Female Protagonist Assistance System

Chapter 21 : . Dating on Public Funds

The group followed Xiao Yu through the back door, smoothly arriving at the center of the square. They did face some tests along the way, but these were inconsequential to Xiao Han.

Reaching the square's center, they saw an open green cloak. From here, Xiao Han and the others could still see the sea of people outside.

Xiao Yu greeted a few friends and introduced her clan members to them. Xiao Yu's friends were as easygoing as her, very friendly.

After chatting for a bit, a girl called Xue Ni suddenly whispered to Xiao Yu: "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Luo Bu also came for this recruitment. And I heard on the way that he's advanced to a four-star Dou Practitioner."

Hearing this, Xiao Yu's smiling face immediately darkened, saying with some impatience: "Why did that annoying fellow come too?"

"Isn't it to see our beautiful Xiao Yu? He's been thinking about you day and night all the way here," Xue Ni teased.

Xiao Yu kicked a nearby pebble in frustration: "Why is that guy so annoying? I've already told him I like someone else, how can he be so shameless?"

Xue Ni shrugged inelegantly: "That's men for you. The more they can't have, the more they refuse to give up. In a word, they're just cheap."

Xiao Ning and Xiao Yan, also men: "..."

Could you please consider others when discussing such topics?!

Xiao Yu snorted: "Ignore him. Mentor Ruo Lin is leading the team this time. He wouldn't dare to be too presumptuous!"

Hearing this, Xue Ni's gaze became even more teasing.

Xiao Yu fake coughed to cover her internal embarrassment, then turned somewhat flustered to Xiao Han and the others: "Follow me into the tent."

Outside the tent, twenty-some young men and women were sitting on the ground under the scorching sun. Although sweat streamed down their faces due to the high temperature, their expressions were full of nervousness. They seemed to be new students who had just passed the preliminary test.

Bypassing these people, Xiao Yu led the group directly towards the tent, but was stopped at the entrance.

The person blocking them was a young man in gray-white clothes. He stood smiling at the door, his gaze fixed unabashedly on Xiao Yu.

"Xiao Yu, long time no see," the young man's smile was warm, but to an old hand like Xiao Han, it seemed excessively fake.

Xiao Yu's smile faded: "Luo Bu, long time no see."

"Are you bringing people for testing? But Mentor Ruo Lin isn't here yet, so you might have to wait a while."

Xiao Yu's gaze turned cold: "Then why are you stopping me?"

"Xiao Yu, as an old student, you should know the rules for admission. These people will have to wait outside for half an hour. Nowadays, new students are becoming increasingly impatient. Dampening their spirits a bit during admission is beneficial for their future life at the academy," Luo Bu said with an expression of 'this is all for their own good', making Xiao Yu's expression grow colder and colder.

"Luo Bu, I don't care if you say these things to ignorant new students, but don't apply these rotten rules to the people I brought!" Xiao Yu said coldly.

Luo Bu's face also became somewhat unpleasant. He liked Xiao Yu—who in Jia Nan Academy's outer court didn't know that? But Xiao Yu never gave him the time of day. Now, the person he liked was scolding him so disrespectfully in front of everyone, causing Luo Bu to feel a surge of angry embarrassment.

Luo Bu took a deep breath and put on his fake smile again: "How about this? They don't have to go out, but there are so many new students watching outside. If only they don't have to bake in the sun, others might feel displeased."

"What exactly do you want?" Xiao Yu was getting impatient.

Luo Bu said: "How about this? I'll call over a one-star Dou Practitioner classmate. If anyone you brought can defeat him, you won't have to go out and bake. How's that?"

Hearing this, Xiao Yu's expression became strange for a moment. Then, she turned her gaze to Gu Xun'er.

Gu Xun'er blinked, her smile very harmless.

Seeing Xiao Yu's expression change, Luo Bu smiled, a trace of smugness flashing in his eyes.

"Luo Bu, considering we've been classmates for several years, I think I should warn you," Xiao Yu said. "This little sister behind me is already a seven-star Dou Practitioner. If you don't want to lose face, you should step aside."

Hearing this, Luo Bu's face changed immediately: "That's impossible!"

Xiao Yu gave a cold laugh: "Don't believe it? Fine, want to try yourself?"

Luo Bu suddenly clenched his fists, almost unable to maintain his expression.

Honestly, Luo Bu didn't believe that this girl who looked only fifteen or sixteen was a seven-star Dou Practitioner, but he didn't dare to gamble. If he really lost to this girl, he would truly lose face today.

But before he could make a decision, a extremely gentle voice came from not far away: "Oh? A seven-star Dou Practitioner? It seems I've struck gold today."

This voice was as gentle as water, as if one would willingly drown in it. Xiao Han's ears twitched slightly, and like everyone else, she looked towards the source of the voice.

From the shadows of the tent, a woman in green clothes was smiling and walking out slowly, her pretty face wearing a gentle smile. Her eyes sparkled, and her soft gaze towards everyone was like clear water quietly flowing through one's heart, making people involuntarily immerse themselves in that unique feminine gentleness and liveliness.

Jia Nan Academy Outer Court Mentor, Ruo Lin.

