It could perform not only dance moves the human body was capable of, but also moves no human body could manage.
Wen Jing and her companions watched the dazzling sights, barely able to take it all in. There was food and entertainment here. Had they not learned about the welcome party's "tradition" in advance, this would have been a very enjoyable outing.
They had not been there long before several students in skintight suits approached.
"Come on. The seniors are waiting for you."
Thinking of what the freshmen were about to face, they suddenly found their own strange outfits much less embarrassing.
"Here it comes..."
Yu Yang and the others' hearts sank, and they instinctively looked toward Wen Jing.
Only then did she pull her gaze away from the entertaining robot, her expression casual. "Let's go."
The six followed Wen Jing, their arms and legs moving stiffly in unison with their nervousness. They felt countless malicious, mocking gazes falling on them from all around. Only she walked on with complete composure.
Lu Cheng had been sitting arrogantly on a sofa with his legs crossed. The moment that familiar figure appeared, his muscles tensed of their own accord, and he nearly sprang off the sofa.
His friend Wei He spotted Wen Jing a moment sooner. A flash of inspiration struck him, and he abruptly turned and reached out to pin Lu Cheng firmly in place-
Bro, don't let that embarrassing muscle memory kick in again!
Clap! Clap!
At the sound of two claps, the people sitting on the row of expensive sofas beside the pool stood up. They approached in little groups, laughing as they looked at the three hundred-plus freshmen summoned here.
There were over five hundred students in this winter intake. The scions of conglomerate families had joined the student council directly, while some E-ranks had also applied to join and become the servers now wearing skintight suits around the venue. The remaining students, whose potential was F-rank, were all gathered here.
"All this intake's newcomers are here, then."
The one speaking at the front was Tan Wenshan, a second-tier officer in the student council's personnel department and the younger cousin of its team leader, Tan Junhao. He was also a student in the autumn intake.
As a conglomerate scion with considerable power in the student council and E-rank talent, he was a leading figure among the autumn intake.
As he spoke, he pointed toward the luxurious, crystal-clear swimming pool beside him. "You already know the rules, right? There! That's the grand gift your seniors have prepared for this intake-!"
Tan Wenshan's words triggered the voice controls here.
The next moment, the pool's water inlets suddenly began spraying unidentified substances in every color. In less than a minute, the pool had turned utterly murky, its contents looking extremely viscous.
"Anyone who fails the strength test, or gives up outright, jumps into this pool full of vomit and swims a lap. Simple! Besides, we couldn't get that much real human vomit. This was all simulated through molecular synthesis."
Even if it isn't real human vomit, it's still disgusting!
Wen Jing was recoiling in disgust when she noticed that quite a few people actually looked relieved.
"Thank goodness it's not what they did last year..."
What? So you'd rather swim in vomit than have people see your browsing history?
"Better a short pain than a long one!"
Some had already put those words into action.
"Glug... glug..."
With splashes that were anything but crisp, dozens chose to jump straight into the pool.
But the instant they entered, their expressions changed dramatically. They scrambled frantically to climb out, only to be caught in the thick, strange substance.
After several struggles failed to free them, they lost control and began vomiting violently into the pool.
Now there really was human vomit in it.
The autumn intake students pointed at their wretched state and roared with laughter, feeling that all the humiliation they had once suffered had vanished in that moment.
Laughing, Tan Wenshan said, "Forgot to tell you, the smell is simulated too, of course. There's just a barrier over the pool that blocks odor molecules, so we can't smell it... hahaha..."
"Also, there are flow restrictions in there. You have to swim a proper lap before you can get out. There's no other way."
Seeing the miserable scene below, the freshmen beside the pool turned deathly pale. Some secretly gritted their teeth. Rather than that, they might as well fight.
"All right, now let's see what this intake is made of..."
The next moment, facing the oppressive gazes of the autumn intake students, the freshmen huddled together like a flock of sheep and instinctively averted their eyes.
It was a psychological effect. When gathered in a crowd, nobody wanted to stick their neck out.
Tan Wenshan watched with satisfaction, his gaze sweeping over the freshmen who dared to be angry but not speak. Suddenly, he met a pair of dark eyes that did not waver or turn away.
He paused, then smiled. "Wen Jing. You're quite famous."
Wen Jing's expression turned strange for an instant. Fighting back the urge to deliver the next line, she shook her head. "Which of you is coming?"
"Hmph." Wen Jing's bluntness left Tan Wenshan deeply displeased; he had not finished showing off. But things had reached this point, and dragging it out would look bad.
He turned to his eager classmates. "Who wants to go?"
"Me!" Lu Cheng answered first, his eyes brimming with confidence.
