Lin Xiaolu had a peculiar feeling; compared to the previous days of the assessment, today she seemed to attract a lot more attention.
Although many were secretly observing her, after a while, even Lin Xiaolu's not particularly outstanding perception could sense the intrigue.
However, she actually didn't mind.
"Hmph, take a good look, after all, I'm the first and only SS rating in history. For them, it's a rare chance to witness a unique super genius like me, hahaha!"
— She even wanted to publicly express such sentiments, but the little bit of rationality left in her chose to keep quiet.
The night before, after the initial ratings were announced, Emerald Sparrow specifically found her and repeatedly warned her, saying "There's nothing wrong with being proud and confident, but don't rashly make offensive remarks and attract too much animosity." Even though Lin Xiaolu was quite pleased with herself now, she still had to keep Emerald Sparrow's advice in mind.
But managing to hold back until now was already her limit.
It's worth noting that before this assessment, Lin Xiaolu had repeatedly fallen into the vortex of self-doubt. Compared to Xia Liang and Bai Jingxuan, her slower Kaihua progress, and the repeated encounters with strong enemies like Mosi and Yuan that exceeded her capability, had left her dissatisfied with her performance as a Magical Girl, even a little bit self-conscious.
Even with Emerald Sparrow's comfort and encouragement, and the achievements from defeating Semi, it only slightly eased her anxiety; the psychological need wouldn't just disappear: she desperately wanted broader, more public recognition and strived to prove herself. This was not just for herself but to prove "Emerald Sparrow's judgment wasn't wrong."
And now, this wish was finally fulfilled, even over-fulfilled.
Overnight, Lin Xiaolu transformed from a "Magical Girl from a small place in the Material Realm" into the "unprecedented sole Magic Armor Rating holder," achieving a 180-degree turn in fame and status.
In such a situation, how could she not be excited? How could she not feel proud? How could she not swagger?
The answer is she couldn't, Lin Xiaolu wasn't the type with such tact; if given a stage, she would dare to shout "I'm the third best under heaven," as for first and second? That's her mom and her mom.
Even if she hadn't spoken such words, the atmosphere still effectively conveyed itself to her companions, and Lin Xiaolu would occasionally let slip a few overly confident comments like "The candidates participating in this assessment are truly lucky, because this will be remembered in history," making Mint and Bai Jingxuan give her cold glances.
But unfortunately, there are never a shortage of opportunists in this world. As Lin Xiaolu's status gradually got revealed and exposed, the dual identity of "the only SS level" and "Cornflower's disciple" naturally attracted many wanting to cling onto her. To these people, they wouldn't care if Lin Xiaolu started to act smug; if they could get close to Lin Xiaolu or establish a connection, even if it meant cheering and shouting "Bai Mei is destined to be the champion this assessment, her opponents are all trash," it was possible.
In fact, just after staying in the examination room for one or two hours, several candidates had found various reasons to talk to Lin Xiaolu. Some boldly stated their intention, others pretended to coincidentally bump into her, and some purposely provoked to gain attention... All these people were sent away by Mint, or else Lin Xiaolu's surroundings would have become chaotic.
Even so, the number of candidates secretly observing around her increased, making Mint's scalp tingle just thinking about what they might do next.
Just as she was getting overwhelmed by dealing with them, a "savior" appeared.
The person who arrived was Hua Zhu, who had spoken to them the previous day, but unlike before, this time she was accompanied by only one person instead of a big entourage.
And just that one person had the presence to overshadow Hua Zhu's group from the previous day. If Hua Zhu looked like a dignified and graceful lady, then this person resembled a cold and aloof wanderer, merely a glance brought a feeling of threat that one's eyes might be pierced.
This was a girl with long black hair like a waterfall, ink-colored eyes, and in a snow-white princess dress with the vibe of a warrior's tunic, the dress draped with a long pale red crane feather cloak like a cape swayed with her steps, revealing the sword strapped to her waist.
When this girl appeared, many of the originally eager spectators suddenly dispersed, for they recognized who she was—the Magical Girl Mu Mian.
Mentioning this code name might not be enough for all candidates to know her, but with the "Thigh Ranking" compiled by Mint, it could somewhat reveal her prowess.
Because Mu Mian was the first on this so-called Thigh Ranking.
Before "Bai Mei" and "Jin" emerged out of nowhere, Mu Mian was undoubtedly the top favorite for most candidates to win the championship, and even now with competitors, many still have high hopes for her. Just because Mu Mian, the officially recorded achievements show, had twice repelled "Half-Molt" in battle.
Repelling once could be considered extraordinary performance or luck, but twice proved it was truly her ability—to single-handedly battle the Half-Molt with a Leaf Level Kaihua Stage.
Bear in mind that typically, a Half-Molt counterattack requires at least three Bud Level Magical Girls leading to have a good chance of winning, so if a Leaf Level Magical Girl can achieve this alone, calling her a "monster" is definitely not an exaggeration.
Of course, the candidates present didn't actually know that Seed Level Lin Xiaolu and Leaf Level Bai Jingxuan had also accomplished similar "great feats." If they knew, they'd realize Mu Mian's arrival was actually "monster meeting monster."
"Sorry."
When the two sides met, the first to speak was Hua Zhu, and inexplicably, she made a headless apology towards Lin Xiaolu: "I spoke very forthright yesterday, but couldn't follow through."
"...Uh? What do you mean?"
Such headless, tailless words, naturally Lin Xiaolu was confused.
"I couldn't keep my promise."
Hua Zhu sighed with a troubled frown: "I couldn't convince her."
After she spoke this sentence, Mu Mian, who had been following Hua Zhu, stepped forward, swapping positions with Hua Zhu—Mu Mian in front and Hua Zhu behind.
The black-haired Magical Girl's expression was cool, but her gaze intensely fixed on Lin Xiaolu: "Hello, are you Bai Mei?"
"Uh, I am?" Lin Xiaolu glanced at Hua Zhu and then at this unfamiliar Magical Girl before her, finally choosing to respond.
"I'm Mu Mian, yesterday's Magic Armor rating was S-level."
The black-haired Magical Girl nodded and bluntly said, "I heard you're the only SS level in history, I'm curious, so do you mind sparring with me?"
"Ah... what?"
"I mean, I'm curious what an SS level Magic Armor is like, would you mind sparring with me?" She repeated earnestly.
Lin Xiaolu looked at her for a while, suddenly shifting her gaze sharply to Hua Zhu.
Because she finally understood why Hua Zhu apologized.
—This guy, not long ago, was confidently saying something like "I just want to tell you, my team and I won't have any thoughts because of your test rating" seeming quite forthright, turns out she couldn't control her teammate at all!
