Chapter 8: Li Yao Has Misunderstood Me!

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The sound of a heavy object hitting the ground, followed by the absence of any screams.

The unexpected incident caused Jiang Ningyu and the others to glance back as they fled.

Li Yao remained standing in the same spot as before.

In front of him lay four neatly severed, smooth-bodied monsters.

Above the bodies hovered a faint silver treasure chest, suspended about ten centimeters from the ground.

Monsters in the beginner’s dungeon are weakened and do not drop loot.

But this Bloodthirsty Forest Wolf was different—unweakened and a boss-level creature.

Watching the scene before her, Jiang Ningyu felt a sudden mental blankness.

The knowledge she had absorbed from nine years of mandatory education could not explain what she was witnessing.

They all stood frozen in place, as if time itself had stopped.

Li Yao didn’t even consider acknowledging them, casually slipping the faint silver chest into his storage ring.

He was unsurprised to have instantly slain the Bloodthirsty Forest Wolf.

The moment it appeared, Li Yao had cast Identification.

Level 8 boss.

8,500 health points.

On the way deeper into the dungeon, the Void Mantis had hunted countless monsters.

Its strength attribute had surpassed 600.

Fear inflicted quadruple damage, doubled again if isolated and alone.

That meant eight times damage.

If he remembered correctly, the damage numbers had appeared in red, indicating a critical hit on a weakness, doubling the damage once more.

Damage exceeding ten thousand was perfectly reasonable.

Instant kills became commonplace.

What surprised them was that the beginner’s dungeon even had boss-level creatures—a rare and welcome surprise.

Not only did Li Yao level up instantly, but he also received loot.

The faint silver chest could contain silver-tier equipment.

“Let’s open it outside.”

Now that he had reached level five and earned some gold from hedge funds, there was nothing left to linger for in this beginner’s dungeon.

With that thought, Li Yao strode toward the dungeon entrance.

Passing by Jiang Ningyu and the others, still rooted to the spot, he cast a deep look at Jiang Ningyu.

In his mind, her fate was sealed.

No matter the outcome, if he were just an ordinary class, her reckless diversion would have left him gravely injured if not dead.

Li Yao considered himself no saint.

Anyone who tried to harm him had to be prepared for retaliation.

He could only say that, being inside the beginner’s dungeon, it was inconvenient to act on it now...

Until Li Yao disappeared from sight.

Only then did Jiang Ningyu and the others come back to their senses.

“That must be Li Yao’s summon, right?”

“Probably... yeah?”

“An A-rank summon can be this powerful?”

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“No way! Even an S-rank can’t kill that instantly. That’s a boss-level monster. Didn’t you see how Ye Tao was teleported out?”

They all knew Li Yao’s summon came from Jiang Ningyu’s A-rank skill book.

But if an A-rank summon was this strong, the summoner wouldn’t be stuck with such a low-tier profession.

Now the only guess was that Li Yao’s summoner class, the Chessmaster, had the ability to temporarily amplify the summon’s power.

And it was a significant boost, with side effects!

Even so, they now understood that Li Yao, this A-rank summoner, was far more complicated than they had imagined.

While Jiang Ningyu remained stunned, the team’s archer smirked with a hint of schadenfreude.

“Goddess Jiang must be regretting breaking up now?”

Since entering the dungeon, Jiang Ningyu had grabbed experience for herself and later sacrificed teammates to shake off the Bloodthirsty Forest Wolf.

These actions had thoroughly shattered her goddess aura.

“I doubt you have time to regret it now.”

The archer’s teasing warning was unmistakable.

“Did you see how Li Yao looked at you just now? The same way he looked at me back then.”

Jiang Ningyu shuddered.

The same way?

When she had been pursued by the Bloodthirsty Forest Wolf, the way Li Yao looked at her was as if she were prey, a person marked for death.

At this moment, the sight of the wolf's corpse, split into four parts, was painfully vivid in Jiang Ningyu’s eyes.

“No! That’s not true!”

“Even then, if the Bloodthirsty Forest Wolf had targeted him, Li Yao wouldn’t have been killed—at worst, just teleported out!”

“He... he misunderstood me!”

“I have to explain to him!”

...

Outside the dungeon, the sun blazed high.

It was now noon.

They had entered the dungeon at nine in the morning—only three hours ago.

Li Yang and several other headmasters remained unmoved.

They sipped tea, chatting occasionally, never growing bored.

Every year was the same—when students entered the beginner’s dungeon, they waited outside.

To ensure that any students teleported out received prompt medical treatment.

Li Yang had not left.

Though he did not favor the summoner profession, he wanted to see how far his son could go.

After all, this would determine who ultimately controlled the resources.

Suddenly, a beam of light emanated from the dungeon entrance.

The group rose, eyeing the entrance with suspicion.

“Only three hours, and someone’s already coming out?”

The dungeon had two exits.

One deep within the Bloodthirsty Forest Wolf’s territory.

The other was the entrance, which also served as an exit.

Since Li Yao hadn’t slain the wolf in its territory, he was unaware of any shortcut.

Li Yao stepped out from the light.

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Li Yang hurried over: “Li Yao, you’re out already? So soon?”

“Oh, you’re here!” Li Yao greeted the middle-aged man.

He assumed Li Yang had been watching to make sure he wasn’t hurt inside.

Li Yao explained, “It wasn’t challenging, so I came out.”

Not challenging, so I came out.

Li Yang was momentarily confused by the calm words and the smile on Li Yao’s face.

Then, from behind Li Yang came a shocked exclamation.

“Li Yao, Chessmaster, level 5?!”

Zhang Yi suddenly appeared beside Li Yao, and the other headmasters also turned their attention.

Zhang Yi was stunned.

Even though Identification had revealed Li Yao’s level, he couldn’t help but ask.

“You’re... level 5?”

The absurdity overwhelmed his mind, as if it had frozen.

Only three hours had passed since the dungeon opened.

Three hours!

Even counting top-tier S-class professionals, the fastest anyone reached level 5 was five hours.

Zhang Yi couldn’t believe it, nor dared to.

Li Yao looked at the headmasters as if it was only natural.

“The boss gave a lot of experience, so I’m level 5.”

The word “low profile” was absent from Li Yao’s dictionary.

This was a high-martial world overrun with monsters.

As long as the higher-ups weren’t foolish, the more talent you displayed, the more resources you’d get.

He had no intention of playing the “survival” game.

“You actually killed the boss? That Bloodthirsty Forest Wolf?”

As expected, the moment Li Yao spoke, gasps echoed around.

That was an unweakened level 8 boss monster.

If he recalled correctly, Li Yao had entered the dungeon alone.

A beginner, with few skills, weak combat power, and little experience—how could he have defeated that monster?

In a remote place like Jiangzhou, no one ever imagined that boss monsters could be slain.

Even the S-class professional from years ago, lacking a skilled team, had failed to eliminate the Bloodthirsty Forest Wolf.

Yet Li Yao had done it, most likely hunting solo!

Zhang Yi thought hard but could not comprehend it, standing frozen.

“Principal Zhang?”

Seeing Zhang Yi’s lack of response, Li Yao smiled.

In this world, only those who displayed outstanding talent attracted attention and gained resource advantage.

The loudest child never starved.

“By the way, Principal Zhang, I want to apply to go to the Jiangzhou border.”

...