Actually, You're Not the Protagonist!

"Senior, if I could defeat a Dou Zhe head-on, would I have the potential to reach rank D?"

"No." The student in charge of registration didn't even lift an eyelid.

"Why?!" The out-of-town passerby's face flushed red instantly, pointing at the Xiao Clan family members. "Those spoiled brats who rely on resources to get promoted can all get a rating of D or higher, why can't I!"

"Huh? Who is this guy?" Xiao Yan was completely bewildered by this sudden attack, looking utterly lost.

"Oh? You want to challenge the Xiao Clan?" A student who loved a good spectacle immediately became interested.

"That's right." He straightened his back. "I want them to know that someone like me, who has fought his way up from the brink of danger, is not someone those ivory tower pampered young masters can compare to!"

"What do you think? Should we let them give it a try?" The student watching the commotion whispered, seeking the opinion of the registered students.

"No, there's no such rule." The student registering for the exam refused to budge.

"Give it a try, just for fun. Even if he wins, we can find a reason not to upgrade him."

"No means no."

Huo Yuhao stopped gathering information about the Jia Nan Academy, turned around to carefully observe the young man, and went through his memories again to confirm that he was not an enemy of the Xiao Clan.

"Who are you?" Huo Yuhao asked.

"My name is Luo Bu." Being from out of town, Luo Bu's only knowledge of Huo Yuhao came from conversations with local passersby. "I know you, Huo Yuhao, the adopted son of the Xiao Clan family patriarch!"

"You're also called Luo Bu?" Xiao Yi Xian looked at Luo Bu's face in surprise, then curled her lip. "You don't look like Commander Luo Bu at all. You're much uglier than him."

As soon as the conflict broke out, some students ran out to find Instructor Ruolin. Instructor Ruolin quickly arrived and learned the whole story.

"He wants to challenge you, Huo, what do you think?" Instructor Ruolin's voice was gentle, without any hint of provocation or encouragement; she was genuinely seeking Huo Yuhao's opinion.

From her eyes, Huo Yuhao clearly understood that if he refused, she would immediately stop this farce.

This was clearly a trivial matter, yet a strange sense of irritation quietly grew in Huo Yuhao's heart.

"Teacher?" Huo Yuhao asked in his mind, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Shouldn't that be?" Yao Chen keenly sensed his meaning and replied, "Huo Yuhao, this mentor respects your wishes, shouldn't he?"

A sense of bewilderment lingered in Huo Yuhao's heart, refusing to dissipate for Jiujiu.

Composing himself, Huo Yuhao looked at Instructor Ruolin and said softly, "Instructor, please make the arrangements."

"Then, Luo Bu, you can spar with Huo Yuhao. Be careful not to injure him, or I will disqualify him from enrollment!" Instructor Ruolin was a bit cunning. Luo Bu wanted to challenge a Dou Zhe from the Xiao Clan, but Instructor Ruolin deliberately arranged for him to spar with Huo Yuhao, clearly wanting to teach him a lesson.

Upon hearing this, Luo Bu was overjoyed, his eyes fixed on Huo Yuhao, his voice chilling:

"I'm going to teach you a lesson: someone like you, who has no talent and only relies on family connections to get ahead, will never succeed!"

The next second, an ice sculpture appeared on the spot.

"As long as you can last twenty rounds against your mentor, you can apply for a year's leave. Your mentor will help you with that at the academy!"

Hearing that Ruolin had given her consent, Xiao Yan was overjoyed and nodded vigorously. "Don't even mention twenty rounds, thirty or forty rounds are fine!"

"Alright, you said it yourself, so it'll be thirty rounds." Instructor Ruolin was ultimately a little too shy to raise it to forty rounds.

"Uh!" Xiao Yan choked, rubbing his forehead with his hand. "There's not enough space here, let's go outside and fight!"

"Brother Huo Yuhao, will Brother Xiao Yan be alright?" Xiao Xun'er asked Huo Yuhao with a worried voice, her gaze never leaving Xiao Yan.

