"Die!"
Chen Shu broke into a grin. With his precise predictive ability, he commanded the Slime to drop straight down.
BOOM!
The Shadow Beast was instantly pinned beneath it. It thrashed and struggled, but it was all for nothing. Once the Slime sat on you, it was basically game over.
"Looks like you're not cutting it!"
Chen Shu shook his head and commanded the Slime to keep wiggling its butt back and forth.
Even in its sleep, a blissful smile sat plastered across its face.
Lin Ziyan's expression turned dark as iron. He kept ordering the Shadow Beast to unleash its skills, but nothing worked. The Shadow Beast's active skills had been completely sealed.
His fists clenched tight. More than anything, he wanted to beat Chen Shu to a pulp.
But he'd been outclassed. What could he do... what could he do...
"I forfeit..."
Lin Ziyan recalled his Shadow Beast and conceded.
Chen Shu flashed a wide grin. "This is all Nanjiang First High has to offer?"
That mocking, passive-aggressive tone made Lin Ziyan's blood boil. He couldn't hold back: "Don't think we have nobody at Nanjiang First High! If you have the balls to show up, I guarantee you'll walk in on two feet and get carried out on a stretcher!"
"Oh." Chen Shu nodded.
Lin Ziyan saw the contemptuous stares from everyone around him. Unable to stomach it any longer, he dropped his threat and turned to leave.
Chen Shu watched his retreating back and, in no particular hurry, pulled the urea bag out of his backpack.
Everyone else stayed silent, quietly watching Chen Shu's movements. There was even a hint of anticipation in their eyes.
Whether Chen Shu would actually get carried out of Nanjiang First High remained to be seen.
But Lin Ziyan was definitely getting carried out of here today.
"Fuck! Not again!"
Lin Ziyan felt the shadow descending over his head and nearly jumped out of his skin.
But he still couldn't dodge Chen Shu's god-tier combo. One clean punch later, he was out cold once more.
"Would you guys mind helping carry him back to Nanjiang First High?"
The principal's jaw dropped. He stared blankly and managed, "Uh, well..."
"Principal, you get used to it!"
Shen Wushuang patted the principal on the shoulder, signaling him not to be so surprised.
Seeing that everyone else looked completely unfazed, the principal quietly swallowed hard.
Something is seriously off about this batch of students...
"Principal, do you believe me now?"
Chen Shu flashed a grin -- all sunshine and warmth, impossible to reconcile with the brutality he'd just displayed.
After a long pause, the principal nodded. Chen Shu was underhanded as hell, but there was no denying his strength was the real deal.
"Next Monday, I'm going to make Nanjiang First High bleed!!"
"..."
"..."
Shen Wushuang's mouth twitched. He sidled over and whispered, "No nuclear weapons!"
He hadn't been worried before, but after hearing Chen Shu's declaration, he suddenly felt a bit panicked. The guy had blown up a sixth of Frost Canyon. A single high school would be child's play.
"Teacher Shen, what are you thinking? Am I really that ruthless?"
Chen Shu raised an eyebrow. Blue Star wasn't like the Alternate Dimensions -- the moment he blew up a school, his good days would be over.
Today was Friday. Chen Shu decided to wait two days and prepare first.
"Xiao Xing, your family's in the beast taming business. Got any Lord-tier skills for sale?"
Chen Shu walked over to Xu Xingxing and asked.
He'd been planning to buy skills for a while now. Xu Xingxing's family was literally in that line of work -- why bother posting a bounty when the resource was right beside him?
Xu Xingxing nodded. "Of course."
Chen Shu tested the waters. "Can you do a one percent discount?"
Xu Xingxing thumped his chest magnanimously. "One percent off? Sure! For the friendship we've got, no problem."
"Uh... I meant ninety-nine percent off the original price."
"Get lost!"
Xu Xingxing shook his head and walked away. Why don't you just ask me to give it to you for free, you shameless bastard.
"Ten percent off -- can we at least do ten percent off?"
Chen Shu's mouth twitched, but he eventually gave Xu Xingxing the three skills he wanted.
"I'll have to go home and check our inventory."
Chen Shu then made his way over to Wang Qinghan. "Qinghan, you transferred from Nanjiang First High, right?"
Wang Qinghan instinctively took a step back, then nodded.
"Why so jumpy around me? Does your old school have any S-rank contract spirits?"
Though Chen Shu claimed he could crush an S-rank contract spirit, he couldn't actually guarantee a win. The gap between A-rank and S-rank was a massive chasm -- just think about how dominant Fang Si had been back in the day.
Wang Qinghan shook her head without hesitation. "No."
