8: Chapter 8 First Place in Liberal Arts

After testing her strength, Liu Yexi didn't linger. She picked up her towel and water cup and walked toward the restroom.

The others had also lost interest in fooling around and dispersed, leaving the area in front of the strength tester completely empty.

Seeing this, Jiang Nan's hands itched with anticipation, and he quickly walked over.

"My affinity with Little Skeleton is over ninety percent, and she has already reached Bronze six-star strength. With my current self... what kind of score can I get?"

Jiang Nan muttered to himself. In his past life, he had studied Baji Quan for a period of time, and he often practiced it in this world as well, so he was no stranger to physical force-exertion techniques.

He took a deep breath, warmed up his body slightly, channeled power from his lower body, turned slightly sideways, raised his right elbow, and stomped his right foot forward violently. With a sudden surge of strength, his elbow struck the pad of the strength tester like a blade.

"Baji: Heart-Piercing Elbow!"

Boom!

A dull, heavy sound echoed through the waiting area once again.

Everyone was startled and turned to look in the direction of the sound.

But the figure was already gone, leaving only a solitary number on the screen of the strength tester... 1,230 points!

"Hey, did any of you see who just got that score?"

"No! Could it be that Little Liu wasn't satisfied with her score and came back to throw another punch?"

"How is that possible? That sound just now was heavy like thunder, completely different from the sound of the Dragon Tiger Fist hitting the strength tester. Besides, this score is quite a bit lower than Little Liu's..."

Everyone scratched their heads, ultimately unable to figure out who had set the score.

However, Liu Yexi, who had just walked out of the restroom, had seen everything. She stared blankly at the numbers on the strength tester, then turned her gaze to the young man at the front desk registering for the Virtual Arena.

"So young. And he gives me a familiar feeling, as if I've seen him somewhere before..."

Liu Yexi murmured to herself. Once Jiang Nan entered the Virtual Arena, she rushed to the front desk and snatched the computer.

Opening the guest registration information on the computer, the very last name was indeed Jiang Nan.

"Jiang Nan... Jiang Nan?"

Liu Yexi furrowed her delicate brows, feeling that Jiang Nan's face was incredibly familiar.

She opened Jiang Nan's information and was even more surprised to find that he was actually a schoolmate in the same grade as her.

"In the same school and grade as me? Why do I have absolutely no impression of such a genius?"

"Huh? He only just registered as an Apprentice Beast Master at The Arena?"

"Jiang Nan... Jiang Nan?"

Liu Yexi scratched her head in frustration. Normally uninterested in anything outside of cultivation, she was now filled with curiosity about Jiang Nan.

If Jiang Nan were famous in the academy, she might not have cared so much.

But Jiang Nan was a genius who had appeared out of nowhere without warning. This powerful and mysterious vibe greatly piqued her curiosity.

Unable to recall anything about Jiang Nan, Liu Yexi was itching with curiosity. She quickly pulled out her phone and sent a message to her best friend, who was the Student Council President.

"Xiaoxiao, do you know if there's someone named Jiang Nan in our school?"

Yun City, the Sun Family Mansion.

Sun Xiaoxiao, who was having afternoon tea, picked up her phone.

Seeing a message from her best friend, she opened it curiously, and her expression quickly turned to one of surprise.

Sun Xiaoxiao: "Jiang Nan? Do you mean that Jiang Nan who is number one in the Liberal Arts Department?"

Liu Yexi: "What? Number one in the Liberal Arts Department? Are you sure we're talking about the same person?"

Sun Xiaoxiao: "Of course I'm sure. I've handed out scholarships to him several times. There is no second person named Jiang Nan in our school..."

Sun Xiaoxiao: "What's wrong? Doesn't our class beauty usually look down on these bookworms who only know theory? Why are you suddenly asking about the number one student of the Liberal Arts Department today? Could it be that your heart is fluttering?"

Sun Xiaoxiao: "Hahaha! I've met him a few times. He's humble, polite, clean-cut, and handsome. If you really like him, I'll definitely support you! When the time comes, I'll just arrange a few two-person campus activities for him. With you two paired up, feelings are bound to grow over time~"

Liu Yexi: "...Can you clean out the trash from your mind! I have other questions for you. How is that Jiang Nan's strength?"

Sun Xiaoxiao: "Strength? He's first in the Liberal Arts Department, anyway, I've never seen him drop to second... His academic strength is top-notch."

Liu Yexi: "I mean his strength as a Beast Tamer!"

Sun Xiaoxiao: "That... let me look it up for you."

Closing the chat interface, Sun Xiaoxiao proficiently logged into the school database, but she couldn't find any Beast Tamer training records regarding Jiang Nan.

She scratched her head in confusion and quickly replied to Liu Yexi.

Sun Xiaoxiao: "There are no Beast Tamer training records, nor any record of a Beast Taming Space awakening. His family background might be very poor; otherwise, he wouldn't be eighteen and still not have contracted a Spirit Pet..."

Liu Yexi: "He certified as an Apprentice Beast Master at The Arena just a few minutes ago."

Sun Xiaoxiao: "??? What do you mean? You guys got together that quickly?"

Liu Yexi: "It's not just us, but the academy too... We've all been fooled by him! This guy hides way too deep. I just saw him with my own eyes get a score of 1,230 on the strength tester!"

Sun Xiaoxiao: "Don't kid with me, I'm easily fooled."

Facing her best friend's skepticism, Liu Yexi didn't waste words. She clipped a segment of the surveillance footage from The Arena and sent it over.

Watching the video on her phone, the previously nonchalant Sun Xiaoxiao froze in place. Even her hand holding the coffee cup trembled slightly.

People in this world took pride in becoming Beast Tamers, and everyone upheld the principle of strength above all else.

Therefore, even though Jiang Nan was once the widely recognized number one in the Liberal Arts Department, not many people cared about the honors he had received.

But now? Her best friend suddenly told her that the bookworm who was number one in the Liberal Arts Department was actually a beast of a man who could strike with 1,230 jin of force with a single elbow strike. How could this not shock Sun Xiaoxiao?

Sun Xiaoxiao: "Damn! That bastard. I always thought he hadn't contracted a Spirit Pet because of his poor family background, but now you're telling me he can beat me up with one hand?"

Sun Xiaoxiao: "Is he still in the Virtual Battle Room? Wait there, I'm coming over right now!"

Turning off her phone, Sun Xiaoxiao hastily called her butler to prepare the car and drove toward The Arena.

Along the way, she felt inexplicably angry. It was a feeling of being deceived. To think that she had previously believed Jiang Nan was a needy student and had filled out paperwork multiple times, finding all sorts of excuses to increase his scholarship.

In a sense, Jiang Nan was indeed a poor student. Although he had been adopted, due to his elusive pride and his guilt toward his adoptive parents, he was unwilling to accept any financial assistance from the Bai family.

Even the remaining five thousand yuan he currently had on him was entirely saved up through part-time work and scholarships.