Taking Two Sets of Rewards

Seeing Jiang Lin’s expression of serious contemplation, he really seemed to be calculating how much he could earn.

Wills smiled and said:

"Haha, having confidence is a good thing. Besides the school’s rewards, the Temple is also offering rewards for this joint exam. However, we have to wait for the Temple Master to announce them. The requirements are different, too; you have to rank near the top among the three schools to get them."

Hearing this, Jiang Lin immediately fell into deep thought.

"Alright, get yourselves ready. I’m heading out."

With that, Director Wills waved his hand and departed.

The others hadn't dared to breathe a word while the grade director was there.

Students at this stage were still quite afraid of teachers, and Director Wills’s usual style in the grade was rather strict, so no one had dared to approach him earlier.

Many of them looked at Jiang Lin with considerable admiration, impressed that he could speak to the school leadership like that and even dare to make such a request.

Old Luo also looked at Jiang Lin with a strange gaze. He never expected Jiang Lin to actually know the school leadership.

In his eyes, the management level of a magic academy already counted as big shots.

At the very least, their social status was more than just a little bit higher than a small security guard like him.

Thinking of this, Old Luo forgave Jiang Lin a little for his previous deception.

"Hey, Big Brother Luo, you’re off the clock, huh?"

Seeing Wills leave, Jiang Lin patted Old Luo’s shoulder.

"Yeah, haha, that’s right, I’m off..."

Old Luo gave a sheepish smile.

"By the way, Old Luo, where’s a good place to eat around here? I haven't eaten yet."

Jiang Lin rubbed his empty stomach. Having gone nearly a day without food, he was indeed quite hungry.

"Walk that way and there’s a noodle shop. The taste is pretty good..."

Old Luo sighed in his heart. After weighing it in his mind for a long while, he ultimately decided not to expose Jiang Lin’s lies.

For someone of this age to be able to tell such big stories without blinking, and to even have connections with the school leadership, there must be something special about him.

Furthermore, the situation was quite clear; the boy surely knew that Old Luo had discovered the truth, yet he could still talk to him without his face turning red or his heart skipping a beat. With that kind of thick skin, even if he didn't go far as an adventurer, he would surely succeed in other areas.

Recalling his own life, Old Luo lamented that he was still too cowardly and mediocre.

"Let’s go. I’m going to grab some breakfast too. It’s on me,"

Old Luo said after thinking it over.

The hardships of life hadn't made him strong; they had only smoothed out his edges, teaching him to judge the situation and weigh the pros and cons—the life of many ordinary people.

"Great! Then thank you, Big Brother Luo!"

Jiang Lin didn't decline and accepted with a smile.

Hearing their conversation, a student nearby became unsettled.

'Wait, I call him uncle, but Jiang Lin calls him big brother... Doesn't that mean I’m a generation lower than Jiang Lin for no reason?'

The taste of this noodle shop was indeed good. The noodles, drizzled with sesame oil, had a firm texture, and the steam from the soup dissipated the slight chill of the night.

Jiang Lin and Old Luo chatted as they ate, and after finishing, they waved goodbye.

During the process, Jiang Lin was slowly adapting to his newly improved nerve reflex speed.

This time, the increase in nerve reflex speed didn't directly double his movement speed on the spot.

Rather, it allowed him to fully control his muscles, bringing out the maximum agility his current body could exert. His movement speed was indeed much faster, but it wasn't a linear increase.

This was because the improvement of many abilities was not a linear process; the further one went, the greater the difficulty became, gradually climbing exponentially.

"Ah, there are still many good people in the world!"

Jiang Lin rubbed his full belly and sighed.

"Bad people like Matthew are a minority after all."

On the way back to his team, Jiang Lin passed by the other two schools and heard them discussing yesterday's incident.

He even faintly heard his own name, which made his heart skip a beat.

'How does everyone know about this?'

Jiang Lin slowed his pace, eavesdropping on their conversation as he walked.

Then, he felt relieved.

It made sense. After all, so many students from Radiant Magic Academy had seen it, and with such an incident occurring, it was impossible for the newspapers not to report it.

It seemed he should read the newspaper more often in the future.

...

Back at his school’s designated area, some students who hadn't seen Jiang Lin before were quite surprised.

However, Jiang Lin ignored them and walked straight toward the area where Anya and the others were.

Jiang Lin took a look; there were even more people here than before.

He wondered if his battle against the evil god had contributed to this.

Jiang Lin saw Tie Chen and found that the guy had actually started practicing a breathing technique.

However, looking at the magic essence fluctuations around him, it was clear this fellow couldn't enter a meditative state in such a noisy environment.

So, he patted Tie Chen’s shoulder:

"Oi, kid, did anything happen after I left yesterday?"

