35: Chapter 35 Ye Shao's performance was truly spectacular!

The team members all looked jubilant.

Ye Wenjie, surrounded in the center, wore an expression of supreme confidence.

"Everyone, take a guess. What rank do you think we'll hit on the leaderboard this time?"

One of the team members said loudly, looking proud.

"With our 25-minute clear time, we should at least break into the top ten for this year, right?"

Another shook his head.

"I feel like it'll be even higher. The people from other academies don't have weapons as powerful as Brother Jie's, so their damage output will definitely be a notch lower. I'm guessing the top five!"

At the mention of weapons, Ye Wenjie's expression turned slightly unnatural.

But he quickly recovered.

Instead, he shot a provocative look at Zhang Jian.

"Hmph. Using your weapon to set a record you wouldn't even dare to imagine..."

"That feeling is just too satisfying!"

He glanced back at his teammates, feigning dissatisfaction.

"As our academy's seed team, how can you set your sights so low?"

"Even if we rank first among the current graduates, that's nothing to boast about."

"Our goal should be the all-time ranking in Jin City!"

The other four looked at him with awe and admiration.

"As expected of Brother Jie! Your ambition is just on a different level!"

"Brother Jie is awesome! In that case, we should be able to break into the top fifty all-time, right?"

The group stood before the light screen and navigated directly to the 30th to 50th ranking range.

As it turned out, they found Ye Wenjie's name in 48th place.

"Third among the current graduates, and top fifty in Jin City's history!"

"This result is incredible!"

Ye Wenjie feigned a nonchalant expression.

"There's still plenty of room for improvement, though."

"I suspect the top two graduates just cleared it earlier than us, and they might have already used up all their attempts."

"For our next two attempts, we need to analyze our mistakes, strive for perfection, and aim to take first place for this year and crack the all-time top thirty!"

"Right! Let's work together and take first place!"

The five of them put on this little show, expecting to see looks of admiration and respect from their classmates.

But as they looked around, everyone's expression seemed rather strange.

Some were curling their lips.

Some were frowning.

And others seemed to be holding back laughter?

Ye Wenjie's face darkened.

"What's the matter? Do you all have a problem with us?"

A student who usually didn't get along with Ye Wenjie deliberately called out in a loud voice.

"Young Master Ye, that performance of yours got our blood pumping—we're almost in tears."

"The spectacle was every bit as good as that new movie that came out a few days ago."

"But before you start bragging, could you maybe take a look at the leaderboard first?"

Anger flared in Ye Wenjie's heart.

"Huang Wentian, what's with the sarcasm?"

"Do you have the ability to crack the all-time top 100?"

"Isn't it my name and our team on the leaderboard?"

The other four nodded in unison and glared at Huang Wentian.

The other party didn't care at all, instead laughing mockingly.

"It seems our Young Master Ye's eyesight isn't very good."

"Don't just look at the rankings so far down—look at the top."

Ye Wenjie looked back at the leaderboard, puzzled.

Huang Wentian continued to direct him.

"That's right, look at the very top—look at the number one spot!"

Ye Wenjie frowned. What the hell was this guy up to?

The all-time number one spot belonged to the record set by Lord Yun Feiyang. It had been twenty years, and no one had been able to break it, or even come close.

Naturally, he was far behind Lord Yun Feiyang. What was the point of trying to undermine him with that?

However, when he shifted his gaze to the very top of the leaderboard and saw a new name appearing against the golden background, his eyes froze.

"Zhang... Jian?" What kind of joke was this!

His mind went completely blank. Zhang Jian had taken first place on the dungeon leaderboard?

He turned his head and looked around, wanting to confirm if he had been hit by some illusion skill. How else could he be experiencing something so bizarre?

But when he saw the expressions of the others, his heart sank. Damn it, it seemed to be real!

Zhang Jian, the person he had always looked down on, had actually cleared the dungeon at a speed far faster than his own.

And looking at the time, it was simply incomprehensibly fast.

Even if he improved his strength further and maxed out his two excellence-level and one rare-level skills, and replaced all his equipment with top-tier, growth-type gear like the endless devourer, he still wouldn't dare claim he could finish in under 10 minutes.

Yet Zhang Jian's time was 3 minutes and 11 seconds!

He felt a deep sense of powerlessness. This result was just absurd—how did he do it?

Unless... the two of them hadn't stopped for even a second after entering the dungeon, rounding up all the monsters and wiping them out with a few skills.

But at their current stage, even for a Divine-Grade class, even with full excellence-level or even legendary gear, that would be nearly impossible, right?

The more Ye Wenjie thought about it, the more unbelievable it seemed. He pushed his imagination to the limit, only to realize that even he couldn't achieve such a result.

His four teammates were also completely dumbfounded.

So we'd been showing off here for ages, and everyone had just been treating us like a joke?

If our names aren't on the marquee at the circus, would anyone even bother to watch?

Their scalps tingled, and they were on the verge of a breakdown. They felt that even if there were a crack in the ground, it wouldn't be enough to hide their shame and embarrassment.

Wang Fei, who had just walked over, was seething with anger and didn't give them a pleasant look.

"Didn't you just say we couldn't even clear the dungeon?"

"Or is the dungeon leaderboard ranked by who's slower now? Is a 25-minute clear time somehow faster than a 3-minute one?"

His words instantly triggered a roar of laughter.

Some students who had questioned their strength lowered their heads, their faces turning bright red, still grumbling inwardly.

"You two experts, since you're so strong, what's the point of toying with us?"

Another group, completely won over by this result, began to shout aloud.

"Brother Jian is awesome! Brother Fei is awesome! We were blind and failed to recognize the true Dragon!"

"Brother Jian and Brother Fei are the undisputed strongest of our year! They are the pride of our Jincheng Vocational Trainee Academy!"

Under the gaze of everyone, Ye Wenjie had no choice but to speak up.

"It was me who overestimated myself. You guys are the real deal!"

With that, he suppressed his flushed face, took his four teammates, and hurried away from the scene.

The plan had changed; there were monsters here.

He prepared to go home and find his old man to upgrade his gear.

A 25-minute clear time was simply unworthy of his status as Jin City's second... no, third-best!

Even if he couldn't match their 3-minute record, if he upgraded his gear, he should at least be able to get under 10 minutes.

Otherwise, when people from other places talked about it, they'd say, "That place called Jin City? Only Zhang Jian and Wang Fei are any good; the rest are just a bunch of nobodies." He absolutely would not allow such rumors!

Ye Wenjie left, and the excitement died down significantly. Wang Fei's anger had dissipated, and he felt a bit listless.

"Brother Jian, what should we do next?"

Zhang Jian waved his hand. "Since we're free, independent candidates now, let's go and set our real record."

Wang Fei's eyes lit up with excitement. "Are we going to completely conquer the Abandoned Furnace dungeon?"

Zhang Jian nodded, then shook his head.

"Conquer it, yes."

"But we still need to make some preparations first."