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This bold idea couldn't help but emerge in his mind.

"If I could use soul force to drive the Ultimate Martial Arts, wouldn't that be a breakthrough soaring to the heavens?"

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. He wasn't currently interested in breaking through to the next realm and decided to master soul force first, especially since he was about to meet formidable figures he was unprepared for, making this ability incredibly useful to him.

However, he was soon required to gather at the main hall of Building One for the campus competition portion of the Alchemy Tournament, leaving him little time to explore soul force.

Halting his cultivation practice, Fang Renran prepared to grab a quick bite in the cafeteria before heading to the main hall of Building One, but as he was about to step out of the small garden, he saw Bai Qi, dressed in the school uniform, running towards him from a distance.

In the sunlight, her slender figure looked even thinner, giving off an extremely delicate and fragile appearance, to the point where Fang Renran couldn't help but worry if her legs would fracture from running too hard?

"This girl has been eating more than a pig these past few days, how can she still be this thin?" Fang Renran muttered to himself as he watched Bai Qi approach.

"Why are you here?" Bai Qi ran up to him and asked with a displeased look.

"Where should I be?" Fang Renran blinked in confusion.

"I've been waiting for you in class for ages, and you didn't even come to call me for lunch," Bai Qi frowned.

"Other than eating, is there nothing else in your head, girl?"

"Of course, there is, like waiting for you to take me to lunch."

"..."

After a bit of chit-chat, Fang Renran followed Bai Qi to the cafeteria and started eating together.

Since Bai Qi had been so close to him these past few days, Li Xingwang and Jing Haichuan didn't show up as often around mealtimes, and Liu Qianqian also rarely asked him out for anything, talking much less to him.

Jian Qi'er was still dragged away by her agent to film, her whereabouts unknown, and she hadn't come to discuss the specific situation of the organization with Fang Renran.

Sitting at the cafeteria table, Fang Renran ate while scrolling through the top news stories, which were not gossip but reports on the "terrorist attack" incident at Linglong Bay.

Even though many days had passed, Linglong Bay continued to dominate the headlines every day.

All the media were vilifying the Nightfall Organization, making up clear and doubt-free reasons, not mentioning "Indra Sky" and instead referring to it as a "secret organization contributing to humanity."

They painted the mutated cultivators on the battlefield as those released by the Nightfall Organization and built "Indra Sky" as a righteous organization studying those mutated practitioners, with the goal of allowing those "victims of mutation due to Nightfall's wrongdoing" to be reborn.

This distortion of truth sent chills down Fang Renran's spine.

He guessed anyone who read these articles wouldn't suspect that Nightfall was actually the humane organization preventing the cultivators from mutating.

"Hey, the campus competition is starting this afternoon," Bai Qi said after taking a few sips of her drink.

"I know," Fang Renran put away his phone and replied.

Bai Qi looked around, realizing there were not many people nearby, then leaned in and whispered, "So, do you have a way to cheat?"

"Of course, I do," Fang Renran said nonchalantly.

"Just make sure you don't get caught," Bai Qi said with a worried face. "If you're caught cheating, it will definitely cause a lot of public outcry. Although I will definitely come forward to take the blame and clear your involvement, the process..."

"You don't need to worry about that. My cheating technique is so skilled even a master from District One might not see through it," Fang Renran said.

"Keep bragging," Bai Qi rolled her eyes and said, "Let's get one thing straight, though. We're only cheating to get into the finals. Our scores can't stand out too much, and if it really doesn't work out, just compete normally without cheating."

"Got it."

"By the way, I have a question I've never asked you. Uncle Lin said you earned your money by selling alchemy pills, where did the pills come from?" Bai Qi asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Uncle Han must have left me a stash of valuable alchemy pills, worried that I wouldn't live well," Fang Renran casually replied.

"Just...left you alchemy pills worth over 700 million?"

"Who knows where that guy got them from."

"Alright then," Bai Qi frowned and said, "But now you sold the pills, and you're having to buy more... sorry for troubling you again."

"It's nothing," Fang Renran replied off-handedly, having no intention of cheating, and determined to secure the first-place spot in the finals.

In fact, he hadn't helped Bai Qi with anything; she was just feeling touched on her own.

Since telling Bai Qi the truth—that his alchemy skills could easily secure first place—would likely be met with disbelief, there was no harm in her continuing to be clueless. When he did achieve first place, Bai Qi would understand, and it wasn't like he was actively trying to hide it from her.

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At half past two in the afternoon, in the hall of Building One.

