Chapter 59 – The 'Invitation' from the Gaoshan Club

The young man’s demeanor carried a faint air of superiority.

Even his tone of inquiry had a condescending quality to it.

Lin Ze’s eyes narrowed slightly at the words, ignoring the question whose answer was all too obvious.

At that moment, a person stepped out from the crowd behind the young man and said in a deep voice:

“Lin Ze, this is Second Year senior Luo Han, also a cadre of the Gaoshan Club!”

Lin Ze followed the voice and saw that the speaker was Lv Gang from his own class, and he couldn’t help but frown inwardly.

In fact, ever since enrollment, Lin Ze had sensed that Lv Gang’s attitude toward him wasn’t exactly friendly.

There was a faint hint of hostility.

That said, Lv Gang had never provoked him, so Lin Ze simply chose to ignore it and pay him no mind.

But now, unexpectedly, this guy had ended up mingling with the Gaoshan Club crowd.

Watching Lv Gang stand among the Gaoshan Club members with a smug look on his face, Lin Ze understood things clearly.

He now realized why Lv Gang had always been somewhat hostile toward him.

So this guy was also a believer in pedigree.

“Isn’t that Lv Gang?”

“Yeah, how did he end up with the Gaoshan Club people?”

“Idiot, do you even need to ask? Lv Gang must have joined the Gaoshan Club.”

“Tsk, I always felt Lv Gang looked down on us ordinary folks. Sure enough, he’s cut from the same cloth as those Gaoshan Club people!”

Murmurs of discussion rose from the crowd.

Lv Gang’s face flashed with irritation at the words, and he shot a fierce glare at the speaker before turning his attention back to Lin Ze.

“Lin Ze, you’re in luck. Senior Luo Han has decided to accept you as a member of the Gaoshan Club.”

The surroundings suddenly fell silent.

Many people stared with wide eyes in disbelief.

As everyone knew, the Gaoshan Club only recruited students from Beast Tamer family lineages.

They had always looked down on commoner students.

Why were they extending an olive branch to Lin Ze today?

Over this period, as Lin Ze’s fame had skyrocketed, his background had long been dug up by others.

There was no doubt he came from a commoner background.

In fact, even less privileged than an ordinary commoner family.

“What’s going on?”

“This move by the Gaoshan Club is quite unusual.”

“Luo Han came out in person, so it can’t be fake.”

“What’s there to think about? Lin Ze’s talent is monstrous. It’s no surprise the Gaoshan Club was tempted and wanted to recruit him.”

“True enough. With a genius like Lin Ze, which club wouldn’t be tempted?”

“…Really makes one envious.”

Though many commoner students spoke of the Gaoshan Club with utmost contempt in their words,

Most of that was driven by a sense of inferiority.

Deep down, they still held considerable reverence for the Gaoshan Club.

As one of the few powerful clubs at Ningjiang Academy, the Gaoshan Club had deep foundations.

If they were to change their attitude and recruit them,

Nine out of ten commoner students present would eagerly agree without hesitation.

After all, joining a powerful club was greatly beneficial to one’s future development.

For a moment,

The gazes of many around turned toward Lin Ze with faint envy.

It was good to be a genius.

No matter where you went, you were this popular!

Even the arrogant Gaoshan Club was willing to break its own rules for Lin Ze’s sake.

“Lin Ze, you should understand that this is a rare opportunity. Accept it with a grateful heart.”

Lv Gang said, looking at Lin Ze, his emotions complicated beyond measure.

He was extremely jealous of Lin Ze’s talent and strength.

He had put in considerable effort to join the Gaoshan Club.

Yet Lin Ze didn’t have to do anything, and the Gaoshan Club broke its own rules to proactively extend an invitation to him.

The difference between the two was immense.

How could he not be consumed by envy?

Yet, to everyone’s surprise—

Lin Ze merely replied calmly, “Sorry, I don’t want to join the Gaoshan Club.”

The surroundings fell silent.

Many faces showed astonishment.

Even Lv Gang looked as if he doubted his own ears.

It took him a long moment to snap back to reality, and he barked with an ugly expression, “Lin Ze, don’t be ungrateful. The Gaoshan Club only ever recruits from Beast Tamer aristocratic families. This time, Senior Luo Han saw that your talent wasn’t bad and made an exception to let you in. Plenty of commoner students would kill for this chance but never get it!”

Lin Ze spread his hands and said, “I can give the spot to someone else.”

“You—!!”

Lv Gang’s face flushed with anger, and he was about to speak when Luo Han reached out and stopped him.

He patted Lv Gang on the shoulder, then turned to look at Lin Ze.

“Can you tell me your reason for refusing?”

“Simple—I don’t want to hang around a bunch of birth-based elitists.”

Lin Ze shrugged.

At those words, Lv Gang and the other Gaoshan Club members immediately glared at him.

Luo Han narrowed his eyes as well, his gaze flickering uncertainly.

After a long pause, he gave Lin Ze a deep look, then turned and left.

Lv Gang and the others quickly followed.

The matter ended just like that, abruptly and without resolution, leaving everyone present baffled.

“Lin Ze, you need to be careful.”

A pleasant voice suddenly came from beside him.

Guo Xinyi had somehow appeared next to Lin Ze, lowering her voice to say, “Luo Han is a top-ten elite student in the Second Year. He’s narrow-minded and always holds grudges. You just embarrassed him in front of so many people—he definitely won’t let this go. Watch out for his retaliation.”

Lin Ze was briefly taken aback, then smiled. “I understand. Thanks for the warning.”

Because they were speaking up close, the two were standing rather near each other.

Lin Ze could clearly see the girl’s fair, smooth skin, like congealed cream, with barely visible pores.

A faint, refreshing fragrance drifted from her hair.

Lin Ze unconsciously took a light breath.

Guo Xinyi quickly noticed this small gesture, and her cheeks flushed slightly—but surprisingly, she said nothing.

Just then, Guan Ning suddenly squeezed in between the two of them.

“Bro, what are you and Classmate Guo chatting about?”

Guan Ning said to Lin Ze with a bright smile.

But her gaze was fixed unblinkingly on Guo Xinyi.

It was the look of someone watching a sneaky cat, and it made Guo Xinyi’s expression falter involuntarily.

“Nothing much. Classmate Guo Xinyi was just kindly warning me to watch out for Luo Han.”

Guan Ning nodded heavily in sudden understanding.

“Definitely worth paying attention to. I saw Luo Han’s eyes earlier, and he didn’t seem like a good person. The Gaoshan Club has always looked down on commoner students anyway. Now that you rejected him in public, he might fly into a rage out of humiliation and do something harmful to you.”

“I’ll deal with whatever comes. If they make a move, I’ll handle it.”

Lin Ze remained perfectly calm and composed.

To be honest, he really wasn’t afraid of Second Year students.

Even the strongest among the Second Years only had Tier 5 Pet Beasts.

With the Burst Card in his possession, Lin Ze had no fear even if he ran into them.

Of course—

Students like that could be counted on one hand across the entire Second Year.

And Luo Han wasn’t one of them.

So Lin Ze had even less reason to care about him.

This little episode was quickly forgotten by Lin Ze.

Seeing that the people around them had come to their senses and were showing signs of gathering around again, Lin Ze hurriedly bid farewell to Guo Xinyi and pulled Guan Ning away before anyone else could act.