"It's nothing. Just don't let my sister find out."
Li Tao's gaze shifted evasively. Without answering Shi Yan, he staggered toward his room.
Ding Le frowned. Once Li Tao had closed the door, he told Shi Yan about the "plan" the two of them had made not long ago.
"So he got beaten up while gathering intelligence?"
Shi Yan knitted his brows, then walked to Li Tao's door and knocked.
"Come out and explain yourself. Otherwise, you won't need this door anymore."
Magic Martial University would not let students get beaten up for no reason, unless it was a challenge, a spar, or something like fighting in an arena.
Li Tao had been beaten up yet did not dare let his sister know. There had to be something fishy going on.
Three seconds later, Li Tao's door opened, his face full of resentment.
He was rather susceptible to threats, especially threats from a monster like Shi Yan.
"Actually, it was my fault. I shouldn't have gone onto that Newcomer Arena."
Li Tao slowly shuffled out, sat down on the sofa, and began explaining.
The Newcomer Arena was an old Magic Martial University tradition. Every year at the start of the school term, upperclassmen would set up arenas for freshmen to challenge. Winners could earn the credits wagered by the senior students.
Of course, since they were senior students, they did not use their abilities.
Even so, no freshman had ever succeeded. After all, the difference in strength was right there for all to see.
And that was exactly what the senior students, and even the school itself, wanted to see.
Everyone who could enter Magic Martial University was top talent from all over the country, all carrying pride in their hearts. This arena could grind down the sharp edges of the freshmen.
It also let the senior students show off before others, indirectly telling the freshmen to respect their seniors... and not flirt with the senior girls.
Li Tao had originally only wanted to scout the place out, but someone recognized him as Li Yuqing's younger brother.
Li Yuqing, the six-foot Goddess, was hard to forget. As the Goddess's younger brother, plenty of people naturally wanted to "get to know" him better. Thus came all sorts of provocations, taunts, and even mockery.
Naturally, Li Tao could not take it anymore and went up onto the arena.
"My sister said I'm not allowed to do things I'm not confident about. I did it anyway, and I even embarrassed her. The next time she sees me, she'll probably break my legs."
Li Tao looked on the verge of tears, his mind constantly turning over ways to fool his sister.
Many people often compared Magic Martial University's two great Goddesses. Zhang Yunya was violent and crazed, while Li Yuqing was elegant and intellectual.
But Li Tao knew his sister well. She would absolutely not hold back when dealing with him after he had made a mistake.
"Just tell her I was the one who made you go."
Shi Yan patted Li Tao's shoulder, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
Winning arena fights earned credits. He wanted to give it a try.
Those upperclassmen should be able to withstand his ability, right?
"I'll go meet them. Wait in the dorm. When I get back, we'll buy a robot."
With that, Shi Yan turned and headed out.
The two of them had been right. The dorm should have a robot to handle miscellaneous chores.
Mopping floors, washing dishes, applying medicine to injuries, helping the wounded walk—robots could handle all of it.
Zhang Yunya had introduced this to him as well. Magic Martial University's robots were excellent. Even the lowest-grade robot possessed the combat power to kill a Level 1 Demonic Beast, so handling mundane household matters was naturally no problem.
After leaving the courtyard gate, Shi Yan willed it into action. Open the panel.
[Name: Shi Yan] [Realm: Second Tier Martial Artist] [Ability: Southern Bright Blazing Fire (SSS-Class)] [Blood Vitality: 151 cards (+)] [Spirit: 36 hertz (+)] [Martial Arts: Thrusting Punch (Beginner +), Explosive Flame Eighteen Sabers (great accomplishment +)] [Cultivation Method: Boundless Sea of Fire (SS-Class, First Layer)] [Martial Virtue Points: 15918]
This was his current strength. The Advanced Body Tempering Medicine had increased his Blood Vitality by 51 cards, allowing him to advance to the Second Tier, while his Spiritual Power had increased by 5 hertz.
But he would be facing senior students soon, so he felt it would be safer to prepare a little more.
Thus, with a thought, he raised both Thrusting Punch and his saber technique to perfection.
Thrusting Punch was D-Class Martial Arts. Raising it from Beginner to perfection did not cost much, only three thousand points.
The B-class saber technique cost far more. Just raising it from great accomplishment to perfection directly consumed four thousand Martial Virtue Points.
