The leader looked down at Lin Yuan, then at the dark purple spear resting on his knees, his gaze lingering on Purple Lightning for a long time.
“Yo, Tier 2, B-rank?” His tone carried an uncomfortable smirk.
“Purple Thunder Cloud Iron, Tier 4 monster core... this spear wasn't cheap, was it? At least a hundred thousand.”
Lin Yuan said nothing.
“I’m Zhao Feng, from Hangzhou No. 9 High School.” He introduced himself with a confidence that suggested Lin Yuan must have heard of him.
“I heard someone on the road saying an F-rank lightning user was heading deep into the forest alone with a Tier 2, B-rank spear. I didn't believe it, but I'll be damned, it’s true.”
A boy with dyed yellow hair behind him chimed in with a grin, “Feng-ge, an F-rank lightning user carrying a Tier 2, B-rank weapon? Isn't that just a waste?”
“Exactly, exactly,” another boy with a crew cut agreed. “What’s the difference between giving it to him and giving a monkey a dragon-slaying saber?”
Zhao Feng raised a hand, and the group behind him fell silent.
He looked down at Lin Yuan with an expression that said, “I’m doing this for your own good.”
“Classmate, as you can see, the monsters in this forest are getting weirder. You’re just an F-rank lightning user; no matter how good your spear is, you can't bring out its potential. You’ll be nothing but a snack for a Tier 2 monster. How about this...”
He reached out a hand.
“Lend us the spear for a few days. We’ll return it after the exam. We have a lightning user in our team—E-rank, Tier 1, Level 4. He’s much better suited for this spear than you are.
Follow us, and we’ll keep you safe for three days. Don't worry about points; we’ll share some with you to make sure you don't end up with zero.”
When he said the word “lend,” the corners of his mouth curled up, but there was no hint of negotiation in his eyes.
The E-rank lightning user behind him took a step forward. He was a tall, thin boy in a Hangzhou No. 9 High School uniform, carrying an E-rank standard-issue spear on his back.
The shaft of his spear was pristine, without a single mark from battle.
He stared at Lin Yuan’s Purple Lightning, his eyes filled with poorly hidden greed.
Lightning ability users were rare.
As the most dominant attribute among the elemental systems, the awakening rate for lightning was extremely low; one might not even find a single lightning user among a hundred awakeners.
Among the three thousand examinees in Hangzhou, there were fewer than ten lightning users in total.
This Tier 2, B-rank Purple Lightning used a Tier 4 lightning-attribute monster core and a shaft made of Purple Thunder Cloud Iron. There wasn't another spear like it in the entire Hangzhou weapon market.
For a low-tier lightning ability user, this spear was a dream weapon.
Lin Yuan looked at Zhao Feng’s outstretched hand, then at the thin lightning user, and finally down at Purple Lightning on his knees.
He suddenly laughed.
It wasn't a laugh of anger, but one of genuine amusement.
Back in Donghai City, Zhao Tianyu had the same face, thinking that an F-rank should just obediently offer their face to be stepped on.
Now in Hangzhou, it was a different group of people, but the attitude was exactly the same.
A slightly higher realm, a few more people, but they didn't even change the script.
“The rules say examinees cannot engage in private duels,” Lin Yuan said, his voice very calm.
Zhao Feng paused, then laughed. “I know that. That’s why we’re negotiating with you, aren't we?”
“It’s not a negotiation.”
Lin Yuan corrected him. “The rules also state that examinees can plunder points from each other. If both parties press the combat button on their locators simultaneously, they enter judgement mode.”
He raised his left hand.
“There are nine of you. Do you want to come one by one, or all at once?”
Zhao Feng’s smile froze.
The eight people behind him were also stunned, as if they had heard something unbelievable.
An F-rank lightning user at Tier 1, Level 4, holding a Tier 2, B-rank spear, wanted to fight one against nine?
The yellow-haired boy was the first to burst out laughing, followed by the crew-cut boy, and then the others.
Their laughter echoed through the woods, startling several birds into flight.
“Are you serious?” Zhao Feng looked down at Lin Yuan as if he were looking at an idiot.
