Chapter 62

Seek support. I don’t mind any kind of recommendations or votes... The current recommendations look a bit meager.

If you like this book, I hope you can add it to your collection. Thanks.

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Jiran would go to help Uncle Rice make a pot of Yuan-gathering Qi Soup every two days. After multiple attempts, he found that doing it every two days was the most effective, allowing Uncle Rice’s injuries to recover within two months.

Incidentally, he would also cook a meal for the others. Although it wasn’t as effective as eating every day, it was enough to ensure that everyone could use the power of these foods to enhance their strength.

Ailin was now busy feeding Hu Luo. The feed Jiran left for her spirit beast was actually quite high-end, at least in this world. In this world, people only knew to let their tamed magic beasts eat the corpses of other magic beasts to increase their energy, and there was no technology for deep processing of magic beast feed.

After less than a quarter of the two months' worth of feed, Hu Luo had changed significantly. Apart from the increasingly bright light in his eyes, he was shedding his feathers.

According to Ailin, shedding feathers was a good sign, indicating that Hu Luo was about to undergo a significant transformation. Once he shed all his feathers, his strength would increase by one level—from a second-level magic beast to a third-level one.

Hu Luo was a magic beast with great potential, capable of reaching up to the sixth level. Moreover, it was said that this type of falcon had a certain probability of mutating into a Dragon-hunting Falcon with strength at the seventh level or higher—though this was a rare occurrence in the long history, mostly existing in legends.

However, Ailin said that if Hu Luo’s transformation were to happen under normal circumstances with all conditions met, it would take at least two to three years. The fact that this change occurred within half a month was quite unexpected. There was still hope for him to mutate into a Dragon-hunting Falcon in the future.

Ailin was busy with her affairs, and Rice was working hard to recover. Ban and Baker were a bit bored.

They still had a fair amount of gold coins left, so their lives were not a problem. What troubled them was having nothing to do.

They couldn’t go out on adventures, so they could only focus their energy on training.

The food Jiran provided every two days helped them a lot. Ban’s strength steadily increased. During this period, he had advanced one level. In terms of attributes outside of his level, he had also gained a lot. In terms of strength, he was already close to the high-level third stage.

As for Baker, his level couldn’t be increased. His source of martial energy was locked by a curse, and in this world, levels were closely related to martial energy. All he could do was train his body.

Then, he was surprised to find that his physical fitness increased much faster with his martial energy source locked!

Most of this was certainly due to Jiran’s food, but his physical fitness improvement was clearly much greater than Ban’s. In the past, the improvement of both would have been roughly the same.

This discovery made Baker extremely delighted, and he enthusiastically began a vigorous physical fitness training. As he put it, "Even if my martial energy can’t improve, I will improve my physical fitness and become the strongest person at this level!"

It must be said that his goal was very likely to be achieved. If Jiran could provide even more powerful food in the future, he might even exceed his goal... but that would be a long time from now.

Rice and the others had no major problems, but the academy was a rather troublesome existence.

This trouble was not Lydia. She was now getting along well with her dormitory friends. Although she came from a mountain village, she didn’t have the arrogant attitude that often came with it, and she was very easy-going. Her adventures with Rice and the others had broadened her horizons, so she didn’t feel inferior to her classmates. Jiran had given her most of the gold coins, so she didn’t appear as poor... and the dinners Jiran occasionally had Lydia bring back also won her a lot of goodwill.

In short, Lydia’s life was quite pleasant now.

The student council didn’t come to bother him anymore. Only Rex occasionally met him and chatted with a smile. Jiran didn’t mind this. Making a few more friends wasn’t a bad thing— even if they weren’t close friends.

Reinhardt tried to recruit him twice more, but didn’t resort to violence. Instead, he used gentle persuasion. However, Jiran’s resolve to refuse was very firm, and there was nothing the other party could do about it.

The only trouble was that girl, Anya from the Lawrence family.

The other students might not know that Professor Lawrence had come to see Jiran, but Anya certainly did. So she always felt that Jiran must have some outstanding qualities worth her attention— the incident of blocking his path had proven this.

Therefore, Anya often blocked Jiran in various places and demanded a duel. Jiran found this extremely annoying, but his dislike for Anya gradually disappeared... She was a girl who, once she set a goal, would move forward bravely. That stubbornness was indeed admirable.

