A Killing Spree

"Phew, he finally dropped out of the top five hundred."

Seeing Shi Yan's ranking disappear, Lu Jiaojiao could not help but let out a sigh of relief.

I thought he was capable of something impressive. He only killed a few before he ran out of steam.

Just as expected of D-Class trash.

"Don't worry, Jiaojiao. Shi Yan definitely won't be able to score many points. We've already done as you instructed."

A tall, brawny boy beside Lu Jiaojiao spoke up, his gaze fixed on her with utter infatuation.

He was not the only one. The other two boys present also wore obedient, satisfied expressions.

An A-Class Charm Ability was simply too useful in a team. Before the demonic beasts could even get close, their minds were already affected. They did not need to fight the demonic beasts at all; they only had to walk over and slit their throats.

In an environment like the examination grounds, Lu Jiaojiao's value was comparable to that of a genius with an S-Class ability.

On top of that, Lu Jiaojiao herself was beautiful. They were all willing to let her command them, hoping to win the beauty's heart someday.

"Not bad."

Lu Jiaojiao swept her gaze over the three men's doglike fawning smiles, a wave of disgust rising in her heart.

The person she would date would never be them. It would be some peerless genius like the one who had triggered that phenomenon a few days ago.

The people around her were nothing more than temporary tools.

At the thought of temporary tools, Shi Yan's handsome face flashed through her mind again, and her expression could not help turning cold.

He had originally been a dog for her to command, yet he had actually slipped out of her control. What angered her even more was that when she wanted to give Shi Yan another chance, she discovered that he had blocked her.

He had blocked every single way of contacting him!

When had she ever suffered such humiliation?

Shi Yan had to pay the price!

Isolating Shi Yan was only the first step. The second was to sow discord.

News that "Shi Yan used coercion, deception, threats, and other methods to obtain the Martial Arts Examination registration fee from Gu Guoping and his wife" had already reached Shi Yan's cousin, Gu Feng.

Gu Feng was also a candidate taking the Martial Arts Examination. His Wind Dragon Hand was ferocious beyond compare, and he had already gathered many followers. At this moment, he should be leading people all over the examination grounds in search of Shi Yan.

Who could endure leaving home to study while their parents were bullied back home?

Not even a cousin could!

"Pick up the pace. Go deeper in."

Lu Jiaojiao lightly beckoned and took the initiative to head toward the Core Zone.

That was where she belonged, because all the S-Class geniuses were inside.

"My dad, you have to become Baiyun No. 1 High School's Top Scholar and vent my anger for me."

Beneath a large tree, Liu Wang bid farewell to Shi Yan with roasted meat on his back.

After saying that, he turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

Once he realized he was a burden, staying away and not getting in the way was the best help he could give his brother.

As for this roasted meat, it was their farewell meal. Perhaps it would be the last meal the two of them ever shared in this life.

From the moment he had secretly tried to pick up Shi Yan's blade and found that he could not lift it, Liu Wang had known Shi Yan was no creature that could be trapped in a shallow pond.

A blade weighing several hundred pounds was no ordinary object, and Shi Yan, who could casually wield such a weapon, was certainly no ordinary person either.

"Alright, Top Scholar."

Watching Liu Wang's somewhat lonely back, Shi Yan raised his hand. He wanted to say something, but the words would not come out.

Liu Wang's earlier words of instruction, together with his current back, made him seem less like a "son" and more like a father.

Shi Yan sheathed his blade, then turned and stepped into the deeper forest.

With food and his ability to bolster his own defense, Liu Wang would become someone others scrambled to team up with. Shi Yan had no need to worry about him.

With nothing left to hold him back, it was time for a killing spree!

"Teacher Qin, are you sure this information is correct?"

Li Shuogen turned his square face toward Qin Feng beside him.

He had finally learned who Shi Yan was and had brought in Shi Yan's homeroom teacher.

Yet the information in his hands was simply unbelievable.

How had D-Class Biological Ignite managed to consecutively kill six mountain goat demonic beasts as strong as bulls?

"Principal, there can be no mistake. Shi Yan awakened as D-Class Biological Ignite."

Qin Feng answered with certainty.

"Not only that, he even gave his Body Tempering Medicine to a classmate."

"Ridiculous! As his homeroom teacher, why didn't you stop him?"

Li Shuogen's eyes widened as his anger flared.

"How am I supposed to describe you? It wasn't easy for us to produce a promising seedling. One more bit of strength means a few more points earned. Look, Shi Yan has already been squeezed off the Leaderboard..."

