Chapter 99: Acting Tough, Are We?

Approaching 11 a. m., the four-member squad finally arrived at the western suburbs of Jinchuan City, reaching the foot of the Sixth-Rank God, Desolate Ancient.

"Tsk tsk~" Chang Ying clicked her tongue in admiration.

Since getting out of the car, she had been gazing up at the massive divine statue, unable to tear her eyes away.

Sixth-Rank God, Huang Gu!

The stone statue depicted a robust man.

Bare-chested, with long hair tied back, he held a drumstick in his hand, with a giant war drum placed before him.

His facial features were somewhat blurred, yet the dense aura of heroic vigor radiating from his entire body was undeniably real!

"I really want to fight," Chang Ying muttered softly, tightening her grip on the Mountain-Splitting Axe.

Nearby, Lu Ran couldn't help but wear an odd expression.

Chang Ying spoke no lie; merely looking at such a divine statue was enough to make one feel surging excitement!

What puzzled Lu Ran, however, was why this big girl wasn't paying respects?

Deng Yutang and Tian Tian beside them were not devotees of Huang Gu, but they still performed the proper courtesies.

Both Deng and Tian pressed their palms together and bowed in greeting.

"You students, are you in high school or university?" a female voice asked.

Everyone turned to look, seeing a female soldier approaching.

"We're in our third year of high school," Chang Ying replied immediately.

The female soldier walked closer, looking up at Chang Ying, and couldn't help but nod inwardly.

As the saying goes: Great size means no lack of strength!

Some talents are truly gifts from one's parents, leaving others with nothing but envy.

The female soldier said, "Recently, there has been turmoil within the Black Lamp Demon Cave; we do not recommend high school students enter for training."

"Ah?" Chang Ying looked distressed. "We traveled all the way here from Deng Yuxiang City!"

"Deng Yuxiang City?"

"Wu Lie River Province," Lu Ran stated.

A small city like Deng Yuxiang had little fame; when traveling abroad, one had to cite the province's name.

Chang Ying suddenly asked, "If we're not allowed to train, then how did our shuttle bus enter the military camp?"

The female soldier turned the question back: "What are your cultivation levels?"

Chang Ying immediately pointed at Lu Ran: "He is Stream Realm Stage Three! The three of us are Stream Realm Stage Two, and we're about to advance."

Deng Yutang immediately chimed in, "Right, right, very soon, very soon!"

"Your strength is acceptable," the female soldier mused for a moment, then continued asking, "Which gods are you devotees of?"

As everyone reported their affiliations, the female soldier was somewhat bewildered.

She couldn't help but glance at Lu Ran a few more times.

The person with the highest cultivation level in the squad was actually a devotee of the Ninth-Rank God, Xiang Xiang Xianyang?

Generally speaking, the higher your talent and aptitude, the more easily you gain the favor of high-ranking gods.

This...?

The female soldier was somewhat perplexed.

What made her regret it even more was that the girl with the most explosive physical talent was actually a devotee of My Lord Ling Qian?

My Lord Ling Qian's ranking was indeed high enough; that was Keshitangtang a Fourth-Rank God.

But the devotees of My Lord Ling Qian...

This team composition was truly incomprehensible!

To put it nicely: A nice guy and a gambler thrown together!

To put it bluntly, a cowardly sheep mingling with a gambling dog?

This... could this possibly have combat effectiveness?

Were Deng and Tian, whom she hadn't paid attention to initially, actually the mainstays of the squad?

For a brief moment, the female soldier felt a bit sorry for these two devotees of Sword Lotus and Red Scarf.

"Our strength is quite good," Lu Ran, noticing her hesitation, said. "When we register later, you can check our devotee points."

Devotee points naturally could not be faked.

As high school students, the sources of their devotee points were very singular, limited solely to school examinations.

In other words, none of them had inflated their points by doing odd jobs like "volunteer work."

"Exactly!" Chang Ying slapped her chest with one hand. "Since becoming devotees, our squad has always been number one!"

Tian Tian: "..."

Deng Yutang: "..."

True, this squad had always topped the charts, but what did that have to do with you?

"Hmm." Even though the female soldier harbored countless doubts, she did not think the girl was lying.

After all, during registration later, the soldiers would check the students' information, and everything would be verified.

Lu Ran asked, "Ma'am, what has happened inside the Demon Cave?"

The female soldier explained, "Since the fifteenth, the Black Lamp Clan has been unusually active.

Currently, we are short-staffed and cannot properly look after your group of training students."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ran became fully alert.

What did this mean?

No accompanying instructor?

Wouldn't that be the best thing ever?

"Ma'am, we can take care of ourselves!" Lu Ran immediately declared.

The female soldier nodded: "If you insist on entering the Demon Cave to train, you must strictly follow the rules, stay within the designated zones, and absolutely no crossing the boundary."

"No problem!" Chang Ying jumped in to answer.

Ever since seeing the Rank-6 God · Desolate Drum statue, she had been fired up, already unable to resist wanting to chop something.

Just as she had said earlier on the bus—my great axe is thirsty!

"Come on, register first." The female soldier turned and walked off, and everyone immediately followed.

As the group walked into the building, Lu Ran also noticed something different.

The reception staff in the hall were relatively few; the human troops stationed here were indeed short-handed.

At one window, several students handed in their ID cards and student IDs one by one.

The female soldier stood behind her colleague, watching the computer screen; after just a few seconds, her brow furrowed slightly.

