10: Chapter 10 This battle, I won.

Outside the Resource Building, it was already packed solid.

The pillar of red light from the No. 9 Abandoned Well still hung in mid-air, like a slap in the face, leaving the entire Qinglan No. 3 Middle School unable to quiet down.

Those who had previously gathered in front of the light screen to watch the joke were now all crowding in front of the settlement counter, standing on tiptoes, craning their necks, and vying to see the node crystal screen that was constantly refreshing.

[Current Occupant of No. 9 Abandoned Well: Lu Jin]

This line of text brightened again and again, as if deliberately lingering in front of everyone's eyes for a few extra moments.

"He actually took it down..."

"Lu Chengyan went in with the sacrificial flag!"

"Isn't the No. 9 Abandoned Well a D-grade dead zone? How did his group of Gray-tailed Burrowing Rats manage to hold it?"

Waves of noise surged outward.

The expressions of the teachers on the high platform were not good. People from the Resource Department, Training Department, and Proctoring Office had all arrived; even the Chief Proctor Mirror, which usually only appeared on the day of the Unified Exam, had been temporarily raised.

The silver-white mirror floated into mid-air, its surface turning to freeze on the final scene of the No. 9 Abandoned Well.

A damaged altar. A black furnace burning with fire. A swarm of rats surrounding it. And Lu Jin, standing in the center of the altar, covered in dust and blood.

When the main entrance of the Resource Building was pushed open, all eyes turned at once.

Lu Jin walked in.

His school uniform was torn in several places, his cuffs were still stained with undried gray blood, and his face was pale, yet his gait was steady. That steadiness made people subconsciously shut their mouths, as if he hadn't just crawled out of a resource battle, but had walked along a path he had calculated long ago.

Lu Jingyao stood at the settlement counter, turning to look at him, the fire in his eyes darkening to black.

"Just in time."

He raised his hand and pressed it against the edge of the settlement counter; his voice wasn't loud, but the entire hall heard it clearly.

"Settlement for the No. 9 Abandoned Well is suspended."

As soon as these words fell, the surroundings instantly went quiet.

A teacher from the Resource Department frowned: "Jingyao, this is the school settlement counter."

Lu Jingyao's expression remained unchanged.

"I am only reminding you of one thing. In the No. 9 Abandoned Well battlefield, there was an unregistered sacrificial vessel fluctuation, and the combat process was abnormal. According to school rules, when an abnormal battle vessel intervenes in a node dispute, rewards can be temporarily sealed pending review."

As his voice fell, many people around immediately reacted.

That's right. That black furnace. That strange wave of fire. Everyone saw it on the light screen.

Some people gasped in low voices, some changed expressions slightly, and others had eyes that lit up, as if they had finally grabbed another chance to turn the tables.

Lu Jingyao stared at Lu Jin, slowly curling his lips.

"You occupied the resource point, but that doesn't mean the settlement necessarily belongs to you."

"Some things, you might be able to win, but you might not be able to take away."

Lu Jin walked to the counter, stopped, and looked at him. "Are you done?"

Lu Jingyao narrowed his eyes: "You still want to explain?"

"There's no need to explain." Lu Jin raised his hand and pointed at the Proctoring Mirror suspended in mid-air. "Play the complete record."

The sentence was incredibly crisp and decisive.

Lu Jingyao sneered: "Do you think playing the record will clean your name?"

Lu Jin looked at him, his voice as flat as ice. "I don't intend to clean anything." "I won the battle, why would I need to?"

The hall felt as if it had been emptied for a moment, so quiet that even the sound of breathing could be heard.

The fire in Lu Jingyao's eyes flared up: "You..."

"Pull up the record." Lu Jin interrupted directly, "Start playing from when the node opened."

The thin, tall teacher from the Resource Department instinctively looked toward the Proctoring Office. The proctor hesitated for a moment, then raised a hand to form a seal.

The Chief Proctor Mirror hummed, and the mirror surface began to cycle again. A cold, mechanical voice sounded first.

[No. 9 Abandoned Well node dispute initiated] [Current contenders: Lu Jin, Lu Chengyan]

A flurry of murmurs broke out all around. Lu Jingyao's expression stiffened slightly.

The mirror continued to cycle. Lu Chengyan held the sacrificial flag as he pressed into the mine. The Flame-patterned Servants lined up and advanced. Liquid fire paved the way, and barrier-breaking stakes were driven into the ground.

Further on, it showed the entire mine tunnel being dragged into a trap bit by bit. Collapses, counter-tunneling, bone spikes, and swarms of Ambush Rats rushing out in droves from beneath the gray layer; finally, the sacrificial flag snapped, and the node acknowledged its master.

The image paused at the end. [Current Occupant of No. 9 Abandoned Well: Lu Jin]

Above the mirror, the red text remained frozen, shining blindingly bright.

The Resource Department teacher finished watching and spoke in a deep voice: "The identities of the contenders are clear, the record of the point occupation is clear, and the node's acknowledgment of the master is clear. According to school rules, the current winner of the No. 9 Abandoned Well is indeed Lu Jin."

Lu Jingyao's face darkened. "I was talking about the abnormal battle vessel."

"Then let's investigate it together." Lu Jin finally looked up, facing him directly. "Start investigating from my Divine Domain, and also from your people."

