Little Green Tea

If one had to describe Sun Ze's current mood in a single sentence.

It would be: ten thousand alpacas galloping through his heart, spitting at him as they ran.

He racked his brain, but he simply couldn't understand it.

How on earth did Ling Zhan manage to snatch the top spot on the Nanzhou Province trial leaderboard!?

He was a Jobless Freelancer!

A Jobless Freelancer!

A Jobless Freelancer!

How was that possible!

When Sun Ze asked him this, Ling Zhan tilted his head, his signature honest smile hanging on his face as he scratched his head. "I don't really have anything to say. Isn't it just a matter of having hands?"

Pfft!

In an instant.

The ninety-nine prodigies present felt a sharp sting in their hearts.

What did he mean by "just a matter of having hands"?

Did that mean the rest of them, these so-called prodigies, were nothing more than babies waiting for a nanny to feed them?

Huang Bo was the first to turn his head toward King Yama Zhou, raising his hand to shout, "Teacher Zhou, are you sure you didn't misread the rankings?"

After the initial shock.

His first reaction was that King Yama Zhou had made a mistake.

How could a Jobless Freelancer possibly take the crown of the Nanzhou Province trial leaderboard?

Was this some kind of joke?

However.

King Yama Zhou replied coldly, "Are you questioning Ling Zhan's strength?"

"Yes!" Huang Bo had a proud and straightforward personality.

He turned to look at the innocent and honest-looking Ling Zhan and said in a deep voice, "Student Ling Zhan, right? I, as a student of Dongjiang City No. 1 High School, hereby challenge you to a spar!"

Ling Zhan was slightly taken aback by these words.

All the other prodigies present felt a surge of intense interest at this scene.

"Nice! I love watching people fight!"

"Huang Bo's temper is truly direct; he acts as soon as he speaks."

"To be honest, I also doubt the authenticity of this ranking."

"Who doesn't?"

All the surrounding prodigies wore expressions of eager spectators.

Zhu Yaoguang was also extremely curious about Ling Zhan's strength.

A Jobless Freelancer had actually managed to surpass every prodigy present to claim the crown.

She wasn't the type to be a sore loser.

She was simply curious.

Curious about the strength of this Jobless Freelancer.

In fact, even if Huang Bo hadn't issued a challenge, she would have done so herself.

A proud phoenix could not willingly admit defeat.

However.

Just then, King Yama Zhou waved his hand with a chuckle. "Alright, I understand how you all feel, but now is not the time. If you want to spar, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."

"Don't forget, after entering the key military academies, there is a University Sparring League every year. You can spar as much as you want then."

King Yama Zhou's word.

Still carried weight.

The proud and arrogant Huang Bo had no choice but to give up, though he looked resentful.

Judging by his expression, he was far from convinced.

He did not accept these rankings.

At this moment.

The prodigies' gazes were fixed repeatedly on Ling Zhan.

Sun Ze looked as if he wanted to press his face right up against Ling Zhan's.

"Sigh, you kids, why are you all so unwilling to accept defeat?"

Seeing that these prodigies were still eyeing the honest little Ling Zhan like tigers, King Yama Zhou sighed helplessly and said, "If you refuse to accept it, the official authorities will release the combat recordings of every candidate in half a month. Of course, I imagine Ling Zhan's combat footage has already been recorded by many people. If you go online and search for it today, won't you be able to see Ling Zhan's true level?"

The prodigies thought about it.

That seemed right.

Only then did they reluctantly withdraw their gazes.

"Ling Zhan, here, I would like to offer you my congratulations. Congratulations on becoming the first person in history to win the Nanzhou Province trial leaderboard as a Jobless Freelancer!"

King Yama Zhou looked at Ling Zhan with a gratified expression.

Ling Zhan nodded and said to King Yama Zhou, "Thank you, Teacher Zhou!"

"Alright, this exchange meeting is over. In three minutes, all candidates will be teleported back to their respective exam centers. You can go home and share this good news with your parents!"

King Yama Zhou waved his hand, and his figure instantly vanished from the secret realm.

"Ling Zhan, I really didn't expect it, I really didn't... you kid were hiding your true colors..."

Sun Ze scanned Ling Zhan up and down, looking as if he had discovered a new continent.

Ling Zhan felt a bit helpless and was just about to speak.

That pleasant scent of osmanthus flowers drifted to the tip of his nose again.

He turned his head.

Sure enough, Zhu Yaoguang was already standing in front of him.

Beside her stood the still-unconvinced Huang Bo.

"Ling Zhan, I want to know, which city are you from?" Zhu Yaoguang asked directly.

She didn't say "please" or "could you tell me."

Instead, she said "I want to know."

It was as if she were saying: I want to know, so you must tell me.

There was no malice, but Zhu Yaoguang had long been accustomed to this way of speaking.

So she asked quite directly.

Ling Zhan frowned, not intending to answer the girl's question.

Sun Ze, however, answered with great excitement, "He is a student at Yundong City No. 1 High School, the same school as me, and we're even in the same class! My name is Sun Ze. Student Zhu, if you want to know everything about him, I promise to tell you truthfully!"

Ling Zhan opened his mouth: "..."

Damn it!

Sun Ze, do you have any idea that you have two big words written on your face right now: "Simp!"

"Yundong City No. 1 High School..."

Zhu Yaoguang's eyelashes, white as snow, fluttered as she said softly, "If I had known that Yundong City No. 1 High School had a freak like you, I should have transferred there to spar with you."

Outside.

Hearing these words from Zhu Yaoguang, the principals on the podium let out a muffled grunt.

They thought to themselves, it's a good thing you didn't go to City No. 1 High School, otherwise Zhong Wenshan would be grinning from ear to ear.

Inside the secret realm, when Huang Bo heard Zhu Yaoguang say this, the look in his eyes as he stared at Ling Zhan became even more fiery.

Ling Zhan muttered to himself, "Huang Bo is Simp Number One, Sun Ze is Simp Number Two..."

"Which key academy do you want to go to?" Zhu Yaoguang asked again.

Sun Ze turned to look at Ling Zhan.

As Simp Number Two, he couldn't answer this question for the goddess.

Ling Zhan shook his head and said dully, "I haven't decided yet."

Zhu Yaoguang nodded upon hearing this and turned to leave.

She knew that the other party's "haven't decided yet" was actually "I don't want to tell you."

But so what?

She, Zhu Yaoguang, might not be able to find out some of the Dragon Kingdom's top-secret information.

But finding out which key academy Ling Zhan applied to? Wasn't that as easy as pie?

"Hello, Brother Ling Zhan, my name is Guo Tianjiu."

After Zhu Yaoguang left, the petite and cute Guo Tianjiu ran over.

Sun Ze's eyes widened—how did this cute little loli come over too!

Ling Zhan's first impression of Guo Tianjiu was three words: little green tea.

It was just his intuition.

"Let's get to know each other. After all, what if we end up applying to the same key academy? Then we'll be classmates."

Guo Tianjiu looked playful and cute.

"Mm." Ling Zhan nodded honestly.

"Since we've met, I won't bother you anymore, Brother. I'm leaving."

Seeing Ling Zhan's cold demeanor, Guo Tianjiu turned and walked away.

The moment she turned, her cute little face instantly became vicious. She gritted her teeth and ranted wildly in her heart:

"Stinky thing, so what if you got first in the province? I spoke to you and you acted all aloof. You're really asking for a beating. Don't ever fall into my hands, or I'll make you regret it, hmph!"

Ling Zhan suddenly felt a chill run down his back.

He couldn't help but shiver.