Special Honor!

On the sports field, at the old place.

Jiang Ruyi watched Lu Ran sprinting over and asked curiously, "What's the rush?"

Lu Ran looked furtive as he ducked behind Beauty Jiang and glanced toward the school gate.

Only after confirming that no one was chasing him did he let out a sigh of relief. "Nothing. I was doing my morning exercises."

"Brother Lu, congratulations!" Deng Yutang clenched his fist and leaned over. "You got first place."

Lu Ran bumped fists with Deng Yutang. "Same to you. You nearly made the top ten too."

Jiang Ruyi looked at her two teammates. "Our results were all good. Tian Tian and Yutang tied for twelfth place."

Unexpectedly, Deng Yutang showed none of the joy he should have felt. "I'm unworthy of it."

Seeing this, Lu Ran raised an eyebrow slightly.

In his impression, Deng Yutang had always been proud, even somewhat flamboyant.

Yet at this moment, the rich young master's mood was far from high.

Jiang Ruyi was more sensitive and had noticed long ago that something was off with Deng Yutang.

Now that Lu Ran had arrived, Jiang Ruyi tried to persuade him. "Yutang, our team was stationed outside the building to begin with. We also completed our mission properly and killed quite a few fiends."

Lu Ran suddenly said, "I know what Young Master Deng is thinking. You think I carried all of you."

He paused before continuing. "I don't see it that way.

Team leader Zhang Feng said that after I was abducted, the three of you performed admirably.

Brother Zhang specifically mentioned two things. First, you three adjusted your tactics promptly and used them properly. Second, your mentality—you were able to rally yourselves and face the fiends again."

Jiang Ruyi nodded thoughtfully and admitted it openly. "After you were abducted, I really did lose my focus for a while.

Yutang was the most like a true warrior. He kept boosting morale and steadying the troops."

Praised by his captain like that, Deng Yutang's face turned red in an unprecedented display of embarrassment as he explained,

"I just believed that Brother Lu would definitely come back."

"Why?" Lu Ran grinned. "The one who abducted me was a River Realm Yanzhiren!

I didn't even believe I could come back alive. Why did you?"

After a long while, Deng Yutang finally squeezed out an answer. "A man's intuition."

Lu Ran: "."

"Hehe~" Jiang Ruyi could not help laughing.

The somewhat gloomy atmosphere eased after a few jokes.

More importantly, Deng Yutang had adjusted his mindset.

Deng Yutang was undoubtedly proud. Yet his performance had not lived up to his own expectations.

And yet, in this assessment, his individual results had improved by a huge margin, shooting straight up to twelfth place!

It gave Deng Yutang an annoyed sense that his virtue did not match his position.

Now, after hearing Jiang and Lu analyze it like this—

Was that really the case?

The Jiang Tian Deng Trio had all received such high ratings. It was highly likely that after the team encountered trouble, the trio's series of actions had earned them a huge number of points!

"And congratulations to you too, for returning to the top three." Lu Ran smiled at Beauty Jiang.

"Hmph." Jiang Ruyi shot Lu Ran a light glare.

Oh?

Getting tsundere, were we!

Lu Ran said unhappily, "I congratulated you, and you're glaring at me?"

A faint smile rested on Jiang Ruyi's face. "Yes, I returned to the top three, and Ma Tianchuan was dragged down from God's Altar. But—

But then someone even harder to surpass came along."

Lu Ran grinned. "Come on, what difference does it make which of us gets first place?"

Jiang Ruyi: "Hm?"

Lu Ran said with complete seriousness, "The honor belongs to all of us!

I could sit on the throne of first place only because of the support of my good brother and good wife. Ow!"

Jiang Ruyi flushed slightly and stepped on Lu Ran's shoe. "What nonsense!"

Stepping on toes?

Heh, a child's game.

Lu Ran immediately took a step back. "Act more like a lady. There are so many people on the Sports Field. Everyone's watching."

Jiang Ruyi glared at Lu Ran furiously, her beautiful eyes nearly spitting fire.

A summer breeze passed by, sending several strands of the girl's hair sweeping over her forehead.

The sight made Lu Ran's heart pound!

Jiang Ruyi lowered her head slightly and looked away.

That hateful guy!

The Sports Field truly was packed with people. Most students waiting to assemble seemed to glance over now and then, secretly watching.

By comparison, Deng Yutang openly watched the man and woman, his expression peculiar.

In Deng Yutang's eyes, Class Monitor Jiang was gentle and quiet, always very ladylike.

But in front of Lu Ran... well, interesting.

"Sister Ruyi." Tian Tian jogged over.

"Mhm." Jiang Ruyi answered softly.

Tian Tian stood beside Jiang Ruyi and asked timidly, "Sister Ruyi, what's wrong? Your face is so red."

Jiang Ruyi: "."

Noticing that her elder sister had fallen silent, Tian Tian knew she had said something wrong and immediately changed the subject. "Sister Ruyi, did you advance?"

Jiang Ruyi nodded lightly.

"Mist Realm: Third Stage?" Lu Ran's eyes lit up.

At the first and third stages of every Great Realm, believers could learn a divine art!

For the Jade Talisman Faction, the divine art granted at Mist Realm: Third Stage was the Exploding Flame Talisman.

This talisman was no joke!

The noble Law Master was finally about to display her formidable talent for damage output!

"Mhm." Jiang Ruyi's fair hand hung naturally at her side, and sparks suddenly burst from her fingertips.

Lu Ran watched with immense envy!

