Chen Ge, Why Are You Running a Fever?

The night was coming to an end; dawn had arrived.

A faint light had already begun to emerge on the horizon.

High above the vast Exotic Beast Forest, a brilliant streak of light cut through the void.

It headed straight in the direction of Cloud Sea City.

It was not until it neared the outer perimeter of the city limits that the light descended into the suburbs.

The radiance dissipated, revealing the figures of an old man and a youth.

It was Chen Ming's first time experiencing the sensation of flight, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of novelty.

He had to admit, this old man was quite decent.

He even brought him along while making his escape.

"I say, young man, are you really alright?"

After setting Chen Ming down, the old man stared at his body.

At this moment, Chen Ming appeared quite abnormal; his exposed skin was actually glowing with a red light.

Because he had consumed the [Azure Flame Molten Fire], he could feel a massive amount of elemental energy expanding within his body.

His internal organs felt as if they were burning.

[-1!]

That's right, he had already begun to take damage.

If not for his bug-level physical constitution, Chen Ming estimated he would have exploded by now.

In the physical sense, that is.

However, he wasn't panicked in the slightest.

To Chen Ming, his body was just a little hot.

A trivial matter.

"I'm fine, and I thank you, senior, for bringing me along."

When Chen Ming spoke, he exhaled visible heat.

He was like a furnace.

The old man: ...

You call this being fine?

He felt that if one could strike a match, this kid would be breathing fire as he spoke.

He might even explode on the spot—a ticking time bomb!

"I... uh, forget it, you should get going."

He had originally intended to converse more with this young man who drank molten rock straight up.

He wanted to probe his background and see which great family he hailed from.

But seeing the boy looking like he was about to burst at any moment, he held back.

Unlike exotic beasts, the human body is extremely fragile and cannot digest substances containing elemental energy.

Only through slow absorption can it be converted into the "foundation" for a class-changer to awaken skills.

Now, the only way for this young man was to successfully absorb the Azure Flame Molten Fire before his body gave out.

Otherwise, something terrible would happen.

He didn't even dare to imagine the consequences...

His body would likely be melted away.

"This young man..."

The old man looked in Chen Ming's direction, his eyes complex.

He guessed that the other party was most likely a hidden class or a dual-class changer.

Otherwise, how could he possess an ability similar to temporary damage immunity?

He had once encountered a high-level SS class-changer in Huaxia whose skill possessed a 99% damage reduction effect lasting for five minutes.

Terrifying!

Presumably, this young man also possessed a similar top-tier skill.

The old man pulled his thoughts back, then took a bottle of bright blue liquid from his robes.

Looking at the [Moonlight Glaze] in his hand, the old man revealed a smile of relief.

"With this, Xue'er will surely be able to awaken a mental skill in the future."

On the other side.

Chen Ming walked along the road back to the city.

It was already nearing 7:00 AM.

In the suburbs, one could even see groups of Class-holders traveling together, heading toward the safe zones outside the city.

They were preparing to begin their third day of leveling.

Along the way, many people noticed Chen Ming.

There was no helping it; it was impossible not to notice him.

As Chen Ming walked through the suburbs, his entire body was bathed in a red glow, making him incredibly eye-catching.

"Holy crap, that looks like Chen Ming!"

"Coming from this direction, he couldn't have just returned from outside the city, could he?"

"He leveled in the wild all night?! He's really pushing himself."

"No wonder he's ranked number one."

"Huh? What's up with his state?"

"..."

Chen Ming found that he had suddenly become exceptionally popular.

Along the way, almost everyone who saw him felt compelled to come over and greet him for no apparent reason.

Ding-dong.

At this moment, his phone chimed with a message.

Nearing the city, his phone had regained its signal.

Chen Ming picked it up and saw two notifications.

One was a friend request, and the other was a message from Sun Yang—

[Brother Chen, where are you?]

[The outside world is full of legends about you right now!]

Chen Ming replied with a '?'.

He then opened the friend request and discovered it was from Qin Zhixue.

The note attached to the request contained only two words: "Form party."

Right, Qin Zhixue should be level 5 by now, which means she can enter dungeons.

Once the leader of a party reaches level 5, the entire party can enter a dungeon.

Furthermore, the experience and rewards for clearing a dungeon are not split among teammates, so there is no difference between soloing and partying.

The only difference lies in the rating received after clearing the dungeon.

Therefore, when it comes to challenging dungeons, partying is definitely superior to soloing.

After all, with teammates, the efficiency of clearing a dungeon is naturally faster.

Not to mention the benefits of partying with an SS-rank class-holder like Qin Zhixue.

Chen Ming accepted Qin Zhixue's friend request.

He pondered for a moment before sending a message back.

"I have something to take care of right now, so the party request will have to be postponed for a bit."

Chen Ming's top priority now was to absorb the Azure Flame Molten Fire within his body.

Qin Zhixue replied quickly with a brief "Okay."

"Brother Chen!"

Just then, someone shouted from not far away.

It was Sun Yang.

He had spotted Chen Ming from a distance and came running over excitedly.

"Holy crap, Brother Chen, why are you overheating?"

Sun Yang looked at Chen Ming's entirely crimson body, looking exceptionally shocked.

With a look of novelty on his face, he stepped forward to inspect him from left to right.

Finally, he curiously touched Chen Ming's arm, which felt like a red-hot iron rod.

"Sss!"

"So hot!"

Sun Yang blew on his scorched fingers and stumbled backward.

"Brother Chen, you aren't about to mutate, are you?"

He felt that Chen Ming at this moment was like a walking, human-shaped furnace!

Chen Ming did not waste time bickering with Sun Yang, instead asking about his leveling progress.

"What level are you now?"

"Level 2, hehe, I can't compare to you, Brother Chen..."

Sun Yang scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Compared to the awakened class-changers this year, his leveling speed was actually quite decent.

Moreover, he could reach Level 3 today, which would still rank him in the top 100 in Cloud Sea City.

But compared to Chen Ming.

His leveling speed was simply too slow.

On the second day of the Grand Exam, his buddy had soared straight to the number one spot in Cloud Sea City.

A leveling speed that even SS-rank class-changers couldn't match.

However, Sun Yang did not say a word about asking Chen Ming to carry him.

Even after learning yesterday that Chen Ming wasn't in a party with Qin Zhixue, but was leveling solo.

He knew that Brother Chen must have his own reasons for soloing.

Chen Ming nodded, then opened his personal panel.

"I've sent you an invitation, accept it."

"What invitation?"

Sun Yang looked at his panel.

['Bright Morning' party leader Chen Ming invites you to join the party, accept/decline?]

Chen Ming said, "I have some things to take care of for now; once I'm finished, I'll take you into a dungeon to level up."

He had soloed before because his combat style left him no other choice.

Now that he could enter dungeons to level up, it was only natural to bring his "son" along.

"Brother Chen, you are practically my foster father!"