I Won't Say It, But...

Ma Haohai's long-suppressed resentment finally found a measure of release as he stood at the podium.

Watching Ronan stand helplessly behind the professor, doomed to remain there for the entire morning, filled him with secret delight.

This is only the beginning, he told himself.

It had been a simple adjustment to the course—simple for Ma Haohai, since he was already a fairly popular lecturer, and his social media account had a large following among Bo Ning Academy's students.

He was an excellent speaker, and the topic of this public lecture was especially appealing.

Because its subject was Chen Butcher.

That legendary figure!

The moment the news was released, it drew the attention of countless students, many of whom said they would come sit in on the class!

Most students in the lower-level classes who were better informed had learned about it in advance, so they reminded one another to arrive early and claim seats.

Only Ronan, who had spent the entire weekend absorbed in researching the Triangular Device, knew nothing about it.

Then all it took was getting a girl with no morning classes to delay Ronan on the way to class, making him arrive just a little late, and the outcome was already set.

Ma Haohai had not done all this merely to make things difficult for Ronan. He just wanted to vent his anger!

Why should nobles get to stand above everyone else? Why should they control so many resources?

Why was it that commoners like him, no matter how hard they worked, still could not stop that guy from shamelessly staying here through Guaranteed Admission?

He swore he would do everything he could to make Ronan uncomfortable.

Not having a seat was only the first small matter.

At that thought, Ma Haohai could not help but reveal a cold smile.

Class was about to begin. He cleared his throat and prepared to start lecturing.

The few people who had arrived late could only count themselves unlucky.

But just then, someone in the middle suddenly stood up.

"Master! There's a seat here!"

In an instant, everyone was utterly baffled!

Because the person who had stood up was none other than Lin Chenluo!

Who was he calling Master?

Had this guy, who usually looked down on everyone, suddenly lost his mind?

Su Jie was especially puzzled, because he realized that the direction Lin Chenluo was looking toward was Ronan.

Logically speaking, Lin Chenluo had shown outright hostility toward Ronan on the very first day... How could he possibly give Ronan his seat at a time like this?

Could he be planning some other dirty trick?

Su Jie could not make sense of it.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Only Ronan understood what Lin Chenluo meant.

He silently shook his head. "No need. I can stand."

"It's fine! I specifically saved this seat for you!"

Lin Chenluo waved a hand smugly. "Xiao Jun, get out."

"Xiao Jun isn't from our class. I had him come over today specifically to save a seat for you."

"I heard there are some boring teachers at this school who like to target certain students."

As he said this, he cast Ma Haohai a few seemingly casual glances.

The students in the class had already turned to mush.

W-What was going on?

Just a week ago, Lin Chenluo had publicly mocked Ronan, and it was also he who had exposed Ronan's Guaranteed Admission. By all rights, the two of them should have been completely at odds.

But the situation now was obviously wrong!

Lin Chenluo had actually taken the initiative to save Ronan a seat—he had even called him Master!

What right did Ronan have to be Lin Chenluo's master?

No one could understand it.

Su Jie was even more completely stunned.

If they had not been relatively far apart, he would have wanted to go over and touch Lin Chenluo's forehead to see whether the Young Master Lin had a fever.

But facts spoke louder than words.

Under Ma Haohai's furious gaze, the student named Xiao Jun obediently walked out, leaving an empty seat behind.

This time, Ronan did not stand on ceremony. He walked over and sat down.

A stir ran through the commoner students.

The noble descendants, meanwhile, watched everything with great curiosity—only a few knew what had happened that night. Lin Chenluo had issued those few a gag order. The racing incident on Azure Dragon Mountain had originally been something only people within a small circle could access; outsiders had no idea about Ronan's heaven-defying performance.

Ma Haohai wanted to lash out, but he had no excuse.

Just then, the class bell rang.

He could only clear his throat and say in a deliberately calm tone:

"All right, let's begin class."

"Today's public lecture will cover the biography of our great founding emperor, Chen Butcher..."

Ronan had to admit that, even after sensing Ma Haohai's hostility, he still acknowledged the man's eloquence.

