Chapter 113: Chapter 113: Liuyun Society

"It’s you?"

Fang Chen suddenly realized. "Fan Yutong, Senior Sister Fan."

She was the practical examiner for the eighth group in the second round of the martial exam, and the very first examiner he had fought and eventually defeated.

Seeing that Fang Chen finally recognized her, Fan Yutong curled her lips. She walked up to his group, her gaze lingering on his face for a moment before she nodded. "Junior Brother Fang, I’ve been waiting for a long time. I heard there was a landslide on the road outside the city and frequent Demon Beast attacks. I thought you weren’t going to make it in time for registration."

"I was delayed for a few days, but fortunately, I made it," Fang Chen replied, then asked, "Senior Sister Fan, you said you were waiting for me? Is there something you need?"

"What else could it be?" Fan Yutong crossed her arms, lifting her chin slightly. "You are, after all, the first freshman in the nearly century-long history of the Cyan Yang Martial Arts Academy to defeat an examiner head-on during the practical entrance exam. You’re also widely acknowledged as the strongest newcomer this year.

"The society sent me to handle the recruitment and reception of our key freshmen this year. I’ve been wandering around the registration and dormitory areas since early morning, just waiting to see when you’d show up."

She cleared her throat and said seriously, "Let me formally introduce myself. I am Fan Yutong, a member of the Cyan Yang Martial Arts Academy’s Liuyun Society. As for the general information about the academy’s societies, you should have heard quite a bit about them while walking around, right?"

Fang Chen nodded.

"Our Liuyun Society’s current strength in the academy is... well, ranked relatively high." Fan Yutong spoke modestly, but her eyes shone with confidence. "As for the internal dynamics, there is definitely competition, but we pride ourselves on having a better overall culture and a stronger atmosphere of mutual assistance than those other groups.

"Furthermore, we have a few reliable allies—the Vajra Society, the Black Tortoise Society, and the Cyan Simurgh Society. We share resources and support each other."

Looking at Fang Chen, she extended a direct invitation. "Our president, Senior Brother Lu Xinrong, is of the Direct Lineage in Cyan Yang City’s Lu family. He is fiercely loyal to his friends, and his strength has long since reached the Earth Tier. What do you say, Junior Brother Fang? Are you interested in joining our Liuyun Society?"

"The Liuyun Society..." Fang Chen mused.

He didn’t actually have much of an obsession with joining a society. In his eyes, the resources they could provide simply didn’t match the pile of troubles that came with them. This was especially true regarding resources—whatever share they got, he would get the same.

However, since he was now in the academy environment, remaining completely detached from its systems might not be the wisest choice. The Liuyun Society had allies, a decent reputation, and an above-average ranking. It wouldn’t attract unwanted attention with absurdly high entry thresholds like the Wind and Cloud Society, nor was it an obvious vassal like the Celestial Thunder Society, and it certainly wasn’t a loner faction like the Cangqiong Society.

It was a relatively balanced choice that wouldn’t leave him overly restricted.

With that in mind, Fang Chen looked at Fan Yutong and smiled faintly. "I appreciate the high regard you’ve shown by coming to invite me personally, Senior Sister Fan. Actually, I am quite interested in the Liuyun Society. What is the process to join?"

Fan Yutong’s eyes lit up, slightly surprised by how readily he agreed. "Really? Hey, that’s great! The process is very simple. Just come with me to our recruitment booth, fill out a basic information form, and register your student number.

"Then, we’ll brand a miniature Liuyun Society insignia onto your academy badge. That’s it! After that, you’ll be one of us!

"Oh, and by the way, our Liuyun Society’s insignia matches the academy’s emblem perfectly."

"That does sound simple," Fang Chen nodded.

As soon as he spoke, Wang Pan, Hu Jiasen, Yuan Xiao, and the dozen or so other freshmen from Jinchuan City behind him immediately started clamoring all at once.

"Senior Sister Fan! We want to join the Liuyun Society too!"

