The campfire burned all night, and Lin Yuan finally got a rare, peaceful night’s sleep.
It wasn’t because he was overly confident; it was because several dozen examinees had spontaneously organized a night watch rotation. They weren’t guarding him, specifically—they were guarding themselves.
The monsters in these woods were getting weirder and weirder. Who would dare sleep soundly?
Since people were keeping watch anyway, Lin Yuan didn’t stand on ceremony.
He found a large tree, lay down beneath it, and was out in three seconds.
His sleep quality was better than the hotel he had rented. At least here, there was no snoring from the room next door.
...
In the latter half of the night, when the moon had slid from the center of the sky toward the west, Lin Yuan woke up.
He wasn't woken up by noise; he had simply slept enough and woke naturally.
A few examinees were still chatting in low voices by the campfire.
When they saw him wake up, their voices dropped even lower, and they stole glances in his direction.
Lin Yuan didn't pay them any mind.
He got up and walked deeper into the woods, finding a secluded spot to sit down.
He opened his system panel.
【Host: Lin Yuan】
【Weak Spark (Lightning): E-rank, Tier 1, Level 8】
【Space-Time Ruler (Space-Time): S-rank, Tier 1, Level 5】
【Bone Tempering: 9 Rounds (Progress: 99%)】
【Combat Technique: 《Thunder Walk Through Nine Heavens》 (Proficiency: Proficient)】
【Combat Technique: 《Sands of Time》 (Proficiency: Practiced)】
【Ability Points: 2,180】
【Exam Credits: 1,012】
One thousand and twelve points.
It was only the third day, and Lin Yuan’s credits had already broken a thousand.
He didn't know what the record for the Hangzhou college entrance exam was, but he guessed he had already crushed it under his heel.
Ability Points: 2,180.
Looking at this number, he suddenly felt like checking how much it would cost to upgrade his lightning ability from E-rank to D-rank.
He hadn't paid attention before because the jump from F to E had cost 500 points. E to D was bound to be even more expensive, and looking at it would only be disheartening.
But now that his points had broken two thousand, he felt he could handle a little heartbreak.
【Lightning Ability: E-rank → D-rank. Required Ability Points: 5,000】
Lin Yuan stared at the number for three seconds.
“Five thousand? Impressive as hell,” he said expressionlessly.
Then he repeated it: “Five thousand.”
Lin Yuan patted his thigh and said with a calm face, “I’m not losing my cool. I really haven’t lost my cool.”
Fine, five thousand it is.
He couldn't save up that much right now anyway, so he might as well raise his realm first.
Ability rank and realm were two different things—rank followed the F, E, D, C, B, A, S sequence and determined the quality ceiling of the ability.
Realm went from Tier 1, Level 1 to Level 9, determining the actual combat power one could currently exert.
With an E-rank Tier 1, Level 8 lightning ability plus an S-rank space-time ability, his combat power already crushed others of the same tier.
Once he reached Tier 2, it wouldn't be too late to slowly save up those five thousand points.
“Upgrade lightning ability realm.”
【Consumed 800 Ability Points. Lightning ability has risen from Tier 1, Level 8 to Tier 1, Level 9.】
【Remaining Ability Points: 1,380】
Silver-white lightning surged from his body, brighter than ever before.
The surrounding air ionized, crackling loudly, and the fallen leaves and grass on the ground stood on end from the static electricity.
Tier 1, Level 9. He was only one step away from Tier 2.
The lightning slowly receded, and Lin Yuan clenched his fist.
He glanced at his remaining 1,380 ability points and then at the proficiency of Sands of Time—Practiced.
Going from Practiced to Proficient required 2,000 ability points, so he was still a long way off.
Dumping points in now wouldn't level it up, so he might as well save them.
Closing the system panel, Lin Yuan leaned against a tree trunk and looked up at the moon.
The moon was round and large.
Tomorrow would be the third day, the final day of the wilderness combat exam.
After the exam, he would head back to Hangzhou and then go to Magic City.
Once he arrived in Magic City, the first thing he’d do was find Teacher Shen Man to claim his S-rank student benefits.
His current offensive methods were indeed too few. Thunder Walk Through Nine Heavens was a spear technique, and Sands of Time was for control; both were great skills, but they were both single-target oriented.
The third form of Thunder Walk Through Nine Heavens, “Thunderclap,” had the most power, but it was still just one thrust for one target.
When facing a group of monsters, he could only kill them one by one, which wasn't efficient.
Sands of Time provided area control, but the slowing effect didn't kill; in the end, he still had to rely on Purple Lightning to stab them one by one.
He needed a true AOE—a wide-range lightning technique or a space-time offensive technique.
Having an S-rank space-time ability and not even having a single offensive skill yet was frankly embarrassing.
Sands of Time was Tier 5, and its control effect was indeed powerful, but he wanted a skill that could smash space-time power directly into an enemy’s face.
Magic City Academy’s technique library was ranked second among the four great academies, surpassed only by Kyoto.
Shen Man had said that S-rank freshmen had the highest level of authority and could borrow all secret technique materials that weren't open to the public.
When the time came, he was definitely going to go in and have a good scavenge.
As he was thinking, his stomach growled.
He still had to last through one more day in the wilderness, so he decided to catch some wild game to roast once dawn broke. Even though the meat of Tier 2 monsters was tough, it was still meat.
What Lin Yuan didn't know was that at this very moment, while he was sitting in the woods planning what to eat tomorrow...
His name was spreading across the local Hangzhou ability user forums at a speed he could never have imagined.
It all started when an account called “Hangzhou College Entrance Exam Gossip Bot” posted a thread around eleven at night.
The thread title was: “GUYS!!! LOOK WHAT I CAUGHT ON CAMERA!!!”
The title was followed by three fire emojis and a “Trending” icon.
The video quality was terrible, clearly compressed and uploaded in a hurry under poor network conditions; the pixels were as blurry as looking through frosted glass.
But one could clearly see one person fighting nine.
One person, one purple spear, and nine people lying scattered on the ground.
The figure in the video was as fast as a streak of silver-purple light, weaving between the nine people. The spear shaft flew, and with every strike, someone went down.
Finally, the image froze as he used his spear to shatter the ninth person’s distress signal device.
The caption read: “F-rank lightning user, one-vs-nine, and he shattered all nine of their distress signal devices.
Supposedly, this guy currently has the highest credits in Hangzhou—over seven hundred points, leading second place by more than two hundred.
Are there any insiders who can tell me if an F-rank lightning user can really be this fierce?”
Less than half an hour after the post went up, the comment section exploded.
“F-rank? You’re telling me this is F-rank? I’m an E-rank fire user at Tier 2, Level 1, and I can’t even take on nine people!”
“That speed is definitely lightning, no doubt about it. But since when has lightning been this ridiculous? My cousin is a lightning user, E-rank Tier 1, Level 9, and he says his hands are shaking just watching this video.”
“Are there any Hangzhou examinees who can come out and say who this guy actually is?”
“Me. He was holding a challenge stage on the outskirts today. No weapons, just bare hands, and he beat eight or nine challengers.
One of them was a B-rank earth user at Tier 1, Level 5, and he was taken down in one move. It wasn’t just a quick kill; he was playing with him.”
“Adding to the guy above. Later, he slammed a fist into the ground and the ground cracked. No ability active, just pure physical strength. People who know about bone tempering say it’s at least seven rounds.”
Rate on N.U.
