Chapter 140 The Fourth Place

Covered in soot and wielding his blade, Jiang Xiao hurried upstairs to Principal Yang's office.

But he was asked to wait a bit.

And that "bit" turned out to be an hour and a half.

Principal Yang was undoubtedly a big shot, and Jiang Xiao didn't dare leave without permission. Bored, he looked out the window, silently absorbing and replenishing his Star Power.

While the floor also housed the vice-principal's office, it also had other teachers' offices. Jiang Xiao, standing there with his blade outside Principal Yang's door, presented a scene that anyone would find... well, interesting.

After an hour and a half, a young man emerged from the office. He looked to be about 21 or 22 years old, tall, and strongly built – a Star Warrior at first glance.

And what excited Jiang Xiao was that he recognized this young man!

Zhao Wenlong!

One of the key students promoted in the Imperial Capital Star Warrior Individual Competition, ranked second in individual combat strength on the school's official website, and a contestant with a very good chance of being selected for the national team roster!

Zhao Wenlong was 189cm tall, with thick, jet-black hair. The hair at the back of his head was trimmed short and neat, while the bangs in the front were thick and slightly curled.

His dark eyes were bright and piercing as he looked down at Jiang Xiao and said, "Principal Yang will see you now."

Hoo~

That accent...

With that, Zhao Wenlong walked away.

He passed by Jiang Xiao, leaving a gust of wind in his wake...

Inside the office, Principal Yang, who had initially worn a kind and benevolent expression, looked even more curious when he saw Jiang Xiao's condition.

Jiang Xiao waved his hands repeatedly and said, "Uh, Principal Yang, whatever you're thinking, I guarantee it's not what you imagine."

Principal Yang gestured for Jiang Xiao to come in, watched him turn around to close the door, and asked with concern, "Are you settling in well at school?"

"Uh..." Jiang Xiao scratched his head and said, "Settling in, very well."

Principal Yang: "Are you satisfied with the training courses for wasteland apprentices?"

Jiang Xiao nodded repeatedly: "Satisfied, especially satisfied."

Principal Yang then nodded and said, "You had a disagreement with the teacher?"

"Not really a disagreement, he bullied a kid and ambushed me," Jiang Xiao said aggrievedly.

Principal Yang was stunned.

A wasteland instructor? Ambush you?

Jiang Xiao explained, "With the help of my wasteland instructor, Qin Wangchuan, I had the good fortune to ask Instructor Jiang Hong for a recommendation letter. He probably wanted to spar with me; I probably had to win to get the recommendation letter."

Jiang Xiao's series of "probably"s made it hard to understand.

In fact, Jiang Xiao was also confused; he didn't know what Instructor Jiang Hong's criteria were.

Was it to defeat Instructor Jiang Hong within three minutes?

Jiang Xiao was deeply skeptical of this.

But Principal Yang put aside this vague evaluation criteria and asked, "You want to participate in the World Cup? You need a recommendation letter from a practical teacher?"

Jiang Xiao nodded repeatedly: "Yes, I've already got two, I just need one more."

This greatly exceeded Principal Yang's expectations: "Two?"

Jiang Xiao: "Ah, two."

Principal Yang pondered for a moment, looked at Jiang Xiao with his scorched clothes and bloodied face, and suddenly smiled, asking, "All achieved through this kind of ruckus?"

"Hey, Principal Yang, you've misunderstood." Jiang Xiao hurriedly explained, "It's just that I look like I'm covered in blood, holding a knife, and about to chop someone, but I'm actually a law-abiding good kid."

Principal Yang: "......"

Jiang Xiao quickly leaned the knife against the corner of the wall, revealing a kind smile on his dust- and blood-covered face, showing off his white teeth...

Tsk, tsk...

Jiang Xiao continued, "I was just knocking on the door at the duty room. What bandit politely stands at someone's door, knocks, and then politely tells them, 'I'm going in to chop you up'?"

Principal Yang nodded thoughtfully; well... that made sense.

Jiang Xiao quickly organized his words and said, "I've been training in the stadium, and this miserable appearance is from the sparring earlier. Instructor Jiang Hong suddenly came to the stadium and zapped me with lightning without a word!

I don't even know what's going on; he just rained lightning down on me. I'm telling you, that lightning, crackling and popping, was really scary."

Principal Yang: "......"

Jiang Xiao wiped some blood from his face and said, "I just look miserable, but I didn't lose. Electrotherapy is useless for a kid like me; I'll still go online and play on my phone...

Uh, anyway, I had just reacted from the surprise attack and was looking for a chance to counterattack when Instructor Jiang Hong ran away!"

Principal Yang: "Ran away?"

"Ah! Ran away!" Jiang Xiao nodded seriously, "He came and zapped me without a word. When I was about to counterattack, he ran away. I figured I had taken a lightning strike for nothing, and my head is still buzzing. I at least had to ask him what the standard was for writing a recommendation letter..."

Principal Yang poured a cup of tea while looking Jiang Xiao up and down, and said, "Which World Cup selection team did you join? Why are you getting a recommendation letter alone? Where's your team?"

Jiang Xiao scratched his head embarrassedly and smiled awkwardly: "Hehe, I'm participating in the individual competition."

"Cough, cough." Principal Yang had just taken a sip of tea and almost spat it out.

Proof that the old guy was still steady.

He forcefully suppressed his cough, and placed the small teacup steadily on the table before... and then coughed.

Principal Yang looked at Jiang Xiao. Despite remembering him as a mischievous boy, and his speaking style being quite exaggerated,

From the boy's blood-stained face, Principal Yang saw seriousness and earnestness, and in those bright eyes, Principal Yang saw a trace of persistence.

Principal Yang confirmed again: "Individual competition?"

