Chapter 27 | Paladin Class: Awakening the Strongest Demon System

Anya's mood was also a bit sour.

As the top student in her grade, if she took the lead to leave now, it would make her seem arrogant and conceited.

Moreover, she was surrounded by classmates of similar rank; if she left too early, she would feel as though her rivals were making progress while she was resting.

This feeling made her very uncomfortable, so she decided in her heart that she would absolutely not be the first person to leave.

She had already notified her family that she would be back a bit later today. If they were worried about her safety, someone from home would come to the school, see her practicing her meditative breathing, and leave with peace of mind.

'Forget it, I'll wait for one of Jiang Lin's group to leave first...'

...

The moods of the other students in the elite class were equally sour.

If Anya, the grade's top student, didn't leave, they didn't dare leave either.

They were already not as good as Anya; if they went home to rest now, what would that make them?

'If one of Anya's group takes the lead and leaves, then I'll go...'

...

Thus, things gradually developed in a ridiculous direction.

The moon climbed over the mountain peak...

The students of the tail-end class couldn't hold out any longer and had all left, yet those from the elite class and Jiang Lin's group remained as steady as Mount Tai.

Tie Chen and Dean also agreed to head to the magic potion shop, planning to buy some of the 【Mental Invigoration Potion】 that Jiang Lin had mentioned.

Tonight, they still chose to pull an all-nighter!

Don't let the battle stop, damn it!

And for those who stayed, tonight was destined to be restless.

Some of their parents, seeing that their children hadn't returned home so late, went to the school out of concern for their safety.

However, after finding this after-school study group in the school, they left again, feeling gratified and relieved.

Those who could stay this late had basically informed their families beforehand.

So for the time being, there were no cases of families forcibly recalling them.

And this also led to the situation on the scene falling into a deadlock.

Lying on the windowsill, Little Black couldn't quite understand.

'Wait... what are these people doing...?'

A group of people sitting together after school to cultivate until midnight... that was creepy, okay?

At the same time, it also looked at the culprit, Jiang Lin.

'Hey, are we still going home to eat?'

Unfortunately, Jiang Lin had no intention of replying to it.

Thus, time trickled away once more until twelve o'clock in the morning...

【Daily Quest: Malicious Fun, Completed】

【Reward Obtained: Mental Power +1000】

Clearly, the various elite class students present had their mental defenses broken.

But strangely enough.

Although they were currently on the verge of collapse, at the thought of those classmates who had gone home early to rest, they felt a strange pleasure, as if they were overtaking on a curve.

It was a very contradictory feeling—to put it simply, it was painful yet joyful.

Of course, they did not know now that their actions today would bring a historic legend to the Radiant Junior Magic Academy...

Finally, Anya, as the top student in the grade, was the first to make a move.

Without saying a word, she stood up silently and left the school.

Sensing Anya getting up, Zach also opened his eyes and walked toward the door.

Before leaving, he gave Jiang Lin a deep look, as if saying, "I'll give it to you, you're ruthless."

The other elite class students also felt as if they had been granted a general amnesty. At the same time, they looked with considerable admiration at Jiang Lin, who was still practicing his breathing technique.

Seeing his posture, as steady as a mountain, it seemed he was prepared to spend the night directly at school.

...

Before a breathing technique is practiced to the highest proficiency, cultivating it is an extremely tedious task that consumes a lot of energy.

After all, one has to concentrate on controlling the muscles and meridians throughout the body while drawing in the natural magic essence from the air.

For an average student, after practicing the breathing technique for about an hour, they would need to move around and relax their weary mind.

Even if they were students of the elite class, this was unavoidable.

But today, under Jiang Lin's influence, they had actually cultivated continuously for so long.

It was a very rare situation.

...

Seeing that everyone had left, Jiang Lin also began to think.

"Little Black, are you hungry?"

Thinking that Jiang Lin was finally going home, Little Black looked up, thought for a moment, and said:

"Hmm... actually, I'm okay. Not that hungry."

Jiang Lin nodded and looked at the moonlight outside the window.

"Then we won't go back tonight."

"Huh?"

The soft moonlight spilled from the school window, reflecting on Jiang Lin's handsome face.

Students of this other world who didn't have to attend evening self-study sessions rarely got to see this campus night view that Jiang Lin had grown tired of in his previous life.

Tonight's moon was slightly dimmer than yesterday's, but the starlight was quite brilliant.

The night wind blew slowly, lifting Jiang Lin's hair.

"There's a distance from home to school; the round trip takes over twenty minutes. If we use the commuting time for cultivation, it's equivalent to us having nearly half an hour more than others to practice.

