While everyone talked to each other, another change happened in the field.
Construction High School had formed their square based strictly on the law, but suddenly, they split into several teams and strode to the city-level key high schools and region-level key high schools.
They looked like an unsheathed steel saber, and they did not bother hiding their aggression. They wanted to split the squares formed by the city-level key high schools and region-level key high schools in half.
The city-level key high schools and Ninth High School (which was just a region-level key high school) sent a person to meet them, and they stood across each other. The distance between them was the perfect distance to fight with bayonets. They appeared to be chatting amiably with each other, but their gazes were ridiculously sharp.
“What are they doing now?” Meng Chao could not understand.
“This is also another old rule. After the mental test, the region will distribute the cultivation resources for the final push to each school based on our rankings, so the competition between schools is very intense. This is the aces of each high school flaunting their prowess. They’re trying to attack each other’s spirits right now.”
The student from the rocket class seemed to know everything. “Most of the aces come from rich and influential families. They’ve been cultivating their spirits since young, and they bathe in monster or even superbeast blood everyday. Their bodies are filled with the scent of fierce creatures, and when their qi explodes, they can use their gazes as weapons to fight against each other!”
Just as he said, the moment the aces from each high school started “talking amiably” to each other, some people grunted in defeat. Their faces were pale.
However, the ones defeated were usually the aces from other schools. The ace from the tyrant—Construction High School—remained arrogant and returned to his camp with success.
Meng Chao was a little dumbfounded. “They can do that too? Won’t the schools and the education department do something about it?”
The rocket class student said as if it was absolutely natural, “Dragon City is a lone force in the Other World, and we suffer from a severe lack of resources. It’s only natural then that we should have all the resources gathered in the hands of the strong. That way, we can utilize those resources effectively and bring out our best fighting strength.
“The path of superhumans is a path of life and death formed by corpses and blood. If we can’t even face the provocations of other students, how are we supposed to face the roars of monsters?
“After all, if a coward manages to become a superhuman, he’ll just be wasting resources, and he’ll end up filling up a monster’s stomach.
“So, the schools and the education department actually encourages the competition between schools so that they can get rid of the weak and select the ones with the strongest hearts. This is also part of the mental test.
“And the aces from each school who are skilled in spirit techniques belong to the same circle. They are acquainted from various clubs and training classes outside school, so they have many grudges among them and would never reject the idea of settling scores here.
“Besides, there are plenty of student recruiters from the universities who are watching. Those who can build a reputation for themselves during the mental test have a chance of being chosen beforehand by the universities. So, there’s no way the aces won’t work hard for it.
“Come, Ace Student Chao, let’s move back. This is a fight between the monstrous genii and super aces. Your punching strength and speed might be great, but you’ve never cultivated your mind before, right? Then, there’s nothing for you to do here. Be careful not to get injured by accident!”
Meng Chao followed the advice. Together with Chu Feixiong and that rocket class student, they went to hide in the crowd.
Just as the rocket class student said, the top five students of Ninth High School had already stood up. They seemed to know the people from Construction High School and have no interest in hurting the innocents.
“Jiang Lei, I heard that your training with Secret Thunder Rapier has been going great lately. Last time, you managed to injure the weakest students in Construction High School during a training class, right?”
A domineering Construction High School student smiled at the top student from Ninth High School. That student was nearly two meters tall, and when he frowned, the crease between his eyebrows seemed like a third eye.
“What do you say we compete and see who’ll get the higher score in the mental test later? If you lose, I won’t make things hard for you. Just go and apologize to our weakest, hmm?”
“Jin Zhanpeng, don’t you go thinking that I’m scared of you,” Jiang Lei said darkly. “If you want to compete, I’ll take up your challenge any time!”
“Sure. The strongest in Ninth High School this year is you, right? I’m looking forward to seeing the strength of the region-level key high school.”
Construction High School’s Jin Zhanpeng smiled. He made it seem as if he were turning around to leave, but suddenly, he shifted his footsteps and took a huge step toward Jiang Lei. He moved like a phantom and glared at him. Killing intent surged from his body.
“Hiss!”
Jiang Lei did not expect that he would suddenly close in with an aura as fierce as a beast’s. He instinctively took half a step backwards and crashed into the student behind him.
Jin Zhanpeng shook his head and clicked his tongue. There was disdain on his face.
Jiang Lei’s face turned red in embarrassment. He shook with anger.
