"I remember my Earth Attribute and Headhunter Jutsu experience were both at 173 before, right? Releasing them twice only raised the experience by one point?"
"Let's try again!"
Su Bai formed Hand Seals with both hands and vanished with a whoosh. This time, he released the jutsu normally without increasing his chakra output.
"No increase?"
"Again!"
"Whoosh!"
After five consecutive normal releases, Su Bai's Earth Attribute and Headhunter Jutsu finally reached 175.
"Five normal releases only raise it by one point?"
"I'll try releasing it at full power!"
Su Bai took a deep breath, slowly formed Hand Seals, and summoned all the chakra in his body.
"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"
Whoosh!
This time, Su Bai appeared a little farther away than before. As expected, the experience for his Earth Attribute and Headhunter Jutsu had both increased by one point on the panel.
"Huff, huff~"
"Releasing it at full power isn't worth it. I'd better take it slow."
Su Bai panted heavily. That one attempt had consumed a fifth of his chakra.
With his current Chakra Level of 9 cards, he figured he could release Headhunter Jutsu a hundred times if he did it normally.
That would give him 20 experience points, enough to raise both his jutsu and Earth Attribute to level two today!
Having made up his mind, Su Bai sat cross-legged and began recovering his chakra... About an hour later, his chakra was full again. He stood up and started practicing the jutsu.
"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"
Whoosh!
"Earth Release: Hea..."
Whoosh...
As Su Bai cast the jutsu again and again without tiring, the experience for his Earth Attribute and Headhunter Jutsu steadily climbed!
176...177...178...
Time passed as Su Bai practiced. Just as the sun was about to set, he finally stopped, a smile spreading across his face.
"Your Earth Attribute has reached level two..."
"Your Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu has reached level two..."
Chapter 25: The Boastful Fatso
Early the next morning, Su Bai got up and headed out without even eating breakfast.
"I can't be late this time."
It was only five in the morning. The sky had just begun to brighten, and there were few people on the streets.
"Driver, take me to the City Center." Su Bai waved down a taxi, and the driver immediately turned around and headed toward the City Center.
The earliest bus didn't leave until six, so he had no choice but to pay for a taxi.
After charging him 200 Federal Coins, the driver dropped him off in front of the Combat Gym. It wasn't even seven yet, and since he had time to spare, Su Bai went to a breakfast shop to get something to eat.
"Boss, ten youtiao and a bowl of savory tofu pudding."
"Sure, sure. Coming right up!"
The breakfast shop owner was a middle-aged woman. When she heard Su Bai order so much, her eyes crinkled with delight.
There was no help for it. Su Bai's chakra was growing, and his physical fitness was improving along with it, so naturally, he ate more.
"Ah, I hope they send out the scholarship soon." Su Bai glanced at his phone balance, which was under 100 Federal Coins, and sighed softly.
A moment later, the owner brought his food to the table. "Take your time, young man. There's more if you're still hungry!"
"Thanks."
Su Bai grabbed his chopsticks and dug in. After extracting chakra all night, he was starving.
After his Earth Attribute and Headhunter Jutsu reached level two yesterday, his hand-sealing speed had improved by another half a second. Now he could release a jutsu in about three seconds.
He had also realized that practicing jutsu slowly increased his chakra. It wasn't as fast as deliberately extracting chakra, but every little bit helped.
Between an afternoon of jutsu practice and extracting chakra that night, he had gained another 0.01 cards. He never would have imagined progress like that before.
"Maybe now that I have more chakra and better physical fitness, I can extract chakra faster too?"
As Su Bai ate, he thought it over and quickly polished off five youtiao.
Just then, three students walked in. One of them, a fatso, caught his attention.
"Order whatever you want. You two need to work hard for me today and make sure I place, got it?"
"Yes, yes. Don't worry, Brother Li. We understand."
"Exactly. We'll both do our best!"
His two companions nodded repeatedly, fawning over him.
The fatso gave a satisfied nod. "Good. Don't worry. If you get me into the top ten and secure any trophy, I'll give each of you 500,000 Federal Coins—and I won't even take my own prize money!"
The fatso spoke with such swagger that Su Bai was stunned.
No way. You could do that?
He knew about the Campus Tournament prizes. First place got a recommendation for admission to Nine Provinces Academy without taking the entrance exam, second place got a C-Rank Ninjutsu Scroll, and third place got three D-Rank Ninjutsu Scrolls. Fourth through tenth place each got 500,000 Federal Coins!
On top of that, first place came with a gold trophy, second and third with silver trophies, and fourth through tenth with bronze trophies. From the fatso's tone, he was planning to spend a million Federal Coins on a bronze trophy?
Since trophies weren't registered to specific people, they were merely symbolic. There was nothing wrong with buying one to show off.
At that thought, Su Bai suddenly realized that the first-place prize didn't seem very useful to him...
"A recommendation to Nine Provinces Academy... That's not what I want!"
He figured that he might as well take second place and get a C-Rank Ninjutsu Scroll.
After all, he was determined to pass the Nine Provinces Academy's entrance exam, and he was confident he could do it. That made the first-place prize seem rather useless.
Of course, Su Bai was the only one who thought that way. If anyone else heard him, they'd call him an idiot.
