Chapter 212: Eve of the Competition (3.5k)
After that night, the student union seemed to have stopped probing. Two and a half days passed quietly.
Except for Little White visiting the dorm once or twice, no one else contacted Su Jiu. The Silly Duke seemed busy and hadn’t been online these days…
Sir Wenders the Knight couldn’t be reached, and Su Jiu found herself suddenly idle.
After Su Jiu explained Bairnis’s origin to Bai Qianyu, Little White felt a bit of pity for her and specially bought several nice storybooks for her.
Because these few days were for new students to familiarize themselves with the environment, Su Jiu, after settling her relationships, had been diligently cultivating. She had compressed her Qi Sea further, reaching ten percent. She wasn’t far from the threshold of theIntermediate Battle General level, but her Magic Crystals were visibly decreasing.
Fortunately, the timely supply of instant noodles prevented her and Bairnis from becoming two starving vampire nobles.
“I need to make money. I have two big eaters to feed now.”
Su Jiu glanced at the date on her phone, rubbed her face, and changed into a simple blue and white student uniform, with knee-high black and white striped socks and small-buckled leather shoes. She looked quite youthful.
She lifted the bed curtain again and saw Bairnis curled up in a corner, quietly flipping through a physical book. She seemed to particularly enjoy the sense of weight that parchment provided.
Holding the book, the lady displayed her noble demeanor to the fullest. Her cascading green silk draped over the book, and her sapphire-blue eyes always held a hint of inexplicable melancholy, as if she were worrying about the fate of the protagonist in the book.
Noticing Su Jiu’s gaze, Bairnis gently closed the book and tilted her head up slightly. A faint smile graced her face. Physical books gave her a sense of security; at least the author wouldn’t suddenly abandon the book.
After waiting for a moment, Su Jiu smiled when she met Bairnis’s gaze and said, “Don’t spend all day reading these storybooks. Come on, let’s go out for a walk!”
Opening the door, warm sunlight poured down from the heavens. As a brilliant sun slowly rose in the sky, the Green Campus, which had been quiet for over two days, finally became vibrant again.
Countless young and energetic university students poured out from dormitories and teaching buildings. The crowds moved like purposeful greedy snakes, and the goal of those greedy snakes was the competition venue sandwiched between the Green Campus and the main campus.
The competition for the freshman top spot was almost an annual grand event in every renowned university. Students eligible to participate were all outstanding individuals. In previous years, there might have been some participants just trying to ride along.
However, this year was completely different. The peak of previous years might only be the mid-level players this year. It was said that in order to catch up to the world-class campus league in a few months, disciples from the aristocratic families had started to show their strength—
It could be said that Su Jiu, considering only her family background, was just a humble disciple among them.
In this year’s selection competition for the top spot, the participation of Crazy Sword Hu Yang and Young Master Lu Bingyu, as mentioned by Miss Yun Ling’er, along with several other aristocratic disciples, had gathered nearly half of the attention.
However… besides these already famous strong individuals, there were also some dark horses, like Su Jiu, who had suddenly emerged.
Under the public’s gaze, she had easily defeated a student union cadre in one blow, refused the student union’s request, and bravely joined the White Water Society—and finally, she had revealed a forbidden relationship with the Black Dragon Princess.
Moreover, her appearance with white hair and red eyes was as if she had stepped out of a storybook! A favorite look of the Chinese people!
The superposition of these buffs instantly attracted a lot of attention to her, causing people of both genders to admire her to some extent, and some even began to look forward to her performance in the competition.
After changing Bairnis into a white dress, the two left the dormitory and went to the agreed meeting point with the Bai siblings. The four chatted and headed towards the venue for the top spot selection.
“These people are really enthusiastic.”
Su Jiu scanned the gazes directed at her, feeling the various emotions contained within their eyes. She could already feel the trouble of being a public figure and couldn’t help but smack her lips.
On the way, Bai Ming glanced at Bairnis with surprise but finding that his sister showed no dissatisfaction, he cautiously asked, “Who is this lady?”
Hearing him, Bairnis placed her hands on the hem of her plain cotton dress and bowed slightly forward, saying softly, “Hello, Mr. Bai. I am the young lady’s contractor.”
“Contractor… could it be the scythe? Miss Su Jiu can actually contract a high-level race, and one that is highly humanoid. Truly not simple.”
Hearing “contractor,” Bai Ming was stunned for a moment, then a look of admiration appeared on his face. He wasn’t one to be easily surprised. Upon hearing “contractor,” he understood that this was a high-level demonic creature… After expressing his admiration, he turned to Su Jiu and pondered for a moment.
“Miss Su Jiu, regarding the matter of placing bets you mentioned, I spoke with the person in charge of finances within the association, and they agreed to give you thirty percent of the profits.” Bai Ming said with a faint smile.
“On the phone, didn’t you say that I only needed ten percent of the prize money?”
Su Jiu was quite surprised and asked instinctively. She had specifically chosen the White Water Society for its large funds and asked them to bet on her. Besides, Bai Ming knew her strength, so they could bet on her even if she hadn’t said anything.
Bai Ming laughed heartily, and a rare hint of warmth appeared on his stern face. He looked at his sister and said, “Miss Su Jiu, you are being too formal. Not to mention your relationship with my sister, it is only natural to give you this thirty percent share for bringing this matter to us.”
