As the sun rose in the east, a sliver of white, like a fish's belly, began to emerge from the continuous mountain range, and then the vast Starfire Academy was illuminated by its light. Darkness receded, and Life Qi began to appear.
On this day, the students woke up early, not for any other reason, but because it was the end of the month, the day of the monthly 'Grudge Match'.
The Grudge Match was a place to settle grudges and also the best dueling ground. Here, both combatants would certainly use all their abilities, for once they lost, and lost to their enemy, it would be a huge loss of Face.
This day of every month was a festival for all students. After waking up early, they all rushed to the Grudge Match arena, eager to find a good viewing spot. Some students even privately organized betting pools, as everyone already knew who would be dueling at the Grudge Match, and the Academy would not interfere with occasional small bets.
The new students, who had just enrolled, were participating in the Grudge Match for the first time, and naturally seemed especially excited. Three hundred new students woke up earlier than students from other grades and hurried across the training ground towards the Grudge Match arena. Especially since there was a fight among their own new students today, it made them even more excited.
“Thump, thump, thump!”
A crisp knocking sound rang out. Lu An, who had just finished tidying himself, was standing in the living room. He turned to look at the door, walked over, and opened it.
When the door opened, Gao Dashan, Li Dongshi, and others were all standing at the doorway, not one missing, all looking at Lu An. This display, on the contrary, startled Lu An.
“Little An, how are you?” Gao Dashan, with his impatient nature, was the first to rush forward, asking anxiously, “The Grudge Match is in half an hour, everyone else has already gone, why are you still dawdling?”
“That’s right!” Li Dongshi also took a step forward, his Face full of anxiety, and said, “Are you not ready yet? Do you have any countermeasures?”
The others also started chattering, each speaking a word, and everyone looked very nervous, but Lu An seemed exceptionally calm, even with a slight smile on his Face.
“I’m ready,” Lu An smiled and said softly, “Thank you for worrying.”
“It doesn’t matter if we worry, but what about you, are you really okay?!” Gao Dashan, seeing Lu An’s calm demeanor, became even more anxious, almost jumping as he said, “I heard that Zhou Chengkun has made rapid progress recently, and he’s clamoring to break your legs. If it’s really not working, just surrender directly. At least that’s better than losing the duel and crippling yourself!”
“It won’t happen,” Lu An felt a warmth in his heart from the concern of Gao Dashan and the others, and he smiled, saying, “I won’t lose.”
Although his tone was light, his words conveyed an unshakeable determination, which made Gao Dashan and the others stunned.
Lu An did not explain further. Instead, he turned to look inside the house; Fu Yu’s bedroom door remained tightly shut. Lu An’s eyes flickered. Listening to Gao Dashan, who was still talking to him, he then turned his head and said to him, “Let’s go.”
Seeing that Lu An finally listened to him, Gao Dashan breathed a sigh of relief, put an arm around Lu An’s shoulder, and said, “Let’s go, let’s go to the Grudge Match arena together, and not lose our prestige!”
The Grudge Match arena was far from the dormitory area. The group walked for quite a while within the academy before arriving. By this time, the Grudge Match arena was already packed with people, and the surrounding stands were full. Soon, Gao Dashan found the new student area, and the group found a place to sit down.
Lu An carefully observed the Grudge Match arena. Surrounded by the stands, the venue was several dozen mu in size, large enough for any student to fight within. Not only that, but the venue also had a small forest and a pond, clearly to accommodate students of different attributes, striving to make the duel fairer.
Perhaps it truly was a case of enemies meeting on a narrow road. Not long after Lu An and the others sat down, Zhou Chengkun and his followers arrived, sitting in front, not far from Lu An. Lu An saw Zhou Chengkun, and Zhou Chengkun naturally saw him as well.
Their eyes met, and Zhou Chengkun’s gaze flickered with disdain, a sinister smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
Gao Dashan and the others looked at Zhou Chengkun indignantly, while Lu An showed no extra expression. After Zhou Chengkun and his group sat down, they began to chat loudly.
“Brother Zhou, I heard that your cultivation speed has been very fast in the past half month, did you take a Solid Foundation Pill?” someone suddenly asked.
