Chapter 52: Class 4 Monster Core (Two)
After the appraising elder finished his statement, everyone inhaled sharply in shock. The whole arena instantly became so silent, that one would’ve been able to hear a pin drop.
This number made even the vice headmaster Chang Bei En speechless. His gaze locked onto the huge pile of Class 2 Monster Cores on the table with an expression of astonishment. This number far surpassed the amount of monster cores that the previous first place winner, Bogadi, had.
A while passed before a student couldn’t help but shout out, “No way, that’s definitely impossible. How could he, who isn’t yet a Saint, be able to gain so many monster cores in the 3rd region, and have even way more than the school’s top-ranked expert. Bogadi? This is definitely impossible. He definitely brought these monster cores from an outside source.”
The single input raised a flood of responses. As the student finished speaking, more and more cries of protest rang out. Jian Chen’s nearly 100 Class 1 Monster Cores had already made many people jealous, and had made them feel that it was unfair. Now that he had taken out 118 Class 2 Monster Cores, which was an amount even greater than his Class 1 Monster Cores, the students were no longer able to accept it.
Under the platform, the currently number 1 expert in Kargath Academy’s rankings, Bogadi, was staring at Jian Chen’s back in shock as he murmured, “His strength is obviously not yet at Saint level; how could he have gotten so many Class 2 Monster Cores? Could it be that these monster cores really were taken from an outside source?” Bogadi also couldn’t help but think the same way as the others. However, this assumption was immediately rejected by him, since before entering the forest, the school administration had completely confiscated all of the students’ Space equipment, and the students had all gone through very strict inspections. In addition, the forest only had one entrance, so there was no chance for someone to sneak monster cores in from the outside.
Moreover, even if someone really did manage to bring them in, Bogadi believed that nobody would be stupid enough to present 100+ Class 2 Monster Cores at once. That would undoubtedly make the entire school shocked, and the administration would definitely hire people to investigate the situation.
Nearby, a gorgeous girl in tattered clothes looked absentmindedly at Jian Chen’s figure on the platform and muttered, “How could that be? A freshman like him who isn’t yet a Saint actually managed to get 100+ Class 2 Monster Cores?” The girl’s melodious voice was filled with shock and incredulity.
On the other side, when he heard the appraising elder announce Jian Chen’s monster core amount, Cheng Mingxiang gaped in shock as he stared disbelievingly at Jian Chen. However, his expression soon became gloomy, and eventually became completely replaced by wrath. This was because the person in third place for the monster cores competition received rewards. Although these rewards were not worth that much to those born in major clans, like him, instead it seen as a great honor, a verification of strength. Originally, Cheng Mingxiang had been placed as third, but now with Jian Chen in the picture, he had been forcibly pushed out of the top three. This made him extremely angry; what was even harder to accept was the fact that Jian Chen still wasn’t even a Saint.
“Changyang Xiang Tian…” Shifting his gaze, Cheng Mingxiang’s face became beyond gloomy as he looked at Jian Chen with a glare full of poisonous malice.
In the crowd, Luo Jia’s expression was equally gloomy. He glared hatefully at Jian Chen, as if he could eat Jian Chen alive with his gaze alone.
Although Jian Chen’s current strength was still quite weak, his “Spirit” was extremely powerful. Perhaps he wouldn’t be able to notice an ordinary gaze, but once a particularly severe gaze was pointed towards him, his Soul could immediately detect it. Thus, Luo Jian’s and Cheng Mingxiang’s malice filled glares were immediately sensed by Jian Chen. He turned around and used the aid of his powerful Soul to track the glances’ sources, and easily found Luo Jian buried in the crowd.
Seeing Luo Jian’s dark expression, Jian Chen sneered, but did not pay any mind to it. He had swiped all of Luo Jian’s monster cores from him, forcing him to fail the task. In addition, Jian Chen had injured Luo Jian as well, so it was completely normal for Luo Jian to hate Jian Chen so much.
However, as Jian Chen’s vision shifted towards Cheng Mingxiang, his brows furrowed as he showed a helpless expression. He didn’t have any enmity with Cheng Mingxiang; the previous incident in front of the library was so minor that it couldn’t have been the cause of such fierce hatred. The main reason was the fact that Jian Chen had forcibly pushed Cheng Mingxiang out of the top 3.
After all, being able to place as the top 3 among the entire academy was an achievement that was an extreme glory. This was especially true for those born in noble clans, as this honor could directly increase their status by a large amount.
If it were any of the top 10 experts that had pushed Cheng Mingxiang out of the first 3 places, he definitely wouldn’t have felt unhappy at all. However, since the one who had forced Cheng Mingxiang out of the top three wasn’t even on the top 10 list, he was also only a freshman who did not even reach the Saint level yet, causing Cheng Mingxiang, Kargath Academy’s cultivation genius, to feel humiliated. He couldn’t imagine that a freshman that had just entered the school would end up reaching his level, and from this feeling, a hatred towards Jian Chen was born.
Although there was also Tie Ta, who was the headmaster’s apprentice, and thus had a greater power behind him than Cheng Mingxiang had. Of course, Cheng Mingxiang wouldn’t dare to casually offend the headmaster.
