Chapter 23

"Guo Gao, that’s your seat, go sit down and we’ll talk. I need to continue my lecture." Yang Le could already sense the tension in the hall, but she wasn’t worried at all; instead, there was a glint of anticipation in her eyes.

Guo Gao walked in the direction Yang Le pointed. Whether it was a special arrangement or not, the seat was right in the middle of the classroom. After he sat down, he could feel many people looking at him.

Why does this feel like a new student entering school? Guo Gao thought to himself. In his previous life, his studies were uneventful, and he never experienced the kind of attention that only protagonists in novels and TV shows get. The feeling of being the center of attention was indeed intense, fitting the cliché of school stories.

Guo Gao wiggled his body to make his chair and bottom more comfortable. As for the gazes of others, he ignored them completely. If looks could kill, why would anyone need to practice?

However, when he announced his name, everyone immediately became as excited as if they had been injected with adrenaline. This was suspicious. If it was just the revelation of his identity as an inheritor, it wouldn’t have caused such a reaction from all the martial artists in the hall.

While Guo Gao was deep in thought, his elbow was nudged by someone beside him.

"Guo Gao, you’re really something, you know that at least half of the boys in our class consider Hu Wushuang to be a goddess?"

The speaker was his desk mate, about the same age, around fifteen or sixteen, with short brown curly hair casually falling on his forehead. He was dressed in expensive, refined clothing, and exuded a powerful aura, stronger than most of the martial artists in the classroom.

His words cleared up Guo Gao’s confusion. It turned out that everything was due to Hu Wushuang. It seemed that the news of the clan leader arranging her marriage to him was already common knowledge. He wondered if the details of their bet had also spread.

"Do you not consider Hu Wushuang your goddess?" Guo Gao didn’t think of Wushuang as his woman, but he was suddenly curious about why everyone saw her as a goddess. It was a slightly twisted pleasure.

"Of course, I used to be one of Wushuang Young Master’s admirers, but I later realized that it was impossible between us, so I gave up and pursued another girl, and I got her on the same day, hehe..."

"Smart choice." Guo Gao gave his interesting desk mate a thumbs up. People who know when to let go can achieve great things.

"Listen, you need to be careful. After class, many people will probably come after you. I can’t help you much, so you’re on your own. If things get bad, it’s best to leave. There’s a shortcut to the outside behind the toilet, it might help you."

His desk mate patted Guo Gao’s shoulder and then sat up straight, acting as if it was none of his business.

Guo Gao smiled. According to Hu Yinxue, the disciples of the ordinary hall were at the early and middle stages of the Condensing Shadow Realm. He was already at the middle stage, and with the ability of his mutated totem, he wouldn’t be at a disadvantage, even if he couldn’t dominate. So he stopped worrying and focused on the lecture.

However, after listening for a while, Guo Gao found it boring. It wasn’t that Yang Le was a bad teacher; it was just that he had already mastered the basics of quickly condensing a totem. So he closed his eyes and entered a meditative state, focusing his spirit.

After several painful experiences with meditation, Guo Gao had figured out how to split his consciousness to protect himself while meditating, allowing him to maintain basic sensory communication with the outside world.

The meditation technique passed down by his fellow townsman was truly divine, allowing martial artists to meditate anytime, anywhere. This meant that Guo Gao could continuously improve his spirit power. Although, according to Qinglian, the study of spirit power in this world was fragmented, the benefits of strong spirit power were obvious.

"In a few months, it will be the annual martial arts competition of our War Academy. Each of the ten halls will send three students to compete. This time, we aim to maintain third place and strive for first. Do you all have the confidence?"

"Yes!"

The students of the ten halls responded in unison.

"Teacher, we were confident, but now we have a weak link. It might affect our overall performance."

"Yes, although not everyone has to participate in the competition, the final ranking is based on the overall performance of the students in each hall. If we have a weak link, it might lower our ranking."

"Ah, if we don’t rank well, it must be because of the weak link."

After the students responded to Yang Le, murmurs began to spread.

Yang Le saw their reactions and smiled inwardly, then looked at Guo Gao, her lips curling slightly. "I want to see what this Hu family inheritor can do. If you can’t handle these troubles, what right do you have to challenge Wushuang? You might as well pack up and leave."

