Fifth

He paused, as if frightened by what he was about to say.

"He can cultivate several A-rank cards in a very short time. And those cards can work together through their conceptual connections to the Journey to the West theme. When that time comes, his dungeon won't have just one Little Drill Wind."

"Lion Camel Ridge won't have just one Little Drill Wind," Zhao Jianguo said quietly.

Everyone fell silent.

Although they couldn't see the vast world called Journey to the West in Su Mu's mind, the connection between the names "Lion Camel Ridge" and "Little Drill Wind" had already given them a faint sense of its terrifying potential.

"This special theme suits Su Mu so well," the female teacher murmured.

"It's not that it suits Su Mu."

Zhao Jianguo shook his head, his gaze deep.

"It's that Su Mu understands this theme so well. Look at what he did. From choosing the location to naming it, every step was as precise as if he had a complete blueprint in his head. His understanding of that theme of his has reached the point where he can freely command its concepts."

"That's already beyond the normal range."

The old mentor's voice was soft, but every word was clear. "I've taught dungeon design for more than thirty years, and I've never seen a student apply a theme's concepts to this extent on the first day of awakening."

"So all he lacks is time."

Zhao Jianguo stood up and looked at the name in fifth place on the leaderboard. "Given enough time," he said slowly, "he might grow to a level none of us can imagine."

"Provided he can find cards that fit the theme's concepts."

The female teacher reminded them, "Finding cards for a special theme is a major problem. He can't just throw any card in there like someone with a technological civilization or magic theme."

"So there are still difficulties." Zhao Jianguo sighed, but then smiled. "Still, thank goodness. Thank goodness we didn't just cast him aside because he awakened an F-rank stone card. And the school did follow through on giving him the card he chose. Otherwise, a promising talent like him might really have been buried."

"As long as he can prove himself in the trial, the school can allocate him a suitable share of additional resources afterward," the director of instruction immediately chimed in. "I'll go make arrangements at the trial grounds right now to put special focus on recording Su Mu's combat data."

Zhao Jianguo nodded. "Good."

"Principal, Su Mu's final ranking is out," the female teacher suddenly called.

Everyone crowded over.

There on the leaderboard, Su Mu's name stood in fifth place.

Combat value: 13,796.

He was behind only Ye Qingxue's 18,574, Wang Hao's 14,630, Lin Yuan's 14,220, and Chen Zimo's 14,180.

"Top five." The director of instruction swallowed. "He made it into the top five with an F-rank core card."

"His combat value is also inflated by quite a bit." The teacher with glasses pushed them up. "Buildings contributed 2,100 points, and the Stone Left Over from Mending Heaven contributed 1,200. Together, those two account for nearly thirty percent. But the remaining eight thousand and change all came from Little Drill Wind, fair and square."

"One card providing over eight thousand combat value puts it among the very best of A-rank cards."

The office fell silent once more.

A student who had just awakened had cultivated a peak-quality A-rank card on the very day of his awakening, and it had started at E-rank.

"If word got out, the people out there would probably have their jaws drop," the female teacher said quietly.

"Don't jump to conclusions." Zhao Jianguo suppressed the shock in his heart and said gravely, "Combat value is just a number on paper. His true strength can only be determined at the trial grounds. Come on, let's go."

Everyone came to their senses as if waking from a dream and nodded.

At that moment, in the teaching building, some students who were still making final adjustments in their classrooms also noticed the change on the leaderboard.

"Holy shit, Su Mu's fifth?"

A tall, skinny boy stared wide-eyed at the screen, his face full of disbelief.

The girl next to him leaned over too. "Su Mu? The Su Mu who awakened an F-rank stone card?"

"Yeah, the one with the highest soul power in the whole grade. Isn't his core card a stone? How did his combat value break ten thousand?"

"Did he use some kind of high-rank card? An A-rank? No, that can't be right. I heard his family's circumstances are pretty ordinary. There's no way he could afford an A-rank card."

"Then was it the E-rank card the school rewarded him with?"

"Bullshit. How much combat value can one E-rank card add? Five hundred, tops. Look at his number now, over eleven thousand. How many E-rank cards would that take?"

"Maybe he used up all his soul power and piled on a bunch of buildings and terrain," someone reasoned. "Two hundred and ten soul power would be 2,100 combat value if he used it all. But that's still only two thousand and change."

"Then where did the other ten thousand-plus come from?"

The students looked at one another, unable to answer.

A girl named Miao Xiaoye had been silent the whole time. She stared at the leaderboard for quite a while before suddenly speaking. "Do you think his E-rank card might have advanced?"

"How's that possible?" The tall, skinny boy immediately shook his head. "Have you ever seen anyone advance a card on the day they awakened? Besides, it's hard enough to advance an E-rank card to D-rank, let alone have it provide that much combat value all at once. Even if he advanced it to D-rank, it wouldn't reach that number."

"Unless..."

"Unless what?"

Miao Xiaoye paused. Even she thought her guess was too far-fetched. She shook her head. "Nothing. Maybe he has his own way."

The students talked it over for a while longer, but never arrived at an answer.

In the end, the tall, skinny boy was the first to stand up. "All right, stop guessing. We haven't even finished our own dungeons. We'll naturally find out about him after the trial ends."

"True. Damn, my own combat power is only 1,300. It's not even as much as the change on Su Mu's..."

"Stop comparing yourself. He has 210 soul power. How much do you have? Hurry up and finish the rest of your design, or there'll be a long line at the trial grounds."

The discussion gradually died down, and the classroom grew quiet again.

But the name in fifth place on the leaderboard had already left a shock in everyone's hearts that would be hard to erase.