The two female classmates with her turned pale the instant they saw Lu Chen, instinctively stepping back a couple of paces.
And no wonder—everyone still left at school now was an elite who’d passed the Spirit Communion Competition.
And every single one of these elites had, without exception, been on the receiving end of Lu Chen’s “baptism” that day, when he’d descended like a King of Hell.
Just seeing Lu Chen’s face was enough to conjure up that scene in their minds.
Rumors were even circulating in the class group chat that Song Hao was still lying in the hospital today, having been scared out of his wits and not yet woken up.
“Ruoyi, how can you talk to classmate Lu in that tone!”
One of the girls quickly tugged at Li Ruoyi’s sleeve, lowering her voice to warn her.
Lu Chen couldn’t help but chuckle, fully aware of what they were afraid of.
He scratched his head apologetically, his tone sincere: “I’m really sorry, classmate Song, classmate Jiang—did I scare you that day?”
“N-no! Not at all!” The two girls waved their hands frantically, but their feet unconsciously took another step back, their whole bodies trembling beyond their control.
“Look what you’ve done—you’ve left them with some serious psychological trauma.” Li Ruoyi laughed teasingly. “By the way, I’m asking you—didn’t you accept the rain-summoning mission for Longhu County? Why haven’t you left yet?”
Lu Chen answered with a question of his own: “What about you guys? How’d your missions go?”
Li Ruoyi said, “I just took a simple document-repair mission. Finished it yesterday, and came to pick up a new one today.”
“An evil-spirit dungeon run?”
Li Ruoyi smiled helplessly. “Come on, the three of us are all devotees of Lord Wenchang—we’re on the civil service track. There’s no way we could handle a dungeon. Don’t change the subject—what about you? Why haven’t you set off yet? This S-rank mission must take at least ten days to half a month, right?”
Lu Chen replied casually, “I’m already back.”
The three girls’ eyes went wide with shock.
Lu Chen grinned and patted Li Ruoyi on the shoulder. “From now on, remember to call me ‘senior.'”
With that, he walked past them and strode quickly toward the student affairs office again, leaving the three of them frozen in place, utterly bewildered.
“W-what classmate Lu means is… he succeeded?”
“H-how is that possible?! In just two days… an S-rank mission… completed?! He’s become the first student in the special class!?”
A sudden “Wah!” broke out—Li Ruoyi had crouched down, covering her face as she burst into loud sobs.
The words Lu Chen had said to her before—“Don’t worry, the gap between us is only going to get bigger from here on out…”—
were now echoing wildly through her mind.
Could it be… that his words were really about to come true?!
——–
A moment later, the student affairs office fell into an unprecedented dead silence.
When the teachers saw the official stamp on the mission document, they all froze in place as if hit by a time-freeze spell, not moving a muscle.
“Teacher?” Lu Chen, having waited long enough, finally spoke up to remind them.
That one word was like hitting the pause button’s release.
In an instant, glasses fell to the floor, teacups were knocked over—the entire office erupted into chaos.
“HOLY… COW! An S-rank mission! This is an S-rank mission! And he finished it in just two days!?”
“Lu Chen, for someone your age to complete an S-rank mission—you haven’t just made school history, you’ve made history itself!”
The dean was so worked up he could barely speak clearly, practically shouting at his assistant: “Right now! Immediately! Every outlet—print, online, the school network—any channel that can spread the news, plaster it everywhere with the good news! Don’t worry about the cost! Throw as much money as it takes! This time, Jiangdu No. 3 High School is going to dominate the entire city of Jiangdu—no, the whole Jiang Province! No, the whole nation! Let’s see which other school can produce a student like our Lu Chen, who can solo an S-rank mission in just two days! If there is, I, Zhang Yaoming, will do a live-streamed handstand shampoo!! Go, now!”
“Yes, Dean!” The assistant dashed out the door, pausing as he passed Lu Chen to offer a fist-and-palm salute: “Congratulations, classmate Lu! That’s incredible!”
Lu Chen: “…”
But on second thought, he could understand the reaction.
Academy reform was sweeping the nation like wildfire, and he’d just completed an S-rank mission in two days—
That was practically the equivalent of scoring top marks in the national college entrance exams.
No wonder the dean was this hyped…
“Come, come, classmate Lu Chen, I—I’ll personally handle your handover!”
The dean lunged forward in one quick stride, taking the document, and instructed the teacher beside him: “Quick, quick—pour classmate Lu Chen some, some, some… some tea!”
