Universe Infinite Canteen

Ma Lu's Walkman wasn't just handed out indiscriminately. Besides the fact that Walkmans were quite trendy in this Plane and likely to capture the hearts of girls, there was another important reason: the Walkman needed its batteries changed periodically.

Furthermore, although Deng Lijun's songs were classics and ever-popular, one would undoubtedly grow tired of listening to the same cassette tape repeatedly. This laid the foundation for more frequent future interactions between the two.

Lu Yingying was a reporter for the Ping City Daily and had a father who served as a president of a chamber of commerce. To improve relations with her for Hou De's publicity was necessary.

At 7:17 a.m., Cao Youyi received news that people from Heroic Concealment had arrived in Ping City.

However, they didn't rush to Hou De immediately. Instead, they first paid a visit to an old talisman master, who was a former high-ranking official of the Ministry of Education and had returned to Ping City to retire and grow flowers.

Afterwards, they participated in a commercial event and signed autographs for fans, bustling around until nearly 10 p.m. before finally arriving at the foot of Shouyang Mountain.

Li Zhengwei's face had already turned ugly. He had heard that the people from Heroic Concealment had arrived and had gotten up from bed at the first opportunity, quickly washing up and eating breakfast. He didn't expect the other party to drag on for over two hours, even organizing a signing event.

Their attitude made it clear they did not hold Hou De in high regard.

Even Lu Yingying, an outsider, couldn't bear to watch and couldn't help but feel indignant for Hou De.

"Those guys are too impolite. They were the ones who initiated the challenge, but it feels like we're the ones begging them to come."

On the contrary, Principal Ma was the most nonchalant. When he noticed that Heroic Concealment was getting involved in other activities, he had Qi Baichuan invite over the representatives from the three businesses they had previously collaborated with.

They used the time to shoot some advertisements. The match factory representative arrived first, bringing along a photographer and a stylist. They took several photos of Principal Ma working at his desk by the light of a match-lit lamp.

The people from Jinfeng Textile Factory arrived slightly later with freshly designed changshans from their factory. However, their previously booked photographer had been hired by a rich lady for a traveling photoshoot and was not in Ping City.

In the end, it was Wei Ruonan who stepped up to arrange the advertisement photos for them.

As for Junjun Department Store, which had initially agreed wholeheartedly, their representative suddenly said something came up and they couldn't make it in the morning.

Qi Baichuan asked when they could come to take the advertisement photos, but they beat around the bush without giving a specific time.

Ma Lu knew all too well that the people from Junjun Department Store had received news of Heroic Concealment challenging Hou De in Ping City and were worried that if Hou De lost, the positive image they had worked hard to build would suffer.

That was normal human behavior. Being as magnanimous as he was, Ma Lu naturally wouldn't get angry with a collaborator over such a trifle.

He simply told Qi Baichuan, "Tell them waiting is fine. Business is business after all, and I can understand their choice. But after the match with Heroic Concealment, if they still want to cooperate with us, it won't be at the current price."

Qi Baichuan nodded.

As Ma Lu finished dealing with the business cooperation, Heroic Concealment's people finally made their way up the mountain.

Cao Youyi and Zhou Zuolin greeted them at the school gate, seeing a group of people approaching from the mountain path from afar.

They wore the uniform school attire: the boys in blue shirts paired with coffee-colored wool vests, and the girls in Western-style dresses with small leather shoes.

All of their clothes were hand-tailored, fitting snuggly. Additionally, a lotus flower, the emblem of Heroic Concealment, was embroidered on the chest.

The leader was a woman in her early forties, dressed in a high-collared shirt, black coat-dress, and wearing a felt hat.

Upon seeing Cao Youyi, she didn't remove her hat and spoke directly, "Is this Hou De? Where is your principal?"

"And you are?"

"I am Su Bicheng, the head of Heroic Concealment's academic affairs. And who might you be? As I recall, Hou De's new principal is a man."

"Cao Youyi." Cao Youyi answered without changes in expression, "I am an instructor at Hou De."

"Just an instructor," Su Bicheng seemed dissatisfied, "Is this Hou De's way of hosting guests? Does Principal Ma not care to personally greet visitors from afar?"

Cao Youyi stood his ground, "Principal Ma is busy with public duties. He has entrusted the task of hosting to me."

"Very well," Su Bicheng chuckled lightly, "On the way here, I was thinking that if you were a bit more polite, I would've reciprocated the courtesy and asked my students to go easy, so you could win a round or two to avoid an embarrassing defeat.

"But since you don't appreciate kindness, don't blame me for being rude."

She leaned closer to Cao Youyi's ear and whispered softly, "What's going to follow will be a massacre… I hope your Principal Ma doesn't end up crying afterwards."

"It's always better to brag after winning," Cao Youyi said casually.

They shook hands, and Cao Youyi said, "It seems the officials from the Ministry of Education haven't arrived yet. You can enter the school and wait for them."

"No need," Su Bicheng replied, "they're right behind us. It's not that we sought them out; they insisted on joining us once they knew who we were.

"It can't be helped. Everyone knows our group has connections within the Ministry of Education. Thus, wherever we go, these kinds of things tend to happen. But rest assured, I can guarantee that the competition will be fair.

"After all, dealing with a broken-down school ranked 157th doesn't require any underhanded tactics."

Su Bicheng was confident, and Cao Youyi frowned slightly but said nothing more. He led the group from Heroic Concealment into the school and directly to the playground.

Moments later, Ma Lu also arrived with Hou De's participants.

With faces now clearly drawn in battle lines, neither side bothered with pleasantries and they simply wrote down the names of the combatants, submitting the list to the Ministry of Education official presiding over the match.

"The first individual match, for Hou De, second-year student Yu Zimei against Heroic Concealment, third-year student Chen Shuyun."

Hou De still sent out Yu Zimei, who had performed remarkably well in the first match against Lingnan.

Yu Zimei maintained her previous clumsy demeanor, stumbling into the arena and appearing hesitant in every movement.

She circled around Chen Shuyun continuously and seemed to muster courage after a while, taking out a Sharp Gold Talisman from within her clothes and chanting a spell as she attached it to her left arm.

Then, head down, she rushed towards Chen Shuyun, who stood tranquil and composed.

When Yu Zimei was about to reach her, Chen Shuyun calmly took out a Peace Talisman and began to chant as well, then pointed to the ground in front of her.

In the next instant, a ring of fire appeared at her feet.

As Yu Zimei approached the ring of fire, it was as if she collided with an invisible wall. Her body was thrown back, flying out three steps before crashing to the ground with a scream of pain.

Chen Shuyun smiled faintly, not in a hurry to step out of the ring of fire, but then she took out a Thunder Strike Talisman.