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After the return of the senior students, Mist City University became truly lively.
It felt like a festival, with decorations and banners welcoming new students everywhere. Other preparations were handled by the student council.
Yes… Higher education institutions also had student councils, and most members were reserves for the school team, possessing strong battle prowess.
Rumor had it they were all strong contenders for the main roster.
Li Xiang immediately understood that these people would be his future opponents, stumbling blocks on his path to leading Mist City University.
He couldn't help but start gathering information about them.
However, while he could obtain information about Abigail and the others through the Junior World Tournament, for these people, he only knew their names. He couldn't access the forums, and the chat group rarely discussed others' information.
This made the intelligence-gathering process extremely difficult.
He had no choice but to turn to his personal Doraemon—Song Jie.
Speaking of which, the school team had dedicated personnel responsible for collecting opponent intelligence for students; they didn't need to search for it themselves.
Coaches would also specifically analyze opponents for the students.
This saved an unknown amount of time. And the importance of intelligence... let's put it this way….
[In a battle, the factors determining victory are: hard strength accounts for 50%, intelligence 30%, and luck 20%.]
This sufficiently shows the importance of intelligence.
Li Xiang lost his battle against Abigail precisely because of a lack of intelligence.
All his knowledge about her came from message logs and online Junior World Tournament records.
Anything not mentioned there, he was completely unaware of.
Undoubtedly, this was negligence. Whether Abigail was his opponent or teammate, whether he could defeat her or not, understanding her thoroughly early on was extremely necessary.
Li Xiang himself didn't prioritize it, didn't collect information immediately, so losing wasn't surprising.
Two more days passed.
New students arrived one after another.
On Li Xiang's end, Bai Wanhua had also arranged his class for him. He could go collect the necessary textbooks, student card, and other items.
After getting his student card, he could officially access the college forums, not just be a guest limited to viewing the first post.
...
Regarding the new students, although Li Xiang knew there would be acquaintances coming to Mist City, the sheer number of familiar faces still somewhat surprised him.
At the school gate, as Li Xiang was preparing to go to the martial arts hall to practice, on the roadside in the distance…
"Li Xiang! You're really already here! Long time no see!"
A boy who looked somewhat delicate shouted excitedly, a Ampharos dragging luggage behind him.
'....Isn't that the boy afraid of the dark, named Bai Zhou? He actually came to Mist City too?'
'Does Mist City accept any student?'
Li Xiang twitched the corner of his mouth and waved at him. "Yo."
Might as well respond.
Unexpectedly, this response led him to spot two more acquaintances. They were standing just behind Bai Zhou, next to a car.
—The two sisters from Yongcheng Youth Training Camp, Lu Yi and Lu Ling.
These two sisters looked quite similar, distinguishable by Lu Ling having twin tails and Lu Yi a single ponytail. In terms of clothing style, Lu Ling loved skirts, while Lu Yi preferred loose pants.
Moreover, their specialties were different.
Ghost-type and Normal-type.
"Long time no see, Li Xiang."
Lu Ling pulled the corner of her skirt and gave a slight curtsy, like a medieval lady.
This greeting habit was reportedly her personal preference.
"Good to see you again, Li Xiang!"
Compared to her sister, the younger Lu Yi was much more normal, waving with a smile.
Li Xiang checked the time; it was still plentiful, so he chatted with them.
Mainly, he was curious why these three chose Mist City.
"Because you're here."
Bai Zhou answered the fastest, his eyes full of admiration as he looked at Li Xiang. "I want to follow in your footsteps."
'Ah, this…'
Li Xiang made a strange expression. Another one coming because of him, and it's a boy again!
'This isn't right! This really isn't right!'
Fortunately, the Lu sisters' reasons were slightly more normal.
"There are actually many reasons. The scenery here in Mist City is nice, Bai Zhou was coming to Mist City, and since you're here too, we came along."
Lu Yi shrugged. "Being your teammate is better than being your opponent."
"You guys... just treat me normally. I have something to do now, so let's stop here for today. Let's exchange WeChat contacts."
Li Xiang took out his phone and added the three on WeChat.
Surprisingly, he found he had already added Bai Zhou at some point. They just never chatted.
'This kid…'
Li Xiang looked at Bai Zhou, whose eyes were sparkling, and felt there was something a bit off about him.
'Forget it.'
He'd deal with it later.
There was still someone with an even bigger issue who hadn't arrived yet.
Thinking of a certain golden-haired youth determined to be his support, Li Xiang felt a headache coming on.
In the car, Li Xiang told Song Jie this news and quickly got a response.
Counter Specialist (Song Jie): [A wise choice, nothing strange about it. There will be more people coming to Mist City because of you. Mo Ye personally recruiting you influenced who knows how many people.]
Li Xiang: [So, are there any strangers I should be wary of?]
Counter Specialist: [How much do you think half a year affects a trainer? How could I know their current strength? It'll be clear once school starts.]
Li Xiang: [Alright, off to practice martial arts. (ノ￣▽￣)]
Counter Specialist: [Mm.]
After a while….
Counter Specialist: [By the way, did you change the nickname. I told you to change back?]
Li Xiang: [Changed it, changed it. You can rest assured when I handle things.]
Counter Specialist: [Really?]
Li Xiang: [Believe me, okay? When has Brother Xiang ever been unreliable?]
Counter Specialist: [Oh.]
After closing the chat window, in the car, Li Xiang hesitated for two seconds, changed "Counter Specialist" to "Doraemon-Jie," and sighed.
