242: Chapter 242 The Eve of the Competition: Freshman Banquet!

After the Old Mans Spirit finished speaking.

Li Fan froze for a second, then his pupils constricted, and the corner of his eye twitched.

A Marquis-level Immortal?

That's it?

The amount of information contained in this short sentence was incredibly vast!

First of all.

Regarding the Marquis-level Immortal who was secretly observing him.

If he hadn't guessed wrong, it was likely one of the few Immortals who had founded the Huangchen Academy.

If that was the case, it explained why he hadn't been expelled despite violating the rules so blatantly.

That Immortal had likely noticed the potential he displayed and was prepared to continue giving him room to grow.

This was clearly a good thing for Li Fan!

The more his potential was recognized, the more benefits he could obtain!

If he achieved an excellent result in this New Student Competition, like taking first or second place...

Even if he couldn't comprehend the enlightenment stele to become a Formal Student, he would likely still receive some preferential treatment and more resources.

And coming back to the Old Mans Spirit's "that's it."

This truly made Li Fan curious about what level of strength this old man had when he was alive.

A Marquis-level Immortal was considered a top-tier existence in the entire Wushan Seat, or even the Great Universe.

Yet, in the old man's mouth, it only warranted a "that's it" evaluation.

Could it be that this old man was a King-level Immortal or even higher when he was alive?

And if the old man really had such strength, what could he have gone through to end up in his current state?

For a moment, Li Fan's heart was incredibly shocked...

But besides the shock, he also felt quite depressed.

He felt like he had been tricked.

Because if this Old Mans Spirit really was that strong, the cost of reconstructing his Physical Body would surely be sky-high.

Thinking of this.

Li Fan immediately decided to start making empty promises to the Old Mans Spirit.

He would first retrieve the Treasure Trove the old man had buried in the Star Sea, and then "slowly" reconstruct the old man's Physical Body.

"What are you thinking about, little friend?"

At this moment, the Old Mans Spirit's voice rang out, interrupting Li Fan's thoughts.

Li Fan immediately shook his head. "Nothing, just a bit surprised."

Seeing Li Fan's expression, the Old Mans Spirit couldn't help but smile.

"Little friend, your horizons are too narrow right now. Once you progress further in your cultivation, you'll find that the Immortal Level isn't actually an unreachable stage."

"Especially with your potential, a Marquis-level Immortal should be the bare minimum for you."

As soon as he said this.

Li Fan laughed in spite of himself. "How can you be so sure, Senior?"

Truth be told, that flattery was quite smooth.

"Tens of thousands of people have come here, yet I chose you specifically, little friend. Naturally, I have my reasons."

"I can't speak for other things, but when it comes to discernment, I have absolute confidence!"

"Your potential might be far more terrifying than you even imagine!"

The Old Mans Spirit spoke slowly, his eyes filled with an unusually fervent appreciation.

If these words had reached the ears of any other youngster, they would likely have been surging with excitement.

But for Li Fan, it was incredibly ordinary.

Because the old guy wasn't wrong.

Afterwards.

Li Fan didn't go into more detail with the Old Mans Spirit.

After all, for the time being, his primary goal was the New Student Competition.

After telling the Old Mans Spirit to go cool off on that pile of dust and stay hidden for a while, Li Fan returned to the planet's surface on his own, closed his eyes to focus, and began consolidating his recent cultivation results.

...

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, it was already the next day.

Tomorrow would be the Huangchen Academy's New Student Competition.

Now.

The New Student dormitory area of the academy was bustling with activity.

At this point, no one was still in secluded meditation.

Since the New Student Competition was imminent.

To subtly gauge each other's progress in strength, several Students had organized a large-scale banquet in a manor, attended by nearly two-thirds of the New Students.

"Brother Chen, your recent seclusion seems to have yielded good results. For tomorrow's competition, I think you have a great chance of taking first place!"

"Not at all, not at all. With Brother Liang here, how could I have a chance?"

"Oh, isn't this the Young Master of the Ye Family? It's been nearly a month; I didn't expect your Aura to have grown even stronger. Aren't you aiming for first place?"

"Brother Lin, you're too kind. There are crouching tigers and hidden dragons among us. No one dares to say they'll definitely take first. My goal is just to make it into the top ten."

...

The Students toasted and drank, exchanging words of mutual praise and subtle probing.

Soon.

The Students moved on to a deeper discussion about who might take first place in this New Student Competition.

Among them.

Jiang Yunxu and Duan Xuan had the highest support.

The reason was simple.

Their initial Student IDs were number one and number two.

Furthermore, everyone knew their backgrounds and their past combat records.

Although many of those present secretly believed they themselves could take first, they couldn't ignore these two powerful competitors in their hearts.

Unfortunately, these two top-seeded Students did not attend the banquet.

"What about Fang Tong? Fang Tong should also have a chance to compete for first, right?"

At that moment, a Student suddenly spoke up.

Fang Tong's initial Student ID was number three, so he was surprised that no one had included him in the discussion.

As soon as he said this, it immediately drew continuous laughter from the crowd.

"Brother Liu, you must have just come out of seclusion, right? Fang Tong can't even beat a Sparring Partner; what kind of first place could he possibly compete for?"

"Exactly. You probably don't know, but this Fang Tong was beaten twice in a row by a Sparring Partner. He was beaten so badly he lost all his temper. I'd say his initial Student ID is seriously inflated!"

"Isn't that the truth? Otherwise, with his flamboyant personality, why wouldn't he come to our banquet? It's simply because he doesn't have the face to show up!"

"It's not just Fang Tong; there's also Luo Ling, whose initial Student ID was number four. He was also defeated by his own Sparring Partner. Both of them are quite overrated."

"I've said it before, those initial Student IDs are just very superficial assessments by the academy; they aren't very reliable!"

Someone explained with a laugh, their face showing clear disdain when mentioning Fang Tong and Luo Ling.

The other Students, who also didn't know what Fang Tong and Luo Ling had been through, were all shocked upon hearing this.

There was no helping it.

Being defeated by a Sparring Partner was truly inconceivable.

"Since we're on the subject,"

everyone, those two Sparring Partners who defeated Fang Tong and Luo Ling will be participating in tomorrow's competition alongside us. I wonder if any of you have any thoughts on that?"

someone spoke up at that moment.