My career aspirations have come true.

Chapter 10 Dark Horse

"The assessment isn't over yet, so focus on your work. We'll talk more when we get back."

Although he felt much more relaxed, Pan De still coughed lightly and lowered his voice to remind Fang Yuxing and the others beside him, out of consideration for their feelings.

The examiners all suppressed their smiles, but their eyes still betrayed a hint of indifference.

In their view, the highlight of the assessment had already ended with the appearance of Pei Xuan, Tang Wangshu and the others. Could there be another promising student among the remaining students?

"Qiao Fan, number 99, step forward for the assessment."

......

"Number 100, He Gang, step forward for the assessment."

......

"Lin Ze, number 101, step forward for the assessment."

"Lin Ze, keep it up!"

Liu Hao clenched his fist and waved it loudly at his friend's back, drawing the attention of those around him.

Lin Ze nodded calmly and walked steadily towards the center of the field.

Most students only glanced in this direction, saw an unfamiliar face they didn't recognize, and didn't bother to pay much attention, turning back to chat with their companions.

Only a few students from Class 3, as well as Cao Jin and others who had interacted with Lin Ze, cast inquisitive glances their way.

With a flash of light, a stone fang appeared out of thin air more than ten meters away.

Lin Ze glanced at it, then turned to look at the Legion Summoner and calmly said:

"Please summon four more."

The Legion Summoner was stunned, as were Pan De and Fang Yuxing's group.

The surroundings had fallen silent at some point, and everyone stared at Lin Ze in astonishment, as if they had misheard.

Pan De was the first to come to his senses. He turned to look at Fang Yuxing beside him, his expression a mixture of amusement and confusion.

"Dean Fang, who is this student?"

Fang Yuxing frowned, racking his brains for a moment, but found he had no recollection of the name Lin Ze. He could only turn his gaze to the group of teachers behind him and ask in a deep voice, "Whose class is this student?"

Wang Song steeled himself and stepped forward, replying, "Dean, Lin Ze is in my class."

Fang Yuxing asked calmly, "How does he usually behave?"

Wang Song looked somewhat embarrassed and mumbled, "It's alright, but ten days ago, Lin Ze hadn't successfully changed jobs yet."

Upon hearing this, everyone present immediately understood.

It turns out he was a newbie who had just switched jobs not long ago!

Several legion examiners immediately frowned, their eyes flashing with obvious dissatisfaction.

Tang Wangshu, Pei Xuan, and Zhuang Yi, those top students in the academy, only dared to challenge the three-headed stone fangs during the assessment. Where did a student who had only just touched the threshold of becoming a professional get the confidence and audacity to challenge five stone fangs at the same time?

This isn't the way to try and attract attention!

Pan De wasn't angry; he looked Lin Ze over with interest.

The young man in front of me stood tall and straight, his expression calm and composed, his gaze calm and steady. He showed neither impulsive and reckless impetuosity nor pretentious ostentation. Instead, he seemed to have a real sense of self-confidence.

"Lin Ze, are you sure you want to challenge all five Stone Fangs at the same time?" Pan De asked again to confirm.

"Yes." Lin Ze remained as nonchalant as ever.

Seeing this, Pande gave him a deep look, then nodded slightly to the Legion Summoner.

Seeing that the captain had agreed, the Legion Summoner didn't say anything more, raised his hand and summoned four stone fangs again.

The surrounding students, witnessing this scene, immediately erupted in uproar.

"Seriously? We're really going to have to challenge all five stone monsters at once?"

"Who is this person? He looks completely unfamiliar. Is he really that strong?"

"Strong my ass, I know him, he's Lin Ze from Class 3, probably just transferred not long ago."

"How dare he? Is he desperate for fame?"

Doubt, curiosity, disdain, sarcasm... In an instant, countless eyes were focused on Lin Ze.

In the crowd, Tang Wangshu frowned slightly, and for the first time, a clear look of inquiry appeared in her cool eyes. She and Zhuang Yi cast scrutinizing glances at Lin Ze.

Pei Xuan scoffed, a disdainful smile curving his lips.

He, a dignified Level 2 Magic Gunner, only dared to challenge the Three-Headed Stone Fang. Where did this guy named Lin Ze get the confidence to challenge something even more difficult?

That's utterly overestimating themselves!

Lin Ze paid no attention to the surrounding discussions and gazes. His right hand slowly rested on the hilt of his sword at his waist, while his left hand lightly touched the blade. His body leaned slightly forward, his waist and back like a fully drawn bowstring, and a restrained sharpness quietly emanated from him.

Upon seeing this starting stance, Pan De was taken aback, feeling that the posture looked somewhat familiar. However, before he could think about it further, the battle on the field had already broken out.

