Chapter 20 · Volume 1

Class Change Completed, Obtaining Rule-Grade Weapon and Talent, Returning to the Cultivation Academy

Ye Lin had no idea that his class change alone had thrown countless big shots into a state of panic.
At this moment, he was bathed in a cluster of colorful, brilliant light. Only when all the colorful light had completely merged into his body did the game notification sound once again.
【Ding! Congratulations on successfully completing the first class change for 'Lord of Heaven's Punishment'. You have obtained the exclusive Rule-grade weapon—the Sword of Original Sin, and the exclusive Rule-grade talent—Heaven's Punishment Moment.】
【Sword of Original Sin: Indestructible, non-deprivable, ignores all level suppression, ignores all defense, once drawn, it must draw blood.
Initial attack power is equivalent to the holder's realm. Killing guilty creatures can accumulate the Power of Sin. The more Power of Sin, the stronger its power.】
【Heaven's Punishment Moment: Non-deprivable, indestructible, unsealable. Upon activating Heaven's Punishment, your own cultivation can instantly be raised by 1 to 10 major realms without any side effects. You can adjust the level of elevation at any time.
However, Heaven's Punishment Moment requires the consumption of the Power of Heaven's Punishment. Killing or punishing guilty creatures grants the Power of Heaven's Punishment. The more major realms raised and the longer the duration, the more Power of Heaven's Punishment is consumed.】
【Note: The second class change can be performed after the Golden Core Stage.】
Hearing the game notifications, Ye Lin was completely stunned.
He had expected to get some awesome ability after the class change, but he hadn't expected it to be this heaven-defying.
The Sword of Original Sin ignored levels and defense, dealing purely true damage. It could even stack attack power by killing guilty creatures. As long as he killed enough, his attack power could increase infinitely.
As for Heaven's Punishment Moment, directly raising his cultivation by one to ten major realms without side effects was simply a combatant's dream. In the future, he would no longer have to worry about being unable to defeat powerful experts or old monsters.
Both this talent and weapon were existences of a tier even higher than the quasi-Dao-grade of the Desolate Ancient Dao Pagoda. And this was only the reward for the first class change of the [Lord of Heaven's Punishment].
Then what about the second class change after the Golden Core Stage? What kind of rewards would that give?
“Incredible. I still underestimated the value of the 'Lord of Heaven's Punishment' as the sole unique special sequence in the heavens.”
After his shock subsided, Ye Lin unhesitatingly equipped both Heaven's Punishment Moment and the Sword of Original Sin.
But he was in no hurry to cultivate, inspect the black flame, or check the rewards for obtaining the flame.
After all, the rookie trial was only for today. This opportunity was not to be missed.
Furthermore, the more evil spirits he killed, the higher his Luck Value would be. When the time came, replicating those ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones would yield even greater benefits.
Thus, with a thought, he reappeared in the outside world.
Over the next few hours, he only ate a small amount of food. The rest of his time was spent either hunting down evil spirits or on his way to hunt them down.
Dark creatures had now advanced from "beasts of his dreams" to "the love of his life" in his eyes. After all, as long as he killed an evil spirit now, he would receive seven different rewards.
Was this not worthy of his absolute devotion?
Chasing and killing all the way, Ye Lin didn't even know exactly how many evil spirits he had slain.
However, his Sword of Original Sin had already accumulated a massive amount of the Power of Sin, and his Heaven's Punishment Moment had also gathered plenty of the Power of Heaven's Punishment.
“It's a pity for my mid-grade dharma robe, though. I originally wanted to test its defensive capabilities, but I didn't even encounter a single Foundation Establishment Stage evil spirit.”
Seeing that dusk was approaching, he murmured with some lingering desire. He then turned around and rushed back to the seaside where he had started, intending to meet up with Lin Kuo, Zhao Xiaoyu, and Li Xuan.
This was the agreement they had made when he left.
However, when he leisurely arrived at the shore, it wasn't just the three of them there. There were other academy disciples and members of the Demon Suppressing Division as well.
Only, at this moment, most of the crowd looked numb, and many were even severely injured.
“Brother Ye.” Seeing him return, Li Xuan and Zhao Xiaoyu both walked over with slight joy to greet him.
“What happened? Did you encounter some troublesome evil spirits?” Nodding casually, Ye Lin asked about everyone's situation.
“We didn't run into any evil spirits, but we did encounter a large group of men in black hunting down the new students everywhere. Many have died.
“Of everyone responsible for the southern area, those who survived are basically the ones you see here. Everyone is waiting here for the academy's experts to pick us up.”
Hearing Ye Lin's question, Li Xuan immediately gave a brief account of what they had experienced.
Upon hearing this, Ye Lin couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. Men in black hunting down new students? How come he hadn't encountered a single one?
But looking at his Luck Value, which had already reached a high of 1,000 points, he instantly felt it was completely logical.
With the protection of his luck, it was only natural that the men in black wouldn't cross paths with him.
“Why is the academy treating us like this? If they didn't want us to live, they didn't have to recruit us! Why make us go through this disaster? Why did my brother have to die so miserably?”