Fang Ren stood alone in the center, dumbfounded by the empty hall. He had arrived just after lunch at half past one and had been waiting ever since.

However, other than himself, he hadn't seen a single soul.

"Did I come to the wrong place?"

Fang Ren couldn't help but doubt what his eyes had seen—the words "Building One."

Just as he was about to get up and check the location outside once again, a hunchbacked old man with a folder tucked under his armpit walked in.

After entering, the old man stood still, opened his folder, took out a pen from the pocket over his chest, carelessly wrote a couple of words, never once glancing around, then turned his head to leave.

The moment Fang Ren saw the old man, he immediately approached him and asked, "Hey, tutor, isn't this the place for the Elixir Competition campus event?"

Upon hearing someone calling him, the old man looked up, sizing up Fang Ren with his eyes. Then, adjusting his glasses, he showed a face of utter incomprehension, "You're here to participate in the contest?"

"Of course." Fang Ren replied.

The old man blinked, then opened his folder again, crossed out the line of words he had written earlier, and said, "What's your name? You're promoted."

"Huh?" Fang Ren was startled, "But the competition hasn't even started yet, has it?"

The old man glanced at him and said, "Young man, you have courage, but I still must advise you—people should know themselves well, recognize their own strength before acting."

"This... What do you mean?" Fang Ren was bewildered.

The old man adjusted his glasses once more and said, "You're not aware of the recent changes to the Elixir Competition?"

"What changes?"

Seeing his reaction, the old man put away his folder and explained, "Let me be frank with you. This morning, the Education Bureau issued the latest notice about the Alchemy Contest. This time, advancing past the campus event doesn't lead to city-level competitions but is decided by drawing lots for regional contests instead.

However, both Yangming and Baili Universities drew lots that gave them unfavorable outcomes. Judging by your looks, you're a student from Yangming. After advancing from your campus event, you will have to compete in the same region as the qualifiers from Qingdu's Feiyang University. Plus, in that region, not a single school ranks below the top hundred worldwide.

The students from those schools are all monsters. So even if you advance in the campus event, there's no point in participating in the regional contest later. You'd just end up feeling too embarrassed to show your face amongst those geniuses, and you wouldn't dare to go."

Fang Ren could roughly understand what he meant.

It meant that students from Yangming University, upon advancing in the campus competition, would have to face exceptionally challenging opponents, with no hope of advancing further—only a chance to disgrace themselves by finishing last.

Ending up second from the last would mean doing immensely better than last, so no students were willing to participate. Their ability had predestined them to be at the bottom, without even a chance for the second-to-last spot; it was just too humiliating.

"Now, you should hurry back to class, right? Don't go thinking about winning top three in the district during the Elixir Competition and earning some rewards. In this regional event, both Yangming and Baili districts won't even have anyone securing the second-to-last position."

The old man spoke as he started walking out, his face filled with a helpless sigh.

"Wait a moment," Fang Ren called out to him.

"What is it?" The old man turned around.

"I want to confirm again, am I directly promoted now?" Fang Ren asked.

"Huh?" The old man was taken aback, "After all I've explained to you in plain terms, you still want to participate?"

"Of course I do." Fang Ren said.

The old man frowned, "Young man... Aren't you afraid that not only will you lose face, but you'll also bring shame to your entire school?"

Fang Ren gave a dry laugh, "Just write my name down, please. What if I win first place in the region and even make it to the finals?"

"..."

The old man paused, sighed casually, and remarked, "I've seen plenty of students like you, headstrong and unaware. Once you enter society, you'll know how much trouble such a temperament can bring."

As he spoke, the old man took out the folder again and said, "Tell me your name; I'll write it down for you. Consider it a lesson you are purchasing for yourself. However, as a tutor, I must advise you that, after you return from this Elixir Competition, you should reflect on yourself a lot more.

Someone who can't even recognize their own place will frequently hit a wall in their future life and career."

"Fang Ren, as in let nature take its course," Fang Ren said.

He didn't dislike what the old man was saying; he felt the old man had the air of a collegiate role model.

In such situations, middle school teachers generally educate their students on the importance of participation, urging them to take part no matter what. High school teachers, on the other hand, often say that experience is vital, and even if they fail, it doesn't matter as long as they gain something.

But university tutors don't say these things.

Because middle school teachers had already made the students participate many times to recognize reality, and high school teachers had made them experience a lot to gain self-awareness.

They ought to speak the truth, and what they should do is to guide adults on how to step into society, not to keep blindly encouraging a student in their twenties.