At the very least, his history lectures were the best.

Otherwise, so many students would not have come to listen.

Moreover, Chen Butcher himself was a highly legendary figure.

One man had destroyed an entire Dark Era and founded an unprecedented empire in this ancient star region!

And yet, for such a great man, they did not even know his name. They only knew that he had been born a butcher.

After obtaining the Kindling Tome, nearly every turning point in his life had shone with incomparable brilliance.

Within his lifetime, he founded the Steel Empire and swept through the Eastern Star Region!

What an achievement and feat that was for humanity!

Under Ma Haohai's impassioned speech, the emotions of the entire classroom were stirred.

It was as though they had returned to that dark age ruled by wizards. They seemed to see with their own eyes the man named Chen Butcher leading countless human pioneers and warriors into the wizards' armies, slaughtering them until not a single piece of armor remained!

Mecha roared, savage steel tore apart the mists of sorcery, while Chen Butcher stood alone at the very pinnacle of the universe, looking down upon all living things in solitude.

Even his death was steeped in legend.

He was humanity's universally acknowledged king!

The Chen clan still sat upon the imperial throne today, and more than half of that was due to Chen Butcher alone!

There were countless wonderful tales from his life. Even picking out one at random would be enough to tell for three days and three nights!

Immersed in it all, no one noticed how quickly time passed.

Only Ronan found it boring.

Ma Haohai was a gifted speaker, but to Ronan, all of it was nothing more than fabrication from unofficial histories.

In the Imperial Secret Archives, Chen Butcher had actually been an ordinary-looking mortal. He truly was a legend, but how could it have been so exaggerated? Humans always loved to mythologize things. In the end, Chen Butcher had only been human.

Ma Haohai himself had become so immersed in that fervent atmosphere at the podium that he nearly forgot his original plan!

Fortunately, when his gaze casually swept over Ronan, he noticed the latter's indifferent expression.

He suddenly came to his senses!

This public lecture had nearly gone completely off course!

He was not here to teach at all—he was here to make things difficult for Ronan!

At that pause, he could not help glancing at the time—and nearly broke out in a cold sweat!

There was nothing he could do. He had become too absorbed in his speech and had not noticed that he had talked through nearly four periods in one breath!

Only five minutes remained before class ended!

Yet most of the students still had not realized it.

They were still immersed in Ma Haohai's outstanding lecture.

Ma Haohai secretly let out a breath. He had nearly missed his chance.

His eyes shifted, and he abruptly wrapped up the topic:

"There are still many stories about Chen Butcher. One public lecture definitely cannot cover them all. But one thing is certain: the legendary life of humanity's greatest emperor began after he obtained the Kindling Tome."

"At the end of this public lecture, I'll test everyone. According to historical records, how did Chen Butcher obtain the Kindling Tome?"

"This question is simple, right? I'll ask one student to answer."

With that, his gaze began sweeping over the crowd as he pretended to deliberate.

He even saw several students raise their hands voluntarily.

As expected, there were still diligent, proactive students—completely different from someone like Ronan, who had entered through Guaranteed Admission!

But he had come prepared to target Ronan today, so naturally he would not change his plan!

The question was indeed simple, but as long as he wanted to make things difficult, he could absolutely catch Ronan off guard and make him lose face badly!

That was because there had never been a universally accepted account in history of how Chen Butcher obtained the Kindling Tome. Everyone had their own version, and each claimed to be right.

As long as Ronan got even one detail wrong, Ma Haohai could pick apart his answer!

So today, Ronan had to receive the baptism of Ma Haohai's fury!

"Mm, Ronan's performance last time left me very satisfied. This time, it'll still be you."

In the end, that was what he said.

Everyone's eyes focused on Ronan.

Ronan sneered inwardly.

If he still did not realize by this point that this young teacher was targeting him, then he might as well be a pig.

"This is a little baffling, but targeting me again and again isn't something an excellent teacher should be doing."

Ronan thought to himself.

The next second, he stood up and looked directly at Ma Haohai.

"I can't say it."

Ma Haohai was secretly overjoyed!

You finally gave yourself away, didn't you?!

