Chapter 156: Advancing to Gold Medal

"Rourou, you had better put on some clothes first!"

Rourou said with a wronged expression, "I want to wear them, but Master, you won't let me!"

Xin Lang's forehead was covered in dark lines. How did it somehow become his fault for not letting her wear clothes, making it sound like he was training some kind of pet? Thinking of this, Xin Lang couldn't help but glance at Rourou again, thinking with a wicked thought, "A cat-girl like Rourou is definitely the ultimate dream of every man!"

Xin Lang quickly reined in his wicked thoughts and told Rourou to transform back into her original Nine-Tailed Spirit Cat form first.

"There are no outsiders here now, I don't want to change back!" Rourou looked at Xin Lang with her big, cute, pitiful eyes and said.

Seeing Rourou's teary, misty eyes, Xin Lang instantly softened. He said, "Alright, you don't have to change back if you don't want to, but at least find one of my spare shirts to wear!"

Xin Lang found a spare piece of his own clothing and had Rourou slip it on. Although the garment was quite loose, it still failed to hide her alluring figure.

If Xin Lang's heart were not already taken by Hongxiu, and he could truly open up his mind, he wouldn't mind taming Rourou to become his exclusive plaything. But he simply could not let go of Hongxiu...

Xin Lang sighed bitterly in his heart: "I'm going to have a hard time ahead!"

When leaving, Xin Lang wanted to put Rourou into the upgrade system's feeding compartment, but Rourou hugged him tightly and refused to let go. In the end, Xin Lang had to compromise and let her remain in her cat form, following closely by his side.

Xin Lang's primary task right now was to win the heart of Shangguan Ningyu. However, this could not be rushed, and he believed that Shangguan Ningyu would soon take the initiative to seek him out.

Xin Lang arrived at the Silver-Rank Combat Pavilion. Although his actual ranking in the Martial Arts Academy was already second, he was still officially only a Silver-Rank student. If he wanted to obtain the academy's incomplete "Sage-Grade Martial Art Manual," he needed to become a Gold-Rank student first.

Upon entering the Silver-Rank Combat Pavilion, Xin Lang found the place bustling with lively activity. The students were all engrossed in the match taking place on the arena stage.

Xin Lang looked up at the stage and realized that the two people fighting in the center ring were none other than Qian Baidu and Fatty Gu. To Xin Lang's utter astonishment, not only had Qian Baidu and Fatty Gu both advanced to Silver-Rank students, but their accumulated points were actually higher than his own.

"Damn it! Without paying attention, I've actually been surpassed by these two kids!"

Ever since Xin Lang attained the status of a Silver-Rank student, he had never stepped onto the combat arena again. Therefore, it wasn't particularly strange that he had been overtaken by Fatty Gu and Qian Baidu, who had been experiencing a surge in progress. What Xin Lang hadn't expected, however, was how fast the two of them were—advancing to Silver-Rank students in such a short span of time while earning so many points.

Furthermore, Xin Lang discovered that in just two or three days, Qian Baidu and Fatty Gu had broken through to become Level Two Grandmasters. With their current strength, they could easily secure a spot on the Gold Leaderboard.

Qian Baidu and Fatty Gu were natural cultivation geniuses to begin with; after consuming the Marrow-Cleansing Pills and Qi-Transforming Pills, their cultivation speed had become downright freakish.

Neither Qian Baidu nor Fatty Gu used any martial arts techniques on the stage; they relied solely on close-quarters combat with fists and feet, engaging in a raw brawl—which had always been their habitual style.

Grandmaster-level experts fighting without any martial arts techniques, engaging in a bare-knuckle brawl, left the observing students utterly astounded!

"Damn it, I just taught them cultivation techniques, but I forgot to teach them Heaven-Grade martial arts!" Xin Lang thought to himself.

Xin Lang didn't know many Heaven-Grade martial arts techniques, but his constitution was freakish. The primordial qi within his Dantian was several times that of grandmasters at the same level, and possessing the "Heaven-Defying Extreme Vein," his capacity for channeling and exhaling primordial qi was terrifyingly abnormal. Even a casual punch of his carried the might of a high-tier Heaven-Grade martial art.

Although Xin Lang's personal demand for martial arts manuals was low, Qian Baidu and Fatty Gu urgently needed Heaven-Grade techniques to bolster their strength.

Bang! Bang! Bang!...

Fatty Gu and Qian Baidu, bare-chested, slammed into each other repeatedly in a series of direct collisions!

Fatty Gu's layer of fat was as hard as steel, and Qian Baidu's sharply-defined muscles were certainly no weaker than the fat man's!

After trading a barrage of blows, both of them were completely exhausted. Fatty Gu collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath, while Qian Baidu bent over, supporting his knees with both hands, and breathed heavily. "Dead fatty, were you worn out at Lan Guifang last night? Why are your legs so weak today?"

"Fuck off, I just brought too little silver! If I had found a couple more babes with me last night, I would've beaten you flat to the ground!" Fatty Gu panted stubbornly.

"Haha, no worries. I'll give you another chance tomorrow to challenge me, but you better think twice—don't go crying after losing your points!" Having won the match against Fatty Gu, Qian Baidu didn't miss the chance to mock him.

"Tch, I'm heading right over to Lan Guifang to recover my stamina. Just wait, we'll continue in a bit!" With that, Fatty Gu crawled off the ring.

"Boss?"

Stepping off the stage, Fatty Gu saw Xin Lang looking at him with a smile and hurriedly said with delight, "Boss, why are you here?"

Qian Baidu also leaped off the ring and came over to Xin Lang's side.

Xin Lang said, "I came to look around and see if I can pick up some points!"

Fatty Gu exclaimed, "Damn! Boss, what points are you talking about collecting? Your Silver-Rank student points have already been maxed out long ago!"

"Huh? Maxed out? When did that happen? How come I didn't know?" Xin Lang asked in surprise.

"Hehe..." Fatty Gu laughed smugly. "Boss, we've been registering you for matches every single day. It's just that your reputation is too overwhelming; any student who draws you simply forfeits automatically!"

"Uh... There's such a thing?" Xin Lang sweatdropped.

A nearby Silver-Rank student overheard Xin Lang's words and thought bitterly, "You beat the crap out of Long Zhanyi every day like it's child's play; who in their right mind would dare fight you? Long Zhanyi, for crying out loud! He's the second-ranked fighter on the Martial Arts Academy's Gold Leaderboard! If even he's useless against you, which of us ordinary Silver-Rank students would dare spar with you? That would just be asking for a beating!"

Seeing Fatty Gu and Qian Baidu nod, Xin Lang asked again, "Does that mean I can advance to become a Gold-Rank student now?"

"Yeah, you could have done that ages ago! It's just that Fatty and I didn't know who Boss wanted to challenge, so we didn't sign you up for the promotion matches," Qian Baidu said.

"Damn, what are we waiting for then! Let's go right now. Once we secure the Gold-Rank status, let's head to the academy's library and pick out a few Heaven-Grade martial arts manuals for the two of you! You're both Level Two Grandmasters now, you can't get by without Heaven-Grade techniques!" Xin Lang declared.

When the students in the combat pavilion heard that Xin Lang was going to participate in the Gold-Rank promotion matches, they all followed him toward the Promotion Pavilion. Furthermore, the news that Xin Lang was advancing to a Gold-Rank student spread instantly throughout the entire Martial Arts Academy. Students crowded into the Promotion Pavilion, eager to see who would be unlucky enough to become Xin Lang's challenger target.