Chapter 116 | Paladin Class: Awakening the Strongest Demon System

Do you remember when summer break just started, and Jiang Lin's various stats had only just reached the limit of rank-0?

That was one hundred thousand points each for HP and MP.

And now, with three days left before school starts, Jiang Lin has already broken through to the 2nd-rank.

His HP and MP have reached a terrifying four hundred thousand points.

If you count the ten percent strengthening brought by the 【apostle's heart】, it was equivalent to a value of four hundred and forty thousand points.

That was close to the average level of a level 31.

He wondered what kind of expressions his classmates would make when they saw him.

Jiang Lin collected his 2nd-rank medicinal food and returned to the dormitory, continuing to immerse himself in cultivation.

After his limit-break, the efficiency of his breathing technique was amazing, and with the help of the system's daily quests and medicinal food supplements, his MP and physique improved steadily.

The other seven people in the dormitory were influenced by him and became more focused and serious; the atmosphere was quiet and fulfilling.

Three days later, Saint Brilliance Magic Academy officially opened.

In the early morning, Jiang Lin ended his night of cultivation and headed to the teaching building alone.

The other companions from Boulder City headed to the school's Tower of Trials one after another to undergo their first class-splitting assessment after admission.

After the Emerald City incident and breaking through to the 2nd-rank, Jiang Lin's temperament had become increasingly steady, and his golden hair and eyes were exceptionally dazzling in the morning light, drawing the attention and whispers of many new students along the way.

"Whoa, who is this guy? Why is he so good-looking?"

"Is he a new junior? It looks like we'll have quite the eye candy for the next few years..."

"He's way too good-looking! Is he really a guy?"

"Is he in our grade, or is he a senior?"

"..."

Jiang Lin's expression remained calm; after all, this was just his daily life.

Upon arriving at the classroom—which was a new one due to the grade increase—Jiang Lin found his familiar seat in the back row by the window and sat down.

Nora, the beastkin girl, glanced at Jiang Lin.

She didn't know that Jiang Lin's appearance had truly changed to this state, thinking he was still using transformation magic to present himself.

As an beastkin warrior who mainly fought with her physical body, Nora couldn't tell whether Jiang Lin's current appearance involved magic.

Though she found it a bit strange, she said nothing, assuming Jiang Lin might have recently picked up a hobby for cosplay; after a single glance, she continued learning the human script.

After studying for most of the previous semester and working hard over the summer break, she already knew most of the commonly used human vocabulary.

However, she only had a superficial understanding of the deeper magic-related technical terms and needed to continue her studies.

Meanwhile, Jiang Lin's front-row neighbor, Neil Kohlst, also sat down in his familiar seat.

He had seen Jiang Lin when he entered the classroom but hadn't recognized him.

"Are you... a new student?"

"..."

After a long explanation, Neil finally accepted the premise of Jiang Lin's current change in appearance.

Then, more students returned, noticing the guy in the corner who seemed to be shining with his own light.

They also one after another accepted the fact that Jiang Lin's appearance had changed.

Sitting in his seat, Jiang Lin directly began to cultivate with his legs crossed.

Seeing this, Neil and the others were somewhat surprised.

At the end of the previous semester, Jiang Lin was still rank-0, and his breathing technique had already been practiced to the limit; he had spent most of his time cramming for theory classes, so no one had ever seen what Jiang Lin looked like when he was putting in serious effort.

They didn't realize that when this guy started cultivating, he was a ruthless person who wouldn't waste a single moment.

However, since Jiang Lin had already started his cultivation, everyone stopped bothering him.

Soon, it was time for class to begin.

The teacher arrived at the classroom.

Jiang Lin, however, was still sitting cross-legged in his seat, performing his meditative breathing.

This lesson was taught by their homeroom teacher, Mr. Phineas Stern.

The homeroom teacher didn't say anything upon seeing this; instead, he proceeded with the class as usual, beginning to talk about the learning goals and precautions for the new semester:

"The National Youth Adventurer Competition for next semester will start its preliminary rounds next month."

"Our school has three internal recommendation spots, one for each grade, which can let you jump directly into the stage preceding the elimination rounds."

"These recommendation spots will most likely be assigned to our class."

"Therefore, you will hold an internal competition to decide who these spots will be given to."

"We'll treat it as a baseline assessment for the start of the term."

"Next period, we'll head to the training grounds for the selection trials."

"Opponents will be decided by drawing lots."

"We'll use an elimination round format to select the current strongest member of our class."

"Of course, those of you who don't get a recommendation spot shouldn't be discouraged."

"With the strength of our class, everyone should have no problem passing the preliminary rounds."

"As for how far you can go after that, it's up to you..."

