Fang Qing’s vines arrived first. Sun Lei’s earth shield was ready to block Lin Yuan’s retreat at any moment, while Han Feng’s blade was set to strike the instant the target was ensnared.
It was textbook team coordination.
The corners of Lin Yuan’s mouth curled slightly as lightning exploded beneath his feet.
Releasing his Tier 1, Level 9 lightning ability without reservation, his figure vanished from the spot.
It wasn’t teleportation; he was simply moving too fast.
The four vines all struck empty air, entangling nothing but an afterimage.
Fang Qing’s pupils constricted. She waved her hands again, and a second wave of vines erupted from the ground. Their numbers doubled as eight vines wove into a net that swept toward Lin Yuan.
“Too slow.”
Lin Yuan’s voice came from her left.
Fang Qing whipped her head around to see Lin Yuan standing less than three meters away from her.
His right index and middle fingers were pressed together, a pale purple lightning needle dancing quietly at his fingertips.
Running Thunder Finger!
He flicked his fingers.
The lightning needle shot out silently, accurately striking the ground right by Fang Qing’s feet.
He hadn’t missed; he had missed on purpose.
“You’re dead,” Lin Yuan said.
Fang Qing’s face turned pale.
She hadn’t been able to react to the speed of that lightning needle at all. If Lin Yuan had intended to hit her, she would have been forced out of the fight right then.
“Fang Qing, fall back!” Han Feng’s voice came from the side.
The blade light of Iron-Cutter had already arrived.
The silver-white blade energy condensed into a half-meter-long blade glow, slashing directly toward the back of Lin Yuan’s neck.
At the same time, Sun Lei’s Rock-patterned Shield was no longer being used for passive defense; he slammed the entire shield toward Lin Yuan.
He didn’t seek to wound; he only wanted to disrupt Lin Yuan’s rhythm and create a killing opening for Han Feng.
Lin Yuan’s left hand gripped Purple Lightning, which was still planted in the ground.
【Sands of Time】, activate.
The air within a four-meter radius suddenly became viscous.
The moment Sun Lei’s Rock-patterned Shield slammed in, its speed plummeted by thirty percent, changing from “a wall crushing down” to “a shield slowly being pushed forward.”
Han Feng’s blade light from Iron-Cutter similarly entered the range of 【Sands of Time】.
Lin Yuan drew his spear.
The tip of Purple Lightning tapped the side of the Rock-patterned Shield—not a head-on collision, but at its weakest point on the side.
The power of Nine Rounds of Bone Tempering combined with his Tier 1, Level 9 lightning ability poured entirely into the spear tip.
The Rock-patterned Shield shattered.
It didn’t just crack; it shattered.
Earthy-yellow fragments exploded in all directions. Sun Lei let out a muffled groan and retreated four or five steps, each footstep leaving a deep imprint in the ground.
His earth ability was linked to his own bones and muscles. With the shield violently destroyed, the backlash made his chest feel tight, and a streak of red leaked from the corner of his mouth.
Han Feng’s blade arrived.
Iron-Cutter slashed down with fierce momentum, but unfortunately, Lin Yuan’s Purple Lightning was longer than his blade.
The spear tip tapped the middle of the blade, using the opponent’s momentum against him and diverting Iron-Cutter’s strike by half an inch.
Half an inch was enough.
The blade edge grazed Lin Yuan’s shoulder and struck empty air. With his momentum spent, Han Feng’s front was wide open.
The butt of Purple Lightning slammed into his chest.
Han Feng was sent flying, his back crashing into the trunk of a pine tree.
Iron-Cutter slipped from his hand, spinning twice in the air before landing on the ground by his feet.
From the start of the fight to the end, less than forty seconds had passed.
The spectating examinees stood with their mouths agape, looking as if someone had collectively hit the pause button on them.
Fang Qing stood to the side in disbelief, while Sun Lei knelt on one knee, clutching his chest with a trace of blood on his lips.
Han Feng leaned against the tree trunk, his head lowered, his expression unreadable.
Xiaxia stood in the crowd with a serious expression. After two seconds of silence, she said, “Forget what I said earlier.”
Bai Li’s eyes curved into crescents.
Then, Lin Yuan slowly walked up to Han Feng.
Han Feng looked up, a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth.
He looked at Lin Yuan, his eyes holding no hatred, only the daze of someone whose pride had been shattered.
“The Tier 4 lightning combat technique,” Lin Yuan said. “Send it to the front desk of the hotel where I’m staying after the exam. I’ll send you the address.”
Han Feng nodded, his voice hoarse. “Fine. I, Han Feng, am a man of my word!”
Lin Yuan turned to leave.
After a few steps, he stopped and looked back at Sun Lei and Fang Qing.
“You two have good coordination. If the vines were half a beat faster and the shield strike was two inches lower, I might not have been able to dodge that strike.”
Then, shouldering Purple Lightning, he disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.
Only then did the spectating examinees seem to have their pause button released, and the area exploded into a frenzy.
“One-vs-three! In forty seconds!”
“Did you record it? My phone was smashed by a Tier 1 Thorny Boar, I missed everything!”
“Han Feng lost? Han Feng actually lost?”
“What was that purple finger technique? Did you guys see it clearly? He just flicked his finger!”
In the crowd, Xiaxia turned to look at Bai Li.
“That last thing he said—‘vines half a beat faster, shield strike two inches lower’—was he serious or just showing off?”
Bai Li thought for a moment and gave a mischievous smile. “He was serious.”
Xiaxia fell silent for a second.
“Damn. Is this the kind of strength a Tier 1 F-rank user is supposed to have?”
Bai Li didn’t answer. She simply watched the direction where Lin Yuan had disappeared, the corners of her mouth curling upward.
Deep in the forest, Lin Yuan sneezed.
He rubbed his nose and muttered, “Who’s thinking about this handsome guy again?” He didn’t stop walking, continuing deeper into the woods.
The server of a local Hangzhou forum crashed.
Not as a figure of speech—it actually crashed.
The grainy video of the one-vs-nine fight had been hovering at the bottom of the trending searches all day, and just as its popularity was starting to wane, the second video arrived.
This time the quality was better; at least the faces were clear.
In the video, a boy dressed in black took on three people alone, one of whom was the genius student of Hangzhou No. 1 High School, Han Feng.
Forty seconds, one-vs-three, a total victory.
The blogger who posted the video gave it a title: “The Battle for Hangzhou’s Strongest Examinee! F-rank Lightning User Takes on Three, Shattering an A-rank Trio’s Dream of First Place in Forty Seconds!”
The title was followed by five fire emojis and a ‘Hot’ icon.
The comment section exploded like fireworks.
“Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!”
“One-vs-nine yesterday, one-vs-three today. Is this guy here for the college entrance exam or to farm a dungeon?”
“I know Han Feng. He’s the top student of Hangzhou No. 1 High School, A-rank spirit blade Iron-Cutter, six rounds of bone tempering. That Sun Lei has the B-rank earth Rock-patterned Shield. Fang Qing is A-rank plant system. This trio could usually walk all over anyone in Hangzhou.”
“Walk all over people? They got carried out in forty seconds.”
“Did anyone notice that purple finger technique? With a flick of his finger, Fang Qing was out. What combat technique is that? What tier?”
“Are there any insiders who can analyze what Lin Yuan’s actual build is? It’s impossible for an F-rank lightning user to have this kind of combat power. I won’t believe it even if you kill me.”
“Conclusion: His F-rank status is probably fake. His actual combat power is invincible within Tier 1. Below Tier 2, anyone who faces him is dead.”
Rate on N.U.
