Shen Changfeng didn't even spare Old Wang and the others a glance, just spoke blandly:
"You guys can leave, but this one has to stay!"
The two who were just helping Old Wang suddenly froze, stuck between going forward or turning back.
"Director Shen, aren't you being a bit harsh now? Look, Old Wang's already so old, had a sudden heart attack, and you're still blocking his way home."
"Yeah, seriously, all those injuries on Old Wang were earned on the battlefield—if nothing else, out of respect, you shouldn't act like this."
Shen Changfeng's gaze stayed locked on Su Mo as he quietly repeated, "I've said it. You all can go, but he stays."
Hearing that, Old Wang, who'd been flopping on the ground having a heart attack, jumped up instantly, pointed right at Shen Changfeng's nose and shouted:
"Director Shen, what do you mean by this? Not giving an ounce of respect, we're all adults here—why make things hard on a kid?"
Shen Changfeng snorted coldly: "A kid? I've never seen a kid who could solo-kill a Gold-ranked."
Silver Lotus Mountain might've been up to no good these years and made a lot of mistakes, but bottom line, he's still a Gold-tier powerhouse of Great Xia.
You all know the situation in the country right now—even one Gold-level is..."
He paused there, not finishing his sentence.
The three old men furrowed their brows; obviously, they all knew what Shen Changfeng was getting at.
Only Su Mo looked a little dazed, his head spinning.
Are Gold-ranks really that important?
If I remember the textbooks right—Great Xia has over a hundred Divine-levels, and Gold is only considered the backbone at most.
But looking at the current situation, that doesn't seem to be the case at all.
Old Wang stood in front of Su Mo in one step, pulled him behind his back, and spoke with a face full of bravado:
"Director Shen, then say what you want. Lay down your terms and I'll handle it!"
"He killed a Gold-tier. By Great Xia law, a life for a life. But I see real talent in him—he could fill that gap in the future. How about letting him enlist?"
"Impossible." *3
The three old men spoke in perfect unison, shockingly synchronized.
Shen Changfeng's face darkened, both thick eyebrows nearly knotted together:
"You're openly defying the law!"
Old Wang stepped forward to explain: "The college entrance exam is in 6 days. With his ability, he's a deadlock for the top scorer this year."
"If you take him away now to go off and enlist, do you have any idea how much he'll lose?"
"How much our whole Celestial City loses?"
"I get that you're not from our Celestial City, but I'm telling you—the only way he enlists is if he agrees personally."
Shen Changfeng took a deep breath and spoke in a low, steady tone:
"So we're just going to let what happened with Silver Lotus Mountain go—?"
"A Gold-tier who contributed to Great Xia, who returned from the battlefield severely wounded—"
"Just gets killed by some kid? If this isn't properly handled..."
"Forget Celestial City—even the entire Southwest is going to blow up!"
Shen Changfeng's words boomed, echoing. The three old men all frowned deeply.
And now Old Wang understood: even though Shen Changfeng was making a lot of fuss, he wasn't actually out to harm Su Mo.
Old Wang frowned and led Shen Changfeng aside. They muttered quietly for a bit before returning.
But this time, Old Wang's face looked rotten.
Shen Changfeng also gave Su Mo a meaningful look, then waved one hand to store Silver Lotus Mountain's corpse, and in a flash of golden light, disappeared.
Su Mo was a little thrown by the scene, but didn't ask questions.
Some things are better left unknown.
Next, Su Mo got to work combing the battlefield, reclaiming gear from everyone he'd taken out earlier.
He'd hoped he could maybe loot something valuable this way.
But after checking, all he found was a pile of junk. Most of the good stuff he'd smashed apart himself.
No help for it—everyone in this world has their own System Space.
Aside from the gear you actually wear, who'd bother carrying valuables around?
Old Wang swept up a golden light, taking Su Mo and the eight clan heirs up into the sky.
On a golden cloud, the eight noble sons clung together, practically shoulder to shoulder.
Even though Su Mo was nearby, taking up way more space, none of them dared to jostle for position.
Before, they'd just stood quietly by like background decorations.
But they'd heard plenty—things they should and shouldn't have heard.
This guy—he soloed the Hell-level Wild Boar Forest and then took down a Gold-tier powerhouse single-handed.
Gold-tier—do you know what kind of power that is? Even their elders back home were only at Gold level.
But this guy, someone their own age, just killed one.
Before school, they were all cocky, proud sons of noble houses.
But now, they didn't even dare glance sideways.
Based on what their older brothers and cousins said, things weren't supposed to be like this at all.
According to them, the moment they started school, they'd be the stars—everyone's attention on them.
The strongest Awakened in the whole school was only Level 3, and even the weakest among them was a Level 20 Bronze.
Wherever they walked, all eyes would be on them—admiring, jealous, or full of awe.
But in our year, why do we have such a terrifying monster!
Standing on the cloud, Su Mo still hefted that massive wild boar tusk, expressionless, checking his attribute panel.
His Heart of Slaughter wasn't just for killing monsters—it gave him assignable free attribute points for killing people, too!
Those regular Silver ranks—each one was only worth 2 points.
Even if it didn't make sense, considering how much higher their level was, only handing out 2 points? Doesn't seem fair at all.
But according to the Heart of Slaughter, the tougher the kill, the more assignable free attribute points you get.
So all those Silvers he killed were just trash!
Still, even so, his assignable free attribute points were now up to 280.
Silver Lotus Mountain alone was worth 240 points for being Gold-tier.
The other 40 points came from the 20 Silvers.
Thinking about his fight with Gold earlier, Su Mo deeply felt his DPS was seriously lacking.
He barely managed to pop a squishy mage with a Destructive Strike, and even then, it didn't finish the kill.
Plus, that was only because the enemy let his guard down. If he'd been prepared from the start, Su Mo doubted he could've even broken through his defense.
So, my DPS is really not enough!!!
I have to buy an even stronger skill. If there's a way to convert my defense into attack…