Looking at the roaring crowd, a smile appeared on Zhang Ye's face.
This was exactly the effect he wanted!
As expected of me!
First place, naturally, went to Zhang Ye.
Gajeel looked at the high-spirited figure on stage, his expression turning cold.
Damn it! The championship was within arm's reach, yet it was snatched away just like that!
But he had to admit that Zhang Ye's performance was truly too shocking. Just now, even he couldn't help but tap his foot to the beat.
Losing the championship was a minor issue, and missing out on the championship rewards was also minor. The key point was that he had lost face!
He had scored 187 points because that was the absolute limit of his ability, whereas Zhang Ye had scored 200 points only because 200 was the maximum possible score!
The gap was simply too vast!
He had previously boasted in front of his classmates that he would definitely win the championship, but now his face had been thoroughly slapped.
Zhang Ye, is it? I'll remember you!
Next, the Grand Dean personally presented the awards to everyone.
When the champion badge was pinned onto Zhang Ye's collar, Zhang Ye grinned. “Thank you, Grand Dean Grandpa!”
Betula gave a warm smile and said, “Your singing was truly spectacular. Even an old man like me felt his blood boiling after hearing it, making me want to chase my dreams once more.”
Zhang Ye couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, “What is your dream?”
Betula's gaze suddenly grew distant. “Naturally, to become the strongest in the world. That is the dream of all powerful experts.”
“However, reality has already defeated me. Our era has come to a close. Just as you said, this is now your era. This is your sky.”
“Work hard, little guy. I hope that in the future, you can protect the human race in our stead. I also hope that your singing will spread far and wide.”
Hearing this, Zhang Ye felt a solemn surge in his heart and nodded heavily. “Yes!”
With that, the Freshman Welcome Party came to an end.
The students began to leave, but there were still many who were unwilling to go, wanting to get a closer look at Zhang Ye.
Looking at those predatory students, Zhang Ye suddenly felt the helplessness of a minor celebrity facing fanatical fans.
Under the cover of night, he quickly fled with the others.
After sprinting all the way and shaking off the crowd of adoring fans, Zhang Ye finally collapsed onto the sofa in his dorm and breathed a sigh of relief.
“That scared the life out of me. Just now, a beastkin girl said she wanted to give birth to dodecaplets for me. That was truly terrifying...” Zhang Ye said with lingering fear.
Everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter.
“Brother Ye, you were truly so handsome! I've never heard such a beautiful song!” Lina said excitedly, still savoring the performance.
At this moment, she looked at Zhang Ye with glittering eyes, wishing she could just plant a kiss on his cheek.
At that moment, Zhang Ye had been radiating light from head to toe. He was simply too charming, too handsome!
Paige also had a face full of admiration. “As expected of Teacher!”
Copico and Sabiba put their arms around each other's shoulders. “Brother Ye is too perfect. We shouldn't hang out with him anymore...”
Meanwhile, Nan stared blankly at Zhang Ye. He had been like this even when he was dragged along earlier, looking as though he still hadn't snapped out of it.
Leona laughed out loud, wrapping her arm around Zhang Ye's neck and giving his head a vigorous rub. “You really did it! You've made this lady proud!”
Hearing this, Zhang Ye chuckled, filled with anticipation. “I got first place, Big Nana! Where's my reward? Where's my reward?”
Leona chuckled. Then, her beautiful eyes swept over Samanra, Paige, Lina, Sacra, and the other girls, even casting a brief glance at Nan. Finally, she grabbed Zhang Ye's hand, and the two of them vanished from the dorm together.
“Huh?” Zhang Ye looked at the surrounding forest with a face full of confusion. How did they end up outside in the blink of an eye?
But before he could figure it out, Leona suddenly grabbed his collar, pulled him close, and kissed him.
Boom!!!
Zhang Ye was completely dazed.
He never expected that this kiss would actually be on the lips!
Oh my god!
Leona's red lips pressed against Zhang Ye's. She was extremely clumsy, not knowing how to use her tongue, but her kiss was still as passionate as a raging fire.
After a deep kiss, Leona gave Zhang Ye's lip a gentle bite before licking her red lips and releasing him. With a faint blush on her face, her dominant, magnetic voice rang out.
“From now on, you belong to me. Do you understand?”
Zhang Ye touched his lips. When he finally registered what had happened, he became incredibly excited.
“I... I...” His lips trembled, but he finally nodded heavily. “I will take responsibility!”
