Morning sunlight, bright but not blinding.

June 8th, Tuesday.

For the three hundred thousand students of Jiangxin First Middle School, this was just an ordinary day.

But for those in their senior year, about to face the college entrance exam, many of them had already gradually recovered from the joy or disappointment of Awakening Day.

However, as they walked through the school gates, whether upperclassmen or younger students, everyone was hyped up and talking fervently.

At every corner of the campus right now, you could hear Lin Feng's name.

"Did you watch Jiang City news yesterday?"

"How could I not? Lin Feng-senpai! My idol."

"Wasn't your idol the president of the Elite Martial Arts Club, Wang Wenxuan?"

"Wang Wenxuan didn't make it onto the Glory Newcomer Chart! Besides, he's nowhere near as handsome as my Lin Feng-senpai."

Inside a pavilion by an artificial lake on campus, five girls sat on benches, eating breakfast and chatting, occasionally letting out cries of surprise.

Such discussions were everywhere at Jiangxin First Middle School. Whether people liked Lin Feng or not, no one could deny that he had already become the hot topic across the city.

Not just students—even teachers were no exception.

The top floor of the senior year building housed the staff lounge, a space of over three hundred square meters. Fifty or sixty teachers sat on sofas instead of preparing for morning classes, gathering together and chatting idly.

The topic of their gossip was also Lin Feng.

These last two days, in terms of popularity, Lin Feng was undoubtedly number one.

Thanks to Lin Feng, the school had been featured repeatedly in Jiang City news lately, and its fame had skyrocketed.

"Old Ji, your luck is something to envy! Having Ya Ge wasn't enough, now there's Lin Feng too—two hero quotas!"

A rather plain-looking female teacher said, her face full of envy.

The "Old Ji" she spoke of was a skinny middle-aged man in his forties. Hearing this, he let out a hearty laugh, "Who knows if that's really how it's gonna turn out."

A "hero quota" meant a spot in one of the Three Heroic Academies.

At Jiangxin First Middle School, if a student got into one of the Three Heroic Academies, their homeroom teacher would receive a fifty-thousand cash bonus. If both Ya Ge and Lin Feng made it, that'd be a hundred thousand—a solid half a year's salary, no wonder everyone's jealous.

Seeing Old Ji's modest reply, the other teachers all looked at him with annoyance: your mouth says "maybe," but your face is so smug, as if you've already got it in the bag.

"Old Ji, as Lin Feng's homeroom teacher, you must know him well. Do you think he can really refine an Earth Chart demon spirit?" asked a curious male teacher.

Not just them—the entire city of Jiang City was buzzing with that very question.

If Lin Feng could refine an Earth Chart demon spirit, he'd undoubtedly become the darling of every Glory Club.

"I don't know if the rumors are true or not, but Lin Feng's talent in martial arts is undeniable," Old Ji said with a sigh.

Truth be told, he didn't know Lin Feng at all.

In senior year, each class had over six hundred students, and as the homeroom teacher for three classes—nearly two thousand kids—how could he remember them all?

Lin Feng wasn't a prodigy nor did he have any background, so naturally he wasn't on his radar.

If not for the news, he wouldn't have had a clue that his own class hid a student like that.

"That kid, really is a hopeless romantic."

The female teacher laughed, "If it's true, that girl will probably regret it to death."

"Not necessarily. Even though Ya Ge didn't make it onto the Glory Newcomer Chart, she refined an Eighth Grade Enchanting Butterfly, almost equal to a Ninth Grade demon spirit, plus she's signed with Ju Xing—her future is bright. Lin Feng might not be so lucky!"

"That's true, too. Still depends on what grade of demon spirit Lin Feng can refine."

Teachers sipped tea and chatted. Behind them, Xu Wei—dressed professionally—stood silently, her clear eyes flashing with a hint of surprise and joy.

The staff lounge was open to all teachers, but since Xu Wei was fresh out of college and an intern homeroom teacher from a poor background, she didn't dare lounge on the sofa and chat like the others.

In fact, after the internship, if she wanted to stay at Jiangxin First Middle School, she even had to serve tea and water to the other teachers, always extra diligent.

The naive Xu Wei had no idea that even if she did everything perfectly, without the right connections, she'd never be able to stay at Jiangxin First Middle School. The other teachers all knew it, but none of them had told her, contently enjoying her service.

"Lin Feng is actually so amazing!"

Hearing the teachers chatting about her own student, Xu Wei was genuinely happy.

As a life guidance homeroom teacher, she only managed one class—senior grade seven.

Old Ji had no impression of Lin Feng, but she'd kept an eye on that boy for a long time—or rather, she'd always cared about every student in her class.

Still, she never imagined that boy would be so outstanding.

Lin Feng's grades might mean a bonus for Old Ji, but for her, they meant nothing; even so, hearing everyone marvel and praise him, she couldn't help smiling softly.

She was simply glad for Lin Feng.

Maybe also a little proud that her student was so excellent.

Even if she was just a lowly assistant teacher.

.....

The moment Lin Feng and Gao Hai appeared at the school gate, they became the center of attention.

A few days ago, those looks of pity or schadenfreude had now been replaced by admiration and envy.

"Brother Feng!"

Waiting nearby, Yang Fan led his three top followers over, looking excited.

Lin Feng had made it onto the Glory Newcomer Chart, and as a core member of the Jianghu Martial Arts Club, Yang Fan was naturally thrilled.