“Got it, Dean! Please don’t get too worked up—your heart condition isn’t great.”
“I’m, I’m fine. Go ahead.”
The dean sat directly across from Lu Chen: “Now, classmate Lu Chen, let’s take it step by step. No rush.”
Lu Chen chuckled: “Dean, I’m not the one in a hurry—you should probably calm down first.”
The dean nodded repeatedly, took a few deep breaths, and his heaving chest gradually steadied.
“Let me ask you first—this S-rank mission… how exactly did you pull it off? I’ve heard plenty of spirit cultivators devoted to Water Department deities have tried, and they all came back empty-handed. This mission had been sitting around for a long time.”
“Well… actually, it’s because I’m devoted to a rather obscure deity.”
“Which one?”
“The Well Dragon King.”
“The Well Dragon King?!” The remaining teachers in the office were all stunned.
Someone exclaimed, “Classmate Lu, that’s not just obscure—that’s practically bordering on heretical! I’ve only ever seen the Well Dragon King mentioned in textbooks—he hasn’t appeared in the real world for years!”
Lu Chen didn’t want to waste too many words on the details, so he steered the conversation back to the main point: “Dean, could you help me process the mission handover first?”
The dean snapped back to his senses. “Right, right! I’ll do it now—I’ll process it personally for you! You put down a four-million-yuan deposit last time—I’ll refund that to you first.”
He picked up the document, scanned it into the system, and tapped away at his computer.
Soon, Lu Chen’s phone chimed with a notification.
Four million had been credited to his account.
“Next is the official reward for this mission: twenty million in cash, plus four thousand military merit points.” At this point, the dean broke into a smile and explained: “Classmate Lu Chen, since you’re the first student to enter the special class, per school policy, the mission that earned you your promotion to special level will receive a 50% bonus reward. That means your total rewards will be increased to thirty million and six thousand military merit points.”
“I’ll transfer the money to you right now, and the military merit will be recorded under your name within 24 hours.”
“From today onward, you are the first special-level student at Jiangdu No. 3 High School—no, in the entire city of Jiangdu!”
“Your name will spread across Jiangdu, Jiang Province, and even the whole country in no time!”
“For the next three years, every mission you take will earn you double the cash and military merit rewards.”
“Also…”
The dean suddenly stood up, walked over to his desk, and pulled out a beautifully designed box from the drawer—one that immediately caught the eye.
Opening it revealed a golden, star-shaped medal, exquisitely engraved, with the words “Special Level” standing out prominently in the center.
“Your special-level medal! With this medal, no matter where you go or what problems you encounter, the local authorities will provide you with maximum assistance. Here, take good care of it!”
Lu Chen accepted the medal with both hands and thanked him repeatedly.
But compared to the medal, what really excited him was that 50% bonus!
Sure enough, being the first to try something new came with extra perks!
Six thousand military merit points!
Those extra two thousand points alone would’ve taken an eternity to grind through C-rank missions.
“Oh, Dean, you mentioned earlier that entering the special class came with another benefit—what was that…?”
The dean flashed a mysterious smile. “I was just about to get to that. The second benefit requires you to visit the City Lord’s Mansion in person. Since you already have the City Lord’s Token, once you get there, the City Lord himself will tell you.”
“Got it.” Lu Chen nodded.
Just what exactly was it, being kept so mysterious?
“So, are you taking on any new missions today?”
“Yeah, I’ll head to the mission hall in a bit and see if there’s anything suitable.”
“Good man!” The dean stood up and patted Lu Chen on the shoulder, then turned serious: “Classmate Lu Chen, do you know the requirements for attaining the rank of ‘New Noble’?”
Lu Chen was taken aback for a moment, then replied: “I think it’s fifty thousand military merit points, plus… how much money was it?”
“Fifty thousand military merit points, and a net worth of one billion!” The dean’s voice rang with conviction. “You’ve got a shot! You’re still a ways off, I know, but I believe you absolutely have the potential to make it!”
“Thank you, Teacher.”
“Go on, then—keep shining! For yourself, and for No. 3 High School along the way. May your name ring out to the heavens!”
“Yes, sir! Goodbye, Dean!”
Lu Chen clasped his fists in farewell, took his mission documents, and headed straight for the school’s mission hall.
“Oh, and one more thing! With your special-level student medal, you can request a private booth to browse at your leisure!”
“Got it!”
