"That's quite a coincidence."
Li Ziyu glanced at Xia Lin.
Xia Lin stood 1.7 meters tall, her long, straight black hair tied into a ponytail.
Even without makeup, the skin on her face was exquisite and fair.
A long sword glinting with a cold light hung at her waist, giving her an air that was both gentle and dashing.
With two little dimples showing as she smiled at him, Li Ziyu couldn't help sighing inwardly. She really was more than a tier prettier than Xu Mengyao.
The only problem was that she easily attracted hatred.
Li Ziyu thought speechlessly as he swept his eyes around.
Just as he had expected.
At that moment, on the platform, when Xia Lin smiled and greeted him, tens of thousands of male students from the various high schools who were taking the Martial Arts Exam all looked at him with murderous, threatening gazes.
They looked as though they couldn't wait to swallow him alive.
Li Ziyu merely smiled, however, and paid no attention to their threats.
"Classmate Li Ziyu, which martial arts university are you planning to apply to? With your strength, you shouldn't have any problem getting into one of the four top martial arts universities, right?"
As Xia Lin twirled her hair, she blinked her sparkling eyes and looked at Li Ziyu with a smile in her eyes, asking curiously.
"We'll see when the time comes. I think the overall strength of those four martial arts universities is about the same. I'll choose whichever one offers the best conditions."
"Ha! You're killing me!
"You'll go wherever one of the martial arts universities offers better conditions? Do you think those four top universities are cabbages for you to pick and choose from?
"Or do you think you're some kind of super prodigy, a hot commodity?"
Li Ziyu had just replied to Xia Lin and hadn't continued speaking when a disdainful voice rang out.
The voice was loud, drawing the attention of all the surrounding students.
Li Ziyu followed the voice and looked over.
A youth about his age was walking over from the First High School's formation.
The voice had come from him.
"Even I, a martial artist who awakened a speed talent, wouldn't dare say something so ridiculously arrogant. You're really hilarious. I've seen people who brag, but I've never seen anyone brag as outrageously as you."
The youth wore a flamboyant, eye-catching golden-yellow combat uniform that was obviously worth a fortune.
A long sword inlaid with gold and jade hung at his waist.
His long hair fell past his ears. Like his combat uniform, it shimmered with a faint golden glow under the sunlight.
That appearance...
If one ignored the overbearing expression on his face, Li Ziyu would almost have thought the guy was a fellow transmigrator cosplaying Saint Seiya.
"Nangong Ao, we're talking. Why are you butting in?"
The moment Nangong Ao appeared, before Li Ziyu could speak, Xia Lin coldly spoke up with a look of disgust.
As she spoke, Xia Lin's slender, jade-like hand even gripped the hilt of the long sword at her waist, as if she were about to strike at any moment.
"Xia Lin, fine, you didn't accept my pursuit. But why put on such a melodramatic show for me?"
"I know why you deliberately approached this kid. Isn't it just like in those novels? You deliberately find someone to pretend to be your boyfriend, then persuade me to give up?"
"But if you're going to hire an actor, you should at least find someone around the same level. Even having Bai Haoran from Third High School pretend to be your boyfriend would be better than finding this kid."
"I've already investigated this kid's background thoroughly. He's just trash with a blood-energy test result of 0.8."
"Not only is he trash, he's arrogant too. If I hadn't learned about his background beforehand, I might even have been fooled by his arrogant words just now."
"Even I wouldn't dare say I could casually choose from those four top universities, yet this kid actually dares to spout such nonsense here. There's seriously something wrong with his head!"
Nangong Ao crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at Li Ziyu.
Then he glanced at Xia Lin, as if saying that their little trick could never fool him.
Xia Lin was so angry that she laughed.
Even Zhao Yanan, standing behind her, had a speechless look on her face.
Xia Lin turned her head away speechlessly, completely ignoring Nangong Ao. She turned to Li Ziyu and said apologetically:
"Sorry, Classmate Li Ziyu. I just wanted to come over and greet you. I didn't expect this weirdo to jump out. I have nothing to do with him."
Thinking of something, Xia Lin added another sentence as if possessed:
"He asked for my contact information, but I didn't agree."
Zhao Yanan frantically nodded in agreement beside her.
Li Ziyu was somewhat puzzled. Whether you gave him your contact information or not, why are you explaining that to me?
Xia Lin and Zhao Yanan exchanged a few more words with Li Ziyu, then smiled and said goodbye to him. Under the envious gazes of the people around them, they returned to the No. 2 High School's formation.
