What? Wasn't I a good student?!
Ji Jue stared blankly, feeling an unprecedented shock. Wait, I wasn't?
Impossible, right?!
Thinking back carefully, he had only been a little too diligent in Spirit Essence Offense and Defense Class, caused a few too many disasters, stirred up somewhat bigger trouble, ignored advice a bit too often, had a slightly embarrassing habit of mooching off pressure, picked up things that were a little too damned bizarre, muddied the situation a little more than necessary, and made matters a little more troublesome... But hadn't everything else been quite good?!
The Carrion Eater said nothing. She merely looked at him with a half-smile.
The longer she looked, the guiltier Ji Jue became.
In the end, she said nothing else. Still speaking strictly to the matter at hand, she tapped the stack of papers on the desk and slowly said, "In all fairness, for someone of your age and with the time you've had, achieving such abundant results is truly commendable.
"Even compared to all the Chosen of Embers cases from previous years, you rank among the most outstanding. You could entirely be mentioned in the same breath as... a certain person your teacher does not wish to mention. In some areas, you may have even surpassed them."
Ji Jue immediately nodded again and again, his face radiant.
Wanted to hear it, loved hearing it, delighted to hear it.
Eh, how did you know I passed the Federation civil servant exam in just half a month?
...But that is also where the problem lies."
The Carrion Eater shifted the topic and looked at him. "You've learned too much, too broadly, and too chaotically, Ji Jue. You've accumulated too much, built too deep a foundation. You think too much and want too much, yet cannot balance it