40: Chapter 40 Invitation to the City-Level Competition

Jiang Xun's voice, transmitted through the Divine Kingdom Terminal, echoed clearly in every corner of the viewing hall.

A hum.

The entire hall suddenly erupted in commotion.

Everyone, previously immersed in that unbelievable, crushing battle, was suddenly jolted awake by Jiang Xun's words.

"That's right, there was still the wager!"

This assessment wasn't just an assessment; it was a gamble to decide who, Brother Feng or Jiang Xun, would be kicked out of the Key Class!

Furthermore, Jiang Xun had added another condition!

If he won, Brother Feng and his group had to publicly bow and apologize to Lin Hao, whom they had bullied!

Swish!

Everyone's gaze turned in unison toward Teacher Wu Jingguo, the homeroom teacher standing by the podium, his face pale, and toward Brother Feng and his group, who had just been forcibly transmitted out of the virtual battlefield and were still unsteady on their feet.

Teacher Wu Jingguo's facial muscles twitched, and sweat broke out on his forehead.

He never expected this outcome.

The sure-kill trap he had designed had been crushed head-on by Jiang Xun in a way he couldn't comprehend at all.

He opened his mouth and squeezed out a smile that looked worse than crying.

"Ahem, Student Jiang Xun, this... everyone is a classmate, you see, the assessment is over, and Brother Feng and the others have already learned their lesson..."

"How about we just let this matter go? Let's get along well in the future!"

He wanted to smooth things over.

In such a public setting, to make Brother Feng and his group of arrogant elites, all of whom had family backgrounds, bow and apologize to a D-rank talent "trash"?

This wouldn't just be a slap in the face to Brother Feng and his group, but also to him as their homeroom teacher, and even the entire school's administration!

Jiang Xun looked at him, his expression unchanged, and he calmly repeated himself.

"Teacher Wu Jingguo, the wager was witnessed by you personally."

"It's written in black and white, and the whole class knows it. Are you trying to go back on your word?"

Teacher Wu Jingguo's smile froze on his face.

Go back on his word?

He didn't dare.

Now, with the whole class watching, the crushing power Jiang Xun had just displayed—a power that almost created a new species—had completely stunned everyone.

Anyone who stood on the opposite side of Jiang Xun right now would be a fool.

"That's right! If you bet, you have to accept the loss! Why should it be let go?"

"Exactly! How did Brother Feng and his group bully Lin Hao before? Now that they've lost, they want to welch on the debt?"

In the crowd, someone shouted first, immediately drawing a chorus of agreement.

They were fence-sitters, leaning whichever way the wind blew.

And right now, Jiang Xun was that strongest east wind.

Teacher Wu Jingguo's face turned red, then white, then blue, and finally, he could only look at Brother Feng for help.

Brother Feng's expression was even worse than his.

He stared fixedly at Jiang Xun, his fists clenched so tight they turned white, his nails digging into his palms.

He admitted he had lost.

But to make him apologize to Lin Hao, the trash he had always viewed as an ant?

That humiliation was worse than death.

"Jiang Xun, don't go too far!" Zhao Yu shouted from the side, trying to sound tough but failing.

Jiang Xun didn't even look at him, his gaze remaining locked on Brother Feng.

"I'm going too far?"

"When the dozen of you were cornering Lin Hao alone, stealing his resources, slaughtering his followers, and trying to destroy his divine kingdom, why didn't you say you were going too far?"

"Now, I'm just asking you to apologize."

"Or are you saying that your dignity is dignity, while others' dignity deserves to be trampled under your feet?"

Every one of Jiang Xun's words was like a resounding slap across the faces of Brother Feng and his group.

In the hall, a thin, frail figure was trembling violently in the crowd.

It was Lin Hao.

His eyes were red, he was biting his lip hard, and tears were swirling in his eyes.

He had never imagined that one day he would see this group of high-and-mighty elites pay the price for bullying him.

