Chapter 17: A Legally Protected Bet
"It wasn't me who opened it," Wan Xiao quickly waved his hands.
The martial arts room had excellent soundproofing, but with the door open and Li Yuan's keen hearing, he naturally heard the voice approaching.
He turned his head to see a teenager in a black martial arts uniform with a well-proportioned build and a buzz cut swiftly step to the door of Martial Arts Room 4011. The teenager was half a head shorter than Wan Xiao, about the same height as Li Yuan, and had a rather delicate appearance.
"Wan Xiao, how could you... wait, why does this martial arts room have an owner now?" The teenager started to speak but then noticed the green indicator on the door.
These martial arts rooms had three indicators showing different statuses—owner present, vacant, and intruded. A green indicator meant it was opened by the owner.
"4011 was supposed to be empty... who are you? How do you have access to 4011?" The teenager finally noticed Li Yuan inside the room, looking puzzled.
The teenager wasn't foolish. He initially thought Wan Xiao had climbed in through the window to open the room. But from Wan Xiao's words and the green indicator, he quickly deduced that Li Yuan was the owner of the martial arts room.
"Wan Xiao, aren't you going to introduce us?" Li Yuan smiled.
He could see that the teenager had no ill intentions and was just straightforward and without guile.
"This is Gu Qianghan from Class 1 of Senior Year," Wan Xiao introduced with a smile. "His nickname is 'Not Fierce.'"
In each grade, Class 1 was the elite class.
"Wan Xiao, I told you, call me Gu Qiang. If you call me by my full name again, I'll really get mad," the teenager said with a displeased look.
Wan Xiao just smiled and ignored him, then pointed to Li Yuan. "Gu Qiang, you've been asking about Li Yuan since Teacher Xu's last class. Well, here he is."
The previously annoyed teenager's eyes lit up and he stared at Li Yuan. "You're the Li Yuan that Teacher Xu mentioned, the one with amazing spear skills?"
"Uh, amazing spear skills?" Li Yuan smiled. "I wouldn't say that, but if Teacher Xu was talking about Li Yuan from Class 2 of Senior Year, then that would be me."
Li Yuan already knew who the teenager was. While checking the rankings from the final exam of his sophomore year, he had paid attention to the top ten in the grade. Gu Qianghan had ranked third in martial arts scores.
However, his delicate appearance was a bit unexpected for someone with such a name.
"If Teacher Xu says you're impressive, then you must be," Gu Qianghan's eyes sparkled. "I checked, and in the final exam last semester, your martial arts technique score was the highest in the entire grade."
"Yeah." Li Yuan looked at the teenager with interest.
"I want to challenge you," Gu Qianghan said excitedly, his eyes filled with anticipation.
"Li Yuan, don't underestimate him."
"This kid is really sneaky. When I first joined the elite class, I was fooled by his appearance," Wan Xiao quickly added.
"What do you mean fooled? I didn't ambush you; I challenged you openly," Gu Qianghan retorted with disdain. "You look like a bear, yet you couldn't take even ten punches from me. And you still dare to talk."
Wan Xiao was momentarily speechless.
When he first joined the elite class, Gu Qianghan had challenged him. Seeing Gu Qianghan's delicate appearance, he thought he was easy to deal with, but he ended up losing badly.
"Ten punches?" Li Yuan nodded slightly, not surprised. Based on the sophomore year-end results, Gu Qianghan's raw scores were even higher than his own, so it was normal for him to defeat Wan Xiao.
"So, what do you say?" Gu Qianghan stared at Li Yuan. "Let's have a full-armor fight. I want to test your spear skills."
Gu Qianghan's eyes gleamed with battle intent.
Li Yuan smiled.
From their conversation, Li Yuan had already guessed the reason for the challenge.
It was likely that Teacher Xu had used his spear skills as an example in the elite class, saying some unflattering things like, "You call yourselves an elite class? None of you can compare to Li Yuan from Class 2 of Senior Year."
"A Li Yuan who hasn't even awakened his martial arts aptitude can beat all of you with his spear skills."
Using students from other classes as examples to put pressure on the class being taught was a common tactic among teachers.
Unintentionally, this had garnered Li Yuan a lot of resentment from the elite class.
"Li Yuan, if you're a true martial artist, you'll accept my challenge," Gu Qianghan said.
Li Yuan glanced at Wan Xiao with an amused look. It had been a while since he'd heard something so childish.
Wan Xiao shrugged, indicating that Gu Qianghan was always like this.
"I don't accept," Li Yuan shook his head.
"What? Don't you have a martial artist's spirit?" Gu Qianghan widened his eyes.
"I'm not even a martial artist yet, so naturally, I don't have a martial artist's spirit." Li Yuan rolled his eyes at Gu Qianghan.
"Alright, this is my martial arts room, and I need to train."
In reality, Li Yuan wasn't afraid of the challenge. It was just meaningless and risky.
