At this moment, the control room outside was silent. Director Edwin’s hands were trembling slightly.
To defeat a level 20 demonic beast with the strength of a rank-0—this person was definitely a top-tier talent cultivated by some hidden family!
Perhaps he was the crown prince of such a family, the future heir to the headship!
Moreover, he was clearly a paladin, yet he possessed such high proficiency in archery. This indicated that his family had been training his combat abilities in all aspects since his childhood.
Only then could he possess such formidable cross-rank combat capabilities.
However... could he hold on in the battles to come?
Director Edwin stared nervously at the screen.
A projection of a giant ape, over three meters tall and wreathed in violent lightning, condensed into form. Its presence was far more oppressive than any of the previous projections!
It beat its chest and let out a deafening roar, electricity crackling in the air.
"Elite level!"
Jiang Lin’s gaze turned solemn.
Every time a demonic beast’s racial rank increased, its strength took a massive leap.
He continued to maintain his two layers of shields, pushing 【Super-speed Thinking】 to its limit while using his 【Chronowalker's Evil Eye】 to observe every movement of his opponent.
The giant ape was incredibly fast, moving almost like an afterimage. With a thunderous boom, it appeared right in front of Jiang Lin.
Jiang Lin’s eyes widened.
In his 【Chronowalker's Evil Eye】, the figure of this giant ape had become a blur.
There were countless phantoms; no matter how he tried to dodge, there was no way to avoid them.
In that case, he could only meet it head-on!
Jiang Lin gritted his teeth and slapped a 【Strengthening Technique】 onto his body. At the same time, he gripped his holy light longsword and collided forcefully with the charging giant ape.
Blinding holy light met the crackling lightning. The collision and annihilation of energy erupted in waves of air.
A power so immense it felt peerless surged through him. Sharp pain accompanied by a strong sense of paralysis instantly spread across his body. The two layers of shields protecting Jiang Lin shattered one after another.
Jiang Lin gritted his teeth, continuously casting 【Shield of Divine Grace】 and 【Iron Wall Barrier】 to protect himself.
However, it all seemed somewhat futile.
Under the violent, continuous heavy strikes of the thunder giant ape, the two shields were constantly shattered and reformed. The holy light longsword in Jiang Lin’s hand also collapsed, and a trace of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.
Biting his lip, Jiang Lin channeled magic into his legs and activated 【Light-speed Dash】 to retreat at high speed. Simultaneously, holy light chains erupted from where he had just been standing, lashing out to bind the thunder giant ape.
Since drawing a bow and firing arrows took too long, Jiang Lin directly condensed dozens of 【Arrow of Aurora】 in his hands and hurled them with all his might at the giant ape.
Although the speed and penetration of these thrown 【Arrow of Aurora】 were not as good as those fired from a bow, they made up for it in sheer quantity.
Furthermore, Jiang Lin had set the explosion timer to be very short. Almost the instant the arrows touched the giant ape, a massive series of explosions occurred.
Blinding white light suddenly illuminated the entire trial grounds, as if dozens of miniature suns had ignited on the giant ape’s body.
The brilliance was so intense that it instantly swallowed the violent electrical arcs dancing on the creature.
Jiang Lin did not stop there.
He continued to consume magic, condensing one 【Arrow of Aurora】 after another.
As a high-tier skill, the 【Arrow of Aurora】—specifically designed for long-range attacks—was much more powerful.
However, the thunder giant ape was naturally not going to sit still and let Jiang Lin bombard it like this.
Using the impact of the explosions, it broke free from the holy light chains and charged at Jiang Lin again.
As it left the center of the explosions, its current state was revealed.
The fur on its body had been blasted away, revealing bloody, mangled flesh.
Jiang Lin took a deep breath and once again channeled magic into his legs.
【Light-speed Dash】!
His body moved away from his opponent once more.
At the same time, Jiang Lin continued to hurl 【Arrow of Aurora】 while controlling the explosion timing, engaging in a kite-and-weave tactic.
Time passed second by second, and Jiang Lin felt the pressure mounting like a mountain.
This elite level 20 demonic beast was likely the strongest opponent he had faced so far, excluding the evil god version of Matthew.
Even those rank-2 cultists from before hadn’t pressured him as much as this thunder giant ape.
The reason was simple: the one who had directly faced the rank-2 cultists wasn't Jiang Lin, but his summoned Blood Demon.