Mainly, he was afraid of dying.
...
The arrival of the Yongcheng trio seemed to open the floodgates.
Soon, Wu Ruoxue also arrived.
Li Xiang's deepest impression of her was her Primarina that loved to sing. During the Youth Training Camp, it often had singing competitions with Corviknight, howling like ghosts and wolves in the middle of the night, giving no one peace.
Other than that, aside from routine battles, they had barely exchanged a few words.
If she hadn't reached out to him before choosing schools, he probably would have forgotten what she even looked like.
Now, at least, he had some memories left.
He found out she had arrived mainly because he ran into her while returning to the villa and had a brief chat. His memories of her slowly resurfaced from the depths of his mind.
He remembered her being somewhat proud during the Youth Training Camp.
Different from Song Jie's aloof pride, her arrogance was evident, full of confidence in her own strength, completely unlike her name "Ruoxue" (Like Snow).
After losing to him in the pre-meal battles, she became the one most eager to defeat him among everyone. Besides Song Jie, she was the most active in sending him points (through battles).
Honestly, her contributions played a part in him being able to exchange for Metang so early.
In terms of treatment, the school seemed to have promised her a two-person villa and the qualification to participate in the school team selection matches in her first year.
Undoubtedly, a step down from Song Jie's treatment.
The Lu sisters were the same, with a two-person villa. These were the environmental conditions reserved for school team reserves.
A further step down was Bai Zhou, with a single room in an apartment building, just over seventy square meters, without a kitchen, etc.
The next day.
Gong Xu arrived.
The agreement he signed was equivalent to Song Jie's: school team candidate treatment, a single extra-large villa.
It was located right across from Li Xiang's.
Li Xiang only discovered it was this acerbic, smiling tiger of a youth when he went to check out his new neighbor.
Fortunately, Gong Xu wasn't mysteriously enthusiastic like Bai Zhou, and he wasn't very interested in Li Xiang personally.
Purely admiring strength, he simply demanded that Li Xiang practice double battle coordination with him as soon as he arrived.
"The basic requirement for reaching the top in the Junior World Tournament is practicing at least two matches a day to ensure good coordination."
This was what Gong Xu said while blocking Li Xiang's door.
He loved double battles far more than single battles, usually focusing on double battles in daily combat, showing little interest in singles.
Li Xiang felt that if the Junior World Tournament didn't require two people on the field, Gong Xu would absolutely battle alone, trusting no teammate as much as he trusted himself.
But since Junior World Tournament double battles were for two people, Gong Xu had to find himself a powerful partner.
"There are also double battles in the school team selection."
This came from Abigail.
She passed by once while Li Xiang and Gong Xu were practicing double battle coordination and sent him a message on WeChat that night.
Li Xiang: [Then, Senior, are you interested in double battles? I remember you only fought singles last session, right?]
Black & White Brew Matcha: [I'm flexible. Currently, the double battle teams in the school team are Zhao Jie and Lu Shu, Bai Xiang and Feng Laiyi, Ruan Jingjing and Shen Qing. You can show your stuff during the selection matches.]
She meant that after this session, the sixth-year students Bai Xiang and Ruan Jingjing would graduate, creating vacancies in the double battle lineup.
At least one double battle team needed to be supplemented.
By then, if Li Xiang and Gong Xu coordinated well enough, they could completely become regular members as double battle players.
Second-year students appearing on the Junior World Tournament stage were exceedingly rare in the history of the United Universities.
Li Xiang: [Thank you, Senior! I understand!]
How could he not understand when she had practically spelled it out?
'Double battle players…'
Looking at the materials Gong Xu sent him about double battle positioning and detailed coordination methods, he felt a surge of anticipation.
No matter the capacity in which he got on the field, a regular member was a regular member.
Moreover, double battles weren't like singles, where it was based on overall team strength. As long as the two partners coordinated well, even if other pairs on the team were weak, they could charge ahead.
In singles, even if one person performed excellently, if their teammates were weak, they couldn't climb up.
No wonder Gong Xu loved double battles so much.
Which was easier, carrying one person or carrying four? Didn't even need to think about it.
"Are you interested in double battles?"
Li Xiang was asking Song Jie.
"I can do it if needed. If it's not mandatory, then forget it."
Song Jie shook his head. "I don't really like battles where victory depends on two people."
"What? Are you displeased having me support you?"
Li Xiang hooked his arm around Song Jie's neck and questioned him.
Double battle teams weren't fixed; they were primarily based on needs.
If the coach thought the combination of Li Xiang and Song Jie suited the environment better, then they could play in the divisional rounds.
Later, if the coach thought Li Xiang and Gong Xu were better for the regional rounds, then those two could play.
Therefore, as long as both parties coordinated well, there were no absolute partners.
"Double battles don't just depend on one person's strength."
Song Jie's face turned red, mainly from being choked, but his reasoning remained clear.
Suddenly, he forcefully broke free from Li Xiang's hold and used a lock to trap Li Xiang's arm.
"Beng Quan isn't invincible!"
Song Jie looked proudly at Li Xiang, whom he had locked, a smug expression on his handsome face.
Over the past six months, the white-haired youth had learned many things, including this locking technique.
"Impressive."
Li Xiang tapped the ground in surrender. It wasn't that he couldn't beat Song Jie, but continuing to fight might easily lead to a dislocation.
Normal means really couldn't break this lock.