"You!" David Harris really couldn't hold it in any longer this time. He was about to explode, but then saw the teacher return to the podium—the second class had already started. David Harris had no choice but to swallow his anger, almost giving himself an internal injury. He then heard Emily Parker whisper to Edward Thompson, "Edward Thompson, no matter where you are, you can't tell anyone, not even your closest classmates."

"Mm," Edward Thompson nodded.

David Harris was completely suffering inside. He was just planning that if he couldn't bribe anyone, he'd try to get information about Edward Thompson's location from classmates. But with Emily Parker's suggestion, David Harris's plan fell through. At this point, the only person who might really know Edward Thompson's location was probably Emily Parker. That woman... David Harris secretly gritted his teeth. He was sure he couldn't get anything out of Emily Parker, and the other person who might know was probably Samuel Reed.

But trying to get information from Samuel Reed might make Samuel Reed realize his intentions and ruin his own image, which David Harris was even more unwilling to risk.

Thinking it over, he realized that despite sharing a dorm room with Edward Thompson—such a great advantage—he couldn't make use of it at all. David Harris felt like gnawing on his desk again.

After the morning classes ended, Edward Thompson was pulled by Emily Parker to have lunch with Samuel Reed, making all the other boys green with envy and drooling.

At noon, back in the dorm, David Harris stared intently at Edward Thompson to see if he would enter the game, but only saw Edward Thompson climb into bed and fall fast asleep. David Harris had stayed up all night, and with the added exhaustion from his tangled, frustrated, and jealous emotions, he was already at his limit. But he was afraid Edward Thompson would enter the game without him knowing, so for the whole noon, Edward Thompson enjoyed a nice nap, while David Harris sat there nodding off like a garlic crusher, not daring to blink. It wasn't until Edward Thompson ran off to class that David Harris finally seized the chance to get some sleep himself, preparing to follow Edward Thompson online that night and seize the opportunity.

In the evening, after dinner, Edward Thompson came back, rested a bit, and finally picked up his game helmet. David Harris hurriedly pulled his own helmet out from under the covers and put it on, entering the game a step ahead.

As soon as Edward Thompson entered the game, just as he expected, he received a flood of carrier pigeon messages, filling up his maximum message capacity. But Edward Thompson had no time to check what strange and curious things were in all those messages, because the moment he hit his limit, he already sensed—someone was nearby!

Edward Thompson quickly turned around and saw, on a huge rock beside him, a young man in white robes lying at an angle, propping his head up with his left hand, a blade of grass in his mouth, and holding a sword in his right hand. The sword, still in its purple scabbard, was being tapped up and down against his shoulder and waist. The scabbard was purple, and as the man swayed, the sword would occasionally slide out an inch or so, faintly emitting a blue-green glow.

Edward Thompson could already see this person, but the person seemed completely unaware that someone had appeared nearby.

This was the "Jianghu Online" login protection. When a player logs in, they have five seconds to observe their surroundings, during which time their position appears empty to all other players and NPCs. After five seconds, the player truly appears in the scene.

There was actually someone here, and judging by how bored he looked, he was probably waiting for Edward Thompson.

White robes, purple-sheathed sword...

Neither item was particularly unusual, but together, combined with the background of a Wudang disciple, a name immediately popped into Edward Thompson's mind—Charles Morgan.

This was a player's name. "Jianghu Online" uses real-name authentication: the name is the real name, the appearance is the real appearance. Edward Thompson is Edward Thompson in the game, Charles Morgan is Charles Morgan, and of course, David Harris is David Harris.

But even though both were Wudang disciples, Charles Morgan and David Harris were not the same.

David Harris was just one of the outstanding players among the Wudang disciples, while Charles Morgan—to say he was one in ten thousand among Wudang players would be an understatement.

In the Xintian Tower cultivation rankings, Charles Morgan was ranked third among Wudang disciples.

"Jianghu Online" doesn't have character levels, only martial arts cultivation. The depth of one's martial arts determines a character's strength. Xintian Tower is also a Jianghu faction; it uses a system to assess the cultivation level of any character.

There are rankings for each sect, overall rankings, NPC rankings, exclusive player rankings, and comprehensive ones.

But one thing: to be ranked in Xintian Tower, players must actively sign up for assessment; otherwise, they won't appear on the cultivation rankings. Once a player participates, unless they withdraw, their cultivation progress will be automatically updated.

Of course, Xintian Tower only provides a ranking order. As for which martial arts are being cultivated and to what level of mastery, that's impossible to find out from the rankings.

On the overall leaderboard, the top spots are undoubtedly held by the leaders of the major sects and factions. Currently, the number one on the cultivation ranking is the Wudang sect leader, Master Zi He. Although advanced in age, he still holds the position of the number one expert in the Jianghu. But the official notice made it clear: just as players who don't participate in the assessment won't appear on the leaderboard, from the very beginning, many NPCs also do not appear on the Xintian Tower rankings.

In the words of the official, Xintian Tower is just an intelligence agency—some information it has, some it doesn't. As for whether those NPCs not on the leaderboard will ever appear there one day, the official response is: it depends on the interaction between the NPCs and Xintian Tower.