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

Hundreds of eyes in the audience were fixed on Lin Ran.

Chu Xining had already poked half her body out of the queue, but Lin Ran pressed her back down with a look.

In such a situation, it's natural not to let someone else speak for you.

Sun Jinghuan stood in the back row, his eyes finally regaining interest.

He didn't care who owned the potion; he just wanted to see Lin Ran embarrassed in public.

A complex look flashed in Bai Ruolin's eyes, probably because she felt she had been used as a pawn and was unhappy about it.

Perhaps she felt bad for putting Lin Ran in a difficult situation.

"Director Wang is joking," Lin Ran finally spoke, his tone unhurried.

"The school has the right to dispose of its prizes. If the school wants to break the rules, I have nothing to say."

A mocking smile crept across his lips. "After all, I'm not going to waste my breath on a set of potions!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Defa's expression froze again.

By saying this, Lin Ran essentially passed the buck back to him.

If the school insists on not awarding Lin Ran the prize, then the school is breaking the rules, which is tantamount to slapping the school in the face.

If the prizes are awarded normally, then what he said earlier will be nothing but empty talk, and he'll be contradicting himself.

Either way, we're going to get slapped in the face; it's just a matter of whose face we're slapping.

Wang Defa opened his mouth, but before he could organize his thoughts, Bai Jingchuan spoke up.

"Director Wang, what kind of behavior is this?" Bai Jingchuan asked in a calm tone.

"If you think Bai Ruolin is worth nurturing, you should apply for an extra reward for her. How can you arbitrarily misappropriate a reward that rightfully belongs to Lin?"

"This isn't encouraging excellence; it's creating injustice. At best, it's a mistake on your part at work. At worst, it's discrimination based on talent!"

His voice grew increasingly stern: "If a school discriminates against students' talents, what kind of good school is it?"

The words "talent discrimination" echoed in the training hall, silencing the entire audience.

Although this is something everyone tacitly agrees on, it doesn't look so good when it's actually brought into the open.

Moreover, this student who was discriminated against did not seem to be someone who was easy to bully.

Wang Defa's face turned deathly pale instantly; this time, he had shot himself in the foot.

He pushed up his glasses, and after several attempts, he managed to squeeze out a few words: "The old principal is right. I acted inappropriately. I apologize to Lin."

"Director Wang, you're too kind." Lin Ran smiled knowingly. "As I said, the prizes are school resources, and the school naturally has the right to dispose of them as it sees fit."

This statement was tantamount to slapping Wang Defa in the face again.

On the surface, it was a way of giving Wang Defa a way out, but in reality, it was telling him that even if he didn't care about the prize, no one could take it away from him if it was rightfully his.

Wang Defa was very confused. How could this eighteen-year-old high school student in front of him have driven this seasoned veteran, who had been through thick and thin for decades, to such a state?

Seeing Wang De standing there in a daze, Bai Jingchuan made the final decision: "Continue awarding the prizes!"

The three suitcases were handed to Lin Ran, Qin Wuyai, and Chu Xining in turn.

When Lin Ran took the suitcase, he deliberately glanced in Wang Defa's direction, stepped off the stage, and casually handed the suitcase to Bai Ruolin.

"It's yours!"

"This..." Bai Ruolin wanted to refuse, but Lin Ran interrupted her: "If you're a friend, don't refuse. After all, I really don't need this kind of thing!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Ruolin had no choice but to accept Lin Ran's kindness: "Thank you, Lin Ran!"

On the surface, she remained calm, but inside she was screaming, "He gave me such a meaningful prize, does he like me? He must! Otherwise, why wouldn't he give it to someone else? Why me?"

However, Lin Ran was unaware of her inner thoughts and simply waved his hand casually, saying, "We're all friends, no need to be so polite!"

After saying that, he glanced at Wang Defa again and stepped back into the group.

Seeing this, Wang Defa felt a burning pain on his face and wished he could disappear into the ground.

