Du Qinggang said, "Principal, don't say that. I think both of us could do it."
"Hey!" Li Zhengming set down the cup in his hand. "Don't drag me into your boasting."
The corner of Du Qinggang's mouth twitched.
"I never expected that after our school produced a Divine Power Master with seven Divine Marks, we'd have another with dual Divine Marks!"
"Whether or not he learned saber techniques or Qi from anyone before, judging by what we've seen, his talent truly is extraordinary."
"Starting today, he's to be a priority in our school's training program."
"We can't let such a fine talent go to waste. We must bring out his full potential."
"Find an opportunity to give him some proper instruction in saber techniques. I remember you used a saber too, before you awakened that ability."
Du Qinggang's face darkened. "If what those guys from the City Protection Bureau said is true, I'm afraid my saber skills might not be as good as his."
When Duan Ming walked into the classroom, everyone fell silent at once.
The way they looked at Duan Ming really was as if they were looking at a hero.
In the entire class, or even the entire grade, Duan Ming was undoubtedly the first person to fight a demon and kill it!
Most importantly, he had come away without a scratch!
Quite a few girls looked at him with admiration.
Even Fang Cheng, the rich second-generation heir who had always lorded it over the class, had to admit that Duan Ming was awesome!
As Duan Ming entered the classroom, his gaze first fell on Zhao Jie's empty seat.
White flowers had been placed all over the desk.
They were probably from the classmates around him.
He looked at his other classmates.
Suddenly, a boy shouted,
"Duan Ming, you're awesome!"
The entire classroom erupted in an instant.
For some reason, Duan Ming felt a warmth in his heart at that moment.
It wasn't pride or a sense of accomplishment, just simple warmth.
Dong Kai was the first to crowd up to him. "Duan Ming, let me see. Are you really completely fine?"
"I'm fine."
"Duan Ming, you're amazing! Do you know that everyone in the school was talking yesterday about how you killed a demon? Even the second- and third-years were discussing it."
"Now when I go to the bathroom and people find out I'm in Class 1, they even give up their stalls for me!"
"That's an exaggeration, but when we're walking around and people find out we're in Class 1, they really do look at us differently than before."
Everyone tactfully avoided mentioning Zhao Jie.
Amid the crowd, a bouquet of flowers appeared before Duan Ming.
Zhou Yao held the bouquet, dressed in a pure and innocent style. "Duan Ming, these are for you."
"Huh? Why are you suddenly giving me flowers?"
The flowers really did take Duan Ming by surprise.
"What do you think? You're our class's hero now."
"Hero? Isn't that a bit much?"
"If you're not a hero, who is? Teacher Lin said that if you hadn't gone to stop that demon that night, many more civilians might have been killed before the City Protection Bureau arrived."
"Never mind that you killed the demon-even if you hadn't, your guts and courage would have been enough to make you a hero."
"Take them, Duan Ming. Everyone in the class chipped in ten yuan to buy them for you. They're a gift from the whole class," Fang Cheng, the rich second-generation heir, said from the side with his arms crossed.
He had originally planned to pay for the whole thing himself.
No, he had originally planned to bring a whole truckload.
But the other classmates had insisted on each chipping in ten yuan, so there was nothing he could do.
"Thank you, everyone."
Duan Ming accepted the flowers with both hands. After hesitating for a second, he walked straight to Zhao Jie's seat.
He placed the flowers he was holding on the desk, which was already covered with them.
If Zhao Jie had been sitting there, he would have said to him: everyone in the class is kind, and they're friends well worth spending time with.
Two days passed.
On the athletic field.
After two hours of combat training, the students of Class 1 sat down to rest on the grass beside the field.
"Hello, Third Uncle, what are you doing?"
"Busy being interviewed."
His third uncle's voice came through the phone.
"An interview? What interview?"
"What do you think? You've finally brought me some face, kid. Everyone's saying heroes emerge in their youth, saying a student who's only been at school for a week actually dared to fight a demon and even managed to kill it, keeping the city safe. Nothing like that has ever happened in Jiang City in the past few decades."
Duan Ming's face darkened.
"All right, then. Take your time with the interview. I might come back a little late tonight."
"If that won't work, why don't you stay at school?"
During the interview, he went on about how amazing his nephew was, saying he'd beaten the demon so badly with one punch that even its mother wouldn't have recognized it.
But in truth, he was also worried about Duan Ming's safety.
"We'll talk about that when I get back. I'm hanging up now."
After hanging up, Duan Ming looked at Dong Kai beside him.
"Duan Ming, can you tell me who you learned your saber techniques from now?"
"Hmm, if I said I learned them in a dream, would you believe me?"
Dong Kai blinked and shook his head slightly.
"That's him. That guy is Duan Ming. I heard from my sister that his saber skills are really strong. She even said his saber skills are better than hers."
Two second-year boys passing by looked over at Duan Ming.
One boy with bangs snorted contemptuously. "So what if he killed a demon? What's so great about that?"
As the two boys walked away, the students of Class 1 looked at one another.
"Those two look like second-years."
"Ah, fuck, now that's got my temper up!"
"Calm down, don't be reckless. We can't beat them."
"Even if we can't beat them, we can't just sit here! So what if they're second-years? They're only one year ahead of us! If he's so capable, let him try killing one. It's easy to talk when you're not the one doing it."
Generally, during their first two years at school, students wouldn't be sent out for actual combat or have any contact with demons, unless they happened to run into one themselves.
"All right, ignore them."
Duan Ming didn't mind the boy's sneering in the slightest.
"Come on, come on, have some water."
Fang Cheng came over with two boys, carrying a case of bottled water.
Now, this rich second-generation heir didn't seem quite so arrogant to Duan Ming. Instead, he was rather approachable.
He was completely different from the spoiled rich heir Duan Ming had imagined.
Just then, a tall boy stepped out of Class 3, which was resting nearby.
He was at least 1.9 meters tall, with a crew cut, sword-like brows, and starry eyes.
Among the students in his grade, his physique, if not the best, was definitely the second-best.
He walked straight up to Duan Ming and said, "Are you Duan Ming?"
Duan Ming nodded.
At the same time, everyone in Class 1 looked at the boy warily.
"I want to have a contest of saber skills with you."
Duan Ming was taken aback. "I didn't bring a saber."
"I did."
Hearing that, Duan Ming frowned slightly.
The boy pointed to the right. "There's an open space behind the teaching building over there. Just you and me."
Duan Ming asked, "Just a contest of saber skills?"
The boy said, "If you want to use Qi and Divine Marks, that's fine too."
"Duan Ming, don't go with him. Who does he think he is?"
"Exactly, Duan Ming. What if you hurt him and he pins the blame on you?"
The boy said in a low voice, "It's not certain who'll lose yet!"