Time passed as Jiang Lin moved through the woods, the numbers on his identity bracelet constantly rising.
【Points: 214】
【Rank: 1】
【Total Defeats: 43】
Jiang Lin killed another shallow water stone crocodile with a single sword strike, leaving almost nothing alive in his wake.
Jiang Lin found it a bit strange; it had been so long, yet he hadn't seen a single soul.
Before him was a steep cliff face. Above it lay a fresh stretch of woods.
The number of monsters there would likely be fewer than in the Fluorescent Swamp, but the area above was far more vast.
Jiang Lin had already scoured a large portion of the Fluorescent Swamp. Returning to continue clearing it now might not be as effective as before.
Moreover, to reach the central area, he had to climb this cliff.
So, Jiang Lin didn't hesitate and prepared to head to other areas of the secret realm from here.
However, there was a type of magic beast called the shadow-claw wolf-eagle nearby that might harass him during his climb.
As he reached the edge of the cliff, Jiang Lin was stunned.
'Eh? Why are there so many shadow-claw wolf-eagle corpses here?'
At the base of the cliff lay three or four shadow-claw wolf-eagle corpses, mangled and broken from the fall.
Furthermore, they seemed to have suffered extremely cruel deaths before falling—some were dismembered, others pierced through. It was a pitiful sight.
Jiang Lin squinted up at the cliff and saw that there seemed to be two people specifically hunting these shadow-claw wolf-eagles.
'Holy cow! Finally, people!!'
Jiang Lin was delighted. He felt he had definitely been targeted and dumped in such a remote place.
As for the two people above, they probably didn't have a map and had just stumbled their way here. Judging by the number of corpses on the ground, they hadn't arrived long ago. If they had a map, no sane person would head toward the Fluorescent Swamp.
After all, the exam rules included a so-called 'shrinking zone' mechanism. The Fluorescent Swamp was at the edge of the map, an area that would clearly be restricted by the shrinking zone later on.
Jiang Lin thought for a moment and immediately began climbing toward the top.
Defeating a team only granted half of their points. The more shadow-claw wolf-eagles they killed, the more points he would lose out on!
'Those damn competitors, how dare they steal my points!!'
Jiang Lin thought angrily as he used Breath Concealment and quickly scaled the rock wall.
Soon, a shadow-claw wolf-eagle noticed him and tried to dive-bomb him off the cliff.
However, Jiang Lin simply raised a hand, and a strand of sword qi glowing with golden light flickered from his palm, accurately striking the shadow-claw wolf-eagle's flight path.
The sword qi sank into its skull, sending it plummeting.
This was a small trick Jiang Lin had developed by combining 【Light Blade】 and 【Seven Star Holy Glow Slash】.
【Seven Star Holy Glow Slash】 required a 'sword' as a medium to be released, and 【Light Blade】 possessed the attributes of a 'sword' regardless of its state.
Therefore, Jiang Lin only needed to gather a wisp of the golden light from 【Light Blade】 in his palm to release a miniature version of 【Seven Star Holy Glow Slash】.
In this way, his consumption was greatly reduced, and the noise created was much quieter, avoiding alerting other nearby creatures.
Now, he was much more familiar with controlling the 【Chronowalker's Evil Eye】. He knew it could see about one second into the future.
However, these visions weren't always fixed. For instance, when Jiang Lin was hunting a monster with high reaction speed earlier, he saw more than one afterimage of the target—there was one in several different directions.
Clearly, the opponent could change based on his own subsequent actions. Jiang Lin could only seal off all their paths of retreat by increasing the number of sword qi strands.
Jiang Lin estimated that if he faced an opponent with even faster movements and reaction speeds far exceeding his own, the overlapping shadows might become so numerous they would be a blur. No matter how he reacted, the opponent could change in advance and counter from any direction.
After all, the future was not set in stone but could trigger countless changes because of a single action. Being able to glimpse even a corner of time was already an incredibly heaven-defying ability.
Unlike Jiang Lin's quiet and steady climb, the two people at the edge of the cliff were currently making a huge racket.
Eli raised his wand and fired a magic heavy cannon at a shadow-claw wolf-eagle in the sky:
"What kind of loser are you? Look at how many demonic beasts you've killed so far."
