Chapter 49 – Achievement: 'Top Freshman'

“Thank you, teacher. I understand.”

Lin Ze replied with a serious expression.

He showed due respect to such a Golden Beast Tamer powerhouse.

Gao Wenbai nodded, said no more, and turned to leave the square.

The other teachers then swarmed forward, vying to encourage Lin Ze.

For a peerless genius destined to become a pinnacle powerhouse in the future, even the academy teachers couldn’t help but seek to build connections and curry favor, investing early.

And with these academy teachers, Lin Ze couldn’t brush them off the way he did with other students.

Helpless, he had no choice but to engage in polite pleasantries with them.

More than ten minutes later.

Lin Ze finally managed to extricate himself.

Walking out of the square, Lin Ze immediately wiped the sweat from his forehead, still shaken.

“What a torment—even harder than the stele challenge.”

Beside him, Guan Ning covered her mouth and giggled.

“Brother, everyone else would die to be valued by so many teachers. Only you find it troublesome.”

“Yeah, even that Teacher Gao took special notice of Brother Lin. Word has it he’s always stern with students—you can see how highly he thinks of Brother Lin!”

Zhang Xiaoyun looked as if she were basking in reflected glory.

Beside her, Liu Siyan also showed an expression of agreement.

The compliments of beautiful girls were indeed enough to make one feel elated. Lin Ze smiled and clapped his hands:

“Alright, to celebrate our successful enrollment, let’s go have a big meal. My treat.”

“Hooray!”

The girls immediately cheered and eagerly dragged Lin Ze toward the school gate.

Surrounded by three lively, youthful beauties, Lin Ze collected countless envious glances along the way.

But just as they reached the school gate, a figure suddenly rushed out from the side.

“Big brother!”

Lin Ze paused for half a second before recognizing the chubby figure before him.

It was none other than Zhou Hong, the information broker he’d met not long ago.

“Big brother, you were absolutely incredible today! You even passed the legendary stele challenge—too strong!”

“I knew from the first glance that you weren’t an ordinary person, and I was right!”

“My admiration for you flows like an endless river…”

Zhou Hong’s plump face split into a grin like a blooming chrysanthemum, flattering words pouring out of his mouth nonstop as if they cost nothing.

Lin Ze’s scalp tingled from the barrage, and he couldn’t help but interrupt.

“Stop!”

After cutting off Zhou Hong’s flattery, Lin Ze asked helplessly:

“What are you doing here?”

“I was waiting here to congratulate you, big brother. Earlier, when Teacher Gao was talking to you, I didn’t want to barge in, so I waited here.”

Zhou Hong rubbed his hands together with a smile, his utterly obsequious demeanor making Guan Ning and the other two girls beside him unable to suppress their laughter.

In truth, Zhou Hong had been just as fawning toward Lin Ze before, but never as blatantly as now.

After all, in Zhou Hong’s eyes back then, Lin Ze was merely one of the five examinee geniuses.

Worth building a connection with, but hardly worth groveling before.

It wasn’t until he witnessed Lin Ze’s entire process of passing the stele challenge that Zhou Hong truly understood how terrifying Lin Ze’s talent and strength were.

He was on an entirely different level from the other examinees!

To put it bluntly, the other four examinee geniuses weren’t even fit to carry Lin Ze’s shoes.

Someone like Lin Ze was destined for boundless prospects in the future.

Without a doubt, he was the thickest thigh one could possibly latch onto.

If you didn’t grab hold of it tightly right away, what were you waiting for?

That was precisely why Zhou Hong’s attitude had suddenly changed so drastically.

Desperately trying to win Lin Ze’s favor.

Lin Ze noticed this and understood exactly why Zhou Hong’s attitude had changed so drastically.

However, he didn’t care.

If Zhou Hong could demonstrate some value, Lin Ze wouldn’t mind looking out for him.

“So, you passed the assessment too?”

“Yes, big brother, but my results are far inferior to yours—I can’t even compare to those beauties. I only ranked around 500th.”

Lin Ze nodded in understanding and said no more.

Zhou Hong was quick-witted and immediately took his leave upon seeing this.

“Big brother, I won’t disturb you all any longer. Here’s my contact information—if you ever need anything from me in the future, just say the word!”

After leaving his contact info, Zhou Hong turned and departed without another word.

“That guy’s pretty funny,” Zhang Xiaoyun said with a smile.

“Is he?”

Lin Ze watched Zhou Hong’s retreating figure, a flicker of light passing through his eyes.

“I think he’s actually quite shrewd.”

The celebration continued until evening before Lin Ze finally returned to his hotel room.

Sitting down on the sofa, he immediately checked his message records.

[Achievement Unlocked]

[Enrollment]: Successfully obtain an admission letter from any Beast Tamer Academy. Completing this achievement grants 300 Achievement Points, Soul Crystal X1, Body-Strengthening Crystal X1 (Completed, reward pending claim).

[Top Freshman]: Become the Top Freshman of Ningjiang Academy’s current cohort. Completing this achievement grants 500 Achievement Points, Soul Crystal X1, Body-Strengthening Crystal X1 (Completed, reward pending claim).

The [Enrollment] achievement had been unlocked long ago.

He skipped past that one.

What surprised and delighted Lin Ze was that this assessment had also completed another achievement—[Top Freshman].

Combined, the two achievements granted a total of 800 Achievement Points.

On top of that.

There were also two Soul Crystals and two Body-Strengthening Crystals.

Without a doubt, a massive windfall!

Without hesitation, Lin Ze immediately used the Soul Crystals and Body-Strengthening Crystals.

After the familiar sensation of transcendence washed over him.

His Soul Strength had increased to 13.9.

His Constitution attribute had increased to 8.2.

“One Soul Crystal only increased Soul Strength by 0.9?”

Lin Ze raised an eyebrow.

The enhancement effect of a Soul Crystal would increase or decrease depending on the user’s current Soul Strength level.

Clearly.

As his Soul Strength had risen, the effect of the Soul Crystals had begun to gradually diminish.

“That said, a 0.9 increase isn’t bad at all—comparable to a Basic Difficulty probationary Baptism.”

“The Body-Strengthening Crystal’s effect remains the same as before.”

Lin Ze felt the changes within his body and nodded in satisfaction.

His physical condition had now far surpassed that of an ordinary human, comparable to a low-tier Ferocious Beast.

“Without using Soul Arts, with my current physical condition, I should be able to easily handle Ferocious Beasts below Tier 2.”

“Tier 2 would be a bit trickier.”

Of course.

If he used Soul Arts, Lin Ze was confident he could independently kill any Ferocious Beast below Tier 4.

As for Soul Strength, there was no need to even mention it.

A Soul Strength of 13.9 surpassed 99% of Bronze Beast Tamers.

If other Beast Tamers were to learn of Lin Ze’s current Soul Strength, they would most likely be shocked speechless, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

Steadying himself, Lin Ze switched to the Pet Beast panel.

After today’s continuous battles, both Xiao Xue’s and Rock Ghost’s Growth Rates had increased to varying degrees.

Xiao Xue had increased from 47% to 58%.

Rock Ghost had increased from 25% to 31%.

Looking at the panel, Lin Ze was slightly surprised.

Xiao Xue was one thing—at least she had slain a large number of Ferocious Beasts during the hunt.

But Rock Ghost had only been through two battles, and yet its Growth Rate had jumped by a full 6%!

One had to know that in the past, it would take half a day of hunting out in the wilds to achieve such an increase.