"Hmm?" Christine's eyes held a deeper shade of confusion. A light tap on the shoulder just now could put someone out of commission until the next day?

"I used the Submerged Thunder Branch technique," Gan Jin admitted, a shadow of something dark flickering in his gaze. "The Dou Qi didn't just infiltrate his body; it will concentrate around his kidneys and erupt. By then, all he’ll urinate will be blood."

Blood in his urine? Christine's slender eyebrows twitched. As a warrior, one should know basic anatomy and medical knowledge. Urinating blood usually signifies a severe injury. If the kidneys are damaged and not treated promptly, a person's health will steadily decline.

"Andarth," Abigale intercepted the Ninth-Rank Mage. "What did Gan Jin just say to you? Oh, 'What did he say?'" Andarth’s eyes leered hungrily over Abigale’s chest as his fingers lightly tapped the magic staff in his hand. "Did you think he was trying to cause trouble? Abigale, you’re merely the daughter of the Vice President of the Crystal Magic Tower. I, Andarth, am the grandson of the Guild Master of the Alchemists! Gan Jin might dare to provoke you, but he wouldn't dare provoke me. He just asked if I had dropped something."

"Dropped something?" Abigale’s flushed cheeks were a landscape of confusion. She had clearly heard Andarth muttering curses as he left. Someone with Gan Jin’s temperament should have charged forward and demanded an apology. How could he—"A warrior..." Andarth raised a hand to casually adjust the chestnut-colored locks falling over his forehead. "Anyone with half a brain knows you don't offend an alchemist."

Abigale turned her head doubtfully toward Gan Jin, who stood calmly in the distance. She had initially thought she could team up with Andarth to deal with Gan Jin, but now it seemed this detestable, lower-tier warrior would have to wait until Han Lizhou’s people came to kill him.

"Wait a minute!" Abigale suddenly looked enlightened. "Did he know you were the grandson of the Alchemists Guild Master?"

"What do you think?" Andarth smiled cunningly, twirling the magic ring on his finger. "In Yongliu City, a warrior might not know who the City Lord is, but they wouldn't dare not know the relatives of the Alchemists Guild Master. Every single warrior risks injury or even severe trauma! Gan Jin must have already inquired about my background; why would he dare provoke me?"

Really? Abigale cast another dubious glance at Gan Jin. Her two meticulously groomed eyebrows knitted together, expressing even deeper hatred. She bit down hard on her teeth, as if trying to grind them to dust. "Damn Gan Jin! He must have gotten friendly with Mune Tianche! He’s surely saying bad things about me to Mune Tianche!"

"Fellow student Gan Jin," Mune Tianche gently waved his folding fan, a smile gracing his lips that looked genuinely pleasant to anyone who saw it. "What you just said truly touched my heart."

Gan Jin managed a polite smile. This Mune Tianche always gave the impression that he could easily grasp control of any situation. Even when unleashing the near-regal aura of the Heavenly Refining Spirit Gate, Mune Tianche’s demeanor remained utterly composed.

No excitement, no inferiority, no worship, and certainly no fear. That effortless bearing almost seemed to hover above the presence emanating from the Heavenly Refining Spirit Gate.

How could someone with such composure be genuinely moved by mere words?

"That student Dak, who just left, do you know him as well, Fellow student Gan Jin?" Mune Tianche closed his fan, pointing toward the doorway where Dak’s departing figure had vanished. "If you have time, could you introduce us?"

Introduction? Gan Jin revealed a flicker of understanding. This "introduction" Mune Tianche spoke of clearly meant recruiting Dak as a retainer.

"Heh heh, alright then..."

Gan Jin hadn't finished speaking when he felt Christine secretly tugging hard on his tunic. He looked at his old classmate in confusion. Didn't Dak always want to become someone's retainer? And Mune Tianche seemed eager to take him on as one. "Mune Tianche approached Dak before," Christine whispered quickly into Gan Jin's ear. "Dak only wants to serve a Bloodline Warrior. This Mune Tianche is just an ordinary warrior, and ranked only 100th on the Hundred Battles List."

Gan Jin stared blankly at Christine. Environment truly could change people so drastically. Where was the Dak who was once the strongest student in both Magic and Warrior disciplines at Auckland Academy? Not only had he lost his former ambition, but his judgment had also worsened.

So what if he’s an ordinary warrior? Gan Jin sighed powerlessly. For Mune Tianche to remain fixed at the bottom of the Hundred Battles List, regardless of how the rankings shifted, suggested a deliberate intention; if it weren't intentional, it would be truly strange.

"Dak doesn't want to be his retainer," Christine explained softly into Gan Jin's ear again. "Dak said that the retainers Mune Tianche recruits don't even have a single person capable of entering the Prodigy List. He feels that staying with such a group would only lead to him falling further behind."