Brother Feng felt the burning gazes around him—some mocking, some gleeful, some pitying.

He knew that if he didn't apologize today, he would never be able to hold his head up in the Key Class again.

He took a deep breath, as if using all his strength, and finally squeezed a few words through his teeth.

"Fine... I apologize."

After saying this, like a puppet whose bones had been removed, he walked step by step toward Lin Hao in the crowd.

Zhao Yu, Sun Miao, and the others, their faces ashen, followed behind him.

They walked up to Lin Hao.

Brother Feng raised his head, looking at the youth he had once bullied at will, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

Finally, he slowly bent his arrogant waist.

"I'm sorry."

Zhao Yu and the others behind him also lowered their heads in humiliation.

"I'm sorry!"

The voice wasn't loud, but it sounded like a thunderclap in everyone's heart.

Lin Hao could no longer hold it back, and tears poured down like a broken dam.

He wasn't crying because of the apology, but because his trampled dignity had finally been picked up by someone, upright and fair.

He suddenly raised his head, looked at the calm figure standing in the distance, and used all his strength to bow deeply.

This bow was worth more than a thousand words.

The storm had ended.

After Teacher Wu Jingguo announced the assessment results, he was the first to run away, looking dejected.

But the people in the hall didn't disperse.

Those who had previously been Brother Feng's lackeys were now staying away from him as if he were a plague god.

Instead, a few people hesitated for a long time before working up the courage to walk up to Jiang Xun.

The leading boy, who was one of the members from the previous team battle, spoke with a look of awe and a hint of longing.

"Jiang Xun... classmate, that undead of yours... how could it use a musket?"

Jiang Xun glanced at him.

"Just a small technique of civilization integration."

"Integration?"

The eyes of those few students lit up.

"This... can you teach it? We can pay Faith Points! Or trade resources for it!"

For deities, the conflict between different civilization systems is a law of the Heavenly Dao, an insurmountable chasm.

And Jiang Xun had broken this law!

What this represented was self-evident.

Jiang Xun didn't answer directly, instead scanning the students around him who were pricking up their ears to listen, and spoke calmly.

"I don't run tutoring classes."

The eyes of the crowd dimmed instantly.

"However," Jiang Xun changed the subject, "the Civilization Mutual Aid Association does welcome those who genuinely want to become stronger and are willing to abide by the rules."

"If everyone's goal is the rise of the human race, then sharing knowledge is not out of the question."

He didn't hold anything back.

The strength of one person is not true strength; only the strength of a group can change the world.

This was his original intention for founding the Civilization Mutual Aid Association.

In an instant, the entire hall was boiling with excitement!

The elites who had previously been disdainful of Jiang Xun were now scrambling to crowd around him, asking how to join the Civilization Mutual Aid Association.

Jiang Xun's status in the Key Class was completely reversed at this moment.

From an ostracized intruder, he had become a leader that everyone wanted to follow.

Xu Qingran stood not far away, watching Jiang Xun surrounded by the crowd, a genuine smile lifting the corners of her mouth.

She just knew that this man was different from the others.

...

After shaking off the enthusiastic classmates, Jiang Xun returned to his dormitory.

He opened his Divine Kingdom Terminal, where there were two unread messages.

The first was an official email from the Jiangcheng Education Bureau.

[Student Jiang Xun, congratulations on your excellent performance in the Jiangcheng No. 3 High School monthly assessment. The judging committee has unanimously decided to invite you to represent our city in the 'Jiangnan Province Elite Preliminaries' to be held in half a month. We hope you will attend on time.]

A sharp glint flashed in Jiang Xun's eyes.

A bigger stage had finally arrived.

He opened the second message.

The sender was Old Ghost, and the content was encrypted, containing only a few words.

[Beware of the Li family. Director Li Jianguo has already used his power in the Deity Administration Bureau; he wants you dead at the preliminaries.]