Chapter 88: Don't Walk So Fast

On the way back, the three girls were in excellent spirits, especially Lu Ying and Lu Lingxiao, who were chattering away and asking about this and that, as if they had just been drinking water. Girls admire strength; from today on, Dorm 4396 has replaced Gao Yunfeng as the new focal point of Tianjing Martial Arts.

Li Hao, for his part, spared no effort in hyping up Wuzang, calling him a "steel good boy," which made the three girls laugh incessantly; Li Hao didn't even know what was so funny.

After walking for a while, Lu Ying and Lu Lingxiao suddenly had something to do and needed to go to the classroom, so they left Tan Ziyuan with Li Hao.

With two people gone, the atmosphere suddenly quieted down; the campus of Tianjing Martial Arts was still beautiful.

"Li Hao, since you're so capable, why were your grades at the bottom last year?" Tan Ziyuan asked curiously.

"Ma Long really says everything; he even has to broadcast such embarrassing things to the world. I must slaughter him when I get back!" Li Hao gritted his teeth. It was rare to see a man as gossipy and loose-lipped as him.

Tan Ziyuan giggled, "Well, look at you, changing the subject. It seems you aren't as honest as Ma Long said."

"That's a secret; don't tell anyone else," Li Hao said in a low voice, looking around to see that no one was nearby.

Tan Ziyuan was taken aback, "If it's very important, you don't have to say it."

"Actually, it's nothing. It's already been exposed anyway. In truth, I am a peerless expert. According to the plot, I need to hide my strength and wait for an opportunity to soar into the sky. I had to control my scores in my freshman year. I thought Zuo Xiaotang would be at the bottom, but he used extra credit from individual subjects and made a mistake by accident," Li Hao shrugged helplessly.

Tan Ziyuan looked at the innocent-looking Li Hao and burst into laughter. Today, Tan Ziyuan was wearing a goose-yellow dress, revealing a section of her fair, slender calves. Perhaps because of the alcohol, a flush appeared on her oval face, making her exceptionally beautiful. Her large eyes stared at Li Hao, "You are so bad."

Li Hao smiled slightly, "Better the Daoist friend dies than the poor Daoist."

"Then how are you so familiar with Ao Feiluo and the others?"

"Old friends from the Youth Class back in the day. Our friendship from all that roughhousing back then was indeed very good. So many years have passed, and even though this group of people has become famous, they still remember me. I highly suspect they are coming for my already very flat wallet."

"You are now the Team Leader of Tianjing Martial Arts. Will you invite them to play in the Campus Tournament in the future?" Tan Ziyuan certainly didn't believe him. With the status of those few people, would they come just for a casual friendship?

And there were so many of them all at once. What kind of incredible things did Li Hao do during his time in the Youth Class? Plus, there was his casual attitude toward Chao Qinglong during the meal—that was the number one person in the USE.

"I have that intention, but it also depends on their schedule. I don't have that much face," Li Hao nodded.

As the two chatted, they were actually walking quite fast. If Ma Laoshi were here, he would tell Li Hao that when you are with a girl, you must slow your pace. This isn't about rushing; you can rush at any time. The campus paths of youth and life are walked one less step at a time; you must cherish them.

By this time, they had reached the entrance of the dormitory building, "Senior, we're here. Mission successfully completed. Safe travels; no outlaws were discovered."

"Thank you." Tan Ziyuan looked at Li Hao and hesitated, but in the end, she didn't say anything.

Li Hao had already walked away. Watching Li Hao's back, the face that had been so happy just a moment ago looked slightly dim, but then she smiled knowingly.

Back at the dormitory, Sheng Man, Lu Ying, and Lu Lingxiao had already arrived. Sheng Man had gone to great lengths for her best friend; she had handled Zhou Naiyi, then let Lu Ying and Lu Lingxiao accompany them first so it wouldn't be too awkward, and then left naturally when the timing was right.

"How was it, how was it? Did you seal the deal?" Lu Ying asked impatiently.

Tan Ziyuan took off her coat, revealing her graceful figure, "He didn't take a liking to me."

"Ziyuan, it's not that I'm lecturing you, but you can't have such high standards. Li Hao is definitely a stock with potential!" Sheng Man said helplessly. Her friend was perfect in every way, except that her standards were too high.

Tan Ziyuan shook her head, "It's that he didn't take a liking to me."

What!

The three sisters in the dorm wouldn't have it, "Impossible. Straight men like him don't know how to express themselves at all, and they are timid. You need to be a little more proactive and give the other party some chances," Sheng Man said.

"Sheng Man is right. Besides, you just met. How could it happen so fast? There's no man a woman can't win over if she pursues him."

Tan Ziyuan smiled slightly, "That's true. But this is my intuition, and he is a bit different from ordinary people."

"Yo~~~, so it's him. Who is he?"

"He is my target!"

"Wow, Miss Tan is going to launch her strategy."

"Let me see if the beautiful Tan is feeling a stir in her heart."

"Lu Ying, don't, you're touching my chest... ah..."

The three girls swarmed her, and in an instant, clothes were flying everywhere in the dormitory, a sea of white... (You don't like to see what's below, so one thousand words omitted.)

Li Hao didn't take it to heart at all, but after walking for a while, the alcohol wore off. He didn't want to be drunk; alcohol was no different from water to him. His body had been vastly different from an ordinary person's ever since the transformation by Bleem.

Some of the things that happened in the dream world controlled by Bleem didn't just affect his memory and mental world; his body changed along with them. Without a sufficiently resilient body, it would be impossible to support the consumption of the dream world.

