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“With how much His Majesty trusts you, I believe that you will be promoted soon.”

“When you reach a high position, don’t forget about us.”

In the imperial garden, a few people were walking in groups of few. The man being discussed was wearing a purple-gold crown and a sea python robe. He looked proud and condescending.

“In my opinion, the position of the winner of the Martial Arts Examination should be given to you. What right does Lin Ran have to claim the first place? I heard that he’s still a mountain guardian in the middle of nowhere.”

Hearing his name, Lin Ran couldn’t help but stop in his tracks.

Zhou Hao’s face immediately darkened, clearly a little unhappy. He was in the same batch of contestants as Lin Ran. However, Lin Ran came out first while he only got second place.

People would remember the champion by heart, but they would soon forget the runner-up.

This was a thorn in his heart. Even though Lin Ran was not doing as well as him now and was gradually forgotten by everyone, hearing this name mentioned still stung him quite a bit. It reminded him that he was a runner-up.

The lackey at the side could tell that Zhou Hao was displeased at a glance. He glared at the person who spoke just now. “You ignorant thing, don’t talk nonsense! Lin Ran is not worthy of being mentioned in our conversation!”

After saying that, he spat on the ground. “He was just lucky.”

Hearing this, Zhou Hao immediately felt much better. Seeing this, the rest of them started belittling Lin Ran even more enthusiastically.

“What can he do on Mount Sword? I’m afraid he’ll remain a petty and insignificant mountain guardian for the rest of his life. He’s not even worthy of carrying Official Zhou’s shoes.”

“With Official Zhou’s current cultivation, he can easily squash Lin Ran with a finger.”

“I think we should suggest to His Majesty that the winner of the Martial Arts Examination be replaced. Otherwise, our Heavenly Saint Dynasty will be embarrassed.”

The few of them went on taking delight in demeaning Lin Ran.

Lin Ran’s expression was indifferent. Zhou Hao was only doing well because of his good family background and his connections.

It was said that Zhou Hao was born in a bureaucratic family, and his ancestors were the founding statesmen of the Heavenly Emperor. The Zhou family had been around for a hundred years and had accumulated a lot of influence as well as wealth.

This was probably the reason why Zhou Hao’s official career had been smooth-sailing.

Just as he was about to leave, Zhou Hao and the others noticed his existence.

“Stop! Who are you? Why aren’t you bowing to Official Zhou? How dare you slight him?”

Zhou Hao felt that this stranger’s back looked familiar.

When Lin Ran turned around unhurriedly with perfect composure, everyone was dumbfounded.

“It’s actually you.”

Zhou Hao and the others looked at each other and sneered.

“I was wondering who it was. So it turned out to be the former winner of the Martial Arts Examination. Why aren’t you guarding Mount Sword? What are you here for?”

Lin Ran could tell at a glance that among these people, Zhou Hao was the strongest. Until now, he was only a commoner and was no different from back then. If Lin Ran wanted to, he could deal with him with a finger.

However, he couldn’t be bothered to do that. After all, an elephant wouldn’t care about the provocation of an ant.

Zhou Hao, on the other hand, did not know the strength of the person in front of him.

The two of them were not on the same level. Lin Ran was many levels higher than him, so he naturally couldn’t notice it. Moreover, Lin Ran intentionally restrained his aura, which gave Zhou Hao the illusion that Lin Ran’s cultivation had regressed.

“I didn’t expect Brother Lin to have weakened so much after not seeing you for so long. It’s really a pity. You have to know that His Majesty once praised you in the throne room. I wonder if he will regret saying what he did when he sees you.”

Zhou Hao perfectly demonstrated what the frog in the well knows nothing of the great ocean meant. He had no clue as to the extent of Lin Ran’s ability.

“How about this? If you beg me, perhaps I can put in a good word for you in front of the emperor and help you leave that place where even bugs don’t go. What do you think?” Zhou Hao said sarcastically.

At this moment, he felt extremely satisfied.

“This is simply ridiculous that you came out first in the Martial Arts Examination. You are probably the most down and out champion in history.”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Lin Ran didn’t flare up at all even after being belittled and ridiculed by them. On the contrary, he looked at the clique with sympathy in his eyes.

These people were not even qualified to be his match.

In the past year, Lin Ran had been molded into a person with a calm temperament through quiet cultivation day in and day out. His cultivation level was completely beyond what these people could imagine. For the sake of comparison, if these people were still at the foot of the mountain, Lin Ran would have already reached the peak.

To him, wealth and fame meant nothing. The only thing that mattered was cultivation.

Moreover, there was always a higher mountain. The peak he reached was only the beginning. He had to reach the peak of the Martial World and look down on all living beings.

These people thought that they could be smug just because they had higher positions than Lin Ran. They were really short-sighted. However, that was perhaps the only thing they could be proud of in their lives.

Zhou Hao felt uncomfortable under Lin Ran’s gaze. Lin Ran was clearly the loser who had nothing, but Zhou Hao actually had the illusion that he was the one who should look up to him.

Why was he intimidated by a loser?

Zhou Hao immediately flew into a rage out of humiliation. He released his aura to scare Lin Ran. “What kind of attitude is this?”

In Lin Ran’s eyes, this was like a baby gently stomping its feet in front of a giant. Not only was it not lethal, but it also looked comical.