Lan Xuanyu nodded. “Much better.”
“That’s great. I really have to thank you for that day.” Ye Lingtong rarely maintained such good manners towards Lan Xuanyu.
Lan Xuanyu shook his head. “It had nothing to do with you. The spirit beast was rather unique and I’m fine. Alright, I’m hungry, I’m going to eat first!” While saying that, he walked past Ye Lingtong and followed Qian Lei to grab his food.
Ye Lingtong naturally sensed the disaffection from him and could not help but frown. In the end, she held it in. Upon thinking about how Lan Xuanyu had led the Three-Eyed Witch Ape away without second thoughts, it touched upon the softest part of her heart. Her desire to compete with him had dimmed down as well.
“You know Ye Lingtong?” Qian Lei whispered to Lan Xuanyu.
“En, we used to attend the same school, but we were from different classes,” Lan Xuanyu replied.
Qian Lei smirked. “Let me tell you this, she is very strong. She got into a fight on the second day of school and won. Out of the girls in our class, I reckon she ranks in the top three in terms of strength.”
“En.” Lan Xuanyu was nowhere interested in Ye Lingtong’s situation but he knew how strong she was.
The food in the cafeteria was abundant and Lan Xuanyu quickly realized that not all the dishes were made with rare ingredients. He spotted only a few with rare ingredients in them and it was far less than what he had back home. Glancing at the average quantity of dishes, the students were still unsure of what was rare and precious among the others.
At this time, Ye Lingtong had returned to her table that was shared with two other boys. One of them had a large stature along with his short golden hair. Despite his young age, his eyes were radiating with brilliance. The other was a scrawny contrast to him. His entire frame seemed somewhat crooked, but his arms were especially long and just by standing, they were close to reaching the ground.
“Lingtong, you know the new guy?” The taller boy asked. He did not suppress his voice, allowing the other tables close by to hear him.
“En, we used to be schoolmates. He got into an accident during the test but he is much better now and he will be joining us,” Ye Lingtong answered.
“Oh. How’s he in terms of strength?” The tall boy continued to probe.
Ye Lingtong paused for a moment. “I’ve never won against him.”
“Oh?” The boy’s eyes brightened up a few notches as he stared at Lan Xuanyu’s back who was piling food on his plate. The corner of his mouth curled into a smile.
Once done, Lan Xuanyu followed Qian Lei to a table in the corner. This table seemed to be the most remote location of the entire cafeteria and it only had one person who had his head buried in his food.
“Frenzie, our roommate is here, introduce yourself.” Qian Lei sat beside the boy and nudged him with his shoulder.
The boy called ‘Frenzie’ raised his head and looked at Lan Xuanyu. Lan Xuanyu then noticed that the boy appeared to have a similar stature as him, with a pair of long and narrow eyes on a rather long face. He was not the most good-looking, but Lan Xuanyu was able to sense a sharp edge coming from him, unlike Qian Lei’s sincere smile.
“Hello, I’m Lan Xuanyu.” Lan Xuanyu took the initiative and raised his hand.
“I’m Liu Feng, what spirit power rank are you at?” Liu Feng got right to the point.
“Rank 14,” Lan Xuanyu replied.
“14?” The corner of Liu Feng’s mouth turned to a sneer. He turned to Qian Lei and said, “It seems like he’s around your standard. Hehe.”
Qian Lei revealed a look of helplessness. “Just 14! Eh…”
“What’s wrong with being 14? Is it low?” Lan Xuanyu frowned.
Liu Feng then replied, ‘Not just low, I’m guessing the lowest. Qian Lei is rank 15, although he isn’t of much use.”
Lan Xuanyu scratched his head. “Spirit Power rank doesn’t represent everything. And, what does it have to do with class?”
“Let me explain this. We are a class of 30 people. According to the teacher’s earliest plan, three people would stay in a room and they would also work as a team. Be it cultivation, fighting, or even choosing an auxiliary profession, we will do it as a team to complement each other. Because aside from being able to fight, it is also important for a Spirit Master to be compatible with others. There is a ranking within the class; the closer one is to the front, the better the treatment and the higher the chance to stay. Who would’ve thought that a problem would arise during enrolment, which is to say that the class had 20 boys and 10 girls? Girls cannot stay in the same dorm as boys! Before you came, there were 29 of us. The 19 boys were split into five teams where the last two teams only had two members, while the girls had one extra. Liu Feng and I became one of the two teams. The teacher made us compete and whoever won would have the girl as a member. Obviously, we lost, and extremely badly. So Ye Lingtong, the girl that you know, joined the other team. And because our team was only the two of us, we remained as the lowest rank in the past two months,” Qian Lei answered.
“When they said you were coming today, we were still harboring hopes in our hearts. Who would have thought that you’re only rank 14? I’m rank 15, Frenzie is 16. In any case, we are definitely the last few of the class. We are in the Elite Junior Class where the competition will be everywhere!”
Lan Xuanyu then understood why Qian Lei was so enthusiastic upon meeting him. “I will do my best.”
Liu Feng glanced at him but did not speak further and continued to eat.
After a few minutes, Liu Feng and Qian Lei’s view on Lan Xuanyu started to change, because he was truly able to eat.
After seeing the amount of food piled up on Lan Xuanyu’s first plate, Qian Lei had reminded him that the school did not allow wastage and all the food he had taken had to be consumed.
But when Lan Xuanyu went to take his third plate of food, Qian Lei was already dumbstruck and had no words left to say other than, “This guy eats too much for his size.”
In fact, Lan Xuanyu’s appetite was growing more and more. Adding that the school’s dishes had contained relatively fewer ingredients than what he had back home, he would not be full even if he swept everything up. As the energy and nutrients supplied by ordinary food were far lacking, he had unknowingly eaten a lot.
“This new guy can really eat!” The other students on the other tables witnessed the situation. Lan Xuanyu had repeatedly gone back to take more food and he came back each time with a full platter.
“Hey, that’s enough! The budget from the school is for everyone, you’re eating the share of others by yourself.” A boy stood up and blocked Lan Xuanyu, who had his fourth plate ready.
Qian Lei was about to stand but was stopped by Liu Feng, who shook his head at him.
Lan Xuanyu was somewhat dazed by the sudden block. “What’s wrong with eating? The school said that we should eat until we’re full! And since everything here has been prepared, won’t it be a waste for the leftovers?”
“If I say you can’t eat, you can’t eat,” the boy snorted.
“Jin Xiang, stop bullying him! Xuanyu was my schoolmate.” Ye Lingtong suddenly stood up and ranted in a rage.
The boy called Jin Xiang looked at the tall boy next to her. “Lu Qianxun, is this your idea?”
The tall boy replied indifferently, “I don’t know him.” With that, he stood up and headed outside.
Ye Lingtong was startled while the boy called Jin Xiang laughed out loud.
“Move,” Lan Xuanyu chided.