As the halo faded, Lin Mu's figure reappeared in the plaza.
The instant he stepped out of the Light Gate, the entire world seemed to have been muted.
The plaza, which had been bustling with noise before he entered, was now so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Nearly a thousand gazes, filled with shock, confusion, and fervor, were fixed on him like spotlights.
Lin Mu furrowed his brows slightly. He still wasn't used to being the center of attention.
At the edge of the plaza stood several Heaven Branch freshmen who had also just emerged from the secret realm.
They hung their heads, their faces pale.
They had clearly encountered danger inside and had been forced to crush their Teleportation Talismans to escape early.
Now, they looked at the pitiful two-digit scores on their own panels,
then at the glaring 140,000 at the top of the giant screen. Their eyes were vacant, and they had begun to question their entire existence.
Following their gaze, Lin Mu looked back at the enormous crystal screen.
The points rankings were separated by an absurdly wide margin.
First place: Lin Mu, 143,240 points.
Second place: Luo Tian, 1,260 points.
Third place: Lei Ming, 975 points.
Fourth place: Xiong Zining, 931 points.
Ninth place: Lu Hu, 628 points.
Twelfth place: Ao Di, 546 points.
His score was more than 110 times Luo Tian's, the second-place student's!
As for Lu Hu and Ao Di, who had been making threats earlier, they hadn't even earned a fraction of his score.
"Student Lin Mu."
Mu Wanqing appeared in front of him as if she had teleported.
Her beautiful phoenix eyes were roiling with unprecedented shock, but she still forcibly suppressed her astonishment.
She was just about to ask him what had happened in the secret realm
when—
"Vmmm—"
The Light Gate behind Lin Mu lit up again.
A burly figure, built like a bear and wearing an exhausted yet haughty expression, strode out.
It was Lu Hu!
As soon as he emerged, he saw Lin Mu standing there calmly, and a smug, scornful smile immediately appeared on his face.
"Hahaha! Look who it is! The Necromancer?"
"What? Couldn't take it and got sent out so soon?"
"I knew it! Someone like you, whose level was piled up with resources, would show his true colors the moment he got into a real fight!"
He glanced around. No one was agreeing with him.
Instead, everyone was looking at him like he was an idiot. He couldn't help feeling puzzled.
But he was currently basking in his own self-satisfaction and didn't think much of it.
"Hmph! I was just unlucky enough to run into an elite boss early. Otherwise, I could've farmed a few hundred more points in there!"
Lu Hu puffed out his chest and bragged about his "heroic deeds," spittle flying, as if he were the center of attention.
At last, he sensed that something was off.
Everyone was looking at him with complicated expressions of pity, mockery, and schadenfreude. It felt worse than being openly insulted.
"Why... why is everyone looking at me like that?"
Lu Hu frowned and asked, utterly confused.
"Could it be... could it be that my score of over six hundred is the highest?"
With a hint of anticipation, he even asked this incredibly stupid question.
Someone in the crowd finally couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
That laugh was like a signal, instantly setting off the tension that had been simmering throughout the plaza.
Countless people, struggling to stifle their laughter and eager to see what happened next, made Lu Hu feel like a monkey performing naked onstage.
"You... what are you laughing at?!"
Humiliated and furious, Lu Hu pointed at the student who had laughed.
The student fought to contain his amusement and gestured toward the enormous crystal screen behind Lu Hu.
"Buddy, turn around and take a look. Stop embarrassing yourself."
Hearing that, Lu Hu slowly turned around, his mind full of doubts.
He raised his head and looked at the rankings displaying the cruel reality.
The instant he saw them,
the smugness and scorn on Lu Hu's face froze.
He rubbed his eyes instinctively, thinking exhaustion had made him hallucinate.
At the very top of the list, a name in golden lettering stood out painfully.
[First place: Lin Mu, points: 143240]
Lu Hu's mind went blank with a buzz.
His mouth hung open, and his Adam's apple bobbed, but he couldn't make a sound.
One hundred and forty thousand?
He hurriedly looked down at his own ranking.
[Ninth place: Lu Hu, points: 628]
Six hundred and twenty-eight.