It also boosted his confidence about the club's future.

"Morning!" Lin Feng greeted him.

Lin Feng appreciated Yang Fan.

The tasks he'd given Yang Fan these days had all been done well—even though the forum plans and photos were all provided by Lin Feng, entering the Glory Newcomer Chart so quickly owed a lot to Yang Fan.

Yang Fan's talent might be average, but Lin Feng believed that this gossip-loving, career-minded kid would surprise everyone in the future.

At first, Lin Feng started the Jianghu Martial Arts Club just to gather students with backgrounds, hoping to stand up to the Elite Martial Arts Club.

Now he was on the Glory Newcomer Chart, so threats didn't worry him. But he wasn't about to give up on the club.

After refining Nightmare, it was like Lin Feng had a cheat code. Heaven and Earth's Spiritual Qi kept pouring into his body, nourishing every cell and tissue.

This was the talent Lin Feng had dreamed of, but what troubled him was that he couldn't control this absorption.

He just couldn't stop.

Nightmare had its own will. Though Lin Feng had refined it, it was always unleashing its gifted powers.

Lin Feng had tried not to absorb the spiritual power inside him, but found out later that if he didn't absorb it, it wouldn't just dissipate—it would be taken by Nightmare instead.

In other words, if he didn't get stronger, Nightmare would.

And Lin Feng's Soul Power was nowhere near enough to satisfy Nightmare. "Drop in the ocean" wasn't even close.

This kind of cheat-like talent required enormous Soul Power as backup. Without it, Nightmare would consume his soul for energy.

Lin Feng roughly calculated: unless he hunted demon beasts and harvested demon spirits in the otherworld, he'd need a Soul Nourishing Pill every single day.

One Soul Nourishing Pill cost two hundred thousand New Coins; averaged out over a month, Lin Feng would spend 6 million—a year, 72 million New Coins.

And with Nightmare growing stronger, the cost would only skyrocket.

Lin Feng speculated that Ye Qiu must've also failed to feed Nightmare enough Soul Power, got his soul eaten, and perished.

Yet even with the Ye Group's assets in the billions, and Ye Qiu—CEO's son, a Soul Cultivator prodigy with Soul Power dozens to hundreds times Lin Feng's, even he couldn't satisfy Nightmare. How could Lin Feng stand a chance?

Lin Feng's own Soul Power was scarce, so all he could do was buy Soul Nourishing Pills to feed Nightmare.

Yesterday, he'd prepared fifty Soul Nourishing Pills to refine Nightmare; now, only six were left.

He had four million in his account, enough to buy twenty more—so altogether, just twenty-six pills left, barely enough for Nightmare's "food expenses" for twenty-six days.

Not even a month!

Lin Feng desperately needed money—a lot of money!

To many people, a high school club was nothing worth mentioning, but Lin Feng put all his hopes in it, treating it as the prototype for his future power base.

Many of his plans depended on the Martial Arts Club.

Currently, his Martial Arts Club only had two core members.

Gao Hai was his most trusted brother. Lin Feng could count on him, no reservations; in the future, Gao Hai would act as Overseer.

Yang Fan would serve as analyst, maybe even strategist.

"Brother Feng!" called Little Mushroom Head and the others behind Yang Fan, all looking at Lin Feng in awe.

He was the big boss of big bosses. For kids with average talent and few abilities, if they could get close to a real big boss, nobody at Jiangxin First Middle School would dare mess with them.

Lin Feng nodded to Little Mushroom and others, which made Little Mushroom beam with pride and joy. To her, even just exchanging words with Lin Feng was something to brag about; you could see the envy all around them.

Right now Lin Feng was like a celebrity, walking slowly towards the senior building under countless gazes. Some underclassmen came up to ask for signatures, but before Lin Feng could respond, Gao Hai and the others turned them down smartly. With a crowd like this, if he started signing, things would get out of hand.

"Brother Feng, take a look at those girls—their vibe's off," Gao Hai murmured beside Lin Feng.

Even Lin Feng found it odd; he noticed lots of girls were giving him weird looks.

Really weird.

Were they about to eat him alive?

Why did they look so scary?

In the crowd, Mo Xun and others watched Lin Feng's back with complicated expressions.

Just a few days had passed, and right when they had planned their revenge on Lin Feng, that kid who used to be at their mercy had suddenly become a peerless genius, even making it onto the Glory Newcomer Chart and earning the Blue Moon Guardian qualification. Now they were too scared to touch him.

"Brother Mo, are we really just giving up?"

Ji Yu stared after Lin Feng with resentment, beaten up by Lin Feng—his right arm broken, ribs cracked. Though they had healed, his practical exam scores for college entrance would definitely suffer.

Facing his brothers' gaze, Mo Xun hesitated for a while before saying, "Let's see if he gets kicked off the Glory Newcomer Chart first; wait till it's all confirmed!"

As long as Lin Feng was on the chart, he couldn't and dared not make a move.

If he tried anything, not only he'd get in trouble, his family would too.

At this point, Mo Xun was already thinking of letting things go.

He might be proud, but he wasn't stupid. There's wisdom in leaving room for future encounters.

No such thing as fear—just not worth making an enemy out of a kid who might become a powerhouse, over a trivial conflict.

But if the rumors were false, he'd definitely make Lin Feng pay.

Ji Yu wasn't happy, but stayed rationally silent, praying inside: "Please, let it be fake. Next month he'll be kicked off the Glory Newcomer Chart!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.