Merging with Demon Spirits

Chapter 155: Chapter 137: Constant Comparison

On the Martial Artist Forum, across various news media, opinions and views about who among the new generation of talents is stronger or weaker abound, leading to unavoidable disputes. This seems to be the norm, but this year it’s somewhat special as the debates are intensifying.

Compared to previous years, the top hundred rookies show no significant difference in talent and strength. However, the top ten rookies seem to exceed past years in both aspects, particularly Ye Qiu, Yun Kai, and Lin Feng.

As the three most anticipated rookies of the Glory Professional Alliance, each has their outstanding qualities, making it hard to distinguish who is superior. Additionally, each of them commands millions of fans, quickly turning the matter of who is stronger into a fanbase rivalry.

Regarding this, Lin Feng and his companions, caught in the eye of the storm, were naturally aware but paid it no heed.

After enduring ten minutes of humiliation, some freshmen who couldn’t stand the intensity left early, unwilling to remain stimulated.

Nevertheless, many stayed put, including some veteran students, with their eyes fixed on the hundred freshmen securing their seats, receiving their rewards and resources on the podium.

As the holder of the First Throne, Lin Feng was first in line, recording his fingerprint and iris, after which he received a bunch of keys, a bank card, and a crystal vial.

The card contained ten million, and inside the crystal vial were a hundred Pills—the Body Tempering Pill—each worth half a million, totaling a value of fifty million.

”Hit the jackpot!”

Witnessing this scene, many freshmen, including veteran students, showed expressions of envy and desire in their eyes.

Undoubtedly, Lin Feng was the biggest winner in this throne challenge competition.

In just a few hours of the throne challenge competition, Lin Feng won rewards worth sixty million.

Sixty million is a fortune to some students, enough to cover all their university needs for four years.

Even for some family offspring, sixty million is not a small sum.

”Sixty million, my parents couldn’t earn that much in a lifetime!” a student sighed.

Some students shook their heads, saying, ”Being able to buy resources with money is actually nothing; what’s truly precious is not these.”

”Ah, indeed, the top hundred freshmen can enter the Cultivation Technique Pavilion to choose cultivation techniques and martial skills. The techniques and skills in there are not simply documented in text and illustrations; they are soul imprinted by strong individuals with strength at the Martial King level. They are extremely precious, all high-level seventh-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills. Outside, they’re hard to buy, even with money.”

”The top ten freshmen can also enter the Demon Beast Blood Pool, a privilege many martial artists can’t enjoy in a lifetime.”

”Lin Feng, holding the First Throne, can also enter the Demon Spirit Realm. With his talent, who knows what kind of demon spirit he could acquire? If it’s an Earth Chart demon spirit, even the lowest-level Earth Chart demon spirit is worth billions of new coins!”

”If he truly refines an Earth Chart demon spirit, who can be his opponent?”

The freshmen did not hide their inner envy and jealousy.

Compared to the dazzling hundred on the podium, they were merely bystanders, seeming obscure and unnoticed.

While envious, most couldn’t help but feel lost and dissatisfied, but few displayed an outraged expression, and no one complained, feeling the distribution was unfair.

Perhaps some did, but they would never say it aloud.

The world of martial artists is inherently unfair, and Red Cloud University is no exception.

The university’s mentors, its leaders, the president of the student council, various department heads, and even a seemingly ordinary cafeteria lady all bear ties to various Guanglin powers, even national families and groups, with complex connections and fierce competition.

The Three Heroic Academies, the Nine Elite Joint Schools, to some extent, because of safety and sustainability, are places most favored by family and corporate forces for stationing.

They send their children here to study while spending some resources and money to establish power and networks within the university, year after year, generation after generation, fostering their offspring to grow swiftly, ensuring family prosperity and endurance.

The leaders of Red Cloud University are aware of this, and both parties have a tacit understanding, neither encouraging nor stopping it, as it benefits the university and is mutually beneficial.

With connections, acquaintances to look after you, naturally the path is smoother, cultivation progresses faster, and safety is better ensured.

This relationship is directly reflected in this year’s freshman orientation party.

For student organizations seeking to recruit members, the orientation party is of paramount importance.

Previous orientation parties, nine out of ten times, were led by the university’s largest force, the student council, making it nearly impossible for other student organizations to get a say.

But this year was an exception, managed by Deng Chen, thanks to his uncle being one of the three vice presidents of the university. The student council had to concede this opportunity to him.

And that is what relationships mean.

Yet within this unfair relationship network, relative fair rules are maintained.

No one, not even the principal, would easily dare to break those rules.

For instance, in the throne challenge competition, anyone can participate, and the event is entirely open.

If you are strong enough, you can sit there.

The resources and treatments on the podium are openly displayed; it’s clear how much there is and who got what. If you didn’t get it, it’s because you lack the strength, not someone else’s fault.

After receiving their rewards, the throne challenge competition officially ended.

On the podium, Bu Zheng and the mentors had already left, and the audience was orderly retreating.

As for other rewards and treatments, those are affairs for the following day or two.

Tomorrow, the top ten freshmen can enter the Demon Beast Blood Pool for baptism.

The day after, the top hundred freshmen can enter the Cultivation Technique Pavilion to choose cultivation techniques or martial skills.

The day after that, Lin Feng will enter the Demon Spirit Realm to select a demon spirit.

After a short three-day break, the freshmen will officially start classes.

There’s no so-called group training or military training because, for martial artists, it holds no meaning.

....

Half an hour later, standing outside an array of villas, even Lin Feng had a glimmer of surprise in his eyes.

”Is this the style of Red Cloud? Why is everything constantly in comparison!”

Gao Hai’s eyes shimmered with awe, unable to suppress a certain sentiment.

The villas before them were built against the mountain, with cobblestone paths, stone benches, orderly bonsai, pavilions, and lofts, seemingly nothing unique. The villa styles combined Eastern and Western elements, with white grey plaster walls and light red roof tiles, appearing neither grand nor magnificent, instead quite ordinary, even a bit shabby. Calling them villas might be an overstatement; they resembled more like two-and-a-half-story apartments, just with an added small garden.

The real reason for Gao Hai’s sentiment was that the villas were distributed in a stepped formation, each one higher than the last, with the villa at the peak marked with a ’1,’ representing Villa No. 1, Lin Feng’s villa.

Apart from differing in elevation, the villas had no differences in appearance or size.

”Beep!”

After verifying the fingerprint, the villa door opened, and Lin Feng and his companions took a casual stroll. On the first level was a living room, complete with a sofa and basic appliances, a kitchen, three bedrooms, and a shared bathroom. On the second level, one living room and two bedrooms, each including an en suite bathroom.

With a simplistic style of decoration, simple and comfortable, without any distinct features, but as they stepped onto the balcony, with the breeze blowing, feeling invigorated, looking down, there was a sense of overlooking all the other mountains.

Beneath them were a series of villas, and at the base of the villa area, a series of dormitories similarly distributed in a stepped fashion.

”So much pressure, one layer suppressing the next.”

Yang Fan’s expression changed slightly, deeply feeling the style of Red Cloud University from the throne challenge competition to the division of dormitories.

Just like Gao Hai said, in comparison.

The first suppresses the second, the second suppresses the third, the top hundred suppress the rest.

Constantly in comparison.

Even though he hadn’t moved in yet, he could already imagine that living in the dormitory area at the base of the mountain would certainly feel oppressive and unpleasant.