It wasn’t just Cong Yu—even Cong Shuang shot Lu Ran a startled look.
But almost immediately, she looked away.
Just a necromancer, probably some filler contestant from some random main city. Not worth paying attention to.
What she didn’t quite understand, though, was this: even if a city needed to fill a slot, couldn’t their academy at least dig up some kind of rare class?
How did it end up being a necromancer?
Wasn’t that practically begging to be cannon fodder and eliminated in the first round?
What was even the point?
“You’re also a contestant this year? A necromancer? Which city are you from?” Cong Jixian had become mildly curious and asked casually.
“Blackfire City,” Lu Ran replied offhandedly.
“Oh, a third-tier city.” Cong Jixian was familiar with it. He gave a casual nod and lost interest.
Then he urged, “Cong Shuang, hurry and get into the venue. Do your best. Don’t give your opponents any openings, and don’t underestimate anyone either.”
Cong Shuang nodded.
She was about to leave when she suddenly noticed Su Ting standing beside Lu Ran.
She froze on the spot.
Su Ting!
At that moment, Su Ting also said to Lu Ran, “We should get going too.”
Cong Yu finally snapped out of it as well, her eyes wide. “Lu Ran, you really are a contestant!”
“Would I lie to you? Just watch me perform,” Lu Ran said with a grin, flashing his teeth at Cong Yu before turning to leave with Su Ting.
Cong Shuang, who would normally have ignored Lu Ran entirely, now furrowed her brow slightly.
She asked, “Xiao Yu, is he the ‘senior’ you mentioned yesterday who helped you clear that quest? How is he a rookie professional?”
“I don’t know either! He’s such a high level, I never would’ve guessed!” Cong Yu exclaimed in surprise.
“How high?” Cong Shuang pressed.
“Level forty-seven,” Cong Yu answered.
What?
Cong Shuang was usually calm and collected, but now she was completely stunned.
Level forty-seven!
That level was insane!
Cong Shuang was already level 41, but that was the result of pushing herself day and night, squeezing every possible minute, and the Cong family throwing all their resources into power-leveling her!
She was practically at the top of the nation!
And yet she was still six levels behind Lu Ran!
And don’t underestimate that gap.
After level forty, the experience required for each additional level was absolutely ridiculous!
It increased exponentially!
Those six levels alone could almost cover the total experience she’d gained in the previous twenty days of grinding!
“There really is something unusual about him,” Cong Shuang muttered thoughtfully.
“What use is a high level? It only gives him one extra skill over you. Besides, he’s just a necromancer. Nothing unusual about that,” Cong Jixian said to Cong Shuang from the side.
Cong Shuang gave Lu Ran’s retreating figure a long, deep look.
To be honest.
Deep down, she hadn’t thought much of Lu Ran either, or of this necromancer class.
Even if he was six levels higher than her, they weren’t in the same weight class.
But…
Su Ting being by his side said a lot!
Given Su Ting’s position in the Sky Alliance, being assigned to Lu Ran meant that at the very least, the Sky Alliance recognized him!
But what made a necromancer worthy of that?
“Dad, have someone look into Lu Ran’s background for me—in detail. Also, find out which guild’s probationary member he is right now,” Cong Shuang said to Cong Jixian.
That wasn’t a problem.
“Alright, I’ll arrange for it right away.” Cong Jixian nodded and agreed.
Even though he personally felt there was no real need to investigate or pay attention to this kind of thing.
But since Cong Shuang had brought it up, he’d look into it.
After that.
Cong Shuang took a deep breath and followed the Cong family toward the passageway.
Cong Yu, meanwhile, headed to the Cong family’s special seating area.
Lu Ran followed the contestant passageway and soon arrived backstage.
This was where the contestants rested and prepared.
In the first round, the entire arena was divided into fifty擂台 zones.
The hundred contestants were split into fifty groups.
They drew lots to determine their opponents.
Then, all fifty groups would go up at the same time for simultaneous matches.
Each arena would produce one winner advancing to the next round.
In other words, this round would eliminate fifty people, with the other fifty moving on.
“Don’t be nervous. Even though… even though necromancers aren’t considered a top-tier class, if you happen to go up against a caster, you can use your undead summons as a frontline—there’s still a chance to win. The most important thing is to keep a positive mindset, alright?” Su Ting said gently to Lu Ran.
This was exactly why she had been assigned to Lu Ran.
Though Su Ting wasn’t much older, she was just as warm and gentle as Liu Xinxin. And because Yu Qingcang had specifically briefed her, she was practically like an older sister taking care of Lu Ran up close.
They were close in age, so there was no generation gap, making communication much easier.
“I’m not nervous. I just hope I don’t run into Cong Shuang in the early rounds,” Lu Ran said thoughtfully.
“There’s a chance, but it’s small. Cong Shuang is very strong,” Su Ting said.
But in her mind, she was thinking something completely different.
What the hell was he talking about?!
“Hope I don’t run into Cong Shuang in the early rounds” — what early rounds? He’d most likely be out in the first round!
Even if he didn’t face Cong Shuang, every other contestant from the various main cities was handpicked as their city’s top rookie—none of them were pushovers!
He’d be lucky just to get past round one!
“The odds are small. Normally it wouldn’t matter, but since Cong Yu and I know each other, and Cong Shuang is her sister and also a hot favorite, it’d be a bit awkward if I knocked her out early,” Lu Ran nodded.
“Uh…” Even Su Ting found herself at a loss for words.
She even started to suspect that this kid had no real ability—just terrifying connections and influence that forced even Yu Qingcang to arrange someone to babysit him.
That was all!
“If that actually happened, yeah, it’d be pretty awkward. But we’re not even close to that point yet—the chances of meeting are small anyway, heh…” Su Ting brushed it off casually.
Backstage, each contestant had their own private booth, so there was no way for them to interact with each other before the matches.
Soon.
The time came.
The contestants began drawing lots in batches.
Lu Ran drew Arena Number Six, located at the edge of the field.
His opponent was also matched at the same time.
Wang Yan, from the third-tier main city of Heyang—level 34, rare class: Mystic Armor Berserker!
“Oh no…” Su Ting frowned as she looked at the opponent’s profile.
“What’s wrong?” Lu Ran asked.
He truly didn’t know much about this Mystic Armor Berserker class, but as long as it wasn’t Cong Shuang, he was fine—at least out of respect for Cong Yu.
“The Mystic Armor Berserker is a rare class, but overall its combat strength is average. However, its magic resistance is ridiculously high, making it a nightmare for caster classes. Heyang City probably chose him specifically to gamble that his early-round opponents would be casters, so they’d barely be able to hurt him,” Su Ting sighed and explained.
“Oh, high magic resistance—yeah, that really is a nightmare for casters. But it’s fine. I’ll send him packing this round, and hopefully I won’t run into Cong Shuang in the next one either,” Lu Ran said calmly.
Su Ting’s mouth twitched.
Did this kid even hear what I said?
I just told you he’s a caster’s nightmare—and you’re a necromancer, which is also a caster class, isn’t it?
And on top of that.
Among caster classes, necromancers were the ones with the least burst damage.
Going up against a Mystic Armor Berserker made his situation even worse!
And he said “send him packing this round”—how? By talking him to death?
“Anyway… just do your best. It’s fine if you lose—going up against a Mystic Armor Berserker really is just bad luck,” Su Ting said, offering comfort in advance.