“Isn't it just death? Dammit, I'm going to take down the academy high-ups with me later! My only relative has been killed anyway. What's the point of me living?”
“That's right! A bunch of bloodsucking parasites who disregard human life. I'll fight them to the death later too!”
As time passed, the atmosphere of grief and anger on the beach grew thicker. Countless people who had lost their relatives and friends in this rookie assessment could no longer suppress the rage in their hearts.
They were all clutching their final trump cards, planning to risk their lives the moment the academy high-ups arrived.
After all, this assessment had been absurd from the very beginning. Anyone with eyes could tell they had been set up, yet the academy had remained indifferent. Did this not clearly show that they didn't value anyone's life?
“Sigh, you've managed to survive with great difficulty. Why must you do this?” Seeing this, many Demon Suppressing Guards remained silent.
However, some who fancied themselves benevolent spoke up with pity, urging them to let go of their anger.
“Why must we do this? Fuck you! Did any of your family die? Was your brother killed?”
The moment those self-righteous Demon Suppressing Guards spoke, they were loudly cursed at by a group of furious new students.
...
At this moment, a massive flying vessel that blotted out the sky sped over from the distance, quickly coming to a halt above the beach.
Immediately after, a white-haired elder led several middle-aged men down from the flying vessel.
Ye Lin had seen this elder once before. He was indeed one of the three elders who had gone to Great Desolation Village to take Xu Qing'an away—seemingly a vice principal.
“To think someone would hunt down academy disciples and members of the Demon Suppressing Division on such a large scale... The academy will surely give everyone a satisfactory explanation regarding this matter...”
As soon as he disembarked, the elder named Gu Qingsong prepared to offer some token comfort to the crowd.
But before he could finish his sentence, he saw dozens, even a hundred, new disciples rushing toward him with faces full of rage.
“To hell with your explanation, you beasts who disregard human life!”
“Today, you stand high above, treating us like ants. In the future, you too will be trampled and crushed under someone else's foot!”
“The human race did not fall into decline because of the evil spirit invasion, but because of parasites like you who don't treat people as humans! That is why the human race suffers defeat after defeat, becoming the most humiliated existence among the myriad races. People like you deserve to die!”
With the determination to die, the group of young new disciples threw themselves forward like moths to a flame, self-detonating all around Vice Principal Gu Qingsong and the others.
This scene was so ridiculous, like striking a stone with an egg.
Yet, it was also incredibly tragic. They knew it was futile, yet they charged forward one after another, simply because they could not swallow the foul resentment in their hearts.
A group of ants, unwilling to be used as pawns in someone's game, furiously swung their swords upward. Though it was of no help, and though they vanished in an instant like fireworks...
At this moment, Ye Lin was still somewhat shaken.
These were dozens, even a hundred, living people just like him, resolutely self-detonating right before his eyes. This scene was truly difficult to describe in words.
At this moment, he suddenly recalled the passage in the quest description when he changed classes to [Lord of Heaven's Punishment].
【Therefore, the world needs a law enforcer to once again take charge of the rules, patrol the heavens, and punish all injustice and chaos, so that the myriad worlds may once again know the majesty of the Great Dao.】
Watching the disciples continue to self-detonate one after another ahead, Ye Lin's expression remained unchanged, coldly observing it all.
Yet, his hand had unknowingly adopted a sword-gripping stance.
“Sigh, all of you stop. This old man is at the Golden Core Stage. Your self-detonations cannot cause me even the slightest harm.”
Gu Qingsong had not expected things to turn out so terribly. With a sigh, he waved his hand, and a terrifying golden light instantly bound all the new students who were preparing to self-detonate.
“I know you are very disappointed in the academy, but the waters of this world run too deep. This old man can only promise to do my best to give you a satisfactory explanation.”
After speaking, he waved his large hand, transferring all the bound new students onto the flying vessel.
What he did not know was that his act of refraining from killing was precisely what saved him from a severe injury.
After all, within the crowd, a certain expressionless boy was already preparing to draw a mid-grade long sword that was halfway charged, ready to launch a sneak attack at any moment.
“What are the rest of you still dazed for? Do you not want to return to the academy?”
Seeing that the others were still standing silently in place, Gu Qingsong immediately barked coldly.
Hearing this, the crowd finally woke up as if from a dream and silently boarded the flying vessel.
...
With the activation of the flying vessel, everyone returned to the royal capital, Tianqi City, in a suffocating silence.
By the time they returned to the academy, it was already dark.
“Brother Ye, the Immortal Hall opens tomorrow. Prepare early,” both Li Xuan and Zhao Xiaoyu transmitted their voices to Ye Lin using a secret technique as they parted.
“Understood,” Ye Lin replied casually. He went to the Outer Academy cafeteria to have dinner, then packed several more portions to take away.
Only after doing all this did he return to his temporary dormitory. Once he activated the Isolation Formation, he entered the Sovereign Heaven layer of the Desolate Ancient Dao Pagoda with a single thought.

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