“Brother, don’t be like this…”
Mentioned by her brother, Bai Qianyu gave him a sideways glance. Under his hearty laughter, she secretly glanced at Su Jiu while stroking the little fox in her hand. Seeing that Su Jiu had no objections, she let out a sigh of relief, her small face blushing slightly.
Su Jiu quickly understood the meaning. They already considered her part of their group. Although the initiation ceremony for joining the association was still a few days away, this move clearly showed more sincerity. Su Jiu was not one to be overly modest, so she chuckled and replied, “Thank you, Big Brother Bai.”
Under the gaze of burning eyes, Su Jiu and her group had unknowingly arrived at the competition venue and took their seats, according to the spots Bai Ming had bought in advance. Yes, unlike yesterday’s assessment, the school was charging admission today.
After all, this highly practical competition for the top spot was of great value. Unlike simple guidance, this was…
A battle to the death!
Although Su Jiu had changed her clothes and her hair had turned black, she couldn’t help but be accompanied by the Bai siblings. One was the president of the White Water Society, and the other was the recently renowned Black Dragon Princess among the freshmen. This immediately attracted a lot of attention.
“We need to place our bets one minute before the closing of the market.”
Sitting in their purchased seats and holding her phone to place a bet, Su Jiu’s brows suddenly furrowed. With a premonition, she looked up and her gaze swept across the opposite viewing platform.
There, in a prominent front-row seat, Hu Ling, dressed in a red dress, looked over with icy eyes. She held the armrest with one hand, her palm clenched tightly, as if expressing her displeasure.
“This woman always has a sour face. Isn’t she afraid of endocrine disorders?”
Su Jiu chuckled, and seeing that the other party was also looking over, she subtly gave her the middle finger.
Since they were already on opposing sides, and she wasn’t one to back down from a fight, and this woman had even sent people to probe her, she didn’t mind giving the other party’s people a little shock later.
Seeing Su Jiu make a provocative gesture, Hu Ling’s eyes twitched, and she almost couldn’t resist slapping her.
But turning to look at the young man with a ponytail seated not far beside her, she calmed herself down slightly, a smile appearing on her lips, and then softly asked:
“Little Yang, what confidence do you have in winning the top spot this time?”
Hearing this, Hu Yang showed a look of disdain. He turned to the dazed woman beside him, who looked like a doll, and slid his hand across her face, saying faintly, “The world knows that Young Master Lu is unparalleled, possessing a sword from a demigod descendant. However, they don’t know that the family has also procured a demonic creature of a certain high-level race for me to contract.”
Upon hearing this, Hu Ling fell silent for a moment. The family’s support for her younger brother was completely different from her own. This was to forge another invincible Battle King for the family.
Glancing at his sister, Hu Yang smiled faintly, speaking with an air of seniority: “Don’t worry, as long as that girl dares to reach the finals, I will make her understand what an aristocratic disciple is. Be it beastly martial arts, cultivation techniques, or resources, she can’t compare in any aspect.”
Withdrawinng her gaze from Hu Ling opposite, Su Jiu scanned the surroundings of the plaza again. In the center of the stands was the judges’ seating area. In this area, there were only five judges, the most special among them being a tall woman in ancient attire.
Although these five people had nothing particularly special about them, Su Jiu vaguely felt a sense of oppression emanating from them. Especially that woman in ancient attire, if one felt carefully, one could discover an emergent sword aura from her, and this sword aura was actually very close to the aura on the stone tablet outside the school gate!
But it wasn’t…
Among the strong individuals Su Jiu had encountered, only a handful could reach the woman’s level. The Old Count and the Black-clad Bishop couldn’t, but it should be at Mr. Wenders’s level, belonging to the realm above Battle King but below War God.
As if sensing the gaze, the woman in ancient attire suddenly turned her head to look at Su Jiu. As their eyes met, it felt as if a blade of white light was sliced out. A bright moon flashed in Su Jiu’s eyes, and her sword intent was stimulated. Soon, she realized she was in the audience seats and quickly restrained it.
Looking at Su Jiu’s position, the woman in ancient attire was extremely surprised, and then she chuckled and said, “Interesting. Her swordsmanship is very strong. Master said she might take a disciple and specifically asked me to come and see… Could it be her?”
The four judges beside her noticed the woman’s actions and listened to her words, all somewhat surprised. A young man in a blue Daoist robe with a youthful face and a head full of white hair chuckled, “Little Tingyu, Principal Kuangjian wants to take a disciple? That must be that Lu family kid, right?”
Hearing this, another old man in a red robe with white hair and beard frowned slightly and snorted, “Brother Yan, everyone knows you are from the Lu family, but there’s no need to be so biased. Principal Kuangjian wields a sword and, after all, has Hu Yang as his disciple.”
The young man was slightly stunned, then smiled, “Not at all. Who knows, maybe Principal Kuangjian accepts disciples based on strength? Hu Yang has taken so many enhancers; I wonder if he can even make it into the top three.”
The old man in red suddenly became cold, and his external Qi of crimson flames was about to erupt, with the faint appearance of a lion phantom.
Lin Tingyu and the other two looked at the hired guests from the Hu and Lu families quarreling somewhat helplessly. It seemed they had already considered the top spot to be theirs. She lightly tapped the table, then called out to stop the two: “Alright, the two of you, stop arguing. the competition is about to begin!”
Lin Tingyu’s gaze then swept over Su Jiu’s position, then brushed past Bai Qianyu, and finally landed on Bairnis. She narrowed her eyes slightly. This year’s competition is not simple.
