164: Chapter 164: Is it a dragon swimming in shallow waters or playing dumb to catch a tiger?

Jiang You turned his head to look at the side door labeled "Seed Pool No. 8," only to feel a bone-chilling cold emanating from within.

"Um... is it too late for me to apply to withdraw from the competition now?"

"It's too late!"

Lu Xingye grabbed Jiang You's shoulder. Although he was smiling, his eyes were full of schadenfreude:

"Captain Jiang, this is the treatment a protagonist gets!"

"Think about it, what protagonist starts off as a king? They all start from the bottom, fighting their way up and slapping faces along the way!"

"We'll be waiting for you in the higher tiers!"

After saying this, Lu Xingye, Xiang Batian, and the others waved at Jiang You, then swaggered toward the spacious, bright, red-carpeted passage for experts.

Leaving Jiang You alone, standing there in the wind, feeling completely lost.

Beside him, Bai Lan followed, a lollipop in her mouth and a dazed, cute expression on her face.

"Big Brother, why do we have to take that small door?"

Jiang You: "..."

He rubbed his nose, glanced at Bai Lan beside him, and then looked at the dilapidated entrance.

"Fine."

"Bronze it is."

Jiang You sighed, grabbed the still-gawking Bai Lan, passed through the rather shabby side door, and walked into the legendary "Seed Pool No. 8" preparation area.

As soon as they entered, a wave of turbid air mixed with the smell of sweat and cheap spicy strips hit them in the face.

Hundreds of basic combat pods were packed tightly together, so crowded that one had to turn sideways just to walk through the aisle.

Most of the people around were freshmen who had just enrolled, and some sophomores who had started to slack off. Their eyes were mostly filled with confusion about the future or a lack of confidence in their own strength.

Occasionally, there were a few upperclassmen who looked a bit sturdier, but they also had a sloppy, devil-may-care attitude, either leaning against the combat pods and scrolling through their phones.

Or they were in groups of three or five, bragging about their past "glorious" battle records, even though those records sounded more like drunken ravings.

The air was filled with a stifling and somewhat restless atmosphere, completely different from the tense, murderous aura on the side of the experts' passage. This place felt more like a forgotten corner, full of the scent of those struggling at the bottom.

"Yo? Isn't this the celebrity of our Magic City Martial Arts University?"

As soon as Jiang You appeared, the originally noisy hall went quiet for a second, then erupted into even louder laughter.

A boy with a blue "shamate" hairstyle was squatting on a combat pod fixing his hair. Upon seeing Jiang You, he gave an exaggerated whistle:

"Brothers, look! The F-Class Eye of Tianshu has come to our slum to inspect our work!"

"Hahahaha! Welcome, welcome! A warm welcome!"

The people nearby immediately started jeering:

"Captain Jiang, you're an SSS-rank big shot, how did you end up reduced to fighting for scraps with us small fry?"

"Did you walk through the wrong door?"

Facing this overwhelming ridicule, Jiang You didn't change his expression. He even politely waved:

"Hello, fellow students."

"Excuse me, you there... pull your feet back, don't trip my mascot."

He held Bai Lan's hand and, under everyone's gaze, calmly found two empty combat pods in the corner.

"Big Brother, what is this? A big coffin?"

Bai Lan looked at the silver-white metal pod in front of her and curiously knocked on it: "Are we going to sleep?"

"Yes, sleep."

Jiang You patted the pod lid and said with a kindly, deceptive smile:

"This is a very high-class bed. You can dream once you lie inside. Just lie down obediently, and later, no matter who you see in your dream, just go up and punch them to death. Don't hold back!"

"Especially those few who just mocked me, remember them clearly. If you meet them, beat them up first and then finish them off. If you do a good job, Big Brother will buy you roast chicken to eat!"

"Yay! I want to eat roast chicken!"

As soon as Bai Lan heard there was food, she didn't hesitate, lifted the lid, and climbed in. Her movements were so practiced that it was heartbreaking.

After settling Bai Lan, Jiang You also climbed into his own combat pod.

"Whew..."

Jiang You took a deep breath, lay on the ergonomic chair, and watched the pod lid slowly close, feeling a little nervous and expectant.

"I've eaten so many treasures from the Principal, I should be pretty strong now, right?"

Jiang You clenched his fist, feeling the abundant sense of power within his body:

"Although I used to be a 0.8 combat-power weakling, I've been drinking jade marrow and eating dragon pills for the past few days, surely I can at least double that, right?"

"Hum—" The pod door closed, and a soft blue light illuminated.

A mechanical, synthesized electronic voice sounded in his ear:

"Identity confirmed: F-Class, Jiang You."

"Neural connection in progress... Scanning body data to build a virtual model..."

Just as the system was about to read the terrifying, nuclear-bomb-like real data inside Jiang You!

[Internal Chat Group]

[Brain (adjusting glasses, data streams running at high speed)]:

"Detected external mental energy scan."

"Seems to be a low-level projection formation."

"If we let it read our true data, this formation will explode on the spot."

"Kidneys, suppress the aura! Heart, lower the blood-pumping frequency! Camouflage program initiated!"

[Kidneys (chuckling)]:

"Got it! Then... should we give him a bit of an improvement?"

"It was 0.8 before, how about we multiply it by ten? Round it to a whole number?"

"Let's go with 7.9! Second-stage mid-tier—it's not too conspicuous, but it'll make this Slacker Ruler happy!"

...In reality, inside the pod.

Jiang You only felt his body warm up slightly, as if a warm current was flowing through his entire body.

Immediately after, a line of green data popped up on the holographic panel in front of him:

[Scan Complete] [Current Blood Qi Value]: 7.9 (Second-stage mid-tier)

"Holy crap!"

Jiang You looked at the number, his eyes widening instantly; he almost jumped up inside the pod:

"7.9!! My god! I soared from 0.8 directly to 7.9?"

"That's nearly a tenfold increase! Principal Pang's supplements are just too powerful!"

Jiang You was so excited his hands were shaking.

"It seems I really am a genius! These resources weren't wasted!"

Jiang You's confidence exploded, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up wildly.

He could already imagine himself cutting through the competition, stepping on all those who had mocked him, then advancing in style to meet up with Lu Xingye and the others in the higher tiers.

"What 'small fry passage,' what 'scrap-metal bronze'—this is practically a newbie village custom-made for me! It's the perfect place to practice on these guys and get familiar with this surging power!"

He rubbed his hands together in his mind, unable to wait to start the first battle.

"Match me with an opponent! I can't wait to slaughter the competition!"

[Matching you with an opponent... Match successful!]

Meanwhile, in the external viewing hall.

On the huge circular screen, countless small battle windows were scrolling.

And in the very center of the hall, the most prominent and largest holographic screen was still black.

In the broadcasting room, several teachers responsible for switching camera angles were operating frantically.

"Quick! Find the one with the highest topic value!"

"A-Class's Class Monitor Zhao Feilong? No need, that's just him bullying noobs, nothing to watch there."

"Wait! There's activity in the eighth tier!"

A producer's eyes lit up, and his fingers slammed against the keyboard:

"Found him! F-Class's Jiang You!"

"The SSS-rank Supernatural Ability holder everyone's been talking about is actually in Seed Pool No. 8? This is big news! Quick! Switch the feed over! Give him a close-up!"

"Copy that! Jiang You versus... uh, the opponent is C-Class's Li Si?"

"Never heard of that name. Doesn't matter, switch over first! Let the title be: SSS-rank genius trapped in a Bronze match, first battle against a nobody—is he a dragon in shallow waters, or playing the pig to eat the tiger?"