Don't mess with that necromancer; his summoned creatures level up on their own!

Shen Jing's expression also became subtle.

Su Yangwei is the outer city commander of Dachang City, responsible for defending the main city from the outside, while Lu Zaoxie is the inner city commander, responsible for affairs within the main city.

The two worked together for twenty years, appearing amicable on the surface, but secretly competing with each other for most of their lives.

Su Yangwei was always overshadowed by Lu Zaoxie, whether in military rank, strength, or family background, he was always just a little bit behind.

The fact that both children woke up at the same time today, and Su Yangwei called at this hour, is obviously not a good thing.

"Hey! Lao Lu!" Su Yangwei's loud voice boomed from the receiver, and you could feel his smugness even through the phone.

"Still up so late? Judging from the noise, you haven't rested yet?"

Lu Zaoxie stared blankly at the ceiling: "Spit it out! I'm busy, I don't have time to talk nonsense with you."

"Hehehe, the kids have all awakened today, so I thought I'd give you some good news."

Lu Zaoxie remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

"My You Ran has awakened an S-rank spirit medium. Guess what? Nine Heavens Phoenix! Her elemental affinity is also S-rank. Sigh, it's just so-so, nothing special, nothing special."

Lu Zaoxie's temple throbbed.

S-rank psychic. Nine Heavens Phoenix. Elemental Affinity S.

He spent twenty years fighting in the city defense army, becoming an A-rank Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex. Through years of hard work, he raised his elemental affinity to S-rank.

Su Youran, an eighteen-year-old girl, awakened to an S-level profession and also had elemental affinity at the same level as him.

"Congratulations." Lu Zaoxie uttered a dry word, without any expression of congratulations on his face.

"You're too kind. Oh, by the way, my girl You Ran is quite hardworking; she almost reached level 3 last night. How about your Jian Xing? I heard his awakening wasn't going so well? An F-rank necromancer?"

coming.

Lu Zaoxie clenched his fist for a moment.

"Should I have my You Ran mentor him? They're old colleagues, they should help each other out. Being an F-rank necromancer is really tough, let You Ran help him grind some monsters, at least he can level up a few times, and then he'll have someone to associate with in the future—"

beep.

Lu Zaoxie pressed the hang-up button expressionlessly.

"Bastard." Lu Zaoxie threw his phone onto the bedside table, his voice filled with suppressed anger.

After a brief silence, Lu Zaoxie slowly spoke: "I've suppressed Su Yangwei for decades. I've been able to count on two hands the number of times I've been promoted while he hasn't."

Previously, Zhixing always had the upper hand over his daughter, but this time, his daughter awakened to S-rank and now she's above Zhixing. He's finally found a chance to get his revenge.

Shen Jing sighed: "S-level Nine Heavens Phoenix, a genius of this level, Su Youran will definitely steal the show in the big exam in three days."

Lu Zaoxie knew what she was worried about.

The major exam will be broadcast live throughout the city, and the scores of all awakened individuals will be made public.

When Lu Zhixing's F-rank necromancer is compared to Su Youran's S-rank Nine Heavens Cloud Phoenix, rumors and gossip are bound to circulate.

"Anyone who dares to say that Zhixing is bad to my face, I'll tear their mouth apart."

"Can your fists silence all the gossip? Besides, you know perfectly well that Su Youran has never gotten along with Zhixing since they were little."

When she was little, she always compared everything, and she would cry if she lost. Now she's awakened to S-rank, while Zhixing is F-rank. Do you think she can resist showing off in front of Zhixing?

Lu Zaoxie remained silent.

He knows Su Youran too well.

That child was indeed very talented, but her personality came from her father—outspoken, competitive, and unforgiving.

When they were kids, Su Yangwei would cry his heart out every time he lost a match to Lu Zhixing. He would then have to shamelessly beg Lu Zhixing to let Su Youran win a game.

Now that the tables have turned, how could he possibly let this opportunity slip by?