Zhou Chengkun heard this, a boastful smile appeared on his Face, and he said, “Of course, in the past half month, I have taken three Solid Foundation Pills. With them, even Body Tempering is twice as effective with half the effort. If it weren’t that taking too many Solid Foundation Pills makes them unable to be absorbed, I wouldn’t mind taking a few more!”
“Brother Zhou is indeed wealthy!” the others all said, their words revealing envy.
Using Medicinal Pills to improve strength was not something to be ashamed of; on the contrary, it was something everyone desired. Therefore, it was not unreasonable to say that strength was linked to financial power. The price of Solid Foundation Pills was not cheap, and for someone like Zhou Chengkun to eat Solid Foundation Pills like ordinary pills, perhaps only a few families in the entire Starfire City could do it.
Hearing Zhou Chengkun’s words, the Faces of Gao Dashan and the others grew increasingly grim. Just as they were about to turn and say something to Lu An, they found that Lu An had already closed his eyes, appearing to be resting with his eyes closed.
Just then, a commotion came from a distance. Chu Ling appeared from one side, followed by many students who seemed to be her attendants. The others, upon seeing Chu Ling, all bowed in greeting, as Chu Ling was the daughter of the City Lord’s Mansion, and this Face absolutely had to be given.
Soon, Chu Ling arrived in the new student area, passing by Lu An and the others. Gao Dashan and the others quickly stood up and bowed upon seeing Chu Ling, while Lu An remained seated with his eyes closed, as if he hadn’t noticed Chu Ling’s arrival.
“Greetings, Young Miss Chu,” Gao Dashan quickly cupped his hands and said.
“Hmmph.” Chu Ling responded casually, then looked at Lu An, who remained seated, her willow-like brows slightly furrowed. She then lightly coughed, as if hinting at something.
Gao Dashan shivered, turned to look at Lu An, and quickly nudged him with his hand, whispering, “Lu Brother!”
Touched by Gao Dashan, Lu An slowly opened his eyes, his slightly vacant gaze appearing very confused. What made Chu Ling angry was that this guy had actually fallen asleep!
“What?” Lu An was a bit disoriented, looking around and saying, then he saw Chu Ling’s angry Face.
“Student Chu.” Lu An finally cleared his head after seeing Chu Ling, then stood up, showing a gentle smile and saying, “Good morning.”
“Morning?!” Chu Ling’s voice suddenly rose, looking at Lu An with great dissatisfaction, a surge of Qi immediately rising in her chest, and she said, “That’s it?”
“Ah?” Lu An was stunned and asked, “What’s ‘it’?”
“You!” Chu Ling gritted her teeth in anger, then stomped her foot, no longer bothering with Lu An, and turned around to walk away huffily.
Watching Chu Ling leave in anger, Gao Dashan and the others were greatly frightened. They quickly turned to Lu An and said, “Lu Brother, you can offend anyone, but how dare you offend her?”
Lu An looked at the nervous Gao Dashan. How could he not know what Chu Ling was angry about? He smiled slightly and said, “It’s fine.”
After speaking, Lu An sat down again, looking at the increasingly heated Grudge Match arena.
Another stick of incense passed, and the excitement in the Grudge Match arena had reached its peak. Just as the entire venue was almost boiling, someone suddenly descended from the sky, leaping to the center of the arena.
With the appearance of this person, the vast Grudge Match arena suddenly fell silent. When the new student area saw that the older students were quiet, they also followed suit and closed their mouths.
The person who landed in the center of the arena was Jiang Gang, who was in charge of the academy’s logistics.
Jiang Gang scanned the surroundings, his brows furrowed in anger, causing the students in the stands to shiver slightly. Then, he cleared his throat, and as his Dantian circulated, the Tian Yuan Power instantly rose to his throat.
“Next, I will preside over today’s Grudge Match!” Jiang Gang’s intimidating voice instantly spread throughout the entire Grudge Match arena. All the students heard him clearly. “Next, those whose names I call will go up to the stage in order. Absentees will be directly judged as forfeiting! In the Grudge Match, no fighting is allowed to take a life! When I say stop, you must stop, otherwise, you will bear the consequences!”
Then, Jiang Gang paused, and said in an even louder voice, “Also, all bets made at the Grudge Match must be honored, otherwise, it means you are an enemy of Starfire Academy!”