Chapter 81

Yan Xiaoyan was still wearing the standard Chinese Olympic team's tomato and egg stir-fry sportswear, which was a bit old-fashioned. Wearing it, much of her youthful charm was hidden, but she seemed completely unconcerned. When she saw Li Pu come out, her eyes lit up, and she greeted him enthusiastically, "Hey, have you finished the enrollment procedures?"

"Uh-huh." Li Pu nodded and glanced at the form in his hand, "My dorm room is 302 in Building A6. Do you know where it is?"

Yan Xiaoyan smiled brightly, "I can take you there?"

"Thanks then." Li Pu followed her, chatting as they walked, and they quickly became familiar. The girl was very impressed by his strength. She kept asking how he could be so powerful when they were all about the same age, and she couldn't even stand up to him.

"Don't talk about gender differences. I was born stronger than most boys. I'm the fourth in the Physical Training Department. But the third is only a little bit better than me, mainly because he's older and has practiced longer." Yan Xiaoyan pouted cutely, "With your strength, you're probably on par with the second in the Physical Training Department, Cui Qinglang."

"Second in the Physical Training Department?" Li Pu asked curiously, "Who's the first?"

"It's Xiao Wang." Yan Xiaoyan interlaced her fingers, "He's really strong. Even the other instructors aren't necessarily a match for him, except for the occasional visit from Instructor Lei."

"Xiao Wang? Is he a girl?"

"Xiao Wang is a bit like a girl in a certain sense, because he's super handsome." The little girl with the watermelon head, who was Yan Xiaoyan's sidekick, chimed in proudly.

"Ha, You You, if Xiao Wang hears you say that, he'll be mad at you," Yan Xiaoyan affectionately ruffled the little girl's watermelon head.

"I'm not afraid," the little girl giggled, "Unlike Sister Xiaoyan, Brother Xiao Wang is both handsome and gentle. If he were a girl, he'd charm a lot of people!"

"Alright." Yan Xiaoyan pretended to be angry, "You little brat, you're talking back to me now. I'll pinch your cheeks!"

The two girls, one big and one small, were clearly very close. After a bit of playful banter, Yan Xiaoyan remembered and asked Li Pu, "I forgot, you haven't told me how you got so strong yet?"

"Uh... hard training, naturally strong." Li Pu said a cliché. In reality, he had indeed trained hard over the past few years, but it was with the help of alien equipment, making his training much more efficient than a normal person's.

"Hard training, naturally strong?" Yan Xiaoyan looked at Li Pu skeptically, "I train pretty hard too." She suddenly smiled, "Sigh, I really lost confidence today. I need to work harder!"

Li Pu found this girl to be incredibly outgoing. When they sparred earlier, she was quite fierce and competitive. If some girls are like little kittens, she was like a little leopard. But after the fight, she didn't act like a typical girl. She had a typical tomboy personality.

Li Pu also learned a lot about the school from the girl. For example, the school mainly has three departments. He and Yan Xiaoyan are in the Physical Training Department, which focuses on combat techniques and various weapons. The little girl with the watermelon head, Tang Youyou, is nine years old. Because she has a habit of saying "you" and loves eating candy, her nickname is Tang Youyou. She is a rare superpower with special telekinetic abilities, so she is in the Superpower Department. The Physical Training Department and the Superpower Department have fewer students. The remaining department, the Comprehensive Department, has the most students. It mainly consists of students who are more average in their abilities—basically, those without superpowers and not particularly outstanding in physical abilities. Occasionally, students from the Physical Training Department and the Superpower Department need to take classes in the Comprehensive Department to ensure a well-rounded development.

The top student in the Physical Training Department, "Xiao Wang," is the great-grandson of the school's honorary principal, Ji Haoyang—Ji Wangyue. He is eighteen years old, a Virgo, 1.77 meters tall, and has type O blood. Besides martial arts, he likes listening to music... The information was so detailed that Li Pu almost suspected Yan Xiaoyan had a crush on this senior.

As for the second in the Physical Training Department, Cui Qinglang, according to Yan Xiaoyan, he is very strong. Compared to Li Pu, they are about the same—because if she fought Cui Qinglang, she would be completely overpowered. He is cold and proud, always viewing Xiao Wang as his rival.