As the homeroom teacher spoke, he glanced at Jiang Lin in the corner.

He discovered that this fellow was actually still engaged in meditative breathing, practicing his breathing technique.

As an experienced teacher of the elite class, he naturally understood the situation of these elite students.

When teaching such an elite class, teachers would usually make it clear in the first lesson of the semester:

"If you feel you need to listen to this part, then listen; if you don't, and you have your own arrangements, then just follow your own schedule."

"As long as you don't disrupt the order of the classroom, the teacher won't interfere with you."

"Just make sure you manage your own course arrangements and planning."

After all, teaching geniuses is a completely different concept from teaching ordinary students.

Even though the teachers were lecturing on advanced content, there would always be students who had already mastered that part, or whose efficiency in self-study would be higher than the teacher's lecture.

Therefore, it wasn't strange to see such students not paying attention in class.

However, having seen that the other party was quite well-behaved last semester, he hadn't expected them to start skipping lectures as soon as the new semester arrived.

"Has he already caught up with the intensity..."

As soon as the homeroom teacher's words fell, some people in the classroom began to look at each other, exchanging glances.

The National Youth Adventurer Competition—this was the most important stage for young adventurers under seventeen years old in the Saintas Kingdom.

Achieving good results in the competition meant not only generous rewards and honor, but also the potential to gain noble titles and fiefs; for students from commoner backgrounds, this was undoubtedly a prime opportunity to change their lives.

Even for children of the nobility, they could use this glory to consolidate their family's standing.

Jiang Lin, however, was in a state where he could either participate or not.

After all, he had confidence in himself; even if he didn't become a noble now, in a few years, the Saintas Kingdom might be begging him to become one.

But going there to have some fun was perfectly fine.

Soon, it was time for the next period.

Phineas lightly tapped the podium:

"Now, everyone head to Training Ground No. 3."

"The results of the drawing will be announced once we reach the site."

The students stood up one after another, some rubbing their palms in anticipation while others looked nervous.

Neil looked back at Jiang Lin and found that the fellow was actually still cultivating with his eyes closed.

"Jiang Lin, let's go."

Neil patted his shoulder.

Jiang Lin slowly opened his eyes.

Going to fight?

Let's see the gap between me and these geniuses now...

The group arrived at Training Ground No. 3.

This was an open-air circular arena, about fifty meters in diameter, with a floor paved with special stone and carved with reinforcement and protection runes.

The surroundings consisted of tiered spectator stands, which were currently empty.

Phineas stood in the center of the arena, holding a crystal ball in his hand.

"We will now begin drawing lots."

The crystal ball flashed with light, shooting out dozens of beams that condensed into a small number in front of each student.

"Numbers 1 to 34—the two who draw adjacent numbers will form a group, such as Number 1 and Number 2, or Number 3 and Number 4, to conduct a round of matches. The winners advance, and the losers are eliminated. After the first round is over, we'll draw lots again; the one who draws a bye will advance directly to the next round."

Jiang Lin looked down at the number in front of him—12.

He looked around, searching for his opponent.

Soon, a tall, cold-faced black-haired youth walked over; the number displayed in front of his chest was none other than 11.

Jiang Lin recognized him as Ryan Cortes, who came from a noble family; by the end of the last semester, he had been at the rank-1 peak for a long time, still accumulating his attributes, and his strength was in the upper-middle range of the class.

Ryan sized Jiang Lin up, his brow furrowing slightly.

This transfer student named Jiang Lin had been an unremarkable character last semester; how had he suddenly become so... dazzling this semester?

The golden hair and golden eyes shone so brightly that he could barely keep his eyes open.

"Please guide me."

Ryan spoke in a flat tone.

Jiang Lin nodded: "Please guide me."

Phineas's voice rang out again: "The first round of matches begins now. Number 1 and Number 2, take the field; Number 3 and Number 4, get ready."

On the sidelines, the other students retreated to the spectator stands, their gazes focused on the arena.

The first group to take the field consisted of two students who had performed excellently last semester; one specialized in fire magic, and the other was proficient in wind-attribute swordsmanship.

The battle soon began.

Flame and sword-light intertwined, and the explosions of magic along with the sound of blades cutting through the air were incessant.

In the end, the wind swordsman, relying on his superior speed and agile footwork, seized a gap in the fire mage's casting to flick away the opponent's staff with a single strike, winning the match.

"Number 1 wins. Next group."

The battles proceeded group after group.

Jiang Lin stood by the sidelines, calmly observing every battle.

These guys... are a bit weak...

Although he had just broken through to the 2nd-rank while most of the class was at the rank-1 peak with a level of 20.