The five stone fangs roared simultaneously, rushing in from all directions with a strong wind. Their thick claws made a sharp sound as they tore through the air, and they were about to completely engulf Lin Ze's figure.

But in the next instant, a cold silver light suddenly burst forth!

Fast! Extremely fast!

Before anyone could even see the trajectory of the sword, the silver light precisely grazed the neck of the stone fang on the far left.

Without a sound, the hideous head separated from the body, crashed to the ground with a thud, and rolled a long way away.

The silver light paused only slightly before tracing a strange and cunning arc, clinging to the second stone fang like a persistent, invasive disease.

laugh!

With another soft sound, the second head flew off.

Only then did the claws of the other three stone fangs barely touch the hem of Lin Ze's clothes.

But Lin Ze simply twisted his waist and slightly shifted his feet, and like a ghost, he nimbly slipped through the gap between the two sharp claws.

Both their reaction speed and agile movements were so fast that it was impossible for anyone to even blink.

In the instant they brushed past each other, Lin Ze flicked his wrist, and the sword light flashed like lightning, severing the head and body of the third stone fang.

It wasn't until his head slammed to the ground with a loud thud that the crowd snapped back to reality, their gasps of surprise echoing like a boiling pot, instantly reverberating throughout the square.

"Such a fast sword! What kind of skill is that?"

"He took down three stone fangs in a single exchange! Wow, that's incredible!"

"You call this a newbie who just changed jobs?!"

Exclamations of amazement rose and fell; the previous sarcasm and disdain had vanished, replaced by overwhelming shock and disbelief.

Tang Wangshu and Pei Xuan stared wide-eyed, their faces filled with undisguised astonishment.

Zhuang Yi stood frozen in place, his eyes filled with disbelief.

The teachers and examiners were equally surprised.

Fang Yuxing suddenly turned to look at Wang Song, his eyes almost overflowing with questioning—this is what you call recently changing jobs? You must be joking with me!

Wang Song was completely bewildered at the moment, and although he opened his mouth for a long time, he couldn't utter a single word.

He genuinely didn't know how Lin Ze, who was just recently worried about changing jobs, had suddenly become so strong.

Pande observed all of this, vaguely guessing what was going on, and said with a smile:

"Congratulations, Dean Fang! Your college has produced another promising talent."

"A level 2 sword spirit who has mastered the Draw Sword Slash, this strength is more than enough to rank in the top three among this year's graduates from the seven academies."

Fang Yuxing snapped out of his daze and quickly exchanged a few polite words with a smile, though he couldn't hide the smile on his face.

I thought Tang Wangshu and the other two had already performed quite well, but I didn't expect Lin Ze to come along and be even more formidable.

This surprise came so unexpectedly!

The Second Academy's performance this year far exceeded expectations, and as the dean, he was able to benefit from it and receive commendation from above.

In the short time it took for the two to exchange a few words, the battle on the field had already come to an end.

Lin Ze flicked his wrist, and the sword returned to its sheath with a crisp, light sound.

The corpses of the last two stone fangs crashed to the ground. The whole process was smooth and effortless, as if he had only done a trivial thing, clearly far from reaching his limit.

The examiners exchanged glances and silently wrote down the scores on the scoreboard.

Without a doubt, the top graduate of the Second Academy this year is none other than the boy in front of us.

As Lin Ze turned and walked off the field, he was greeted by countless gazes filled with curiosity, amazement, and awe.

Before today, Lin Ze was virtually invisible in the entire grade, let alone famous. But no one expected that he would hide his talent so well and surprise everyone with this performance during the graduation assessment.

Liu Hao stared intently at him, his gaze as if he were examining some rare beast, and he couldn't help but reach out to tug at his face.

Lin Ze slapped his hand away and asked irritably, "What are you doing?"

Liu Hao's lips twitched, his tone full of disbelief: "Let me see if you're really Lin Ze. It's only been a few days, how come you're acting like you've unlocked a cheat code?"

Lin Ze rolled his eyes and ignored him.

Undeterred, Liu Hao leaned closer and whispered, "Lin Ze, tell me honestly, did you use some kind of magical artifact?"

Others might not know, but he certainly did; Lin Ze had indeed only recently changed jobs.

Judging from his performance today, he has clearly reached Level 2!

His strength had increased dramatically in such a short time; he couldn't think of any other possibility besides the power of a rare artifact.

Lin Ze smiled but did not answer.

We can't really say he cheated, can we?

Seeing Lin Ze's 'tacit agreement,' Liu Hao immediately understood, gave him an 'I understand' look, and wisely stopped asking questions.