"Right! Wherever Boss Fang goes, we go!"

"Count me in!"

Fan Yutong blanked for a moment before a pleasant surprise blossomed across her face. "Haha, great! Great! What an unexpected harvest! You’re all welcome! Come along, everyone!"

However, that was not the end of it.

Fang Chen’s agreement to join the Liuyun Society and the dozen people he brought along immediately caught the attention of many observing and hesitating freshmen nearby. When someone recognized that the person surrounded in the center was the legendary Fang Chen—who had performed astonishingly in the martial exam and defeated an examiner—even more people were swayed.

"Is that Fang Chen? He joined the Liuyun Society too?"

"Let’s go, let’s go check it out!"

"Boss Fang! I’m from neighboring Nanlin City. I saw you in action during the martial exam, and I’m following you too!"

"Me too!"

Suddenly, the freshmen who had been lingering nearby or hesitating in front of other societies’ booths swarmed toward the Liuyun Society. The line quickly lengthened, forming a winding queue of nearly a hundred people in the blink of an eye, and it showed no signs of stopping. The scene instantly became explosive, making the sparse groups of seven or eight applicants in front of the neighboring societies look incredibly shabby in comparison.

"Boss Fang! We’ve finally found our home base!"

"Boss! My last name is Fang too! Maybe we were family a few centuries ago!"

These freshmen might not have known Fang Chen previously, but his performance during the martial exam and the trust his peers placed in him sent a clear signal—following this guy meant they wouldn’t just be pushed around at the bottom of the barrel. Although Fang Chen was currently just a freshman without much say, there was no telling what the future held. Aligning themselves with him early on couldn’t possibly be a bad thing.

The sudden overcrowding at the Liuyun Society’s recruitment booth immediately drew sidelong glances from the recruiters of other societies. The male student in charge of admissions for the Celestial Thunder Society looked at the long line not far away with an ugly expression. He lowered his voice and muttered to his companion, who was also handling reception duties.

"That kid... what’s his background? Why is it that the moment he walks over, everyone flocks there?"

His companion squinted at Fang Chen, who was surrounded in the center, and shook his head. "I don’t know him. It was the Liuyun Society’s turn to provide personnel for the freshman exams this year; our society didn’t send anyone. But I did hear that a tough character emerged during this year’s exams and actually defeated an examiner. Could it be this kid?"

"That’s more than likely it." The boy from the Celestial Thunder Society’s expression darkened further. "Damn it, the moment this kid picks a side, he drags two or three hundred freshmen over with him! What is the Liuyun Society trying to do this year? How do they have such a huge appetite?"

His companion, however, was relatively calm and patted his shoulder. "Forget it. If we take a loss, we take a loss. A bunch of greenhorns who haven’t even reached the True Martial Realm have limited influence. As for that guy named Fang...

"No matter how well he performed in the martial exam, he’s still only in the True Martial Realm. The High Martial Realm... is a completely different world from the True Martial Realm. No matter how great your talent is, you could train bitterly in the academy for three years and still fail to take that step. Have we seen any shortage of geniuses who couldn’t advance an inch?"

On the other side, Fang Chen had already finished registering. Just as Fan Yutong had said, the Liuyun Society’s insignia paired quite nicely with the academy badge.

"Senior Sister Fan, are you fully recovered from your injuries?" Fang Chen asked, looking at Fan Yutong, who had been keeping watch by his side as he registered.

"Hmph." Fan Yutong feigned anger, then bared her teeth in a wide grin. "Thanks to you, I lost five teeth. I got four replaced and left one empty as a warning to myself—to always be careful and never underestimate an opponent."

This actually made Fang Chen feel a bit embarrassed.

Fan Yutong patted his shoulder. "It’s fine. What happened in the exam arena isn’t your fault; it’s just my own lack of skill. We’re all on the same side now. Come on, I’ll take you somewhere that’s guaranteed to have things you can use. Consider it a welcome gift."

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