The principal flinched at the shout, then quickly raised his hands. “City Lord, please calm down! Let me ask around!”
He urgently waved someone over. “Teacher Xu! Come here!”
Lu Chen watched as his homeroom teacher, Teacher Xu, walked over with unsteady steps, looking a bit dazed and dispirited.
“Principal…”
The next second.
Principal Zhang grabbed Teacher Xu by the collar with both hands, practically lifting him off the ground, veins bulging on his forehead.
“Teacher Xu!! What the hell is going on here? Didn’t you say he was the bottom-tier student?!”
“I…”
“Enough.” Yu Feng frowned, then looked at Lu Chen. “Student, you’d better tell us. What’s the story with this 50% Spirit-Servant Degree of yours?”
“Reply, City Lord, I think… I have a past-life connection with the Lord of Wealth God.”
Lu Chen really didn’t want to dwell on this issue, so he simply borrowed the excuse the Zhao family had used before. After speaking, he clasped his hands again. “City Lord, my little, insignificant achievement isn’t worth mentioning. I think it’s better not to waste everyone’s precious time and just continue with the main business.”
This little… insignificant achievement?
Yu Feng wasn’t sure if this kid was being modest or just showing off.
But the number of people in Jiang City who could show off even a little bit in front of him could be counted on one hand.
“A past-life connection? I see!”
Only then did the people around seem to wake up from a dream.
However, the expected gasps and discussions didn’t happen.
Instead, everyone tacitly maintained a certain silence.
It wasn’t that they wanted to be silent.
They realized that when you’re shocked to the absolute limit, you simply can’t speak!
Seeing that Lu Chen didn’t want to discuss the topic further,
Yu Feng had a thought, nodded slightly, and instructed Principal Zhang. “Principal Zhang, go ahead and continue. We’ll talk about this later.”
“Okay, sir! Everyone, gather!!
All the students formed a new line again.
“Lu Chen, what’s really going on here? Wasn’t it 5%?!”
Li Ruoyi’s incredulous whisper came from beside him.
“Just luck.”
“Luck again?”
“Life is full of luck. Listen carefully now. The main event is coming up.”
Lu Chen let out a long, relaxed breath. He’d finally gotten past that part.
He focused his eyes, staring at Yu Feng and the others who had returned to the stage.
“Sir, for the next part…”
“No hurry. Let’s wait a bit longer. I want to see what interesting mission this intriguing little guy will choose.”
Yu Feng, who was originally supposed to head to the next stop, now lingered with great interest.
A Spirit-Servant Degree of fifty percent, even if it was for an obscure god, was absolutely astounding.
To put it without exaggeration, with just Lu Chen alone in this year’s cohort, he was worth more than a thousand troops from other provinces and cities!
Yu Feng had developed a profound interest in this young man and was unwilling to leave just yet.
On the stage.
Principal Zhang barely managed to recover from the shock. The first thing he did was lead the applause. “Let’s give our warmest applause to student Lu Chen! I have been teaching for forty years and have never seen such a high Spirit-Servant Degree! Whether it’s fate or not, this achievement deserves our most sincere blessings!”
“Whoa!”
Thunderous applause swept across the entire field.
Not only teachers and students, but even the city leaders and staff in the distance applauded sincerely.
To be polite, Lu Chen nodded to everyone modestly in return.
As the applause died down, the principal raised his hand to press for silence. “The test is now over. Those who remain have proven that you are the best of this year’s cohort, absolute elites!
Now, let me officially tell you what you need to do next, as well as the important changes in this new system.”
On the stage, a huge LED screen lit up, displaying a PPT file.
“First, be clear: although you’ve survived this round, whether you can join the special class is not yet certain. The special class only has twenty spots. That means at least three-quarters of you will have to be eliminated.”
Lu Chen listened intently.
“How do you get into the special class? And what are the benefits of getting in? Look at the big screen!”
Everyone looked over.
Six standard mission ranks appeared on the screen.
From highest to lowest: SSS, SS, S, A, B, C.
“If you want to get into the special class the fastest way, the method is simple: you just need to complete one S-Rank mission!
You’ve studied in school for so many years, so you should know very well what an S-Rank mission means.
With your current strength, it’s naturally impossible to complete a mission of this rank.
So, let’s consider the next best option.
Completing two A-Rank missions equals one S-Rank.
One A-Rank equals two B-Rank missions.
One B-Rank equals two C-Ranks.
Calculating this way, some students might think, ‘As long as I complete eight C-Rank missions, can I also get promoted to the special class?’
Wrong!”
The principal shook his head. “To enter the special class, you must complete at least one A-Rank mission and one B-Rank mission. That means you can only do a maximum of two C-Rank missions!
Got it?”
“Got it!!”
This math problem wasn’t hard; they understood it immediately.
The principal nodded. “That’s how to get into the special class. Next, let me talk about the benefits of getting in! There are two main points!”
“First point: Double rewards. Starting today, the school’s newly built mission hall will be connected to the City Lord’s mission hall!
Any mission available at the City Lord’s hall can be picked up at the school hall.
But! Listen carefully!
For the same mission, the reward you receive will be directly doubled.
Whether it’s monetary compensation or military merits, everything is doubled!”
As soon as he said this, the playground erupted.
Even Lu Chen’s heart skipped a beat!
Damn, this move is simply incredible!
Double rewards?!
That meant the difficulty of him rising to become a newly-ennobled noble was cut in half compared to before!
If he remembered correctly.
The baseline military merit for a newly-ennobled family should be 50,000 points!
But now, he only needed to complete half the missions a normal spirit practitioner would need to reach that requirement!
“Absolutely insane!!!!!!!!”
“Waiting really paid off! It really paid off!!”
Lu Chen was ecstatic inside, his blood pumping with excitement!
