Chapter 5: The Hidden Dragon and Crouching Phoenix—Not Quite in This Sense

In the minds of the crowd, those who changed their profession to Summoners were generally from noble families, possessing considerable strength.

Therefore, as soon as Gu Chen appeared, nearly everyone turned to him with eager eyes.

However, it didn’t take long for several students from Lin City No.1 High School to recognize him.

“Isn’t that Gu Chen? How come he switched to being a Summoner?”

“A commoner dares to become a Summoner? He must be carrying trash summons.”

“Tch, what can a commoner do as a Summoner?”

“Useless, just a waste of excitement.”

After a few words, the eager looks in their eyes turned into disdain and contempt.

Once Gu Chen’s commoner status was exposed, no one wanted to team up with him anymore.

Commoner Summoners have almost no offensive power and have to share some of the experience—wouldn’t that just drag themselves down?

Even poverty alleviation wouldn’t go that far.

In fact, Gu Chen hadn’t planned to team up anyway. Just as he was about to walk toward the dungeon entrance, a voice suddenly called out from the crowd.

“Gu Chen!”

Hearing his name, Gu Chen turned his head to see a tall boy walking up beside him.

Lin Yuan approached, patting Gu Chen on the shoulder with a surprised look. “Hey, so it really is you. Where have you been this past month?”

Gu Chen didn’t have many friends at school; Lin Yuan was one of the few.

“Nothing much, just handling some personal matters,” Gu Chen replied casually.

Lin Yuan sized him up from head to toe, puzzled. “Hey, why switch to Summoner all of a sudden? You can barely support yourself, and now you want to support summons too?”

Lin Yuan had changed to a Swordsman, a class heavily dependent on equipment, focusing on single-target attacks and bursts—considered a decent profession among commoners.

Gu Chen smiled faintly. “Summoner was my only choice.”

Lin Yuan sighed but said nothing, his face betraying obvious worry.

Gu Chen then asked, “Why aren’t you going into the dungeon? Your class shouldn’t have trouble finding a team, right?”

Lin Yuan shrugged. “It’s not hard to find a team, just no good equipment.”

“You know Li Wenhui, the head of the advanced class? Today he went into the dungeon wearing a full set of rare-grade knight gear. Damn, if he goes into the dungeon, he’ll slaughter everything.”

The quality of equipment and items was graded similarly to the aptitude of summons.

Rare-grade was already considered above average.

The new knight set consisted of seven pieces: knight’s longsword, knight’s shield, knight’s armor, knight’s pauldrons, knight’s trousers, knight’s boots, and knight’s gloves.

Don’t underestimate this seven-piece set—it was something an ordinary family couldn’t afford even if they didn’t eat or drink for a lifetime.

Lin Yuan carefully wiped a superior-grade greatsword. “This is the weapon I just traded for with a teleport scroll. Whether I enter the academy or the factory depends entirely on this.”

Without a teleport charm, entering the dungeon meant no retreat.

They were literally risking their lives!

But there was no other way—born from the lower class, if they didn’t fight hard, they had no chance of turning their fortunes around.

Lin Yuan slung the greatsword on his back and asked, “How about... I take you with me?”

Gu Chen looked at Lin Yuan oddly. With his strength, would he really need someone to guide him through the novice dungeon?

But then again, the novice dungeon had a five-person limit. The more people, the higher the difficulty—and thus the experience gained.

He had originally planned to solo grind for faster leveling.

Yet, comparing both, it seemed teaming up might yield more experience.

“You have a team?” Gu Chen asked in surprise.

“Yeah, Li Wenhui is the leader. I gave him fifty thousand coins and agreed to voluntarily hand over any items and gear obtained in the dungeon. Only then did he agree to bring me along.”

“Wait here, I’ll ask Li Wenhui to add you to the team.”

“Ask him to add me?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell him right now. If he doesn’t add you today, I’ll quit the team.”

Lin Yuan sent a message to Li Wenhui, requesting that Gu Chen be added to the team.

Soon, he received a reply.

[Li Wenhui has rejected your request and removed you from the team.]

“Damn! He kicked me out! It’s just adding one person, what the hell...” Lin Yuan’s face instantly fell.

Gu Chen sighed in resignation.

One was a swordsman with only a greatsword, the other a commoner Summoner—any ordinary team taking one of them was already pushing their limits.

For a team to accept both, the leader would have to be an extraordinary talent.

“We’ll recruit our own people,” Gu Chen said. “Let’s say the Summoner leads four teammates aiming for an SSS rating.”

Lin Yuan’s face flickered. “Are you joking?”

The SSS rating would add points in academy assessments.

Don’t underestimate that bonus—the academy’s selection was like thousands crossing a single-plank bridge, and one point could outpace tens of thousands.

If a team of transfer students could earn an SSS rating, the chance of its members entering a prestigious academy would soar.

There was even a chance for direct admission without examination.

Coincidentally, Lin City No.1 High had one guaranteed admission spot to the capital’s academy.

In response to Lin Yuan’s doubt, Gu Chen smiled faintly. “Just believe it or not.”

Lin Yuan hesitated but eventually chose to trust Gu Chen. Then he shouted to the surrounding crowd, “Summoner master leads four teammates to challenge for an SSS rating! Those wanting guaranteed admission, come quick!”

As soon as he finished, the crowd erupted into chatter.

“Summoner master? Who is that?”

“Challenging for an SSS rating?”

“When did Lin City start having geniuses like this?”

“Respectful or fake?”

“I heard it’s a transfer student from Lin City No.1, a commoner Summoner. Hilarious.”

“Pfft! Trying for an SSS rating with that? If he passes, I’ll stand on my head while pooping.”

“Isn’t that guy crazy? Does he even have the power for an SSS rating?”

“Probably just too lame, no one teams with him, so he’s using this to draw attention.”

“This? Only someone brainwashed would team up with him...”

The crowd buzzed with speculation but no one stepped forward to join.

Especially after finding out about Gu Chen and Lin Yuan’s backgrounds, everyone was pessimistic about them.

Some even mockingly called them “Dormant Dragon and Hidden Phoenix,” implying that having either in a team meant no smooth graduation.

If any team had both of them, they might as well forget the academy test and just go straight to the factory.

“Damn! That’s a bit much!” Lin Yuan clenched his teeth at the sneers.

Before today, “Dormant Dragon and Hidden Phoenix” hadn’t been used this way.

Annoyed, Lin Yuan glared around. “Forget it, no point wasting time with these fools. Professional matters should be left to professionals.”

“Professionals?” Gu Chen’s eyes showed confusion.