Throughout the entire process, they never even glanced at Nangong Ao, leaving him alone in the wind, utterly disoriented.
Nangong Ao watched Xia Lin's departing back. His face alternated between red and white, and the fingers of his clenched hand had turned pale.
After taking a deep breath, Nangong Ao turned his gaze toward Li Ziyu.
The arrogance and condescension in his eyes were gone, replaced by nothing but coldness and menace.
He walked up to Li Ziyu, lightly patted him on the shoulder, leaned close to his ear, and spoke indifferently:
"I don't know how a mud-legged nobody like you managed to climb up to Xia Lin, but let me tell you this: Xia Lin isn't someone you can lay a finger on."
"If you know what's good for you, stay away from Xia Lin. Otherwise..."
At that point, Nangong Ao paused. He raised his head and glanced at the location of the filming drone in the distance, then spoke in the tone of someone merely stating a fact:
"If someone dies in the Martial Arts Exam grounds, no one will care."
Without waiting for Li Ziyu to respond, he patted him on the shoulder again and returned to the First High School's formation.
From the moment Nangong Ao appeared, to the end of his threats, Li Ziyu had remained expressionless.
Only after Nangong Ao had gone far away did he finally fail to hold back his laughter.
Looking at Nangong Ao's arrogantly swaggering figure, he laughed and shook his head helplessly:
"This really is the cliché villain-in-your-face scene."
In another corner of the platform, at Third High School's position.
Bai Haoran, surrounded by a crowd of students, had seen everything that had just happened between Nangong Ao and Li Ziyu. As he looked at Li Ziyu, a trace of schadenfreude involuntarily appeared in his eyes.
"Hmph, Li Ziyu, so what if your blood energy is high and your Combat Power is strong? You've offended Nangong Ao, publicly recognized as the number one person in all of Xujiang City. Let's see what you'll do in the exam grounds later!"
At the same time, at the positions occupied by several other high schools.
A burly youth with bulging muscles and a height of fully two meters also noticed the commotion between Nangong Ao and Li Ziyu.
The youth gripped the ridiculously enormous battle-axe on his back tightly, but his gaze did not linger on Li Ziyu. Instead, he stared fixedly at Nangong Ao's back.
A fierce battle intent flashed in his eyes. In a nearly feverish tone, he said:
"Hmph! Nangong Ao! Don't think that just because you're a martial artist with a speed talent, you're number one in Xujiang City!"
"My strength, Wang Long's, is no weaker than yours!"
"Just wait. I'll definitely make a stunning entrance in the Martial Arts Exam and trample you beneath my feet!"
"I'm going to prove to everyone in Xujiang City that I, Wang Long, am the strongest student among all the high school seniors in Xujiang City!"
Wang Long clenched his fists tightly, blazing flames of battle burning in his eyes.
Ever since he entered his first year of high school, he had constantly heard the people around him praise how incredibly strong Nangong Ao from the First High School was, and how amazing his martial artist talent was.
It could be said that from his first year through his third year, Wang Long had always lived in Nangong Ao's shadow.
Wang Long had always wanted to challenge Nangong Ao, but every time he broke through, he discovered that Nangong Ao had already taken the lead by one step.
This left him unbearably frustrated.
Until today, he had felt that he had no way to compare with Nangong Ao, a Level One Intermediate Martial Artist who had awakened a speed talent!
But perhaps the heavens had seen his unwillingness and hard work.
Yesterday, he had actually awakened a defense talent!
He was now also a martial artist who had awakened a defense talent!
What was more, he had advanced in one fell swoop to the Level 1 Intermediate realm!
He had told no one about this news. He was preparing to make a stunning entrance during the Martial Arts Exam—
to trample Nangong Ao beneath his feet and shock the entire venue!
"The strongest people here are Nangong Ao, Xia Lin, and Bai Haoran from Third High School."
"Among them, Bai Haoran and Xia Lin are weaker than me in realm, and neither is a martial artist who has awakened a talent. They're no threat."
"That means the strongest person here is Nangong Ao! As long as I trample Nangong Ao beneath my feet, I'll be the strongest person in Xujiang City!"
"After today, everyone in Xujiang City will cheer for and be shocked by the name Wang Long!"
At the thought, Wang Long's body trembled uncontrollably. His face was filled with excitement, as if he had already foreseen that scene.
As for the youth across from Nangong Ao who carried a War Blade at his waist...
Hah, an unknown nobody.
He was definitely not even a Level 1 Martial Artist. He probably couldn't beat even Nangong Ao's toe.
He was no threat.
Before you continue