His suppression not only did not embarrass Lin Ran, but also allowed him to show off.

The result was that Lin Ran gained fame, Bai Ruolin got resources, and only he, the one who stood out, got hurt.

Another round of discussion broke out around them.

"The young master of the Lin family is indeed the young master of the Lin family; he just gives away over twenty million worth of medicine like that!"

"That depends on who it's for. The recipient is Miss Bai, not only a campus beauty and goddess, but also possessing S-level talent. Who wouldn't be interested in a woman who embodies all three?"

"Wait a minute? Didn't the news say that Lin Ran and Chu Xining have already secretly pledged their lives to each other?"

"You don't understand the world of the rich!"

"In a world where martial arts reign supreme, what use is money?"

"If Lin Ran can win over both Bai Ruolin and Chu Xining at the same time, once they've both grown up, he can comfortably live a wealthy life in a world where martial arts reign supreme!"

"What you said makes so much sense, I'm speechless!"

Zhao Meng squeezed through the back row, leaned close to Lin Ran, and gave him a thumbs up: "You're the one!"

"Wang Defa's expression just now was just...unbelievable..." Zhao Meng suppressed a laugh: "Let me tell you, in my eighteen years of life, this is the first time I've ever seen such a fascinating expression."

Lin Ran pressed his hand down: "Keep it down, keep it down."

The host on stage said a few more polite words and then announced, "This mock exam has come to a successful conclusion. We hope that all students will continue their efforts in the upcoming martial arts exam!"

At the front of the formation, Qin Hanzhong and the instructors of each class blew their whistles to dismiss the troops.

The students walked out of the training hall in twos and threes, their chatter still lingering, all revolving around the exciting award ceremony they had just witnessed.

Chu Xining squeezed through the crowd and stood in front of Lin Ran, her lips pouting.

Lin Ran looked down at her and asked, "What's with that expression? Who offended you this time?"

Chu Xining looked up at Lin Ran: "You! You're the one who offended me!"

"How come I didn't know?" Lin Ran found it slightly amusing.

Chu Xining seemed to have suffered some great injustice: "Why did you give your prize to Bai Ruolin? Do you have a crush on her?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Ran finally understood that the girl was jealous.

He forced a smile and replied, "Those medicines weren't very useful to me, so I just gave them away."

Twenty million sounds daunting, but when converted into crystal cores, it's equivalent to the earnings from two underwater hunts.

He now spends three or four hours in the sea every night, steadily accumulating fifty or sixty third-tier crystal cores, and occasionally even encountering fourth-tier mutated beasts.

Once he breaks through to the Foundation Establishment stage, his earning efficiency will only increase.

The Star Moon Potion is a precious cultivation resource for others, but for him, it's nothing more than a tool to slap Wang Defa in the face.

Chu Xining seemed to accept his explanation, but her face still looked sullen: "Then why didn't you give it to me?"

Lin Ran glanced at the silver briefcase in her hand, shook his head and smiled, "Don't you already have one?"

"How can that be the same?" Chu Xining retorted confidently, "What's mine is mine, and what you gave me is what you gave me!"

Lin Ran tilted his head, a playful look in his eyes: "Then what should we do? I've already given it to her. How about I ask her for it back and give it to you?"

Chu Xining seemed to have considered it seriously for a while, her expression slightly conflicted, but in the end she waved her hand.

"Never mind, I'm not that petty. You've already given it to me, it wouldn't look good to ask for it back..."

"Really?" Lin Ran teased, "I thought you were a jealous person."

Chu Xining's ears instantly turned red, and she raised her hand to slap Lin Ran's arm: "Don't laugh at me!"

"Ah! You vicious woman, you actually used internal force to hurt someone!" Lin Ran made an exaggerated expression!

"I didn't! I didn't!" Chu Xining pouted again.

"Hahaha..." Lin Ran couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Under Chu Xining's resentful gaze, he finally waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, I won't make fun of you anymore."