Rags to Riches: The Rise of a Dual-Talent Prodigy
Chapter 44: The Principal Cracked

Chapter 44: Chapter 44: The Principal Cracked

He glanced at the student standing in front of him, then at his VVVIP front seat.

Principal: ???

What?

What’s the point of buying this VVVIP front seat?

Was it just for the sound of it?!

The principal couldn’t help but grab a student and ask, "Classmate, how much are your regular tickets?"

The student replied, "50."

Principal: ...

The principal was floored.

He opened his fingers to calculate, and finally slapped himself twice on the mouth, right on the spot.

You cheeky mouth, you cheeky mouth, why did you ask about the regular ticket price?

Not knowing might let you feign ignorance, but knowing that is enough to make you spit blood from anger!

Uncle Sun couldn’t hold back and laughed out loud. He patted the principal on the shoulder, saying meaningfully, "I think I know why you’ve lost money."

The "once again defeated" principal: ...

On the side, Chen Tong and Chen Miaomiao, who heard the ticket price, also looked very displeased. Clearly, they understood they had been conned, especially Chen Tong, almost wanting to rush to the square and strangle Qian Qi.

Her love for money! Obsessed with money! Why even trick him out of 200 bucks!

It’s not the heartache for that trivial amount of Little Qian, but being repeatedly conned by Qian Qi feels like having both a fly and a bitter aloes in the throat—disgusting and unbearably bitter.

Especially since he still hasn’t gotten Qian Qi’s Light Brain, the whole person is like a powder keg ready to explode.

Yet, he has to pray that Qian Qi doesn’t die here.

Otherwise, he would lose his purchasing channel!

On the square.

Qian Qi swallowed the Defense Fruit and sprinted towards the Bear Iron Beast.

This Bear Iron Beast was not in its adult state. An adult Bear Iron Beast could grow at least 6 to 7 meters tall, while this Bear Iron Beast was only about 3 meters, obviously in its youthful stage.

Its fists, elbows, and knees were all covered in hard and heavy grayish stone scales, thicker than those on a normal adult bear’s sturdy body. Dark blue fur was tightly clumped together, forming a sturdy Defense Armor, while its bloodshot beast eyes stared at Qian Qi, reflecting an intense ferocity unique to a Magic Beast. Its massive bear-shaped head was piled with layers of ugly flesh folds, evoking human fear of Magic Beasts.

Students in the stands held onto the railings tightly, nervously watching Qian Qi, who appeared tiny like a soybean next to the Bear Iron Beast.

"She actually dares to charge straight ahead!"

"I heard she’s an ordinary person? An ordinary person with no Awakened Skills?"

"Isn’t she a student of the Magic Plant Department? If she really had Awakened Skills, why choose such a niche, despised major?"

"Damn it, what’s she doing?"

Someone exclaimed, and following the voice, everyone saw Qian Qi suddenly brake and stop right in front of the nearly three-meter-tall Bear Iron Beast.

She dug into her pocket.

She pulled out a middle finger.

Everyone: ???

"Come here—!" Qian Qi arrogantly issued a challenge.

The Bear Iron Beast’s face sank as it was clearly provoked by the insulting gesture. Before the Beast Master could give orders, it roared at the sky, and its several hundred pounds heavy fist smashed towards the ground fiercely.

In an instant, with the Bear Iron Beast’s fist as the starting point, a giant six zhang-wide earth element-enriched soil spike erupted from the square ground, directly emerging from beneath Qian Qi, the massive sharp soil spike aggressively attacked Qian Qi.

Everyone held their breath, not daring to blink, and in the next second, they watched Qian Qi "biu~" fly off into the horizon.

Everyone: ???

They watched in disbelief as Qian Qi "whoosh~" was carried by the soil spike out of the square and gradually turned into a black dot that disappeared.

"Is it...over?"

"D-level Magic Beast, terrifying!"

"Can she still survive? Wasn’t it said the Defense Fruit can defend against damage? Was it a fraud?"

Everyone stared at the visually shocking, almost square-occupying soil spike, swallowed hard, and felt cowardly.

Can they really enter D-level instances when they graduate?

D-level Magic Beast, so frightening.

"No wonder those Awakeners out there only tackle E-level instances... I used to call them cowards..."

"Even if Wang Qinghe, who has D-level skills, might not be able to withstand three attacks..."

"If D-level is like this, let alone C-level and B-level... Do humans even have a future?"

Some students couldn’t help but voice their doubts. Yet to enter society, university students didn’t have the ability to answer this question. They all turned to look behind them at the principal, hoping he’d provide an answer.

"Principal, will we really be able to bring new hope to humans when we graduate?"

Will they end up like the Awakeners outside, blending into the masses?

The principal was momentarily speechless. He was most aware of the instance’s current status. Letting these kids enter instances over E-level was akin to sending them to their deaths.

But he couldn’t say it.

After a moment of silence, the principal stood up and said in a deep voice, "Even if we can’t bring new hope, we must transmit hope onward."

The students couldn’t help but tear up.

They heard the underlying message.

Their power was indeed too weak. Although the number of E-level Awakeners far exceeded other levels, in the face of vast numbers of ordinary people, they were still just a drop in the ocean.

And the number of Awakeners was far less than the number of instances, not to mention the countless Demons inside.

How could they battle with two fists against four hands in the instance?

Some thought entering the Awakener University meant boundless prospects, but in truth, it was just wearing Kong Yiji’s robe—appealing on the surface, but moving forward proved difficult.

They couldn’t protect the majority, sometimes, not even their own families.

But there was no choice.

Apart from frequent combat practice and killing instance Demon Bosses for a trace of power, only Beast Masters who contract Magic Beasts can acquire more Awakened Skills.

After that, there’s no other way to make humans stronger.

Like the destined doom of mankind, the world is stingy in offering humans a bit of help.

They can only stop here.

The atmosphere at the scene turned gloomy and downcast. The principal looked at the students who lost their fighting spirit, feeling a moment of pain and helplessness.

But there’s nothing he can do. It’s a reality they all have to face sooner or later.

This world, prosperous on the surface, has long started to decay and rot inside.

No one can find a correct path to lead humans forward out of this gray fog, maybe from the start, humans took a wrong turn, and it went wrong again and again.

Even the principal himself is lost.

But right then.

A loud and crispy voice, like a heaven-breaking giant axe, suddenly cut through the desolate sky, shedding a ray of blinding light.

"I’ve come back, Qian Hansan—"

Everyone turned back, astonished. That voice, like a savior, rapidly approached from afar, and under thousands of gazes, Qian Qi pedaled a shabby bike, "clack-clack" towards the center of the square.

"Hey buddy, can you exercise some military virtue please? Blasting me that far, coming back really took a lot of effort!"

"Look! Half of the 10-minute time has already passed! I still wanted to show my audience more about the impressive Defense Fruit!"

Qian Qi cursed while pedaling that shabby bike, yet her whole body was surprisingly unscathed!