Frederick swung his battle-axe, finishing off a shadow-claw wolf-eagle that the other hadn't managed to deal with before it reached them:
"Ho, I'm a loser? Look at what you're killing! These bird things keep flying in the sky, how's your daddy supposed to hit them?"
"If you're trash, practice more!"
"Fine, tell your daddy, how do I hit them? Fly up and fight?"
"Don't blame the road for being uneven if you're the one who can't walk!"
"Fine, fine, fine. Let's see who kills more demonic beasts when we get out! You're only good for squawking while killing a few birds!"
"Sure, whoever kills fewer has to call the other 'Daddy'!"
Clearly, although the two had talked about splitting up earlier, they showed no intention of actually doing so. Instead, they coordinated with great chemistry. One was responsible for firepower, while the other ensured their safety, even if their bickering never stopped.
As a result, their points were slowly rising, and their overall rank was gradually climbing, showing their foundation as the top two students of their school.
Just then, Eli caught a glimpse of a dark figure on the cliff out of the corner of his eye. Looking closer, he saw someone climbing up.
Eli didn't care much. He casually fired a magic blast at the rocks on the cliff, intending to make the person fall and thus drop out of the exam.
To his surprise, however, the person seemed to know his move in advance, shifting positions on the rock wall and narrowly avoiding the blast.
Eli was a bit surprised. He called Frederick over to look down.
After being attacked, the person on the cliff climbed even faster, sticking close to the rock and ascending over ten meters in a few large leaps.
Jiang Lin had been climbing slowly before mainly because he was worried about making too much noise and being discovered, which would allow them to harass him from the high ground.
However, he hadn't expected to be spotted anyway, nor did he expect them to attack him.
It could only be said that while 【Breath Concealment】 could hide his aura, it couldn't provide invisibility. Once seen, he was discovered.
At the same time, Jiang Lin received a message from the system.
【Temporary Quest】
【How dare you attack without kneeling upon seeing the Demon Lord? Where do you get the nerve!】
【Requirement: Defeat the two and demonstrate your strength】
【Reward: Designated skill upgrade to max level 2】
Seeing the task given by the system, Jiang Lin's mood brightened, and he increased his speed once more.
Since he knew the difference between a designated skill upgrade and a random one, he could infer the strength of his opponents based on the reward.
These two probably had some skill, so Jiang Lin concentrated his mind, not daring to be even slightly careless.
Several more magic blasts came his way. This time, the target was no longer the rock wall where Jiang Lin was, but Jiang Lin's body itself.
Yet, to Eli's shock, Jiang Lin managed to dodge every single attack perfectly and was rapidly closing in on them.
At this, his expression grew more serious.
He gripped his wand, changing from a one-handed hold to two-handed. He gripped the middle of the wand and slammed it into the ground.
An illusory array spread from the base of the wand, carving itself into the earth beneath his feet.
Mid-tier earth element magic — 【Great Earth Tremor】!
The cliff wall beneath them began to vibrate violently. After completing the spell, the two quickly moved away as the large section of ground beneath them shattered, and massive amounts of debris began to collapse.
Seeing this, Jiang Lin cursed inwardly. Right now, he really wanted to learn a skill that would allow him to fly so he wouldn't be so passive.
He moved quickly across the crumbling cliff face. His agile movements and coordinated posture were comparable to a professional rock climber from his previous life.
Although Jiang Lin had never specially trained in rock climbing, his extremely high nerve reflex speed and exquisite control over his powerful physical strength allowed him to do this with ease.
At the same time, he naturally wouldn't let himself be a sitting duck. While climbing, he freed a hand and flicked it toward the two above, sending four or five strands of holy light sword qi flying directly at them.
Seeing the opponent still had the strength to counterattack, the two didn't dare to be careless. After a quick judgment, they realized all their paths of retreat were sealed.
'This guy has incredible combat experience!'
The thought flashed through both their minds simultaneously.
Then, Frederick stepped in front of Eli, while Eli waved his wand again, releasing a mid-tier defense magic.
"Boom!"
The heavy strikes hit the shield formed by the defense magic. To Eli's shock, his defense was shattered after blocking only the first strand of sword qi, and that strand continued to fly forward!
And behind it were three or four more identical strands of holy light sword qi!