"Calculating it this way, if we have half an hour more every day, then in a month, we'll have nearly one day more than others!"

Little Black looked shocked, yet Jiang Lin's explanation was not over:

"So if we don't go home, then what was originally 30 days a month can become 31 days!!

"Plus, if we don't sleep, we have twice as much time as others, so our monthly time changes from 31 days to 61 days!"

Ignoring the black lines on Little Black's face, Jiang Lin continued passionately:

"Originally, we were sixty-eight days away from the final Junior Adventurer Exam, but according to our current rhythm, we can turn those sixty-eight days into over a hundred and thirty days!!

"Our future is bright, Little Black!!

"Little Black, why aren't you saying anything?"

Little Black didn't want to deal with Jiang Lin. It silently basked in the moonlight while beginning to contemplate its life as a demon.

'What the hell is all this... what kind of Pope have I ended up with...?'

Seeing Little Black remain silent, Jiang Lin used a practical little magic formula, using light-attribute magic to remove the grime from his body, which was equivalent to taking a bath.

After his body was clean, he continued his meditative breathing.

Currently, the level 3 small bowl was already half full. In three more days, he would be able to raise his level to 4.

That was also roughly around the time for the mid-term exam.

...

Meanwhile, under the same moonlight, several rooms in Boulder City that should have been dark were now brightly lit.

Led by Tie Chen and Dean, the late-night study group now took out the 【Mental Invigoration Potion】 they had bought from the magic potion shop and downed it in one go.

A cool surge of magic dissolved in their mouths, rushing from their stomachs straight to the top of their heads, reinvigorating their somewhat tired and sluggish spirits.

It made the two, who hadn't slept for a whole day, feel refreshed again.

However, when the two looked up and saw the light still burning in each other's windows, they secretly grit their teeth, competing with one another.

Dean: 'As long as I work harder than Tie Chen, I'll eventually surpass him!'

Tie Chen: 'Dammit, I absolutely can't slack off, or I might just be overtaken by that guy Dean!'

Similarly, many students from the tail-end class who had asked Jiang Lin about the 【Mental Invigoration Potion】 also started their first-ever all-nighter study session.

...

City Lord's Mansion.

At this time, only a few rooms in the mansion were still lit.

Anya returned home, and the butler, who had been waiting for a long time, came forward to meet her:

"Why did the young lady return so late tonight? The City Lord was a bit worried about your safety."

Anya shook her head:

"It's fine. I just practiced at school for a bit longer."

Hearing Anya's explanation, the butler looked at the bright moon hanging high outside the window.

His look seemed to say: "You call this practicing for a bit longer?"

Anya explained:

"The classmate I mentioned a few days ago, the one who is also a paladin—he stays at school to cultivate until very late after school. Today I was curious just how long he would cultivate, so I stayed behind with him."

"So that classmate cultivates until midnight every day before going home?" the butler asked.

Hearing this, Anya could only manage a bitter smile:

"Not exactly. It was I who couldn't hold out any longer, so I came back first. He should still be at school cultivating."

Hearing what Anya said, the butler looked incredulous:

"Cultivating until this late? Doesn't he rest?"

Anya said:

"Rumor has it he doesn't sleep, cultivating through the night, and he's even influenced his classmates. There are even cases of them drinking magic potions to stay up all night studying."

The butler fell silent, feeling that he might not be able to keep up with the pace of these young people.

'I should report this to the City Lord tomorrow and see if the young lady should keep her distance from these people.'

Seeing that the butler didn't speak, Anya also let out a long sigh, went to take a bath, and prepared to sleep.

However, lying on the bed, Anya, who usually fell asleep immediately, now found it somewhat difficult to slumber.

'I'm resting now, but will that guy Zach still be cultivating at home...?'

'If he's still cultivating, isn't it too lazy of me to be like this?'

'And if I'm resting while the opponent is improving, the gap between me and him will only get smaller and smaller, until eventually I'm surpassed...'

This kind of thing was something Anya found somewhat unacceptable.

'If I cultivate at this time while the opponent is resting, then I can pull even further ahead...'

Ultimately, after lying in bed for a long time unable to sleep, Anya sat back up. Letting her smooth golden hair fall over her back and wearing somewhat loose pajamas, she also began to practice her breathing technique on the bed...

...

In the morning, the first rays of the sun shone upon the earth, and Boulder City, which had been silent for a night, gradually woke from its dreams.

Of course, this did not include the few people who had pulled an all-nighter.

Looking at the sun rising outside the window, Jiang Lin let out a long breath. Turning his head, he was surprised to see that a classmate had actually already arrived in the classroom.

