Chapter 20 – Acting All Coy

Inside the dimly lit cave, Lu Chen and the three other students sat across the campfire, eyeing each other.

Outside, heavy rain poured down as the pitch-black night and deep forest evoked an indescribable sense of dread.

It felt as though something could leap out from the shadows at any moment, startling anyone present.

Crackle, crackle…

The burning wood snapped and popped, breaking the silence in the cave with sporadic sounds.

Perhaps sensing the awkward atmosphere, the mature female student spoke up.

“Classmate, I’m Zheng Liu from Senior Class 7. This is Xu Jianliang from Senior Class 5, and this is Chai Xi from Senior Class 8.”

“Which class are you from?”

Zheng Liu pointed to the two male students beside her as she introduced them to Lu Chen.

Xu Jianliang was a student from Senior Class 5, one of the four Earth Classes in the senior grade.

The students in this class all possessed Medium Grade Spirit Roots, and their parents were generally Cultivators.

Given this background, whether it was the education they received since childhood or the resources they had access to,

they naturally enjoyed advantages far beyond those of ordinary students.

Meanwhile, Zheng Liu’s Class 7 and Chai Xi’s Class 8 were standard Humanity Classes.

The students in these classes all had Inferior Spiritual Roots, with average cultivation Aptitude.

Just like Lu Chen’s Senior Class 12.

Among the three, Xu Jianliang had the highest cultivation level, having already reached Qi Training Stage Six.

Zheng Liu and Chai Xi were relatively ordinary.

The former was only at Qi Condensation Stage Three, while the latter was at Qi Condensation Stage Four.

Although Chai Xi’s cultivation level wasn’t high and he had remained silent since entering the cave,

he was the most noteworthy among the three.

Because he was one of the rare Body Cultivators in the senior grade.

Observing this unusual trio, Lu Chen spoke up, “Senior Class 12, Lu Chen.”

“Lu Chen?”

Hearing this, Zheng Liu immediately checked her wrist device.

Soon, she found Lu Chen’s ranking on the screen.

“Wow, Classmate Lu Chen, you’re amazing! You already have 25 points.”

At this, Xu Jianliang beside her also glanced at Lu Chen with surprise.

But then he gave Zheng Liu a meaningful look, and she seemed to understand.

She immediately praised Lu Chen, “Classmate Lu, you’re much stronger than me. I only have 16 points so far, and I’m not even sure if I can make it to the second phase of the mock exam.”

“Your cultivation level doesn’t seem high either. Did you earn so many points because you learned special Spells or have some Magic Treasure?”

Asking other Cultivators about their Spells and Magic Treasures was inherently quite rude.

But Zheng Liu clearly knew how to use her advantages well.

She presented herself as harmless, as if these words had slipped out unintentionally.

Tea-scented charm.

Unfortunately, Lu Chen never fell for such tactics.

Instead of answering Zheng Liu’s question, he casually took out some ordinary beast meat from his Storage Bag and began roasting it.

Five Springs Mountain had a rich ecosystem. Although there were many Demons here, there were also plenty of ordinary animals.

Otherwise, these Demons kept by Luocheng High School would have starved to death long ago.Seeing that Lu Chen paid no attention to her, Zheng Liu immediately put on a pitiful expression and said, “Classmate Lu, you’ve misunderstood me. I didn’t mean anything by it. I just genuinely think you’re quite impressive, so I got a bit curious.”

“If you feel my words were inappropriate, then I apologize.”

This smooth series of maneuvers from Zheng Liu not only glossed over her previous rudeness but also highlighted her reasonableness.

If this were someone more naive or thin-skinned, they might have blushed and spilled all their secrets to Zheng Liu.

Unfortunately, Lu Chen wasn’t buying it.

His whole deal was having no principles!

As long as I have no morals, morality can’t be used to manipulate me.

So Lu Chen ignored Zheng Liu’s probing and focused on eating the roasted meat.

Watching Lu Chen remain so stubbornly uncooperative, Zheng Liu’s eye twitched slightly.

Yet for some reason, she still didn’t lose her temper, instead pitifully sitting down nearby.

Fully committing to her white lotus persona.

As for Xu Jianliang and Chai Xi, they seemed to have realized by now that Lu Chen wasn’t the communicative type.

They also sat down and stopped talking.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the cave grew even more stifling.

But before long, several sets of hurried footsteps shattered the silence.

“Awooo!”

Following a clear wolf howl, over a dozen pairs of green eyes appeared in the darkness outside the cave.

Seeing this, Zheng Liu and the other two quickly stood up.

Xu Jianliang stared at the emerging wolf pack from the shadows and said in a low voice, “Trouble. It’s Blood Amber Demonic Wolves.”

Blood Amber Demonic Wolves were rare pack-type Demons in Five Springs Mountain.

They resembled ordinary gray wolves but had a blood-red amber marking on their foreheads.

This amber wasn’t just decorative—it was the source of their power.

They could release a special light beam, a racial talent of the Blood Amber Demonic Wolves.

Adult Blood Amber Demonic Wolves had at least Qi Condensation Stage Four strength.

The alpha could reach Qi Condensation Stage Six or Seven.

The current pack wasn’t large, only about a dozen wolves.

But judging by their size, these were mostly mature specimens.

The leading Blood Amber Demonic Wolf even had two blood-colored ambers on its forehead.

At Qi Training Stage Six, it already surpassed Xu Jianliang, who had the highest cultivation among the four.

No matter how you looked at it, the four of them were no match for this pack of Blood Amber Wolves.

“Classmate Lu, given the situation, we have no choice but to work together.”

“I’ll handle the alpha. See if you can hold off the other Demonic Wolves.”

“Blood Amber Demonic Wolves are cautious by nature. If we show enough strength, they’ll retreat.”

Saying this, Xu Jianliang proactively walked toward the cave entrance to face the massive Blood Amber alpha.

Zheng Liu and Chai Xi also sprang into action, drawing their weapons.

Zheng Liu wielded an ordinary Sword, while Chai Xi held a Fine Iron Spear.

Lu Chen observed the three of them, then noticed the wounds on many of the Blood Amber Demonic Wolves in the pack.

He began to suspect their true intentions.

If he wasn’t mistaken, they had deliberately lured these Blood Amber Demonic Wolves here.

The purpose was simple: to use him as their bait.Luring the Blood Amber Direwolf would allow them to hunt the direwolves more easily and earn points.

Although this simulated exam was meant to mimic real combat, the existence of the Protective Wristwatch ensured they wouldn’t actually face any real danger.

Using others as bait didn’t weigh on their conscience at all.

However, while their plan sounded perfect, why should I follow their script?

Watching Xu Jianliang “volunteer” to deal with the alpha wolf, Lu Chen formed his own plan.

Since everyone was putting on an act, let’s see who performs better.

One more chapter to be posted later.

(End of Chapter)