But after his journey to Emerald City, Jiang Lin watched these guys fight and saw no difference from watching children playing house.

In Emerald City, he had faced the 'attack helicopter' who was just over the 4th-rank, the bald warrior at the 3rd-rank peak, the 6th-rank city lord, the 7th-rank Aaron Brightstar, and even beings like the proxy; every battle had been extremely dangerous, where a single misstep could lead to death.

Now that he had returned to the academy and saw these peers exchange blows, it was entirely like an 'adult watching children fight.'

"Number 11 and Number 12, prepare to take the field."

Phineas's voice pulled Jiang Lin back from his thoughts.

Ryan Cortes had already walked to one side of the arena, holding a slender rapier in his hand; the blade glinted with a faint blue cold light.

Jiang Lin, however, walked onto the field empty-handed.

"You're not using a weapon?" Ryan asked, frowning.

"I don't need one," Jiang Lin replied calmly.

A flicker of shock passed through Ryan's eyes; was he being looked down upon?

Weren't you still rank-0 last semester?

How strong could you have possibly gotten over a single summer break?

"Hmph, then don't blame me for not holding back."

"Let the match begin!" Phineas announced.

The moment the words fell, Ryan moved.

His body was like lightning, the rapier cutting through the air and creating a sharp whistling sound.

The tip of the sword pointed directly at Jiang Lin's throat, moving so fast that most of the students present could only see an afterimage.

"So fast!"

"Ryan's 'gale thrust' has improved again!"

Whispers erupted from the spectator stands.

However, in Jiang Lin's eyes, this strike was as slow as a crawling snail.

It was weak and listless, without any threat at all.

He didn't even need to move, merely sidestepping slightly.

Swish—!

The rapier brushed past Jiang Lin's neck, its wind ruffling a few strands of his golden hair.

Ryan's pupils shrank.

Before Ryan could change his move, Jiang Lin had already acted.

He simply extended his right hand, pressing his index and middle fingers together and lightly tapping Ryan's sword-wielding wrist.

The movement seemed slow, but it was actually as fast as lightning.

Ryan didn't have time to react at all; he only felt a numbness in his wrist, and the rapier flew out of his hand, landing with a 'clang' on the ground some distance away.

Immediately after, Jiang Lin's figure blurred for a split second.

By the time Ryan came to his senses, Jiang Lin was already standing behind him, one hand resting lightly on his shoulder.

"You lost," a calm voice came from behind.

Ryan's entire body went stiff.

From the start to the end of the battle, a total of less than three seconds had passed.

He hadn't even been able to see Jiang Lin's movements clearly!

The entire arena went silent.

On the spectator stands, all the students widened their eyes, looking at the center of the field in disbelief.

Phineas's brow arched slightly.

As a 5th-rank powerhouse, he naturally saw everything that had just happened—what Jiang Lin used was pure speed and strength suppression to the extreme, without any fancy techniques, just pure speed, so fast that rank-1 students simply couldn't react.

"This kid... when did he become so strong?"

Phineas remembered that at the end of the last semester, Jiang Lin was only at the rank-0 peak.

Although his physical attributes and MP were exaggerated, there was absolutely no possibility of him surpassing these geniuses who had already been practicing for a year in just two months.

Why did the other party make such terrifying progress in a single summer break?

However, seeing such a massive change in his appearance, Phineas suddenly thought of a possibility.

Could it be that his bloodline has awakened?

"Causing his accumulated power to suddenly erupt..."

"Number 12, Jiang Lin wins," Phineas announced the result.

Jiang Lin released his hand, took two steps back, and nodded slightly toward Ryan: "Good match."

Ryan hadn't fully processed it yet; he couldn't understand why this guy's rate of becoming stronger was so fast.

"I lost... I fully concede." He picked up the rapier that had fallen on the ground and silently walked off the field.

On the spectator stands, discussions broke out everywhere.

"My god, Jiang Lin's strength... is way too exaggerated, isn't it?"

"Ryan is at least at the top fifteen level in our class, and he was just insta-killed like that?"

"Wasn't Jiang Lin still at the bottom last semester? How did he, after just one summer break..."

"Is this not a cheat code?"

Neil, Nora, and the others who were close to Jiang Lin were also all full of shock at this moment.

They had never expected that after one summer break, Jiang Lin would have already grown to an intensity capable of crushing them!

While some of them were stronger than Ryan, they were definitely not strong enough to crush him to that extent.

In the following rounds of matches, without exception, all of Jiang Lin's opponents were insta-killed by him in a single move.

Sometimes he would break the opponent's offensive with a light tap, and sometimes he would dodge an attack with a simple sidestep, followed by a casual strike to end the battle.