No wonder Yu Feng had been so passionate and stirring just now.
This one condition alone was enough to drive students wild!
This truly was the best of times!
“As for the second benefit, I’ll keep you in suspense for now. Once one of you enters the special class, you’ll naturally find out! All I can say is that the second reward is even more unimaginably generous than the first!
So, strive and struggle hard, young ones!
For your future, your prospects, and your destiny!
Seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
I believe that no one here is willing to forever look up at the prosperity of others, right?!”
Principal Zhang’s voice suddenly rose sharply, like a thunderclap exploding in the listeners’ ears.
Every single word hammered heavily on the students’ hearts!
Thunderous applause once again shook the heavens.
The principal smiled faintly and pressed his hand down in the air.
“As the first trial, the school has prepared 200 C-Rank missions, 100 B-Rank missions, 40 A-Rank missions, and 1 S-Rank mission.
You have a few minutes now to get a general understanding of these missions.”
He raised his hand and waved, and all the missions transformed into a shimmering, colorful light screen, floating in the air.
Lu Chen focused and browsed:
“C-Rank Dungeon: [Convenience Store’s Kitchen God Restocking]
Mission Background: The ‘Kitchen God worship spot’ at a 24-hour convenience store has run out of incense offerings, causing the snack shelves to always empty out automatically.
Mission Requirements: Help the convenience store owner restock goods 3 times (sort according to shelf labels), light ‘Kitchen God incense’ at the worship spot, and the Kitchen God will dispel the ‘snack-stealing little gluttons’.
Completion Reward: One ‘Infinite Refill’ coupon, 1,000 yuan cash, 5 military merit points.”
…
“Too simple. Not interesting.” Lu Chen continued flipping.
…
“C-Rank Dungeon: [Feeding the Spirit Birds of the Park’s Ancient Tree]
Mission Background: A century-old ancient tree in the city park is home to mythical ‘spirit birds’. Tourists littering have caused the spirit birds to refuse to eat.
Mission Requirements: Clean up 3 trash sites, find the ‘spirit grain’ near the ancient tree, and feed it to the birds.
Completion Reward: 10,000 yuan cash, 20 military merit points.”
…
“A-Rank Mission: [Purifying the Vengeful Spirit in the Old Hospital’s Inpatient Department].
Mission Background: The inpatient department of the old city center hospital has been abandoned for years due to its age. Three years ago, a nurse died with unresolved grievances due to a medical accident. Her resentment turned her into a ‘vengeful spirit’ haunting the 3rd-floor ward area. Lately, many explorers have been disturbed by the spirit and fallen into comas, and there has already been one victim who died.
Mission Requirements: Eliminate the spirit.
Mission Reward: 100,000 yuan cash, 1,000 military merit points.”
…
“This one is decent, I guess. But not very meaningful. The kind you’d reluctantly eat but feel no regret throwing away.”
Lu Chen flipped further. “Right, what exactly does that S-Rank mission look like?”
He flipped around for a while without finding it and was about to give up.
Then, a purple light screen, as if it could read his mind, slowly drifted down and landed right in front of him.
…
“S-Rank Mission: [Praying for Rain in Longhu County During the Drought].
Mission Background: Longhu County, located thirty kilometers outside Jiangdu City, is experiencing a drought unseen in a century. The disaster has lasted for a full year. Riverbeds are cracked dry down to the bottom, farmland has turned into desert, and even the spring water at the mountain god’s temple has stopped flowing. The local people have bitterly prayed to the Dragon King for rain, but there has been no response. The local authorities have searched everywhere for spirit practitioners who can pray for rain, but nothing has changed. They are now seeking talented individuals nationwide.
Mission Requirements: Help the local area resolve the suffering caused by the lack of rain as soon as possible.
Mission Reward: 20 million yuan cash, 4,000 military merit points.”
…
“It hasn’t rained in a year… This Dragon King sure has quite the temper. What, did the locals offend him?”
Lu Chen’s thoughts raced. He suddenly found this mission quite interesting.
First, the reward was high enough, as befits an S-Rank.
Twenty million in prize money, four thousand military merit points!
Second, compared to other S-Rank dungeons, this one had almost no risk to life. The worst that could happen was failing the mission and coming back with your tail between your legs.
A classic case of high return, high reward, and low risk!
Wasn’t this a perfect ‘golden’ mission?!
Lu Chen thought for only a moment.
Then he made his decision.
Do it!
Either don’t do anything.
Or go big!
If he didn’t pick such a good mission, and someone else snatched it, it would be too late.
Just then, the principal’s voice rang out.
“Alright, time’s almost up. I suggest you focus mainly on C-Rank and B-Rank missions. Don’t bother with A-Rank for now; your current strength is far from enough. As for S-Rank, just look at it as a case study. These aren’t missions you can take on!”
Principal Zhang had barely finished speaking.
When a hand was raised from the crowd.
—Lu Chen?
Yu Feng’s gaze immediately focused on him.
Why was he raising his hand?
“Student Lu, do you have a question?”
“Principal, can we only take one mission at a time during the trial?”
“Yes, that’s the rule during the trial period. After entering the special class, you can take up to ten missions simultaneously.”
“Got it! So, can I take a mission now?”
“Of course. Which one will you choose? B or C? It’ll be a good example for the other students.”
Principal Zhang was beaming. He suddenly felt that he liked Lu Chen more and more.
He had been worried that these students, encountering something new for the first time, would be too afraid to step forward.
He hadn’t expected Lu Chen to take the initiative and do him a favor.
At that moment, the surrounding students also looked over.
Under the watchful eyes of all the teachers and students, Lu Chen, unhurried and unflustered, raised his hand and pointed directly at the purple light screen.
“I’ll take this S-Rank mission!”
