Zhu Yaoguang

Inside the vast secret-realm plaza.

King Yama Zhou appeared in the middle.

The gathered prodigies quickly stopped sizing one another up.

They stood obediently in place.

King Yama Zhou commanded great respect throughout Nanzhou Province.

Everyone who was a student knew who he was.

He was famous for his strictness.

When King Yama Zhou appeared in the secret realm, he glanced around and nodded in satisfaction.

His deep voice rang out.

"I'm sure none of you are unfamiliar with me."

"So I'll keep this brief. There are no monsters here."

"This place was set up simply to gather the top one hundred on the Nanzhou Province Trial Ranking."

When King Yama Zhou finished speaking,

the prodigies relaxed a little.

But they grew even more curious about one another.

The examinees here were the top one hundred on the Nanzhou Province Trial Ranking!

That meant they were qualified to freely choose a top-tier academy!

When Zhu Yaoguang, known as the White-Haired Witch, heard King Yama Zhou's words,

the first person she thought of was the boy who had failed to interest her earlier.

He carried a bulging load of basic equipment, had an unremarkable aura, and looked ordinary, too.

He was actually in the provincial top one hundred!

Zhu Yaoguang turned to look for him.

The boys Zhu Yaoguang glanced at immediately straightened up, pretending to be indifferent.

They put on expressions that said, "I'm a cool, aloof heartthrob. Come on, girl, fall for me."

After all, among all the girls in the plaza, Zhu Yaoguang was the prettiest.

If the boys hadn't been trying to maintain their image, they would have already rushed over to fawn on her and strike up a conversation.

The main thing was, they knew that acting like a lovesick puppy wouldn't work on a girl like her.

They had to attract her and make her curious.

How did that saying go? When a woman becomes intensely curious about a man, it means she's not far from falling for him...

And so,

all the prodigy boys deliberately put on cool, aloof expressions.

But inside, they were howling: "Beauty, look at me! Look at me!"

Zhu Yaoguang wasn't thinking about any of that. She quickly found the ordinary-looking figure.

He was now tucked away in a corner, eating a biscuit and occasionally taking a sip of water.

No one paid him any attention.

"Actually, my purpose in gathering all of you here is quite simple."

A faint smile appeared on King Yama Zhou's stern face. "I just want you students to meet and talk with one another."

"After all, you'll be attending various combat academies in the future. Get to know each other. Who knows? You might form an SSS-rank team after graduation."

At present,

the Dragon Kingdom had three SSS-rank teams.

Venturing into unknown trial secret realms was nothing like taking an examination trial.

For these prodigies, low-level trial secret realms were easy enough to clear alone.

But true high-level unknown trial secret realms absolutely required teams.

That was because the monsters there were far stronger than anyone could imagine.

Every combat student formed their own assault squad after graduation.

From lowest to highest, team ranks were:

E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS.

King Yama Zhou had very high hopes for these prodigies.

"All right. You may mingle with one another for ten minutes. After that, I'll announce the top ten in the provincial rankings."

King Yama Zhou gave a faint smile, then disappeared from the plaza.

He knew that his presence and authority weighed too heavily on the students, making it hard for them to relax.

So

he had decided to leave for a while.

Sure enough,

once King Yama Zhou was gone,

the atmosphere immediately relaxed.

The prodigies in the provincial top one hundred began talking among themselves.

Most could guess who the others were just by looking at their uniforms.

For example, Zhu Yaoguang.

Huang Bo.

Liu Qiang.

And so on.

They were all top prodigies who often appeared in the newspapers across Nanzhou Province.

Sun Ze, from Yundong City, was actually an unknown, too.

He came over to Ling Zhan, his expression naturally full of surprise. "Ling Zhan, you made the provincial top one hundred too!"

That was what he said.

But inside, he had already breathed a sigh of relief: Luckily, I'm not the one at the bottom. Ling Zhan must be ranked one hundredth.

As he thought about it, the insecurity he'd felt upon seeing these proud prodigies faded considerably.

That was just human nature.

When you faced someone much stronger than yourself, you felt a little inferior.

But if there was someone worse than you standing beside you, you regained your confidence: At least I'm not the worst.

"I just got lucky," Ling Zhan replied sullenly.

Sun Ze didn't mind.

As far as he was concerned, Ling Zhan had always been a quiet, taciturn type.

He was on the honest side.

A nobody in class.

"You really were lucky. You somehow made the top one hundred, just like me. You must've prayed hard before the exam," Sun Ze joked.

Ling Zhan didn't explain.

He just ate his biscuit.

He'd thought there would be one last big battle.

He hadn't expected a meet-and-greet.

He didn't like these kinds of gatherings.

He could keenly sense that nearly every gaze turned his way carried a hint of... disdain.

Sun Ze's was no different.

He was just good at hiding it, deliberately acting like a good classmate.

Ling Zhan didn't feel the least bit inferior. He just couldn't be bothered with these arrogant prodigies.

As far as he was concerned, he would have nothing to do with any of them in the future, so there was no point trying to get chummy.

But sometimes,

the more you didn't want something to happen,

the more likely it was to happen.

For example, right now.

Ling Zhan had just finished his little biscuit.

A pleasant osmanthus fragrance drifted to his nose.

He looked up.

The aloof, white-haired girl had walked right up to him.

Sun Ze beside him was overjoyed.

He was shouting frantically inside: She must be here for me! She must be here for me! What tone should I use when I talk to her? Cool and aloof? Or warm and friendly?

He reached out, striking what he thought was his most perfect pose, and spoke in a deep, smooth voice:

"Hello, classmate. My name is..."

Before he could finish,

Zhu Yaoguang raised a delicate hand, gesturing for him to be quiet.

She didn't even look at him. Instead, she looked at the one who had just finished his biscuit... Ling Zhan.

Sun Ze: ?

Everyone: ?

King Yama Zhou, watching from the shadows, couldn't help smiling at the sight.

"Hello. What's your name?"

Zhu Yaoguang's voice was as cool as her demeanor.

The prodigies who had been about to approach all stopped in their tracks.

They watched with interest, wondering: Had this person offended the White-Haired Witch?

Ling Zhan didn't think much of it.

Or rather, it hadn't even crossed his mind that this pretty white-haired girl would take the initiative to talk to him.

But he remained calm. He simply nodded and said, "Hello. My name is Ling Zhan."

"Zhu Yaoguang."

Zhu Yaoguang held out her fair, delicate hand.

Ling Zhan paused, but still reached out and shook it briefly.

"Can I ask what your class is? I'm just curious because you're carrying so much stuff," Zhu Yaoguang asked bluntly.

It was easy to see that this beautiful girl, Zhu Yaoguang, wasn't much better at reading the room.

She gave people the impression of someone who thought, "I want to ask this, so I'll just ask it."

She didn't bother worrying about what anyone else thought.