A Coveted Prize

"Thirty or forty people couldn't stop two people from fighting?" The Homeroom Teacher's reprimand rang out from the classroom. "At a time like this, you still have the mind to watch the show?"

"Today is the second day of the sixth lunar month! Before the Fifth Day, you need to form your teams and go to Evil Dog Village to face the demons head-on."

"On the fifteenth of this month, you'll be taking part in the City Defense Battle!"

"You still don't know enough to be nervous? You're no longer ordinary people protected by others. You're going to protect others!"

"You really are the worst batch of students I've ever taught!"

The classroom was silent as a grave, while out in the corridor, Lu Ran and Kou Yingquan stood far apart, both behaving themselves.

After a brief silence, the classroom door was pushed open with a bang.

Li Yanzhu stormed out. The moment she saw the two being punished, her fury surged. "You two, stop standing here and getting in my way!

Get the hell home and bring your parents here!"

Lu Ran: "..."

Kou Yingquan: "..."

Li Yanzhu's furious shout echoed through the corridor. "Weren't none of you able to stop yourselves when you were fighting? Why are you both frozen now?"

Not only Class 4 of Year Two, but the entire third floor had fallen deathly quiet.

"Kou Yingquan!"

"Here!" Kou Yingquan immediately stood at attention.

"Get out!" Li Yanzhu was crisp and decisive.

Kou Yingquan: "..."

Under his Homeroom Teacher's stern gaze, Kou Yingquan reluctantly dragged his feet away to go home and fetch his parents.

Li Yanzhu shouted again, "Lu Ran!"

Lu Ran spoke weakly, "Teacher."

Li Yanzhu was so angry she nearly laughed. "Teacher, my ass! I'm not the teacher of a student like you!"

Lu Ran stepped forward and said quietly, "Teacher, I know I was wrong. My mom is in Other Places, in the capital, and my dad...

There's only me in my family."

He called it Other Places, but Wulie River Province, where Lu Ran lived, bordered the capital.

It took only a little over an hour to get from Rain Alley City to the capital by high-speed rail.

If his Homeroom Teacher was determined to call for his parents, Lu Ran had no solution.

Li Yanzhu looked at Lu Ran, who had lowered his head to admit his mistake. She was both angry and heartsore. "Why did you fight?"

Lu Ran bared his teeth. "The moment I entered the classroom, Kou Yingquan put me in a chokehold and called me Little Lamb.

He even made me beg him for mercy and bleat for him."

Li Yanzhu frowned deeply. In truth, she already knew why the two had fought.

That brief silence in the classroom earlier had been because she was asking around to learn the details.

All morning, Kou Yingquan had indeed been picking fights. Perhaps after becoming a Third-Rate God—Imprisoned Devil's follower, his mindset had become somewhat unbalanced.

The teachers had seen far too many cases like this.

Li Yanzhu said in a low voice, "If there's a problem, come to me to resolve it.

The school expressly forbids private fights, yet here you are, causing trouble on your second day as a follower. Aren't you afraid the school will make an example of you?

After the annual worship, how many students get expelled every year? Don't you know? You just had to charge into the teeth of the storm?"

"I was wrong." Lu Ran continued admitting fault.

"Do you really know you were wrong?" Li Yanzhu asked.

The instant Lu Ran heard the change in his teacher's tone, his spirits soared!

Is there room to maneuver here?

He immediately nodded, his mouth firing like a machine gun. "I promise that next time, I'll definitely come to you, Teacher. I absolutely won't act impulsively again.

Teacher, your Bright Mirror High Hanging shines with justice, your judgments are fair and upright, and you see every detail.

You'll surely make a fair ruling. You're the great lord who brings justice beneath the blue sky!"

Li Yanzhu's head throbbed from Lu Ran's babbling, and she immediately passed judgment. "Enough. You're suspended for three days, and you'll write a three-thousand-word self-criticism."

"Ah..." Lu Ran's face fell.

Suspended for three days?

By then, his classmates would probably all have formed their teams. When they returned to school on the Fifth Day, everyone would head straight for Evil Dog Village.

By the time I return to school with my self-criticism, the day lilies will be cold!

"Teacher, I really know I was wrong. Kou Yingquan said I was colluding with the Demon Race. He slandered me!"

Lu Ran's voice grew softer and softer as he put on a pitiful expression. "I'm just too proud.

But I can't help it. If I don't stand up for myself, no one will stand up for me, mee.

Teacher, you know, I lost my Father when I was little..."

"Lu Ran, you dare use Compassionate Sound on me?" Li Yanzhu was so furious that she laughed.

She kicked Lu Ran in the butt. "Get to the Sports Field and stand under the sun! Punishment standing!"

"Received." Lu Ran turned and left.

No expulsion, no suspension, no calling his parents—what was wrong with standing around for a while?

It was worth it if he could shove a chair leg into Kou Yingquan's cheap mouth!

In the height of June's midsummer, the sun was truly vicious.

Yet Lu Ran did not seek out any shade. Only if his punishment looked severe enough might his Homeroom Teacher show mercy again.

Naturally, Lu Ran would not just stand there like an idiot. Before long, he entered a cultivation state and absorbed the divine power between heaven and earth.

The ranks of divine power were divided into realms such as Mist, Creek, River, Jiang, Sea, and so on.

Within each Great Realm were five Small Ranks.

At the first and third stages of every Great Realm, followers could learn an exclusive Divine Technique.

Lu Ran was currently a Mist Realm: Stage One Newbie. He had learned Divine Technique: Compassionate Sound, and after his little experiment just now, its effect was genuinely quite good.

If he wanted another exclusive technique, Lu Ran would have to reach Mist Realm: Third Stage.

Come to think of it...

Lu Ran wore a strange expression as he suddenly realized something: Immortal Sheep had created Divine Technique: Compassionate Sound to prevent conflict.

It definitely was not meant to be used the way he had just used it—begging for mercy while beating someone up!

It was not that Lu Ran could not use it that way. The problem was that whenever followers used a Divine Technique, they had to pray to their God.

In other words, you could not hide anything from your own God's eyes.

As a Celestial Goat Believer, constantly going against Immortal Sheep and using this technique for combat was ultimately rather inappropriate.

Perhaps one day, Immortal Sheep would punish him.

Wait!

Wasn't Immortal Sheep forgiving and magnanimous?

Then no matter how much I messed around, it probably wouldn't blame me too harshly, right?

Good Stuff,

wasn't this exploiting a bug~

"It does not matter."

Suddenly, a deep voice entered Lu Ran's mind.

Lu Ran's heart jolted. Immortal Sheep had manifested?

One had to know that if a follower wanted to communicate with a God, they had to pray devoutly and kneel in worship before its statue.

Even then, the God might not appear!

But the God Lu Ran had worshipped...

"You do not blame me?" Lu Ran looked up at the sky and asked softly.

The deep voice sounded again. "The cries of young creatures may draw forth the care and protection of their Parents and kin."

The abrupt topic left Lu Ran baffled.

"The wails of weak creatures may also draw the hungry gaze and drooling desire of hunters."

"That makes sense." Lu Ran nodded thoughtfully.

"Compassionate Sound may magnify the goodness in a creature's heart and stir pity within it. It may also cause a creature to feel the urge to slaughter and torment the weak."

"Ah?" Lu Ran was stunned.

Why was what I learned different from what you're teaching me?

Lu Ran was certain that Compassionate Sound had only one effect: begging for mercy.

How had it become capable, in Immortal Sheep's hands, of changing its nature into a taunt that drew aggro?

What shocked Lu Ran even more was that Immortal Sheep had not only failed to discipline its follower, ordering Lu Ran to be tolerant, yielding, and avoid disputes.

Instead, it was adding fuel to the flames, encouraging Lu Ran to fight?

Otherwise, there was no reason for Immortal Sheep to tell Lu Ran about the second effect of Divine Technique: Compassionate Sound.

Something was wrong!

Twelve parts out of ten wrong!

Ever since Lu Ran had joined the Immortal Sheep Sect, this God's image, behavior, words, and every other aspect had been utterly different from the Immortal Sheep known to the Commoners.

Yet Lu Ran had confirmed through using his exclusive Divine Technique that this God was undeniably Immortal Sheep. This...

"Do you wish to learn?"

Lu Ran hesitated for a moment, then nodded heavily. "I do!"

"Mist Realm: Stage Two is required."

"Alright. I'll definitely cultivate diligently." Lu Ran nodded again. "But Immortal Sheep, have you not taught this technique to your other followers?"

Otherwise, it was impossible for Lu Ran not to have even heard of it.

Yet after waiting bitterly for quite some time, Lu Ran heard no further Voice Transmission from Immortal Sheep.

"Again..." Lu Ran felt somewhat helpless, but he did not dare ask more, afraid of displeasing the Gods and drawing down punishment.

He could only bury his doubts in his heart.

No matter what, Immortal Sheep's grace in remaking him, its blessing, and its Teachings were all real.

Thinking of that, Lu Ran felt much more comforted and continued cultivating divine power.

Only when the Dismissal Bell rang did the school become noisy once more.

"Lu Ran." Not long after the bell rang, a voice came from afar.

Lu Ran looked up and saw a youth striding onto the Sports Field—Deng Yutang.

"Class is over." Lu Ran lifted his chin slightly in greeting.

"You smashed my chair to pieces. I had to stand through an entire class." Deng Yutang said with a smile.

Lu Ran felt a little embarrassed. "Just now... thanks."

Deng Yutang came before Lu Ran. "From now on, shall we team up?"

"Ah?" Lu Ran's expression froze as he looked at the youth before him, brimming with Heroic Spirit.

Deng Yutang was handsome and dignified, with an imposing bearing. His bright, spirited eyes were currently staring directly into Lu Ran's.

"Thank you for helping me just now." Lu Ran looked apologetic. "But I... I still like girls."

Deng Yutang: ???

Lu Ran looked earnest. "Don't be sad. You're really great. We're just not suited for each other."

"What the hell are you talking about? I like girls too!" Deng Yutang snapped. "I'm talking about teaming up!"

"This..." Lu Ran was even more confused.

He would sooner believe Deng Yutang liked men than dare guess the other party had come to form a team with him.

Lu Ran had plenty of reasons to suspect something was wrong with his own God, but other people did not know that!

He was deeply puzzled. "I'm a Celestial Goat Believer. Are you sure?"

"What's wrong with Celestial Goat Believers?" Deng Yutang snorted disdainfully. "Kou Yingquan is a Prison Devil Believer, so what?

Didn't you still beat him until he puked millet porridge?"

At those words, Lu Ran nearly lost it.

Puked millet porridge? That was something else.

"I'm a Red Turban Believer." Deng Yutang extended his hand toward Lu Ran. "Brother Lu, give it some thought?"

God Red Turban stood in the fifth row.

Its divine statue depicted a bare-chested man with a red turban wrapped around his head.

Most of its followers were battle maniacs, innately brave and fierce.

"I'll give it serious thought." Lu Ran was flattered and immediately shook his hand.

As the two spoke, quite a few people had already gathered on the Sports Field.

Among them was Chang Ying, who had previously read Lu Ran's fortune.

The Girl came over to them with a smile. "I heard you got into a fight?"

Lu Ran looked at Chang Ying speechlessly, while Deng Yutang again told Lu Ran to consider it carefully before bidding farewell and leaving.

"I already read your fortune. It was Bad Fortune, so why are you still so careless?" Chang Ying raised her elbow onto Lu Ran's shoulder and leaned against him at an angle.

Before becoming a follower, she could already wield a Mountain-Splitting Axe with the force of a tiger and the roar of wind. She was naturally the strong and sturdy type.

When a Girl like that leaned against him, it nearly killed Lu Ran.

Lu Ran did not want to admit he could not bear it, so...

"Get off. It's hot." Lu Ran shook his shoulder with a look of disgust.

"One hundred bucks, and I'll read your fortune again. Guaranteed accurate! What do you say?" Chang Ying was not angry at all, merely smiling down at Lu Ran.

"Stop bothering me already."

"If you don't want it, then forget it. Why are you being so mean?" Chang Ying looked down at Lu Ran, then suddenly changed the subject. "Say, the two of us are pretty fated. Let's team up in the future?"

"Ah?" Lu Ran looked astonished as he stared at the beautiful, wild girl.

"Really. I already calculated it." Chang Ying nodded with complete seriousness. "It's a Top Oracle!"

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