garding rules and time restrictions. The committee understood that to most students, the tournament was simply a chance to learn, since they knew that their chance of winning was slim. Sometimes, a good fight could be a life-changing lesson as well.

After the intense and exhausting training, Hu Yangxuan decided that he could finally relax during the tournament while he was not fighting. He had quickly turned the qualification matches into "bird watching" activities, as his eyes darted left and right, scanning attractive looking girls. Despite w.a.n.g Tong's recent rise to fame, Hu Yangxuan had always enjoyed a relatively stable fan-base. Unlike w.a.n.g Tong, who rarely spent time socializing with other schoolmates, Hu Yangxuan was a social b.u.t.terfly. Therefore, a lot of students found him more approachable than w.a.n.g Tong. The mere presence of w.a.n.g Tong would cast a solemn air about him, like a battle heartened veteran, and it was a conversation killer.

"Wow! Look at that pair of beautiful legs!" Hu Yangxuan shouted as he ogled at a girl standing in the distance. The students around him burst out laughing. w.a.n.g Tong was quickly bored of the bird-watching, and therefore, he started back to his new apartment before the other fights were finished.

Although w.a.n.g Tong didn't think that any opponents at the qualifications would pose a threat to him, he conceded that he would need to prepare well for the fights with opponents later on. He had tried to watch a few video recordings of the "Fantastic Five". However, their opponents were so weak that w.a.n.g Tong hardly found the footage useful in a.n.a.lyzing their moves.

That being said, those videos did confirm a lot of rumors about their power.

Michaux for example, w.a.n.g Tong was impressed by his aggressive soul energy. Just as the rumors suggested, the young master' fighting style was aloof and calm.

As for Princess Heidi, w.a.n.g Tong could not find anything extraordinary about her based on the video clip other than her exquisite face. However, he conceded that he could not evaluate Heidi's power using such a weak opponent. There ought to be more to her ability than what met the eyes.

On the way back to his apartment, w.a.n.g Tong indulged himself with a BBQ skewer from a food truck vendor. After taking the first bite, he heard a familiar voice calling out to him. w.a.n.g Tong paused for a second while chewing the meat industrially, then turned and saw a girl in an oversize hat and oversize sungla.s.ses. He was surprised to find out that it was Zhang Jin.

"Follow me… We need to talk." Zhang Jin urged.

"Sure."

The two walked away from the clamor near the arena into a little alley. Zhang Jin finally asked, "You are brave to follow me. Very confident, aren't you."

"Haha, no, I am the most skittish. I didn't notice you coming until you were right next to me."

"Don't be modest. I can tell what you think. I have the Tactics of the Conscious Heart, remember?"

"Ah-ha! I see." w.a.n.g Tong scratched his head as he admired Zhang Jin's ability to conceal her power. "Anyhow, what's up?"

"Nothing, just want to see how busy you are. It's no easy job to please the House lord of Ma, isn't it?"

"It's... fine. How are you doing?"