Chapter 21 : Chapter 21
Chapter 21: It Might Be Asking Too Much of the Kid
Even among combat-oriented talents, there were many different branches of aptitude for martial artists.
Some focused on defense, some on group attacks, some on single-target combat, and others on ranged or close-quarters fighting.
There were even talents that allowed one to command beasts or control weapons.
As for healing and support types, those were extremely rare.
Talents that truly leaned toward support and healing were generally life-class talents, and those people would not enter the Abyss.
At most, some combat talents carried a slight supportive aspect, but their primary function was still combat.
When forming a team, of course one had to look for martial artists who could make up for one another’s weaknesses.
For example, if an entire team consisted of ranged fighters with no melee combatants or defenders, they would definitely be at a severe disadvantage.
And when entering the Abyss, having more people was not necessarily better.
If there were too few people, they would be unable to defeat monsters they encountered and could not look after one another.
If there were too many, the aura gathered by the martial artists would become stronger and stronger, constantly drawing monsters in.
It was like the scent of blood in seawater, attracting countless bloodthirsty sharks.
After a long period of trial and error, humanity had finally concluded that the optimal squad size was five people.
So many people at the entrance began searching for the abilities their teams lacked.
As Li Mu stepped into the Abyss portal, he only felt a flash of brightness before his eyes.
Then he abruptly dropped into a crouch and drew his Thorn Staff.
Only after confirming that the surroundings were safe did he slowly rise to his feet.
At that moment, compared to the Li Mu from before his transmigration, he had been completely transformed.
A pair of black-and-silver capes, one large and one small, swayed lightly in the wind.
They matched the Blackwater High School uniform on his body perfectly, with its black base and silver-thread trim.
Before entering the Abyss, everyone had also temporarily been issued two items.
One was a drone locator, and the other was a temporary spatial storage bag.
Both of those had to be returned afterward.
With a buzz, the drone automatically unfolded and took off, hovering four or five meters above and behind Li Mu.
Every person had a drone behind them.
It could transmit footage back to the Multimedia Hall.
But the number of screens in the Multimedia Hall was limited.
Only those ranked near the top in monster-killing points were qualified to appear on the screens.
For every type of monster, the Ministry of Education had estimated a point value based on its energy level.
Once a monster was killed, the watch would automatically calculate the points.
And the moment everyone entered the Abyss, before they had even begun killing monsters, some people had already appeared on the giant screen.
Naturally, Li Mu was not among them.
They were the S-grade and A-grade talent users from each school, the star figures of this opening battle.
Among them, the most eye-catching were, of course, Zhang Zhiwei, the S-grade talent user from Holy Saint Dragon Martial Academy, and Lu Chenfeng, the S-grade talent user from Chongming High School.
There were only three S-grade talent users in the East District, and these two were both at the peak of Yellow Rank, Second Grade. Their strength was extraordinary.
Most importantly, both of them were acting alone.
They had not formed teams.
It was obvious how confident they were in their own strength.
As for Li Xiaohao, also an S-grade talent user from Holy Saint Dragon Martial Academy, he seemed somewhat lacking in comparison.
He was only in the late stage of First Grade, yet he had been paired with four Second Grade teammates.
On the screen, Li Xiaohao held a long spear in his hand.
The four people teamed up with him were all Second Grade martial artists.
Relying on the S-grade talent, Heavenly Thunder Surge, that he had snatched from Li Mu, Li Xiaohao twisted his spear, and crackling arcs of lightning coiled around the shaft, making him look extraordinarily imposing.
He stood there ramrod straight, striking a pose.
The Li Family, with Old Madam Ma at the head, was seated in a corner of the Multimedia Hall.
Seeing the lightning surging along Li Xiaohao’s spear, Old Madam Ma smiled and nodded.
“Xiaohao is very clever. He knows he’ll definitely appear on the giant screen right now.”
“The earlier he shows off his strength and bearing, the more attention he’ll attract.”
Li Xiaohao’s mother, who was also Li Mu’s Second Aunt, crossed her legs and curled her lip.
“Hmph, of course. What our Xiaohao has never lacked is brains!”
They had only just finished praising him when Li Xiaohao’s teammates all frowned and glanced at him.
Their expressions seemed to say, Are you sick in the head?
There weren’t even any monsters yet, and he was already wasting his true qi?
Still, none of them dared actually curse him out.
After all, they were all teammates assigned to Li Xiaohao by the school.
At that moment, bursts of laughter inexplicably spread through the Multimedia Hall.
Because a special ranking list had already come out.
It was a real-time ranking of the number of students from each school who had entered the Abyss portal.
By comparing those figures to the number of students who had registered for military training, it became obvious which school had the most “deserters.”
Every other school had, at minimum, two to three hundred students entering the Abyss.
Even the worst among them still had over a hundred.
Out of more than thirty schools, the only one at the very bottom with a mere two-digit number was Blackwater High School.
The number of people who had entered the Abyss was 66...
The people in the hall cast intentional or unintentional glances toward Blackwater High School’s leadership section.
The school leaders of Blackwater High School all had alternating blue and red expressions on their faces, clearly feeling extremely embarrassed.
Chen Jiaqi and Chen Jiafeng were the most familiar with how things worked in the education system.
They had been constantly explaining everything to Yang Suying and Yang Yourong.
“Auntie, this is bad. Cousin’s school has the fewest people who went in!”
Chen Jiafeng sprang to his feet anxiously.
