The Eve of Disaster

"The three-year period? What on earth is that?"

Apart from Zach, who possessed startling wisdom, everyone was quite confused.

But Jiang Lin naturally had no intention of explaining anything to them. After saying those words, he found an excuse and left.

In a few days, they would naturally understand.

......

There were still half a day's worth of classes left, though most were focused on reviewing knowledge points. Jiang Lin's academic grades were decent enough, so it didn't really matter whether he paid attention in class.

After finishing lunch, Jiang Lin returned to the classroom early. To his surprise, his deskmate, simp, didn't run off to play after eating. Instead, he had also returned to the classroom early and begun studying the theory classes he had always been poor at.

He had a somewhat yellowed exercise book spread out before him, and he was scratching his head as he worked through the dizzying geometric arithmetic.

"Is the sun rising from the west today?"

Jiang Lin was astonished.

"What do you know? Old Lin, I'm not a loser like you. I'm someone who's going to the Middle Magic Academy!"

simp said without even looking up.

In truth, he was only one step away from the Middle Magic Academy; he was just one step shy of reaching level 5, but his academic grades were his achilles' heel.

"Alright then, keep at it. I've let you have your way for three years; it's about time I let you see what a true prodigy looks like."

Jiang Lin nodded.

With that, he sat cross-legged in his seat and began operating the 【Paladin Breathing Technique】 that had reached the superlative peak.

Closing his eyes, a familiar sensation flooded his heart.

This feeling seemed carved into Jiang Lin's physical body and etched into the depths of his soul. With just a thought, he could make the special breathing rhythm circulate.

This was the precious experience he had gained from operating it countless times and practicing for many years.

As Jiang Lin breathed, small amounts of magic essence from the air constantly surged into his body. Under his guidance, it merged into his flesh and blood, then into his lineage, finally transforming into his own power and flowing into the Dantian where he stored magic essence.

If each level were compared to a small bowl, the previous Jiang Lin would have needed to run the breathing technique for an entire day just to condense a single drop of liquid into that bowl.

But now, Jiang Lin could inject a drop of liquid after completing just one full cycle of the breathing technique.

Compared to before, this speed could only be described as terrifying.

Jiang Lin estimated that if he continued to run the breathing technique without rest, he could raise his level from his newly promoted level 3 to level 4 in less than a week.

Of course, even accounting for sleep, he could still raise his level within two weeks.

Thinking about the mid-term exam a week away, Jiang Lin gritted his teeth.

It was time to let everyone see his monstrous talent!

Subsequently, Jiang Lin immersed his entire mind into the operation of the breathing technique.

......

Meanwhile, from the perspective of the outside world:

"Hey, have you heard? That guy Jiang Lin defeated the grade's number one in swordsmanship class!"

"Are you joking? Him? Isn't he at the bottom of the rankings?"

"It's absolutely true! People from several classes saw it! And he defeated the grade's number one even when the opponent wasn't holding back!"

"I heard he was being coerced by some secret cult and had been enduring in silence for three years. Now that the secret cult's den in Boulder City has been wiped out, he finally dares to show his talent."

"For real? Whoa! He's actually practicing a breathing technique right now?!"

"Practicing a breathing technique at a time like this? Can he really practice in such a noisy environment??"

"I don't know. Could he be faking it?"

"Sigh, who cares? Even if he starts catching up now, there's no hope of him getting into the Middle Magic Academy."

......

The crowd gossiped while looking at Jiang Lin sitting in the corner. At the same time, they noticed simp next to him.

"What is Tie Chen doing? Doesn't he usually never study for theory classes?"

"Good grief, how did this guy start studying hard too?!"

"It's fine, it's just a momentary burst of passion. I bet they won't last more than a few days..."

"Exactly. We've done that 'fishing for three days and drying the nets for two' thing plenty of times ourselves, haven't we?"

......

In the face of the noisy environment, both Jiang Lin and simp seemed isolated from the world, each working hard on their own tasks.

Even when the class bell rang and the teacher entered the classroom, neither of them showed any sign of looking up.

Jiang Lin's academic grades were excellent enough that listening was useless, while simp's academic grades were so bad that he couldn't understand the teacher's review content anyway; it was better to self-study and build a foundation.

As for the teacher, they knew the students in the tail-end class were like rotten wood that could not be carved. As long as they didn't do anything too outrageous in class, the teacher generally didn't care what they were doing. Naturally, no teacher bothered to meddle by reminding Jiang Lin and Tie Chen.

Time passed quickly.

The students observing the two went from skepticism to confusion, and finally to shock.

This guy Jiang Lin hadn't moved once all afternoon!

This guy Tie Chen, aside from a few bathroom breaks, had been grinding problems to catch up on his academics the entire time!!

'It's okay, they definitely won't be able to keep this up tomorrow...'

They thought to themselves.

Until the school bell rang and the students in the class began to get up and leave one after another, Tie Chen and Jiang Lin both happened to remain in the classroom.

Even after the students on cleaning duty left, neither showed any sign of leaving.

One student who had been observing the two noticed they still hadn't moved their butts. For some reason, an inexplicable sense of urgency rose in his heart.

A sense of crisis born from his subconscious emerged, as if seeing the two of them working hard made his heart itch with discomfort.

'What's going on?'

The person was greatly perplexed.

This feeling... it seemed that only if he also started grinding problems or practicing like them could he resolve the stray thoughts in his heart.

He shook his head, pushing the thoughts away, then got up and left, leaving only the two of them to continue their efforts in the classroom.

Minutes and seconds ticked by, and in the blink of an eye, it was sunset.

Since the sunlight from the window could no longer satisfy Tie Chen's needs for reading, he put down his pen and looked at Jiang Lin beside him with considerable surprise.

"Old Jiang, aren't you leaving? The sun is about to set."

Tie Chen's voice jolted Jiang Lin out of his practice. He slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, feeling that his control over his body had become a bit more refined.

Looking around, he was startled to realize so much time had passed. He was also somewhat surprised that simp seemed to be serious this time, actually staying late after school to study for so long.

It was worth mentioning that the junior magic academies in this world finished classes around four in the afternoon—a dismissal time Jiang Lin had never experienced in his previous life.

Jiang Lin nodded.

"Yeah, it's about time to head back."

"I'm going back to practice secretly by myself."

Hearing Jiang Lin's words, Tie Chen remained silent for a moment before responding in kind:

"Yeah, I'm going back to grind problems secretly by myself too."