“Lu Sheng!”
Some sharp-eyed students spotted Lu Sheng approaching from almost a kilometer away, and their exclamations immediately drew the attention of a crowd of classmates.
“Why is he here?”
“Does he really think that awakening two E-rank classes makes him arrogant enough to dare enter the Newcomer Secret Realm?”
Most of the students present were B-rank class holders, with only a few being C-rank or D-rank class holders.
But there was definitely not a single E-rank class holder among them.
“Lu Sheng? Why is he here?”
As the only dual class holder among this year’s awakened in Lanjiang City, and with both at E-rank, Chu Jianghe remembered Lu Sheng very well.
A scene suddenly surfaced in his mind of Lu Sheng patting his shoulder yesterday and declaring that he would take first place in this year’s Lanjiang City Newcomer Class Holder Tournament, and his expression gradually turned strange.
He had thought Lu Sheng was joking and hadn’t taken it to heart, but seeing Lu Sheng actually show up now stirred a sense of absurdity in Chu Jianghe’s mind.
Class holder City-level Newcomer Tournament champion… could Lu Sheng really be serious?
“Lu Sheng, you dare come here?!”
Just as Lu Sheng stepped onto the sports field, a sharp, grating laugh rang out, “You’re just an E-rank class holder and you still dare be so presumptuous… are you looking to kill yourself so you can go see your long-dead parents?”
At those words, the sports field fell silent, and everyone turned toward the voice’s Master, Qin Yanran.
They were all still students; although there might be some minor quarrels, most were trivial scuffles and rarely involved deep, insurmountable grudges.
Few, like Qin Yanran, deliberately rubbed salt in others’ wounds.
“Qin Yanran, even though you broke up with Lu Sheng, isn’t it a bit much to curse him like that?”
“Yeah, we’re all classmates, so why…”
Someone couldn’t stand it and spoke up in defense.
Seeing classmates speak up for Lu Sheng, Qin Yanran’s expression instantly darkened and, with a fierce look, she snarled, “Shut up! What right do you have to lecture me?”
At the same time, a scorching fire snake shot out from behind her, sweeping over the crowd and sending several classmates crashing to the ground in terror.
“Zhao Qingtian!”
A classmate looked toward the figure emerging behind Qin Yanran and his expression suddenly changed.
Other than Qin Yanran, the only other A-rank talent class holder in this year’s Lanjiang No. 3 High School was Flame Mage Zhao Qingtian!
“Now Yanran is teamed up with me, and opposing her means opposing me, Zhao Qingtian!”
Zhao Qingtian narrowed his eyes threateningly, sweeping the crowd, and those who had been about to speak for Lu Sheng immediately changed expressions and fell silent.
Unlike Qin Yanran, Zhao Qingtian was someone they dared not provoke.
He was arrogant and domineering, frequently bullied classmates, and his family ran a small logistics company, placing him worlds above them.
Now that he had awakened an A-rank Mage combat class, he was even more at the peak of his glory.
“Lu Sheng, Yanran is doing this for your own good. You’re just an E-rank class holder, and you still dare to participate in the Newcomer Trial… do you have a death wish?”
“If I were you, I’d thank Yanran properly and then get lost!”
Zhao Qingtian strode up to Lu Sheng, chin raised, and said haughtily.
“Principal, Zhao Qingtian is bullying classmates again. Should we do something about it?”
Dean of Discipline Cao Shufen watched the scene below, frowned, and a trace of displeasure flashed in her eyes.
The school had repeatedly called his parents for talks, but Zhao Qingtian never changed his ways.
Chu Jianghe stared for a moment, slowly shook his head, and said, “No need.”
“Between class holders, it’s survival of the fittest; you have to fight for your own dignity!”
“As long as it’s not too extreme, we can just watch. Otherwise, if they need Lords like us to protect them every time, how will they face those ruthless alien races in the future?”
Watching Zhao Qingtian’s arrogant stance, Lu Sheng’s attributes panel flashed before his eyes.