One hundred and forty-three thousand, two hundred and forty.
The difference between those two numbers was like heaven and earth. It nearly left him unable to breathe.
The color drained from his face, leaving it as pale as paper.
His self-important arrogance was shattered by those cold figures.
"No..."
"Impossible..."
Lu Hu's voice came out hoarse and dry, like two sheets of sandpaper scraping together.
"The system must've made a mistake! That's right! It has to be a mistake!"
As though clutching at his last lifeline, he pointed frantically at the screen and shouted at Mu Wanqing.
"Teacher Mu! This isn't fair! He cheated! How could a Necromancer possibly get a score like that?"
"He must've exploited some kind of bug!"
But no one paid any attention to his shouting.
Everyone in the plaza was looking at him.
Their gazes made him feel like a monkey from Mount Emei.
Just then,
"Vmmm—"
Another figure walked out of the Light Gate. It was Luo Tian, who had been resting with his eyes closed.
He looked somewhat tired, but his gaze remained sharp.
The first thing he did after emerging was look at the rankings.
When he saw Lin Mu's score, separated from the rest by a gap wide enough to inspire despair,
even his icy expression shifted slightly.
He looked deeply at Lin Mu. There was no longer any contempt in his eyes.
In its place was unprecedented solemnity, along with a hidden fighting spirit.
This Necromancer wasn't a genius.
He was a monster!
Soon after, Lei Ming, Xiong Zining, and the other top freshmen emerged from the secret realm one after another.
Every one of them went through the same routine.
First, they came out full of confidence—then they saw the rankings.
Next, they froze.
Finally, they looked at Lin Mu with awe, as if gazing upon a god.
The atmosphere in the plaza became incredibly strange.
Against the reverent silence, Lu Hu's stupidity seemed a little less embarrassing.
He finally realized just how badly he had messed up
by daring to provoke Lin Mu.
He remembered the harsh words he had thrown at Lin Mu in the lounge, in front of everyone.
"If you can outperform me in this exam, I, Lu Hu, will kneel before you and apologize in front of everyone!"
Those words echoed madly through his mind like the most vicious curse.
"Silence!"
At that moment,
a commanding voice rang down from above.
The white-haired old man, the principal of Shengjing Academy, whose aura was unfathomable,
had appeared above the plaza without anyone noticing.
Several senior Academy elders stood beside him.
Each one radiated a pressure that made people's hearts tremble.
They looked at Lin Mu with undisguised admiration and delight!
The principal's gaze swept over the crowd before finally landing on Lu Hu. His brows furrowed slightly.
"Young man, keeping your word is fundamental to being a decent person."
"You made that bet yourself."
"Shengjing Academy does not accept those who break their word."
The old man's words struck Lu Hu like bolts of thunder, crashing down on his head.
He was forcing Lu Hu to honor the bet!
In front of the entire faculty and student body, and all the top geniuses,
he had to kneel and apologize to the Necromancer he had looked down on most!
Lu Hu clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles cracked.
His whole body began to tremble violently.
It was fear and humiliation rising from the depths of his soul!
He raised his head and looked at Lin Mu with an almost pleading expression.
But Lin Mu simply stood there quietly.
"Thump!"
Lu Hu's legs gave way, and he collapsed helplessly to the ground.
His eyes were vacant, and he kept muttering to himself.
"It's over... It's all over..."
Ao Di had just emerged from the secret realm. When he saw Lu Hu kneeling,
he immediately dropped to his knees too.
Lin Mu really wanted to laugh at that point, but he merely said,
"Uh, Lu Hu, Ao Di, right? You two car... no, classmates, kneeling is enough. There's no need to kowtow."
Then he calmly walked over to Mu Wanqing, as if none of this had anything to do with him.
"Teacher Mu, is the exam over?"
"I'm a little hungry. Can I go get something to eat?"
Those words, so utterly casual, landed like the loudest slap.
They struck Lu Hu right across the face.
He was being ignored!
It was the most complete form of disregard!
So Lin Mu had never taken him seriously, from beginning to end!
"Pfft—"
Lu Hu felt a sweetness rise in his throat.
He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. He had worked himself into such a fury that he'd actually thrown up blood!
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