At the end of the day, Nanjiang City was just a small city. The odds of an S-rank contract spirit showing up were slim.
Chen Shu let out a breath of relief. "Then I've got nothing to worry about!"
---
Two days flew by in a blink.
Xu Xingxing came back with news. "Chen Pi, I checked when I got home. We don't have the three skills you wanted."
Chen Shu frowned slightly. "You don't?"
"But I found another skill you might need -- Deterrent Roar!"
Chen Shu's eyebrow twitched up. He'd considered a control skill before, but the Slime's voice had absolutely zero intimidation factor.
"Deterrent Roar is an innate talent skill from the Gold-Striped Tiger. Its main function is crowd control -- it can interrupt an opponent's skill activation."
"How much?"
"Four million!"
"Holy shit -- you running a crematorium side hustle? Burning your friends for profit?!"[1]
"What are you even saying? The original price was four and a half million. I already gave you a discount."
Chen Shu mulled it over for a while, then nodded. "Fine!"
With that, Xu Xingxing produced a red, heart-shaped crystal. The Slime swallowed it whole.
I offer ten years of my two roommates' lifespans in exchange -- please, let this work!
Chen Shu pressed his palms together and prayed fervently.
Xu Xingxing and Xie Sunan both twitched at the corners of their mouths. Dude, where are your manners?
A moment later, Chen Shu's eyes went wide. A look of exaggerated "grief" spread across his face as he grinned: "Holy crap! Old Xie, Xiao Xing -- your lives just got shorter!"
The two responded in perfect unison: "Screw you!"
"Let's go! Today's Monday -- follow me to Nanjiang First High!"
Chen Shu waved his hand grandly, recalled the Slime, and marched toward the school gate.
...
One hour later.
Chen Shu's group of three, along with Shen Wushuang, arrived outside Nanjiang First High's front gate.
He hadn't wanted to bring Shen Wushuang along, but Chen Shu was worried about getting jumped. Having a Black Iron-rank bodyguard around was just safer.
Gazing up at the imposing school gate, the four of them headed for the security booth.
"Hello, we're students from Nanjiang Second High. We'd like to challenge your school."
Chen Shu's smile radiated pure sunshine -- the very picture of good manners.
The principal had specifically reminded him: he was representing Nanjiang Second High, so he couldn't just start throwing hands.
Unless... he couldn't help himself.
The guard at the gate spoke up. "Sorry, we haven't received any notice about this."
Xu Xingxing frowned. "That can't be right. Our principal said he'd already arranged everything."
The guard shook his head. "We really haven't been notified. Please don't loiter around the school entrance."
"What's going on here?!"
Right at that moment, a man passing through the gate stopped and asked. His expression was stern and authoritative -- clearly someone with rank.
The guard flashed an ingratiating smile. "Director Lin..."
Shen Wushuang stepped forward. "We're from Nanjiang Second High. We'd like to have a sparring match with your Special Training Class students."
Director Lin let out a derisive snort. "Second High, coming to First High to talk big?"
"Other than three years ago, when has your Second High ever amounted to anything?"
"Or did Lin Ziyan beat you all stupid?"
Chen Shu turned to Shen Wushuang. "Teacher, he never made it back to school? You didn't bury him somewhere, did you?"
"..." Shen Wushuang's mouth twitched. "Bury him? I had someone take him to the hospital. He's probably getting his Shadow Beast treated right now."
Chen Shu nodded, then raised his voice: "Your school's Lin Ziyan is already my defeated opponent. How about sending someone who can actually put up a fight?"
His tone had turned decidedly unfriendly. He hadn't expected them to refuse entry altogether.
"Piss off!"
The man dismissed the three of them as troublemakers looking for a fight. He didn't give them a second thought and turned to leave.
"The hell? That arrogant?"
Chen Shu raised an eyebrow. The Nanjiang Bandit had never taken this kind of disrespect lying down.
"Don't be rash!" Shen Wushuang moved forward, intending to have a proper conversation.
But Chen Shu was already one step ahead. He burst into a sprint, blew right past the guards at the gate, and forced his way through the school entrance.
"Eat my foot, asshole!"
Chen Shu launched himself into the air, driving a kick straight into the man's back.
BAM!
The man was caught completely off guard. He never could have imagined someone would be this unhinged.
His body lurched forward, sent flying several meters before crashing to the ground in a heap.
The guards at the entrance stood frozen, staring at the scene before them.
The senior year's Director just got dropkicked by this kid?!
"ALERT! ALERT! THERE'S AN INTRUDER ON CAMPUS!!"