Gan Jin gave Mune Tianche, who was smiling faintly below them, a sidelong glance, inwardly wondering what this Mune Tianche was truly thinking. Recruiting someone on the Prodigy List shouldn't be difficult for him. Even for the Hundred Battles List, he should have a good chance, right?

"Everyone has value, it's just that some people's value..." Mune Tianche said with a gentle smile, looking at Gan Jin, "isn't as immediately obvious as yours, Fellow student Gan Jin."

"In any case, if you see Fellow student Dak again, please put in a good word for me," Mune Tianche calmly swayed his fan as he walked toward the exit. He suddenly paused and looked back at Gan Jin. "Fellow student Gan Jin, if you are also here to find retainers, I’m afraid you’ve made a wasted trip. The outstanding students in the academy have almost all been claimed over the past three months. If you are willing to become someone else's retainer, you are among the few excellent ones left."

In three months, they had managed to entirely divide up the top students from an entire academic year? Gan Jin took a deep breath. This was the power of deeply established families; the stronger they were, the easier it was to attract followers, making the family even stronger. The weaker they were, the harder it was to recruit talent, causing the family to weaken continuously until it was finally absorbed by a potentially rising power.

The ball was still ongoing, but Gan Jin had completely lost interest. He hadn't recruited any retainers, had gotten into a fight, and his only gain was witnessing the pinnacle of the academy's strength: the Griffin King Bloodline Warriors! The top three on the Hundred Battles List possessed strength equivalent to at least having a Dou Soul.

"Coming to look for retainers now?"

"Yes, yes. It's been over three months since the term started; there are hardly any good retainers left."

"Exactly! Coming to the ball for the first time after three months to recruit retainers—doesn't he know the ball has long become a place for socializing?"

"With the strength to defeat Wei Buhuan in one punch, and only now coming to recruit retainers—this person is a true oddity."

"That's right! A complete freak, just like those freaks in the Freak Alliance."

"You are absolutely right! He’s just an ordinary warrior, yet he wants to recruit retainers and refuses to become one himself. He’s truly like those freaks in the Freak Alliance."

Gan Jin, holding the hands of Biluo and Christine, was just about to walk toward the ballroom exit when his ears twitched slightly. He looked at Christine with confusion. "Freak Alliance?"

"Don't pay attention to what they say," Christine’s expression was slightly stiff. "You are not a freak."

"Oh! I remember now, that woman! That woman next to Gan Jin looks so familiar. She’s one of those people from the Freak Alliance."

"You’re from the Freak Alliance?" Gan Jin looked at Christine, a fresh wave of curiosity in his eyes. His old classmate, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, was actually part of this so-called Freak Alliance? What exactly was the Freak Alliance?

What was the Freak Alliance?

Gan Jin sat beneath a large tree bathed in moonlight, observing the quiet Christine. The former beauty of Auckland Academy seemed to have developed her figure even more in the intervening time. The female warrior uniform that highlighted her heroic physique, paired with the ambient moonlight, created a familiar beauty.

Looking at Christine’s face, Gan Jin was reminded of his days at Auckland Academy—the only girl in the top ten of their year who used to relentlessly challenge him to duels. It had been nearly three years since then.

Christine felt the focus of Gan Jin's gaze, and a faint warmth stirred within her, causing her cheeks to involuntarily flush.

Yes! I like Gan Jin! Christine looked back at Gan Jin timidly, her youthful impetuousness from Auckland Academy long gone. Her heart felt like a small deer leaping wildly.

Christine took a deep breath, striving to steady her emotions, and reaffirmed to herself: Yes! That’s right, I like Gan Jin! In front of him, I don’t need to pretend to be someone else!

"That’s right! I’m from the Freak Alliance!" Christine suddenly straightened her back, her upturned breasts threatening to burst free from the warrior uniform and leap before Gan Jin’s eyes.

"Oh," Gan Jin responded calmly, continuing to gaze quietly at Christine, awaiting her explanation of the Freak Alliance. Those who could be called freaks usually possessed something very peculiar.

"I..." Biluo’s timid voice sounded suddenly beside Gan Jin. "I... I’m also from the Freak... Alliance."

What? Gan Jin quickly turned to look at Biluo. Both women beside him were from the Freak Alliance, and he didn’t even know what it was? Wouldn't he be laughed to death if this got out?

"I say, you two," Gan Jin looked at them with an expression of helpless exasperation. "Could you please explain to me what the Freak Alliance is?"

After attending one ball, Gan Jin had gained little information besides the power level of the academy's top fighters. The name 'Freak Alliance,' heard for the first time, evoked an indescribable sensation.