Tie Chen opened his eyes and saw it was his desk-mate. Realizing the other was safe and sound, he couldn't help but say joyfully:

"Old Jiang, I knew you were okay! Waaaah, they all said you were dead, but I didn't believe it..."

As he spoke, Tie Chen made an exaggerated expression, though he clearly knew Jiang Lin hadn't had any problems.

Jiang Lin’s vision went dark. He had heard people discussing things like "Jiang Lin is dead" on his way here.

Who on earth was spreading fake news?

"Why did you start practicing a breathing technique?"

Jiang Lin asked.

Tie Chen gave a faint smile, putting on a cocky expression:

"I’ve already crammed all the basics for the theory classes! I’m confident I’ll reach the passing grade in this theory exam!!"

"Is that so? Good luck then. So, after I left yesterday, did the teachers or the school announce any new rules or mention any precautions?"

Jiang Lin returned to the main topic once more.

Tie Chen rubbed his chin and thought for a moment, then revealed a 'wise' look:

"They seemed to say something, but I was busy doing practice problems yesterday and didn't listen to all that. Go ask someone else."

Jiang Lin was speechless, leaving Tie Chen aside and ignoring him.

He scanned the surroundings; people were either practicing or studying. Finally, he pulled over a classmate who wasn't part of the all-nighter group and asked:

"Hey, yesterday..."

However, that student answered immediately:

"Don't ask me. I skipped class to go out and play yesterday; I wasn't even at school."

Jiang Lin was speechless, remembering that this person was indeed a talent who skipped class every day.

What a bunch of 'geniuses' these people were.

At this moment, Anya, who had become the leader of the all-nighter study group, opened her eyes.

She heard some noisy movement that sounded like Jiang Lin’s voice, so she stopped circulating her breathing technique.

"You actually came."

Anya’s golden eyes looked at Jiang Lin, her gaze somewhat complex.

His swordsmanship talent was simply too shocking, dealing a heavy blow to her past confidence.

"Yeah. Since you recommended me so highly to your cousin and considered so much for me, naturally, I’ll come to lead you to victory."

Jiang Lin answered confidently, even raising the identity bracelet on his hand to show his gratitude.

Anya looked at Jiang Lin and felt that the man before her was somehow different.

As a highly talented paladin, Anya was quite sensitive to light elements, and because of her pure heart, the light elements had a high affinity for her. Thus, she could detect the slight fluctuations of light elements around Jiang Lin.

It seemed... the light elements were even more friendly to him than to her?!

Anya was shocked to discover this fact.

'That’s not right. Why is that? He wasn't like this before.'

'Could it be that getting beaten by an evil god opened up his potential?'

Anya was stunned for a long while before saying somewhat apologetically:

"I promised you before that if your swordsmanship level matched mine, I would lend you swordsmanship techniques to learn. But your progress has been a bit too fast; the only skills I had the authority to bring out from home were those two. I’ll try to negotiate with my family later to see if I can help you borrow other skill books."

She still remembered her promise and had no intention of letting it drop. However, although she was the City Lord’s daughter, she didn't have the authority to use the family’s assets at will.

With her character of being as good as her word, she would normally follow through with this promise, at least during these remaining sixty-odd days.

Originally, according to her estimation, Jiang Lin would at most comprehend two high-tier skills—after all, it would take her at least two or three months to reach that level—but she never expected Jiang Lin to surpass her in just a single day.

However, Jiang Lin was once again moved upon hearing this.

'Miss Rich... is really too kind!'

He was starting to wonder if she was trying to raise a death-sworn guard.

'Miss Rich, please make some demands, otherwise, I won't feel right holding these skills!'

"Rich—Miss Anya, if there’s anything I can help with later, just ask!"

Jiang Lin patted his chest.

Anya smiled, clearly not taking it to heart.

"By the way, Miss Anya, were there any announcements from the school after I left yesterday?"

Anya rubbed her chin and recalled for a moment, then said with full sincerity:

"They seemed to say something, but I was busy practicing and didn't listen."

Hearing this, Jiang Lin fell silent.

"Yesterday, they just explained how to use the bracelets and announced the point rules. Also, they mentioned that when we start today, staff from the Temple will come to explain some unannounced rules for this joint exam. Then, both the school and the Temple will reward students who rank high in the point standings."

At this moment, a girl with shoulder-length short hair couldn't help but speak up.

Jiang Lin turned to look at her.

Anya introduced her to Jiang Lin:

"This is my friend, Demi, a level 9 archer, and also my teammate."

"You’re Jiang Lin, right? If Anya hadn't recommended you so strongly, feeling that your combat power could already rival hers, I would never have agreed to team up with a level 4 guy like you!"

