"Yeah, her name is Shier. You can come to her if you need help from now on," Kael introduced her over his shoulder.

  However, when he looked at Shier, he noticed she seemed a bit intimidated.

  "Hello," Shier managed to say, her voice steadying slightly as she noticed Kael’s supportive gaze.

  "Hello!"

  "Kael, I actually thought you were joking when you said you were looking for an assistant," Nalan Qinqi remarked after the introductions.

  "I wasn't joking. I just hadn't found the right person until now," Kael replied flatly.

  "Manager Kael, do you have any new pills? Any fresh stock of the stat-boosting ones?" Xiaoya had been hovering by the shelves for a while before finally speaking up.

  Kael restocked pills every day. As consumables, the market for them was massive. Although the permanent stat-boosting pills were limited to three per person for a lifetime, given the limited output of Kael’s shop, they were still top-tier treasures that were always in high demand.

  "There are some, but not many," Kael pointed to a corner of the shelf.

  There were about seven or eight bottles of permanent stat-boosters. The "drop rate" for these specific pills was quite low. During his massive trade with Qin Ming, even with the huge volume of pills purchased, there weren't many Body Tempering, Wind Speed, or Blood-Soaked pills. Consequently, those three types were excluded from his contract with the City Lord.

  "If you're done here, get to the Arena," Lan Ye interjected as soon as Xiaoya had pocketed the pills. She never hesitated when it came to improving the squad’s overall strength.

  "Sister Lan Ye... can I stay here instead?" Xiaoya suddenly looked dejected at the mention of the Arena.

  "I’ll stay here with Xiaoya, too," Lan Qing'er added, waving her hand hurriedly.

  Lan Ye gave them both a long, serious look before nodding and leading the rest of the team next door.

  "What's wrong?" Kael asked, genuinely curious.

  "Manager Kael, surely you realize... I’m planning to be a Priest. That’s not exactly a combat-oriented class," Xiaoya said gloomily.

  The Combat Strength Arena was indeed unfriendly to support classes. Everyone knew a Priest relied on teammates to deal damage while they hid in the back, healing and buffing. Sending Xiaoya onto that stage was essentially forcing a healer onto the front lines.

  "That... is indeed a bit problematic," Kael agreed wholeheartedly.

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  The Training Room was designed to improve combat prowess, but as for how it might change after an upgrade, Kael could only guess.

  "You aren't a Priest, though," Kael said, turning his gaze toward Lan Qing'er. If he remembered correctly, she was an Archer.

  "Manager, do you really think it’s appropriate to make an Archer fight in such a small ring with absolutely no cover?" Lan Qing'er countered.

  "Uh..."

  Kael recalled the layout of the Arena. She was right. Against those four opponents in such a confined space, an Archer’s survivability wouldn't be much higher than a Priest's. It seemed the current version of the Training Room still had many defects.

  Ying Xue and Ying Feng arrived back at Radiant Academy a day after Ling Xiao.

  It had only been a few days since the incident where the freshmen defeated the sophomores, and the new students were still in a state of revelry. As Ying Feng walked toward his dormitory, he was puzzled by the groups of cheering freshmen.

  Did I miss some major holiday while I was gone?

  Since the female dorms were in a different area, he couldn't even ask his sister, Ying Xue, for clarification.

  "Ying Feng! You're finally back!"

  As Ying Feng stood dazed at the dorm entrance, a familiar face approached.

  "Ke Minglang, what's going on? Did I miss a festival or something?" Ying Feng asked hurriedly.

  "No, but you could say you're lucky," Ke Minglang replied. Although he wasn't particularly fond of Ying Feng due to the political rivalry between their families—the Left Minister and the Great General were often at odds—their personal relationship wasn't actually that bad.

  Ke Minglang proceeded to fill him in on the events of the past few days.

  "What? Radiant Academy actually has a tradition like that? Does that mean we can do the same to the new batch next year?" Ying Feng got excited at the prospect.

  "Are you stupid? We are upright gentlemen. How could we do such a thing? Such a 'tradition' should be abolished starting with us," Ke Minglang said with an air of mock seniority.

  "Heh." Ying Feng smiled but said nothing.

  "Anyway, now that you're back, come up and have a drink. The partying will probably last another day or two." Ke Minglang shrugged and led the way into the dorm. Immediately, a crowd of freshmen swarmed them, showering Ke Minglang with flattery. After all, a freshman who could take down a sophomore was a "thigh" worth clinging to.

  Ying Feng followed behind, but before they had gone far, a student came sprinting in from outside, shouting at the top of his lungs.

  "This is bad! The second-years have sent us another challenge!"

  "What?" Ke Minglang’s head snapped up.

  The panting student handed over a letter of challenge.

  [Three days from now. The Martial Arts Arena. One match to settle it all.] [Signed: Ghost Face.]

  The message was simple, but Ke Minglang’s face paled as he read it.

  The Martial Arts Arena was a famous venue within Radiant Academy. As the name implied, all power levels were suppressed, and external items were barred. It was a pure contest of martial technique and skill. Each side would field a champion, and challengers from the opposing side would take turns on stage until one side was completely defeated.

  "Dammit... they’re trying to negate our individual power and target our collective weakness," Ke Minglang muttered. As the descendant of the Left Minister, he was sharp enough to see through the scheme instantly.

  By suppressing power levels and banning external items, they were effectively neutralizing Ke Minglang and Chi Yongqiu. When it came to pure martial technique, the freshmen were no match for the sophomores. Ke Minglang knew that their previous victory was largely thanks to Kael's superior weapons and pills.

  Without those advantages, the outcome was uncertain. Martial skill and combat intuition weren't things that could be replaced by gear; they were forged through real combat experience.

  "What’s wrong with you guys? Why the long faces all of a sudden?" Ying Feng asked curiously. They had won once; why not just win again?