A person's brain consumes about a quarter of their body's energy, but Li Hao consumes much more. If it were an ordinary person, the consumption from his dreams would leave them a dried corpse overnight, but his strength only grew stronger. Li Hao could absorb power from the dream world; it was a very strange feeling. Perhaps it wasn't a dream at all, but a form of existence in another world.

It was just that, up to now, he hadn't found anyone who could provide him with help. He really wanted to understand the origin of Bleem.

Ding-dong...

The notification sound of the communicator brought Li Hao back to the real world. It was A Youyou.

"Hi, Aiyouyou, is training over?"

"Not yet, I'm slacking off. It'll probably take another hour. Senior, was the celebration lively?"

"It was alright. It would have been better if you could have come." With A Youyou absent, Li Hao always felt like something was missing.

"How about I come find you when I'm done? It'll just be very late."

"It's never too late. You focus on your training. I also have training tasks at the EMP Building; we are equally diligent," Li Hao said with satisfaction.

"Okay, Senior. See you later then. Good luck."

Listening to A Youyou's voice, Li Hao suddenly felt full of energy. Whatever Bleem was, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. There was no need to worry about the sky falling; he just needed to do what he had to do.

In the dormitory, Ma Long was miserably taking care of Zuo Xiaotang, who was vomiting everywhere. No one had come back to help him. For his brothers, he really had it hard. Wouldn't it be better to be holding the fragrant Manman?

"Aiya, don't hug me, damn it, my limited edition T-shirt. Zuo Xiaopang, don't vomit there, go to the bathroom... damn it, why are you so heavy..."

On the stage on the other side, the director clapped his hands, "Let's do one last rehearsal."

Arths appeared on stage. Although she was only wearing a simple black T-shirt and a baseball cap, all eyes were drawn to her. The lights hit, and Arths raised her head, a smile appearing at the corner of her mouth. Not far away, Su Yu also had a smile on her face. A Youyou's state recently had been surprisingly good; that little face was glowing every day. Did she secretly use some limited-edition skincare product? This girl didn't even know how to share.

EMP.

There is a kind of person who, just by standing there, can become the center of attention.

Puppet appears!

Puppet appears!

Puppet appears!

A red alert sounded in the Puppet Fan Club: capture a live Puppet.

Zhuang Zhou and Huonan were notified immediately. The two of them only linked their microphones when Puppet was online; otherwise, they each broadcasted their own. And when Puppet wasn't there, Zhuang Zhou almost never broadcasted; he had no intention of becoming a professional streamer.

But Huonan is different; livestreaming is his bread and butter, especially after suffering a massive loss. Healing is a difficult thing, and he has been a bit insomniac these past few days. He even dreams of this damn thing dancing in his dreams, and then the numbers in his bank account rapidly decreasing.

Huonan studied it carefully and discovered that this damn thing really used to play mostly in the Xuni Qu. Although there aren't many video records, he basically played everything. He wasn't fixed on the Armor Series like he is now, using all sorts of Concept Mecha. He was just an ordinary player; how did he become so fierce after entering the Zhenshi Qu?

Is there some conspiracy by USE in this?

But it doesn't really feel like it, or is he just a freak?

Li Hao entered the EMP system, and his communicator rang. He looked down to check it, swiped to confirm, and a smile appeared on his face. It was A Youyou's rehearsal sign-in. This cutie was showing off her figure quite smugly. Hmph, his own figure was quite good too. Li Hao looked at every photo carefully; the radiant Aiyouyou was truly beautiful.

The ranking took a while, a bit longer than usual, but he finally got in.

"Old Nan, very happy to see you. I've missed you after not seeing you for a few days," Zhuang Zhou said politely.

"Oh, tell me, how happy?" Huonan raised an eyebrow. This kid is getting a bit cocky. Could a mere two Space Fortress defeat him? Who are you looking down on!

My net worth is something you Earth paupers cannot comprehend.

"Very, very happy!" Zhuang Zhou looked at Huonan as if he were looking at money.

"You're happy too soon. I have already discovered the Puppet's weakness. I investigated his past match records and compared them to recent ones; he is almost exclusively focused on melee combat. That is to say, long-range must be his Achilles' heel. No one is perfect. I suggest that the Warriors who follow can exert pressure in this aspect. Even in melee, don't try to brute-force him with power; use technique, speed, and tactics!" Huonan said.

Zhuang Zhou smiled slightly, "Old Nan, you are obsessed with the Phase. The Puppet God cannot be countered. To be honest, I really want to see the Armor Leopard; I always feel that the Puppet God hasn't even exerted himself yet."

"Heh, little Zhuang, you are a student at Tianjing Martial Arts after all, and in the Journalism Department too. The essence of journalism is to seek truth from facts. Is it really okay for you to be this flighty?"

"Old Nan, those are two different things. There are always things in the world that are hard to explain with science. This is my intuition; the Puppet God possesses magical power!"

"Haha, the more you talk, the more mysterious it gets. But you are actually quite suited to be a streamer; you have a big mouth and thick skin!" Huonan naturally had no reason to be polite; in terms of seniority or the personality of Mars, he was very direct.

Huonan looked at his opponent and was stunned for a moment. Zhuang Zhou also noticed it, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. Little fledgling, fighting with me? You're still too green!

(Dear bosses, I basically check through once or twice before uploading to fix typos and correct any redundant or inaccurate expressions. I am very happy with my current writing state; I just want to write a satisfying story. It will be released on October 1st, with a massive update!)