Knock! Knock! Knock!
Xu Xiaolan knocked on An Lin's door for a long time, but there was no reply.
The silence caused her to start feeling a little uneasy.
Could it be that An Lin isn't home?
An urge to forcefully enter and see what was going on crept into Xu Xiaolan's mind.
Right at that moment, the door opened. She was startled by the sight which greeted her.
"An Lin, how did you become like this?!"
In the doorway, An Lin's face was haggard and dark bags surrounded his eyes.
Due to excessive fluid loss, his entire body appeared withered and listless. More importantly, why was there a mysterious smile on his face?!
There was only one thought in Xu Xiaolan's mind:
Oh no, An Lin has sh*t himself stupid…
A feeling of remorse welled up in her heart as she thought of this, and she looked apologetically at An Lin.
Suddenly, An Lin started speaking in a dull voice. "I recently developed a new type of cultivation method, whereby one can absorb vital energy and temper their body while they are squatting. Do you want to learn it?"
Xu Xiaolan: "…"
…
Xu Xiaolan sighed softly and took out a perfectly round pill which was emitting red light.
This pill was a top-grade Blood and Vital Breath Pill which could instantly replenish a substantial amount of one's vitality.
Although a top-grade Blood and Vital Breath Pill was relatively costly, Xu Xiaolan really couldn't bear seeing An Lin in such a way.
Without saying anything further, she pried open An Lin's mouth and tossed the pill inside.
After swallowing the Blood and Vital Breath Pill, An Lin's body was quickly replenished with the fluid that he had previously lost.
After a short while, his face was no longer haggard and instead appeared a healthy pink.
A hint of clarity returned to An Lin's lifeless eyes and he gave Xu Xiaolan a strained smile. "Thank you," he said gratefully.
Seeing that a sense of normality had returned to An Lin, Xu Xiaolan breathed a sigh of relief. She nodded in satisfaction and entered An Lin's house.
Regarding why An Lin was in such a state before, both of them did not bring it up, as if in silent agreement…
Both of them were well aware of why that was.
Xu Xiaolan didn't want to talk about it because she felt a bit guilty.
As for An Lin, it was because he was feeling far too weak now to look into it. He had to ingest the Mountain Soul-Essence either way, thus, he accepted that it was just his bad luck that there was such a side effect.
After sitting down, Xu Xiaolan patiently explained to An Lin the progress of their class, as well as what content he needed to catch up on.
She even took out her notes for the spell formation class and started explaining the difficult sections to him.
An Lin listened very intently, as he was determined to change his standing as the straggler of his class.
In fact, after studying earnestly for the past few months, he had gradually become accustomed to the university life of cultivation on this floating continent already.
At the very least, he wasn't utterly clueless when it came to cultivation anymore, unlike when he had initially arrived.
For example, he had been able to learn things such as how to organize spell formations, basic tool refinement skills and basic techniques regarding cultivation and so on and so forth.
"Ah… I'll stay in the classroom tomorrow and spend some more time making up for the missed lessons."
An Lin started lamenting after realizing that he had fallen behind in so many subjects.
Xu Xiaolan's mouth curled into a smile when she heard this. "You won't be able to go to class tomorrow. Tomorrow is the launch day for the free-for-all battle event which our university holds yearly."
"Free-for-all battle event?" An Lin had a look of confusion.
"You don't know about this event as you haven't attended classes these past few days," Xu Xiaolan explained. "The free-for-all battle is a grand event that our university holds every year. It's compulsory for every student to take part in this event.
"During this occasion, all fifty thousand students of the university will gather together and attend this event."
Lin's eyes sparkled upon hearing this and he couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement.
The United University of Cultivation was built upon a floating continent that had an area larger than that of Earth's Taiwan.
For students of different year levels, the content taught to them also differed greatly. Thus, the locations at which students studied were also scattered around different regions.
