Ten minutes later, watching Lin Ran, who had been full of grand pronouncements on stage, lead his team away, Lin Miao nudged Lü Qiufeng with her elbow.
"What do you think?"
Lü Qiufeng stretched lazily, nonchalantly replying, "It was very satisfying!"
Lin Miao's face twisted. "Hmph! Listening to you, you don't seem to care about their public opinion at all!"
"Were those audacious words you fed them this morning? Hmm?"
Lü Qiufeng quickly waved his hands. "How could that be… I just told them to be a bit arrogant, not to aim for the heavens…"
"But I feel like this isn't bad either. At least it grabbed enough attention."
"As long as we win the championship in the future, these things can become talking points later. It's all benefits and no harm!"
"Don't you believe they can win the championship?"
Lin Miao blinked, then realized. "Yeah, the championship is practically in our grasp, so there's no need to worry."
"As long as our strength is sufficient, no one can find a loophole!"
"Looking at it this way, it seems fine?"
Now, after Lin Ran's countless masterful performances, those familiar with him had developed a blind confidence in his strength.
Even if Lin Ran said he was going to sweep away the tenth-tier old man from the Su family, they would still choose to believe him without hesitation.
"Then it's up to them!"
...
After the meeting, the video and reports interviewing the Yan University representative team were released, immediately causing a stir among most people paying attention to the competition.
Generally speaking, to deliberately create hype and sparks of conflict, many media outlets in the past would resort to partial reporting, selective coverage, or distorting meanings to attract enough attention.
But Lin Ran's full version was enough…
Because every word he spoke could be edited into at least five viral news headlines. His arrogance was utterly outrageous!
And in terms of playback volume on major websites, the Yan University representative team was far ahead, with the total playback count of a single video even exceeding that of all other teams combined!
After all, after watching Lin Ran's words, looking at the interviews of other teams would make their cautious demeanor seem utterly uninteresting.
This led to Lin Ran, the team's main spokesperson, becoming an internet sensation in a different way.
A public opinion war erupted around his interview.
One group believed that Lin Ran's arrogant and boastful attitude was truly despicable, especially his words targeting the contestants from Xiangchu University. They should be severely criticized, and the organizers should even disqualify him.
Another group believed, "Sorry, if you have the strength, you can do whatever you want. With so many honors and past achievements, even if he's a bit arrogant and overturns the entire Xiangchu University, it wouldn't be excessive!"
Of course, some neutral parties suggested, "Let's see after the fight."
If Lin Ran could truly be as powerful as he claimed and accomplished everything he said, then people could just exclaim "awesome" below.
If not, it wouldn't be too late to settle the score later.
Coupled with some instigators and onlookers who enjoyed a good show, the internet was truly abuzz at this time.
And it was precisely this super spectacle created by Lin Ran that once again boosted the attention on the entire competition, especially on himself.
Whether they wanted to see him ascend to godhood or hoped to see him fall, they had already booked their time and were firmly waiting in front of their various video playback devices.
As for the arena used by Xiangchu University for the competition, tickets became even more sought after than during previous freshman exchange competitions…
…
The next day.
"Alright! Hello everyone! Welcome back!"
"This is the first arena of Xiangchu University, and I am your host, Niya!"
"The 1145th Freshman Exchange Competition of Long Country is about to begin. Please look forward to it…"
"The first event we will have is the 1v1 individual competition!"
"Now, let us welcome the representative teams from each university to enter the arena!"
In the center of the arena, a circular disc was floating in the air.
And on this disc stood a white-haired, pointed-eared "elf."
Currently, she was holding a megaphone, broadcasting the situation in the arena in real-time to the audience both inside and outside the venue.
Although Niya looked like an elf from fantasy races, she was indeed within the human category.
The biggest reason for her appearance was that her bloodline ability was related to elves.
Bloodline abilities were different from innate talents.
Talents could only be awakened when one reached adulthood at eighteen years old, and everyone possessed them.
Bloodline abilities, however, could be activated at any point during one's cultivation process.
Furthermore, bloodline abilities were divided into innate and acquired.
Innate bloodline abilities were those that came with birth.
Without mutation, innate bloodlines were often related to the parents' genes.
This was why noble and powerful families placed such importance on lineage and purity.
Of course, even when parents were ordinary individuals, it was possible for them to have a child with a heaven-defying bloodline.
Such individuals were considered children of destiny.
Acquired bloodlines, on the other hand, were obtained by actively acquiring them through rare items or heavenly treasures that could bestow bloodline abilities.
For instance, by consuming a Frigid Ice Lotus, as long as one could withstand its corrosive power and fully digest it, the awakened individual could gain a bloodline ability related to the ice element.
Bloodline abilities could be replaced, but only one could be retained at a time.
Whether innate or acquired, new bloodlines could be used to replace old ones.
This ensured that awakened individuals whose innate bloodlines awakened late could consider obtaining an ordinary bloodline ability to make do with for the time being.
However, even the most inferior item for activating a bloodline ability was prohibitively expensive.
The vast majority of awakened individuals might only have their talents accompanying them throughout their lives, without ever having the chance to activate a bloodline.
Unless one possessed an innate bloodline and did not need items to activate it.
After all, no matter how mediocre a bloodline was, it was certainly better than having none.
And this method of gaining additional combat power was undoubtedly the most sought-after among awakened individuals.
Lin Ran looked up at Niya above, pondering the matter of bloodline abilities.
At this moment, he suddenly realized that he didn't seem to possess any bloodline enhancement himself!
Currently, outsiders mistook his ever-changing techniques – that is, the items he acquired through the Myriad Heavens Fishing System – as his bloodline.
They mistakenly believed that Lin Ran's bloodline ability was an evolutionary bloodline that gradually gained new abilities.
But in reality, Lin Ran truly had none…
So, should he find an opportunity to get a bloodline ability for himself as well?
Since it could be replaced, even a shoddy one wouldn't be bad to start with.