Chapter 134: Qin Chuan: I have a bold idea

The high-hanging moon illuminated the spacious drill field; the light of the lamps outlined the two sword-wielding figures, accompanied by the incessant clang of metal, and one of them was quickly defeated.

"Twenty-four rounds." Ji Huai lowered his sword-hand slowly; the long blade disassembled, turning into a metal ring that returned to his wrist. "Tonight's highest record."

"Hiss—" Qin Chuan grimaced, rubbing his shoulder, and upon hearing this he couldn't help feeling a bit of joy.

After successfully blocking Ji Huai's ten-round offense, the speed of his swordsmanship improvement seemed to increase; each time he could withstand a few more rounds of Ji Huai's attacks, giving him a sense of making slight progress each day.

But in the next instant, the joy in Qin Chuan's heart vanished.

"When you can withstand thirty of my rounds, I will no longer use only the long blade as a weapon, nor will I fight you using only basic sword techniques."

Upon hearing this, he already felt his whole body begin to ache.

"In two days, it will be the final practical examination." Ji Huai glanced at Qin Chuan, then suddenly said, "The rules have been slightly changed."

"Huh?"

Qin Chuan couldn't help but glance at Ji Huai.

A few days earlier, Ji Huai had already revealed the rules of the practical examination to him.

"Instructor Ji, do you think I should make a move?"

Regardless of whether he chooses to kill that third-tier demon beast, the beast will ultimately be properly handled; its appearance merely serves to give him a suitable target when he wishes to display his strength in the examination.

"All examinees can obtain the real-time location of this third-tier demon beast."

"The blue team leader's meaning is that you may choose not to display your own strength, but you must have the opportunity to do so." Ji Huai spoke calmly, "We respect your decision and at the same time give you a stage."

As the practical examination was about to begin, they actually changed the rules at this moment?

Up to now, aside from Long Ji, who cooperated with him against Eric, no other member of the Special Affairs Group has ever mentioned his identity "Luo" or his Spirit Beast that broke through the Elite Tier to his face; they mutually understand and keep a relative distance.

Without doubt, as long as he can kill the third-tier demon beast and display sufficient strength, he can easily obtain an S-rank recommendation, gaining Yan Da's extra resource allocation while being recommended.

"Thank you." Qin Chuan spoke softly.

Thinking about the outcome of taking action in the practical examination, Qin Chuan fell into thought.

Prepared especially for himself?

He wanted to hear the other party's opinion.

"I will not tell you definitively what you should or should not do; I do not like influencing others' judgments." Ji Huai spoke calmly, then paused, "But before you make a judgment, you can think through two questions."

Looking at Ji Huai beside him, Qin Chuan felt a stir in his heart.

"Your identity information is classified; if you choose to display your strength, we will use every possible means to ensure your identity information is not leaked."

Even if they showed consideration for Qin Chuan in the examination, the Special Affairs Group never overstepped their mutual distance, which also increased Qin Chuan's fondness.

But the exposure of his strength means his dream identity will also be exposed.

Among the examinees from Changxing City, besides him, no one can cope with the third-tier demon beast.

Then the reason this demon beast appears here is also easy to guess.

"A third-tier demon beast has been added to the examination area." Ji Huai concisely stated the change to the practical examination, "I will follow that third-tier demon beast the whole time; if no one kills it after half the examination time, I will kill it myself."

Qin Chuan fell silent.

"First, do you think you can remain hidden all the time? If not, when do you think you will be exposed? If exposed early, would that cause you a loss?"

"Second, if early exposure entails a loss, can the benefits of an S-rank recommendation compensate for that loss, or even bring greater gains?"

"Once you think through these two questions, you will naturally have the answer."

Qin Chuan fell into thought once again.

Ji Huai's words were, for him whose mind was presently somewhat tangled, like parting the clouds to see the sun.

His train of thought instantly became clear.

His dream identity cannot remain hidden forever; if it were not for the Special Affairs Group classifying his real identity and past experiences as confidential, he would already have been discovered by someone with intent.

Do not underestimate the speed and reach of information dissemination in the internet age, nor underestimate others' wisdom.

For now it's fine; although he and Yue Li were the first to advance to Elite-tier players, other players' Spirit Beasts have also been breaking through the Elite Tier in succession, scattering global attention.

After a while, his contracted Spirit Beast will successively break through the Hall Tier, while other players remain unable to do so, and he will inevitably become the target of everyone's resentment.

Not to mention classified; even if his identity information were labeled top-secret, the slight traces he inadvertently left behind in the past would still allow many things to be inferred.

Moreover, he is destined never to possess such great strength and yet never use it.

The next time the sundial's third talent activates, per agreement he will help Long Ji search for special-type resources, but the time after that he will need to lock onto the Hall Crystal.

Shui Hua, ice cream, and the third Spirit Beast yet to appear will successively break through the Hall Tier.

Therefore, in two or three weeks, he will find it hard to remain hidden.

The purpose of hiding his identity is ultimately to make himself safer.

If he cannot keep it concealed, he will use his limited time to obtain as much greater power as possible.

From this perspective, early exposure is not a good thing for Qin Chuan.

But he indeed needs the resource tilt that comes with an S-rank recommendation.

Possessing the sundial, Qin Chuan will not lack the key resources needed for advancement.

But resources are not only the key resources.

After this advancement, the experience gems of him and Yue Li combined can only fully satisfy one Spirit Beast; because key resources are acquired too quickly, many basic resources have fallen behind.

This time, because slaying the golden-talent owner matched the Special Affairs Group's plan, he obtained ten thousand experience gems, enough to meet upgrade needs; then what about next time?

After advancing to Hall-tier player, how can he cause the terrifying experience consumption of three Hall-tier Spirit Beasts to be fully met in a short time?

If not fully met, he cannot know the advancement requirements for the next stage; even after refreshing the sundial's third talent, this would result in a temporary awkward situation with nowhere to use it, slowing his own strength increase.

This problem, which many players will never encounter, has already been placed before him.

Moreover, besides experience gems, the resource tilt also includes many useful things for him, such as Spirit Beast snacks, various undisclosed achievement acquisition methods, information from each area, cultivation methods, etc.

No one can forever be a lone wolf; even if no wolf pack can subdue him, he at least needs a collaborator.

Thinking of this, a bold idea arose in Qin Chuan's mind.

If this idea can be carried out smoothly, he will not only reduce the risk of exposing his identity prematurely, but he can also easily obtain Yan Da's S-rank evaluation.

However, this requires a little cooperation from the Special Affairs Group.

"Teacher Ji, I have an idea…"

(End of chapter)