Watching Lu Chen dash off in a flash, the dean let out a chuckle and murmured to himself:
“Well Dragon King? Right—why didn’t I think of that! Sigh, what a missed opportunity…”
“I need to tell the principal about this right away, so he can inform the City Lord! Heh heh, this time, our No. 3 High School is going to be unstoppable!”
——-
Inside the school’s mission hall, Lu Chen slipped into a private booth and took a sip of tea.
His finger swiped across the large screen.
Thanks to the teacher’s earlier explanations, Lu Chen now had a better grasp of the mission acceptance rules.
First, missions rated SS-rank or above required at least fourth-rank strength to qualify.
This was to protect the spirit cultivators.
After all, missions at that level and above relied purely on raw power.
For lower-ranked cultivators to take them on would be no different from walking to their deaths.
So, with Lu Chen’s current second-rank strength, not only could he not accept those missions—they weren’t even visible to him.
For now, he could only take S-rank and below.
Of course, after experiencing the thrill of an S-rank, it was hard to settle for anything less.
Lu Chen could only choose from the limited selection of S-rank missions available.
Worth noting: the missions in the hall were updated around the clock.
If someone accepted one, it would temporarily disappear from the system page.
Conversely, if a mission failed, it would be re-listed for the next cultivator to pick.
“S-rank Mission: [Demon Extermination in Beishan County].
Mission Background: Beishan County, Qingfeng Mountain—a Demon King has recently appeared, estimated strength between fourth and fifth rank. It has claimed the mountain as its own, commanding numerous demon beasts, and has caused severe damage to Beishan County.
Mission Objective: Eliminate the demon.
Completion Reward: Thirty million cash, two thousand military merit points.”
“S-rank Mission: [Reincarnation Academy].
Mission Background: A bizarre school formed by resentment has recently appeared on the outskirts of Jiangdu City. It has already devoured nearly a hundred passersby, as well as three squads of third-rank spirit cultivators. Known intel: the ghost king of this school has unexpectedly high resistance to thunder magic.
Mission Objective: Locate Reincarnation Academy and eradicate it.
Completion Reward: Twenty million cash, one thousand eight hundred military merit points.”
“S-rank Mission: [Accelerate the Growth of Resurrection Grass].
Mission Background: The military urgently needs ‘Resurrection Grass’ to treat severely wounded soldiers. This grass requires thirty years to mature in a ‘polar-yin location.’ We are calling for relevant specialist cultivators to accelerate the ripening of one thousand Resurrection Grass plants within three days.
Mission Objective: Must be completed within three days, or severe military discipline will be applied.
Completion Reward: Fifty million cash, three thousand military merit points.”
He scrolled through several in a row.
They were either extremely difficult dungeons or highly specialized missions.
But honestly, in Lu Chen’s view, their overall quality still fell far short of the Longhu County rain-summoning mission.
Although that mission only paid twenty million in cash, its military merit reward was a staggering four thousand points—absolutely head and shoulders above these other S-rank missions.
However, money wasn’t Lu Chen’s top priority right now.
Military merit was!
“Comparatively, this [Accelerate the Growth of Resurrection Grass] mission has decent military merit, but the deadline is way too tight, and military discipline is on the line. Sounds pretty risky. The [Reincarnation Academy] mission actually seems like the best fit—what ‘Ghost King’? You can call yourself a Ghost King at Reincarnation Academy and I won’t argue, but in the presence of this seat’s Five Tiger Generals of the Yin Department, what was your name again? Too bad the military merit reward is a bit low. Only eighteen hundred points. I wonder what the grading criteria are for these missions?”
“Probably even within the same rank, there are varying degrees of difficulty.”
After some thought, Lu Chen decided to take on another S-rank mission to get some more practice.
“Alright, meat is meat, even if it’s lean. I’ll go with this one—[Reincarnation Academy]!”
Just as Lu Chen was about to accept the mission and call the teacher over—
Suddenly, the page flickered.
System Prompt: [New missions have been updated. Refresh to view?]
“New missions?”
Lu Chen quickly refreshed the page.
Immediately after, a long list of new missions appeared.
He filtered directly for S-rank.
A new one popped up.
“S-rank Mission: [Treat the Former Jiang Province Governor’s Wife.]
Mission Background: Zheng Changguo, former governor of Jiang Province, has a wife suffering from a severe illness. Urgently seeks a divine healer or pharmacist-type cultivator to provide medical treatment at their residence.
Mission Objective: Heal the patient.
Mission Reward: Twenty million cash, five thousand military merit points.”
“How many!?” When Lu Chen saw that final number, he could hardly believe his eyes: “Five thousand military merit points?!”
