Cheering for you Sure.

The wind howled.

The old Taoist priest, having reopened his spiritual senses, was filled with terror.

Before him, all the white chess pieces had turned to dust.

"Who is this? Since when did Goat City have someone so formidable?"

"Shouzhen," the old priest called softly.

A young Taoist in a blue robe hurried over from the garden.

"Grandmaster, what's wrong?"

The old priest pondered for a moment before asking, "Did you see the person sitting across from me just now?"

"Huh?!"

The young Taoist's gaze swept over the empty seat opposite the old priest, then landed on the chessboard. The sight of the shattered white pieces startled him.

"Disciple didn't see anyone in front of Grandmaster earlier."

The young Taoist had been assigned to attend to the grandmaster and had been sitting on a nearby flower bed, not even touching his phone.

The old priest didn’t press further, merely nodding before raising his hand. "Hand me my phone."

The young Taoist immediately pulled out a Nokia from his pocket and passed it over.

This was unmistakably the indestructible Nokia 3310—the legendary phone said to survive even the apocalypse.

It was covered in scars, the buttons worn down until the numbers were barely visible.

Yet when opened, the battery was still fully charged.

The old priest dialed a number.

After a few seconds, the call was answered.

"Grandmaster Chunzhenzi, how may I assist you?"

The voice on the other end was polite.

"Notify the head of your Goat City branch. Tell him to come see me."

"Of course. Is there anything else you'd like us to convey?"

"Just have him come as soon as possible."

"Understood. We’ll notify him immediately. Please hold on."

The call ended, and Chunzhenzi sighed. He waved dismissively at the young Taoist, signaling for him to leave.

"Grandmaster, should I inform Master and the others?"

"No need. Keep this to yourself. Go back to your practice—don’t worry about me."

The grandmaster’s word was law. The young Taoist stole a few glances before silently withdrawing.

Chunzhenzi closed his clouded eyes, removing his sunglasses as he muttered, "This shouldn’t be a calamity. There was no killing intent... So what does this person want to know?"

--System: Damn, why are the people in this world so weak?! --

"They really are weak. Maybe because true masters avoid the bustle of cities?"

That was a strong possibility.

But Lin Mo could confirm that the old priest was over a hundred years old—his body bore no hidden injuries, but bone age never lied.

Given his constitution, the old man likely had a little over a decade left to live.

He had traces of spiritual energy, but not much—barely at the early stages of Qi Refinement.

Lin Mo had left a spiritual mark on the old priest, curious to see if he could summon anyone more formidable.

Sooner or later, he’d have to visit Longhu Mountain.

If this world allowed for immortal cultivation, he wanted to understand the state of the cultivation realm.

But for now, it seemed there was no rush.

Time to head home.

......

"Lin Mo took first place again in this quiz. How boring—I want to see bloodshed!"

"First place: Lin Mo. Second place: Tong Dong. Isn’t the gap beneath them already bloody enough?"

"Lin Mo has dominated the ages. The ‘Child Emperor’ can’t compete—he’s utterly suppressed!"

Though the new-term quiz wasn’t a standardized exam, the school still recorded the results and posted them on the "Elite Leaderboard."

A crowd gathered around the board, scrutinizing the rankings.

Tong Dong passed by, glancing at it briefly. He’d lost to Lin Mo again.

Not that it was unexpected. Still, he headed to the teachers’ office to find his homeroom teacher.

"Teacher, I’d like to see Lin Mo’s score breakdown."

The teacher pulled up a spreadsheet on the computer.

"Take a look. Don’t take it too hard—you’re heading into the sciences. His liberal arts subjects pulled his score up, but your Chinese score is higher than his. Once the arts and sciences split, his total won’t surpass yours."

The teacher was clearly concerned about Tong Dong’s morale, especially for prodigies like him. If their confidence shattered, they might give up entirely.

So it was crucial to keep him steady.

Tong Dong studied Lin Mo’s scores carefully before shaking his head.

"Teacher, Lin Mo’s Chinese score improved too. That means he’s also putting in effort."

The teacher watched him cautiously.

Then Tong Dong continued, "If he’s working hard, then I’ll just have to work harder too."

......

"I’ve been trying, but I just can’t focus. I’m burned out!"

Lin Jiajun slumped over his math test, utterly defeated.

He lifted his head to look at Lin Mo.

"My lord! Save me!"

Lin Mo casually took the test from him. "For that ‘my lord,’ I’ll bestow some divine guidance."

Both arts and sciences students had to study Chinese, math, and English.

So Lin Jiajun was also under Lin Mo’s tutelage.

"Oh! I get it now! As expected of my lord—your explanations are peerless."

Having said that, Lin Jiajun shot Lin Mo a cheeky grin.

The next second, Lin Mo’s sleeve was tugged.

"Lin Mo."

It was Jiang Yunlu.

"What’s up? Need help with a problem?"

She shook her head. "I’m going with the school team for a competition this weekend. Will... will you come watch?"

Lin Mo thought for a moment. "The city badminton tournament, right? Isn’t that a closed event? Can I even get in?"

Jiang Yunlu quickly clarified, "It’s fine! You can come with us. The coach already said it’s okay."

"Cheering is one thing, but I can’t compete. You know that."

As a spectator, Lin Mo didn’t mind. But if he played, it’d just be bullying.

No one liked losing, and if he competed, he’d have to win.

Jiang Yunlu clenched her fist.

"Great! If you’re cheering, you only have to root for me!"

"Sure. It’s not like I know anyone else anyway."

Those two from the mixed doubles before?

Lin Mo couldn’t even be bothered to remember their names.

Just then, the class’s door monitor, Uncle Wang, spoke up from his seat by the entrance.

"Who are you looking for, kid?"

Everyone turned to see a tall, lanky guy with a slicked-back undercut standing at the door—the very picture of a delinquent.

No doubt about it, this was a jock.

"Who’s that?"

"No idea. Doesn’t look like a freshman."

Though it was already the second semester, most of the freshmen hadn’t even memorized all their own grade’s faces, let alone upperclassmen.

All eyes turned to Fang Jun, the class’s walking encyclopedia.

But Fang Jun just shrugged.

No intel gathered meant zero info.

However, the guy at the door was staring straight at Jiang Yunlu.

"Jiang Yunlu, come out for a sec?"

The class collectively shifted their gaze to her.

So he was here for Jiang Yunlu.

Then, almost in unison, they all looked at Lin Mo.

Eager to see how he’d react.