Nie Yan's identity had long since stopped being a secret. Many people already knew he was Nirvana Flame.
Even so, if it could save him some headache, he would rather maintain a low profile. He understood what kind of stir the name Nirvana Flame would create.
The Top Military Academy was a gathering place of the strong. If people found out he was Nirvana Flame, he would receive an endless stream of challenges every day.
"Have you guys heard about the famous clubs in our school?" Xu Yan asked in a gossipy tone.
"What clubs?" Nie Yan's interest was piqued.
Fei Zhe and Xia Tianyu also seemed curious.
"In fact, when I first entered the Top Military Academy, I didn't know about them either. I only found out after Big Sis told me. These clubs are really famous in Conviction. If we were to talk about the one that's gaining the most attention lately, it would be Azure Windchime," Xu Yan said.
Azure Windchime? Nie Yan's mind trembled. He had heard of this club before. Its founder wasn't a stranger but rather Asskickers United's very own Painted Muslin! Their members included many top players from the guild, like Undying Scoundrel, Summer Bug, Lofty Shadow, and so on. They had more than 60 members altogether. It was rumoured the requirements for joining were quite high. They all knew each other in real life, and their rules were extremely strict. Nie Yan really disliked the existence of this kind of exclusive club within the guild. It was simply too difficult to manage. He even had thoughts of forcefully dissolving it. Later on, they stopped recruiting people. So, he dropped the subject. As long as they didn't cause any trouble, he was fine with it. He didn't expect Azure Windchime to be a student club of the Top Military Academy.
Seeing he had successfully attracted Nie Yan and the others' attention, Xu Yan said in a proud tone, "Guess what? Yours truly is actually a member of Azure Windchime! I only joined two days ago. All 60 plus members of the club belong to Asskickers United. Painted Muslin is our Big Sis and an instructor in the management department. There are many famous experts in there that you've probably already heard of, like Undying Scoundrel, Summer Bug, Lofty Shadow, and Monochrome."
Xu Yan snuck a peak at the expression of the three people in front of him. Fei Zhe and Xia Tianyu both looked envious. Even though Xie Tianyu was quite strong at Level 78, he couldn't hold a candle to Asskickers United's elites. With Xu Yan joining Azure Windchime, he would have the backing and support of these experts. His future was bright.
Seeing the pensive look on Nie Yan's face, Xiu Yan couldn't tell what was going through his mind.
"Apart from Azure Windchime, there's another famous club in the Top Military Academy, which I'm sure everybody has already heard of before. They're called Bloodfiends. Their five most famous players nearly assassinated Nirvana Flame. Their leader is a student here, and their vice leader is a professional player who's pretty notorious in that circle. Needless to say, those five players are really strong. For obvious reasons, Azure Windchime and Bloodfiends don't get along. The two clubs frequently get into disputes. In a one versus one, Bloodfiends are no match for the several top members in Azure Windchime. However, since those five always move together, there's nothing Azure Windchime can do to them," Xu Yan said.
Xu Yan's words rang like a clap of thunder in Nie Yan's ears. He didn't expect that Asskickers United's sworn enemy, Bloodfiends, were also from the Top Military Academy. This place was truly filled with hidden dragons and crouching tigers.
"There's one more famous club called Heavenly Kings, but they're extremely secretive. I've only heard about them from Big Sis. Everyone who gets admitted to this club is at the level of a heavenly king. Their joining requirements are far more stringent than those of Azure Windchime and Bloodfiends. Every year, only a few people get recruited. All the historical geniuses of the Top Military Academy have come out of this club. They aren't that big. From their creation to now, they've always had around 20 or so members. They're all big shots, no doubt. It would already be impressive if just one or two from our command faculty or the machine combat faculty get selected. Let me tell you something. If you ever get asked to join, don't hesitate to accept. Every person there is a higher up of a major corporation or someone with a lot of authority. The wealth and connections they possess isn't something you can imagine. If you get taken in as one of them, you're basically set for life. Heavenly Kings is really secretive, though. Very few people know about them. Many even think this club is just a rumour and doesn't actually exist." Xu Yan had a look of reverence when talking about Heavenly Kings. The people in this club were undoubtedly existences that couldn't be provoked.
"Have any of the people in Azure Windchime ever joined Heavenly Kings?" Fei Zhe asked. This was also the first time he had heard about this club, so he was curious.
Xu Yan shook his head. "Big Sis once told me that none of us are even close to being qualified."
Hearing Xu Yan's words, everyone's heart shook. He likely wasn't joking.
Nie Yan couldn't help but wonder what kind of club Heavenly King was.