Before he could finish, Li Shuogen was suddenly yanked.

The force nearly pulled his arm out of its socket.

Yet he did not get angry. The fury that had just risen in him instantly subsided.

Because he recognized the way he had been grabbed. It was his teacher, Li Bihuang.

"Little Li, tell your teacher: how did you teach this student?"

Li Bihuang stared at the huge screen, stroking his beard so hard it seemed ready to smoke.

Shi Yan's name had appeared again.

Moreover, it was climbing from the very bottom of the Leaderboard, rising without any sign of stopping.

The screen showing Shi Yan was growing larger and larger as well.

"Teacher, I... I..."

Li Shuogen saw Shi Yan's screen too and, for a moment, did not know what to say.

Shi Yan could be seen moving through the forest when he encountered a group of more than ten wild boar demonic beasts. Then, even more excited than the beasts themselves, he charged in with his blade.

It was a one-sided slaughter. Although the wild boar demonic beasts stood nearly as tall at the shoulder as Shi Yan himself, not one of them could withstand even a single strike.

That blade, as though it had just been drawn from magma, seemed extraordinarily sharp. The thick-skinned, tough-fleshed, hard-boned wild boar demonic beasts were like tofu before it.

But that was not why Li Bihuang had grabbed Li Shuogen. It was because of the scene that kept sending Shi Yan's ranking upward.

Demonic beasts were ferocious. After killing one or several, ordinary people would swiftly change locations to avoid drawing more beasts in with the scent of blood.

Shi Yan did the exact opposite. He bled the demonic beasts dry!

The crimson blade cauterized the demonic beast corpses due to its high temperature, so he used a dagger to stab open their major arteries.

And so, something that made ordinary candidates' scalps go numb occurred.

One demonic beast after another followed the scent of blood and came over.

Then... they all died beneath Shi Yan's blade.

"Teacher Qin, come explain this."

After a long while, seeing Shi Yan rise to ninety-ninth place, Li Shuogen pulled Qin Feng over.

Qin Feng furrowed his brows tightly as he stared at the screen, then slowly said,

"Principal, my scalp is numb too."

It was numb from how bold Shi Yan was, actually choosing the most dangerous method.

And numb from Shi Yan's strength, which had scattered the demonic beasts into pieces.

Fortunately, the heart-pounding feeling quickly faded.

On the screen, Shi Yan continued bleeding several snake demonic beasts after killing them. But after waiting for a long time, no more demonic beasts came.

Thus, he could only leave with his blade, leaving corpses strewn all over the ground.

That area was still part of the outskirts. The number of demoniac beasts could not possibly be endless.

"Captain, there's an extremely strong smell of blood!"

A four-person team pushed through the weeds as they walked through the forest.

Suddenly, one of the boys with a hooked nose twitched his nostrils and said in shock.

Such a strong smell of blood—could a large team have run into a demonic beast horde?

Where there were teams, there were also larger groups. Although that greatly diluted the points each person received, it was safer. Even if they encountered a demonic beast horde, they could handle it.

"Let's take a look."

The captain was a handsome young man with sword-like brows and bright eyes. Looking closely, one would find that he resembled Shi Yan somewhat.

He was Shi Yan's cousin, Gu Feng.

Before long, the sight of demonic beast corpses covering the ground came into view, leaving the group too stunned for words.

"Captain, they died to a fire-attribute sharp weapon, then were bled after death. Could Ren Jie have come out from inside?"

The hooked-nosed boy inspected the scene and spoke.

There were clearly only one person's footprints at the scene. And the only person who could kill so many demonic beasts alone while possessing a fire attribute was Ren Jie from their own school.

"Backtracking isn't Ren Jie's style." Gu Feng shook his head. "If we want to know who it was, we only need to check the Leaderboard. Whoever's score suddenly rose by a lot is the one."

Before long, the hooked-nosed boy opened his wristwatch and tapped into the Leaderboard.

First place, Qi Ziyue (Jiangnan No. 3 High School), 588 points.

Second place, Gu Hao (Jiangnan High School No. 1), 583 points.

Fifth place, Ren Jie (Jiangnan High School No. 1), 569 points.

Forty-sixth place, Shi Yan (Baiyun No. 1 High School), 501 points.

"Captain, it's this Shi Yan. But... this name is the same as the cousin you're looking for."

"Let's go. Find my cousin!"