More importantly, there are the rules for the big exam.

Only one bronze-level equipment is allowed to enter the arena. The entire city will be watching the live stream, and it will be a true test of skill, with no room for shortcuts.

Lu Zhixing, an F-rank necromancer, faced not only the exam but also Su Youran's provocation and the gaze of the entire city.

"We can't let Zhixing suffer this humiliation," he finally said.

Shen Jing looked up at him.

"Take sick leave on the day of the big exam. Don't go."

"Spend some money to get me into a university and coast along for a few years. I'll figure out the diploma."

Shen Jing's eyes reddened for a moment, but she bit her lip and simply nodded gently.

She knew how difficult this decision was for Lu Zaoxie.

A city garrison commander wanted his son to take sick leave to avoid taking an exam.

For a commander, this humiliation was more unbearable than losing to anyone on the battlefield.

But he still made the decision.

Because he is also a father.

Lu Zaoxie stubbed out his cigarette and turned to look at his wife.

"Honey, let's do it one more time."

Shen Jing was stunned for a moment.

"Su Yangwei wants to have a child, doesn't he? Let's fight him to the end! I want to see if I, Lu Zaoxie, can give birth to someone better than Su Yangwei!"

---

Lu Zhixing opened his eyes; he had slept too soundly last night.

I don't know if it was because I was tired after a long day, or because of some kind of psychological comfort effect of being able to leave things running automatically, but I slept exceptionally well and didn't even dream.

He opened the career panel.

[Level: Lv.3]

He stared at the number for three seconds, then abruptly threw off the covers and sat up.

Lv.3.

"Holy crap? It really's level 3?"

He rubbed his eyes and looked at it again.

My job level is Lv.3, and my experience bar has increased by one-third. I'm not far from level 4.

While others braved the elements and slept in the open, he slept soundly in bed.

While others were fighting monsters, he was dreaming.

While others were exhausted, he woke up, stretched, and discovered that he had already surpassed most of his peers in terms of skill level.

"Is this the charm of fully automated gameplay?"

He clicked on the little zombie's status bar, and detailed information popped up.

[Summoned Item: Baby Zombie]

Location: Dark Forest

Status: Catching up on sleep (sound asleep)

[Mood: Extremely tired (and hungry)]

Lu Zhixing scrolled down to check last night's results.

Dark Forest Gray Wolf x15 - Kill successful, experience points +112

Dark Forest Poison Ivy x8 - Kill successful, experience points +64

Dark Forest Shadow Bats x12 - Kill successful, experience points +96

Dark Forest - 6 Wandering Skeletons - Kill successful, experience points +90

Dark Forest Elite Monster - Wolf King x1 - Successfully defeated, experience points +80

Total kills: 42. Total experience points: +442.

[Little Zombie's comment:]

I'm starving!

Lu Zhixing's lips twitched as he looked at the last comment.

He thought for a moment, wondering if he should have someone send some food over?

The problem is that he doesn't know exactly where the little zombie is, only that it's near the Dark Forest.

And... what does the little zombie eat? Should we prepare a bowl of sticky rice for it?

Never mind, let's ignore it for now.

Lu Zhixing was getting ready to get up when his phone suddenly lit up, and the caller ID popped up.

[Su Youran]

He paused for a moment, then instantly snapped back to reality.

Su Yangwei's daughter, Su Youran.

A lifelong rival, though this rivalry has never been particularly impressive, because no matter what they compare, he always manages to inexplicably outdo her.

Run a little faster than him, score a few points higher than him in exams, and win one more simulation test than him.

It wasn't the kind of overwhelming victory, but rather the kind of narrow win that was "just a hair's breadth away," which always made Su Youran cry with frustration.

For over a decade, the two families compared them, and his relationship with Su Youran changed from forced comparison to head-on confrontation.

She hated him, and he couldn't be bothered with her.

But if someone calls at this hour, it's obvious what it's about.

Lu Zhixing hesitated for a moment, but still answered the call.