Demi was blunt and had no intention of being polite.

"I hope you don't drag the team down!"

Jiang Lin looked at this short-haired girl and nodded:

"Then how about we move separately?"

"Yeah, then you and Anya-jie will be responsible for offense and defense, and I’ll handle scouting and long-range... Wait, what did you say?!"

Demi’s eyes widened in shock, feeling like she had misheard.

"You plan to act alone? Have you lost your mind?!"

Although Demi’s words weren't pleasant, her heart was actually quite kind—at least better than those who were one way to your face and another behind your back.

Jiang Lin stated his thoughts:

"Look, since both the school and the Temple will set rewards for the top ranks, if we’re in one team, we can only get one set of rewards at most. But if we separate, I can take the first-place reward, and then you guys can take the second-place reward. Calculating it this way, we can get two sets of rewards in total!"

Listening to Jiang Lin’s words, Demi felt they made sense yet also felt something was strange.

"Wait, you’re just that confident you can take first?"

Jiang Lin waved his hand:

"Cough, cough, let’s keep it low-key."

After a pause, he continued:

"If you’re not convinced, we can have a fight."

Actually, Jiang Lin had seen the 【temporary quest】 given by the system, but unfortunately, it was clearly too late to fight her now.

Demi felt Jiang Lin was being unreasonable. She looked at Anya, wanting Anya to speak up for her.

However, Anya asked:

"You’re confident in fighting alone?"

Jiang Lin nodded:

"I’m eighty percent sure."

There were already nearly a thousand students present; Jiang Lin could gain skill level-up opportunities just by picking fights with them.

So as long as he was fighting, he would get stronger and stronger.

Jiang Lin wanted to see if he could push his best skill, 【Seven Star Holy Glow Slash】, to the limit-broken level this time, to see what kind of terrifying power this high-tier skill could reach after breaking its limit.

As they talked, the time for the joint exam to begin drew near.

At this moment, the students were required to line up and stop fooling around. Then, a familiar figure entered Jiang Lin’s sight.

It was none other than the Boulder City Temple Master—Cecilia Brightstar.

However, the Cecilia of today was different from yesterday. She lacked the gentleness seen during their private meeting, replaced by a seriousness carrying a hint of unquestionable authority.

Although she didn't have any special expression and didn't intentionally emit her pressure, just standing there made the students present tremble with fear, not daring to make a sound.

This kind of aura could only be possessed by a few high-level individuals who had been in management for a long time.

Of course, part of it was also the suppression of a high life level over a low life level.

Cecilia scanned the gathered students. Her gaze swept over Jiang Lin, giving him a look, but she didn't linger on him and moved past immediately.

She began to speak. She didn't use amplification magic; her volume wasn't loud, yet it clearly reached the ears of everyone present:

"Students and teachers of Boulder Junior Magic Academy, Radiant Junior Magic Academy, and Morning Star Junior Magic Academy, hello.

"I am the Temple Master of Boulder City—Cecilia Brightstar.

"Today is the first junior adventurer qualification simulation test held in our Boulder City.

"This test will take place in the ‘Phantom Forest’ artificial secret realm. It aims to simulate a real wilderness environment, honing your practical combat abilities and accumulating experience for the final evaluation.

"The exam rules are as follows..."

She spoke word by word, and the nearly thousand students on the plaza were silent; only her voice could be heard.

"Kill demonic beasts to obtain corresponding points based on their level and rarity. Refer to the exam rules table for specific point rules.

"Defeating other teams will grant you half of the opponent’s current total points. The defeated party’s bracelet will record a fixed point value, and they will lose the qualification to continue gaining points and be teleported out of the secret realm. Note: if you encounter a life-threatening danger and the proctoring teachers cannot rescue you in time, you may crush the bracelet yourself to teleport out..."

What she said was roughly similar to what the homeroom teacher Lake had mentioned, just more detailed and formal.

Jiang Lin listened intently, and finally, it came to the part he was most interested in.

"Both the Temple and the Boulder City management attach great importance to this joint exam, seeing it as an attempt for Boulder City’s education to move toward more developed cities.

"Therefore, ranking rewards have been set to encourage everyone’s active participation."

"The first-place team will receive 3 pieces of fine-grade magic equipment and 30 Temple library borrowing points."

"The second-place team will receive 2 pieces of fine-grade magic equipment and 20 Temple library borrowing points."

"The third-place team will receive 1 piece of fine-grade magic equipment and 10 Temple library borrowing points."

"Teams from fourth to tenth place will receive different skill books based on their ranking..."

"Rewards are distributed in team format, with specific allocation decided internally by the team. This reward ranking is based on the team’s total point ranking. Exam grade rankings will be based on the average point ranking..."