hall's services were at least three times as expensive.

"Cousin, we can't let you take the loss either. I still have some scholarship money here. I'll count this protection as partly mine. I'll give you—"

"Cut it out. Use your scholarship on yourself."

Shi Yan stopped Gu Feng. He could hardly take money from his cousin, especially when this had been a gift from Magic Martial University.

"Your cousin isn't short on that much. Train hard. I hope I'll see you at the National Freshman Tournament."

The Freshman Tournament was held every year, on November 25th.

According to Zhang Yunya, the competition existed to spur freshmen onward, allowing more of them to undergo their first transformation sooner.

Usually, the Freshman Tournament was first held within each school. Only those who ranked near the top would be selected to enter the national competition.

With Gu Feng's strength, Shi Yan did not know whether he could distinguish himself at Jiangnan Martial School.

"Alright! I hope I can join forces with you there, Cousin!"

At the mention of the Freshman Tournament, Gu Feng grew excited as well. A national competition like this—just imagining making a name for himself in it was thrilling.

The two chatted for a little while longer before ending the call. At the same time, Shi Yan's package arrived.

It was delivered by a robot. Its intelligence level was quite high, and it even explained some precautions for new students to Shi Yan.

After saying goodbye to the robot, Shi Yan was just about to return to the villa when he ran into someone he knew.

Not exactly someone he knew. It was Li Tao, the person he had asked for directions at the school gate earlier.

"No way, what a coincidence?"

Li Tao was slightly stunned. He looked once more at the villa's number plate. It was indeed A District, No. 9.

They said that once you entered Magic Martial University, everything started from scratch and no one stood higher or lower than anyone else. But this was a little too "fair." Someone who had barely passed the cutoff was actually sharing a dorm with the Top Scholar.

"Um, Brother Shi, earlier I had my ass in the air while looking at the sky—I was blind as a bat."

Li Tao apologized for calling Shi Yan a "wild man" earlier.

At the same time, he prayed inwardly that Shi Yan would be magnanimous enough to overlook a petty man's faults.

He was only a foodie. He was absolutely no match for a Top Scholar.

"And you are?" Shi Yan smiled slightly. Clearly, he did not care about it, and he even opened the villa gate to let Li Tao inside.

"Li Tao, local to Shanghai. Nice to meet you, nice to meet you. Never thought we'd become roommates."

Li Tao stepped forward and took a box from Shi Yan, the tension draining from his face.

As long as he didn't mind.

This was a Martial Arts University. Sparring between students was as commonplace as eating and drinking. What he feared was Shi Yan using sparring as an excuse to give him a brutal beating.

"I'm famous?" Shi Yan was somewhat surprised. Had his reputation already spread all the way to Shanghai?

"Uh... I guess so."

Li Tao could only answer like that.

In truth, he had never heard of Shi Yan. His sister had been afraid he might provoke some ruthless people at school, so she had specifically looked into the freshmen entering Magic Martial University this year.

A Top Scholar like Shi Yan was naturally someone worthy of special attention.

"Alright."

Shi Yan could tell that he was not actually famous. He had merely drawn the attention of a handful of people because he had become the Top Scholar.

The two fell silent for the moment as they crossed the courtyard.

But just as they were about to step through the entrance to the villa's main hall, a gust of wind swept past them and took the form of a somewhat scrawny young man.

The young man wore glasses and was roughly Shi Yan's height. He looked older than his age, with a thick beard like it had been brushed with black ink.

"Sorry, I'm a germaphobe. Anyone who doesn't live in this dorm is not allowed inside."

The bespectacled young man looked at Shi Yan as he spoke.

Seeing Shi Yan dressed head to toe in animal hides, his eyes behind the lenses held both disgust and fear.

"You're pretty polite, but this happens to be my dorm."

Shi Yan shook his head and waved slightly for the other man to move aside, giving him a reminder in passing.

"Since you chose martial arts, you may need to overcome that germophobia of yours."

"I'm afraid I can't overcome it." The bespectacled man raised a hand to block Shi Yan. "I believe you live in this dorm, but as I recall, freshmen can change dorms right after enrollment."

The meaning was obvious: he wanted Shi Yan to leave.

Judging by his tone, if Shi Yan refused, he would probably have to suffer a little.

"Hey now, harmony, harmony brings wealth." Seeing this, Li Tao hurriedly spoke up. "We're all roommates. We'll be seeing each other day in and day out from now on. Anything can be talked out, anything can be talked out."

Shi Yan might not know the bespectacled man, but Li Tao did. This was Iron Fan Young Master Ding Le. Though he was not a Top Scholar, he was still a fierce figure who had scored over nine hundred points. His sister had ranked him nineteenth among the fifty people Li Tao absolutely could not afford to provoke.

If these two started fighting, wouldn't they tear the villa apart?

It was a brand-new place. He had not even gotten to take a proper look inside yet.

"No, classmate, let me tell you this: in the martial arts world, there is no talking things out. There is only speaking with your fists."

Ding Le was rather kind, even taking the time to teach Li Tao a lesson.

Hearing this, Shi Yan knew that talking nicely was no longer an option.

He set down what he was carrying, walked to the middle of the courtyard, then turned around. "I'll give you one chance. Knock me down within one minute, or else you'll have to listen to me."

"You won't need a minute. I'll send you to the school infirmary in three seconds!"

Ding Le was somewhat angered. His wind ability activated, and he instantly arrived in front of Shi Yan.

His palm became a blade, slashing straight for Shi Yan's neck.

Then...

Ding Le did not hit Shi Yan. Instead, he felt the back of his neck tighten, followed by a dizzying whirl of heaven and earth as he was hurled to the ground.

"Ah!"

Ding Le screamed. The pain in his face was secondary; the truly horrifying part was the filthy dirt and grass clippings sticking to it.

In his fury, his ability surged throughout his entire body. He was about to turn around and give Shi Yan a vicious blow.

Then...

There was no then. Shi Yan brought a palm strike down on his neck, and Ding Le's eyes rolled back as he fainted on the spot.

"That's it?"

Shi Yan dusted off his hands and stood up. Counting the time, it should have been just about three seconds.

Li Tao, who had been about to step in and break up the fight, now stood frozen in place, his eyes wide as if nailed there.

Good heavens, Iron Fan Young Master, who had nearly become a Top Scholar, couldn't even last three seconds!?

Shi Yan did not see Li Tao's expression. Instead, his attention was caught by the system prompt:

[Defeated a First-Order Warrior opponent, promoted martial virtue, Martial Virtue Points +6]

He paused slightly.

That worked too?

A bold idea suddenly rose in his heart.