You Don't Want Ling Zhan? Tianyan Academy Does!

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Su Rou never expected the key academies to fight over her.

In her mind,

her grades were good, but she was still far from making the province's top hundred.

Getting into a first-rate combat academy would be easy.

But getting into one of the ten key combat academies would be difficult.

She might even have to accept whatever placement she was assigned and give up choosing her own team before she could enroll in a key combat academy.

And yet,

she'd only just arrived,

and already the academies were fighting over her.

She was completely baffled.

Where was Ling Zhan?

Where was he?

Shouldn't these people be fighting over the top scorer?

Why were they fighting over her and Sun Ze instead?

"Sun Ze, where's Ling Zhan?" Su Rou went over to him and asked in a low voice.

"He got snubbed by the teachers."

Sun Ze said smugly, "He's pretty good, but a Jobless Freelancer can't get very far. The teachers from these key academies said they'd only take him if he changed classes."

"Besides, they asked Teacher Qi about him earlier. Once they found out his talent value was only 62, they lost interest."

"They probably figured he chose to stay a Jobless Freelancer because his talent value was too low, and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to master a class."

Sun Ze's explanation did make some sense.

Under normal circumstances,

a talent value of 62 was only average.

Just barely passing.

That made a lot of people think Ling Zhan had chosen to be a Jobless Freelancer because he was worried his talent value wouldn't be high enough to master a class.

He'd have a hard time learning new skills in the future, too.

A Jobless Freelancer, on the other hand, didn't need to rely on talent value,

since Jobless Freelancers only learned basic class skills.

"But I watched the footage of Ling Zhan's battles when I got home. I think he's really strong," Su Rou said softly.

Actually, after that, Su Rou had even tried to find out where Ling Zhan lived, hoping he would teach her some practical combat skills.

She knew he was highly skilled at the Assassin class, too.

But Ling Zhan's phone was off, and he rarely went out. She couldn't find him anywhere.

"Su Rou, you're still too young. He's only strong because he can use so many skills. Once we change classes, we won't be able to use skills from other classes anymore."

Sun Ze dismissed her concerns.

After all the teachers had praised him,

he'd gotten a little carried away.

He felt Ling Zhan had only made it this far by taking advantage of his wide range of skills.

But what good was that?

Basic class skills barely scratched Level 20 monsters in secret realms.

Su Rou shook her head slightly. She'd watched Ling Zhan's entire fight with her own eyes.

She felt that Ling Zhan's strength wasn't just because he could use multiple skills.

In other words, if she took the Entrance Assessment as a Jobless Freelancer, there was no way she could handle it as effortlessly as Ling Zhan had.

Zhong Wenshan and Qi Mu watched the teachers argue over Sun Ze and Su Rou.

They exchanged glances,

both of them seeing the helplessness in the other's eyes.

It was both ridiculous and humiliating.

The province's top scorer was right there at their school.

But these recruiters had absolutely no interest in him.

Honestly...

Bang!

The door suddenly swung open.

Everyone turned to look.

A tall, slender boy with a somewhat gaunt build had appeared.

"Ling Zhan, you're here." Zhong Wenshan forced a smile as he went to greet him.

Su Rou's eyes brightened slightly when she saw Ling Zhan.

Sun Ze's gaze, meanwhile, turned a little gloomy.

"Hello, Principal Zhong." Ling Zhan greeted him politely.

His honest, good-natured smile returned to his face.

"Since you're here, come sit down. These are all the recruiting teachers. Say hello and introduce yourself." Qi Mu led Ling Zhan over.

"Hello, teachers. I'm Ling Zhan." Ling Zhan greeted them with an easy smile.

"So you're the top scorer of the Nanzhou Province Trial Ranking... You're nothing special."

"Right? We thought you'd be some impressive figure, but this is all?"

"I seriously doubt how much this year's Entrance Assessment was worth."

At that moment,

several students standing beside Mu Yutian made a few contemptuous remarks.

Their voices were low,

but in the conference room, they rang out loud and clear.

Every person in the room heard them.

Zhong Wenshan's expression darkened at once.

No matter what, Ling Zhan was a student at his school, and he'd won first place in the Nanzhou Province Trial Ranking.

He'd brought honor to the school.

Hearing him mocked like that was a serious blow to the principal's pride.

Just as he was about to lose his temper,

he met Mu Yutian's icy gaze.

In an instant,

Zhong Wenshan's anger died away.

Mu Yutian was a teacher at Huaqing Academy. He naturally outclassed everyone at City No. 1 High School in combat ability and every other respect.

If Zhong Wenshan vented his anger now, he'd probably end up being put in his place.

And badly.

But...

Zhong Wenshan turned to look at Ling Zhan.

He'd expected Ling Zhan to be furious, too.

And yet,

Ling Zhan still wore his honest smile and nodded repeatedly. "You're right, seniors. I only got first place by sheer luck."

Qi Mu sighed at the sight.

Su Rou looked confused.

Sun Ze chuckled to himself, thinking that Ling Zhan had no pride left at all. How could someone like that ever become strong?

"Being willing to accept criticism is a good quality, too."

Mu Yutian nodded calmly. "Ling Zhan, your talent value is too low. Even if you change classes later, you won't amount to much. If you want to join a key academy, then change classes and be sensible about it. But the most I can offer you is an assigned placement."

"As for those so-called resource-rich secret realms, forget about them."

After Mu Yutian said this,

the other key academy recruiters slowly nodded.

That really was the best offer they could make.

But...

There was no denying it: this was the most pathetic—and most despised—provincial trial champion in history.

Not a single key combat academy wanted him...

Ling Zhan glanced around at all the academy recruiters, then continued to ask with a smile, "So, it sounds like none of the other teachers want me either?"

The other teachers said nothing.

But their silence spoke for them.

"Fine. Then I'll apply to a second-rate academy." Ling Zhan nodded.

He felt no stir of emotion.

"Ling Zhan..." Zhong Wenshan said regretfully, about to speak.

Bang!

The door suddenly flew open again.

But this time, someone had kicked it open!

And the first person to walk in wasn't a teacher.

It was a girl who shone like a star!

Her long white hair was tied into a ponytail beneath a baseball cap, spilling down from the back of the brim.

Her bright red eyes were full of pride.

She wore a black leather jacket over a short tee, blue denim shorts, black thigh-high socks, and white sneakers.

With her hands in her pockets, she blew a bubble of gum from her moist lips.

Her exquisite features and snowy white hair gave her the air of a princess.

But her outfit made her look impossibly cool, like a proud little leopard ready to pick a fight with anyone.

After kicking the door open, her first words rang out with utter confidence.

"You don't want Ling Zhan? Tianyan Academy does!"