Leona burst into laughter, finding Zhang Ye incredibly adorable at this moment.
Then, she rubbed his hair again and smiled. “This lady's first, second, and third kiss have all been given to you. If you don't become stronger than me in the future, I'll beat you to death. Got it?”
“Don't worry, Big Nana!” Zhang Ye said excitedly. “I won't let you down!”
Leona gave a charming smile. “I believe you.”
With that, she transformed into a streak of fire and flew into the distance like a gorgeous meteor, breathtakingly beautiful.
Zhang Ye walked back toward the dorms, feeling as light as a feather.
Big Nana's lips were so soft, so warm...
He was still savoring it. He felt that the moment had passed too quickly, and he hadn't been able to fully appreciate it.
“No way, I need to comprehend the laws of time as soon as possible. Only then can I infinitely extend the duration of our kisses!” Zhang Ye said, clenching his fists.
Mr. Zhang: (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧
Yes, that was it. His reason for becoming stronger had always been so simple and unpretentious!
Ella couldn't help but fly out and ask, “Are you serious?”
Zhang Ye chuckled. “Of course! Call me the Simple and Unpretentious Mr. Zhang!”
Back in the dorm.
“Brother Ye, where did you go just now?” Lina asked curiously. “Where is Mentor Leona?”
The others were also full of confusion, but Copico, the seasoned veteran, realized what had happened. He gave Zhang Ye a sly grin and a thumbs-up.
Zhang Ye pressed his hands down: Keep a low profile.
Copico nodded: Roger that!
Only then did Zhang Ye smile and say, “I just walked the mentor back.”
Hearing this, although the others were skeptical, they didn't pry further.
That night, after everyone returned to their own rooms, Zhang Ye checked his rewards.
The reward for first place was three thousand points. This was a lot for a freshman, but to a "tycoon" like Zhang Ye who was sitting on a fortune of over a million points, it wasn't even worth mentioning.
There were also some cultivation resources, such as twenty high-grade magic crystals. This was the real prize.
A single high-grade magic crystal sold for three hundred thousand outside, so twenty of them were worth six million!
Converted into points, that was sixty thousand points!
Why was the point conversion rate for magic crystals so high, while the rewarded points were only three thousand?
In truth, this point reward was merely symbolic. It was just like the rewards for the admissions ranking. Zhang Ye had only received one thousand points, but the cultivation resources he obtained were worth nearly one hundred thousand points when converted.
The reason for this was to make the students realize that points were hard to come by, and that they had to use other means to acquire cultivation resources and points.
Currently, there were only two sources of points for most freshmen: missions and exchanging magic crystals.
Except for students from major families, ordinary students could not afford or were unwilling to exchange magic crystals for points. Therefore, for ordinary students, missions were the only way to earn points.
In other words, it encouraged students to take on more missions.
However, some students were multi-talented and could earn points through other channels. For example, Zhang Ye had earned over a million points at the research institute, while other students relied on business to acquire points.
The academy did this to encourage the students' self-reliance.
Back to the topic at hand.
Aside from magic crystals, there were also some materials, such as magic cores or fruits that could enhance corresponding attributes.
Zhang Ye had received five Spirit-affinity Fruits, which could enhance one's attribute affinity and were effective for all elemental attributes.
However, this didn't seem to be of much use to Zhang Ye.
After devouring one, Zhang Ye didn't feel much of a difference. He didn't feel anything after casting magic either, so the improvement was clearly not obvious.
For Zhang Ye, increasing his elemental affinity was very simple. He just had to devour magic cores. Devouring a magic core of a certain attribute would increase his affinity for that attribute.
Aside from strengthening one's attribute perception, the effect of having a high affinity was an increase in magic power.
But Zhang Ye's magic mastery had already made his magic power the strongest of his tier, so the effect of this fruit wasn't very useful.
In addition to that, there was also a Fire-patterned Body Tempering Fruit.
This was useful to Zhang Ye, as it could strengthen his physical body.
Zhang Ye ate it directly. Under the powerful absorption effect of 【Devour】, his physical body indeed strengthened. His physical body was still at the Tier Nine mid stage, but his strength and defense were already close to the Tier Nine late stage.
Zhang Ye also sorted through his rewards from previously winning fourth place in the freshman rankings. Then, he called out to Nan, “A-Nan, time to cultivate.”
Only then did Nan snap out of his daze and nod gently. “Okay.”
...
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