"The Top Military Academy's rules are extremely strict. Fighting outside of school related activities and sporting events is strictly forbidden, so everyone settles their disputes by carrying out duels in Conviction. Apart from Azure Windchime and Bloodfiends, the Top Military Academy has at least over a dozen other special clubs both large and small. Even the obscure ones are quite strong. All of you should take care not to provoke them. A couple of them belong to the Satreen Empire. As for how strong they are, I'm not sure. Over on the side of the Viridian Empire, every now and then the students here will set up an arena and hold a tournament inside the game. It's rumoured that if you perform well, you'll have beauties sending love letters to you the very next day. So, you guys interested?" Xu Yan smirked.
"When is the date of the next tournament?" Fei Zhe asked enthusiastically.
"I think the next one will be held in a week." Xu Yan glanced at Nie Yan and Xia Tianyun. He couldn't tell what Nie Yan was thinking, while Xia Tianyun seemed to hold some interest.
The closer Xu Yan looked at Nie Yan's face, the more he felt that Nie Yan looked like someone he knew. However, he didn't dare to confirm. He held his suspicions in his heart.
"Nie Yan, are you going to participate too? Oh right, you never told us what your class and level is," Fei Zhe suddenly recalled.
As Nie Yan was wondering how to evade their question, a 28-year-old beauty with an explosive figure entered the classroom. Wearing a tight-fitting OL dress, she had a large bosom and firm buttocks.
"The instructor is here," Xu Yan whispered. Seeing this beautiful instructor, he was practically drooling from his mouth.
"The instructor, she's really pretty..." Fei Zhe gulped.
Xia Tianyu's attention was also stolen by the instructor.
These three fellow were still young, to be so easily enamored by a beauty. Nie Yan breathed a sigh of relief. He had thrown off their questions.
"Hello, class. My name is Li Ru..." Li Ru introduced herself, then went on to explain the history of the Top Military Academy as well as a few things they should know as students here.
Nie Yan didn't carefully pay attention to what Li Ru was saying. He was absentmindedly wondering about whether he should meet up with Painted Muslin, Undying Scoundrel, and the others. Thinking again, he decided to put it off for now. If they found out he was attending the Top Military Academy, it would probably cause a massive stir.
Nie Yan didn't want to add any more chaos to his daily life.
After Li Ru finished speaking, all the students in the class began introducing themselves. Nie Yan was ranked at the top of the class. This was definitely a first. Him entering the command faculty by achieving number one in the entrance exam's overall score naturally raised eyebrows from his classmates.
Nie Yan randomly said a few words, purposefully avoiding talking about his ID and other information related to Conviction.
Of the people who introduced themselves next, some revealed their ID and some didn't. Like this, Nie Yan wasn't alone.
The command department was full of talented individuals. Many of the people ranked below him only fell short by a small margin.
Skimming over the list of first year students, Nie Yan spotted a familiar name-Qin Han. That fellow was here too! His overall score was five points lower than his. He was rank one in the machine combat faculty. Nie Yan still recalled Qin Han saying he would enter Conviction. Soon after the Monet Financial Group entered the game. Their activities were extremely low key. As for how much strength they had already accumulated, he had no idea.
Apart from this, Liu Rui was in the finance faculty, Jiang Yingyu the art faculty, and Xie Yao the management faculty.
Nie Yan familiarized himself with his fellow classmates. A few of them looked at him with unkind eyes. His achievements in the entrance exams was really too eye-catching. It seemed like they were gunning for his position.
After Li Ru handed the syllabus out to everyone, they were dismissed for the day.
"Fei Zhe, Xia Tianyu, and I are heading to the VR room to PvP. You want to join?" Xu Yan asked, patting Nie Yan's shoulder.
"Sorry, I'm a little busy. Maybe next time," Nie Yan politely declined.
"Ah, alright then." Xu Yan seemed a bit disappointed.
Seeing Xu Yan and the others leave, Nie Yan headed straight for the gym. The Top Military Academy's facilities were top of the line, containing all sorts of fitness testing machines. It had been a long time since he tested his physical prowess.
Nie Yan could feel himself growing stronger by the day using the game capsule. He had once asked Xie Yao if this was the same for everyone. However, she replied that she didn't notice anything different despite using the exact same model of game capsule as him.
Could it all be just in his head? He would find out now!
After a while, Nie Yan entered the gym. There were a lot of people working out, not just first years but second years and third years too. Fourth years were on the scarcer side. This wasn't odd. Their classrooms were in different buildings.
Nie Yan signed in with his student card, then impatiently walked in.