In the classroom, the originally noisy discussions suddenly stopped. Everyone's gaze was firmly fixed on the document on the podium, as if it were some kind of flood beast or tiger.
Teacher Zhou Yan set down the notice in his hand with a composed expression, his eyes sweeping across the varied expressions below before finally landing on the youth in the corner. His tone carried a subtle, deeper meaning as he spoke.
"Jiang Han, Celestial Mechanism Pavilion Youth Class, Special Selection Student."
Those few words detonated like thunderclaps within the cramped classroom space.
"Special Selection Student?!"
Someone in the crowd drew a sharp breath first, followed by an incredulous uproar.
Everyone knew that in this class, even Bai Ruoxue—the universally acknowledged genius with heaven-grade talent—had never received such an honor. What did Special Selection Student mean? It meant receiving top-tier resource allocation upon entering the Celestial Mechanism Pavilion, and an unlimited future!
Throughout all of Yuzhou City, fewer than a handful of people could claim those three words.
Yet this honor now belonged to a "waste" with only three skill slots?
"I'm not buying it! I entered the Northern District Ghost Realm yesterday too, and I have seven skill slots! Why does Jiang Han get in and I don't?!"
A crew-cut young man slammed his hand on the desk, his voice sharp with jealousy.
To be fair, even Jiang Han himself had not expected this outcome.
"Why a special-selected student?"
He was genuinely stunned. He had never imagined that the Tiangji Pavilion would slap the identity of special-selected student onto him.
"Could it be because my performance in yesterday's Northern District Ghost Realm was too outstanding?"
Thinking it through, Chen Yuan's reaction yesterday really had said a great deal.
But it still did not entirely make sense. After all, he only had three skill slots. That was an ironclad fact, and in everyone's eyes it was the mark of a born trash talent.
Surely the Tiangji Pavilion would not hand him a spot that even Bai Ruoxue had never been qualified to receive just because of that little bit of performance?
He simply could not figure it out.
As for Zhang Feng and the others' jealousy—
Jiang Han slowly rose to his feet, bowed deeply toward the surrounding air, and declared with solemn theatricality, "At this moment, I, Jiang Han, am deeply honored to have received the glorious title of Special-Selected Student from the Tiangji Pavilion. I sincerely thank every teacher and classmate in this school. It can be said that without your contrast, there would be no me today..."
The moment those words left his mouth, black lines seemed to appear on everyone's foreheads.
Even Zhou Yan could not bear to watch any longer. He waved a hand to cut Jiang Han off. "Student Jiang, the four of you—if you have no objections to entering the Tiangji Pavilion, then hurry home and pack your things. A Spirit Handler will come pick you up this very afternoon."
"That fast?" Jiang Han blurted out, startled.
"A-Han..."
Zhang Yuanyuan stared at his only true buddy with a moist, lingering gaze full of exaggerated reluctance.
Jiang Han thumped his chest and promised grandly, "Good brother, when I make it big later, I'll catch you a female ghost to warm your bed."
With that, he did not linger any further. He could not even be bothered to collect his textbooks. He strode straight out of the classroom, chanting boldly as he went,
"I throw back my head and laugh as I step out the gate—how could men like us be common weeds of the field?"
The sight drove Zhang Feng so mad his eyes turned red and his clenched fists crackled.
The rest of the class went wild with internal complaints.
"How did I never notice before that Jiang Han is this damn showy?"
"If I were a special-selected student, I'd be even showier! I'd show off so hard I'd pierce the sky!"
"Tch. As if any of us would be different. Who here isn't an actor at heart?"
...
"Yuer, your brother's here to say goodbye! If you miss me later, remember to video call..."
He had barely finished the sentence after getting home when he froze in place.
The living room was stacked with bags and bundles, looking as though the entire household were about to move.
Jiang Yu looked at him as though he were an idiot, then kicked a backpack at his feet. "These are your things."
"What's going on?" Jiang Han asked, bewildered.
Jiang Yu gave a scornful laugh. "Brother, don't tell me you really thought someone with my talent couldn't get into the Tiangji Pavilion?"
"But aren't you only in the third year of middle school?"
Jiang Han stared in disbelief.
Jiang Yu took out a shoulder insignia embroidered with a mountain shrouded in clouds and said, enunciating every word, "Spe-cial-Se-lect-ed. Student."
Jiang Han was thoroughly baffled. It would have been one thing if he himself had become a special-selected student, but how had his little sister also become one?
"What the hell is going on?" he asked, quickly explaining that he too had received the same identity.
Jiang Yu gave a sigh, something complicated flashing through her eyes. "Isn't it obvious? We got to bask in Mom and Dad's glory."
"Hiss—"
All at once Jiang Han felt he understood, and sucked in a sharp breath. "Wait... don't tell me our parents are the Pavilion Masters of the Tiangji Pavilion?!"
"What are you dreaming about? Wishful thinking much?" Jiang Yu snapped. "Forget it. Since you have the right to know, I'll tell you."
"This morning a Tiangji Pavilion Spirit Handler named Chen Yuan sent me a message. Our parents were once members of the Dawn Spirit Handler Corps. When they sealed a large ghost domain, they used their lives to save tens of millions of ordinary people..."
By the final words, even this normally lively girl could not keep the sadness from her face, and her eyes reddened.
In truth, she had guessed as much long ago.
Their parents had been gone for years without any news. No one living, no one dead.
"So that's the reason..." Jiang Han murmured, suddenly enlightened. "I never expected we'd be borrowing this kind of glory."
"Jiang Han!!! Are you that pleased with being a special-selected student? I'd rather not have this thing at all!"
Suddenly Jiang Yu exploded like a cat with its fur standing on end. She hurled the Tiangji Pavilion armband to the floor and glared at Jiang Han with blazing eyes.
Jiang Han hastily apologized. "Sorry, I..."
To be honest, he did not have much emotional attachment to this pair of parents. He had only transmigrated into this body not long ago. But no matter what, he should not have spoken like that in front of Jiang Yu.
Seeing no sign of the fire on her pretty face subsiding, Jiang Han abruptly changed the subject. "Right—before you mentioned some Dawn Corps thing our parents belonged to?"
"A Spirit Handler team. I heard it was very strong, but I don't know much about it," Jiang Yu said after calming herself a little.
"A Spirit Handler team?" Jiang Han repeated, puzzled. He had heard the term from Chen Yuan before.
Jiang Yu explained, "Aren't you supposed to be so amazing at games? Don't you understand how important a team is? Everyone only has so many skill slots. No one can be good at everything, so people usually specialize in one direction. My own role, for instance, is long-range burst damage, and that's the path I'll keep developing."
"Once you enter a ghost domain, casualties are inevitable. A team has to have healer-type support, and then there are formation masters who specialize in arrays, and so on..."
"Nowadays ghosts cause chaos everywhere. Evil spirits are often born right in the cities. Only these Spirit Handler teams can keep society stable."
Jiang Han nodded as understanding dawned on him. "So in the future I'll need to find a group of reliable teammates?"
Jiang Yu looked at him with disdain. "With your three skill slots, I'm afraid no team will want you in the future. Unless you're willing to be luggage."
Jiang Han only smiled and said nothing.
Three skill slots?
He alone was already a team.