"With Xiao Yan's current strength, defeating a Da Dou Shi head-on is still beyond his capabilities." Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment, "But holding his own for thirty rounds shouldn't be too difficult. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless he's out of his mind and insists on using the Flame Splitting Tsunami Ruler."

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Xiao Yan transmitted his voice.

Outside the tent, Instructor Ruolin and Xiao Yan stood facing each other. Instructor Ruolin spoke, "It's not too late for you to give up now, to avoid suffering later."

After saying that, Instructor Ruolin took out a long sword from her Storage Ring, flicked the hilt with her slender fingers, and the long sword flew out and stuck in front of Xiao Yan.

Seeing this, Xiao Yan drew his longsword, lightly flicked the blade with his fingers, and listened to the sword's ringing.

"This sword is quite good!" Xiao Yan praised.

"Of course, this was made by one of our Jia Nan Academy's elders who is skilled in forging!" said one of the onlookers.

"I meant the materials are good." Xiao Yan smiled, put the sword into his Storage Ring, took out the Profound Heavy Ruler, and held it horizontally in front of him.

"Thank you, mentor, but I have a weapon I'm good at!"

The sunlight strolled leisurely for a few steps, and Xiao Yan knelt on one knee, his hands resting on the Profound Heavy Ruler, with a few scattered whip marks on his body.

Panting heavily, Xiao Yan grimaced and said to Instructor Ruolin, "Sorry, Instructor, it seems this year's vacation is mine now."

"You've got some skill! Alright, I'll be waiting for you at the Jia Nan Academy a year from now."

"Heh heh, just lucky!"

That concludes today's admissions process! We hope all students will prepare within seven days. After seven days, we will proceed to the Jia Nan Academy.

On the way back to the Xiao Clan, Huo Yuhao half-carried the somewhat exhausted Xiao Yan, his voice carrying a hint of certainty. "You're doing pretty well now, kid! You got through it without your teacher's help!"

"Come on! I'm not some idiot who only knows how to cultivate." Xiao Yan said speechlessly, "With my strength as a Nine-Star Dou Zhe, if I can't even withstand a few moves from a Da Dou Shi, then I might as well give up."

"Besides, this is an assessment. If you're not truly unable to do it, it's better not to ask your master for help."

That evening, after the Jia Nan Academy teachers and students who had been invited to the Xiao Clan family had all rested, Huo Yuhao and Xiao Yan arrived at their secret base in the back mountain.

"Huo Yuhao, look what good stuff I got from Dad!" Xiao Yan excitedly took out a piece of emerald green jade, with a spark of soul light flickering in the center of the jade.

Upon receiving the jade piece, Huo Yuhao probed it with his spiritual power and sensed his father Xiao Zhan's aura on the soul light spot.

"This... is probably used to determine safety." Huo Yuhao raised his head, a hint of doubt in his gaze as he looked at Xiao Yan.

"You stole it?"

"No." Xiao Yan waved his hand and explained, "After I found this jade piece in Father's study, he tossed it to me, saying it was a symbol of the clan leader, and told me and you to take it and play with it."

"Huo Yuhao, take a look, can this thing be used for weapon forging?"

Huo Yuhao rubbed the surface of the jade piece with his fingertips, probing its internal structure with his spiritual power. After a long while, he still couldn't understand how this jade piece maintained the activity of the soul light points.

Hearing Xiao Yan's words, Huo Yuhao casually tossed the jade piece in his hand. "No rush to use it for weapon refining. I haven't figured out the principle behind its ability to leave behind soul light spots yet."

Neither Huo Yuhao nor Xiao Yan took the so-called symbol of the clan leader seriously. They put their heads together and studied the jade piece using various methods.

"Brother Xiao Yan, I need to talk to you!" Xiao Xun'er walked in, looking a little unhappy. After greeting Huo Yuhao, she said to Xiao Yan with a wronged expression:

"Brother Xiao Yan, you're going to abandon me again..."

"Huh? Brother Xiao Yan, what's that in your hand?"