Almost the moment she saw the woman, Xiao Han had the answer about her identity.

"Mentor Ruo Lin, Yu'er has missed you so much!" Seeing the gentle woman appear inside the tent, Xiao Yu immediately called out in delight, her cold smile fading, replaced by a joyful expression. She pounced forward, grinning as she tightly hugged Ruo Lin's slender waist.

"Yu'er, did you have a pleasant holiday?" Embracing Xiao Yu, Ruo Lin asked with a smile.

"Not bad." Smiling mischievously, Xiao Yu bit Mentor Ruo Lin's tender earlobe and teased softly: "Mentor is becoming more and more gentle. At this rate, any man caught by Mentor in the future might be hopelessly ensnared by this pool of gentleness."

Though the words were teasing, Xiao Yu managed to give them a strong flavor of aged vinegar.

A faint blush rose on her pretty face as Ruo Lin shook her head helplessly. She fondly patted Xiao Yu's head, then nodded towards Xiao Han and the others, saying softly: "Are those the people you brought? They seem quite good."

"Of course." Proudly puffing out her chest, Xiao Yu then turned her head to glare fiercely at Luo Bu, complaining in a low voice: "That guy is getting more and more arrogant."

Ruo Lin chuckled, raising her hand to rub Xiao Yu's head, looking like she was soothing a jealous puppy: "Everyone in Jia Nan Academy knows he likes you. You snubbed him so publicly, of course he'd find an excuse to make things difficult."

"Who cares about him! Besides, I already have you. He's still prancing around like a clown, it's simply boring," Xiao Yu said, then looked accusingly at Ruo Lin, now sounding aggrieved. "Mentor Ruo Lin, you're actually indulging him in harassing me. Don't you love me anymore?"

"How could that be?" Ruo Lin smiled gently, glancing at Luo Bu. "I've long been annoyed by him too, but as a mentor, it's not good to excessively target a single student."

"I understand your difficulty... but you have to make it up to me, okay?" Xiao Yu said, acting unreasonable.

Seeing Xiao Yu's antics, Ruo Lin's eyes curved in a smile: "What kind of compensation do you want?"

Xiao Yu's eyes rolled, then she chuckled, burying her head in Ruo Lin's shoulder: "Mm~ How about Mentor Ruo Lin stays at Yu'er's house tonight?"

"You..." Ruo Lin's voice was helpless, but full of indulgence.

With her keen senses, Xiao Han heard the couple's conversation clearly. She was somewhat surprised, never expecting that Xiao Yu, who usually carried herself with a big sister aura, would act like this in front of the person she liked.

A puppy?

Nodding, Ruo Lin released Xiao Yu and slowly stepped forward, smiling at the dozens of new students under the scorching sun: "Students, please come in."

Hearing this, the new students who had been sweating profusely under the sun immediately lit up with joy, hurriedly standing up and scrambling into the shade of the tent.

Raising her eyes slightly, Mentor Ruo Lin smiled lazily: "Students, congratulations on passing the preliminary test. You've now essentially entered the gates of Jia Nan Academy. However, because the academy needs to differentiate students' potential, I need to know your exact current strength."

"Eight stages of Dou Disciple belongs to F-grade potential. This is Jia Nan Academy's standard."

"Nine stages of Dou Disciple belongs to E-grade potential."

"One-star Dou Practitioner is D-grade, two-star Dou Practitioner is C-grade. And so on, with the highest grade being S-grade for five-star Dou Practitioner. Of course, the age limit here is under twenty."

"In the past ten-plus years, Jia Nan Academy has only encountered one new student with S-grade potential. That little demoness is quite something in the academy now." Covering her red lips and laughing softly, Ruo Lin's long eyelashes fluttered gently. "But it seems this mentor's luck isn't bad this year either."

As she spoke, she looked meaningfully at Gu Xun'er.

[According to this standard, wouldn't the host be god-level?] the system said gleefully.

Xiao Han felt somewhat helpless.

How did this system jump from SABCDEF to god-level?

"Alright, let's begin. Start from the left, report your name, level, and age," Ruo Lin said softly, holding an ink brush in her delicate hand.

Seeing that registration was about to start, Xiao Yu and the others in the tent also sat down with interest to watch.

Gu Xun'er seemed somewhat bored. She and Xiao Han were standing at the far right, the last two to report.

Of the nearly twenty people who had reported so far, most were below Dou Practitioner level. Of course, there were also some who originally had nine stages of Dou Disciple but had failed to break through to Dou Practitioner and had fallen back to eight stages.

By the time it was nearly Xiao Han's turn, among all the previous people, the most outstanding was only a seventeen-year-old one-star Dou Practitioner. According to the potential grading, this should only be D-grade. However, even this made Ruo Lin somewhat pleased, after all, becoming a one-star Dou Practitioner at seventeen was already quite good potential.

Probably because most of his energy had been focused on learning alchemy, Xiao Yan had only risen two stages in half a year and was now at nine stages of Dou Disciple.

Xiao Han was still lost in thought when she suddenly heard Gu Xun'er's voice beside her:

"Xiao Xun'er, eight-star Dou Practitioner, sixteen years old."