Boulder City, Radiant Junior Magic Academy.
"There's only one week left until the midterm test. If you want to get into an intermediate magic academy, you'll have to work harder."
On the podium, the teacher looked at the students of the bottom-tier class with a look of disappointment, as if they were beyond help.
"Work hard? If working hard was enough, what would we need talent for?"
Most of the students below felt indifferent.
After all, through the repeated class reassignments over the past three years, they had ended up in the bottom-tier class. They knew exactly how much they were worth.
Even if they started catching up now, reaching the standard for an intermediate magic academy was nearly impossible for them.
Listening to the teacher's words, Jiang Lin stared up at the ceiling, feeling drained of all hope.
It had been three whole years since he crossed over into this world, inheriting the rare profession of paladin from his predecessor.
However, because his heart wasn't pure enough, his cultivation speed was practically glacial.
In this world, everyone awakens their own profession at the age of twelve, and each person's profession is determined by their innate talent.
At the same time, for some special professions, it is difficult to maintain a fast cultivation speed without the appropriate state of mind.
For example, as a paladin, it was hard for Jiang Lin to reach high levels without an extremely kind heart.
Jiang Lin had read descriptions of so-called "exceptionally talented" paladins, and he felt those people could be perfectly described as "living saints."
Before crossing over, Jiang Lin was just an ordinary person and didn't have that kind of heart at all, so his level progression was quite slow.
This was the result of three years of hard cultivation:
【Name】: Jiang Lin
【Profession】: paladin
【Level】: 2
【Vitality】: 2000
【Mental Power】: 200
【Skills】: Paladin Breathing Technique (practiced), Basic Swordsmanship (proficient), Low-level Healing (practiced), low-level fortification (beginner)
Vitality was equivalent to the strength attribute, representing how much physical power one could exert. Mental power was equivalent to mana, representing the ability to manipulate elements in the air. Level represented whether one's life tier had entered the next stage, which required condensing magic essence within the body to elevate that tier.
To enter an intermediate magic academy, Jiang Lin had to cultivate from level 2 to level 5 within two months to meet the minimum entry standard.
Of course, besides this requirement, there were many academic assessments, such as basic magic principles, basic potion theory, basic magic script, mathematics, physics, history, and more.
That’s right, you even had to study math and physics in another world!
However, for Jiang Lin, who had twelve years of experience with exam-oriented education, these subjects were like everyday geometry and arithmetic—not very difficult, so he actually performed quite well in them.
But the level restriction for entering the intermediate magic academy was right there, and the current Jiang Lin had already given up hope on that...
If he couldn't get into an intermediate magic academy, he wouldn't be able to continue his career as an adventurer.
Even if he did, he would only be a low-level adventurer killing slimes, gathering low-grade loot in the monster-filled forests. Even while risking his life every day, he would barely be able to support himself.
In this world, magic and dragons were no longer just legends in storybooks, but real miracles.
Brilliant magic flickered in the night sky, dragon wings swept through the air, knights' armor shimmered with a silver-white luster, and traveling merchants by the campfire told epics of heroes...
Jiang Lin wanted to witness all of this with his own eyes, but limited by his talent, he could only stop here.
So, Jiang Lin was truly unwilling...
Wait, something's wrong!
Suddenly, a string of text floated before Jiang Lin's eyes!
【System loading...】
【Completing initialization】
【Loading complete】
【This startup took a total of three years and one month, surpassing 0.01% of users!】
【Congratulations, you have awakened the Strongest Demon Lord System】
【This system is dedicated to developing your demonic potential, allowing you to become a Great Demon Lord who strikes fear into the hearts of the world!】
Seeing this text, Jiang Lin suddenly had a mountain of complaints but didn't know where to start.
What the hell is "surpassing 0.01%"?
It took three years to boot up, and you actually have the nerve to show off?!
And why is it the Strongest Demon Lord System? I'm clearly a paladin! I'm the embodiment of justice!!
But at least the heavens had left him a way out, so Jiang Lin continued reading.
【You are currently an obscure junior demon lord, but you possess the potential and talent to become a top-tier demon lord】
【Daily Missions:】
【1. Killing for Pleasure】
【Requirement: Randomly kill ten weak beings and feel joy in doing so】
【Reward: A random skill's proficiency will be increased to max level】
【2. Wicked Taste】
【Requirement: Destroy a person's mental defenses】
【Reward: Mental Power +1000】
【3. Torture to Death】
【Requirement: Torture an enemy's body until it is unrecognizable】
【Reward: Vitality +1000】
After reading these daily missions, Jiang Lin subconsciously swallowed his saliva.
