Zheng Yiran seemed quite confident, pointing to the group behind her, and said proudly, "Our team isn't very strong, just a few of us: Wu Siduo, Luo Guixing, Xu Yucheng, Yang Nianxia, and me. Five people. More people can be a burden sometimes. Five of us are enough."
"Besides, one person is enough for the Young Genius Ranking, so five people are even more than enough."
Ye Xinglan asked in confusion, "What is the Young Genius Ranking?"
Zheng Yiran was slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting anyone to be unaware of it. She was about to explain when she was interrupted again. Ye
Xinglan looked towards the doorway, her eyes lighting up, and then called out, "Lin Xiuran, do you know what the Young Genius Ranking is?"
Everyone looked towards the doorway at Ye Xinglan's words.
At that moment, a handsome young man stood there, with black hair and black eyes, his gaze calm, but his expression cold yet not arrogant.
It was Lin Xiuran!
The original members of Class Zero all looked at the person before them with astonishment. They hadn't seen Lin Xiuran for two years since he passed the Federation-wide competition and entered Shrek Academy.
Xu Xiaoyan's eyes were filled with joy; she wanted to say something, but hesitated.
Tang Wulin also smiled at Lin Xiuran, his expression full of surprise.
Xie Xie, naturally the most carefree, stepped forward and said, "Brother Xiuran, I'm so glad to finally see you."
Gu Yue's expression was somewhat strange; after two years apart, she felt that the aura emanating from him was becoming increasingly familiar. However, she couldn't quite figure out what that aura was.
Lin Xiuran exchanged a few words with the others before being interrupted by the disgruntled Ye Xinglan.
"Why can you stay in the inner courtyard but I can't? Wasn't it supposed to be only those with battle armor allowed after the reforms?"
Indeed, after the reforms at Shrek Academy's inner courtyard, only those with battle armor were allowed entry, regardless of their talent.
However, Lin Xiuran was clearly an exception.
Lin Xiuran's expression remained unchanged as he calmly stated, "You're not as strong as me."
"Who said that? Let's fight!" Ye Xinglan immediately glared at Lin Xiuran like a lion with its mane bristling.
Since Lin Xiuran arrived at Shrek Academy's inner courtyard, Ye Xinglan had been resentful of her defeat years ago. Therefore, she frequently challenged Lin Xiuran to one-on-one duels, only to be repeatedly defeated, yet she persisted.
However, this also strengthened their relationship; although they often joked and teased each other, it was mostly Ye Xinglan who did the talking.
Ye Xinglan was usually quite aloof, but when she was with Lin Xiuran, she completely transformed into a talkative and arrogant girl.
"Alright, it doesn't entirely affect me," Lin Xiuran explained. "I also have to take your assessments."
In Zhuo Shi's words, although he didn't need to study with the outer academy regularly, he still had to take the exams. This was to minimize gossip and show them that Lin Xiuran had a reason to stay in the inner academy and possessed sufficient strength.
If he couldn't even pass the outer academy's assessment, how could he be qualified to stay in the inner academy?
But at this moment, listening to their conversation, Zheng Yiran's expression turned very bad, while the others, whether they were on the list of young geniuses or other students, were all astonished.
Inner academy students!?
Lin Xiuran, this girl who looked to be about their age, was actually from the inner academy, and according to them, Ye Xinglan and that fat guy, Xu Lizhi, were also originally from the inner academy.
Shrek Academy's inner academy!
That's a huge difference compared to the outer academy. Those who can enter Shrek Academy's outer academy are already the cream of the crop, while those who can enter the inner academy are definitely the cream of the crop among the cream of the crop—geniuses among geniuses.
Moreover, they were about the same age as them, which was enough to show how terrifying the other party was.
Ye Xinglan noticed that the others were acting strangely, so she deliberately asked, "Lin Xiuran, you still haven't answered me, what is the Young Genius Ranking?"
"I don't know either." Lin Xiuran thought for a moment and replied very sincerely.
Ye Xinglan looked at the group of people who were looking deflated and said, "We really don't know what the Young Genius Ranking is. I only know the Continental Ranking. If all five of you are on that list, then it's alright."
Zheng Yiran didn't dare to retaliate at this moment. Indeed, it was perfectly acceptable for geniuses in Shrek Academy's inner court to not care about the Young Genius Ranking.
Many students in Shrek Academy's inner court didn't even care about the Continental Ranking. After all, who would care about a so-called ranking when they were truly strong or geniuses?
Zheng Yiran seemed unable to bear such humiliation, and said in a deep voice, "So what if you're in the inner academy? You've only entered Shrek Academy earlier than us. It's not like we can't get in later." "
Besides, in a real fight, who knows who will win? Who knows how you got into the inner academy?" "
That's right." Just then, an untimely, cold voice rang out.
Dressed in white with blue hair, it was Wu Changkong. He had arrived in the classroom at some point.
He glanced at Lin Xiuran, nodded slightly, and then said, "Shrek Academy has always been a place that pursues strength. You five can fight against Lin Xiuran and the other two inner academy disciples and see the difference between you and the inner academy students."
"Do you have any objections?"
He could ignore ordinary class fights, but this concerned the fairness of Shrek Academy, so he naturally had to do something.
As soon as Wu Changkong finished speaking, Lin Xiuran was the first to respond.
"I have no objections."
Zheng Yiran and the others looked a little ugly, but since Teacher Wu had said so, they couldn't refuse.
Moreover, it was a five-on-three situation, and all five of them were members of the highly talented young genius list, so their chances of winning were very high. They were
the same age; it was hard to believe that Lin Xiuran and his friends could be much stronger than them.
Not only Zheng Yiran, but Luo Guixing also had this thought. If he backed down now, the persona he had built in the class these past few days would be completely ruined.
His prestige couldn't be challenged, so only a fight was the most appropriate course of action.
"Alright." Wu Changkong nodded: "Since everyone has agreed, then let's set the time for next week."
Ye Xinglan also seemed very interested; fighting was her favorite thing. Even if she couldn't beat Lin Xiuran, beating the others wouldn't be a problem.
Xu Lizhi, standing to the side, scratched his head sheepishly. Seeing that Lin Xiuran and Ye Xinglan were willing, he had nothing to say.
Anyway, following Brother Xiuran and Sister Xinglan, he could just lie back and relax—that was his experience accumulated over the past two years.
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(End of Chapter)