A total of 72 points, with an Ability Points balance of 592.
His proficiency in Thunder Walk Through Nine Heavens had also seen a slight increase.
He had used 【Sands of Time】 three times, and its proficiency had also gained a small boost.
The cooldown for 【Sands of Time】 was too long—once every thirty seconds—meaning he could use it at most once or twice in a battle, so its proficiency grew slowly.
Lin Yuan sat on the roots of a large tree, resting Purple Lightning across his knees while using a soft cloth to wipe the monster blood from the spear’s shaft.
“Good thing I took this exam; these ability points are shooting up like crazy, hahaha,” Lin Yuan muttered to himself as he polished his weapon.
After finishing, he pulled out his phone and glanced at it.
No signal.
The app's map wouldn't load anymore, but he had taken a screenshot earlier and remembered the general direction.
Further west was the area marked with red diagonal lines: “Tier 3 and above, strictly prohibited.”
Lin Yuan tucked his phone away and hopped down from the tree roots.
Right then, he heard something.
It wasn't the sound of monsters; it was the sound of people.
People were shouting—many people—mixed with the explosive sounds of abilities and the roars of monsters, coming from the east.
That was the direction he had come from, the outer area.
Lin Yuan frowned.
The monsters in the outer area were at most Tier 1, Level 7. Although most examinees were only Tier 1, Level 2 or 3, a team of several people working together shouldn't be screaming like that against a Tier 1, Level 7 monster.
And judging by the noise, it wasn't just one or two monsters.
He hesitated for a second, then shouldered Purple Lightning and dashed toward the source of the sound.
The speed of a lightning ability user was unrivaled among those of the same tier.
Silvery-white lightning exploded beneath his feet as he blurred through the dense forest, leaving afterimages in his wake. Trees, shrubs, and rocks receded rapidly on either side.
Three minutes later, he came upon the chaotic scene.
In a relatively open clearing in the forest, over twenty examinees were surrounded by a pack of monsters.
The examinees were huddled in a back-to-back circle, weapons pointed outward. Their faces were covered in sweat and dirt, and several had blood on their clothes.
A few monster corpses lay on the ground, but they were outnumbered by those surrounding them—at least thirty or more.
They weren't monsters of the same species.
There were Gray-skinned Jackals, Green-maned Wolves, Thorny Boars, Iron-spined Boars, and even a Tier 2, Level 1 rock-armored lizard.
These monsters, which would normally prey on each other, seemed to be driven by something right now, simultaneously besieging the group of examinees.
Lin Yuan’s gaze swept past the wolf pack and spotted several familiar faces among the surrounded examinees.
Jiang Ran.
A sleeve of the round-faced youth's school uniform had been torn off, revealing a bleeding claw mark on his arm.
He held a short blade in his right hand while a ball of lightning condensed in his left palm—much smaller and dimmer than Lin Yuan's.
Chen Mo stood beside him, his earth ability condensing a half-man-high earth shield in front of him, its surface already riddled with cracks.
Song Zhiyi stood in the very center, her longbow drawn to its limit with wind ability energy swirling around the arrowhead. However, she didn't release the arrow; her quiver was empty, leaving only the final arrow notched on her bow.
Their locators were still on their wrists, unpressed.
Lin Yuan stood on the branch of a large tree, looking down at the scene from above.
Over thirty monsters, the highest being Tier 2, Level 1.
He gripped Purple Lightning tightly.
He didn't hide his presence, letting the fluctuations of his lightning ability release without reservation.
A lightning user at the peak of Tier 1, Level 7 was in a league of his own among all the examinees in Hangzhou.
At the edge of the clearing, the Tier 2, Level 1 rock-armored lizard was the first to sense him.
It snapped its head around, its cold, vertical pupils staring toward Lin Yuan's position.
Then a second, a third, a fourth.
All the monsters stopped their attacks and turned their heads in unison.
The surrounded examinees followed the monsters' gazes.
They saw the black-haired youth in the tree.
Jiang Ran’s mouth fell open.
“Lin—”
Before he could finish the shout, Lin Yuan had vanished from the tree.
He didn't jump down; in a flash of lightning, he appeared directly above the rock-armored lizard's head.
The tip of Purple Lightning pointed downward, carrying the force of the fall and the full eruption of his lightning ability as it pierced the space between the rock-armored lizard's eyes.
“Thunder Walk Through Nine Heavens, Third Form: Thunderclap.”
With his Thunder Walk Through Nine Heavens at the Proficient level, its power was more than double that of the Practiced level.
The rock-armored lizard didn't even have time to scream before its massive body crashed to the ground.
【Killed Tier 2, Level 1 monster rock-armored lizard, Ability Points +65】
【Points +10】
A one-hit kill.
The entire field went silent.
Over thirty monsters, over twenty examinees—everyone looked as if someone had hit the pause button.
Then Lin Yuan moved.
He gave the monsters no time to react.
Purple Lightning spun in his hand as lightning spread from the butt of the spear to the tip, and he transformed into a silver-purple afterimage as he charged into the wolf pack.
The spear tip flicked and thrust, each strike accurately piercing a monster.
There were no wasted movements or flashy flourishes—only the simplest, most efficient killing techniques that had been etched into his bones after slaying hundreds of monsters in the wilderness.
【Sands of Time】, activate.
The movements of the monsters within a three-meter radius all slowed by a beat.
Their claw swipes slowed, their lunges slowed, and even their terrified howls were drawn out by half a beat.
Lin Yuan’s speed, however, remained unchanged. With the slowing effect of 【Sands of Time】, the lightning user’s speed turned him into a silver-purple bolt of lightning harvesting lives.
【Killed Tier 1, Level 7 Green-maned Wolf, Ability Points +42, Points +5】
【Killed Tier 1, Level 8 Iron-spined Boar, Ability Points +45, Points +5】
【Killed Tier 1, Level 7 Green-maned Wolf, Ability Points +42, Points +5】
【Killed Tier 1, Level 9 Thorny Boar King, Ability Points +50, Points +5】
【Killed Tier 1, Level 8 Gray-skinned Jackal Leader, Ability Points +45, Points +5】
System notifications jumped continuously at the edge of his consciousness like an endless stream of scrolling text.
Lin Yuan didn't look at them; his entire focus was on the tip of Purple Lightning.
In less than three minutes, half of the thirty-plus monsters had fallen.
The remaining monsters finally broke.
They weren't an organized army, but a disorganized mob temporarily driven together for some reason.
When the strongest members of the pack were slaughtered by Lin Yuan like chickens, the remaining monsters instinctively chose to flee.
Over a dozen Gray-skinned Jackals and Thorny Boars scattered, vanishing into the depths of the dense forest in the blink of an eye.
Lin Yuan did not pursue them.
He stood amidst the field of monster corpses. The endurance from his Nine Rounds of Bone Tempering allowed him to remain unfazed even after this encounter.
He turned around and looked at the group of examinees.
The twenty-odd people remained in their defensive formation, staring at him without moving.
No one spoke.
Rate on N.U.
