Chapter 100: A Gift
A few days later, Nan Yu received a notification from the academy's principal. His match with that person was scheduled to begin the next day, and the venue would be the academy's largest plaza.
The principal hadn't specifically summoned him to the office. He had simply sent Nan Yu a message informing him, treating it as though it were nothing more than a trivial matter.
If the other party hadn't been from the Allied Nations, the principal probably would've just had one of Nan Yu's instructors pass along the notice instead of messaging him personally. After reading it, Nan Yu simply replied that he understood.
In truth, he hadn't taken it to heart at all. Although Yu Lanfeng had previously warned him that the other party might try something underhanded, there was an old saying—
In the face of absolute strength, no matter how vicious the schemes or conspiracies, they would all be crushed outright.
That was exactly how Nan Yu intended to handle it, because he didn't believe there was anyone below the High-Tier Mental Power User level who could defeat him.
Closing the message window, Nan Yu chatted and laughed with Yang Zhou as though nothing had happened.
The only difference was that he definitely wouldn't be able to go to the hospital tomorrow.
Watching how relaxed he looked, Yang Zhou couldn't help feeling worried.
"Nan Yu, are you really not going to think about tomorrow's match at all? Even I'm feeling nervous."
Nan Yu laughed.
"It's not some huge deal. Haven't you noticed? The academy's instructors, the members of the royal family, and even most of the students don't really care. No one's taking that guy... what's his name again..."
Yang Zhou answered, "It's kind of an awkward name. I think it's Wu De."
"Right, right, that's him. Everyone already knows I'm going to compete against him, but do you see anyone worrying? They all think it's a minor matter. They all believe I'll win with one thousand percent certainty."
"If you're nervous, are you saying you don't think I'm strong enough?"
"Huh? I never thought that!" Yang Zhou protested immediately. "I'm just nervous, that's all. Don't twist my words. But when you put it that way... you're right. Someone as powerful as you... challenging you is just asking to be humiliated."
"Oh right, speaking of this Wu De, I remembered that Mental Power User who traveled all the way to the Capital Star just to challenge you. He's completely disappeared lately."
"Really?" Nan Yu shrugged. "I don't even know who you're talking about. If he's disappeared, that's great. Saves me the trouble."
To Nan Yu, being challenged by people like that was nothing but a waste of time. It was much better if they simply never showed up. Since the other party had apparently given up and hidden away, it saved him plenty of effort.
"Exactly!" Yang Zhou grinned. "You're the boss now. From now on I'm going to survive by clinging to your thigh. Boss, will you let me?"
"Of course." Nan Yu patted his own thigh. "Here it is. Come hug it whenever you want. Anytime."
The corner of Yang Zhou's mouth twitched.
"...That's not what I meant."
Nan Yu blinked at him with an innocent expression.
"Mhm. That's not what I meant either. I was just joking."
Yang Zhou rolled his eyes.
"I'm done talking to you. Let's eat. I skipped breakfast and I'm starving."
"And whose fault was that?" Nan Yu smiled. "You overslept again. Want me to set an alarm for you from now on?"
"No. Absolutely not!"
"Alright then. Since you're objecting so strongly, forget it. But are you sure? That alarm works really well. You've used it before."
Yang Zhou refused without the slightest hesitation.
Precisely because he'd used it before, he knew that alarm was utterly inhumane. It didn't wake a person up—it practically scared their soul right out of their body.
The alarm was installed in the ceiling, making it impossible to switch off manually. It automatically monitored whether he had genuinely gotten out of bed and started getting ready. Only after confirming that he was actually up would it shut itself off.
If he stubbornly stayed in bed...
The alarm would only get louder.
And louder.
And louder...
Seeing Yang Zhou's speechless expression, Nan Yu found it rather amusing. Still, he didn't tease him any further. If Yang Zhou really couldn't get up in the morning, then so be it.
After all, Yang Zhou studied diligently every day.
His only flaw was that he loved sleeping in and hated getting up early.
Nan Yu pointed toward the cafeteria.
"Going to the cafeteria again today?"