Meng Chao frowned. “This Jin Zhanpeng is pretty despicable, huh? When everyone goes off to flaunt their powers, they release their killing intent and their aura in each other’s faces. They might look arrogant doing this, but at least they do it in an honorable fashion. But this guy… he’s clearly stronger than our Jiang Lei, but he still decided to play tricks. Does he find it fun doing such things?”
“Shush. Be careful, or he might hear it!” the rocket class student said anxiously. “Jin Zhanpeng is well-known for being petty in our circle. You won’t have a good time if he targets you!”
But before he could even finish, Jin Zhanpeng had already looked up like a tiger and cast a glance at Meng Chao.
He spared Jiang Lei and let a few of the Construction High School students over.
“When a lion hunts a rabbit, it uses its full strength. No matter what sort of enemy we face, if we can win using our wits, why should we rely on brute strength?”
Jin Zhanpeng came to stand in front of Meng Chao. Since he was nearly two meters tall, he could look down on everyone.
Jiang Lei took two steps forward and said loudly, “Jin Zhanpeng, if you have a grudge against us, then come at me! I’m the strongest of all those in the rocket classes in Ninth High School! Why did you go to our normal class students? That’s not the way of a hero!”
But Jin Zhanpeng ignored him and bared his teeth, which were really sharp. “Are you Meng Chao?”
Meng Chao was slightly stunned.
“I heard that your shooting skills are pretty good, and you even crippled Zuo Haoran.” Jin Zhanpeng arrogantly revealed his goal for coming. “He has been coming to train at my family’s Falcon Gun Club for years, and he can be considered to be my disciple. I wanted to see just how the person who crippled him looks like.”
Before his voice could fade, Jin Zhanpeng took half a step forward again, and his body nearly touched the tip of Meng Chao’s nose. His eyes shone with a light that was even fiercer than a bullet’s, and his aura seemed like an erupting volcano.
The students around them were intimidated. They felt as if their visions had blurred, and they thought they were seeing a superbeast with its mouth wide open to eat Meng Chao whole!
Meng Chao frowned a little and took a small but steady step backwards.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not used to fighting with gazes,” he said calmly.
All the students were stunned, including Ninth High School’s strongest, Jiang Lei.
Even Jin Zhanpeng was a little dumbfounded.
His family ran a gun club business, and his father was a superhuman skilled in killing from a distance. Because of that, Jin Zhanpeng was also a gun expert.
The main emphasis of gun training was on spirits and eyes. When anyone reached the highest state of their training, it was not impossible for them to kill with their eyes.
Even many of those in Construction High School shuddered when faced with Jing Zhanpeng’s glare.
So why did Meng Chao not even bat an eyelid when Jin Zhanpeng released seventy percent of his killing intent
Jin Zhanpeng blinked. He made his aura stronger and tried to suppress Meng Chao again.
Meng Chao looked at him with resignation and boredom evident on his face.
The situation turned a little awkward.
The two appeared to be fighting against each other, but Meng Chao looked absolutely disinterested in it, which made Jin Zhanpeng’s face turn red. The Construction High School students behind him also felt really gloomy.
‘Isn’t this guy’s senses toward killing intent a little too low? Does he have some problem in his brain? Even we can sense Big Brother Peng’s killing intent, so why isn’t he reacting? If he’s this slow, he would die right away in the depths of the fog!’
While awkwardness shrouded the air, the people in front caused a ruckus.
“Big Brother Peng, Senior Sister Ning from Agricultural University has come over,” a few Construction High School students said.
“Senior Sister Ning?” Jin Zhanpeng was slightly stunned, but he quickly smiled. “She must have seen me. My dad and Senior Sister Ning’s father do business together, so I’m pretty close to Senior Sister Ning. Some time ago, my dad asked Uncle Ning to learn about the situation of the best courses in Agricultural University. It seems like Senior Sister Ning is pretty attentive about it.
“Let’s go. There’s nothing fun about Ninth High School anyway. We’ll go back and listen to the explanations given by Senior Sister Ning.”
Jin Zhanpeng’s killing intent vanished, and he could not be bothered to look at Meng Chao anymore. He led the people from Construction High Schools to greet Ning Xueshi with a smile on his face.
Meng Chao scratched his head. He looked like he wanted to say something, but refrained from doing so.
The rocket class student heaved a sigh. “Oh, thank goodness. That fiend is finally gone. Ace Student Chao, are you okay? Calm down. You must definitely calm down. You can’t be upset because of this. Only if you calm down will you have a chance to clear the second test!”
“I’ve been calm all along, though? I’m just worried that Jin Zhanpeng will be the one who’s going to be upset later,” Meng Chao whispered.
“Meng Chao!”