Your true nature as an ignorant good-for-nothing has been completely exposed, hasn't it?

He sneered inwardly, considering what words he should use to mock Ronan's ignorance.

The others looked at Ronan with some disdain as well. However, those who did not know the situation felt that Ronan was rather innocent. After all, he was a student in the beginner class; it was normal for him not to know the answer.

Yet in the next moment, Ronan said something startling.

"I can't say it, but..."

"I can write it!"

Ma Haohai froze!

The entire class froze!

He could not say it, but he could write it? What did that mean?

"Is there a laser blackboard?" Ronan asked.

"Of course there is!" Before Ma Haohai could answer, Lin Chenluo immediately chimed in from the side. "Teacher Ma uses it during class too. It can be turned on anytime."

"I need a laser blackboard," Ronan said calmly.

The next second, he left his seat and walked straight up to the podium!

Everyone stared intently at Ronan, eager to see what exactly he intended to do.

Ma Haohai vaguely felt that something was wrong...

But Ronan's actions had already backed him into a corner. He could not possibly claim that the laser blackboard was broken, could he?

Besides, deep down, he still refused to admit that Ronan might be able to answer his question.

"He must be trying to put on an act. That has to be it."

Thinking this, Ma Haohai turned on the laser blackboard without expression.

Ronan picked up the laser pen and stood still.

The next moment, his hand began racing across the laser blackboard as he wrote!

Twisted symbols appeared one after another, crawling like tadpoles!

Yet between every strange symbol, some inexplicable connection formed!

The longer everyone watched, the more astonished they became. At first, they thought Ronan simply had terrible handwriting. But later, when Ronan had filled an entire laser blackboard, they realized that they had no idea what he was writing at all!

Five minutes later!

The dismissal bell rang.

Ronan completed the final symbol.

He turned around and bowed to Ma Haohai. "Teacher Ma, I have completed my answer."

Someone below immediately complained, "What the hell... just some cryptic scribbles?"

"Yeah, are you kidding?"

"You think you can fool us by writing things we can't understand? Is something wrong with this guy's brain?"

Ronan looked at them calmly.

Only Lin Chenluo, Su Jie, and the others wore expressions of shock!

Ma Haohai was silent as well!

The moment he saw the first symbol Ronan wrote, the ominous feeling in his heart had intensified.

He suddenly realized that the question he had carefully selected—one that was almost impossible to answer perfectly—might very well have been answered perfectly by Ronan in an inconceivable way!

This entire laser blackboard was Ronan's answer!

Many of the students below had already begun complaining about Ronan's incomprehensible antics.

But Ma Haohai was drenched in cold sweat.

He stared at Ronan, his face full of disbelief. "How is that possible...?"

Ronan merely nodded. "I've read quite a lot of books. I happened to come across this passage, so I remembered it."

Ma Haohai fell silent.

The people below were already unable to sit still.

"Teacher Ma, what exactly is going on?"

"Is Ronan just scribbling nonsense? Fooling the teacher and disrupting class like this should warrant disciplinary action according to the rules!"

"Yeah, punish him! You can't cover for him just because he's a noble!"

The room erupted into chatter.

But at that moment, Ma Haohai suddenly lost his composure and bellowed:

"Shut up!"

The crowd fell dead silent.

Some students even had their mouths hanging open—they had never seen Ma Haohai lose control like this before!

Ma Haohai slowly raised his head and looked at them, his voice hoarse and desolate.

"Student Ronan's answer... receives full marks."

"As for these characters... it's normal that you don't recognize them."

"This is... Elven Script."

The moment those words were spoken, every student froze.

Elven Script... what a distant term!

Ronan had said he couldn't speak it, and that was indeed true—because no one in the Empire knew how to pronounce Elven Script.

But he had written it.

Everyone knew that the ones who understood Chen Butcher best had to be the elves.

Because his wife had been an elf.

After Chen Butcher died, his wife wrote an unofficial biography for him, which vaguely mentioned the Kindling Tome.

And what Ronan had written was precisely that passage.

So Ma Haohai had nothing left to say but bow his head!