"But Cui Qinglang is twenty-two years old. He's an old man..." Yan Xiaoyan shrugged, "He lost to Xiao Wang by one move in last year's evaluation and has been harboring a grudge ever since. He trains like a madman."

At this, Yan Xiaoyan looked at Li Pu with a grin, "You said hard training, naturally strong. In the Physical Training Department, there's probably no one who trains harder than Cui Qinglang. If you meet him, be careful. If he finds out about your skills, he'll definitely challenge you."

... A fighting maniac? Li Pu felt a bit excited—Cui Qinglang only lost to Xiao Wang by one move in last year's evaluation, so his combat skills should be at the upper limit of the students in this school. He really wanted to know what the benchmark for the Physical Training Department was.

"Tang Youyou is the sixth in the Superpower Department!" Tang Youyou said proudly, her voice soft and sweet, with a hopeful look on her face, expecting Li Pu to praise her.

Having just met for a few minutes, Li Pu didn't feel comfortable petting the little girl's head, so he rummaged in his pocket and found a piece of Oh! Milk candy, which he gave to Tang Youyou. The girl happily ate it.

Li Pu looked at the little girl and a smile flashed across his lips—once upon a time, Xiao Xian and Class Leader Xia'er were also such innocent little girls. But Xiao Xian was already very smart back then. As for Class Leader Xia'er, she was really not nice! Every time he pulled her pigtails or lifted her skirt, she would cry and run to the teacher...

"Who is the strongest instructor in this school?" Li Pu asked Yan Xiaoyan.

"Instructors? Currently, there are four instructors in the Physical Training Department, but only two are permanently stationed at the school. Gao Shan, whom you met earlier, is one of them. The other is Lin Jie. Then there's Senior Chi Fei, who took over from Instructor Feng—your old instructor who wrote the recommendation letter. The last one is Lei Dazhuang. Oh, Grandpa Haoyang occasionally comes to teach as well." Yan Xiaoyan shrugged, "At my current level, I still need to learn from Gao Shan. Cui Qinglang and Xiao Wang can only be taught by Lei Dazhuang and Principal Haoyang. So they don't usually appear in class."

"Does Principal Haoyang live near the school?" Li Pu casually asked.

"Principal's 'Red Immortal Residence' is on the back mountain of the school. You shouldn't go there without permission. The principal doesn't allow students to wander around. If you want to learn from the principal, you'll have to hope for a lucky encounter. I've only run into him twice, and one time I learned the 'White Ape Sword Stance' from him. Sigh, I just haven't practiced it well enough..." Yan Xiaoyan sighed.

As they talked, they arrived at Li Pu's dorm.

"Thanks, Xiaoyan... Senior." Li Pu moved his luggage into the room and plopped down on the bed. It was a single-person apartment-style room with a private bathroom and kitchen. There seemed to be no roommates to worry about.

—Very ideal. He wasn't just here to study. Having a roommate would be inconvenient.

"I live in the building next door, also on the third floor," Yan Xiaoyan waved to Li Pu and then hesitated, asking, "So... are we friends now?"

Friends? Real friends aren't that easy to make. But Li Pu didn't want to dampen the spirits of this lively and enthusiastic girl. He nodded and smiled, "Ha, you're a girl, being so proactive is okay?"

"I didn't mean it that way!" Yan Xiaoyan stomped her foot in annoyance, "I just want to spar with you again!" She quickly shook her head, "It's not that I'm not willing to admit defeat. I just really, really love combat techniques. I've learned most of Gao Shan's skills, Cui Qinglang is too arrogant, and Xiao Wang is on an internship. So it's only you."

Uh, a martial arts fanatic? Li Pu blinked, "Isn't there someone a bit stronger than you?"

"Hmph, Fang Gan? He's afraid I'll surpass him, so he won't spar with me to verify our skills," Yan Xiaoyan said disdainfully. Clearly, she didn't think much of the third in the Physical Training Department, who was only slightly better than her. She looked at the young man in front of her with bright eyes, finding him easy to talk to and strong... a perfect new classmate!