As a result of this, there were few opportunities for An Lin to meet students of higher year levels. Presumably, an event that gathered all five year levels of students together would be extremely noisy and bustling with excitement.
This kind of whole school event made him feel eager with anticipation and also made him feel curious about the event.
"Speaking of which, what are the specifics regarding this event?"
"This event is very stimulating," Xu Xiaolan said excitedly. "It's going to be held in our university at the Forest of One-Thousand Peaks. There, a whole fifty thousand people will be engaged in a free-for-all battle for three days.
"During the period of this event, you can beat up whoever you don't like the look of. At the same time, you must also accept all challenges issued to you by other students. This is an individual event and forming teams is forbidden. Surrendering is also forbidden. The only way to leave this event is to be defeated in battle.
"There are one hundred teachers—all of them Earth Immortals—using their divine senses to overlook this battle. So, you won't have the chance to pull any tricks~"
"Holy sh*t!" Hearing this, An Lin's legs—in which he had just regained some senses—started to go limp again.
Say, this event is actually just a fifty-thousand-person brawl? And a brawl where surrendering is forbidden?
It's such a rare opportunity for us to finally gather together with the respectable senior students. Don't tell me that this meeting with them is simply to taste the love from their fists?
Seeing the look of despair on An Lin's face, Xu Xiaolan consoled, "Don't worry, this event isn't as scary as you think.
"Hundreds of teachers will be monitoring the battle situation and every student will receive a Defeat Judgement Seal.
"Once a student is defeated, the seal will activate and form a defensive barrier which then defends against all attacks.
"I've heard that only fewer than ten students die in this event each year!
"The result of being defeated is usually just receiving minor injuries or being crippled~"
An Lin: "…"
This is the 'not very scary' that you speak of!?
An Lin raised his head and stared at the sky…
After a long time, he asked about the matter which concerned him most. "Why are there still deaths if students have seals?"
"There are many reasons," Xu Xiaolan said.
"Reason number one is that Spirit Nurturing ranked students are not careful enough when fighting against lower ranked students. Sometimes the students die before the seal has a chance to activate.
"Reason number two is that they are killed by the shockwaves of other battles…
"Reason number three is that they accidentally fall off the mountain peaks.
"Reason number four is that they die due to accidentally ingesting poisonous substances.
"Reason number five is…"
…
The more An Lin listened, the more frightened he became. This free-for-all battle was way too horrifying!
Where's the promised prosperity, strength, democracy, civility and harmony?
A cold chill enveloped his body. The anticipation he initially felt had completely vanished already.
"The Immortal Rankings Board of the university is updated every time the free-for-all battle occurs. The teachers will re-evaluate the rankings based on how each student performs during this event.
"As long as you make it onto the university's Immortal Rankings Board, you can receive all types of wonderful rewards. So, let us work hard!" Xu Xiaolan grinned.
Two dimples appeared on her cheeks, further accentuating her bright and beautiful smile.
Compared to the enthusiasm of Xu Xiaolan, An Lin could only laugh dryly. "Uh-huh, let us work hard," he nodded.
Out of the fifty thousand students, only the top one-hundred could be ranked in the university's Immortal Rankings Board. By and large, these people were the most talented individuals amongst the prodigies. An Lin didn't dare have any wild wishes regarding those positions.
Even the weakest individual in the current Immortal Rankings Board had a cultivation base of something like a Tenth Stage Dao Body.
Moreover, twenty-two freakish individuals with a Spirit Nurturing Stage cultivation base occupied the top positions of the Immortal Rankings Board. If they went to the Heavenly Court possessing such a cultivation base, they could already be considered part of the Immortal Ranks and hold the post of a general.
To these people, fighting against students who had a Dao Body Stage cultivation base was much like playing around. A slip up could potentially cause them to pummel a student to death by accident.
Thinking of this, An Lin quickly made a decision in his mind.
In this free-for-all battle, participation is important and coming out alive is paramount!