A recommendation to Nine Provinces Academy... That was the prize of so many people's dreams!
"No, how can I think like that? Xueqing trusted me and invited me to be her teammate. I have to help her take first place!" Su Bai's eyes shifted as he walked over to the fatso.
"Hey, which school are you from?"
"Who are you?" The fatso watched him warily.
Su Bai paused. "I'm Su Bai, from Yangcheng No. 1 High School."
"Yangcheng No. 1 High School? I'm from No. 4. You've heard of Yang Liu, right? We go to the same school!" The fatso held his head high, brimming with arrogance.
"Yang Liu? I know him." Su Bai sat down beside him like they were old friends and smiled.
The fatso looked puzzled and studied him. "Are you a friend of Brother Liu?"
"Something like that." Su Bai smiled. "By the way, I don't know what to call you."
"Oh, I'm Li Qiang. Since you're a friend of Brother Liu, just call me Fatso." The fatso seemed to admire Yang Liu and warmed up to Su Bai.
Su Bai chatted with him for a while. Once they were on familiar terms, he casually asked, "Fatso, you seem pretty interested in trophies."
"That's right. A student can only compete in the Yang City Campus Tournament once in their life. I want to take a trophy home for fun too," the fatso said.
"I see." Su Bai rubbed his chin. "But if these two guys carry you to a trophy, it won't feel very satisfying, will it?"
"To hell with satisfaction!" the fatso scoffed. "As long as I get the trophy, I don't care how. If I could buy one instead, I wouldn't even bother showing up!"
"You wouldn't care if the trophy were bought?" Su Bai's eyes lit up.
"Of course not. I'm Fatso. The one thing I'm not short on is money. I'd be more than happy to stay home and pay for a first-place trophy!"
Damn, this fatso was loaded!
First place came with three trophies, one for each person. Su Bai's eyes lit up.
After a moment's thought, Su Bai smiled and asked, "Then how much would you pay if someone offered to sell you a first-place trophy?"
"Huh?" The fatso paused and looked Su Bai over. "What do you mean?"
Su Bai stood up calmly, then suddenly released a surge of chakra. The fatso's expression changed at once!
"Nothing much. I just want to make a deal with you."
"T-this..." The fatso was stunned. Su Bai's chakra presence was so powerful that even the fat on his body trembled!
But soon, his eyes lit up. "S-Su Bai, are you saying you want to sell me... a trophy?" The fatso stammered excitedly.
Su Bai nodded, sat down, and put on a friendly smile. "That's right!"
"Tell me, how much would you pay for a first-place trophy?"
The fatso was willing to pay a million Federal Coins for a bronze trophy... So how much would he pay for a gold one? Su Bai felt his luck was finally turning around!
As for whether he wanted to sell the trophy... Su Bai figured it couldn't be eaten or drunk, so he didn't care about it. Better to turn it into money if he could.
"Well... Su Bai, it's not that I don't trust you." The fatso hesitated. "I heard Wen Yuanyuan's team from the Noble School is the favorite to win. Are you really sure you can take first place?"
"I see. Got it." Su Bai nodded slightly. "How about we exchange contact information, and I'll get in touch after the tournament?"
"Sure!" The fatso happily gave Su Bai his contact information.
Whether or not he ended up buying a trophy, he was delighted just to meet someone as strong as Su Bai!
"It's about time. I'm heading out." Su Bai left with that, leaving the three of them staring at each other.
"Brother Fat, that guy's strong!"
"Yeah, his Chakra Level must be at least five cards, right?"
The fatso's two teammates spoke cautiously.
"Five cards? So that means he can win at least one bronze trophy?"
"Haha, I can't believe my luck! The tournament hasn't even started, and I've already got a trophy reserved!" The fatso burst out laughing. He had some idea how strong the competitors from previous tournaments had been, and Su Bai's strength delighted him!
Chapter 26: A Brief Display of Skill
"Su Bai, over here!" Xia Xueqing called from a distance, dressed in a fitted white martial arts uniform. Su Bai heard her and immediately ran over.
Chang Rui, dressed in a black leather jacket and pants, pursed her lips in annoyance. "Honestly, we have to wait for you every time."
"Ha, I went to get breakfast."
"All right, let's go in. We've got a tough day ahead."
Xia Xueqing blinked her big eyes. Her pure white irises were clear as water, without a trace of impurity, giving her a serene look.
She linked one arm with Chang Rui and took Su Bai's hand with the other, leading them into the Combat Gym.
Inside, the three first went to the window to collect their contestant number badges. The badges read "Zone Four, Number Two." Then they went through the competitors' entrance to the rest area, where eighty or so students in school uniforms had already gathered.
"There are so many people! Can we finish competing in one day?" Su Bai asked in surprise.
Each team that entered the competition had three members, and there were already more than thirty teams here. But the Campus Tournament only lasted a day. Would they have enough time?
Chang Rui found a chair and sat down. Xia Xueqing smiled and said, "Of course. Come on."
She led Su Bai through a passageway, and the scene suddenly opened up before them.
"See? The arena is huge. And before the semifinals, the matches are split across four rings and held at the same time, so there's no need to worry about running out of time."
Before you continue