Yang Zhou thought for a moment.
"Yeah. I heard a lot of the senior students have come back. We can take a look."
Most of the graduates who had been recalled by the academy were relying on the academy's grant of five hundred thousand credits.
Those five hundred thousand credits covered every expense they would incur during the next three years.
In reality, it was more than enough. Three years with five hundred thousand credits was sufficient to support them until graduation once again, so the academy had truly honored its promise.
However, after experiencing society's harsh reality firsthand, every one of them had become extremely frugal and disciplined.
Being given another chance was already the greatest blessing imaginable.
Each of them carried themselves as though they were about to step onto a battlefield, their nerves constantly taut, terrified that one careless mistake would leave them behind everyone else.
Yang Zhou said, "Let's see what kind of condition those returning seniors are in. Maybe we'll even run into some of the academy's former legends."
Nan Yu thought for a moment.
Zi Zhoulin, Chen Yuming, and Zheng Fengyin—the three seniors he had personally contacted—had all been famous figures during their respective years.
Only now...
If you picked almost anyone from their graduating class at random, that person had probably been living a better life than any of the three before this opportunity arrived.
"Hey, Nan Yu," Yang Zhou asked, "has the academy already decided what they're going to do afterward?"
"Mhm. Everything's been planned. Once all three hundred and fifty seniors have arrived, they'll officially announce it."
Yang Zhou sighed.
"I really didn't expect the academy to admit the whole thing so openly. I wonder how it'll all develop."
"Actually, most of the troublesome situations won't happen," Nan Yu replied. "After all, standing behind the Royal Military Academy of the Capital Star are the royal family and the major legions."
"That's true... but there'll always be a few people who aren't afraid of death, right? Like claiming their records were altered too, but saying the academy never notified them..."
"No need to worry about that. If we can think of it, the academy certainly has too. According to the principal, they've already made comprehensive preparations. Now they're just waiting for all the students to arrive."
Yang Zhou nodded.
"So once that happens, we can sit back and enjoy the show?"
For some reason, Nan Yu had a strange premonition that something major was about to happen.
Unfortunately, it was only a feeling.
He didn't possess any ability to predict the future, so he quickly pushed the thought [N O V E L I G H T] aside.
With a sigh, he stood up.
"Come on. Let's eat first. Didn't you say you wanted to see the seniors?"
Excitedly, Yang Zhou grabbed Nan Yu's hand and dragged him toward the cafeteria.
Unfortunately, just outside the entrance—
They ran into Yun Feiyu.
The moment Yang Zhou saw him, his face immediately darkened.
"Well, well... look who it is..."
Nan Yu simply took hold of Yang Zhou's wrist and continued walking inside.
"Let's eat first."
Yang Zhou shot Yun Feiyu—who had lowered his head timidly and looked frightened—a cold snort before reluctantly following Nan Yu inside.
As soon as they entered, both of them sensed that the atmosphere in the cafeteria was noticeably different from usual.
In one corner, several tables were occupied by silent students quietly eating without speaking.
Many people recognized some of them.
They were the graduates who had returned.
Whispers spread throughout the cafeteria.
Aside from the soft murmur of hushed conversations, there was almost no other sound.
After getting their food, Nan Yu and Yang Zhou found seats not far from that corner.
Since Yang Zhou wanted to look around, Nan Yu naturally let him.
Who knew?
Maybe he'd even meet the love of his life.
Not long afterward, however, two people walked over carrying trays and sat beside them.
Nan Yu looked at them in surprise.
"Senior Chen, Senior Zheng, what brings you over here?"
The two of them had been halfway through their meal before picking up their trays and coming over. Both seemed to be in an excellent mood.
Chen Yuming smiled.
"I saw you here, so I came over. You eat in the cafeteria too?"
"Yeah. The cafeteria food is actually really good. The portions are generous too. It tastes great and it's satisfying."
Nan Yu wasn't exaggerating.
The cafeteria truly was excellent for students.
It had to satisfy both pampered young masters and Ability Users from poorer families with enormous appetites.
After constant improvements over the years, it had gradually become what it was today.
