"So, who should we choose for the other eight of us?"
Luo Qingyan tilted her head and looked at Lin Ran.
Lin Ran smiled and took out a current ranking list from Yan University:
"Simple! Just follow two principles..."
"No idiots! No drama queens!"
"Go down the list."
"Lu Yuan! An idiot, no!"
"Lan Ruoqiu, okay."
"Qin Tian, a drama queen, no!"
"Wan Meng, both an idiot and a drama queen, definitely not!"
"Bai Ziye, okay."
"..."
With Lin Ran's brief commentary, the preliminary list was quickly finalized.
Besides him and Luo Qingyan, the remaining eight people were:
Serial number 004, Lan Ruoqiu, with an SSS-grade talent of Residual Gray Bone;
Serial number 007, Bai Ziye, with an SSS-grade talent of Soul Severing Demon;
Serial number 009, Lu Qianqian, with an SSS-grade talent of Elemental Spirit Body;
Serial number 013, Xu Sheng, with an SSS-grade talent of Po Jun Sword Dance;
Serial number 015, Sun Yuntian, with an SSS-grade talent of Thorn Dance;
Serial number 016, Huang Chong, with an SSS-grade talent of Sky Piercing Divine Bow;
Serial number 018, Xiong Yuan, with an SSS-grade talent of Hu Ben Armor;
Serial number 020, Guo Yuzhou, with an SSS-grade talent of Star Mist Cloud.
"Alright, that's them. This lineup is definitely sufficient."
"Since the boss said we're in charge, let's just announce the list to the public."
Lin Ran waved the list he held in his hand.
Luo Qingyan nodded:
"Done!"
"The personalities of those you eliminated were indeed too extreme, it's good we didn't take them."
"I just wonder if those who ranked higher but lost their eligibility will come to us to cause trouble."
"Miao Jie and the others, these people definitely wouldn't dare. As for us..."
Lin Ran casually clenched his fist:
"Dare to come? I'll smash their heads in!"
"They're just ants, why bother with them?"
"Let alone them, with my Divine Might Space and the ability to temporarily control the Black Dragon's body, even if their fathers came, I could beat them soundly..."
"What's there to fear!"
Luo Qingyan rolled her eyes:
"Alright, alright, you're invincible, okay..."
"But don't put my name on the list when you sign it."
"You don't fear trouble, but I quite do."
...
That afternoon, the much-anticipated list for the freshman exchange competition was finally released.
To everyone's shock, this year's list was not in descending order of rank as before.
Instead, it was quite arbitrary, inexplicably skipping a large portion of people.
Immediately, Yan University's forum erupted in an uproar, with people discussing it everywhere.
Especially those who lost their qualifications, such as Lu Yuan and Qin Tian, were furious.
Even more so when they saw that the list was issued by none other than Lin Ran!
Several people quickly gathered and started a small meeting.
Lin Zhaofan was the first to express his indignation:
"Lin Ran, that bastard is definitely seeking personal revenge!"
"He's using the privileges granted to him by Principal Ma to do whatever he wants, directly removing all of us who have offended him from the list!"
"This is simply going too far!"
Besides familiar faces like Lu Yuan, Qin Tian, Wan Meng, Li Xuan, Lei Zhan, and Wu Huanyu;
There were also Qian Yong, serial number 014, with an SSS-grade talent of Calling Gold and Inviting Stone, who was excluded by Lin Ran for being too arrogant and overbearing;
Song Ming, serial number 017, with an SSS-grade talent of幽影鬼魅 (You Ying Gui Mei);
And Liang Feifan, serial number 019, with an SSS-grade talent of洪钟之声 (Hong Zhong Zhi Sheng);
also showed signs of anger.
For them, who valued reputation and honor the most as scions of prominent families, this was simply a great humiliation!
"But what can we do?"
"The document issued by Principal Ma has officially designated Lin Ran as the highest responsible person for this competition."
"Even the accompanying teachers must follow his arrangements, let alone us free agents..."
Li Xuan sighed and continued:
"Moreover, Lin Ran's prestige at Yan University is simply soaring!"
"His achievements in the Black Dragon Abyss battle and the Fú Lóng Mountain range have directly sculpted him into a legendary hero of the Dragon Country at this time!"
"Everyone says that Lin Ran is a template of Principal Ma in his youth, and even surpasses him..."
"Under such public opinion pressure, even if we are dissatisfied, what can we do?"
After hearing Li Xuan's words, the other nine people fell silent.
Yes, the situation was quite unfavorable for them. Even if they wanted to resist, they couldn't find an opportunity!
They could only watch as Lin Ran rode on their necks and acted tyrannically, which was enough to make one spit blood from anger...
Having grown up under the halo of prominent families since childhood, when had they ever suffered such humiliation?
Wan Meng gritted his teeth:
"The current situation is indeed extremely unfavorable..."
"But we are not completely without options!"
"If we can prove that Lin Ran's judgment is indeed flawed, we can break the current stalemate!"
"Moreover, we can take this opportunity to severely weaken Lin Ran's reputation..."
"His current prestige at Yan University is truly terrifying."
"Not only does he have the support of those ants from humble backgrounds, but even many prominent families are inclined to get close to him."
"These people are simply scum among our prominent families!"
"Pah!"
Everyone was silent.
The facts were as Wan Meng said.
Those prominent families that had not offended Lin Ran were all quite friendly towards him.
Especially the Jiangdong Xu family, represented by Xu Sheng, was even more so, practically Lin Ran's number one sycophant!
After all, the Xu family was quite different from traditional prominent families, always preferring to absorb external forces for the family's use.
They even specially established the position of the Patriarch of the Outer Family, which held immense power, precisely to embrace all rivers.
Lin Ran's only weakness now was his shallow roots and lack of powerful backing.
But seeing Xu Sheng's eagerness, if Lin Ran were to become the Patriarch of the Outer Family of the Jiangdong Xu family in the future, who would dare to touch him?
The Xu family, which had passed down the Po Jun Sword Dance talent and the Jiangdong Iron Wall bloodline for generations, was inherently belligerent and one of the most powerful among the prominent families.
Add to that a prickly Lin Ran...
Then, the Xu family might indeed seize this opportunity to ascend and become the foremost prominent family in the Dragon Country!
It could only be said that the Xu family, accustomed to absorbing external strength, had too great an advantage compared to their traditional prominent families...
At this moment, Wu Huanyu, who had been silent all along, finally spoke:
"In that case, we have only one option..."
"That is, before the freshman exchange competition arrives, we must find a way to prove that our strength is greater than those selected by Lin Ran!"
"Only by doing so can we use public opinion pressure to force Lin Ran to readjust the list!"