Chapter 104: The Xuanwu Beyond Flying
"Support you for five years?" Li Yuan couldn't help but want to say something as he listened to Gu Qianghan's words.
But considering Gu Qianghan's family background and personality, he closed his mouth. As Gu Qianghan had once said, he could indeed rely on his family.
Moreover, Li Yuan had long realized that while Gu Qianghan appeared carefree and unrestrained, he was actually very intelligent. Coupled with his family background, such people often believed they had "seen through everything."
If he didn't wake up on his own, no amount of persuasion from others would help.
Besides, "Being friends and roommates with Gu Qiang is quite good," Li Yuan thought to himself.
"Brothers and sisters," Gu Qianghan laughed, "why don't you call Li Yuan senior brother?"
"Senior brother!"
"Senior brother." Several dozen freshmen from Jiangcheng on more than ten flying vehicles shouted together.
Their voices echoed across the campus.
Li Yuan was taken aback, and it also drew the attention of many passing students.
Senior brother? Having such a title was rare in the entire school.
"Did you guys come up with this title?" Li Yuan couldn't help but ask.
"Wrong!"
"Li Yuan," Gu Qianghan grinned, "this isn't self-proclaimed. It's recognition. We all recognize you as the new senior brother of the Sixth Academy. Ask them, who disagrees?"
"Agree!" Dong Haifeng laughed.
"Li Yuan, you should be our senior brother," An Nong and other freshmen shouted.
The students who were admitted to Kunlun Martial University were all top choices, often the prominent figures in their respective high schools.
Getting them to acknowledge another freshman as senior brother? No one would truly accept it.
Being a bit stronger now didn't mean being strong forever.
Only Li Yuan was different!!
This group of students from Jiangcheng had all witnessed Li Yuan's prowess during the Jiangbei Martial University invitation event.
Moreover, back then, Li Yuan's physical fitness was only around level 9. Now that he had advanced, he was undoubtedly even more formidable.
Most importantly, many of these students had seen the program that featured Li Yuan and knew roughly how terrifying his rise was.
With these factors combined, the huge gap made them highly respect Li Yuan.
Joining the Sixth Academy wasn't really about relying on Li Yuan, but rather about forming a supportive group.
"Senior brother?" Li Yuan shook his head but did not argue further.
In fact, in terms of strength, Li Yuan was among the top of his age group worldwide. Due to his martial arts spirituality, coming to Kunlun Martial University, Li Yuan also felt a bit indignant.
He wanted to prove himself!
Li Yuan had ambition.
He couldn't get into Starlight University or Starry Sky University? Then he would strive at Kunlun Martial University to surpass the martial arts geniuses of the three top schools.
He would work hard to become a flying martial artist in the future, or even stronger.
Prove through his actions that not entering Starlight University or Starry Sky University didn't mean he couldn't become the best.
"First among new students at Kunlun Martial University?" Li Yuan shook his head slightly.
From the beginning, Li Yuan's goal was never just that.
His sights were set much higher.
"Haifeng, how are the total scores for the Eight Academies competition calculated?" Li Yuan asked.
"It's based on the points from Kunlun Nine Mountains," Dong Haifeng explained. "Each academy has about 250 freshmen, and everyone can challenge the Kunlun Nine Mountains."
"The best scores of the top 200 are added up to form the academy's total score for the entrance competition."
"There are individual rankings and academy total score rankings." Dong Haifeng quickly explained, "Right now, our Sixth Academy is ranked fourth, with a total score of over 5,700 points."
"Which means, on average, each person scored less than 30 points?" Li Yuan felt a headache coming on.
The score was too low.
Before coming to the university, Li Yuan had seen various learning arrangements, competition settings, and reward systems of Kunlun Martial University on the virtual network "Kunlun Space."
He knew a bit about Kunlun Nine Mountains, which was a "virtual duel" set up by Kunlun Martial University to test martial arts skills, divided into nine mountains.
Kunlun Nine Mountains was similar to the Starry Sky Combat Network's ranking matches but not exactly the same.
"Yes, the score is indeed low."
Dong Haifeng scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Because most freshmen's martial arts skills haven't even reached the third level."
Li Yuan pondered.
Third-level skills corresponded to 360 points in the martial arts skills section of the college entrance exam, which was very difficult to achieve.
Fourth-level skills? They were one of the three major thresholds for source martial artists.
As far as Li Yuan knew, although Kunlun Martial University would produce a large number of source martial artists in the future, most students wouldn't become source martial artists before graduation.
Those who could become source martial artists often continued to train after graduation, undergoing life-and-death trials in the star realms to finally break through their bottlenecks.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be so few source martial artists among the human civilization.
Someone like Li Yuan, who reached fourth-level skills in high school? He was among the best of his age group worldwide.
Otherwise, why would Li Yuan be so highly regarded by Starlight Martial Hall?
"Li Yuan."
"Oh no, senior brother," Gu Qianghan quickly changed his address, excited, "Our Sixth Academy is only a couple of hundred points behind the second and third places."