Even students from the highest-ranking families, who were accustomed to the finest food, still visited the cafeteria from time to time.
That was because it occasionally served dishes made from ingredients that couldn't be bought no matter how much money you had.
And every chef here was among the very best.
Looking at Chen Yuming and Zheng Fengyin, Nan Yu could tell they had truly moved on.
"By the way, Senior Chen, have you been staying on campus this whole time?"
"Yeah. Ever since I entered the academy, I haven't gone outside once. Why?"
Nan Yu thought of Ye Zhiwu, whom he always spotted lingering somewhere near the academy gates whenever he entered or left.
For some reason, he felt a little sympathy for him.
Perhaps only now was Ye Zhiwu slowly beginning to understand what it truly meant to love someone.
"It's nothing. I was just asking."
He soon turned to Zheng Fengyin.
"Senior Zheng, how's your brother doing? I haven't seen him since last time, so I have no idea how he's been."
Mentioning his brother filled Zheng Fengyin with both happiness and helplessness.
"He's already recovered. After finding out about my situation, he insisted on securing a good future for me. He took the Zheng family's last remaining funds and disappeared somewhere. He hasn't gone home, but he contacts me every couple of days."
"He looks to be in pretty good condition. Just... a little tired."
Nan Yu smiled.
"Your brother really cares about you, Senior Zheng. Will you two stay together in the future? If I remember correctly, you're adopted, aren't you?"
Apparently Zheng Fengyin hadn't expected Nan Yu to say it so directly.
"I-I... I..."
"Th-that..."
"Well..."
"I don't really know either..."
"We'll... talk about it when the time comes..."
After stammering through his answer, he buried his head in his food, obviously hoping to finish quickly and escape the cafeteria.
The topic was simply too much for him.
As expected—
He ended up choking.
The Chen Yuming sitting beside him kindly handed him a bowl of soup, helping him recover.
Nan Yu suddenly burst into laughter.
"Come on, what's there to be embarrassed about? You're a grown man."
Yang Zhou wore a mischievous grin.
"Exactly! Wouldn't it be a good thing if you two got together? Just don't forget to invite us to the wedding."
Having just swallowed his soup, Zheng Fengyin nearly choked again upon hearing that.
He hurriedly stuffed the rest of his meal into his mouth in just a few bites before standing up and fleeing.
By the time he left, his entire face—and even his neck—had turned bright red.
Nan Yu blinked.
"Wow... he's so easy to tease. He gets embarrassed way too easily."
After sharing a dormitory with Zheng Fengyin for so long, Chen Yuming understood him fairly well.
"It only happens when the topic involves his brother. If you replaced him with anyone else, he probably wouldn't react at all."
Nan Yu rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Oh? So that means he and his brother really do have a chance?"
Chen Yuming raised an eyebrow.
"Who knows? We'll have to wait and see."
"Then we'd better prepare the wedding gifts early. Maybe they'll get together as soon as they graduate!"
Yang Zhou nodded solemnly.
"Exactly. Let's start preparing now."
Chen Yuming found their conversation rather amusing, but didn't say anything.
He could tell they meant well.
Taking a deep breath, Nan Yu changed the subject.
"By the way, Senior Chen, isn't there still one person missing from your dorm? How much do you know about Zi Zhoulin?"
"Zi Zhoulin..." Chen Yuming recalled. "He's a senior two years above me. Back when he was in school, he was someone countless students admired, but..."
Who would've imagined that he would ultimately end up worse off than anyone else?
Neither of them knew the full story, but they had heard bits and pieces.
After graduation, word about people's unfortunate circumstances tended to spread from person to person, so everyone knew a little.
After learning that their third roommate would be Zi Zhoulin, they had deliberately looked into him.
To their surprise, among the three of them, the one who had ended up in the worst situation was actually the strongest—Zi Zhoulin.
Nan Yu nodded.
"It was simply terrible luck. He just happened to run into something like that."
Soon after finishing their meal, Nan Yu and the others left the cafeteria.
As they were walking out—
They unexpectedly spotted Yun Feiyu again.