And because the Blood Demon possessed heaven-defying recovery abilities, even though it had been one step away from death countless times, it could always recover quickly.
Therefore, Jiang Lin didn't have a very intuitive sense of those cultists' strength.
This thunder giant ape was an elite demonic beast. Translated into human terms, it was a genius capable of taking on many others of the same level. That was why Jiang Lin found himself in such a pathetic state.
However, if Jiang Lin were given time to raise his physical attributes and mental power, facing it would likely be much easier.
If he could raise his level to the same tier, the power of the same skills would increase significantly along with the quality of his magic essence.
In that case, Jiang Lin would basically be able to easily insta-kill such a thunder giant ape.
Of course, that was all hypothetical.
For now, he could only barely manage to stall the opponent.
A bolt of lightning that tore through the ground surged toward Jiang Lin, centered on the giant ape's fist.
Once again relying on the prediction of his 【Chronowalker's Evil Eye】, he dodged this long-range attack.
Jiang Lin threw several more condensed 【Arrow of Aurora】, detonating them around the blood-drenched thunder giant ape.
Watching the giant ape continue to sprint toward him as if nothing had happened, Jiang Lin’s mood turned sour.
'How can it still fight? Is my explosive damage really that negligible?'
At this point, Jiang Lin was starting to consider retreating.
'Should I just give up?'
If even someone with his performance couldn't get in, it was basically impossible for other candidates to be admitted.
With that plan in mind, Jiang Lin threw several more 【Arrow of Aurora】, triggering a chain of explosions on the heavily damaged parts of the creature's body.
And this time, the explosion seemed to be the final straw that broke the camel’s back.
The blood-soaked giant ape let out an unwilling roar before collapsing on the spot, vanishing into points of light.
Jiang Lin, who had completely exhausted his mental power and stamina, let out a long sigh of relief when he saw that he had actually worn the creature down to death. He slumped onto the ground in exhaustion.
However, he hadn't actively forfeited, so the trial continued.
The light screen continued to change:
【Level 20 · Commander-tier · Shadow Blade Leopard】
Seeing that there was an even higher rank coming next, Jiang Lin hurriedly shouted:
"I surrender! I surrender!!"
At the same time, he was somewhat shocked that the school's facilities were so advanced they could manifest commander-tier demonic beasts.
He wondered if there were projections for the king-tier and overlord-tier ranks further up.
After Jiang Lin’s shout, the phantom that was gradually condensing dissipated.
Seeing this, Jiang Lin finally relaxed completely.
His chest heaved violently. Although he had dodged many of the attacks, some were simply too fast and could change trajectory based on his subsequent movements, so he had still sustained significant injuries.
During the fight, he had been so focused that he only had time to dodge and throw 【Arrow of Aurora】. He hadn't been able to use 【High-level Healing】 to recover. Only now, having relaxed completely, did he feel the tearing pain in his muscles.
At the same time, the numbness from the electricity hadn't faded; it felt as if he had been treated by a specialized shock therapist.
Jiang Lin took a deep breath and cast a 【High-level Healing】 on himself.
Immediately, the internal injuries within his body began to recover at an extremely fast rate.
The closed door of the room was pushed open, and two or three staff members rushed in.
The student before them was someone who could go toe-to-toe with a level 20 elite demonic beast with only the strength of a rank-0 adventurer.
Such a record would be considered monstrous anywhere.
This person was a treasure; they couldn't allow anything to happen to him!!
Consequently, a priest among them began to treat Jiang Lin.
......
The students waiting outside were confused when they saw the door open and staff members rush in.
'That room... seems to belong to some student from another school who came for the assessment?'
'Did that outside student get overconfident, fail to surrender when they couldn't win, and end up seriously injured?'
As students of Saint Brilliance Magic, they felt a strange sense of superiority when looking at these outside students who came to apply to their school.
Especially since they had undergone similar assessments themselves, they looked at these newcomers as if they were juniors.
Even though most of their own scores in the combat potential assessment were green or blue ratings, seeing a junior like this triggered a subconscious feeling of being high and mighty.
However, the next moment, a blinding gold light emitted from the crystal on the door frame, catching the attention of all the students present. The brilliance of this gold light even brightened the already well-lit waiting hall by several degrees.
"This... this is a gold rating?!!"
