"It's Ling Jiu. He's coming out!"
"That a**hole took all of my harvests, damn it!"
"He's come out at last!"
Seeing Ling Jiu emerge, the team leaders from various Arcana combines, the media, and those whom he had robbed, all had their eyes on him.
"You're finally out, bro!"
Li Kai and Wang Jiabao stepped forth to receive him at once.
"How did you guys do? Did you two pass the assessment?" Ling Jiu asked with a smile.
"I got 56, and Wang Jiabao got 41!"
Li Kai could not hide his excitement. "Judging from Instructor Bai Yang's tone, our results should be good enough to pass!"
"Congratulations!" Ling Jiu smiled.
"Yeah, it's something really worth celebrating!"
Li Kai was so happy that he was almost in tears. Passing the assessment meant that he could continue to stay in Pangu Arcana Combine, which was something he had been looking forward to.
"What about you, Ling Jiu? Did you get a fabulous catch?" Wang Jiabao was curious. "I heard from Li Kai that you could kill Class 2 Direbeasts and you're a Level 2 Arcanist now. With all those abilities, you must have collected a lot of Direbeast hearts."
"I did all right!"
Ling Jiu smiled before he went up to a staff and handed over his dimensional pocket.
The staff tipped out the Direbeast hearts, which were so many that he had to take several steps back to make room for them.
"Seriously, that many?"
"How many Direbeasts did he kill?"
People were shocked to see the entire floor of Direbeast hearts. No one had collected as many Direbeast hearts as Ling Jiu so far.
A few staff members came up to help with the counting. Then, they announced the result, "Five-hundred and sixty Class 1 Direbeast hearts, and nineteen Class 2 Direbeast hearts. That comes to a total of 750 points!"
Everyone was in awe.
"Over seven hundred points? Is he human?"
"We were struggling to even make it past a hundred, yet he's collected over seven-hundred points! This is not on a human level anymore!"
People looked at Ling Jiu like he was a monster. Such a result was just obscenely off the charts, leaving other candidates in the dust.
"I knew you would get a good result, bro. But I never expected that it would be this good: seven hundred and fifty points!"
Li Kai looked at Ling Jiu in disbelief. "You just blew me out of the water!"
"He just outran everyone else!" Wang Jiabao exclaimed.
...
"Brother has gotten 750 points, Dad!"
Ling Xiaotong jumped up in excitement, admiration filling her face. "He has obtained the number one position; he's so awesome!"
"I'm proud of you, Son!"
Ling Tianci's eyes reddened with emotions.
...
Pangu Arcana Combine.
"This kid isn't half bad at all!"
Luo Jia, the general manager of Pangu, took out her mobile phone to call the Legal department with a smile on her face. "Draft a new A+ contract for me…"
...
"Ling Jiu!"
A handsome young man walked up to Ling Jiu and offered his hand. "Hello, Ling Jiu. My name is Wang Zhen, and I'm an instructor from Vulcan Arcana Combine."
"Nice to meet you, Instructor Wang!"
Ling Jiu held out his hand and greeted him.
"You have become a Level 2 Arcanist in just a short span of six months, Ling Jiu. You must have been working very hard. What impresses me is your double special abilities of earth and gravity manipulation. You are a brilliant talent!"
Wang Zhen, the handsome young man, grinned. "On behalf of Vulcan Arcana Combine, I would like to invite you to join us!"
Li Kai and Wang Jiabao looked on with envy; only outstanding candidates would get such an outright offer.
The fact that the Vulcan instructor poached Ling Jiu in front of everyone showed how impressive Ling Jiu was—so much so that the Vulcan instructor did not bother to keep things discreet.
Other companies were eyeing such talent too, but they were not confident enough to compete with Pangu and Vulcan. They knew that they could not compete.
"How did you get the nerve to poach my man in front of us, Wang Zhen?" Instructor Bai Yang came over with an unfriendly expression on his face.
"Talents are fair game!"
Wang Zhen simply did not give a hoot about what Bai Yang said. "Vulcan will not want to miss such a talent like Ling Jiu. Besides, he has only signed a contract with Pangu. He hasn't signed his life away to you, so he has every right to join Vulcan."
"You want to poach our man? First show me what you've got!"
Instructor Bai Yang hissed, then he looked at Ling Jiu. "General Manager Luo Jia and I were on the phone just now. She said that she's very pleased with your outstanding performance in this assessment and you totally deserve an A-level contract. You can sign the contract as soon as you get back!"
"Thank you, Instructor and General Manager Luo!"
Ling Jiu was elated.
An A-level contract offered a million-dollar pay per month, an intermediate Gene Arcana secret technique, a bungalow, and a 30% discount in shopping, which was so much better than the current C-level contract.
"It's so stingy of you to buy a talent with only an A-level contract!"
Wang Zheng scoffed. "I'll get you an A+ contract if you join Vulcan, Ling Jiu!"
"An A+ contract?"
It stunned Ling Jiu to hear that. An A+ contract was basically an A-level contract with some upscale adjustments.
Higher pay, advanced instead of intermediate Gene Arcana secret techniques, as well as other benefits and perks, were among the upscale adjustments.
All in all, an A+ contract was slightly better than an A-level contract, but not by much. It was still incomparable to the higher S-level contract.
"You are being a cutthroat in this competition, Wang Zhen!"
Bai Yang was furious.
"It's not so much of a cutthroat competition but that we at Vulcan value talent!"
Wang Zhen shook his head. "You should know what it means when we offer you an A+ contract, Ling Jiu. Our general manager made this offer because she holds you in high regard!"
"I understand!"
Ling Jiu nodded. With great power came great responsibility and benefits too. Different classes of Arcanists enjoyed different benefits and perks, a rule that everyone strictly adhered to.
Generally, a Level 1 Arcanist would get a C-level contract.
A Level 2 Arcanist would get a B-level contract.
A Level 3 Arcanist could get an A-level contract.
But only a Level 4 Arcanist could get an A+ contract.
The fact that Vulcan Arcana Combine had offered an A+ contract to a Level 2 Arcanist showed their level of appreciation for Ling Jiu.
"Vulcan is very sincere in inviting you to be a part of us, Ling Jiu. Join us!"
Wang Zhen was confident. "Under our guidance in Vulcan, I believe that you will become a powerful Arcanist in no time!"
"Ling Jiu!"
Bai Yang became a little desperate. The A+ contract was a much better offer than his A-level contract. He was afraid that Ling Jiu might choose Vulcan over Pangu.
Yet, to his surprise, Ling Jiu rejected the offer. "I sincerely appreciate Instructor Wang and Vulcan's offer, but I regret to say that I've signed up with Pangu Arcana Combine and have no plans on joining other companies!"
"You decline the offer?"
Wang Zhen looked at Ling Jiu, transfixed.
"I'm really sorry!"
Ling Jiu bowed slightly.
"That's all right!"
Wang Zhen appeared disappointed, but he did not press the matter. As talented as Ling Jiu was, Vulcan did not have to lower itself just to make Ling Jiu join the company.
"That's more like it, Ling Jiu!"
Instructor Bai Yang breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at Ling Jiu with appreciation.