Lu Qiufeng immediately gave Lin Ran a thumbs-up:
"Cool! That's the way to do it!"
"If we put up with it, they'll only get more out of hand!"
"Beat them soundly! If they cause trouble, I and Lin Miao will handle it..."
"If all else fails, we can just call the Boss."
"With his temper for protecting his own, he might even tear down this arena himself when he arrives!"
Hearing Lu Qiufeng's words, Lin Ran couldn't help but touch his cheek.
He thought he was arrogant enough, but he didn't expect Matt to be even more so...
In this world, there were probably no others who dared to act so brazenly, who would dare to come alone and tear down the Xiang Chu Arena.
No wonder everyone who heard Matt's name, no matter when, would tremble with fear. He was truly formidable.
Not long after, Lin Ran's other nine teammates were also teleported back.
The nine of them didn't encounter any top 10 contestants, and they all won with ease, without a single loss.
However, while watching the matches after their own, the ten of them discovered something rather interesting.
That is, the quality of this year's freshmen seemed to be generally higher.
There were even some surprisingly dark horses who managed to defeat seeded contestants from highly ranked schools.
After all, people change, and a failed college entrance exam might not determine everything.
With a good innate foundation, coupled with sufficient hard work and a little bit of luck, they had truly stood out.
Only those top 10 universities, the most prestigious institutions, could truly remain unshakeable.
"It seems like this year is another golden era..."
Lu Qiufeng mused.
Lin Miao nodded:
"It's very similar to our years... otherwise, the Boss wouldn't have taken us five in."
"So this proves that you ten, who have managed to stand out amidst such fierce competition, are truly exceptional!"
"Keep up the good work, you must bring the highly coveted championship back to Yan University this year!"
Lin Miao encouraged everyone.
Luo Qingyan stretched her waist comfortably, deliberately displaying a captivating curve in front of Lin Ran:
"Don't worry, Sister Miao!"
"With us here, the championship is a sure thing!"
"No matter how monstrous the enemy is, can they be more monstrous than this guy?"
"No matter who comes, as long as Lin Ran is unleashed, they'll be unable to take care of themselves."
Luo Qingyan's movement left Lin Ran in a daze for a long time.
He unconsciously followed Luo Qingyan's movements, catching a whiff of her fragrance, and felt a wave of intoxication.
After an unknown amount of time, Lin Ran finally realized that Luo Qingyan had subtly alluded to him being a dog!
He cast a malicious glance at Luo Qingyan, who was wearing her competition uniform, and licked his lips.
Damn it! If there were no one else around, Lin Ran would have already pinned Luo Qingyan down for teasing him like this, and would have made her beg for mercy.
How could he let Luo Qingyan be so arrogant?
With his Golden Dragon Martial Soul, immense strength, innate Nature Spirit Body, and rapid recovery, Lin Ran was fully capable of doing so.
It was just that now was not the time for such things, and Lin Ran could only suppress the evil fire within him again and again.
Luo Qingyan also noticed this and became even more audacious.
She stuck close to Lin Ran, chatting idly about nothing in particular, her breath caressing his face as she spoke.
At the same time, she pretended to help him relax his muscles, her boneless little hands moving all over his body, aimlessly pressing.
Lin Ran felt that if the competition didn't start soon, he might really lose control and forcefully unleash his divine power to subdue the infinitely arrogant Luo Qingyan.
Fortunately, the organizers of the event did not keep Lin Ran in torment for too long, and soon brought the information for the next round of matches.
By this point, the weak contestants had mostly been filtered out, and the average skill level of the participants had significantly increased, leading to more intense one-on-one duels.
Out of ten thousand participants, five hundred would advance, still in a ten-round point system.
This time, Lin Ran fully learned from his previous experience and swiftly swept through the ten opponents he was matched against.
After exiting the arena, he didn't rejoin Lu Qiufeng and the others but walked off alone.
Most of the battles this time would be evenly matched and would likely last a long time. He could find a suitable place to slack off.
Lin Ran ambled away from the intensely warring center of the arena and quietly slipped into the resting area.
Just then, he suddenly saw a very familiar figure rushing past him.
Uncle Zhang?!
Why wasn't this guy watching his master, Su Quan, compete, and why was he sneaking out?
And he seemed to be in such a hurry that he didn't even notice him...
Lin Ran's interest in Uncle Zhang's intentions piqued, and he immediately followed behind him.
With the control over natural elements granted by his previous Nature Heart, Lin Ran could easily manipulate wind elements to mask his scent in the air.
The illusionary techniques of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan could provide concealment, while the etherealization of Divine Power could completely erase his presence when being scanned by the opponent's divine sense.
Coupled with the invisibility of the Arcane Dagger and the evasion of the Divine Power space, Lin Ran could track him with impunity.
While these methods were not necessarily invincible, they were more than enough to deal with a mere Uncle Zhang.
Uncle Zhang sneaked all the way to the outside of the arena and hid in a garden before initiating his voice communication.
Eavesdropping was Lin Ran's forte. Even from a great distance, he could hear every word using his elemental power.
Moreover, Uncle Zhang was lying on a large tree, and Lin Ran used wood elements to establish a life connection with the tree, making it no different from direct eavesdropping.
Uncle Zhang's first words were explosive.
"Old man, I've arranged for everyone to be in position in the survival round area as you planned!"
"Once we get Lin Ran's coordinates, we'll make sure he regrets it!"
"Without points in the survival round, Lin Ran will be proven wrong by his own words!"
The person referred to as "Old man" was not present. His voice, however, came from Uncle Zhang's bio-chip, so Lin Ran could not hear him.
After listening for a while longer, Uncle Zhang's face turned deathly pale:
"What? Kill him? That's definitely not possible! This is a competition after all... Lin Ran is Yan University's treasure..."
"Not to mention, Principal Ma stands behind him..."
"What if..."
Before Uncle Zhang could finish speaking, his expression changed again:
"Borrow their strength?!"
"Old man, are we really going this far?!"
"This leaves absolutely no room for retreat! I have a bad feeling about this..."
Uncle Zhang wanted to say more, but the other side seemed to have rudely hung up the phone.
All that was left was a frightened Uncle Zhang, left to his own devices in the wind.