Universe Infinite Canteen

Ma Lu stored the Film Avocado in the Collection Bag, then picked up the scattered Song Stones from the ground. Once he finished collecting the spoils of battle, everyone returned to Hanjiang City. Although it was still dark, with the experience from last time, Cao Youyi had called ahead to book a restaurant, offering double the price to have the chef wait in the kitchen. As soon as the Hou De Virtue Teachers and Students arrived, the kitchen bustled into action, and steaming hot dishes were brought to the table. Just having gone through a fierce battle, both physically and mentally drained, the teachers and students immediately wolfed down their food as soon as they sat down. This also significantly lightened the grievances in their hearts. Ma Lu, the new principal, was autocratic, changing a whole lot of the school's usual practices as soon as he took office. Although he was generous with money, only the top ten in the baseline assessment received rewards. Most people got nothing, and now they were being dragged to clean the catastrophe belt, so complaints were inevitable. On the other hand, everyone was quite impressed with the new Principal Ma. When clearing the catastrophe belt, he always led by example at the very front, and he had dealt with almost all of the monsters along the way. And the final battle with the Lord was his solo performance; there was no choice, after all, the other Hou De teachers and students were too weak. They were fine during practice skirmishes at school, but as soon as they entered the catastrophe belt and faced those monsters head-on, they panicked. Even the teachers became flustered, soon getting out of breath, with their spiritual power consumption far exceeding the norm, and the talismanic magic they had practiced over and over sometimes went awry. In short, despite their numbers, the Hou De teachers and students weren't much help; it was all up to Principal Ma to turn the tide. He was like an inexhaustible machine, charging into the horde of monsters time and again, forcefully demolishing everything before him with unstoppable momentum. Too strong! This man before them was simply invincible!!! All of the Hou De teachers and students who witnessed Ma Lu's battles couldn't help but have such thoughts in their minds. So, even those who harbored resentments didn't dare to show it. Add to that, now that the welfare benefits had significantly improved, with chartered planes and lavish meals, anyone with eyes could see that Hou De had changed from the past, causing more and more people to have mixed feelings about the new principal. While everyone was immersed in their complex emotions towards Ma Lu, the latter took the opportunity during the meal to announce something. "Oh, right, the school has already issued a challenge to Church Lingnan College, which is ranked 157th, tentatively scheduled for next week. "According to the rules, each side has to send ten students to spar and compete, with the winner determined by the final point tally." After Ma Lu finished speaking, the restaurant went silent for a while, until Instructor Zhong took the lead and said, "Principal Ma, do you mean to encourage everyone to actively sign up for the competition next week?" "No," Ma Lu shook his head, "I'm just informing you of this matter. I will select the participants with Teacher Cao and the others when the time comes. Those not chosen won't be able to go even if they want to, and those who are chosen will have to go even if they don't want to." "..." Well, that was truly Principal Ma's style, but by now the Hou De teachers and students were used to it, and no one objected. Ma Lu looked around the room, "The people who participate in the battle will be rewarded with 20 pieces each, and 100 if they win, paid on the spot. "Those who want to earn money, study hard this week, and those who don't also study hard, or else during the next cleanup of the catastrophe belt, you'll be at the very front scouting the path." "Alright, that's all I wanted to say. Thank you all for your hard work, we'll head back after finishing our meal." To beat the clock, Ma Lu also chartered a plane for the return trip, which meant spending 1200 yuan coming and going. Actually, considering Hou De's current financial situation, this was a bit extravagant, but there was no helping it, mainly because Ma Lu was indeed pressed for time. Even though the effects of "Dignity Candy·Basic" had worn off, perhaps because the impression left on everyone in the previous battles was too strong, no students dared to sit next to Ma Lu on the way back. Ma Lu didn't mind and took advantage of the time to ponder his next upgrading strategy. With the double bonus of "surrounded" and "Weight Training" during this cleanup of the catastrophe belt, he had earned 1640 education points in one go, which opened up more possibilities for him. However, before Ma Lu had figured out how he would like to spend these education points, someone took a seat next to him. Ma Lu turned his head and saw it was Qiutong. She had changed her clothes, no longer wearing the Shilin blue short jacket and black over-the-knee skirt. Instead, she was now in a more exercise-friendly tracksuit, and the leather shoes were replaced with lighter fabric ones, the only constant being her pair of twisted braids. As Qiutong had experience fighting side by side with Ma Lu before, she wasn't as intimidated by the new principal like other students were. As soon as she sat down, she excitedly said, "Principal Ma, did you know? I've learned the Item Retrieving Talisman, but I didn't manage to release it in the catastrophe belt just now, probably because I'm not practiced enough yet." "Uh-huh, Teacher Cao told me." "Teacher Cao also said she's never seen a freshman grasp talismanic magic so quickly before, She said my talent is very likely not D Grade but A Grade or even beyond. I plan to go to the testing center to re-test when I have the time." "And then?" "What?" "Once it turns out your talent is different, then what? What do you plan to do?" Ma Lu asked. "I don't know, but it should be a good thing if my talent can improve, right? Aren't you planning to challenge Lingnan? Maybe I'll be able to help then," Qiutong gestured in the air with her hands. "Oh, you want to be my secret weapon?" "Secret weapon, wow, that's a great idea! Since I'm new, everyone probably won't be on their guard against me. I might really be able to secure a victory. "But if that's the case, I can't go for talent testing anymore. If others find out I have A Grade Talent, they'll probably start paying more attention to me." As she spoke, Qiutong couldn't help but lower her voice. "Then you better work hard," Ma Lu said, "To be a secret weapon, knowing just one talismanic magic won't be enough." "Seriously, how do you plan to defeat Lingnan?" Qiutong asked curiously. "I have a friend who goes to school there. Every time she comes home for the holidays, she tells me they have a guy named Luo Hengyi who's really tough. I think that guy is getting worldly." "Still thinking." "Still thinking? Wait, don't you have a surefire way to win?" "Challenging, especially when it's the underdog challenging the one on top, isn't it normal to face setbacks?" "Then why do you dare to challenge Lingnan?" Qiutong was shocked. "Because there's no loss even if I lose," Ma Lu said truthfully, "We're in last place anyway. If we win, we can move up 10 places, and if we lose, we won't fall any further. So of course we're going to go for it. "As for why it's Lingnan, it's because I just randomly asked who was in 157th place, I didn't know the situation with Lingnan before, and I didn't know they had Luo Hengyi."