You Don't Need to Prove Yourself

The numbers on the light screen went crazy.

The three names—Chen Guan, Yin Chen, and Hong Yuan—were like a sharp arrow, piercing straight up from the middle of the leaderboard.

Finally, with a loud clang, they slammed to a halt at the very top.

That breathtakingly long string of numbers was like an insurmountable chasm, ruthlessly severing the first place from everyone else behind them.

[Squad One (Chen Guan, Hong Yuan, Yin Chen): 9999]

9999 wasn't the limit of the points; it was the maximum limit of the display value.

After a brief, dead silence, the uproar almost blew the roof off.

Just then, a harsh voice cut through the noise: "I object! There's something wrong with this score!"

The crowd looked toward the voice. The speaker was Wei Zhe from the Magic City Academy, the former first-place holder on the leaderboard.

Pushing through the crowd to the front of the stage, he swept a scrutinizing and hostile gaze over Yin Chen and Hong Yuan, a mocking smile hanging on his lips.

"Yin Chen, Hong Yuan, we've known each other since we were kids. I know exactly what level you two are at."

He paused, his voice suddenly rising. "Hunting a Tier 5 is your absolute limit. Now you're telling me that just the three of you are capable of killing a peak Tier 6?"

The contempt in his words was like a spark igniting dry hay, causing the doubts that many had just suppressed to resurface.

Yin Chen's face instantly darkened. The wind around him began to stir restlessly, emitting a faint whimpering sound, looking as if he would strike at the slightest provocation.

It was true that Yin Chen was inferior to Chen Guan, but it wasn't the place of Wei Zhe—a guy who had never beaten him—to clamor in front of him.

"Wei Zhe, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't just spout nonsense. I guarantee on the honor of the Yin clan..."

"Honor?" Wei Zhe sneered, interrupting him. "Is your honor worth this many points?"

A hand rested on Yin Chen's shoulder. The force wasn't strong, but it was heavy enough to instantly extinguish all his rising fury.

It was Chen Guan.

"Don't stop me, he's slandering us!" Yin Chen lowered his voice, his teeth grinding audibly.

"I never said I was going to stop you." Chen Guan glanced at the arrogant Wei Zhe. "Why don't you come and test whether we have Tier 6 strength or not?"

Wei Zhe froze. If Hong Yuan or Yin Chen had said this, he could brush it off, but it was spoken by this lucky guy handpicked by the instructor, leaving him completely unsure.

The person in front of him clearly had no aura fluctuations and looked just like an ordinary person, but the unknown was often the most terrifying.

Moreover, this guy had just stopped Yin Chen, and even the hot-tempered Hong Yuan remained silent. He might not understand this coffin-carrying weirdo, but he definitely understood those two.

"I'm late, sorry."

A gentle voice broke the silent standoff. An Changqing, Long Ao, and Su Yuehe walked in through the main doors.

An Changqing's appearance caused the frozen air in the plaza to start flowing again.

Behind him followed Long Ao, whose signature red hair was like a burning flame, his gaze disdainful, looking as if he was second only to the heavens. Su Yuehe quietly followed beside them, her aura restrained, yet no one dared to underestimate her.

As the strongest second-generation heirs present, they were also the absolute top figures among this year's freshmen.

[Oh ho! Brother An is fashionably late.]

[An Changqing: I heard you were bullying our Huaqing people while I was away?]

[Why aren't the people who said Brother Coffin cheated coming out to say a few words? Do you not like it?]

[With the way Long Ao walks, those who don't know would think he's the one in first place.]

Seeing An Changqing, the sarcasm on Wei Zhe's face faded a bit, replaced by a welcoming warmth. He took a step forward and spoke up on his own accord: "An Changqing, you're just in time. A peak Tier 6 monster core isn't something us freshmen should be able to obtain. There must be something fishy going on here. You have a good eye, why don't you be the judge?"

He tried to pull An Changqing into his camp, using an acknowledged genius to question another monster that had suddenly popped up.

An Changqing's gaze bypassed him and landed on Chen Guan. He gave a slight nod as a greeting.

His attitude lost its usual gentleness and instead became sharp.

"What makes you think I can't do it?"

He didn't refute him directly but threw the question back. Over on Long Ao's side, knuckles cracked audibly, and a malicious smile appeared.

Wei Zhe's expression froze. This was a lethal trick question; how could he dare to answer it?

Seeing him stay silent, An Changqing tilted his head toward Su Yuehe behind him.

Su Yuehe understood immediately. She walked step by step to the registration desk, a large bag appearing in her hand, and slammed it heavily onto the table.

Bang!

The heavy solid wood desk let out a muffled thud, visibly bowing downward for a second.

The instructor in charge of registration twitched his eyelids.

Damn it, I'll have to report property damage again.

Clatter—

A dense sound of collisions rang out.

Radiant monster cores rolled out of the bag, instantly piling into a multicolored small mountain on the table. The number of Tier 4 cores alone far exceeded the total of Wei Zhe's entire squad, and mixed within were over a dozen Tier 5 cores, as well as a regular Tier 6 core.

The entire venue fell dead silent.

Everyone's eyes were glued to that pile of crystal-clear monster cores. Their Adam's apples bobbed up and down, but they couldn't utter a single sound.

[Holy crap, did they just restock from a wholesale market?]

[Su Yuehe: What did you just say? The wind is too loud, I can't hear you.]

[LMAO, the classic face-slap with sheer volume.]

That instructor was already completely numb. He mechanically picked up the device, counting and logging them one by one.

On the light screen, Wei Zhe's name was mercilessly pushed down.

[Squad Two (An Changqing, Long Ao, Su Yuehe): 8850]

The new point total was like a resounding slap across Wei Zhe's face. The blood instantly drained from his face, turning it deathly pale.

The battle record he was so proud of had become a joke in front of others. Just a second ago he said it was impossible, and the very next second they threw the proof right in his face. Wasn't this equivalent to telling everyone that he, Wei Zhe, was trash?

An Changqing didn't even look at the leaderboard. His gaze remained steadily on Chen Guan.

"Student Chen, your strength doesn't need to be proven to anyone," he said earnestly. "Truly capable people will only attract one another, not suspect each other."

These words were spoken grandly, yet they made the blood of the surrounding freshmen boil with excitement, and they all cast looks of agreement.

[God An's vision! God An is so magnanimous!]

[It's so funny how An Changqing seriously calls him Student Chen. It's been a long time since I heard that title.]

[This is practically a Renaissance.]