“Heard you signed up for the All-Star Games? Not bad, not bad, you really have the air of a fool. Coincidentally, I signed up too. By the way, I’m also a freshman. Hope to see you at the provincial competition, so I can really give you a good thrashing, haha.” The young man spoke again, the teasing in his tone growing stronger. “Remember, my name is James Hughes.”

Henry Sutton forcibly suppressed his emotions and took a deep breath. “What exactly did you come here for?”

James Hughes looked exasperated. “You think I care about you? If it weren’t for Third Brother telling me to keep an eye on you in the provincial capital, who do you think you are?”

This was James Hughes’s true feeling. Henry Sutton? What the hell is that? In the eyes of the children of powerful families and the strong cultivators, commoners are nothing but tools to be enslaved and ordered around at will. If you offend them, killing you outright might be a bit much, but crippling you and finding someone to take the blame? How easy is that? Even though Emperor Chongzhen reformed the Great Ming Code, making the law a deterrent to nobles and the strong, and even though Emperor Chongzhen is a Cataclysm-level powerhouse with a lifespan of 1,600 years—even if he’s no longer on Earth, no one knows when he might return.

No matter what kind of nobles or strong cultivators, none dare act as recklessly as before the Chongzhen era.

But the gap between noble families and commoners is still terrifying.

“I’m from Jiangdong Agricultural University, you know? That’s a top-tier school! The gap between you and me? I’ve been taking spiritual medicine since I was a child, started cultivating at age nine, and have been at it for nine years now. I’m at the fifth level of Spirit Transformation, and I’ve mastered at least several techniques. Don’t have innate talents like light, earth, ice, or fire? Just spend money to buy talent spirit plants.”

“My theoretical knowledge? I have Mind-Clearing Elixirs to make me sharp and give me memory and comprehension far beyond ordinary people. What do you have to compare with me?? Let alone with my Third Brother!”

“I originally thought you were at least a little clever, knowing how to use online public opinion. But now you’re overestimating yourself, signing up for the All-Star Games? I know what you’re thinking—if you succeed, you’ll become the school’s seed player, right? Jiangzhou Polytechnic will go all out to protect and nurture you, maybe even help you go against my Xu family?”

“Wake up! You think you’ll make the cut just by signing up? It’s not that I look down on you, but you can’t even win the freshman spot at your own school.”

The mockery on James Hughes’s face was almost tangible. If it weren’t for his Third Brother Andrew Hughes’s instructions, he wouldn’t care about Henry Sutton at all. But since Third Brother told him to, and he’s a Transcendent-level powerhouse, he had to take it seriously.

As soon as he heard Henry Sutton had signed up for the All-Star Games, he guessed what Henry Sutton was thinking—nothing more than trying to win the competition, become famous, get the school’s protection, and go up against the Xu family. But on what basis? With this guy’s grades and strength, the idea is nice, but actually doing it would just make people laugh their heads off.

“Actually, I kind of hope you’re not that bad. It’d be best if you could win your freshman class’s only spot and make it onto the school team. Then I could really crush you in public, haha. Too bad you’re not even qualified to be beaten by me. Beat you? I’d be afraid to dirty my hands!”

Casting one last condescending glance at Henry Sutton, James Hughes finally stood up. “You should be grateful you’re still single. Otherwise, with a snap of my fingers, I could make your girlfriend give you a hat full of the ‘color of protection’—a love token, so to speak. That would count as a merit in front of Third Brother. What a pity.”

“Don’t overthink it. Just accept your fate. People like you were born to be ruled by us, understand? The Emperor really is something, reforming the laws, enlightening the people—what a mess.”

His voice was loud and clear, but Henry Sutton noticed that no one else in the library seemed to hear a thing. It could only mean that James Hughes wasn’t stupid—he was using voice transmission. Otherwise, these words would have put him at odds with all the commoners.

Staring at James Hughes’s departing back with a fierce look in his eyes, Henry Sutton once again realized how powerless and useless he truly was!

He hated his own powerlessness once more.

Heh, the commoner class—are they really only meant to submit and be ruled? If you have ambition, will you only be mocked and ridiculed, your dreams torn to shreds with a wave of the hand?

Chapter 009: The Walking Quest NPC

A moment later, Henry Sutton walked into the cafeteria. He had expected to be ridiculed and laughed at by many familiar faces, but reality was unexpected.

Many girls from his department smiled at him encouragingly when they saw him. As for the boys… most just looked at him with a flash of interest and maybe laughed privately, but no one came up to mock him like Frank Young did.

Makes sense—anyone with a normal IQ, unless they have a personal grudge, wouldn’t do what Frank Young and James Hughes did, mocking him to his face!

Frank Young probably thinks he’s so much better than Henry Sutton, but is always compared to him by the girls… so he feels humiliated and tries to put Henry Sutton down. As for James Hughes, he came over just to warn him not to play any tricks? This was the second follow-up after Helen Dudley’s warning.

Ordinary people dealing with ordinary classmates—even if someone does something a bit over the top, you might think they’re overestimating themselves, but at most you’d laugh and discuss it privately. To humiliate someone to their face? Only a rare few would do that.

That’s how it is with classmates from the same department. As for those from other departments, how many even know who Henry Sutton is? They’re focused on their own department’s Great Ming Empire All-Star Games and the school team selection.

Henry Sutton bought a meal and was eating when he saw a graceful figure pass by, sneakily placing a note beside him with a giggle.

It was Nancy Rowe? Henry Sutton looked away and opened the note. The contents were clear to see.