Ning Xueshi did not even pay attention to Jin Zhanpeng. All she saw was the youngster in the wrinkly Ninth High School uniform. She waved and called out to him.
Meng Chao smiled as well. “Big Sis Xueshi, why are you here?”
“Of course I came to look for you. Or else, I wouldn’t have come to this Tiger Forest Region. It’s not as if I’m from this place.”
Ning Xueshi strode over and sized him up and down. She snickered then. “Now I finally believe that you weren’t deliberately dressing up in shabby clothes to pretend to be weak so that you can show off later. Your uniform is the worst among all Ninth High School uniforms.”
The students were dumbfounded once more.
Ning Xueshi was already very beautiful when she showed a professional smile on the screen, so they did not expect that she would look even more radiant when she smiled sincerely.
‘Wait, this isn’t the main point! The main question is why does the vice president of the student council from the Monster University know Meng Chao?!’
The rocket class student felt his views on life and the world as well as his morals shatter.
‘Isn’t she supposed to be really eccentric, cold, and noble? Isn’t she supposed to splash red wine over someone the moment she disagrees with them? What’s going on?’
Jin Zhanpeng and the Construction High School students found themselves caught in an embarrassing situation once more.
They thought that Jin Zhanpeng had stood out because of how tall he was, which had attracted Ning Xueshi’s attention. They never even considered that Ning Xueshi would actually be looking for Meng Chao.
They had come to flaunt their power and strike at their spirits, but now, they were the ones shocked and suffering from a huge blow to their spirits.
Jin Zhanpeng’s face flushed red, and he called out to her while stuttering. “S-Senior Sister Ning…”
Ning Xueshi finally noticed him. She mulled over it before her smile molded into a professional one. “Ah, it’s you, Jin Zhanpeng. Do you want something?”
“I-It’s nothing.” Jin Zhanpeng was stunned and found himself tongue-tied.
“Big Sis Xueshi, do you want something?” Meng Chao asked while smiling in a rather resigned manner.
‘With this, my evil classmates will definitely want me to treat them to milk tea, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and supper again.
‘Especially that beast Chu Feixiong. That hungry gaze of his betrays his ambitions! He wants me to treat him to half a year’s worth of meals!’
“It’s about you filling up the form. You’re definitely thinking about getting into our resource recovery course, right? I got you a lot of our information. Once you complete the second test, let’s eat together. I’ll hand over the information and introduce some seniors to you,” Ning Xueshi said with a smile.
The words of the Ning family’s lady made the students suck in sharp breaths. Their gazes turned complicated.
‘As expected of Ace Student Chao! Look at the treatment he gets! He hasn’t even gone through the second test, and a senior from an ace course has already sent him a whole bunch of information about the course! Seriously, when you compare yourself to others, you just get so frustrated!’
Jin Zhanpeng and the Construction High School students cradled their chests and endured the urge to faint out of shock.
They a;; had a question in their hearts: ‘Did we come here to be tormented or be tormented?’
“Thanks, Big Sis Xueshi, but I haven’t thought about it properly yet. I don’t know whether I’ll really go to Agricultural University’s resource recovery course…” Meng Chao said hesitantly.
Being a harvester was great and all, but their fighting strength was quite low.
If he wanted to create a brand new future, it was impossible for him to give up on fighting.
That’s why he treated harvesting as his starting job and a supporting career. It was mainly for him to gather resources and form connections.
As for his main job, he would have to think about it carefully.
“What?” Ning Xueshi’s beautiful eyes filled with puzzlement. “If you want to receive standard education for harvesters, Agricultural University’s resource recovery course is the best. Even my grandpa is a visiting lecturer at Agricultural University. He admirers you, and he’s prepared to recommend a few of the lecturers in Agricultural University to you. If you don’t come to our course, where else will you go?”
When the students around them heard this, they wept in sadness.
‘The heck? If you don’t know the art of chatting, don’t chat! At the very least, don’t chat in front of the crowd! Our minds just suffered a huge blow!’
Jin Zhanpeng also felt a strong force hit him.
A moment ago, he had been boasting that his father knew Ning Xueshi’s father, but now he was told that Meng Chao’s worth was recognized by Ning Xueshi’s grandpa.
This guy… His art of pretending to be weak was just offensive!
Jin Zhanpeng sucked in a deep breath. He closed his eyes and said with a quiver, “Let’s… go.”
The Construction High School students looked like defeated soldiers. They were about to leave in dejection when a commotion suddenly broke out ahead of them.
“Look at the screen! The promoter for Dragon City University is Ripple Force Princess Yan Feirou!”