Liu Chuanfeng and An Lan stood together below the stage; they had been eliminated in the first round.
"Young Master Liu, I feel like there must be some black curtain behind us being eliminated. That person who came to recruit must be holding a grudge against us. Otherwise, how could someone as pure as you and I fail to even pass the first round!"
An Lan was so angry that she was gnashing her teeth. She had already planned how to take revenge on Bai Jie and that boy after she succeeded, but she ended up being eliminated in the first round. Now, she had lost all face, and the beating she took was for nothing.
She was, after all, the pure school beauty of the academy. Now, everyone was looking at her with strange expressions, and she felt as if they were all mocking her.
"Young Master Liu, why don't we... go tell Auntie now and slap his face hard in public to get revenge for us!"
An Lan chattered away, not noticing that Liu Chuanfeng's face next to her had turned black.
"Slap! Slap! Slap!"
Liu Chuanfeng swung his hand and slapped An Lan several times.
"You bitch, do you think I'm stupid? He is sitting in the middle, and even my aunt can only act as a foil. You want me to go find him for revenge? I may be bad, but I'm not stupid!"
"Hmph, if you dare to talk nonsense again, don't blame me for being impolite."
He kicked An Lan away, and the people around them quickly scattered; no one dared to catch her.
An Lan was kicked to the ground, hating Liu Chuanfeng intensely in her heart. Clearly, they had done everything together, but now it seemed like it was all her responsibility.
The people around didn't pay much attention. Although An Lan was indeed pretty, the results for the top ten on stage were about to be announced, and no one was in the mood to look at her.
She quickly climbed up and slunk away.
"It's Fu Shunping, he has fallen!"
"The top ten are out!"
"It really is Fu Shunping. Which brother said that just now? You have a sharp eye."
Ye Feng looked at the ten people remaining on the field and felt the progress was a bit slow, so he quietly increased the difficulty.
This test was originally meant to test talent; those who could understand the Pure White mysteries could persist longer. However, he had increased the difficulty, and now those staying inside would also gradually be subjected to pressure on their willpower.
"Thump..."
A few more people slowly collapsed to the ground.
Only the last four people remained on the field:
Lan Si, Ma Tianzhen, Bai Jie, and Zhang Zhifan.
The few of them were holding on on the stage. Unlike the previous realization of Pure White, now, just staying inside brought endless pressure that made it hard to breathe.
Bai Jie gritted her teeth, enduring the infinite pressure, but she refused to fall.
"Fourth place, Zhang Zhifan!"
The host looked at the slowly collapsing Zhang Zhifan and exclaimed.
Everyone was incredulous; how could the person who always took first place have a willpower less firm than the remaining three?
The students below the stage immediately began to discuss it heatedly.
Ye Feng looked at the fallen Zhang Zhifan and nodded secretly. With him secretly applying pressure to them, the fact that these four could hold on for so long meant they were all good seedlings.
"Beep, beep, beep..."
Ye Feng frowned, looking at the number on the screen in front of him.
It was Yang Yong.
He had now become a Deity, and increasing his strength relied on Faith. As long as he had enough Divine Power, he could directly locate his parents through items; the Security Team was no longer a place he absolutely had to go to.
However, Yang Yong had saved his life.
And that girl, Yang Qingning, was very much to his liking.
"Hey, Captain!"
Thinking this, he answered the phone.
"Ye Feng, we received a notice. People have been going missing in the Nongmo Street area of our JA District recently. Let's go take a look together tomorrow!"
Yang Yong on the other end sounded like he had just woken up, his voice lazy.
"Alright, Captain. You're getting on in years, so take care of your health and don't overthink things."
Ye Feng looked at the stage; in the time he was on the phone, they had all fallen.
"First place, Bai Jie."
"Second place, Lan Si."
"Third place, Ma Tianzhen."
"Fourth place, Zhang Zhifan."
..
"The announcement is complete. Everyone whose name is called can receive an additional reward ranging from five hundred thousand to fifty thousand based on their ranking!"
