Nie Yan took Xie Yao, Painted Muslin, Undying Scoundrel, and the others from Azure Windchime out for drinks.
Meanwhile in the Top Military Academy, news of Nie Yan being Nirvana Flame spread like wildfire through the Top Military Academy until it basically became common knowledge, creating a huge uproar. Furthermore, the fact that Xie Yao was Asskickers United's number one Holy Mage, Yao Yao, also became widely known.
Nirvana Flame was undoubtedly a legendary figure in the eyes of Conviction's players. The only ones who could rival him were Soaring Angel of Angel Corps and Plenty of Fallen Angel. They were all overlords of their own regions and unreachable existences to ordinary players.
Who would've expected such a famous player to appear in the Top Military Academy? Not to mention he was a fellow student and only a freshman at that. This revelation was simply too shocking.
No wonder War God Lei Su issued out a challenge to Nie Yan. From their perspective, given how godly Nirvana Flame was inside the game, he was probably pretty strong in real life as well. After finding out Nie Yan was Nirvana Flame, everyone automatically placed him up there in the rankings alongside Lei Su and the other strong fighters.
Before long, the gang found a suitable restaurant. They sat down together, and the celebrations began. After some self introductions, Nie Yan finally knew who was who. He never expected so many Asskickers United elites to be students of the Top Military Academy, such as Painted Muslin, Undying Scoundrel, Edgeless, Monochrome, Lustboy, and Natural Fiend. There was also Mistaken Smile who had already graduated long ago. He worked during the day. So, he couldn't make it.
Besides the elites, there were also many second-rate guild members. Nie Yan could also recognize their names.
The Top Military Academy was full of talented people. Everyone who joined Asskickers United was definitely skilled After running the figures, the average level of Azure Windchime's members was 93. Even the weakest among them hovered around Level 90.
Nie Yan chatted merrily with everyone. Undying Scoundrel still deeply revered him. Especially after witnessing him defeat Song Chen and the 35 other fourth years from the mech combat faculty, his admiration for him only grew deeper. As for the others, even though Nie Yan was younger than most of them, they still viewed him as their boss and treated him with respect.
Nie Yan swept his eyes over the group. Painted Muslin was a teacher's assistant. She was a few years older than them and occasionally teased him. The others were also similar to their in-game personas.
Painted Muslin was undoubtedly a tall beauty with a graceful figure and fairly amiable temperament. It was no surprise all the members in Azure Windchime called her big sis; Undying Scoundrel behaved exactly the same as he did in the game. He was a bit roguish and a huge chatterbox; Monochrome was somewhat taciturn and fairly reserved; Edgeless was pretty rambunctious and carefree, a stark difference to how he behaved in-game, to the extent you wouldn't believe the two were the same person; Lustboy was still a tender youth. He was the youngest out of all of them; Natural Fiend was a few months older than Lustboy. He appeared innocent and well-behaved, but his mind was full of devious tricks...
Nie Yan felt gratified finally getting to interact with all these people in real life.
"Boss, you were amazing! You beat them all! They couldn't even touch you! You should teach us some time!" Lustboy said.
"Sure. Just come find me in the command faculty after class," Nie Yan smiled.
Seeing Nie Yan chatting happily with Undying Scoundrel and the others and everyone treating him so respectfully, Xie Yao couldn't help but feel proud of him. Getting such a group of brilliant, heaven-blessed elites to admire you from the bottom of their hearts wasn't a simple matter.
Looking over the room, Nie Yan turned to Xu Yan and asked, "How come Fu Guangtao isn't here?
"Huh, why would invite that guy here?" Xu Yan still held a grudge against Fu Guangtao.
"Let bygones be bygones. Didn't he also stand up with you guys when Song Chen and his gang came to our class? From this alone, I think it's alright to forgive him. There's no point in holding a grudge over such a small matter, right? Call him over to have a drink with us," Nie Yan said. Even though he had no plans of assimilating Fu Guangtao into his camp, their past grievances had already been settled.
Xu Yan, Xia Tianyu, Fei Zhe, and the others pondered for a moment. They had a new understanding of Nie Yan's personality.
Xu Yan nodded. "Alright, I'll ring him up and tell him to come over."
After a while, Fu Guangtao came over. He could hardly contain his excitement. He didn't expect Nie Yan to take the initiative to invite him, making him feel all the more ashamed. His actions previously had really been out of line. Though he had no extravagant hopes of joining Azure Windchime, he at least hoped to mend his relationship with Nie Yan.
After spending the entire afternoon drinking, eating, and chatting, the get-together finally came to an end.
Nie Yan and Xie Yao bid everyone farewell before hopping on a bus heading home.
"I really enjoyed today. I finally got to meet Painted Muslin," Xie Yao said with a bright smile. Painted Muslin was one of her closest friends in the game.