In the end, to avoid further harassment, Jiran finally agreed to Anya. After the first month’s basic test, he would duel with her. Regardless of the outcome, he had to put an end to this girl’s obsession. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have any peace.

However, he didn’t know that Anya’s纠缠 with him had already caught the attention of someone else.

"Right, that’s Jiran. This year’s freshman, who scored full marks in the swordsmanship exam. I don’t know why Miss Anya has taken a liking to him, but she’s been looking for him a lot these past few days." A young man with a gloomy face was speaking to a tall young man beside him.

If Jiran were here, he would recognize the gloomy-faced man as Odi.

After being dragged away by Juan, Odi was extremely angry and embarrassed... He had actually lost to a black-haired wild boy and been insulted by him!

However, he currently had no good way to deal with Jiran. Kill him outright? Not only was it uncertain whether he could win, but this was in Azure Wind! Even outside Azure Wind, it was still within the range of the city of Baise. The city guard of Baise was not to be trifled with.

Juan still planned to take revenge on Rice, but Rice stayed in Baise City with no intention of leaving. Now, he was getting impatient and might leave Baise City and return to the Ere Empire at any time.

But Juan taught Odi a method.

"Go to the academy and pay attention to those who have power and strength. If you can’t deal with Jiran directly, you can use them. When you leave the academy and return to your family, you will also have to go through these things. Learn now, it won’t hurt, and consider it as expanding your network."

It must be said, this was a good idea.

Because he lost the magic longsword, Juan’s money was also tight, so he only left Odi 500 gold coins. After paying 100 for tuition, he had only 400 left.

400 gold coins to live for a year? What can you do with that!

For Odi, who was used to a life of luxury, 400 gold coins was not a large sum. Using this money to live for a year was like a death sentence.

Living in a regular dorm instead of a high-end one wasn’t too embarrassing, as only a few lived in high-end dorms. But going to the cafeteria and not losing face? Ordering a few exquisite dishes and a glass of red wine would cost more than half a gold coin. Spending two gold coins a day was a significant expense.

This was just for eating. As a noble, daily expenses were numerous. In short, 500 gold coins was definitely not enough.

Finding a big spender... oh no, a benefactor, was also a necessary thing.

Inheriting his uncle’s character, Odi quickly connected with a third-year senior.

Douglas, from a prominent merchant family in the Knight Commercial Federation. Because it was a commercial federation, merchant families often had considerable power. Douglas’s family was one of the few families with significant power in Baise City.

However, although their family had considerable power, they couldn’t dominate Baise City. To advance further, they were trying to rally more forces.

And Douglas set his sights on Anya.

Professor Lawrence was a master of swordsmanship, rumored to have reached the Gold stage. Combined with the power of the Lawrence family, which was not inferior to Douglas’s family, he was an almost perfect target for rallying.

Moreover, Anya herself was a beauty, enough to make a noble like him drool.

However, Anya treated all her suitors coldly, and various flattery methods were ineffective. Using force? That would be a declaration of war, not rallying.

Douglas was no exception, having been rejected by Anya several times. But he didn’t give up; instead, he changed his strategy.

Drive away all the other suitors around her. Without other choices, she would have no choice but to choose me. With a bit of manipulation, slowly wearing her down, I will eventually win her over!

Douglas’s strategy was simple and domineering.

His methods did have some effect, and many suitors gave up. The few remaining had some wealth and power, which he couldn’t easily drive away. But comparing conditions, Douglas believed those few were not a threat.

But now, the situation was different.

Now, it wasn’t suitors chasing Anya, but Anya chasing a new boy!

This couldn’t be allowed! He had to find a way to drive that boy away!

Thus, Odi, who had just joined their circle, came into play.

There was no one else in the circle who had contact with Jiran, and Odi was very skilled at flattery, making people feel comfortable without them realizing it. Especially, as a noble from the Ere Empire!

Families in the Knight Commercial Federation often had a short history and lacked depth. They had a distorted sense of inferiority towards old families in the Ere Empire, which had histories spanning hundreds of years, while also despising the old nobles’ conservatism and rigidity. But the opportunity for an old noble to flatter them was not to be missed.

Odi quickly confirmed Jiran’s identity and, of course, embellished the story.

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