"Why are you here so early?"

"Did you... not go back?"

The classmate who was asked was somewhat shocked.

He was one of the few who had stayed with Jiang Lin until sunset yesterday, and after going back, he had also tried the 【Mental Invigoration Potion】. He found that his learning efficiency was surprisingly good; one day was as good as two.

So today, he had come to school early, planning to take advantage of the morning to enjoy the school's study atmosphere.

However, he didn't expect to run into Jiang Lin, who hadn't gone home all night.

"Yeah, I didn't go home. After all, cultivating at home or at school is the same; for me, there's no difference."

Jiang Lin nodded in admission.

"I'm going out to buy breakfast."

With that, he led Little Black out of the classroom, leaving the classmate with an enigmatic silhouette.

Watching Jiang Lin walk away, the classmate felt a sense of wonder in his heart, while also secretly vowing to learn from Jiang Lin and follow his example.

Ten minutes later, Jiang Lin returned to the classroom and continued to sit cross-legged, practicing his breathing technique.

At the same time, he also collected the reward for the completed daily quest.

【Stamina: 5500 → 6500】

【Mental Power: 3300 → 4300】

As for the random skill...

Jiang Lin rubbed his hands and began to roll for today's skill.

【Randomly extracting...】

【Skill selected: Seven Star Holy Glow Slash (initiated)】

Hitting gold in one go!

Jiang Lin was overjoyed, and then an overwhelming flood of memories poured into his mind.

And this time, the volume of memory was countless times more terrifying than the previous ones.

In the memories provided by the system, he practiced this high-tier combat technique, growing from a young boy to a youth, a middle-aged man, and finally an old man.

In the system, Jiang Lin didn't have Little Black by his side to correct him. He could only try to find his own magic essence flow bit by bit and stabilize it through thorough proficiency.

Although high-tier skills have specific cultivation methods, some internal magic essence flows need to be adjusted from person to person.

Thus, Jiang Lin's progress was also exceptionally slow.

He was constantly consolidating the "Tian Shu" corresponding to the Baihui point until it was completely lit up. This also represented his departure from the initiated stage and his entry into the skilled level.

Then came the "Tian Xuan" corresponding to the Fengfu point, the "Tian Ji" corresponding to the Dazhui point, the "Tian Quan" corresponding to the Zhiyang point...

The stars within his body were lit one by one. As "Yu Heng," "Kai Yang," and "Yao Guang" also lit up, it represented that Jiang Lin's swordsmanship was completely perfect and had reached the threshold of being superlative.

...

Until Jiang Lin became an old man in his waning years, with a mere thought, that complex magic formula formed almost instantly within his body and on the wooden sword in his hand.

The blade in his hand erupted with a startling, piercing light. Those seven brilliant stars bloomed like suns, and a terrifying sword qi flew out from the tip of the blade. Carrying a momentum that could crush and purify everything, it struck a giant boulder.

And before this sword qi, the boulder was like paper, easily pulverized into dust.

However, the blade in Jiang Lin's hand also shattered on the spot because it could not bear that powerful energy.

At this point, Jiang Lin finally reached the stage of being superlative initiated.

However, this was only just stepping into the superlative stage. To reach the peak of superlative, Jiang Lin still had a long way to go. The subsequent improvement would be even more difficult than going from initiated to superlative.

Although Jiang Lin had some talent for swordsmanship, he was ultimately only a bit stronger than an average person, far from being a true genius.

For a rankless skill like 【Basic Swordsmanship】, it had taken him three years of focused practice just to reach proficient.

So, facing this high-tier skill, he felt even more powerless.

Especially now, without Little Black's personal guidance.

Fortunately, the system's enhancement would not disappoint Jiang Lin.

He changed from an old man back to his current youthful appearance, directly inheriting the previous memories.

Thus, he began his tedious journey of practice once more.

While practicing, he couldn't help but marvel at how vast the gap in talent between people was. He had spent almost a lifetime just to practice this high-tier skill to superlative, while Anya only needed two months to push it to perfect and reach the threshold of superlative.

He practiced mechanically and numbly until he once again changed from a youth to a middle-aged man.

Decades of practice day after day made Jiang Lin's heart feel somewhat numb, but his proficiency with the 【Seven Star Holy Glow Slash】 grew higher and higher, becoming more and more effortless to use.

One day, Jiang Lin released the 【Seven Star Holy Glow Slash】 with all his might. A dazzling light shone, and this time, the seven stars that were originally shining in the sword glow merged into one, becoming a single solitary star as piercingly bright as the sun!