He used the remaining Martial Virtue Points on Blood Vitality, and the panel values changed accordingly:
[Blood Vitality: 240 cards] [Spirit: 36 hertz] [Martial Arts: Thrusting Punch (perfection), Explosive Flame Eighteen Sabers (perfection)] [Cultivation Method: Boundless Sea of Fire (SS-Class, First Layer)] [Martial Virtue Points: 18]
He clenched his fist, and the feeling of power overflowing through him shot straight to his head.
"Against second-years, this should be enough, right?"
Muttering softly, Shi Yan headed toward Magic Martial University's Martial Practice Arena.
Inside the villa, Li Tao and Ding Le stared at each other.
"No, did I not make myself clear just now? I clearly said the upperclassmen guarding the arenas!"
Li Tao was confused and regretful. If he had known, he would not have said anything.
Wasn't Shi Yan walking right into suffering by going there?
No matter how strong a freshman was, he could not possibly beat a second-year student, could he?
Even if Heaven favored him and he luckily defeated a few trashy senior students, there were still the third-years afterward.
No matter what, Shi Yan would lose in the end.
For a heaven-defying genius, losing was no small matter. If he could accept it calmly, that would be fine. But if he could not get over that hurdle in his heart, it might breed inner demons.
"You explained it very clearly. That's why we're heading over now."
Ding Le snorted as he stood up and walked toward the door.
"Believe me. If you don't go watch Shi Yan storm the arenas, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."
As the possessor of a wind ability, Ding Le was highly sensitive to fluctuations in the air. Sometimes, he could even sense dust being stirred up. That was also an important reason for his cleanliness obsession.
Just now, he had sensed faint fluctuations outside the courtyard again.
They were tiny currents of wind formed by compressed air.
Compression caused by a body bursting with immense power!
Such fluctuations were far stronger than those of someone who had just entered the Second Tier.
And the only person outside just now had been Shi Yan.
In other words, in the short time it took him to walk from the villa to the courtyard, Shi Yan had grown stronger again!
This was simply... giving no one else a chance to live!
Of course, at that moment, Ding Le did not care whether Shi Yan lived or not. He wanted to see those senior students who wanted to show off get slapped in the face!
"Go. We absolutely have to go!"
Li Tao threw caution to the wind as well.
No matter what, Shi Yan was helping him vent his anger.
Even if his sister caught him red-handed, he still had to cheer Shi Yan on.
Thus, enduring the pain, he got to his feet and limped out with Ding Le.
Throughout all of Magic Martial University, the Martial Practice Arena was undoubtedly the largest functional venue, covering a full five square kilometers!
Not just in the country—even among all universities in the world, it was the largest.
However, it was not one vast stretch of flat ground. Instead, it was divided into several areas according to detailed categories, such as the upperclassman area, lowerclassman area, mixed area, demonic beast combat area, scenario simulation area, and more.
The place Shi Yan was heading to was the mixed area. It was not the largest, but it was currently the liveliest and most crowded.
Huaxia people had enjoyed watching spectacles and eating melons since ancient times. Everyone loved watching others fight, especially entertaining games like freshmen challenging arenas.
Topics such as "some senior student defeats a Top Scholar freshman in one move" or "some freshman lasts thirty moves against a senior student" would have people talking with great relish. They would also explode on the school forums and draw even more spectators.
By the time Shi Yan squeezed into the inner circle, the sky had already darkened.
There were five arenas of different sizes here, and many freshmen were signing up to challenge the people standing on them.
Fights were underway on all five circular arenas. Brilliant skills flashed from time to time, drawing constant cheers and laughter from the melon-eating crowd.
Shi Yan swept his gaze over them. The scenes on all five arenas were more or less the same. One side did not use abilities and calmly "walked" the other side around, while the other was still a somewhat immature newcomer.
"Stop. The inner circle is a combat area. Entry is prohibited."
Suddenly, a young man blocked Shi Yan's path.
Shi Yan lowered his head slightly and only then noticed the warning tape in front of him.
He raised his head to look at the young man, then activated the holographic display on his wristwatch. "Freshman Shi Yan wishes to have a match with Senior Lu Jian'an."
Lu Jian'an was precisely the person who had beaten Li Tao until he was unrecognizable.
Hearing his words, the young man froze.
"You? Have a match?"
The young man seemed to have discovered something unbelievably hilarious and burst out laughing.
"Ha ha ha! Everyone, come look! Another freshman is challenging the arenas, and he actually said he wants to have a match! Ahahaha!"
The surrounding melon-eating crowd turned at the sound, their gazes landing on Shi Yan.
Before you continue