Although Guo Gao was in a meditative state, he could still hear the whispers around him, but he ignored them.

After some time, Guo Gao felt Yang Le’s playful gaze on him. Just as he was wondering, she announced the end of the class and quickly left the classroom without lingering.

At the same time, Guo Gao saw two tall, muscular figures follow Yang Le and stop at the entrance of the hall, staring at him with a wary look.

The other students, seeing this, quickly ran out of the classroom in groups, not even bothering to tidy up their desks.

"Bro, do you need help?" His desk mate frowned and leaned in to ask.

"Jile, don’t meddle in things that don’t concern you. This has nothing to do with you," a young man slapped the desk, clearly angry that this martial artist named Jile wanted to help Guo Gao.

"Guo Feng! I don’t need your interference. Do you want me to throw you out of here?" Jile sneered, giving the martial artist who slapped the desk no respect.

"You, you..." Guo Feng was speechless. Most of the students from the ten halls had left, and Jile, who was the strongest in the hall, had reached the peak of the sixth stage of the Condensing Shadow Realm, and was said to be on the verge of breaking through to the seventh stage and entering the Inner Hall.

Now, he regretted not keeping some of the stronger students from the ten halls. But those people were too proud and thought dealing with a waste like Guo Gao was beneath them, leaving it to people like Guo Feng.

Guo Feng never expected that in just one morning, Guo Gao would become close with Jile, to the point where Jile would risk offending others to help him. This completely threw his plans off.

"Jile, you go about your business. I can handle this."

Guo Gao shook his head helplessly but was grateful. Jile, by his name, was probably from the Hu family’s Northern Branch. Although they were family, he didn’t want to owe anyone a favor. Besides, he didn’t take Guo Feng and the others seriously and wasn’t worried at all.

"True to our Hu family spirit, don’t lose that. Be careful, I’ll wait for you outside." Jile looked at Guo Gao with newfound respect, patted his shoulder, and walked out of the classroom.

"Surround him!" Seeing Jile leave, Guo Feng breathed a sigh of relief, then waved his hand, and the others surrounded Guo Gao, while he walked up with a sinister smile.

Outside the classroom windows, a crowd had gathered, pointing and whispering, their gazes filled with disdain. Few believed that Guo Gao would leave the classroom unscathed.

"Senior Sister, aren’t you worried at all?"

Not far from the classroom, two slender figures were watching. The speaker was Yang Le, and the one beside her was Hu Yinxue.

"Such pointless fights, you should avoid them in the future. A few ordinary hall students can’t do anything to Guo Gao. I can tell you clearly, Guo Gao won’t stay in the ordinary hall for long. In a few days, he will enter the Inner Hall, and I think he won’t stay there long either, and will soon enter the Elite Hall... Lele, just watch, the entire War Academy will become more exciting because of Guo Gao."

Why has my usually proud senior sister suddenly changed? Yang Le put away her playful mood and stared intently at Guo Gao, curious about how this seemingly powerless youth would turn the situation around.

"Hey, are you going to fight or not? If you don’t, I’m leaving. My time is valuable."

Guo Gao glanced at the group surrounding him, sneering. They were all weaklings, their cultivation levels not even as strong as his. How dare they come after him?

Guo Gao was surprised to find that since he had calmed the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, he had gained the ability to sense the cultivation levels of martial artists. Apart from Guo Feng, the seven or eight people surrounding him were only at the early stage of the Condensing Shadow Realm, not worth mentioning.

"Fine, you’re arrogant. Attack him, beat him up first."

Guo Feng, enraged by Guo Gao’s taunt, finally gave the order.

"Enough dilly-dallying, I’ll go first..."

Guo Gao couldn’t stand it anymore. Wasn’t it just a fight? Why so much preamble?

"Bang!"

Without hesitation, he dashed forward. The first person in his path felt a mountain crashing into him, unable to resist, and was thrown against the wall, sliding down after a moment, with several broken ribs.

Guo Gao didn’t stop. His fists flew, and with each punch, someone fell. In a flash, the seven or eight people couldn’t stop him, like a tiger among sheep. The fight was over in an instant, and those surrounding him were all on the ground, groaning in pain.

"Watch carefully, this move is called the ‘Big Dipper Fist.’ In five seconds, you’ll witness a miracle!" Guo Gao struck a pose, smirking.