Ling Chen posted another thread: "I don't believe you unless you all praise me one by one."
Netizens were grinding their teeth in frustration.
They had seen thick-skinned people before, but never anyone this utterly shameless!
Yet, in order to see him get beaten up at the provincial competition, they had no choice but to keep humoring him.
"Ling Chen is the most handsome person I've ever seen."
"Gosh, if I don't admire our junior's legendary beauty for even a single day, I can't fall asleep. My heart and soul are both itching!"
"Fly bravely, little Chen, mama will follow you forever!"
"......"
That night, many people felt like vomiting.
They had never said such conscience-searing things in their lives.
As more and more people joined in, the praises for him gradually grew increasingly absurd.
"Divine Ling lifted stones to patch the sky and sculpted humans from mud—his achievements shake the nine heavens!"
"Divine Ling shot down the suns and filled the sea; these are indelible exploits in the history of Daxia's mythology!"
"Divine Ling swept across the six states, burned books and buried scholars, and unified weights and measures—he deserves a statue!"
"Divine Ling cleaved mountains to save his mother, blessed by nature's supreme craftsmanship!"
"I heard Divine Ling retrieved the Buddhist scriptures from the West and delivered all living beings from suffering."
When Ling Chen saw these comments, he was utterly dumbfounded.
What the hell, why are all these trolls stirring up trouble here?
In the end, even the older generation couldn't stand it anymore and quickly stepped out to scold them:
"Fellow students, joking is joking, fooling around is fooling around, don't make a mockery of mythological stories."
Only then did everyone rein it in a bit.
After a fierce round of heavy flattery, they asked if Ling Chen was satisfied.
If he was satisfied, he must remember to come to the competition the day after tomorrow. The netizens wanted to get a good look at him—they missed him so much.
Ling Chen promised online that he would definitely give his family a satisfactory answer.
Only then did the netizens heave a sigh of relief, feeling that their efforts over this period had not been in vain; no matter how nauseating it was, it was worth it.
That night, the private messages of the Shaohua University contestants exploded.
Countless people sent red envelopes, begging them to thoroughly beat Ling Chen up when the time came, to make him cry and beg for mercy on his knees!
The Shaohua University contestants were wildly excited.
When had they ever enjoyed such treatment? They readily agreed, vowing that they would absolutely rough Ling Chen up.
So badly that even his own mother wouldn't recognize him!
***
Early the next morning.
Ling Chen washed his face briefly and hurried toward Haicheng University.
Meanwhile, inside the faculty meeting room at Haicheng University, a meeting regarding the provincial competition was underway.
Cheng Boyuan flipped through the compiled documents in his hand and said with a solemn expression, "This matter is a bit complicated. I'll try to keep it brief, but it's a long story."
The teachers: ......
"Principal, if you can't bring yourself to say it, just sum it up in a couple of sentences." A male teacher ventured to speak up.
Cheng Boyuan sighed and slowly recounted: "The Daxia Ministry of Education sent down a directive stating that if we finish at the bottom again in this competition, all our benefits and subsidies will be cancelled."
"We will also be demoted to a high school, and the students will be scattered to other universities."
As soon as these words were spoken, the meeting room fell dead silent, a low-spirited mood flowing among everyone's hearts.
They had thought of bad outcomes, but they never expected the outcome to be this severe.
Though there had been precedents in other provinces before, the teachers found it hard to accept the thought of being demoted to a high school.
First of all, their benefits and welfare being reduced was a minor issue.
The main thing was Haicheng University's students. Once reassigned to other universities, they would inevitably face ostracization and unfair treatment.
The students from that university that had been demoted to a high school previously reportedly chose to drop out because they couldn't bear the ostracism, eventually fading into the crowd—truly lamentable and sigh-worthy...
Seeing everyone looking so dejected, Cheng Boyuan let out another heavy sigh.
"Sigh..."
"The situation is just like this, but as for the specific situation, we still have to see how the situation develops."
The teachers were speechless.
They never expected the principal to have moments of such madness.
Only Qin Muwan dared to speak up: "Principal, you couldn't have caught whatever Ling Chen has, could you?"
Cheng Boyuan laughed awkwardly: "Heh heh, aren't I just trying to liven up the atmosphere? Actually, it hasn't reached the most desperate moment yet—what if we don't finish at the bottom? So we still have to see how things go."
Hearing this, everyone wore rather bitter expressions.
There were eight universities competing in the provincial competition, but every time, Haicheng University was beaten until they had no strength to parry.
The previous session was even more miserable; they were completely wiped out without even making it through the group stage.
They only had five contestants with S-grade talent or above, and their strongest was Gu Mingxuan, SS-grade, Boulder-Breaking Realm Fifth Stage.
Yet the other seven universities all possessed a trump card at the Boulder-Breaking Realm Peak.
Not to mention Shaohua University—everyone there was S-grade or above, and their strongest was an peerless genius with SSS-grade talent whom even the state had to humor!
The higher the talent, the faster the cultivation speed, and the greater the power unleashed by martial arts techniques.
Therefore, talent was also a manifestation of combat strength.
"Sigh, after this time, I'm afraid even if we want to lose face, we won't even have the face left to lose." A female teacher lamented.
Cheng Boyuan picked up the thread of the conversation: "No matter what, let's treat this competition as our last, leave no regrets, and fight with distinction."
With that, he waved his hand, signaling the end of the meeting.
***
When Ling Chen arrived at Haicheng University, he didn't use the main entrance; instead, he scaled the wall to get in.
Because he didn't want to bicker with the security guards.
Those guards at the gate were old men in their sixties and seventies, and he was afraid he might accidentally tick them off so much they'd drop dead.
Upholding the virtue of respecting the elderly and cherishing the young, he chose to bypass them.
Students came and went across the campus, but none of them recognized him.
In the garden by the lake.
Bai Youxia and Jin Moyan sat quietly at a stone table, flipping through cultivation techniques and martial arts manuals to prepare for tomorrow's competition.
Both of them were extremely attractive, and as their fingers turned the pages, they looked just like a breathtaking painting, drawing wave after wave of gasps of admiration from the surrounding male students.
"Two senior female students, you really look like gorillas when you study."
Ling Chen walked up behind them and spoke.
Bai Youxia frowned; upon hearing this voice, she knew the nuisance had arrived.
[Rage +1]
"Yo, you're still not dead yet? Why are you acting like a savage?" She turned her head and bantered.
Jin Moyan wasn't angry at all.
After looking Ling Chen up and down, she asked with considerable curiosity, "Why do we look like gorillas? Are you saying we're ugly?"
Ling Chen shook his head like a rattle-drum: "No, senior sisters are very pretty. It's because gorillas are the quietest animals, so I was indirectly praising you for being very ladylike."
Hearing this, the confusion on Jin Moyan's face deepened.
Just as she was about to open her mouth to ask, Bai Youxia hurriedly stopped her: "Don't pay attention to him, this bastard is full of bad intentions."
"Pfft, I'm not that kind of person." Ling Chen looked completely innocent.
Jin Moyan refused to let it go and asked, unable to hold back: "Junior, shouldn't the quietest animal be the sloth? Why a gorilla?"
Ling Chen put his hands behind his back and said with a solemn expression: "Because when gorillas get angry, they act sneaky (knock quietly)."