29-Insufficient Damage Output Phobia.
---
Shen Changfeng didn't even glance at Old Man Wang and the others, simply speaking in a calm tone:
"You can leave, but this person has to stay with me!"
The two who had been supporting Old Man Wang froze mid-motion, caught between staying and going, unsure what to do.
"Commander Shen, this is a bit unreasonable. Look at Old Man Wang—such an old guy, suddenly struck with a heart attack. He needs to head back, and you're still stopping him?"
"Exactly. No matter what, Old Wang earned these scars on the battlefield. Even if you won't give him face, at least consider the bigger picture—you can't just do this."
Shen Changfeng's gaze remained fixed on Su Mo as he replied coolly:
"I said, you can leave, but he stays."
Hearing this, Old Man Wang—who had been twitching on the ground with his supposed heart attack—sprang up instantly, pointing at Shen Changfeng's nose and shouting:
"Commander Shen, what's that supposed to mean? Not giving us any face at all? We're all grown men here—why make things hard for a kid?"
Shen Changfeng let out a cold snort:
"A kid? I've never seen a 'kid' who can solo-kill a Gold-rank.
Yin Lianshan may have acted recklessly these past few years and made plenty of mistakes, but no matter what, he was a Gold-rank powerhouse of our Great Xia.
You all know the situation in Great Xia right now—every Gold-rank powerhouse is…"
He stopped there, leaving the rest unsaid.
The three old men frowned slightly, clearly understanding what Shen Changfeng meant.
Only Su Mo was left scratching his head, a bit confused.
Was a Gold-rank really that important?
He recalled his textbooks saying Great Xia had over a hundred God-rank powerhouses alone, and Gold-ranks were, at best, just mid-tier forces.
But judging by the scene before him, it didn't seem that simple.
Old Man Wang stepped in front of Su Mo, pulling him behind himself and declaring with bold authority:
"Commander Shen, tell us then—what do you want? Name your terms, and I'll take it!"
"He killed a Gold-rank. By Great Xia's laws, it's a life for a life. But seeing his talent, he could fill that gap in the future. How about he enlists in the military instead?"
"No way! 3"
The three old men spoke in unison, their movements perfectly synchronized.
Shen Changfeng's face darkened, his thick brows nearly knitting together:
"Are you openly defying the law?!"
Old Man Wang stepped forward to explain:
"The college entrance exams are in six days. With his strength, he's a guaranteed top scorer this year.
If you drag him off to the military now, do you know how much that'll cost him?
How much it'll cost our entire Tianfu City?
I forgot you're not from Tianfu, but let me tell you—if he's going to enlist, it has to be his own choice."
Shen Changfeng took a deep breath and said in a low voice:
"So we just let Yin Lianshan's death slide like that?
A Gold-rank powerhouse who contributed to Great Xia, returned from battle gravely injured!
Killed by some punk kid—if we don't handle this properly,
forget Tianfu City—the entire southwest region will be shaken!"
Shen Changfeng's voice rang out with force and conviction. The three old men frowned in response.
At this point, Old Man Wang could tell that, despite all his grand talk, Shen Changfeng didn't actually intend to harm Su Mo.
Frowning, Old Man Wang walked over to Shen Changfeng, pulled him aside, and the two muttered to each other for a while before returning.
Unlike before, Old Man Wang's expression was now grim.
Shen Changfeng gave Su Mo a meaningful look, then waved a hand, collecting Yin Lianshan's corpse. In the next moment, he turned into a streak of golden light and vanished.
Su Mo watched this with some curiosity but didn't ask questions.
Some things were better left unknown.
Afterward, Su Mo began tidying up the battlefield, collecting all the equipment from those he'd killed earlier.
He'd originally hoped to find something valuable,
but after checking, it was mostly junk—most of the gear had been wrecked by his own hands.
No helping it—everyone in this world had their own system storage space.
Aside from the gear they wore, who'd carry anything else on them?
With a flash of golden light from Old Man Wang's hand, Su Mo and the eight noble family youths were lifted into the sky.
Atop the golden cloud, the eight sharply dressed noble youths huddled close together.
Even though Su Mo, not far away, took up more space, they didn't dare show the slightest hint of wanting to compete for it.
Earlier, they'd stood there like invisible bystanders for a while,
but they'd heard everything—whether they were supposed to or not.
They knew exactly who this guy was: someone who soloed the hell-level Wild Boar Forest and then killed a Gold-rank powerhouse.
Gold-rank—what kind of strength was that? The two ancestors beside them were only Gold-rank themselves.
Yet this guy, their age, had straight-up killed one.
Before coming to school, they'd been proud, haughty noble heirs.
Now, they didn't even dare glance at him.
Based on the stories their older cousins had passed down, it wasn't supposed to be like this at all.
According to them, from the moment they stepped into school, they'd be the most eye-catching figures there.
The strongest awakened in school were Level 3 at most, while they were all at least Level 20 Bronze-ranks.
No matter where they went in school, people would look at them with envy, jealousy, or admiration.
So why, in their year, was there such a terrifying monster?!
Standing atop the cloud, Su Mo still carried that massive wild boar tusk, his face expressionless as he checked his attribute panel.
His Heart of Slaughter didn't just earn him free attribute points from killing monsters—killing people worked too!
Ordinary Silver-ranks gave 2 points each.
He thought it was a bit unfair— their levels were so much higher than his, yet they only gave 2 points. It didn't make sense.
But according to the explanation from his Slaughter Star, the stronger the enemy he killed, the more free attribute points he'd gain.
So those Silvers he'd killed were just trash!
Even so, his free attribute points had still reached 280.
Of that, Yin Lianshan, the Gold-rank, contributed 240 points.
The remaining 40 came from the 20 Silver-ranks.
Thinking back to his fight with the Gold-rank, Su Mo deeply felt his damage output was sorely lacking.
Against a squishy mage, even unleashing [Devastating Strike], he hadn't managed to kill him outright.
And that was with the guy caught off guard—if he'd been prepared, Su Mo doubted he could've even broken his defense.
His damage just wasn't enough!!!
He needed to buy a stronger skill—something that could convert his defense into attack power…
---