Fortunately, Frederick was still standing in front of him. Frederick raised his twin axes, which were wreathed in blazing fire, and activated his most practiced combat technique.
With a loud roar, he swung the burning axes, striking the incoming sword qi.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Magic essence fluctuations rippled out like waves, making their clothes flutter loudly.
Frederick was forced back a few steps by the impact, but Jiang Lin's holy light sword qi was successfully blocked.
"The guy opposite us probably has some skill."
Frederick felt the massive force vibrating through the axe handles and spoke in a low voice to his companion.
"But a skill with this much attack power must be his ultimate move. He won't be able to keep it up for long."
He analyzed calmly.
Under normal circumstances, that would be true. But clearly, Jiang Lin was not a normal case.
In the next moment, another four or five strands of holy light sword qi flew toward them. The angles were tricky, once again sealing off all their paths of retreat.
Seeing so many more strands of sword qi and the positions they were flying toward, Frederick felt a sense of stifling pressure.
It was as if all his actions were seen through, even the angles he could jump to for evasion were calculated by the opponent.
'However, this will only increase his consumption. I just need to wait for his stamina to be exhausted!'
Thus, he swung his battle-axe again, striking at the sword qi in front of him.
Meanwhile, Eli was chanting a high-tier defense magic. He wasn't very proficient with this skill and needed a short chant to use it.
"Boom!"
The holy light sword qi collided with the burning battle-axe once more. However, to Frederick's surprise, after he shattered the sword qi, another golden light shot toward him.
'It can't be shattered?!'
'What is this?!'
Alarm bells rang in Frederick's mind, but it was too late to change his position.
In the next moment, 【Low-level Strengthening · Jetting Aura】 sank into his body. This degenerate skill unique to Jiang Lin showed its brilliance for the first time on the grand stage of the mid-term exam!
"Holy shit!"
Frederick, hit by the Jetting Aura, suddenly underwent a drastic change in expression.
An uncontrollable urge surged in his lower abdomen.
Now, he didn't even dare to exert force again, fearing that if he used even a little bit of strength, he wouldn't be able to hold back his rear path.
'What kind of degenerate thing is this? How can there be such a bizarre skill?!'
Frederick was utterly bewildered. Behind him, Eli had successfully raised a magic barrier thanks to the brief delay.
At the same time, Eli didn't let down his guard. He continued to chant, preparing to release another identical barrier.
He didn't have time to ask his teammate what was happening because Jiang Lin, after the delay provided by the two rounds of sword qi, had finally successfully climbed the cliff.
A figure suddenly leaped from the edge of the cliff and landed heavily. He was bathed in a holy and sacred light. With a grasp at the air, a holy light longsword appeared in his hand, looking as if a being of holy light had descended upon the world.
This should have been a scene of salvation and holiness, but in Frederick's eyes now, it was so evil, chaotic, and twisted.
'What the hell is going on?!!!'
He roared in his heart. Meanwhile, Jiang Lin's sword qi, which seemed to cost him nothing, came flying at them again.
Fortunately, his mage teammate had enough time to prepare this time. Magic barriers were being raised one after another.
Unfortunately, each magic barrier could only barely defend against a single strand of holy light sword qi, so a new barrier had to be raised after each block.
For a while, the scene fell into a stalemate.
However, Frederick was starting to break down.
Because ever since he fell, every one of the opponent's sword qi strands had that defense-ignoring skill hidden behind it.
As the strands of sword qi fell, those defense-ignoring skills continuously entered his body, launching a fierce assault on his lower half.
His clueless mage teammate, seeing that his companion didn't seem to have any major physical problems but had simply fallen and stayed down after being hit by that unknown skill, didn't care too much. He thought it was some special crowd-control skill.
Thus, Eli directly used Frederick as his human shield, hiding behind him and preparing to fight a war of attrition with the opponent's mana levels.
In his view, the opponent was currently in a full-power state and definitely wouldn't be able to hold out for long before being defeated.
However, what was meant to come finally arrived. Although Frederick was a very strong man, he had reached his limit and could no longer control himself. Ultimately, his rear defenses were breached.
At the same time, two screams rang out:
"Fucking hell, the guy opposite us is a total degenerate!!"
"Holy shit, what the hell are you doing?!!"
Rate on N.U.