"Lu Chengyan brought the sacrificial flag to press into my mine ahead of time, and Lu Chuanze led the vanguard to scout the field first; the mirror also recorded these images."

"If you want to request a review, I'll accompany you." "Premature intrusion, malicious clearing of people, and illegal occupation of the field—let's read these three points out one by one first."

His voice wasn't heavy, but every word was pressed down with extreme steadiness. "If you want to use the rules, use them all." "Don't just pick the half-page that benefits you."

When these words fell, the expressions of many teachers in front of the settlement counter changed.

Prematurely intruding into a Divine Domain is a heavily penalized offense in school resource disputes. Usually, everyone turns a blind eye, simply because it's hard to catch evidence of such things. Now that the Proctoring Mirror has recorded everything, if Lu Jingyao wants to withhold Lu Jin's rewards, he has to send his own people up for punishment too.

Lu Jingyao stared at him, his knuckles tightening bit by bit.

Just then, a commotion suddenly came from the back of the crowd. "Make way! Make way!"

Lu Chengyan was helped in by two people. Half of his face was swollen and bruised, his leg was wrapped in hemostatic cloth, most of the bone armor on his chest was missing, and he was clutching a broken half of a flagpole. He looked incredibly disheveled, with none of the imposing air he had when he entered the mine.

The entire hall became even quieter. Lu Chengyan looked up, saw Lu Jingyao, his lips moved, and finally he only squeezed out one sentence: "I lost."

The three short words were like a hammer blow that killed all hope. The smile on Lu Jingyao's face vanished completely.

Lu Jin looked at him, his tone still flat. "The resource point, I have taken it." "The proctoring record is also here." "Do you still want to drag this out?"

Behind the settlement counter, Han Zheng, the director of the Training Department, pushed up his glasses, looked at Lu Jin with a complex expression, and finally spoke: "According to school rules, settlement is on the spot."

The thin, tall Resource Department teacher immediately straightened up, took a black and silver resource box from behind the counter, and brought out a new qualification badge.

He placed the items on the counter, his voice far more solemn than when he first met Lu Jin.

"Winner of the No. 9 Abandoned Well node, Lu Jin." "Resource rewards: one primary resource package, containing three vials of basic divine liquid, one Domain Stabilization Card, fifty Faith Crystals, two boxes of Gray Wheat feed powder, and one low-tier mineral material package."

"Unified Exam preliminary qualification, confirmed." "School public recommendation quota, confirmed."

When the last two "confirmed"s fell, the Resource Building exploded like a pot of boiling water.

"They even gave the public recommendation?" "Even though No. 9 Abandoned Well is D-grade, the winner still gets on the Unified Exam list!" "Yesterday it was still a waste domain, today he directly got the preliminary qualification; this is too fast..."

The few people who had laughed the loudest earlier didn't even dare to raise their heads now.

The resource package was right in front of him. The black and silver box lid was engraved with the school's seal, and the edges of the new qualification badge were gleaming with a cold light. This was a tangible victory. No one could take it away.

Lu Jin reached out and took both the resource box and the qualification badge. His movements were small. The entire hall watched this scene, yet it felt like watching something being forcibly redirected.

Lu Jingyao stood in place, his face so dark it could almost drip water. He suddenly laughed, but that laugh was full of coldness.

"Fine." "The No. 9 Abandoned Well is yours." "In the Unified Exam, you'd better be able to hold onto it."

Lu Jin pressed the qualification badge into his palm and looked up at him. "You should hold onto your own face first."

As the sentence went out, the surroundings became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The fire in Lu Jingyao's eyes was almost uncontrollable.

He stared at Lu Jin for two breaths, then turned and left. Lu Chengyan supported his broken leg, lowered his head, and followed, not daring to say a single extra word.

The crowd automatically parted to make a path. This time, no one dared to laugh again.

In the corner of the high platform, a middle-aged man in a long black coat sat quietly, his fingertips lightly stroking a recording jade tablet.

Only two lines of text remained on the jade tablet. "No. 9 Abandoned Well, black furnace-style fluctuation." "Suspected remnant of an ancient sacrificial vessel."

After writing, he closed the jade tablet, his gaze lingered on Lu Jin for a breath, and then he silently retreated into the shadows.

Lin Wei stood at the edge of the crowd, watching Lu Jin, a bit of genuine brightness finally appearing in her eyes.

"Hold onto your resource package." Her voice was very soft, "Once you enter the Unified Exam, you won't be relying on luck anymore."

Lu Jin nodded: "I know."

He turned to leave. The black fragment on his chest suddenly became hot.

At the same moment, the largest main screen above the Resource Building suddenly lit up. A new announcement scrolled across the entire school.

[Qinglan City Unified Exam preliminary trial map announced] [Trial map: Collapsed Star Mining Field]

The hall went quiet at first, followed immediately by exclamations.

"Collapsed Star Mining Field?" "Why would they release that map this year!" "That place has collapsed star pits, abandoned mine clusters, and old battlefields all mixed together; how many people have died there?"

Lu Jin stopped, slowly looking up. The four words on the main screen hung coldly, like a knife buried many years ago that had finally revealed itself from the soil.

Collapsed Star Mining Field. The fragment on his chest grew hotter and hotter, as if it recognized the name. That was the place where Observer Lu Chenyuan last appeared in the federal records.