"All right." Tan Wenshan nodded, giving Lu Cheng this chance to shine, since he had recently been planning to win him over.
Lu Cheng had just earned a B-rank evaluation in the Trial Tower, meaning he had defeated the guardian in under five minutes. He was more than capable of dealing with Wen Jing.
The crowd spontaneously cleared space for them, forming a circular opening.
Lu Cheng raised his head and met Wen Jing's eyes for the first time.
Those eyes were calm and serious, the opposite extreme from the excitement and exhilaration in his own.
This day had finally arrived. He stood openly before the genius he had once only been able to look up to. Next, he would defeat her, dispelling his old inner demon as easily as kicking aside a roadside stone!
How should I defeat her?
Lu Cheng slipped into a stream-of-consciousness inner monologue.
Should I overwhelm her with the Sky-Rending Slash I just learned, or toy with her and torment her using hand-to-hand combat?
Since she's chosen to close in, hand-to-hand combat it is.
She's fast. What is this speed...
...Not good!
Lu Cheng's mind went blank, his ears ringing. He only felt his body become weightless.
"Glug..." Only when the stench and viscous liquid engulfed him did Lu Cheng realize what had happened.
He'd been one-shotted?!
Everyone else present was dumbfounded too.
What was Lu Cheng doing?
Everything had happened too quickly and easily. All they had seen was Lu Cheng seemingly delivering himself right into Wen Jing's hands to be flung away.
This was the level of someone who'd fought through the Trial Tower? Had all that conviction at the start been
a joke
or what?
"Useless trash." Recovering, Tan Wenshan cursed under his breath and immediately abandoned the idea of recruiting Lu Cheng.
Careless or not, losing to a freshman like that was absurd!
"Let me!" Someone beside him volunteered and stepped forward.
Wen Jing folded her arms instead and said lightly, "Nobody said anything about a tag-team battle before we started, did they?"
The volunteer's face flushed red. Tan Wenshan was a little embarrassed too, but Lu Cheng's defeat had been so ridiculous. How could they possibly accept it?
Soon, Tan Wenshan's eyes shifted toward Yu Yang and the other five behind Wen Jing.
He smiled. "You've passed the strength test, junior. Go enjoy the party. But the others..."
Yu Yang and the others instantly paled, knowing he was using them to threaten Wen Jing.
But Wen Jing had already defeated a senior and "made it ashore." She could leave them entirely to their own devices.
Otherwise, she would have to face more opponents, stronger and fully prepared.
If he himself were in Wen Jing's position, he would probably abandon them, even knowing he would lose a little face...
The six had only just begun their inward spiral of dread, but Wen Jing had already anticipated this situation.
She looked at the autumn intake students and smiled.
"You have six chances."
Chapter 17
It was as though someone had turned down the volume on the lively chatter in the hall. It soon quieted, leaving only the music and dancing onstage to fill the background.
On one side stood the student council and autumn intake students led by Tan Wenshan. On the other stood Wen Jing, with Yu Yang and the others behind her.
Meanwhile, the winter intake students who had not yet jumped into the pool also instinctively gathered behind Wen Jing.
What had begun as targeting Wen Jing had turned into a confrontation between the previous intake's seniors and this intake's freshmen.
Everyone could see that the situation had escalated.
Nothing like this had ever happened at past welcome parties.
It was not that nobody had resisted before, but that nobody had ever succeeded. Instead, they had been tormented even worse!
A three-month gap meant an overwhelming advantage in compatibility, combat techniques, and secret techniques.
Among the freshmen, conglomerate scions entered the student council directly, while talented E-ranks were recruited in advance. Naturally, the remaining freshmen, lacking both strength and connections, could only be bullied.
Until this intake produced an anomaly like Wen Jing, with low potential but considerable strength.
"Kevin, are you confident? She's already learned the Energy Amplification Method. It gives her a 150% boost in hand-to-hand combat."
Tan Wenshan's group began discussing among themselves. They were well-informed, so naturally they knew about this.
Casting a disdainful glance at Lu Cheng, who was still desperately paddling through the pool, Kevin remembered seeing his rapid improvement and vaguely worrying that Lu Cheng might catch up to him in the rankings. Now he found it laughable.
"Don't worry. I haven't had time to update my compatibility yet. It should be at 5% now."
At those words, everyone smiled and looked at Wen Jing as though waiting for a good show.
Compatibility brought across-the-board improvements to total energy reserves and physical strength. Even with the Energy Amplification Method, Wen Jing only had a boost in one area. Kevin firmly surpassed her in every stat, and as the autumn intake's tenth-ranked student, his fighting skills were hardly weak either.