Chapter 44: The Principal Cracks Under Pressure

He glanced at the student standing before him, then at his own VVVIP front-row seat.

The principal: ???

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

Is it just for the sound quality?!

Unable to hold back, the principal grabbed a student and asked, “Hey, how much is a regular ticket for you guys?”

The student replied, “Fifty.”

The principal: …

He was utterly speechless.

He spread his fingers, did some quick mental math, then slapped his own cheeks twice.

Serves you right for running your mouth. Why did you even ask about the ordinary ticket price?

It’s better to remain ignorant sometimes; knowing just makes you want to spit blood!

Old Master Sun finally burst out laughing, patting the principal on the shoulder with a meaningful smile. “I think I understand why you’re losing money on this.”

The principal, struck down twice: …

Nearby, Chen Tong and Chen Miaomiao, who had overheard the ticket prices, looked just as displeased. Clearly, they realized they’d been swindled—especially Chen Tong, who was practically itching to storm the plaza and strangle Qian Qi.

She was such a money fanatic! Such a miser! Why did he have to cheat her out of even two hundred yuan?

It wasn’t the trivial amount that stung, but the relentless stream of scams from Qian Qi. It felt like having both a fly and a bitter medicinal herb lodged in one’s throat—disgusting and unbearably bitter.

What made it worse was that Chen Tong hadn’t yet obtained Qian Qi’s luminous brain. She was a walking powder keg, ready to explode.

Yet, ironically, she had to pray that Qian Qi wouldn’t die here.

Otherwise, she’d lose her supply channel!

On the plaza.

Qian Qi swallowed a defense fruit and strode swiftly toward the bear iron beast.

This bear iron beast was not fully grown; adult bear iron beasts reach at least six or seven meters tall, but this one was only about three meters—clearly still a juvenile.

Its fists, elbows, and knees were covered with thick, hard gray scale stones. Its robust body, thicker than that of a normal adult bear, was densely covered with dark bluish-black fur, forming a heavy protective armor.

Its bloodshot beastly eyes stared fiercely at Qian Qi, radiating a savage, ruthless aura unique to magical beasts. The massive bear-shaped head was layered with ugly folds of flesh that intensified humans’ fear of it.

The students in the stands gripped the railing tightly, their expressions tense as they watched Qian Qi, diminutive as a soybean, face the bear iron beast.

“She actually dares to charge right at it!”

“I heard she’s an ordinary person? Without any awakening skills?”

“Isn’t she from the plant magic department? If she really had an awakening skill, why would she choose such an unpopular, despised major?”

“What the heck is she doing?”

Someone shouted in alarm. The crowd turned to see Qian Qi suddenly brake hard, stopping right in front of the nearly three-meter-tall bear iron beast.

She reached into her pocket.

And pulled out her middle finger.

The crowd: ???

“Come at me—!” Qian Qi arrogantly issued the challenge.

The bear iron beast’s expression darkened; evidently, it was provoked by this insulting gesture. Without waiting for its tamer’s command, it let out a long howl toward the sky, then slammed its fist—several hundred pounds in weight—hard into the ground.

In an instant, starting from the beast’s fist, a massive six-meter-wide earthen spike, rich with earth elemental energy, erupted from the ground beneath Qian Qi, violently charging toward her.

The crowd’s hearts clenched; not daring to blink, they next saw Qian Qi shoot through the air like a flash.

The crowd: ???

They watched helplessly as Qian Qi was launched out of the plaza by the earthen spike, gradually shrinking to a tiny black dot before disappearing.

“Is… is it over already?”

“A D-grade magical beast, so terrifying!”

“Can she even survive? Didn’t the defense fruit protect her from harm? Was it fake after all?”

The massive earth spike, visually dominating nearly half the plaza, made them swallow nervously, their courage faltering.

Will they really be able to enter D-grade dungeons after graduation?

D-grade magical beasts are so frightening.

“No wonder those awakened outside only tackle E-grade dungeons… I used to call them cowards…”

“Even Wang Qinghe, who has D-grade skills, probably couldn’t withstand three hits…”

“If D-grade beasts are like this, forget about C or B grades… Do we humans even have a future?”

Some students couldn’t help but voice their doubts. As uninitiated university students, they had no answers and turned toward the principal, hoping he could provide some reassurance.

“Principal, when we graduate, can we really bring new hope to humanity?”

Will they, like the awakened outside, ultimately fade into obscurity?

The principal was momentarily at a loss for words. He knew the harsh reality of the dungeons better than anyone: sending these children into anything above E-grade was tantamount to sending them to their deaths.

But he couldn’t say that.

After a moment’s silence, he stood up and said gravely, “Even if we cannot bring new hope, we must pass the hope on.”

The students’ eyes reddened.

They heard the deeper meaning behind his words.

Their strength was indeed too weak. Although E-grade awakened far outnumbered other levels, they were but a drop in the ocean compared to ordinary humans.

And awakened numbers were far fewer than the number of dungeons, let alone the countless monsters within.

How could they hope to fight enemies with fists when facing four times as many foes?

Many believed that entering an awakened university guaranteed a bright future, but in truth, it was merely putting on a polished facade—looking promising but barely able to move forward.

They couldn’t protect most people; sometimes, they couldn’t even protect their own families.

But there was no alternative.

Only frequent combat training and defeating dungeon bosses could bring some measure of strength, and only by taming magical beasts could tamers gain more awakening skills.

Beyond that, no path existed to make humanity stronger.

It was as if humanity’s demise was already sealed, the world stingy in offering even the slightest help.

They were doomed to halt here.

The atmosphere fell into a somber gloom.

The principal looked at the students, disheartened and losing their fighting spirit, feeling both heartache and helplessness.

Yet there was nothing he could do—this was a reality they had to face sooner or later.

The world, outwardly prosperous and flourishing, was secretly rotting and decaying.

No one could find a path through this gray fog to guide humanity forward. Perhaps from the very beginning, humanity had taken the wrong road, and kept making mistake after mistake.

Even the principal himself was lost and uncertain.

But just then—

A loud, clear voice, sharp and decisive like a colossal axe splitting the sky, suddenly pierced the heavy gray gloom, casting a dazzling light.

“I, Qian Hansan, am back—!”

Everyone turned in surprise, their eyes meeting a sound like salvation speeding closer from afar.

Qian Qi was pedaling a battered bicycle, the wheels churning noisily as she rushed toward the center of the plaza.

“Hey buddy, can you show some courtesy? Getting blasted that far away was a real pain coming back!”

“Look! Half of the ten minutes has already passed! I still wanted to show my audience how powerful the defense fruit really is!”

Qian Qi pedaled furiously, grumbling all the while, yet remarkably, not a single scratch marred her body!