The appraising elder took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He looked at Jian Chen profoundly, and smiled, “Changyang Xiang Tian, you’ve really made me shocked. I hadn’t imagined that someone like you who isn’t yet a Saint could actually gain so many Class 2 Monster Cores. You’ve already far surpassed the previous first place, Bogadi. It seems that this competition’s first place has definitely been taken by you.” The elder handed Jian Chen his own Space Belt and the badge of glory.
Jian Chen laughed, and reached out to accept the items. “Teacher’s words are too much. Nobody can say yet who first place will be. After all, Tie Ta is still behind me. The number of monster cores he has is not any less than me.” Saying this, Jian Chen re-stowed all of the monster cores into his Space Belt.
Hearing Jian Chen’s words, the elder shot Jian Chen a deep glance, and he smiled wordlessly.
After Jian Chen had completely stored away all of the Class 2 Monster Cores on the table, he directly walked off the platform. Afterwards, Tie Ta walked up to the table, and began to take out his own Class 2 Monster Cores from his Space Belt.
Tie Ta had entered the 3rd region with Jian Chen, and they had equally distributed the monster cores. Thus, he had pretty much exactly the same amount of monster cores Jian Chen had. After the appraising elder finished counting, it was revealed that Tie Ta had a total of 119 Class 2 Monster Cores, only one more than Jian Chen.
After the appraising elder announced Tie Ta’s total amount of monster cores, all of the people at the arena were once again shocked speechless.
Below the platform, the fifth ranked person on Kargath Academy’s top 10 experts, Jing Ming Yue, was in a daze. From the look in her eyes, it seemed as if she had lost her spirit. She had suddenly been forced out of second place by two freshmen; this result was difficult for her to accept. After all, she had spent a lot of energy and effort earning those monster cores. She couldn’t imagine how the two newly entered non-Saint freshmen could’ve gotten so many monster cores.
At that moment, an extremely beautiful girl walked up to Jing Ming Yue, and intimately hugged her arms around Jing Ming Yue’s waist. Laughing, she said, “Sister Jing, you hadn’t imagined that you would’ve been forced down from second place by two new freshmen, right?”
Jing Ming Yue sighed, and bitterly smiled, “It’s really unfathomable. Those two freshmen haven’t even reached Saint level, and yet they were able to gain so many monster cores. The two of them even forced Kargath Academy’s number one expert, Bogadi, down to third place. I really have no clue how they got their hands on so many monster cores. Could it really be possible that they had brought them in from outside?”
The girl giggled in response, “Sister Jing, you’ve guessed wrongly. I believe that those Class 2 Monster Cores were earned from their own strength, not from outside as you suspect.”
The girl’s words made Jing Ming Yue start. Jing Ming Yue turned around and glance doubtfully at the girl, and asked in a curious tone, “Xiao Le, why do you say that?”
The girl smiled mysteriously, as she showed a prideful expression. In a low voice, she said, “Sister Jing, I encountered those two in the 2nd region, and even stayed with them for an entire day. You cannot underestimate them; they’re both very formidable. Especially that Changyang Xiang Tian, he managed to kill quite a few Class 1 Magical Beasts with a lousy iron rod by piercing them directly through the throat.”
“Really?” Jing Ming Yue asked in shock, obviously not believing it.
“Of course, I saw it with my own eyes. There’s no way it’d be false.” The girl puffed out her chest and said firmly, “Also, that night, we encountered a secret attack from 20+ Blue Wolves. The two of them effortlessly killed all of them.”
“What? You said that the two of them managed to kill 20+ Blue Wolves by themselves?” Hearing this, Jing Ming Yue could no longer hide her shock. Although she was already a high level Saint, she would still flee if she faced 20+ Class 1 Magical Beasts, let alone kill them.
The girl vigorously nodded and said, “That’s right, Sister Jing. I personally witnessed it. Although Changyang Xiang Tian and Tie Ta haven’t condense their Saint Weapons, their strength is definitely not any weaker than a Saint’s. That’s why I can promise that the monster cores in their hands are definitely not brought in from the outside.”
Hearing this, Jing Ming Yue lowered her head and thought it over seriously. Despite the fact that Jian Chen and Tie Ta had forced her out of the top 3 places, she didn’t show a trace of dissatisfaction in her expression. From this alone, it could be seen that Jing Ming Yue was not a narrow-minded person.
After the evaluation had finished, the awards ceremony began. This time, the event’s top 3 places for both Class 1 Monster Cores and Class 2 Monster Cores would receive the same rewards. The first place reward was a Class 4 Monster Core and a medal of honor completely made from Purple Coins. Both second place and third place rewards included one Class 3 Monster core, and a medal of honor made from Gold Coins.
These medals weren’t worth much money, but what they represented was of extraordinary significance. Thus, even the nobles that had powerful backgrounds couldn’t keep their eyes from reddening at those medals of honor.
Jian Chen and Tie Ta had taken the first 2 places for both Class 1 Monster Cores and Class 2 Monster Cores, and thus earned twice the amount of rewards. Third place for Class 1 Monster Cores was still Mu Tian, and third place for Class 2 Monster Cores was Kargath Academy’s number one expert, Bogadi.
After the awards ceremony had finished, Jian Chen could not help but smile excitedly at the surging, pure power in the Class 4 Monster Core he held in his hand. With the Class 4 Monster Core, as well as the 200+ monster cores in his Space Belt, he had enough to last him for a long time. Based on Jian Chen’s calculations, he wouldn’t have to worry about not having monster cores to use for at least a year.