Gao Wu: Oh no! Young Master Zhen is a cultivator!

Lin Zhiyao was slightly taken aback, and tried again with increased force, but the light membrane remained unmoved.

"I refuse to believe it!" She channeled her spiritual power and struck out with her palm.

Bang!

With a muffled thud, the light membrane only flickered slightly, showing no signs of damage.

She looked bewildered; with her Tongqiao Realm strength, she couldn't even open a wooden box.

In fact, Lin Ran had expected that she would secretly come and look through it.

So he set up a formation in advance to prevent others from opening these wooden boxes.

Even if Lin Zhiyao, who is only at the Opening Aperture Realm, came, she still wouldn't be able to open it.

Lin Zhiyao rummaged around in the storage room for a while, trying out all the wooden crates, but all her efforts were in vain.

Unable to satisfy her curiosity, she angrily returned to her room and tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.

My mind was filled with those dozen or so wooden crates that I couldn't open, and the more I thought about it, the angrier I got.

The next morning, Lin Zhiyao appeared at the dining table with dark circles under her eyes.

He was dejected, as if he had lost his soul.

She pulled out a chair and sat down, her eyes vacant as she stared at the breakfast in front of her, not touching it for a long time.

Lin Haozhe, who was holding a glass of milk beside her, glanced at her and asked, "Third Sister, what's wrong?"

"I didn't sleep well." Lin Zhiyao picked up her fork and poked at the fried egg on her plate.

Lin Haozhe pressed further, "Is something bothering you?"

"It's all Lin Ran's fault." Lin Zhiyao's voice was filled with barely suppressed resentment.

Lin Haozhe put down his milk glass: "Did Ran-ge make you angry again?"

"Those wooden boxes he kept in the storage room were sealed shut," Lin Zhiyao said, her voice tinged with grievance. "No matter how I tried, I couldn't open them."

Lin Haozhe was taken aback: "Why did you open those wooden crates?"

"I...I was just curious and wanted to see," Lin Zhiyao said weakly.

Just then, footsteps were heard.

Lin Ran was wearing a tracksuit, and her hair was still damp from washing her face.

He walked to the dining table, pulled out a chair, and sat down. He glanced at Lin Zhiyao, a half-smile playing on his lips: "I never expected you to be this kind of person."

"What kind of person am I?" Lin Zhiyao raised her head, her voice filled with resentment.

Lin Ran picked up a piece of toast, took a bite, and said slowly, "Prying into other people's privacy is a very immoral act. So you are an immoral person."

"It's not as serious as you make it out to be!" Lin Zhiyao retorted confidently. "I was just curious to see what was wrong."

"Does curiosity give you the right to rummage through other people's belongings?" Lin Ran asked calmly.

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhiyao paused slightly, and hesitated for a long time before finally speaking: "Why are you being so petty?"

"No, no, no, I'm not petty." Lin Ran held up a finger and shook it. "If I were petty, I would definitely hit you!"

"You dare!" Lin Zhiyao's face showed fear, and her body involuntarily shrank back.

Lin Haozhe quickly interjected, "Brother Ran, Third Sister didn't mean any harm, so don't blame her."

"What's it to you?" Lin Ran turned her head, her gaze shifting from Lin Zhiyao to his face. "Haven't you had enough of getting beaten up at school?"

Lin Haozhe's expression froze for a moment, revealing a wronged look.

Of course, all of their actions were a performance for Lin Zhiyao.

Now, Lin Haozhe can only obey Lin Ran's every word and cannot muster the slightest thought of resistance.

Lin Ran asked him to play himself, so he could only speak and act in his usual style.

In fact, he has been acting all along, and now that he doesn't have to worry about Lin Ran seeing through him, it seems easier for him to act.

"But we've already graduated..." Lin Haozhe feigned a timid expression.

Lin Zhiyao's gaze swept back and forth between the two of them a few times, her brows furrowing: "You hit Haozhe at school?"

"We call that a friendly sparring match," Lin Ran said nonchalantly, taking a bite of his toast.

"You're already at the Innate Realm, and you're sparring with someone who's only at the Body Tempering Realm?" Lin Zhiyao unconsciously raised her opinion a few notches.

