The next morning.

Zhou ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) Huai slowly woke up in bed.

These past few days, he had been leveling up frantically with his three Clones in the Secret Realm, which had indeed consumed a lot of his mental energy.

He had slept exceptionally soundly this time.

He stretched, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

Now that the situation with his three Clones in the Abyss of Mist was temporarily stable, it was time to check on Student Gandalf's progress.

Zhou Huai closed his eyes, and his consciousness, like an invisible electric wave, instantly traversed a thousand miles, descending upon Gandalf in the Imperial Capital.

...

Imperial Capital Academy, Instance Tower, first floor.

Points Exchange Area.

Gandalf stood quietly at the counter.

The several staff members in front of him were all sweating profusely, busily sorting through a mountain of Materials that had been poured out of a spatial ring.

The entire exchange hall was silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

All the students in line watched the tall figure in the star moon magic robe with a look of awe.

After a long while.

The lead staff member wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and handed back an emptied spatial ring and points card with both hands.

His voice carried a subtle tremor.

“Student Gandalf, all your Materials have been counted. A total of 53,000 points have been exchanged this time.”

“Please... please keep them safe.”

Whoosh—

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.

“Over 50,000 points! My heavens! Did he empty the Instance?”

“That’s too exaggerated. I work hard for a month and only get a few hundred points. He exchanges hundreds of times that amount in one go!”

“As expected of the Great Devil King who dominated the National Examination, he’s still so abnormal even here at our Imperial Capital Academy!”

Zhou Huai, controlling Gandalf, took the card and thanked him.

Through the memories shared by the Smart Core AI, he learned that Gandalf would come to exchange points every two or three days.

Each time, at least five employees were needed to count the Materials he brought.

And the points he exchanged in one go were already the total amount many students could accumulate in an entire year.

Now, Gandalf’s special points card had accumulated over 200,000 points.

This was definitely a huge sum.

As Gandalf’s feat of soloing a fifty-person Instance gradually spread throughout the Academy, his previous “glorious deeds” from the National Examination were also dug up.

Especially recently, as new students began to report to the Imperial Capital Academy.

Some new students who had participated in the National Examination were utterly terrified when they saw Gandalf on campus.

The fear of being dominated on Triple Island still lingered in their hearts.

“You guys didn’t see it! This guy is completely unreasonable!”

A new student from Jinchuan Province was spitting as he complained to several senior students.

“He was like a Great Devil King, wiping out every team he saw on the island!”

“Even the chosen ones from the Imperial Capital and the Demon Capital couldn’t last three rounds against him when they teamed up!”

Of course, many older students at the Imperial Capital Academy initially scoffed at such rumors.

Who among those who could enter the Imperial Capital Academy wasn’t a chosen one?

Who didn’t have their own arrogance?

Just last week, a third-year senior with an S-Class Profession, confident in his strength, publicly challenged Gandalf in the arena.

As a result, with thousands of students watching, that senior couldn't even cast a single skill.

Gandalf merely raised his staff.

That arrogant S-Class senior, seeing the slowly opening portal burning with eerie green flames above his head, was so scared that he immediately knelt on the ground and conceded.

From then on, the nickname “Great Devil King” completely spread throughout the Imperial Capital Academy.

Along with it came countless girls' curiosity and admiration.

To catch a glimpse of the Great Devil King’s face, groups of senior girls would gather at the entrance of the Instance Tower every day.

When they saw Gandalf’s handsome and aloof face, carefully crafted by Zhou Huai, they naturally fell for him.

His mysterious star moon magic robe and his proud expression, as if he viewed everyone as ants, captivated these blossoming maidens.

Naturally, some bolder senior girls mustered the courage to approach him for a chat.

What they usually got in return was just one line.

“Stupid human, do not block my path.”

“I am not interested in you.”

After saying that, he would walk away without looking back.

Leaving a group of girls holding their faces, their eyes full of little stars.

“Wow! He’s so cold!”

“Why do I like him more the colder he is!”

After reading these AI-shared memories, Zhou Huai himself was a little stunned.

Well, well.

He had only been at the Imperial Capital Academy for less than a month, and he had already developed his own fan club.

However, this was not the time to think about such things.

Gandalf's Rank had already reached 28.

There were only nine days left until the thirty-day limit for the challenge quest.

It was not an easy task to gain two Ranks within nine days.

Relying solely on the current Level 25 fifty-person Instance, 【Defend Mo Fei Bridge】, would be very difficult to accomplish.

As the Rank increased, the experience bonus for fighting higher-Rank monsters became less and less.

Zhou Huai had to find a higher-Rank Instance.

At least, it had to be a Level 30 one.

Just then, a large crowd of people, over a hundred strong, streamed in from outside the building.

Among the crowd, many were discussing confidently as they walked.

“We must clear that Instance today!”

“I doubt it, the difficulty of that Instance is too high. We’ve already failed four times.”

“It doesn’t matter! Even if we fail, it’s good if I can get a few more glances at Old City Lord Chen Guanyi! Last time I saw him sacrifice himself to protect us and die with the BOSS, my eyes were all swollen from crying! This time I absolutely won’t let him die so easily!”

As they spoke, this group of people successively ascended the stairs, heading upstairs.

Just then, a beautiful figure in the crowd suddenly stopped.

She saw Gandalf standing in the points exchange area, hesitated for a moment, then walked over with a polite smile. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“Student Gandalf, how have you been these past few days?”

“Are you adapting to campus life?”

Zhou Huai recognized the person; it was Lu Zhiyi, whom General Zhang had arranged to look after him before.

Because the Smart Core AI had been controlling Gandalf all this time, acting too aloof, this enthusiastic senior had been hesitant to approach him recently.

He hadn't expected her to proactively greet him now.

Zhou Huai, controlling Gandalf, showed a faint smile on his face.

“Thank you for your concern, senior. I am doing very well.”

A clear look of surprise appeared in Lu Zhiyi’s bright eyes.

After all, not long ago, Gandalf had found her annoying and called her a stupid human.

His attitude today was like a completely different person.

Zhou Huai looked at the large group of people behind her and proactively asked.

“With so many of you, are you going to challenge a hundred-person Instance?”

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhiyi immediately nodded, her face showing a hint of excitement.

“Yes, the Instance Tower recently launched a new Level 30 hundred-person Instance. Its difficulty is extremely high, and no team has successfully cleared it yet.”

“So we want to continue challenging it today and give it a try.”

At this point, Lu Zhiyi’s eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had thought of something.

She looked at Gandalf and asked tentatively.

“Student Gandalf, are you... interested in trying it with us?”