The tall girl she had been most optimistic about had a Believer score of 74.

How to put this score? It could only be called passable, I suppose.

If it were on someone else, it would naturally be quite good—after all, these students had only been believers for less than four months.

The problem was, Chang Ying had just been bragging up a storm!

How could the female soldier know that Chang Ying's 74 points were only because Rain Alley City had gone through two special events in a row.

The school had refused to rank students for two consecutive times—as long as you survived, you were first on both leaderboards!

In other words, thanks to those two special events, Chang Ying's score had skyrocketed by a full 40 points!

"Not bad." The female soldier still gave her affirmation.

Afterwards, the soldiers also looked at Tian Tian and Deng Yutang's scores—86 and 88 respectively.

Tian Tian had joined the team later; the first time Lu Ran's squad took first place, she was in Ma Ma Tianchuan's squad and got second place for the team.

Seeing these two's scores, the female soldier nodded.

Don't think the gap between 74 and 86 or 88 is small.

Every school assessment has a guaranteed minimum, because they have to ensure most students graduate smoothly.

In other words, no matter how low a student's score is, it can't get that low.

But if you want to surpass others? Every extra point is hard to come by!

Tian Tian and Deng Yutang are perfect examples.

The two may seem to differ by only two points, but in reality it's the difference between first and second place for the team.

"Hmm?" The female soldier suddenly made a puzzled sound, her expression extremely surprised!

Even the soldier operating the computer in front had their eyes wide open.

That Rank-9 God · Xiang Xiang Xianyang believer, Lu Ran—132 Believer points?

132 points?!

That score... is it fake?

Where did all those points come from?

Today is the nineteenth day of the ninth lunar month, which means Lu Ran has participated in at most three city-defense missions.

Because on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, students are not allowed to participate in city defense.

Even if Lu Ran got first on both leaderboards every time, that would be at most 60 points!

And the assignments the school gives every month are all guaranteed minimums, with fixed scores.

Other people at 70 or 80 points are already considered pretty outstanding—and you went straight to 132?

I was just saying that among this cohort's believer students, the scores can't get that low, nor can they get that high, but this—

The female soldier looked at Lu Ran: "Did you repeat a year?"

Lu Ran:???

Every single high school in the Great Xia Kingdom—which one allows believer students to repeat a year?

Is this score really that hard to believe?

Just hang around with the Wang Lin Yue people a bit more, and you'll get it, won't you?

"Our captain is amazing!"

Chang Ying walked up with a grin and threw her arm around Lu Ran's shoulder: "Even on the fifteenth of the seventh month, he didn't let his patrols slip."

Lu Ran: "."

Last time it was Deng Yutang who paid for the plastic bag, and Lu Ran had been holding a grudge about it.

And now here's Chang Ying with her big mouth again?

The female soldier's expression turned suspicious: "You participated in a city-defense mission on the fifteenth of the seventh month, and it was a patrol?"

Lu Ran began to speak slowly, but Chang Ying cut in directly: "A special exam from the Divine Citizen Bureau!"

Lu Ran: "."

Damn!

From now on, do I even have to fight to pay for a plastic bag?

Chang Ying: "We were still in Gao Er back then!

In our Rain Alley City, our captain is historically the first student in a Gao Er semester to be given a special exam."

The two soldiers exchanged glances.

If it were only the score, they would naturally assume this student was a genius among geniuses!

But on Lu Ran's student information card, right after his name, the words "Xiang Xiang Xianyang Believer" were also written.

This was extremely bizarre!

Lu Ran turned his head to look at Chang Ying, his gaze rarely carrying a hint of grievance.

"Alright, alright, I won't say it anymore, okay!" Chang Ying, however, had misunderstood, thinking Lu Ran didn't want to be too conspicuous.

She muttered softly, "Really, clearly so powerful, why act so low-key?

If it were me, I'd have already soared straight up to the sky~"

Hearing this, Lu Ran nearly spat out a mouthful of blood!

Is it that I want to be low-key?

A table full of hard dishes, with both braised pork and boiled fish, soup and all, you packed it all up and carried it away.

You didn't even let me pack it myself!

Seeing Lu Ran remain silent, Deng Yutang spoke up at the right moment: "We will abide by the rules and train within the designated areas."

"Good." The female soldier's gaze swept over the crowd once more, as if re-examining this small team, "Follow me."

"Aiya, alright, alright, don't be angry, I won't say it next time!"

Chang Ying coaxed and acted spoiled all at once, pushing Lu Ran with one hand as she kept pace with the soldier's steps.

Tian Tian's small mouth gaped into an 'O' shape; her entire being was thrown into disarray.

Such words ought to come from the mouth of a little girl, shouldn't they?

You, such a large female savage, don't you feel that's incongruous?

People's first impressions are indeed deeply rooted and difficult to change in a short time.

Recalling the day they first stepped onto the high school campus, when the petite Tian Tian first met Chang Ying, she had indeed suffered a massive visual shock.

"Tian Tian?" Just then, Chang Ying turned her head, spotting the girl standing there in a daze, "Don't just stand there, come on!"

"Oh." Tian Tian hurriedly chased after them.

"Hurry, hurry." Chang Ying stood waiting for a moment, then reached one hand toward the girl.

Seeing that large hand reach out to grab her, Tian Tian was startled!

Already immersed in a specific emotion, she blurted out subconsciously, "Don't, don't eat me!"

Chang Ying:???

Requesting some monthly votes.

Three updates today, 12.18.22.

(End of Chapter)