『name: Zhao Qingtian』
『class: Flame Mage (A)』
『level: LV1』
『Four Dimensions: strength 7, intelligence 8, agility 6, constitution 5』
『Class Skill: Flame Protection (B), Burst Concentration (A)』
『Skill Book: World-burning Purgatory (A)』
『Flame Protection (B): When attacked, there is a 15% chance to trigger the “Flame Ember” effect, granting the user a flame shield equal to 5% of maximum health (lasting 5 seconds) while dealing burning damage equal to 0.8 × intelligence attribute to enemies within 3 meters (cooldown: 8 seconds).』
『Burst Concentration (A): After casting a fire skill, there is a 20% chance to enter a “Burst Ablaze” state: 1. Critical hit rate increases by 8% for 6 seconds; 2. Critical damage increases by 15% (this effect cannot stack).』
『World-burning Purgatory (A): Summons a flame array with an 8-meter radius, dealing three waves of continuous damage to enemies in range (each wave deals intelligence × 3 damage) and applies a bonus “Bone Fusion” effect:
1. Reduces speed by 30% for 4 seconds.
2. Applies one layer of Burn Mark every 2 seconds (each layer increases the damage the target takes by 5%, up to 3 layers).
Cooldown: 25 seconds; costs 20% of maximum mana.
The attributes were average, but Lu Sheng lingered over the Skill Book section.
Aside from awakening and class change, class holders needed to spend Skill Books to learn extra skills, but Skill Books were extremely rare, only obtainable in secret realms by defeating monsters or discovering treasures.
Generally, the market value of an A-rank Skill Book was at least 200,000–500,000.
Yesterday, Zhao Qingtian had just awakened the A-rank Flame Mage class, and today he already had this A-rank skill, illustrating the biggest difference between rich families and ordinary ones.
Wealthy families could raise the floor of a class to a very high level!
However…
After He Wanying awakened her second class, through the Class Skill Talent and Sweat (E), Lu Sheng’s Four Dimensions attributes grew again, now standing at strength 30, intelligence 35, agility 38, and constitution 30.
At that moment, he was no more than a meter away from Zhao Qingtian, and even if they fought for real, Lu Sheng, with several times the opponent’s attributes, was fully confident he could subdue Zhao Qingtian before he could even use his skills.
“Lu Sheng! What are you looking at?”
It seemed Zhao Qingtian sensed the contempt in Lu Sheng’s gaze, and a wave of anger rose in his heart.
“Believe me or not, I’ll gouge out your eyeballs!”
A ball of flame gathered in Zhao Qingtian’s palm as he poised to press it against Lu Sheng’s head.
The people around quickly scattered to keep their distance.
Though the flame’s temperature wasn’t high, a direct hit would still inflict at least a Level 2 burn!
Poor Lu Sheng… he first awakened an E-rank class, then was kicked aside by Qin Yanran, and now was about to be bullied by Zhao Qingtian.
Everyone silently felt pity for Lu Sheng.
It was all because Lu Sheng had only awakened an E-rank class.
In this class holder–dominated world, being weak was the original sin!
However, the next moment, just as everyone thought Lu Sheng was doomed, a chill instantly swept across the sports field.
Whoosh…
An ice crystal longsword, exhaling cold breath and glinting with a bone-chilling light, shot in from afar at unbelievable speed and pierced Zhao Qingtian’s palm in an instant.
“Ah…”
Blood spurted everywhere, and with a painful cry, the once overbearing Zhao Qingtian clutched his hand and collapsed to the ground, his right palm impaled with a gaping, blood-soaked hole that would not stop bleeding.
What… is happening?
Not only did the students stand stunned, but Principal Chu Jianghe and Dean of Discipline Cao Shufen on the stand also froze, their gazes reflexively turning toward the school gate.
A graceful figure stepped through the school gate, her form slender and her expression icy.
It was the prodigy of this year’s Lanjiang No. 3 High School, the campus beauty He Wanying.
Chill radiated from every inch of He Wanying’s body, and with her arrival, even the surrounding air seemed to drop several degrees as some classmates in short sleeves and skirts shivered involuntarily.
She walked to Lu Sheng’s side and positioned herself protectively behind him.
Raising a brow, her cold eyes swept across everyone present.
“Let’s see who dares to lay a hand on him?”