Chapter 88: Chapter 57: Excuse Me, Senior (2)

Soon, the girl walked up to the registration desk.

“Hello, upperclassmen. I’m Miao Miaomiao, from Martial Arts Class One!”

’Meow, meow, meow?’

Zhang Kui looked up at her, a hint of astonishment in his eyes. ’I didn’t expect this ’cat’ to be so beautiful.’

The way she spoke, her fingers slightly curled as she brushed a lock of hair from her forehead, was enough to make one’s heart skip a beat.

Zhang Kui was momentarily stunned.

“BAM!”

Just then, someone jabbed him hard in a vital spot under his ribs. A sharp pain shot through him, snapping him out of his daze.

“Mental Tranquility Technique!”

The one who had jabbed him was, of course, his classmate Qin Rui.

Hearing those three words—Mental Tranquility Technique—Zhang Kui shuddered and quickly composed himself, forcing himself not to look at Miao Miaomiao.

“Senior, are you alright?”

Seeming to notice Zhang Kui’s discomfort, a worried look immediately appeared on Miao Miaomiao’s pretty face. It was a look of sorrowful grievance, yet filled with concern.

It made one feel an irresistible sense of pity, to the point you’d believe anything she said or did was right.

“I’m, I’m fine! Next!”

Zhang Kui hastily circulated the incantation for the Mental Tranquility Technique, let out a slow, turbid breath, and quickly sent this “cat” on her way.

It couldn’t be helped; this year’s batch of freshmen was full of monsters.

This “cat” was one of them. Not only was she an Eighth-level Martial Artist, but she also practiced a strange Charm Technique of astonishing power.

If the difference in their Inner Strength wasn’t too great, few could escape her Charm Technique.

The first-year students all secretly called her the Cat Demon.

Some third and fourth-year upperclassmen, unimpressed and confident in their own superior Martial Arts, coveted the Cat Demon’s beauty. They took the initiative to try and suppress her Charm Skill in person.

They did this to show off their own abilities and win her affection.

But not only did they fail to suppress it, they were instantly captivated by her Charm Skill on the spot. They lost all composure in their speech, and one who went too far even dropped his pants right then and there.

Social suicide on the spot!

The incident became the laughingstock of the Martial Arts Academy for a while.

“Wang Dalong, Martial Arts Class Two, age eighteen, Martial Arts Level: eight!”

Not long after the Cat Demon left, another Eighth-level Martial Artist appeared.

This person had an ordinary name, an ordinary face, and an ordinary height.

Placed in a crowd, he would just be another face in the background.

But his name was known by everyone in the entire Martial Arts Academy.

An eighteen-year-old Eighth-level Martial Artist, a master of Inner Strength with exceptional talent. He had already opened his Ren and Du Meridians at a young age, and his Dragon Subduing Palm was so mighty and domineering that he had few rivals at the same level.

“I’m starting to regret not pushing to leave the team!”

After Wang Dalong left, Zhang Kui turned and leaned in to whisper in Qin Rui’s ear.

“It’s not too late.”

“Uh… How are these people such monsters? If we’d known, and let this group join the team a month earlier, we definitely could have crushed Dongyi.”

“What’s that got to do with us? Get back to work!”

Qin Rui, not in the mood, cut off his rambling.

Registering a few dozen people was a quick affair. After signing in, everyone followed the arrows to the Martial Arts Arena.

The area there was spacious and had martial arts platforms, making it perfect for selecting team members.

Zhao Rui was there with a group of second and third-year team members, busy with the selection of new recruits.

The Martial Arts Team’s selection process didn’t just involve reviewing past records; they also had to consider various other factors, such as personal strength, competition history, and results.

What Cultivation Technique they specialized in, whether they excelled in actual combat or in research.

In short, everyone from the second coach, Wang Zhanshan, down to the newly joined member Zhao Rui, had a part to play in the selection process.

Zhao Rui’s job was to guide the first-year students to the designated testing area.

“Hello, Senior! Hello, Senior Brother!”

“Senior Brother, is it usually tiring?”

Hearing “Senior Brother” called out so affectionately again and again made Zhao Rui feel like a fraud, no matter how thick-skinned he was.

“You don’t have to call me Senior Brother. It’s not tiring, we have a lot of freedom.”

Zhao Rui casually explained the Martial Arts Team’s situation and, while he was at it, “kindly” put a stop to these “fresh-faced newbies” calling him Senior Brother.

