"I happen to know that when the National Team travels around the various countries for training, they're incredibly stingy with the resources they provide. Rather than doing unpaid labor for certain people, I'd rather go out and hunt for resources myself," Lan Yu said.
Dean Xiao smiled. "You, you really are the sort who never gets up early without a reward."
"But you're not wrong. Some people really are bold enough to skim resources at every level. That's also why I only served as a National Team instructor for one term before stepping down."
Since they'd already gotten this far in the conversation, Dean Xiao didn't bring up recommending Lan Yu for the National Team again.
"Since you don't want to join the National Team right from the start, you can be a Hall-Guard Student," Dean Xiao said. "Then you can join when they make replacements midway through. Otherwise, you'll miss out on the Treasure Hunt Tournament."
"That works."
Lan Yu nodded. Back when he'd read the original story, he'd never understood why those National Team members knew their instructors gave them next to nothing in resources, yet didn't say a word about it. Even the forces backing them didn't utter a peep.
It was no wonder Dragon Kingdom had ranked so poorly in past World College Tournaments. Hell, it would've been strange if they hadn't.
If Mo Fan, that cheat-code of a guy, hadn't been around this time, Dragon Kingdom's team would probably have stopped at the quarterfinals—or might not even have made it that far.
After leaving Dean Xiao's office, Lan Yu headed to the Light Magic Institute on the Main Campus.
Light magic was fairly common in a populous country like Dragon Kingdom. Nearly six or seven out of every ten people awakened the Light Element.
But there were very few who could cultivate the Light Element to its highest level. Or perhaps they were simply keeping it under wraps.
After finding Zhao Manyan among the audience seats, Lan Yu plopped down beside him. "Hey, Old Zhao, how are the rankings calculated this month?"
Zhao Manyan shrugged. "How else? Those of us who just entered the Main Campus are at the bottom. If we want to climb the rankings, we can only challenge students ranked above us during the even-numbered weeks each month."
"But I bet you'll climb the rankings pretty quickly, what with a Summoned Beast like that... Damn, you're a beast!"
As he spoke, Zhao Manyan's voice was thick with envy and resentment. Why hadn't he awakened the Summoning Element? Why couldn't he have gotten such an imposing Summoned Beast?
"Fuck you, what did I do to you? Go screw yourself!"
"You beast! You fucking beast!"
"..."
The two started trading insults again. They just couldn't stand each other—though they were only a hair's breadth away from falling for each other like Duichuantang and Hua An, then impulsively planting a kiss.
Soon, the Director of the Light Institute walked into the lecture hall, which held more than a thousand people. The noisy hall fell silent at once.
The Director of the Light Institute was a kindly-looking old man. He didn't say much, just announced the list of challengers for this week's challenge period and went over a few things to keep in mind before sending everyone to the Light Institute's private arena.
At the Light Institute, everyone specialized in the Light Element and studied another element as a secondary specialty.
The thing was, Light magic had no offensive power at all in its early stages, except against undead and dark creatures.
It only gained a little offensive power once it reached the Advanced level. But the Light Element was different at the Super level. Sacred Judgment—Demon-Slaying Sword was hailed as the strongest single-target attack among Super spells.
Still, anyone who could cultivate the Light Element to the Super level was rarer than a phoenix feather or a unicorn horn.
"Today's been quite an eye-opener," Zhao Manyan said.
"Then I'll have to watch you, Second Young Master Zhao, show off your skills when the time comes." Lan Yu grinned.
Zhao Manyan's face darkened at that.
"Get lost!"
"..."
After watching a few challenge matches, Lan Yu had a good look at how they fought.
It was pure and simple: whoever had the stronger defense, and whoever ran out of magic energy first.
The one with the weaker defense ran out of magic energy first, and lost.
After all, they were all Intermediate Mages of the Light Element. Their Light Protection-Holy Shield defenses were hard to break through in a short time.
Besides, not everyone's secondary element was a heavy hitter like Fire or Lightning.
"Tsk, they're not all that impressive. When it comes to defense, I, Zhao Manyan, say I'm third-best, and nobody dares call themselves first or second." Zhao Manyan was brimming with confidence.
Lan Yu gave him a look. He hadn't gotten the wooden fish vessel yet. Once he got his hands on that thing, he'd probably start claiming his defense was invincible under heaven.
There was another thing, too: Zhao Manyan had all kinds of Daddy's Protection spells. When it came to defense, it seemed like nobody could beat him.
Lan Yu remembered someone who could ignore defenses against elemental magic. He was probably Riedi from Germany's National Team.
That guy had really caught Zhao Manyan's team off guard with an information gap. He'd nearly wiped them all out.
"You're going farther and farther down the path of the Turtle Shell Mage," Lan Yu said.
"Damn right!" Zhao Manyan said smugly. "Old Lan, if you ever want to become a defensive mage, come to me. I'll teach you everything I know."
"Heh."
"Oh, right, Old Zhao. If you get the chance, help me find out something."
"What?"
"Contract Beasts."
"...Wait, you still haven't found a suitable Contract Beast after all this time?" Zhao Manyan was at a loss.
"Of course I'm looking for a Contract Beast like an Elemental Holy Spirit. Ordinary ones don't interest me," Lan Yu said.
"Gotta hand it to you. You really love daydreaming."
After that, Lan Yu spent his time cultivating and taking part in the Light Institute's ranking challenges.
With the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger at his side, his ranking climbed steadily. In just four challenge weeks, he had broken into the top ten, drawing widespread attention from students across the whole school.
Of course, during that time, Mo Fan, that Holy Son of the Taunt Element, had also done something "earth-shattering" at the Fire Institute.
Not only had he called everyone at the Fire Institute useless when he first transferred there, but during the challenge weeks that followed, he'd defeated more than two hundred challengers in a row.
If Dean Xiao hadn't stepped in to stop him, Mo Fan might even have been forced to reveal his hidden trump card, the Shadow Element.
Jinyuan Apartment.
"That's so infuriating!" Ai Tutu's voice rang out, rising and falling dramatically.
"How come you made it into the top ten among all those Turtle Shell Mages? I refuse to accept this!"
Ai Tutu was acting like someone who couldn't bear to see her friend suffer, but couldn't stand seeing her friend drive a fancy car, either.
"Don't accept it? Then how about you spar with my Summoned Beast?" Lan Yu raised an eyebrow.
"Forget it." Ai Tutu immediately backed down.
With her little frame, she probably wouldn't even be enough to get stuck between Lan Yu's Summoned Beast's teeth.
Mu Nujiao sighed. For a moment, she too felt tempted to awaken the Summoning Element.
But after thinking it over, she decided against it.
Not everyone was lucky enough to find a Summoned Beast with bloodlines as top-tier as Lan Yu's.
"Sister Mu, that Zhou Shuming is really full of himself. He actually dared to proclaim in public that he'd make you a bride of the Zhou family. What a shameless jerk!" Seeing Mu Nujiao sigh, Ai Tutu immediately puffed up with indignation.
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