"Only the Third Academy is ahead of us by six to seven hundred points." Gu Qianghan said seriously, "If you can score 800 points alone, we'll definitely win."
"800 points?"
"Gu Qiang, you didn't say that earlier. Didn't you say we were aiming for second place?"
"800 points, that's a bit much." Others were stunned. They were confident Li Yuan could score four to five hundred points, but 800?
It seemed exaggerated! They had all challenged Kunlun Nine Mountains and knew its difficulty.
"800 points?" Li Yuan smiled. "I'll give it a try. Just don't blame me if I can't do it."
"Haha, sure."
"If Wu Luo can score over 300 points, senior brother will do even better. After all, Wu Luo was badly defeated by senior brother."
"Wu Luo's skills have reached the fourth level. Otherwise, many third-level students would have stopped at the third mountain."
"And Yang Hong, he scored nearly 400 points."
"With senior brother's strength, surpassing those two shouldn't be difficult." Everyone discussed eagerly.
They all had high expectations for Li Yuan.
Soon, passing through a large villa area, the dozen flying vehicles arrived at a large building.
In front of the building lay a huge stone statue of a creature resembling a sea turtle, standing several dozen meters high and over two hundred meters long.
The statue was made of stone.
Only the turtle shell on its back appeared so real that the entire statue emitted an inexplicable, terrifying aura, as if a powerful Xuanwu was truly resting there.
"This is the Xuanwu statue?" Li Yuan was shocked. He had seen it in the school's introduction.
"Yes!"
"Legend has it that long ago, a astral realm creature, Xuanwu, beyond the flying level appeared on the Soaring Star." Gu Qianghan said excitedly, "It was hunted down one-on-one by the strongest human, Dongfang Ji. They fought an earth-shattering battle on the Soaring Star."
"In the end, Dongfang Ji killed it."
"Its shell was given to Dongfang Ji's alma mater, 'Kunlun Martial University,' as a gift."
"This is the turtle shell."
"It's the remains of a creature beyond the flying level."
"After thorough research, Kunlun Martial University crafted it into a statue and placed it here as a reminder to all students to remain humble." Gu Qianghan explained, "This building was renamed Xuanwu Building in its honor."
"Smart but weak." Li Yuan laughed.
"Damn! Not again," Gu Qianghan complained, "It's not that I'm weak, it's that you're too abnormal."
"Get off."
The flying vehicle slowly landed on the square, and dozens of people jumped off.
"Each academy has its own area."
"And there's a comprehensive building."
"Xuanwu Building is the comprehensive building, divided into East and West wings," Gu Qianghan introduced. "The East wing is the main area for freshmen. Any important activities for freshmen from all eight academies will be held here."
Li Yuan listened, some things he knew, some he didn't.
Clearly, Gu Qianghan had been here for a few days and was very familiar with many things.
"Into the East wing." Gu Qianghan said.
A group of people surrounded Li Yuan as they entered the East wing of Xuanwu Building.
The building had only twelve floors but a vast area.
Entering it, they were greeted by an enormous open-air plaza, capable of accommodating two to three thousand people. At this moment, six to seven hundred people were gathered there.
As Li Yuan and his large group entered, they immediately attracted the attention of many freshmen in the plaza.
"That's the Sixth Academy."
"That's Gu Qianghan."
"The Sixth Academy," someone recognized.
In just a few days, Gu Qianghan had gained some fame among the freshmen for his outstanding "organizational skills."
"Are they still trying to compete in the entrance competition?"
"The deadline is approaching. Their best should have already competed."
"What are they doing here?" Many students looked puzzled.
The entrance competition for the eight academies was nearing its end.
"Li Yuan!"
"Li Yuan, he's here? He's from the Sixth Academy?"
"Damn!"
"No wonder all those students from Jiangcheng joined the Sixth Academy. Li Yuan joined the Sixth Academy? He didn't go to Starlight University?"
"He's really here?" Many of the several hundred students from Jiangbei Province quickly recognized the conspicuous figure with a large bag.
"Li Yuan?"
"Who is Li Yuan?" Freshmen from other provinces were confused. "Never heard of him. He's not in the top ten of this year's admissions."
"Don't worry about it. Go notify Wu Luo."
"And Yang Hong. If he's here, we might lose our top spot." Some students from Jiangbei Province were genuinely worried.
They had witnessed Li Yuan's prowess.
Over here.
"Rankings?" Li Yuan looked up, seeing the two giant screens on either side of the plaza, displaying two sets of rankings.
Kunlun Nine Mountains Individual Ranking (Freshmen):
1-Yang Hong (399 points)
2-Wu Luo (329 points)
3-Han Hongjun (288 points) ...
Eight Academies Entrance Competition (Academy):
1-Third Academy (6563 points)
2-Seventh Academy (6043 points)
3-Fifth Academy (5956 points)
4-Sixth Academy (5789 points) ...
"Senior brother, start now," An Nong whispered. "The sooner we get it done, the sooner we can relax."
"Alright." Li Yuan nodded and headed towards the virtual network pods in the distance.