Li Zixuan said, "The first one goes without saying, you just met Golden Elephant City from 149. According to the intelligence, he is an Earth Element C-rank Awakener. This person is a tyrant in 149, and his connections are extremely wide."
"He currently has more than fifty people gathered around him, making his the largest team right now. We just refused his invitation, so we need to be careful of him taking the opportunity to retaliate later."
The two expressed their concerns.
Zhao Mu nodded.
Li Zixuan gestured in another direction, where a mountain of flesh was sitting on the steps dozens of meters away from them.
He was nearly 1.9 meters tall, covered in thick, excessive flesh, almost equivalent to three Zhao Mus.
"Wu Gang from 7th Middle School, a C-rank Awakener. He is like you... well, I mean his fighting style is somewhat similar to yours."
Li Zixuan scratched his head and chuckled.
Wu Gang's appearance was indeed frightening. How could Zhao Mu, who was so handsome, look like him?
"However, back then, he was the number one fighting expert in 7th Middle School!"
"An acquaintance of mine from 7th Middle School told me that he has killed people."
Li Zixuan's expression suddenly became serious: "Legend has it that he fought seventeen people alone, crippling everyone and accidentally killing two."
"This person might be the most dangerous opponent here. You must be careful."
Zhao Mu looked at Wu Gang. Wu Gang was holding a bag of potato chips, eating them expressionlessly, as if he wasn't interested in anything happening around him.
However, few people dared to approach him. Some Trial Participants from 7th Middle School avoided him with wary looks as they passed by.
"Who else?"
Li Zixuan and Zhou Haoyu pointed out several other individuals in the crowd.
A short-haired girl with sharp eyes, named Liu Qingqing, a C-rank Wind Element Ability User.
Another was a tall beauty with strange pink hair, an enchanting and moving appearance, and extremely provocative clothing.
When she appeared on the plaza, she naturally drew everyone's attention.
That was the Genius from 1st Middle School, Lin Meier.
When Zhao Mu saw her, he was instantly dazzled and didn't know where to look.
Her attire was simply too eye-catching.
At this moment, she was in the crowd, smiling sweetly, and a group of Spirit Energy Users had already gathered around her.
Relying on her powerful personal charisma, she had also united some people around her.
Besides them, Zhao Mu also heard the names of several other people.
However, his face did not show much surprise.
These Geniuses from the various Yuwu Middle Schools in Lujiang City would have encountered each other or exchanged words more or less during the Joint Examinations over the years.
It was just that during their school days, there were no martial arts competitions—the Xuanfeng Empire valued Spirit Power highly and minimized the importance of ordinary people's combat techniques.
They believed that the Martial Skills ordinary people painstakingly trained in were meaningless without the augmentation of Spirit Power.
Even an ordinary person with powerful Martial Skills would find it difficult to fight against a Spirit Energy User above the Private rank.
"There is one more, who is also one of the most highly watched individuals right now."
Zhou Haoyu pursed his lips toward another direction. After Zhao Mu looked over, a faint smile appeared on his face.
"It is him, indeed."
That Little Fatty named Meng Qiuer hadn't stopped moving since arriving here.
Unlike Golden Elephant City, he didn't try to use words to recruit people as subordinates, but instead kept handing out his business cards and politely making acquaintances with them.
As the richest family in Jiangnan, the Meng Family has always focused on business and maintained excellent relationships. Following the business principle of harmony bringing wealth, they never easily make enemies.
With so many pure gold business cards handed out, as the saying goes, those who accept gifts are beholden, so everyone will inevitably hold back against him during the upcoming trials.
However, the person Zhao Mu was truly focused on was not Meng Qiuer himself, but the handsome youth following behind him.
That youth, carrying a Weapon Case and possessing bright, spirited eyes, never strayed more than a meter away from Meng Qiuer.
"I thought he was a bodyguard, but it looks like he was hired to ensure the Young Master of the Meng Family passes the trial smoothly."
"If that's the case," Zhao Mu stared at the youth, "his strength must be quite good."
Li Zixuan and Zhou Haoyu said somewhat sheepishly, "We didn't manage to find that out."
Zhao Mu smiled and shook his head: "It doesn't matter. Being able to gather this much information in such a short time is already very impressive."
Without their help, given Zhao Mu's family background, he would have had no way to find out so much intelligence. He was very grateful for their efforts.
Zhao Mu patted both of their shoulders: "I've taken note of what you've done. Don't worry, as long as it doesn't interfere with me winning first place in the trial, I will do my best to help you pass the trial!"
The eyes of the two immediately lit up. With Zhao Mu's promise, it was as if they had found their pillar of support.
"Class Monitor, thank you!"
Hearing that "Class Monitor," the two felt as if they were back in school, relying on Zhao Mu, their dependable Class Monitor.
"Oh, right, I have one more question for you."
Zhao Mu looked at the two, and they quickly replied, "Ask anything!"
Zhao Mu scratched the side of his face, his gaze slightly shifting, "When you were asking them for information, did anyone ask you about me? What were their evaluations of me?"
Zhao Mu wore a casual expression, but deep down, he held a slight expectation.
The two exchanged a look and coughed awkwardly twice.
"Ahem, they... uh, they are a bunch of perfunctory guys."
"They don't even bother asking about those with D-rank talent or lower."
Zhao Mu's expression froze.
Then, as an E-rank, there was even less to mention.
"Hahaha! This is a good thing! I want them to relax their guard against me."
"That's right, heh heh heh..."
The few of them laughed awkwardly twice.
Just at this moment, the noisy plaza began to quiet down, starting from the outer areas.
Thick brown military boots stepped on the ground, rapidly approaching this direction.
A slightly thin mouth, sharp as a blade, parted slightly. After taking a deep breath, a sudden roar erupted!
"Everyone! Shut your mouths!!!"
"Shut up..."
"Up..."
The massive echo reverberated throughout the entire circular plaza. Zhao Mu felt his eardrums buzzing, and everyone immediately fell silent, intimidated by the sound.
"A Spirit Power User."
Zhao Mu whispered. There was no doubt this was a technique employed by a Spirit Power User.
Everyone released their hands from their ears and carefully turned their heads to look in the direction the sound had come from.
At the entrance of the plaza, a squad of powerful soldiers dressed in dark green military uniforms stood with their hands clasped behind their backs, like a row of emotionless machines.
Standing before the crowd was a girl with long black hair that reached her knees and eyes as sharp as knives.
Anyone who made eye contact with her felt a stinging pain in their eyes, as if they had been pricked by needles.
These individuals wore bright red armbands on their arms, inscribed with the two characters: "Discipline Inspection."
The girl raised her voice and continued to scold: "You damned pumpkins! Who allowed you to make noise here? Are you all looking to die??!!!"
As she spoke, a powerful sense of oppression emanated from her. No one present dared to feel dissatisfaction; they all felt as if a heavy weight was pressing down on them, making even breathing difficult.
Only Zhao Mu looked as usual.
"The suppression of spiritual energy exerted by a higher-level Spirit Energy User on a lower-level Spirit Energy User, abbreviated as Spiritual Pressure."
"Just as Aunt Bu said, the first step after entering the military is to receive a show of force from the veterans."
"However, these people appear to be members of the Discipline Inspection Department within Qingfeng Camp."
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)