Lin Yuan didn't answer.
He pressed the combat button on his locator with his left hand and looked at Zhao Feng.
Zhao Feng’s expression darkened. “Fine. If you’re looking for trouble, I’ll give it to you.”
He also pressed the combat button on his locator. The eight people behind him exchanged looks and pressed their buttons as well.
The ten locators simultaneously emitted a soft “beep” and entered judgement mode.
The indicator lights on their bracelets turned from green to yellow—they were now recording combat data.
The moment the indicator lights changed color, Lin Yuan moved.
The speed of a lightning ability user was dominant among those of the same tier.
And his true realm was the peak of Tier 1, Level 7, at least two levels higher than anyone present.
He didn't use any battle techniques—against these people, he didn't need to.
The first one.
Before the yellow-haired boy could even react, the shaft of Purple Lightning whipped across his waist.
Lin Yuan didn't want to kill anyone, so he held back seventy percent of his strength, but even thirty percent of the power from Nine Rounds of Bone Tempering was devastating.
The boy was sent flying sideways, his back slamming into a pine tree. The indicator light on his locator flickered, judging him as having lost combat capability.
An instant defeat.
The second one.
The crew-cut boy was a bit faster and raised his standard-issue longblade. But his blade was only halfway up when the shaft of Purple Lightning swept across the back of his knees. His legs buckled, and he collapsed to the ground.
Third, fourth, fifth.
Silver-white lightning flickered in the woods, accompanied by muffled groans and the sound of bodies hitting the ground.
The sixth one.
Zhao Feng’s face had completely changed.
He was a B-rank fire ability user at Tier 1, Level 5, a notable figure at Hangzhou No. 9 High School.
He drew the longsword from his back, but his hand was shaking.
It wasn't out of fear, but because he realized his eyes couldn't keep up with Lin Yuan’s speed.
Just as he locked onto Lin Yuan’s position, Lin Yuan would appear somewhere else in the next second.
Lightning flashed, figures blurred, and his teammates fell one after another.
“You!”
He gritted his teeth and swung his sword, sending out a horizontal wave of fire sword qi.
Lin Yuan didn't dodge. The tip of Purple Lightning thrust forward, lightning condensing into a single line that pierced right through the center of the fire sword qi.
The tip of Purple Lightning stopped three inches from Zhao Feng’s throat.
Zhao Feng’s pupils contracted, his Adam’s apple bobbed, and the sword in his hand hit the ground with a clang.
Seeing his life hanging by a thread, he hurriedly threw away his weapon and shouted, “Daddy! Daddy, don't kill me! Don't kill me, I was wrong!”
Hearing this, Lin Yuan only found it hilarious.
A few minutes ago, this guy was acting like a total tyrant, and now he was shamelessly calling him “Daddy.”
Lin Yuan withdrew Purple Lightning, resting the butt of the spear on the ground.
He looked at the nine people sprawled on the ground, then at the positioning bracelet on his left wrist.
The judgement mode had automatically ended, and his points had increased.
Thirty percent of the points originally held by Zhao Feng’s group had been deducted and transferred to his name.
His point balance jumped from 82 to 143.
Then, he did something else.
The tip of Purple Lightning tapped nine times in rapid succession.
It landed precisely on the left wrists of the nine people, shattering all nine positioning bracelets at once.
Silver-grey fragments scattered across the ground. The indicator lights flickered twice before going completely dark.
The rules didn't state that one couldn't destroy another person's distress signal device.
A broken distress signal device meant a distress signal had been sent.
Once a distress signal was sent, the examiners would arrive shortly, and their arrival meant these students had lost their qualification for the exam.
Zhao Feng looked down at the smoking fragments of the distress signal device on his wrist. His face turned from white to blue, then from blue to green.
“You!”
The moment Zhao Feng shouted, he immediately regretted it.
He saw Lin Yuan raise Purple Lightning with a half-smile, pressing it against his throat.
At this sight, Zhao Feng forced himself to look calm.
“Oh, Lin Yuan-daddy, look at my temper.”
Rate on N.U.