"Oh, Young Master Lu."

Su Youran's voice came through the receiver, carrying a hint of smugness and arrogance.

"You haven't left the house yet? Today is the day of the career test, don't hide under the covers and be too scared to come out."

Lu Zhixing leaned against the headboard, listening expressionlessly.

"I heard you've awakened to be an F-rank necromancer?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, F-rank, huh. We've been battling for so many years, and I never thought it would end like this."

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Lu Zhixing's voice was calm.

"What I want to say is, don't skip today's career test!"

"Of course, if you tell me now that you 'I give up,' I'll hold back a bit in today's test. I won't let you lose too badly. After all, we've known each other for a long time, right?"

Lu Zhixing remained silent for a few seconds.

If he had awakened as a normal necromancer, he really wouldn't have gone to this test today.

But he's not normal.

The test involved hitting a wooden dummy.

With the little zombie in his hands, wasn't that a piece of cake for him?

"Su Youran,"

"Um?"

"Remember to bring a few extra packs of tissues today."

Su Youran was visibly taken aback: "Why did you bring tissues?"

"Don't lose and end up with nothing to wipe away the little pearls."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Heh. Lu Zhixing, you're as stubborn as ever. Your previous narrow victories were purely due to luck. Today is a real test of strength, and you're just an F-rank necromancer—"

beep.

Lu Zhixing hung up the phone.

He didn't want to hear her finish.

It's not because I'm angry, it's because it's unnecessary.

He and Su Youran had been exchanging words for over a decade, and he knew her tricks.

First, they gloat, then they show off, then they provoke them, and finally, if that's still not enough, they come to confront them in person.

Hanging up the phone is the best way to deal with it; it will make her feel stifled.

Sure enough, three seconds later, Su Youran called again.

Lu Zhixing pressed the button to dismiss it.

They hit him again.

Then I turned it off.

When he called for the third time, he simply turned off his phone.

The bedroom returned to quiet.

But Lu Zhixing knew that Su Youran on the other end of the phone was probably so angry that she had punched a hole in her pillow.

---

Meanwhile, at the Su family villa.

Su Youran lay on the bed, her legs swinging in the air, when the phone call was suddenly cut off halfway through.

She froze for a second, then sat up abruptly, staring at her phone screen in disbelief.

"He hung up on me?!"

She dialed again.

busy tone.

Dial again.

busy tone.

The third time I dialed—the phone was off.

Su Youran's face turned bright red. She grabbed the pillow next to her and slammed it against the mattress three times.

"Lu Zhixing!!! You bastard!!!"

Her long hair was a mess, the neckline of her pajamas was askew, and her eyes were even filled with a thin layer of mist—not because she was about to cry, but because she was angry.

This was her reaction every time she lost a competition to Lu Zhixing when she was a child.

I was so angry I wanted to smash things, but I was unwilling to actually cry and make a fool of myself in front of others.

"F-rank necromancer, how dare you be so arrogant!"

She threw the pillow aside and pointed into the air.

"You just wait! Today's test will leave you utterly defeated, down to your last pair of pants!"

---

On the other side, Lu Zhixing hummed a little tune as he went downstairs.

Shen Jing was already waiting for him at the dining table.

The eight-meter-long dining table was filled with freshly baked bread for breakfast, warm spirit beast milk, golden-fried spirit eggs, a platter of sliced ​​spirit fruits, and a pot of fragrant spirit rice porridge.

"Good morning, Mom."

"Good morning." Shen Jing turned her head and looked at her son.

Her gaze lingered on Lu Zhixing's face for a second before shifting away.

But she had already begun to formulate her thoughts in her mind.

I need to talk to him about the big exam today. How should I bring it up?

She picked up her teacup, took a sip to moisten her throat, and was about to speak—

Suddenly, her professional instincts sent out a faint signal.

Lu Zhixing's aura was stronger than yesterday.

She subconsciously used her detection ability, her gaze falling on Lu Zhixing.