Jiang Xiao nodded: "World Cup, individual competition."

Principal Yang: "You just said that you already got two recommendation letters from the wasteland instructors?"

Jiang Xiao corrected: "One was written by my instructor, Qin Wangchuan, and the other was written by Teacher Fang."

Principal Yang: "Teacher Fang? Which Teacher Fang?"

Jiang Xiao said, "Fang Xingyun."

Although Principal Yang's expression didn't change much, he was obviously stunned for a moment and said, "Fang Xingyun?"

Jiang Xiao nodded matter-of-factly: "Yes, Teacher Fang Xingyun."

Principal Yang's expression became serious, and he confirmed again: "Practical course teacher, Fang Xingyun, of the Imperial Capital Star Warrior University."

Jiang Xiao scratched his head; he still didn't have much contact with Principal Yang.

With more contact, Jiang Xiao realized that this old principal was even more talkative than him?

An idea struck Principal Yang, and he said, "Bring the two recommendation letters here and let me take a look."

Of course, Jiang Xiao had no reason to refuse, and turned to pick up the knife: "Wait a moment, Principal, I'll be right back."

With that, Jiang Xiao's body flashed, and he disappeared without a trace, along with the knife.

Principal Yang raised his eyebrows slightly, looked in the direction where Jiang Xiao had disappeared, and thoughtfully picked up the small teacup on the table.

Fifteen minutes later, Jiang Xiao, with a clean face and changed clothes, returned to the front of the principal's office with a file bag in his hand and gently knocked on the door.

Principal Yang's voice came from inside the door: "Come in."

Jiang Xiao walked in with the file bag, took out two recommendation letters from it, and handed them to Principal Yang's desk.

Principal Yang first picked up Qin Wangchuan's recommendation letter, and put on his rimless glasses from the desk, placing them on the bridge of his nose. He carefully read the letter, seemingly intentionally and seemingly unintentionally asking, "What was the Star Technique that made you disappear just now?"

Jiang Xiao replied: "Platinum · Shi Kong Zhi Xi (Space-Time Rift), the reward for the most valuable student of the All-Star Champion."

Principal Yang seemed to have read about it as well, after all, Qin Wangchuan's recommendation letter detailed Jiang Xiao's Star Techniques.

Principal Yang nodded silently as he read: "It seems that Instructor Qin thinks very highly of you, writing in detail the reasons for recommending you, and attaching your detailed information. Xiao Pi, it seems you are more outstanding than most of your peers."

Jiang Xiao shrugged his shoulders and said, "My peers should still be in the second year of high school, so... probably?"

Principal Yang, with glasses on the bridge of his nose, looked up at Jiang Xiao, but smiled on his face: "You are not as people imagine, on the contrary, your Star Map is unusually sensitive to support-type Star Techniques."

Jiang Xiao didn't respond to this.

Principal Yang put down Qin Wangchuan's recommendation letter and picked up Fang Xingyun's recommendation letter.

This time, he didn't need glasses, because the eight large characters written with flourish on it were very clear.

Principal Yang's hand trembled slightly, and he slowly placed the two recommendation letters on the table, looking at Jiang Xiao across from him.

Jiang Xiao also stood at attention, waiting for the principal to speak.

Unexpectedly, the principal leaned back in his chair and sighed with emotion.

"Xiao Pi, I'll ask you a question," Principal Yang said slowly.

"Go ahead," Jiang Xiao looked at Principal Yang curiously.

Principal Yang asked, "What is our country's best result in the World Cup individual competition?"

Jiang Xiao said, "First! We've won first! We've won three championships! In 1997, 2003, and 2007! Mu Yan and Mu Qianying, two 'Soldier Kings' from the Xiangnan Military Academy. Lin An, the myth of the Shanghai Star Warrior University."

Principal Yang nodded and asked, "Which other year did we achieve good results?"

Jiang Xiao blinked his eyes and said, "It seems we only won those three championships?"

Principal Yang nodded silently, picked up Fang Xingyun's recommendation letter, and said, "Teacher Fang is your senior. She graduated from the Imperial Capital Star Warrior University 12 years ago."

Jiang Xiao raised his eyebrows; he didn't know that.

Principal Yang continued, "Fang Xingyun has excellent grades and character. After graduation, she stayed at the school to teach directly. This year is her 12th year of service.

Because of her extremely strong personal strength, she has been a practical course teacher since her first year of teaching. In the past 12 years, many, many students have asked her to write recommendation letters, but she hasn't written a single one."

Jiang Xiao widened his eyes slightly, surprised.

Principal Yang looked at Jiang Xiao with a smile and said, "This is her first recommendation letter in 12 years of service."

With that, Principal Yang pulled out a piece of paper with the Imperial Capital Star Warrior University letterhead from the desk, wrote a large "Approved" character on it, and signed his name below: Yang Chenshan.

Principal Yang smiled and beckoned to Jiang Xiao, signaling him to come over.

Jiang Xiao swallowed, feeling like he was dreaming, seeming to know what was about to happen.

Principal Yang stuffed the three recommendation letters into the file bag, placed it on the desk, and said softly, "Twelve years ago, Fang Xingyun, as an excellent student of the Imperial Capital Star Warrior University, represented the country in the competition and won fourth place in the 2005 World Cup individual competition."

Jiang Xiao felt the hairs on his body stand on end, and for some reason, he suddenly got goosebumps.

Principal Yang sighed and said softly, "Twelve years ago, it was indeed a long time ago. You were too young at that time. And in this world, many people are like you and only remember the names of the champions. Or... at worst, it has to be the top three."

Jiang Xiao pursed his lips, unsure what to do for a moment.

Principal Yang pressed the file bag on the table with one hand and slowly pushed it in front of Jiang Xiao, and said, "Don't let her down."