Rewards and Trade

"Not only did Lin Xiao take first place in this Placement Test, he also passed an additional trial and received an extra prize."

The Class Teacher raised a finger, and a card containing faint divine power appeared at its tip. Smiling, he said to Lin Xiao:

"Lin Xiao, please come up and receive your prize."

Ugh... Why make it look like an awards ceremony? That was way too high-profile.

However, this was how the teacher had always done things. After every Placement Test, he would lavish praise on the students with good results to inspire everyone's ambition.

Well, for the sake of the Divine Domain Card!

Under the envious and jealous gazes of his classmates, he walked forward and took the Divine Domain Card from the Class Teacher's hand.

Yuan Hong had been watching him all along. The moment Lin Xiao took the card, the red diamond-shaped crystal on Yuan Hong's forehead flashed, and a voice appeared out of nowhere in Lin Xiao's ears:

"Lin Xiao, is that a Five-Star Divine Domain Card?"

He turned back in surprise. None of the other students showed any unusual reaction, so it seemed only he could hear it. He nodded.

"That's right."

"I'll trade you two Five-Star Cards for it!"

Lin Xiao frowned. The offer itself was fine, but Yuan Hong's tone made it sound as though he was doing Lin Xiao a favor by offering the trade. It irritated him, and he simply refused. "No trade."

"Three!"

"I'm keeping it for myself."

After taking the card from the teacher, he put it directly into his Divine Domain.

Despite being refused repeatedly, Yuan Hong's expression did not change. Only his voice became much lower. "This Divine Domain Card is very important to me. The offer of three Five-Star Cards stands, and you will also gain my friendship."

Lin Xiao looked up in surprise, giving him an extremely strange expression.

Bullshit. That line sounded awfully familiar. One of the classic lines of those self-important villains in the webnovels I loved reading in my previous life was exactly this sort of thing—trading with you is doing you a favor.

Could it be that I'm going to be the protagonist in this life?

Familiar supporting characters, a classic Golden Finger, and a rise to power just before a crucial day—wasn't that the standard setup for a novel's protagonist?

But there were some unreasonable parts. He had not started out as trash, both his parents were alive, he had no beautiful older sister or younger sister, no irritating relatives, and most importantly, the Class Teacher was not a beauty, nor were there any class belles or school belles in the class.

Yeah, definitely not! He rubbed his gums, looked up with a brilliant smile, and shook his head.

He was not afraid of Yuan Hong. Though Yuan Hong was the son of a True God, Lin Xiao was no less impressive. The Lin Family also had a True God. Who was afraid of whom?

Besides, he was in the right this time. He had earned this reward through his own ability, so why should he give it up?

Well, not give it up—trade it. But the meaning was the same. What can you do if I refuse to trade?

Yuan Hong really could not do much. If Lin Xiao had been a student from an ordinary background, Yuan Hong might have been able to threaten him. But although this Lin Xiao's grades had not been very good before, his background was not bad. It was inferior to Yuan Hong's, but not someone he could threaten casually. If Lin Xiao stubbornly refused to trade, Yuan Hong had no way to force him.

After giving Lin Xiao a long look, Yuan Hong expressionlessly shifted his gaze away.

The other students had not noticed the hidden confrontation between the two. Class Teacher Wu Hai seemed to have sensed something, but he merely glanced at them before withdrawing his gaze and saying solemnly:

"Second place in this Placement Test goes to Yuan Hong, and third place goes to Wan Chuan. Please come up and receive your rewards."

Unlike first place, second and third place did not receive the privilege of claiming their rewards alone.

After handing a card to each of them, Wu Hai said:

"This Placement Test has ended, but an even harsher test will arrive next month. I do not need to tell you what the Final Exam means. That's right—class assignment. It directly affects your future achievements and is extremely important."

"I will not waste words. I believe you understand this better than I do. I have no additional demands. I do not require you to achieve any particular ranking, nor do I require a certain number of you to enter the Elite Class. I only have one thing to say."

At this point, he raised his right hand. A card emitting dazzling golden light appeared, and an irresistible urge to seize it arose in everyone's hearts.

Whether Divine Creatures, demigods, or even True Gods, all Deities possessed an instinctive yearning for Divinity.

There was no need to ask or look. Every student knew what it was. Yuan Hong and Wan Chuan, two of the best students in the class, could not help stepping forward at the same time. "Teacher, could this be...?"

"That's right! This is a bit of Divinity!"

Class Teacher Wu Hai was very satisfied with the students' reaction. Smiling, he said:

"The best reward for this Final Exam is this bit of Divinity. In this Final Exam, no matter who it is, as long as they take first place in the class and rank among the top five in the entire school, they can receive this bit of Divinity."

After a pause, the Class Teacher added, "Lin Xiao only needs to rank in the top ten in the entire school."

Everyone looked at Lin Xiao, and Yuan Hong immediately asked:

"Teacher, why?"

The entire class wore equally puzzled expressions. Clearly, they all wanted to know why.

Wu Hai said:

"This bit of Divinity came from Lin Xiao's Divine Domain during this Placement Test. Lin Xiao made a certain contribution toward obtaining it, and the teacher has not compensated him for that. Therefore, he will receive preferential treatment in this Final Exam. Furthermore, if someone else fulfills the same requirements as him, then under equal circumstances, the Divinity will also be awarded to him first."

The moment he finished speaking, Yuan Hong and several other top students said at once, "No!"

"Hm!"

The Class Teacher's oppressive gaze swept over them. The top students swayed slightly, and Yuan Hong gritted his teeth before saying:

"I think this is unfair to us. We are willing to compensate Lin Xiao now, but the competition for this bit of Divinity must be fair."

Wu Hai pondered for a moment before asking Lin Xiao, "Lin Xiao, what is your opinion?"

Lin Xiao clasped his hands together as his mind raced, considering their proposal.

In principle, he did not want to refuse. After all, for him, ranking in the top ten or top five in the entire grade made little difference. Both were equally difficult to achieve.

Although he could ask his father and mother for some good things during this period, the good things he could obtain would be limited.

It was not that his parents were unwilling to give him anything or lacked such items. Rather, there was a rule involved: every student could only use one card per month. Lin Xiao had only used three cards so far and still had six usage slots remaining, but those three cards had been created by using the Golden Finger to break down and combine six cards into three new ones.

He had only used three cards, but in the eyes of outsiders, he had used at least five or six. At most, he could only use another three or four. After reserving one slot in case he suddenly obtained a good card and could not use it, he could get at most three or four cards from his parents.

Now that he had the Creation Cube, he would definitely break down and fuse these cards into new, powerful cards. Naturally, the more base cards he had in his card pool, the better.