These ratings were not determined by specific numerical values or maneuvers, but by the performance of the tester relative to their current level.
Otherwise, it would be somewhat unreasonable, as higher levels naturally possess higher combat power and would easily get high ratings.
After all, the school and the kingdom wanted to cultivate geniuses who could take on ten or even a hundred enemies alone, not mediocre talents who had levels but average combat power.
Thus, after Jiang Lin defeated the level 20 elite demonic beast, he received a gold rating.
This gold rating caused almost all the students present to shift their attention, staring intently at the half-open door.
They were almost certain that this transfer student who had cut in line would definitely become a prominent figure in the grade.
Soon, a clean-looking youth appeared before their eyes.
The youth's clothes looked a bit charred, as if burned, but no one cared. After all, few people came out of the trial rooms looking anything but bedraggled.
He also looked a bit haggard, but his expression was calm and composed. Seeing that everyone was watching him, he didn't pretend not to notice. Instead, to everyone's surprise, he smiled and greeted them:
"Hello, everyone! I just finished my entrance assessment. I hope I can pass."
The youth looked sunny and cheerful, and his smile gave off the illusion of a breath of fresh air.
'Is this genius so approachable?'
Seeing Jiang Lin’s demeanor, many people had this thought.
'He seems like a very easygoing newcomer!'
They thought to themselves.
However, his words were far too humble. With a rating like that, was he really worried about not getting in?
He could probably even compete for a scholarship, right?
Although their evaluation of Jiang Lin was high, no one stepped forward to respond to his greeting.
Jiang Lin didn't feel awkward; instead, he continued:
"If I successfully enroll, I welcome everyone to come and spar with me to exchange combat experiences."
After saying this with a smile, Jiang Lin followed the staff and left, leaving behind a mysterious silhouette.
By now, Director Edwin had emerged from the control room and was waiting at the entrance of the Tower of Trials.
He was excited but also somewhat nervous.
A genius of this caliber was likely something he was seeing for the first time in his teaching career.
The matter of this student's enrollment might require the involvement of a dean-level leader.
He met Jiang Lin again, holding the memory crystal that recorded the entrance assessment.
This time, his smile was even more enthusiastic:
"Student Jiang Lin, come, come, this way."
Seeing that enthusiastic smile, Jiang Lin knew his enrollment was a sure thing.
"Director Edwin, I hope my performance didn't embarrass my... I mean, I hope I didn't lose face for the two lords of Boulder City?"
Jiang Lin pretended to slip up, leaving room for Director Edwin to fill in the blanks himself.
"Hahaha, of course not. Student Jiang Lin, such talent is something I’m seeing for the first time in all my years as a teacher."
After a pause, Director Edwin asked tentatively.
"I wonder what the surname of your family is, Student Jiang? I noticed it doesn't seem to be written in your personal profile?"
Hearing this, Jiang Lin smiled and said:
"Director Edwin, you must be joking. I am just an ordinary student; I don't have any family. If you don't believe me, Director, you can send someone to Boulder City to investigate. I am merely a helpless orphan."
As Edwin watched Jiang Lin say this, he knew the boy didn't want to reveal his family information.
Or perhaps his family wanted to train their young master, so they had packaged him well, even using their connections to alter Jiang Lin's personal data in the temple.
As the admissions director of the Saint Brilliance Magic Academy middle academy campus, Edwin naturally knew that the temple couldn't be completely fair, just, and open.
After all, where there are people, there is Jianghu.
For some families with enough power, changing the personal data of their younger generation was practically effortless.
"Hahaha, I understand, I will explain the relevant situation."
Since the family didn't want Jiang Lin exposed, he would do his part in that regard.
However, he was worried that if students influenced by bad habits heard Jiang Lin had no backing, they might try to pick a fight with him...
Director Edwin thought as he walked.
Then, he hit upon the crux of the matter.
If the family wanted to completely hide Student Jiang’s information, they could certainly do so; someone with his level of vision would never be able to tell.
Yet, the boy had produced recommendation letters from the two highest-ranking figures in Boulder City. This proved that he simply didn't want to expose his family's name, but it was a clear sign that they intended to protect Jiang Lin.
Director Edwin battled with his own wits and quickly figured out the key point.
These two recommendation letters weren't meant to intimidate the school teachers and students, but rather certain families in Clearwater City with poor conduct!!
Rate on N.U.