Even more surprisingly, Yun Feiyu was standing around the corner talking to Zheng Fengyin, who had left ahead of them.
What was going on?
Did Yun Feiyu actually know Zheng Fengyin?
Or was it something else?
The moment Yun Feiyu noticed Nan Yu and the others looking over, he quickly left.
Only then did they slowly approach.
"Senior Zheng," Nan Yu asked, "do you know him?"
Zheng Fengyin shook his head.
"No."
"Then why were you talking?"
Instead of answering, Zheng Fengyin asked,
"Why?"
Yang Zhou answered directly.
"That Yun Feiyu is definitely not a good person. Don't be fooled by his pitiful appearance. People like him are the most calculating."
"There are some things I can't tell you because they're private, but you'd better not get involved with him."
Zheng Fengyin shook his head again.
"I don't intend to become friends with him. He only stopped me just now because he wanted a favor."
"What favor?" Nan Yu asked. "Why would he ask someone he doesn't even know?"
Zheng Fengyin opened his hand.
Resting on his palm was a small box about half the size of his hand.
"He said he saw me eating with you earlier and thought we must be familiar with each other. So he asked me to deliver this to you."
"He also said he'd done some things wrong. If he handed it to you personally, you definitely wouldn't accept it."
"He said it was... a thank-you gift. He asked me to make sure you accepted it."
After saying that, Zheng Fengyin changed his tone.
"Of course, if you don't want it, that's fine too. I accepted it on my own initiative. I'll return it to him later when I have time."
Nan Yu took the box and opened it.
Inside were two pearls.
He frowned slightly.
Yang Zhou leaned over to look.
"They're actually pearls. They're probably not worth much, but they look pretty nice."
Then he frowned.
"But this is strange. Isn't Yun Feiyu supposed to be poor? Where did he get so many credits to buy something this expensive for you?"
"And honestly... even though you accepted him as your disciple and let him stay at the academy in name only... I don't think that was necessarily a good thing."
Nan Yu reached out to pick up one of the pearls for a closer look.
Before he could—
Chen Yuming, standing beside him, suddenly slapped the entire box, pearls and all, straight out of Nan Yu's hands.
Nan Yu and Yang Zhou both froze.
It wasn't because they felt sorry for the pearls.
They had simply been startled.
Zheng Fengyin looked confused.
"What's wrong?"
Chen Yuming's expression was serious.
"Those aren't pearls."
"Hm?" Nan Yu frowned. "But they look exactly..."
Before finishing, he suddenly realized something.
Walking over, he casually picked up a small twig and poked one of the so-called pearls.
The next moment—
The pearl's surface dented inward.
Yang Zhou and Nan Yu stared silently.
"..."
Yang Zhou finally asked,
"So... what exactly is this? What's it used for?"
Chen Yuming's expression became rather awkward.
"I've... seen it before."
"What is it used for?"
Chen Yuming looked like someone who had already given up trying to save face.
"I once saw someone eating them. They looked exactly like this."
Eating?
These things were edible?
Yang Zhou didn't know Chen Yuming's circumstances.
But Nan Yu immediately understood.
Who had Chen Yuming seen eating them?
The answer was obvious.
Ye Zhiwu.
And why would Ye Zhiwu eat something like this?
Did it even need to be asked?
It was obviously for doing that with Chen Yuming.
So...
These things were actually an aphrodisiac?
And they were eaten raw?
Nan Yu looked genuinely astonished.
"Someone actually eats these? Raw?"
Chen Yuming nodded.
"They're eaten raw."
"When I first saw him open the box, I thought they were pearls."
"I was planning to use them to torment... I mean, grind them into powder..."
"But then I saw him eat them."
"And after that..."
After that came a period of boundless vigor and endless nights, didn't it?
Nan Yu didn't explain it, leaving Yang Zhou itching with curiosity.
Fortunately, Yang Zhou had enough sense not to ask about it here. He decided he'd wait until they got back before bringing it up.
Now that he knew what those things actually were, Nan Yu threw them straight into the trash.
Whoever wanted to eat them could help themselves.
