After cultivating for a day and a night, Qin Hao had finally expanded the range of his freezing ability by three meters.
Not only that, Icebound was actually an upgraded version of the Icebound Art.
It could not only freeze enemies but also deal continuous damage while they were frozen. It also came with another skill: Ice Cone Attack.
Once unleashed, the skill would create a mass of ice above the enemy's head, then rapidly fire ice cones downward to attack.
Being struck by the ice cones caused a continuous slowing effect as well as continuous damage.
That amounted to two control effects and two instances of damage.
He just didn't know how effective they were.
With that thought, Qin Hao immediately used the two skills in a combo in his room.
A desk lamp in the room froze, and a mass of ice about a meter across appeared and hovered above it. Ice cones then rained down continuously, striking the lamp before it could thaw.
In just two seconds, the lamp shattered into pieces.
Once it thawed, he saw that the lamp was as smashed as it could possibly be.
The power was indeed outrageously strong. The lamp was made of stainless steel, yet it had been shattered by ice just like that.
Qin Hao packed his luggage, said goodbye to his parents, and headed to school.
The national college entrance examination was being held that day. It consisted of two rounds: the first was a contest, held at each student's own school.
The second was a comprehensive practical combat assessment, held in the South China Military Region.
The first exam would take place at school in the morning, followed by a trip to the South China Military Region that afternoon. The second exam would begin the morning after next.
The South China Military Region contained a vast primeval forest, normally used to train soldiers.
But the college entrance examination was also held there every year, lasting seven days.
For those seven days, the examinees would eat, drink, and answer nature's call in the primeval forest. It was essentially a wilderness survival exercise.
The college entrance examination assessed more than just individual combat ability: it also assessed social skills, leadership, and strategy.
To put it plainly, the exam was like a battle royale game. A group of examinees would be dropped into the primeval forest to compete, while the event was broadcast live nationwide.
The examinees could rely on their own social skills to form teams, and those with leadership ability would naturally serve as their team's captain.
Of course, anyone strong enough could also be a lone wolf and fight alone.
The examinees had to compete for point tokens in the primeval forest. Each token was worth one point.
Every examinee started with one point token, and more were hidden in the forest, with no fixed limit on their number.
In the end, examinees would be ranked according to their points. Martial arts academies would give priority admission to the top one million, while the rest would be admitted based on their performance during the exam.
Competition in the college entrance examination was fierce. More than ten million took it each year, but only a little over three million were ultimately admitted to martial arts academies.
Of the remaining seven million or so, more than four million would receive exceptional admission to martial arts academies or institutions based on their performance during the exam, to be trained as logistics support personnel for martial artists.
As for the final three million or so, they could only become ordinary people.
The admission rate for martial artists was thirty percent, while the admission rate for logistics support personnel was forty percent.
When they arrived at school, the school arranged for the students to fly to the South China Military Region on a chartered plane.
More than ten million examinees from all over China would compete there for a chance to enter the martial arts academies they dreamed of attending.
Although Qin Hao hadn't slept all night, he didn't feel tired because he had been cultivating the whole time.
After taking the written exam at school, all the students were arranged by the school to fly to the South China Military Region on a chartered plane.
It was already late by the time they arrived.
The South China Military Region was enormous, so it could accommodate the needs of more than ten million examinees.
To prevent the examinees from forming groups in advance, every school was kept separate from the others, and so was every class.
As a result, everyone spent the entire night as if they were trapped in a dormitory room.
Naturally, the boys and girls were kept separate.
Early the next morning, the students from every class were all shuffled and sent into the primeval forest in batches.
As soon as Qin Hao arrived in the forest, he vanished.
Qin Hao used his dark-element ability to hide in the shadow of a large tree.
The global livestream hadn't begun filming yet, so no one noticed at all.
The primeval forest had actually been modified long ago. In China's history, a senior had awakened an SSS+ grade spatial ability and turned this place into an independent space.
Inside were demonic beasts that humans had captured from other worlds.
These demonic beasts were divided into low, intermediate, and high grades.
Their corresponding strength levels were apprentice, martial artist, and martial master.
Thus, the enemies here weren't necessarily other examinees. They could also be the demonic beasts in the forest.
A large proportion of the point tokens were hidden inside the demonic beasts.
It was entirely possible to lose one's life while fighting for point tokens.
Fortunately, that senior with the spatial ability had set up a teleportation function here.
As long as an examinee died, they would be teleported out and would only be injured once back outside.
Qin Hao headed deeper into the forest, hoping to find demonic beasts.
Killing demonic beasts would not only earn him point tokens but also their beast cores.
Beast cores could be used to improve one's cultivation and were very valuable.
After walking only about five li, Qin Hao spotted a demonic beast.
It was a boar-shaped demonic beast. He had learned about it in his textbooks: it was a strength-type Great Strength Pig, nothing special and very easy to deal with.
However, a Great Strength Pig was immensely strong. If one encountered it, one couldn't take it head-on and had to outwit it.
Without making a sound, Qin Hao quickly entered the Great Strength Pig's shadow. Then he appeared and unleashed a freezing skill, followed by an ice cone skill.
The Great Strength Pig had only just reacted when it was frozen solid. A dense barrage of ice cones then stabbed down from above its head.
This Great Strength Pig was probably a fifth-tier, low-grade demonic beast.
The two-skill combo alone couldn't kill the Great Strength Pig, so Qin Hao instantly unleashed Lightning Fist, raining blows wildly down on the boar.
The pitiful Great Strength Pig was held so firmly in place that it couldn't move at all, and it died a miserable death beneath Qin Hao's fists.
He took out a dagger and extracted the Great Strength Pig's beast core, finding five point tokens inside the boar as well.
Even then, Qin Hao didn't leave. Instead, he prepared the Great Strength Pig, found a spot he considered secluded, and started a fire to barbecue it.
Before the exam last night, the military region had equipped every examinee with an F-grade dagger, a lighter, a tent, and even an iron pot and all kinds of seasonings.
The purpose was to help the examinees survive better in the forest.
Qin Hao sprinkled on seasonings as he grilled.
Soon, the aroma of the Great Strength Pig's meat wafted through the air. It smelled truly delicious.
Just then, a graceful figure stood not far from Qin Hao. She sniffed and caught the aroma of meat, then stealthily headed toward its source!