“Senior Brother, may I ask… Zhao Rui! What are you doing here?”

Just as Zhao Rui was busy directing students and answering questions, a voice as crisp and clear as an oriole’s song sounded beside him.

Zhao Rui turned his head and saw that it was Luo Min, along with two girls he didn’t recognize.

“I’m here helping out!”

Zhao Rui said with a smile.

“Helping out? Does the Martial Arts Academy need people from the Outer Courtyard to help?”

Luo Min was thoroughly confused.

“We can talk later when we have time. You should go get tested first.”

Zhao Rui pointed in the direction of the testing area and walked Luo Min and her friends a little way forward.

“Just keep heading forward.”

With that, Zhao Rui waved and turned to return to his post.

“That senior is really gentle. Luo Min, since you know him, you should definitely talk to him more. It’s always good to have connections on the team, hehe,” one of the girls said.

“What do you mean ’talk to him more’? He was my high school classmate, okay?”

“Huh? No way!”

The other two were stunned.

“We took the college entrance exams at the same time and got into this school at the same time. It’s just that he’s studying accounting!”

“Accounting?”

The two girls were even more baffled and became intensely curious about Zhao Rui’s situation.

But with the team tryouts imminent, they temporarily put their curiosity aside and focused on the assessment.

The several dozen people who signed up seemed like a lot, but also not that many; the whole process only took a morning.

Around noon, the registration event came to a close. All that was left was to wait for the list of members selected for the Martial Arts Team to be announced.

Zhao Rui shrugged. Just as he walked out of the Martial Arts Arena’s main gate, he saw Luo Min and her two classmates standing there, looking pretty.

At the same time, another girl appeared beside them. Zhao Rui had seen this girl in the cafeteria before.

“Zhao Rui!”

Luo Min called out as soon as she saw him emerge.

Zhao Rui frowned slightly and walked over.

“What’s up, Luo Min?”

“How come you were helping out here?”

“Oh, I’m a member of the Martial Arts Team. Of course I’d be helping here.”

“Huh? You’re in the Martial Arts… wait a second. You’re not from the Martial Arts Academy, and you’re a freshman, right?!”

Luo Min asked after a moment of thought.

“It’s a long story. I’ll keep an eye on your name on the list, and I’ll let you know if anything comes up. If there’s nothing else, I’m going to head out!”

Just then, Zhang Kui and Qin Rui came looking for him.

Seeing them, Zhao Rui waved goodbye to Luo Min and started to walk away.

Seeing Zhao Rui laughing and chatting as he left with the two upperclassmen from the registration desk, seemingly unwilling to pay her much attention, the spark of inquisitive curiosity and competitiveness in her heart burned even brighter.

“That girl is the one I mentioned before, his girlfriend.”

After Zhao Rui left, the slightly darker-skinned girl whom Zhao Rui had seen before couldn’t help but speak up.

“Girlfriend? I see. Your classmate is really something.”

’So, he must have gotten in because of his girlfriend.’

In an instant, everything became clear.

…

At the gate, Zhang Kui, who was walking out, narrowed his eyes and said with a sly grin, “Zhao Rui, you kid, you work fast. Already hitting on a freshman girl.”

“Senior Brother, what nonsense are you talking about? That’s my high school classmate.”

“Your high school classmate? She’s very pretty. How are her Martial Arts?”

Zhang Kui glanced back and couldn’t help but ask.

“She’s pretty strong.”

Zhao Rui didn’t actually know what Luo Min’s true strength was. After all, his own abilities had been lacking in high school, so he’d rarely interacted with her.

Plus, several months had passed. He couldn’t be sure what level her Power had reached.

“Oh!”

Qin Rui let out a soft “Oh!” She was actually quite concerned about these beautiful first-year girls.

’If they have strong Martial Arts and good looks, they’ll definitely have an Innate advantage.’

There was already a Ye Jingqiu on the team, who had always been the team’s “darling.” She overshadowed Qin Rui by a wide margin, leaving Qin Rui—who was clearly very pretty herself—as little more than an unnoticed nobody on the team.

Usually, whenever people talked about the Martial Arts Team, they would say, “There’s that girl on the team, what’s-her-name Qiu, who’s so beautiful.”

But no one would ever mention her.

’If a few more pretty and skilled girls join, won’t my status drop even lower?’

At this thought, Qin Rui’s crimson lips couldn’t help but curl up slightly.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep