Lin Kun carefully avoided the other soul beasts along the way and finally returned to the gathering point without incident. He was among the first group of students to return.
Some teams had already made it back to the gathering point. Most looked rather bedraggled; some were injured, while others had failed to gather all their mission items and were hanging their heads in dejection. A lone student like Lin Kun, who appeared completely unharmed and had returned early, naturally drew a great deal of attention.
The teacher in charge of registration was somewhat surprised when he saw Lin Kun. "Lin Kun? You're back so soon? How did the mission go?" He clearly did not think a work-study student with only Level Four Soul Power could complete the mission alone.
Lin Kun said nothing and silently took out the mission items from his backpack one by one.
Glow Grass, excellent quality and sufficient quantity. Sunstone Ore, sizeable chunks with enough purity. When more than a dozen pieces of Star Pattern Iron, gleaming with clear star-like patterns and of extremely high quality, were finally brought out, not only the registration teacher but also the surrounding students widened their eyes and cried out in surprise!
"Star Pattern Iron! This much of it? And such good quality!" "He found it all by himself? How is that possible?" "He even gathered the full set of mission items! How did he do it?"
The registration teacher picked up a piece of Star Pattern Iron and carefully examined it in the sunlight, disbelief written across his face. "This... this really is top-grade Star Pattern Iron! Lin Kun, where did you find it? The yield is simply..."
Lin Kun had already prepared his explanation. With an honest-looking expression and lingering fear on his face, he said, "Reporting to you, Teacher, I got lucky and found it in a crack between the rocks. But later, I alerted a hundred-year Lightning Badger and nearly failed to escape. I barely managed to get away..." He deliberately left out the powerful being in the valley and mentioned only the Lightning Badger. That was already enough to explain both his disheveled state and early return.
"A hundred-year Lightning Badger?!" Another wave of shocked cries rose from the crowd. Escaping from the claws of a hundred-year soul beast while still completing the mission—his luck and ability were simply heaven-defying!
The registration teacher was also filled with respect. He patted Lin Kun on the shoulder. "Good lad! Luck is also part of strength! Your performance this time was outstanding! Mission evaluation: Excellent!"
Before long, Tang San's team returned as well. The three of them looked calm and composed, clearly having completed their mission smoothly. Xiao Wu was even chattering away about what they had seen along the road.
When they saw that Lin Kun had already returned and received an Excellent evaluation, they were all somewhat surprised.
Xiao Wu ran over, picked up the Star Pattern Iron Lin Kun had handed in, and examined it. "Wow! Such good quality! Lin Kun, did you step in dog crap or something? We searched for ages over there and only found a few pieces of average quality."
Tang San looked at the Star Pattern Iron, then at Lin Kun, his gaze deep. Even with the observational ability of the Purple Demon Eye, he could barely distinguish Star Pattern Iron from brown iron ore. But a rich deposit of such high-quality ore as the one Lin Kun had found could not possibly be explained by luck alone. He recalled the intelligence Lin Kun had sold and that mysterious ability to sense things.
Ning Rongrong smiled at Lin Kun. "Congratulations, Lin Kun. You're really impressive." Her eyes held sincere admiration and a trace of curiosity that was difficult to detect.
Lin Kun felt a little embarrassed under their gazes and could only laugh awkwardly. "Luck. Pure luck."
The teams that returned afterward were in all kinds of situations. Some had completed their missions, while others had failed and could only sigh in frustration. Quite a few teams that had bought Lin Kun's intelligence had noticeably higher completion rates. They all came over to thank him, saying his information was reliable and worth every penny.
This quietly spread Lin Kun's reputation as an "intelligence dealer," and also earned him another small sum in thank-you fees. Although he had not asked for them, the others insisted on giving them to him.
After the final tally, Lin Kun had not only received an Excellent evaluation for his personal mission, but also earned an additional academy reward for "discovering and reporting a high-quality Star Pattern Iron mining site, approximate location included"—ten Golden Spirit Coins!
Even the teachers looked at him differently now. Ten Golden Spirit Coins were an enormous sum for a student!
Lin Kun held the money pouch, feeling its satisfying weight. His heart was bursting with joy, but he still had to maintain a humble appearance.
"European Emperor! He's definitely a European Emperor!" "We should pray to Lin Kun before every mission!" "Please share your secret to good luck!"
The students chatted excitedly, their eyes filled with envy—and a tiny bit of jealousy—as they looked at Lin Kun.
Tang San's team had also received an Excellent evaluation, but the spotlight seemed to have been completely stolen by Lin Kun, this "lone-wolf European Emperor."
Xiao Wu poked Tang San and whispered, "Third Brother, look at Lin Kun. He's grinning like he stole a chicken! His luck is really good!"
Tang San fell silent for a moment before saying quietly, "Perhaps it isn't all luck." He felt that Lin Kun was becoming more and more of a mystery.
Ning Rongrong watched Lin Kun as the crowd gathered around him, a meaningful smile at the corner of her lips. "Luck is also a kind of strength. Besides, I think he's rather interesting."
On the way back to the academy, Lin Kun became the center of attention. People kept coming over to strike up conversations, asking how he had found the mining site and whether he had any tricks. Lin Kun was overwhelmed and could only repeat over and over, "I got lucky and squeezed into a crack in the rocks."
He was beginning to understand the troubles of being a "European Emperor"—being too famous was not necessarily a good thing. It made him easy to disturb and also easy to attract certain people's attention.
For example, he could feel that Tang San had been studying him far more often than before.
Why is keeping a low profile so hard? Lin Kun sighed inwardly and decided that once he got back, he would continue hiding out in the library and play dead for a while until the attention died down.
However, when he touched the bulging money pouch in his clothes—the proceeds from selling intelligence plus the reward—he felt that this had still been well worth it!
At the very least, he would not need to worry about money for a long time. He could finally shop to his heart's content in the system store!
The uproar from the practical lesson had temporarily settled, but Lin Kun knew that his days at Nuoding Academy were destined to no longer be as "peaceful" as before. More and more eyes were focusing on him. Whether that would be a blessing or a curse remained to be seen.
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