Don't you think our skill levels are a bit different... Li Pu thought to himself. If he had a choice, he'd rather spar with Cui Qinglang or Senior Xiao Wang. Or even the instructors.

But the energetic Yan Xiaoyan was looking at him with high expectations, so Li Pu shrugged, "Alright. I'll try my best to cooperate."

"Thanks~~" Yan Xiaoyan patted Li Pu's shoulder like a buddy, "It's almost mealtime. I'll take you to the cafeteria!"

"Me too~" Tang Youyou quickly raised her hand.

Feeling hungry as well, Li Pu put away his luggage and followed the two girls to the cafeteria. The cafeteria of Yingyu Academy wasn't like the typical school cafeteria with fixed metal tables and benches. It had an ancient and elegant style, with redwood round tables and wooden menus. All the utensils, including the chopsticks, were exquisite handcrafted ceramics, each with a unique pattern. Li Pu recalled that it was somewhat similar to the layout of Feng Kuchan's private club, "Tian Chan Yuan," but on a larger scale.

The cafeteria was already filled with people, but it wasn't as crowded as a typical university cafeteria—after all, the number of elite students with special talents was not much more than ordinary college students.

Yan Xiaoyan seemed to have a lot of charisma, and many students—both boys and girls—greeted her. They then looked at Li Pu, who walked in with her.

"Is that him? I heard that Xiaoyan was assigned by Instructor Gao to spar with the new student today and was completely defeated?" A few students whispered to each other, "He doesn't seem very strong. Is the rumor false?"

"I don't believe it either. Xiaoyan's skills are pretty top-notch among the students—she's the best among the young generation in Sichuan! She's also one of the top in the Physical Training Department. But there were over a dozen people who saw it," another student said with dramatic flair, "—it was said that there was no contest! The gap, tsk tsk."

"If that's true, our school's Physical Training Department has another strong player," a student looked at Li Pu skeptically. In his eyes, this student was of average height and build, with no particular aura, and it was hard to see how he could dominate Yan Xiaoyan.

—After all, among the top three in the Physical Training Department, the so-called stronger Fang Gan had only practiced a few years longer. But in a real fight, it would take several moves to gain the upper hand—half skill, half physical advantage of a twenty-year-old man! To easily dominate Xiaoyan, at least Cui Qinglang, the uncontrollable martial arts fanatic, or Ji Wangyue, the top genius selected from hundreds of millions of people and carefully cultivated by Principal Haoyang, would be needed...

Yan Xiaoyan didn't particularly care about the win or loss—she always tried her best during the fight, and if she lost, she admitted it. She was always straightforward. She found an empty table and said to Li Pu, "I'll go get the food. What do you like? The menu is on the wooden sign over there. Order whatever you want, I'm not short on money."

Li Pu glanced at the menu and found that the cafeteria of this school was far superior to other ordinary schools! The dishes listed could make a five-star restaurant blush. There were many specialty dishes he hadn't tried before. He exhaled, "Another reason to come to this school: as a foodie, this place is amazing!"

"You're not short on money, right? I'll order freely then. A squirrel fish, a Xiangxi chicken soup, and the five-color snake stir-fry looks good. There's even Italian cuisine on this ancient wooden menu? I haven't tried squid ink pasta... that's it."

"Sister Xiaoyan, I still want shrimp fried rice and a cup of chocolate milk tea!" Tang Youyou raised her hands.

"Alright, I'll place the order right away," Yan Xiaoyan replied in a playful waiter's tone.

After Yan Xiaoyan left, Li Pu and Tang Youyou sat at the round table. Tang Youyou rested her chin on her hand, swinging her little legs that barely touched the ground from the chair.

"Brother Li Pu~~ Brother Li Pu~~" She tilted her head and asked sweetly.

"Uh?" Li Pu had a good impression of this innocent little girl.

But at that moment, Tang Youyou's expression was far from innocent. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and a cold, cat-like smile appeared on her lips, "Don't think that just because you're good at combat techniques, you can get with... " The little girl with the watermelon head showed her small fangs, emphasizing, "Sister Xiaoyan."

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