Lin Ran glanced at her: "Is there a problem?"

"You're clearly bullying Haozhe on purpose!"

"Hey? You can't just say things like that!" Lin Ran looked at Lin Haozhe: "Did I bully you?"

Seeing this, Lin Zhiyao was instantly enraged: "You dare threaten Haozhe? This is outrageous! I'm going to tell Mom and Dad about this!"

"Mom already knew," Lin Haozhe replied softly.

Lin Zhiyao's body stiffened for a moment. She turned to Lin Haozhe, her voice filled with disbelief: "What?"

"Brother Ran was just trying to help me improve, I don't blame him." Lin Haozhe forced a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"You're just too naive." Lin Zhiyao grabbed Lin Haozhe's wrist and glared at Lin Ran. "He's clearly doing this on purpose to get back at you!"

"Nonsense! Why would I want revenge?" Lin Ran wiped his fingers with a napkin. "Watch out, or I'll sue you for defamation!"

Lin Zhiyao solemnly stated, "You feel that Haozhe stole eighteen years of your life, so you harbor resentment towards him and deliberately seek revenge!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Ran leaned back in his chair and nodded seriously: "Yes, that makes sense."

"You admit it?" Lin Zhiyao's eyes widened, her face showing an expression of "I knew it."

Lin Ran feigned ignorance: "What did I admit to?"

"You yourself said it makes sense."

Lin Ran glanced at her and said calmly, "Making sense doesn't mean it's true."

"You...you..." Lin Zhiyao was at a loss for words.

Strictly speaking, Lin Ran did not actually admit it.

"What do you mean, 'you'?"

"You're just being unreasonable! You're completely irrational!"

Lin Ran picked up the milk on the table, took a sip, and said sarcastically, "At least I didn't pry into other people's privacy."

"Ugh... I'm so angry!" Lin Zhiyao suddenly stood up from her chair, skipped breakfast, grabbed her backpack from the sofa, and headed for the door.

She yanked the door open and then slammed it shut.

Bang!

The door frame slammed shut with a dull thud.

Lin Ran held her milk cup, glanced towards the door, then looked away and continued eating her breakfast.

"Isn't this a bit inappropriate?" Lin Haozhe asked tentatively.

Lin Ran didn't take it to heart: "What's wrong with it? With her personality, she'll suffer a great loss sooner or later. I'm helping her."

"Okay," Lin Haozhe thought to himself, "You're actually a pretty nice person..."

If Lin Ran hadn't taught him a lesson, he almost would have believed it.

The next morning, the top ten students in the city gathered at the City Lord's Mansion, led by their respective school teachers.

Of the top ten students in Xinhai, six were from Xinhai No. 1 Middle School: Chu Xining, Lin Ran, Qin Wuyai, Bai Ruolin, and two students from other classes.

Xinhai No. 2 Middle School took up three spots, two boys and one girl.

If Lin Ran hadn't transferred schools, there might have been three spots available at No. 3 Middle School.

Unfortunately, all three of them transferred to No. 1 Middle School, but Sun Jinghuan was eliminated.

Among the ten, there was a special guy, Su Jin from Xinhai No. 7 Middle School.

As one of the lower-ranked high schools in Xinhai City, Xinhai No. 7 Middle School has never had a student enter the top 20 in the martial arts exam.

The emergence of a second-place finisher in the entire city is truly unprecedented.

Ten people stood in a row in the front hall of the city lord's mansion, while Qin Hanzhong and several other instructors from different schools gathered together.

Zhang Qichuan came downstairs, dressed in loose gray casual clothes with a black trench coat over them.

His gaze swept over the ten students, lingering for a moment on Lin Ran's face.

Everyone else carried long swords, but Lin Ran carried a wooden box, which was rather unique.

He looked away and handed over the duties to the instructors.

The instructors present gave their students a few more instructions, and Zhang Qichuan waved his hand: "Let's go!"

"yes!"

Everyone responded in unison and boarded the vehicles arranged by the city lord's mansion one after another.

The convoy then slowly started moving and headed towards the military airport in the east of the city.