"Xu Luo..."
Walking down the road, Xiang Xun gnashed his teeth in frustration.
His face twisted with rage, Xiang Xun felt more than the loss of over a billion faith power; it was the sense that others were mocking him. Everywhere he went, he felt the stares and whispers of his peers.
Everyone was laughing at him.
As he walked from the school to the playground, he noticed two students whispering to each other. Xiang Xun couldn't shake the feeling that they were talking about him, silently mocking him.
He had wanted to defeat Xu Luo, to crush his reputation and prove to everyone that he was the rightful number one.
But this failure had plunged him into an even deeper abyss.
His prized earth dragon had been slain by Xu Luo.
No one had anticipated that someone from a humble background would possess a silver-tier lord creature. Xu Luo had hidden his power very well.
Now, instead of achieving his goal, Xiang Xun had become the laughingstock.
He finally understood why Xiang Yang's goblins had been wiped out so early on.
Even if Xu Luo hadn't had as many species initially, a powerful lord-level creature would have been enough to dominate most species.
"You will regret this, Xu Luo. You will definitely regret this!"
Xiang Xun spat out through gritted teeth as he hurriedly left the school.
He couldn't face staying there any longer.
The total destruction of his combat troops couldn't be concealed. He needed to report this to his father and face whatever punishment the family had in store for him.
"This is unbelievable..."
In the principal's office, Zhong Tianyue was momentarily speechless.
He had been notified of a real combat mode match and decided to observe, only to witness a silver-tier lord battle between two first-year students.
"I never expected you to hide your strength so well!"
Zhong Tianyue knew Xu Luo had hidden some of his power. When he saw Xu Luo deploy two types of troops, each numbering ten thousand, he thought that was his hidden strength. Twenty-five thousand troops, especially strong ones, were already formidable for a novice.
But he hadn't anticipated the appearance of a silver-tier lord.
"With this strength, it might be a stretch, but Xu Luo has the potential to be a seed candidate. His mutated species show great promise, which could persuade the school leadership."
Previously, Zhong Tianyue's proposal to make Xu Luo a seed candidate had been rejected due to doubts about his species reaching the silver tier. But now, with the appearance of a silver-tier lord, that argument no longer held water.
Zhong Tianyue had high hopes for Xu Luo.
Despite his harmless appearance, Xu Luo had silently embarked on the path of an invader, wiping out numerous newcomers from other races as a novice—a rare and valuable trait.
Should he grow stronger, how many more alien divine domains would he destroy?
To Zhong Tianyue, Xu Luo was far more valuable than those sheltered, resource-dependent gods who had never faced an alien.
In the current human society, facing alien oppression, there were three main schools of thought.
One was neutral, focusing on self-development without provoking others unless attacked.
Another advocated for peaceful coexistence, maintaining good relations with aliens to prevent aggression.
The last was the war faction, believing in proactive strikes to subdue any alien threats before they could become problems.
Zhong Tianyue belonged to the war faction.
He had become a school principal after making a name for himself by destroying numerous alien divine domains on the human front lines in the Divine World. His notoriety had led to a period of enforced rest, both for recuperation and to let the aliens forget him.
Thus, he naturally appreciated Xu Luo's proactive approach—attacking alien races for resources while avoiding conflict with fellow humans.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have supported Xu Luo so much.
"Making this kid a seed candidate might lead him down the same path as me," Zhong Tianyue mused, then chuckled silently. He looked forward to the day when certain higher-ups would be troubled by Xu Luo's rise.
---
In the combat arena, although Xiang Xun had left, the place remained silent. Everyone watched in stunned disbelief as Xu Luo collected the bodies of the dragon-blood warriors and the earth dragon.
It was a crazy sight!
More importantly, the earth dragon, worth millions of faith power, had been killed and its remains devoured by Xu Luo.
The spectators had come for the spectacle, not because they bore a grudge against Xu Luo, but because a commoner had outshone them, the second-generation elites. Though they didn't say it out loud, it irked them.
They had hoped to see Xiang Xun put Xu Luo in his place.
But now, what had happened?
A silver-tier lord battle, with Xiang Xun suffering a crushing defeat.
An earth dragon and two thousand dragon-blood warriors, including their equipment, were all lost.
These were all worth a fortune!
Now they were all Xu Luo's spoils.
When Xu Luo emerged from the game pod and saw no sign of Xiang Xun, he didn't care. He had gained so much that not seeing Xiang Xun's sour face was actually a relief.
Thinking about his spoils, he felt elated. After greeting a few others, he left the combat arena, ignoring the murmurs behind him.
Despite Xiang Xun's background, Xu Luo was unconcerned about any direct retaliation.
The Federation wasn't idle.
As a student, Xu Luo was protected by the Federation's Education Department, one of the six major departments. Xiang Xun could only trouble him within the rules, perhaps creating obstacles or minor annoyances. Xu Luo's parents weren't around, so there was no fear of reprisals against them.
Xu Luo even hoped the Xiang family would pressure his parents, as it would reveal the military's power.
However, unless the Xiang family lost their minds, they wouldn't do something so foolish.
At most, they might have other members or affiliated forces in the novice divine domains target Xu Luo.
But this didn't concern him.
He could handle weaker opponents himself. If they were stronger, they'd have a hard time breaching his divine domain defenses. If he reported it, the Federation's laws against human-on-human invasions would come into play.
Though these laws were often ignored, a formal complaint would make them effective.
Usually, everyone just tacitly agreed to ignore them.