Nie Yan faintly smiled. After getting to know Painted Muslin and the others, Xie Yao's time in the Top Military Academy would no longer be as lonely.
While on the bus, Nie Yan checked the Top Military Academy's forums on his phone. He discovered it was overflowing with discussion, and he was the hot topic. Comments were flooding in endlessly.
「 Flame is actually a freshman in our school. That's so crazy!」
「Our school's competitive Conviction team is saved! With Nirvana Flame joining, East University, North Institute, and all those other schools better step aside!」
「Do you really think Nirvana Flame has the time to join such a boring club?」
...
The students on the forums were chatting about all sorts of different topics, most of which was related to Nie Yan. Someone posted up an image of him and Xie Yao walking together on campus. He looked fairly ordinary, far lacking compared to those pretty boys most girls drooled over. Yet he was together with a beautiful goddess like Xie Yao. It would be strange if people didn't gossip about them. Previously, many people felt Nie Yan wasn't good enough for Xie Yao. But now the two were suddenly being labeled as a match made in heaven.
Seeing these meaningless discussions, Nie Yan chuckled to himself.
After returning home, there was still plenty of time before evening. Nie Yan and Xie Yao went to their private gym and spent the next few hours exercising.
Recently, Nie Yan had fitted the villa with various exercise equipment. Like this, he could test his physical fitness at home. He discovered his punching force, squats, and so on had all risen sharply. This was definitely a pleasant surprise.
Nie Yan punched out in front of him. His fist colliding with the air produced a loud cracking sound.
After becoming a Shadow Dancer, Nie Yan felt like his body had undergone a world-shaking transformation. It was probably related to the game capsule. The models he and Xie Yao used could promote muscle growth through electrical stimulation and the nutrient fluid they were submersed in. There were probably also many other factors at work that led to his shocking progress.
...
In a private workout room back in the Top Military Academy, Lei Su was supporting a 100 kg barbell on his shoulders as he continuously did squats. He was already soaked in sweat.
Xiao Yu pushed open the door and entered the workout room. He walked over to Lei Su and said, "I just got my hands on something interesting. Want to take a look?"
Finishing one last rep, Lei Su set the barbell down. He then turned to Xiao Yu and asked, "What sort of thing?"
"Look for yourself." Xiao Yu tossed the phone to Lei Su.
Lei Su opened the video. The scene of Nie Yan facing off against Song Chen and the 35 other fourth years from the mech combat faculty entered his eyes.
"Is that Song Chen?" Lei Su asked in surprise. He was familiar with Song Chen's strength. In the last school-wide fighting competition, he had placed sixth. He was a fairly decent fighter. There were several other he recognized, all of whom were fairly strong students in the mech combat faculty. Yet Nie Yan completely wiped the floor with this group of people! This was too frightening!
"It looks like he's grown even stronger than before. Judging from what's shown in the video, his punch force definitely exceeds 1,000 kg. Imagine that! It's barely been a couple of months, and he's improved so much! This guy's growth is way too freakish!" Xiao Yu let out a deep sigh.
Lei Su bitterly smiled. "No matter how hard I train, it seems the gap between us is only growing wider. Just what kind of hellish training does he do?"
"We've been told to make contact with him," Xiao Yu said. He had already received orders from the seniors. No matter what it takes, they had to recruit Nie Yan into Heavenly Kings. His strength simply couldn't be ignored.
"I'll do it," Lei Su said. He and Nie Yan were bound to cross blades inside the game anyway.
"Alright, then I'll leave it to you." Xiao Yu turned around for the door.
Seeing Xiao Yu's departing figure, Lei Su suddenly realized something and cursed out loud, "Wait, you bastard! You just baited me didn't you? All that talk before was just to lead me into volunteering myself!"
Xiao Yu cracked a sly smile. "Too late if you've only realized now."
...
When the servers reopened, Nie Yan and Xie Yao stepped into their game capsules and entered the game as per usual.
Nie Yan headed to the Elder Council. He planned to collect his reward for becoming a Great Prophet.
Just like before, two Sword Saints were guarding the entrance to the Elder Council.
When the bearded, middle-aged Sword Saint saw Nie Yan coming over, he immediately gave a respectful salute. "Greetings Great Prophet. Jebiah the Great is looking for you. Please follow me."
Before when Nie Yan was still a Grand Scholar, though these two Sword Saints spoke politely, they still had an air of arrogance about them. Now, however, their attitudes had done a complete 180. There was even a hint of flattery in their tones. They were very careful with their words, for fear of offending him in the slightest.
Arrogant before and respectful after, these NPCs were truly snobbish!
Sure enough, the Great Prophet title was really something else. One could immediately tell from the attitude shift in these Sword Saints. Only when your status was high enough could you make them bow down and submit.
Nie Yan couldn't be bothered to fuss with them. Under the lead of the bearded Sword Saint, he entered the Elder Council. After walking through a long corridor, he could see the enormous meeting hall up ahead.