Li Mu had already told them on the very day he transferred schools.
So this had been within expectations.
But they had not expected the school to be this bad.
Yang Suying nodded, rubbing the sweat in her palms hard against her thighs.
There was no mother whose heart would not be tense at a time like this.
Especially after she had just seen that Li Xiaohao from the Li Family.
Lightning surged over his long spear, and he looked extremely powerful.
Towering rage and grief welled up inside her chest.
Such a powerful talent should have belonged to her precious son.
Instead, it had been stolen away by that worthless Li Family brat.
And her own son now had to face the terrifying monsters of the Abyss with an F-grade talent.
The moment she thought of that, her heart ached beyond measure.
Seeing Yang Suying’s face already beginning to pale, Yang Yourong glared at her son.
“You little brat, get lost. I can understand what I’m seeing!”
After saying that, she even kicked him irritably.
But the moment she had finished declaring that she could understand it herself, she immediately asked in a huff, “Then just tell me this. How do I watch your cousin’s screen?”
Chen Jiaqi explained from the side.
“Mom, Cousin doesn’t have a ranking right now.”
“There are only twenty-one screens in total.”
“The one ranked first in monster-killing points appears on the largest main screen.”
“The next ten appear on the ten secondary screens above.”
“The top one hundred are rotated on the ten secondary screens below.”
“If Cousin wants to appear on screen, he has to break into the top one hundred first.”
“There are more than three thousand seven hundred people in total right now.”
At that, even Aunt Yang Yourong grew tense.
“My goodness, three thousand seven hundred fighting for one hundred places? That’s far too hard.”
Outside the Multimedia Hall, students from several schools near Blackwater High School’s formation were laughing loudly without the slightest restraint.
It left the Blackwater High School students wishing they could sink into the ground from shame.
“Damn it, what the hell are you laughing at? Let’s see how your school does if all your students are only First Grade!”
one student cursed through gritted teeth in a low voice.
“Look on the bright side. Blackwater High School plays the clown every single year. We’re not special.”
“Exactly. Last year was even more humiliating. There were only forty-something.”
On the second floor of the Multimedia Hall, Yin Changming was awkwardly receiving everyone’s teasing.
“Not bad, Old Yin. That tactic of yours is pretty clever, huh?”
“You really are something, Old Yin. You sure know how to preserve your strength!”
“The death rate in the Abyss opening battle is so high. Since you love your students like your own children, how could you bear to let them risk their lives?”
Yin Changming, however, had no time to respond to them.
He gathered his courage and stepped forward, stopping beside an official from the East District Ministry of Education.
“Section Chief Xue, I just had someone get me a box of really fine cigarettes. Would you honor me by trying some?”
As he spoke, Yin Changming somewhat ingratiatingly took out a box of cigarettes and held it toward Section Chief Xue.
Since Yin Changming was openly offering a cigarette in front of everyone, it seemed straightforward enough and did not really count as bribery, so Old Xue did not avoid it.
With a smile, he pulled one out and sighed in admiration.
“Oh my, Old Yin, these cigarettes are not easy to get. I really do have to try one.”
“As long as they suit your taste,” Yin Changming quickly said, taking advantage of the opening. He rubbed his fingers together to produce a flame and personally lit it for him.
“I wanted to explain something to you. The reason our school has so few participants this time was because of my own mistake in arranging things.”
“It’s not that our students’ overall quality is too poor.”
“I just hope you’ll put in a good word for us before the Vice Minister and the Resources Department. Please, no matter what, don’t cut our resources again.”
Yin Changming wore a pleading expression. Though he was clearly a middle-aged man, his face was full of weariness.
Old Xue took a deep drag from the cigarette and sighed.
“Old Yin, we’ve known each other a long time, so I really don’t understand.”
“You had a perfectly good job as the deputy general manager of a forging company. Why come here and start a school? What exactly are you after?”
“You’re at the bottom every single year. Don’t you understand yet? With the backing you have now, you can’t do it...”
“If you’ll take my advice, shut it down.”
Old Xue spoke in a low voice, earnest and sincere in his attempt to persuade him.
Yin Changming could only nod with an awkward, apologetic smile. Then he looked again at the glaring number on the giant screen: 66.
All he could do was let out a long sigh.
Sensing Yin Changming’s pain, Old Xue pointed at a young man on the main screen carrying a long spear on his back.
“Zhang Zhiwei. S-grade talent, Golden Lances and Iron Cavalry. A top-tier offensive talent.”
“If your school wants to rise, then at the very least, you need a powerhouse like that.”
“And he has to be wholeheartedly loyal to you.”
“Otherwise... you understand what I mean, don’t you?”
With meaningful eyes, Old Xue pulled another cigarette from Yin Changming’s pack.
Yin Changming stared blankly at the spear-carrying youth on the main screen.
Yes.
If a powerhouse like that belonged to his school, only then would Blackwater High School have a chance to rise.
But speaking of wholehearted loyalty, three days ago, he really had gotten one in Li Mu, who had not only advanced to the Second Grade Realm but had also refused to be poached away by Jinhua High School.
Still, while Li Mu was undoubtedly a genius at improving techniques, many geniuses in the realm of techniques were not outstanding in actual combat.
If, simply because Li Mu had reached Second Grade and improved a staff art, he believed Li Mu could, with an F-grade talent, crush everyone and rise to the top with overwhelming dominance, shining as brilliantly as people like Zhang Zhiwei, then Yin Changming felt that might be asking too much of the kid...