Sparring with Teacher Xu was different. The teacher's strength far surpassed that of the students, allowing him to control the situation and ensure no one got hurt.
However, when two students with similar strength spar with cold weapons, it's impossible to control themselves fully.
Even with full armor and using blunt weapons, it's easy to get seriously injured or even die.
Such incidents were not uncommon.
Li Yuan wasn't willing to take risks for something with no benefit.
"You..." Gu Qianghan was about to say something.
"Gu Qianghan, who gave you the guts to challenge people to private duels?" A low, stern voice suddenly came from outside the door.
Gu Qianghan's face stiffened. He wasn't angry at being called by his full name; instead, a trace of fear flashed in his eyes.
"Sis—" Gu Qianghan turned around abruptly and put his hand on Li Yuan's shoulder, his face now full of smiles. "I was just joking with Li Yuan. Isn't that right, Li Yuan?"
Li Yuan was momentarily stunned, caught off guard.
Wan Xiao shrugged, indicating this was typical.
Gu Qianghan shook Li Yuan's shoulder vigorously, desperately signaling with his eyes.
But Li Yuan stood firm, unmoved like a rock, his gaze fixed on the figure at the door.
A girl of about seventeen or eighteen, wearing a tight-fitting red martial arts uniform, with a face that was both delicate and strong, sharp eyes, and a determined expression.
Her jet-black hair was tied up high behind her head, giving her a particularly efficient look.
However, the most noticeable thing was the fiery red long sword hanging at her waist.
"Li Yuan, hello, I'm Lin Lanyue from Class 1 of Senior Year," the girl said, looking at Li Yuan. "I apologize on behalf of my brother. He tends to act impulsively. I hope you don't mind."
"I'm fine," Li Yuan said, waving his hand with a smile.
The girl nodded and her gaze turned sharp again as she looked at Gu Qianghan, making his scalp tingle.
"Sis!" Gu Qianghan quickly removed his hand from Li Yuan's shoulder.
"If I find out you've been challenging people to private duels again, even calling for mom won't help you," the girl said coldly.
Gu Qianghan awkwardly scratched his head, not daring to speak.
Since childhood, he had always been naturally intimidated by this cousin who was only half a year older.
"It's all small stuff."
"Don't blame him, we're all fine," Li Yuan said with a smile.
He immediately recognized the person in front of him.
She had spoken at school assemblies more than once.
Since starting school, her name had been consistently on the honor roll.
The top martial artist in the senior year, and widely regarded as the most likely to be admitted to Starry Sky University—Lin Lanyue.
"It's good that you don't mind."
The girl nodded, her eyes still fixed on Li Yuan. "Li Yuan, my brother was wrong to challenge you, but Teacher Xu said your martial arts skills are better than anyone in our class. Not only my brother, but I also don't believe it."
"In fact, I don't accept it."
Li Yuan was taken aback.
Wan Xiao was also stunned.
Gu Qianghan's eyes lit up with excitement. He knew his cousin's personality very well.
She seemed gentle on the surface, but she was very strong-willed.
"I also want to learn from you. I want to see just how good the spear skills are that Teacher Xu praised so highly. But not in a real fight," the girl said, staring at Li Yuan. "How about a match on the Starry Sky Combat Network?"
The Starry Sky Combat Network was for virtual battles, where no one would get hurt.
"What's in it for me?" Li Yuan shrugged with a smile. "I never do anything without benefits."
"Benefits?" Lin Lanyue frowned.
"How about this, let's make a bet." Li Yuan smiled. "If you win, I'll publicly acknowledge you as the best martial artist in the grade."
"If I win, you give me two thousand Blue Star Coins. How about that?" Li Yuan smiled.
"What kind of bet is that?" Gu Qianghan exclaimed. "You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Dream on."
"Up to you."
Li Yuan smiled. "If you don't agree, please leave. Don't waste my time for training."
"Alright, I accept," Lin Lanyue said, looking at Li Yuan.
"Sis!" Gu Qianghan was shocked.
"Be quiet," Lin Lanyue frowned.
"Then let's do it Sunday at 2 PM. How about that?" Li Yuan smiled. "Let's exchange contact information, and I'll send you my account name."
"Alright."
Soon, they became virtual network friends.
"Gu Qiang, let's go," Lin Lanyue turned and left, with Gu Qianghan reluctantly following.
Only Li Yuan and Wan Xiao remained.
"Li Yuan, you've really missed out," Wan Xiao couldn't help but say. "You don't know, Lin Lanyue's family is very wealthy. If you had bet five thousand or even ten thousand Blue Star Coins, she would have probably agreed."
Li Yuan shook his head. "Fool."
"China's laws stipulate that on the Starry Sky Combat Network, the bet for minors cannot exceed two thousand Blue Star Coins."
"Anything over two thousand Blue Star Coins is not legally protected."