This system... is definitely a one-way ticket to a life sentence...
However, aside from these daily missions, there were higher-level missions written in blood-red text below.
【Phase Missions:】
【Slaughter】
【Requirement: Accumulate the slaughter of one hundred thousand living beings】
【Reward: Demon King Seed, and a special title】
...
Looking at the blood-red text, Jiang Lin felt as if his last bit of strength had been drained.
Is this something someone like me can do? No, wait, is this something a human would do??
Just reading these words silently in his heart made him feel like the gods of righteousness would descend just to strike him down.
Thus, Jiang Lin slumped back in his seat, staring hopelessly at the ceiling again, thinking about which workshop he should find a job at after graduation.
But just then, a damn mosquito drifted past Jiang Lin's eyes and landed on the face of his despondent deskmate, Tie Chen.
Without any hesitation, Jiang Lin delivered a sharp slap.
Slap!
At the same time, the system actually appeared before his eyes.
【You have slaughtered a weak being and felt joy from it; your demon lord talent is beginning to show】
【Daily Mission: Killing for Pleasure (1/10)】
Seeing this string of text, Jiang Lin froze for a moment in disbelief.
This counts as slaughter?!
Slapping a mosquito makes me a demon lord? Is this system broken?
Initially, looking at the four missions given by the system, Jiang Lin felt he might never achieve them in his lifetime. After all, while this world's communication technology wasn't as advanced as Earth's, the public security was at least decent.
If he really picked ten people at random to kill, he’d be hung at the temple gates for public display the next day.
At this moment, Tie Chen clutched his left cheek, which had been dazed by Jiang Lin's slap, and looked at him in total confusion.
"Wait, why did you hit me?!"
"There was a mosquito,"
Jiang Lin explained, while showing Tie Chen the mangled remains of the mosquito in his hand.
"It's not painted on?"
Tie Chen was suspicious.
Jiang Lin could only roll his eyes and knead the mosquito in his hand to prove it.
The reason was simple: Jiang Lin had pranked Tie Chen like this before, slapping him just for fun.
Just then, Jiang Lin thought of the third mission:
【3. Torture to Death】
【Requirement: Torture an enemy's body until it is unrecognizable】
【Reward: Vitality +1000】
Since hitting a mosquito counted as slaughtering a weak being, did the mosquito's corpse count as an enemy's body...?
Thinking of this, Jiang Lin waved his hand and rubbed the mosquito into a tiny black ball.
【Completing this mission in just one minute, crushing the enemy's bones and blurring their flesh; you are simply a natural-born demon】
【Reward Obtained: Vitality +1000】
In the next moment, a surge of energy from nowhere injected into Jiang Lin's body, beginning to strengthen every muscle in his frame.
A wave of sharp pain invaded his entire body...
If one were to zoom into the cellular level, they would see that inside Jiang Lin's body, as if on fast-forward, muscle cells everywhere were being torn apart and reshaped. The reshaped tissue possessed far greater power than before.
...
An adventurer's cultivation is mainly divided into four major directions: physical fitness, mental power, skills, and breathing techniques.
Physical fitness determined one's strength, defense, and endurance, primarily reflected in vitality.
Mental power determined mana capacity—the higher the mental power, the more mana one had, which represented a longer mana bar and the ability to use more spells and skills.
Skills determined one's abilities and methods in combat.
As for breathing techniques, they determined the speed at which magic essence accumulated in the body, which in turn determined the speed of level progression.
However, one could not blindly increase magic essence levels while ignoring mental power and physical fitness. Otherwise, if too much magic essence accumulated and the body or mind couldn't handle it, it would lead to injury or even death.
Therefore, to reach higher levels, breathing techniques, physical fitness, and mental power were all indispensable.
In addition, to advance from Tier 0 to Tier 1—that is, from level 10 to level 11—one needed to go to the temple to pray for the gods to bestow a trial. Only after passing the trial could one level up.
Muscles continued to tear and regrow, and the pain stimulated Jiang Lin's nerves, but at the same time, his status panel underwent a change:
【Name】: Jiang Lin
【Profession】: paladin
【Level】: 2
【Vitality】: 2000 → 3000
【Mental Power】: 200
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