It was not that this Celestial Goat Believer was fickle-hearted. It was simply that White Moonlight's destructive power was too overwhelming.

The god Jade Talisman was, after all, a god Lu Ran had worshipped alongside his father since childhood.

Although Little Lu Ran had not become a Jade Talisman Believer due to his age, he had always thought of himself as something of an "Unnamed Disciple."

At this thought, the envy in Lu Ran's eyes gradually changed in flavor.

Back on the God-Worshipping Platform, the myriad gods in the heavens had abandoned him, leaving him to fend for himself.

Especially the god Jade Talisman, whom he had worshipped for many years. It too had refused to appear and had not bestowed even the slightest mercy upon him.

The knot in Lu Ran's heart was one he could never untie.

People could not change the past.

Lu Ran's devout worship in his youth, along with the incomparable reverence and longing in his heart, were all established facts.

But now—

All those knots from the past should end here.

"With this, our team's damage output will be even stronger!" Deng Yutang was somewhat excited.

Jiang Ruyi was not particularly delighted.

In fact, she even blamed herself for failing to advance before the lunar fifteenth.

If she had, she could have ignited the Mist Shadow Person, perhaps even blown it apart. Her companions would not have been forced into such a bitter fight.

"How about Young Master Deng?" Lu Ran looked at Deng Yutang.

"Soon."

Lu Ran remembered their previous conversation at the Training Ground and immediately laughed. "Don't ask. If you ask, the answer is I'll be there soon, right?"

Deng Yutang snorted and fiddled with the Red Turban on his head.

When people were embarrassed, did they really pretend to be busy?

"You need to work hard too." Jiang Ruyi rested one hand on Tian Tian's shoulder, speaking gently.

"Mhm, mhm." Tian Tian nodded repeatedly. "I'm close to advancing too."

The scene was rather interesting.

In this four-person team, Lu Ran and Jiang Ruyi each looked after one person?

"Whoosh~~~"

A piercing whistle abruptly sounded, followed by a teacher's voice from the podium. "Everyone, assemble!"

The students swiftly formed ranks.

After only a few dozen seconds, the Sports Field had fallen completely silent.

The male teacher on the podium said solemnly, "Congratulations. You survived."

Though these were words of congratulations, the atmosphere within the school grew even more oppressive.

"In this Night of the Fifteenth city defense mission, our school had a total of 399 second-year believers. Injured, but none dead."

The male teacher reported the results. "One student even received an unprecedented high score of 91.2 from the Gods Bureau."

At that moment, Lu Ran felt countless gazes settle upon him.

"Not only is he first place at Yuxiang No. 1 High School, he is also the only student in Cloud City and its five subordinate county-level cities to surpass the ninety-point threshold."

The male teacher pushed up his glasses and said solemnly, "Celestial Goat Believer, Lu Ran!"

Lu Ran did not know whether he should answer "Present." He only felt as though he had fallen into the center of a whirlpool.

Pairs of eyes turned toward him in unison.

Envy, jealousy, curiosity, doubt.

After the last assessment, Lu Ran had also become the center of attention within the small group that was his class.

But compared to now, that had been nothing more than a firefly's glow before the bright moon.

The male teacher continued, "Among all students, Lu Ran received the most Evaluation Forms.

Including your team leader, three Moon Watcher teams—a total of five Moon Watchers—submitted mission reports concerning your performance.

After comprehensive consideration, the Cloud City Gods Bureau has issued a special document for you."

As he spoke, the male teacher picked up the papers in his hand and read aloud,

"When novice believers are still gathering their courage and beginning to recognize the dangers of the Night of the Fifteenth, you already understand how to handle a crisis.

You already understand what attitude you must take when facing fiends that cannot be shaken.

Live toward death, help others and save yourself.

May this courage to face life and death not be a flash in the pan.

Maintain this momentum. On next month's lunar fifteenth, you will be specially granted an opportunity to earn extra points.

You are exceptionally recruited into the Patrol Team, to serve as a Moon Watcher for one night."

"Huh?"

"A Moon Watcher Patrol Team?"

"Are they seriously giving him an additional test just for him?"

"What are you shouting for? Every year, students get Additional Tests from the Gods Bureau! It's just that they usually don't happen this early. Normally, it's the second semester of senior year, right?"

"Are you idiots? What's there to envy? Next month is the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month! The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month!"

"Fuck! Right, next time is the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month! Can Lu Ran even survive it?"

The Sports Field instantly exploded into an uproar!

This evaluation was absurdly high!

And the message conveyed by this document left everyone utterly stunned.

Jiang Ruyi's expression stiffened.

Originally, she had been happy that Lu Ran was receiving praise.

But patrolling on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month?

This...

Within the crowd, Ma Tianchuan frowned deeply, lost in thought.

Behind Ma Tianchuan, Wu Shanshan wore a highly complicated expression.

Who would have thought that Lu Ran could receive such a special honor?!

Without question, the extra points opportunity offered by the Gods Bureau was reserved only for the very best few students of each class.

And generally, the Gods Bureau would only give Additional Tests after students entered the second semester of their senior year, depending on the circumstances.

Wu Shanshan let out a long sigh inwardly.

Had her decision to switch teams been wrong?

Even the Gods Bureau valued him so highly.

Well.

There was still little time passed, and many days ahead.

They would see.

"Celestial Goat Believer, Lu Ran!" The male teacher suddenly raised his voice.

Lu Ran had no choice but to respond. "Present!"

"Bring your team onto the stage and receive the reward and honor you deserve."