"Everyone else will receive an entry reward of three hundred thousand each!"
"All rewards will be collected when signing the contract tomorrow."
The host waved his hands excitedly.
Three hundred thousand—let alone for students, it was an astronomical figure even for teachers. Their monthly salary was only five thousand, and after expenses, they only earned three thousand-plus a month. To earn three hundred thousand would take one hundred months.
More importantly, those who passed today had all graduated and would officially enter the Church to work!
"Why is Bai Jie first? She's usually quiet and ugly, too."
"Indeed, it's a bit unbelievable."
The crowd below was buzzing with discussion.
In Ye Feng's previous life, this was equivalent to getting a job at a state-owned enterprise. As long as the Church didn't go bankrupt, life would only get better from here on out.
Moreover, to this day, no other Church gave out bonuses upon hiring; they all required membership fees to work. Pure White was the first to start this internal competition.
Mainly, Ye Feng didn't care about money.
Principal Liu handed the microphone to Ye Feng.
Ye Feng picked up the microphone.
He stood up, revealing a portion of his divine intent.
The Pure White mist instantly enveloped the five hundred-plus students. Targeting those on stage, he directly spent 200 Divine Power points to heal their mental fatigue and physical ailments from just moments ago.
The students lying all over the ground felt their bodies filled with strength and climbed up one by one.
As for Bai Jie, because she was healed, the black lines on her face disappeared, and she looked incredibly beautiful, though she didn't know it herself.
"Hey, look at Bai Jie. The Contamination on her face is gone; she's so pretty."
"Indeed, I'm in love. A pure beauty."
Many of the students who passed were wiping away tears. Among the students studying here, very few came from wealthy families; those with money went to elite schools.
Earning three hundred thousand made every student a hero in their own family. They couldn't imagine what kind of treatment they would receive once their families found out!
In a distant corner, An Lan, who had just left, quietly returned. Seeing this scene, she gnashed her teeth until they almost shattered.
She and Bai Jie were neighbors and childhood playmates. They used to have a good relationship, but the reason they parted ways was that everyone always remembered Bai Jie's goodness.
No matter what achievement she attained, people always remembered Bai Jie's achievements because Bai Jie was always just a little bit better than her.
If it weren't for that day.
She went to Jiujiang Mountain for a trip and obtained a Wish Stone in a cave. She would never have been able to surpass Bai Jie, but now, everything was ruined!
Even with all her hard work, she was still surpassed by Bai Jie. First place meant a bonus of five million three hundred thousand; it was easy to imagine that her starting position upon joining the Church would also be the highest.
These were clearly things that should have been hers. If it weren't for the fight that Ye Feng saw, first place would definitely have been hers!
"Bai Jie! Ye Feng! You brought all of this on yourselves!"
An Lan gritted her teeth and took out the Wish Stone from her bosom.
"Wish Stone, I wish for Bai Jie's Mutation to become more severe, and I wish for that Ye Feng to be cursed to death!"
Her face was twisted as she spoke viciously.
The Wish Stone glowed slightly and then dimmed.
An Lan had used it several times before; this indicated that the wish was successful and the Wish Stone had accepted her request.
"Ah... it hurts."
This was the price that followed. An Lan rolled on the ground in pain. Fortunately, she was in a corner, and everyone was watching Ye Feng speak on stage, so no one noticed her.
Ye Feng, sitting on the sofa, felt a shift in his mind and sensed something was wrong. He looked at Bai Jie below with a solemn expression.
He felt that the Contamination in Bai Jie's body seemed to have worsened again, even though he had just healed it with Divine Power.
Furthermore, there was a mysterious force surrounding him.
With a wave of his hand, another beam of divine light fell upon Bai Jie, and a sweep of his Divine Sense cleared the Contamination from his own body as well.
An Lan watched the two of them, who seemed completely unaffected, and her mental state completely broke. She was going to publicly report them for having a black curtain; based on Bai Jie's ability, it was impossible for her to pass, let alone take first place.
Given her family's circumstances, how could she not have any resentment?
She strode onto the stage.
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