“Not interested. Not going. Stop bothering me.”
Lin Yuan rejected her flatly with three crisp refusals, waved his hand, and prepared to walk past her.
“Hey, wait a second!” Gu Ningxue quickly blocked his path again. She knew it wouldn’t be easy to convince this guy.
Taking a deep breath, she threw out her trump card, “Lin Yuan, I advise you to reconsider. Before I came here, the principal said that if I couldn’t persuade you, he might… contact the old War God Lin in the northern frontier himself.”
Contact my grandfather?
Sure enough, Lin Yuan stopped in his tracks.
He slowly turned around, a trace of surprise on his face.
Seeing this expression, Gu Ningxue was inwardly delighted, thinking her “threat” had worked.
She couldn’t help but let out a little laugh, then teased with a hint of smugness, “What’s wrong? Scared? Let me guess, the reason you participated in the last Academy Tournament must’ve been because the old War God gave the order, right?”
In her eyes, only his legendary grandfather could push this lazy salted-fish into action.
However, after the initial surprise, Lin Yuan’s expression turned strange.
He looked at Gu Ningxue and suddenly laughed.
“Haha…” He laughed so hard he bent over, as if he’d just heard the funniest joke in the world.
Gu Ningxue was creeped out by his laughter, her brows furrowing slightly. “What are you laughing at?”
“I’m laughing because the principal and the others completely miscalculated.” Lin Yuan barely managed to stop laughing, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes. “If they really dared to contact my grandpa, do you believe he’d break their legs himself?”
Gu Ningxue was stunned, question marks all over her face.
What kind of logic is that?
Seeing her utterly confused, Lin Yuan was in a great mood and kindly explained.
“Before I joined the tournament, I made a deal with the old man. As long as I took first place, I’d be free to lie flat however I wanted afterward. Anyone who tries to bother me over small stuff like this… the old man will personally deal with them and clear the way for me. So, do you get it now? If the principal really goes to complain, isn’t he walking right into a trap?”
Lin Yuan spread his hands, looking completely innocent.
Gu Ningxue was speechless. She opened her mouth, only to find she couldn’t utter a single word.
Seriously?
Using his grandfather to pressure him… only for him to turn around and use his grandfather as an even stronger shield?
This family… what kind of weirdos are they?
Watching her deflated and adorable expression, Lin Yuan nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave.
After a few steps, he looked back and waved at the dazed Gu Ningxue, saying encouragingly, “Besides, with you and a genius like Ye Xuan around, our academy’s bound to bring back a grand slam. I won’t get in the way. Good luck!”
Watching Lin Yuan’s figure fade into the distance, Gu Ningxue stood frozen in the wind for half a minute.
“This guy…”
She couldn’t help it anymore and burst into laughter, her whole body trembling with mirth.
Shaking her head, she wore a look of helpless amusement.
Without further delay, she turned and headed toward the principal’s office in the administrative building.
When she repeated Lin Yuan’s “My grandpa will break your legs” remark word-for-word to the expectant principal and academy executives, the entire office fell into a strange silence. Get faster updates on novelping.com.
The white-haired principal held his thermos cup mid-air, frozen.
The director of academics didn’t even notice his glasses had slid down his nose.
Several normally stern top-tier instructors had expressions so colorful it looked like they’d just swallowed a hundred flies.
“He… he really said that?” The principal swallowed hard, his voice going dry.
Gu Ningxue nodded sincerely, holding back laughter. “Word for word. Didn’t change a single syllable.”
“Outrageous! Outrageous!” The principal slammed the table in fury, glaring as he shouted, “That little brat! He’s completely lawless! I… I…”
He “I”-ed for half a day but finally realized… there really wasn’t anything he could do about Lin Yuan.
Fight him?
Can’t win.
Scold him?
He ignores you.
Call his family?
His family is even more protective than he is—and in a very physical sense!
One instructor pushed up his glasses and bitterly concluded, “So… our plan to pressure him with the old War God not only failed, but actually triggered ‘rebound’ and ‘critical hit’ effects?”
The office fell silent again.
Everyone felt their entire worldview being trampled and crushed by the Lin family’s grandfather-grandson combo.
Eventually, the principal waved his hand in defeat like a deflated balloon.
“Forget it! Let him be! Without him, our Capital Martial Arts Academy can still win the championship!”
“Form the school team immediately! Gather our top geniuses! I refuse to believe the Earth stops spinning without Lin Yuan!”
Soon after, a brand-new school team list was posted on the academy’s internal forum.
[Capital Martial Arts Academy – National University Martial Arts Tournament Team Roster]
Captain: Gu Ningxue (6th stage Bone Refining Realm)
Team Member: Ye Xuan (2nd stage Bone Refining Realm)
Team Member: Li Xuan’er (3rd stage Bone Refining Realm)
Team Member: Zhao Mang (1st stage Bone Refining Realm)
Team Member: Liu Yun (1st stage Bone Refining Realm)
…
The moment this list was released, it sparked an uproar on the forum.
“Whoa! No Lin Yuan! Young Master Lin really isn’t participating!”
“Told you! He never cared about joining some dumb competition!”
“This lineup is still strong though! Goddess Gu is leading personally, and there’s Ye Xuan—the ultimate dark horse!”
“Exactly! Ye Xuan may only be at the 2nd stage Bone Refining Realm, but his real combat power is way beyond that! I believe in him!” Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
“Li Xuan’er’s on the team too… tsk tsk, this just got interesting. Ex vs. current… no wait, old flame vs. new flame on the same team?”
…
Inside one of the academy’s high-level Gravity Chambers.
Ye Xuan stood shirtless, sweat steaming from his entire body as he frantically lifted a barbell weighing thousands of kilograms.
He noticed the team list pop up on his smart terminal.
A flash of disappointment passed through his eyes like lightning.
Not being able to personally defeat Lin Yuan on the national stage was his greatest regret.
But in the next instant, that disappointment was swallowed by an even hotter, more crazed ambition.
Fine!
Lin Yuan, you arrogant bastard!
Since you’re cocky enough to forgo this once-in-a-lifetime chance to make your name…
Then I’ll graciously accept it!
With no mountain pressing down on me anymore, this national tournament—
All the glory, all the praise, all the resources… will belong to me alone, Ye Xuan!
I’ll become the brightest star in this team!
I’ll lead them to victory!
I’ll let the entire Celestial Dragon Nation know—
Who is the true Chosen One of the younger generation!
And when that day comes…
You, Lin Yuan, will be nothing but a joke.
A backdrop in the legend of Ye Xuan—someone who missed his era out of laziness and cowardice!
“Haaah!” Ye Xuan let out a beast-like roar and lifted the barbell overhead with a ferocious heave.
In his eyes, flames burned brighter than ever.
…
Girls’ Dormitory.
Li Xuan’er looked at the team list, a storm of emotions in her heart.
She and Ye Xuan were now finally, officially, side by side as teammates.
It was a scene she had dreamed of. But now… she couldn’t feel happy at all.
In her mind, she kept seeing the image from the Academy Tournament—Lin Yuan’s cold, indifferent gaze, and Ye Xuan’s humiliated figure coughing blood on his knees.
That chasm…
Could it really be bridged through hard work?
For the first time, she felt deep doubt about her own choice.