He certainly had no use for them.
As for Yu Lanfeng...
Nan Yu thought about Yu Lanfeng's strength and physique.
If he added those things on top of that...
Whoever ended up sleeping with him would probably be bedridden the next day.
Maybe even the day after that.
And that person would very likely be his future self.
How could he possibly sabotage his future self like that?
Before long, they said goodbye to Chen Yuming and the others.
Chen Yuming and Zheng Fengyin were both busy, while Nan Yu also had things to do. He took Yang Zhou off to class.
Only a few minutes after they parted ways, Yun Feiyu quietly appeared again.
He secretly fished the box Nan Yu had thrown away out of the trash can.
Fortunately, the trash bins here were kept very clean, with hardly any garbage inside. Otherwise, he would have felt somewhat reluctant to reach in.
"This stuff works so well and is worth so much money. Why would he just throw it away?"
As he spoke, he picked up one of the contents.
The feel of it in his hand made him blink in confusion.
A moment later, he suddenly realized what he had actually placed inside the box.
"Huh? How is that possible? This isn't the box I took..."
After examining it carefully, he finally realized he really had grabbed the wrong box.
In that case...
Nan Yu throwing it into the trash was completely understandable.
Yun Feiyu suddenly felt that he'd exposed himself.
Although the item really was extremely effective and highly sought after, only the incredibly wealthy could afford it.
In a sense, it was even more expensive than the two pearls he had painstakingly prepared beforehand.
And without the proper connections, it was almost impossible to obtain.
By all rights, there was no way someone like him should have been able to get hold of such a thing.
Yet he had it.
Yun Feiyu stood there blankly for a long time.
He even considered the worst possible outcome.
But judging from Nan Yu's reaction earlier, he didn't seem to have responded too strongly.
Maybe...
The matter would simply be forgotten.
There was only one thing he was certain of.
His impression score in Nan Yu's eyes had undoubtedly dropped even lower.
Back in the classroom, the more Nan Yu thought about it, the stranger it all seemed.
Nothing about it made sense.
How did Yun Feiyu even have something like that?
Could it have been meant for Bai Zhouyun?
But...
Surely Bai Zhouyun wasn't at the point where he needed something like that.
Still, among the people connected to Yun Feiyu, Bai Zhouyun was the only one Nan Yu could think of.
Who would've thought...
Bai Zhouyun looked every bit the capable Ability User, yet...
Apparently, he was lacking in a certain department?
Wait.
Nan Yu suddenly remembered Chen Yuming saying that he'd seen someone eat it before.
He instantly covered his face.
So even the rather famous President Ye Zhiwu had eaten that stuff?
Did that mean...
He was lacking in that department too?
What Chen Yuming hadn't mentioned was that Ye Zhiwu had only eaten those things so he could torment him even more thoroughly in bed.
Even now, whenever Chen Yuming thought back to those experiences, his scalp tingled.
Fortunately...
That was all in the past.
Ye Zhiwu could no longer do anything to him.
He was free now.
He had escaped Ye Zhiwu's control completely.
Once he graduated three years later, even if he failed Marshal Yu Lanfeng's legion assessment, he would still be able to join another excellent legion.
Ye Zhiwu's influence only extended to the business world.
He was nothing more than a wealthy businessman.
There was no way he could do anything to someone who had entered a military legion.
Although Chen Yuming now spent every day inside the academy, with far less freedom of movement than when Ye Zhiwu had been supporting him...
He felt freer than ever.
Sure enough...
Once your heart was free, it didn't matter where you were.
Nan Yu paid no further attention to the incident.
That evening, after returning to the hospital lounge to rest, he sat down beside Yu Lanfeng on the sofa.
The very first thing Yu Lanfeng said caught him completely by surprise.
"There's a very pleasant scent on you today. Did you come into contact with something?"
Hearing that, Nan Yu immediately remembered touching those things around noon.
"It's nothing, really. What kind of pleasant scent did you notice?"
Nan Yu thought that if Yu Lanfeng said something like, "I really like it," he'd definitely tease him about it afterward.