Shi Yan's blade pierced straight through the black eagle diving at him, and he immediately flashed away.
The eagle crashed into the ground, tearing up turf thick with weeds.
[Killed a Level 1 Black Feathered Eagle, Martial Virtue Points +5]
"Oh, am I close to the Core Zone already?"
This was Shi Yan's first time encountering a demonic beast that could provide 5 Martial Virtue Points. Most of the previous ones had only given 2 or 3 points.
Martial Virtue Points varied according to the danger level of the demonic beast killed.
5 points meant it was fairly dangerous.
He opened the map on his wristwatch and, sure enough, discovered that he had arrived near those red dots.
Then, was it time to increase his strength?
He brought up his status panel:
[Name: Shi Yan] [Realm: First-Order Warrior] [Ability: Southern Bright Blazing Fire (SSS-Class)] [Blood Vitality: 30 cal (+)] [Mental Strength: 11 Hz (+)] [Martial Arts: Thrusting Punch (Beginner +), Explosive Flame Eighteen Sabers (Not Learned +)] [Martial Virtue Points: 1086]
All of his attributes could be upgraded, but which one should he choose?
He knew that one thousand Martial Virtue Points were not enough. He could only choose one.
Mental Strength and Thrusting Punch did little to increase his current combat power, so they could be ruled out.
As for Blood Vitality, with the Lava Spirit Devouring Saber, his attack power was already more than sufficient.
So, it was better to improve his saber technique.
If his attack power proved insufficient later, he could still increase his Blood Vitality.
After all, only half a day had passed. There was still plenty of time left in the examination, and he could earn many more Martial Virtue Points.
With a thought, all the upgrade prompts on the panel vanished.
Explosive Flame Eighteen Sabers also changed to Beginner level.
His Martial Virtue Points dropped by a full thousand.
"That took a lot."
Shi Yan's heart ached. The fruits of all his hard work killing demonic beasts had vanished just like that.
Fortunately, the gains were enormous.
A peculiar sensation burst forth from his heart, as though countless scenes of him diligently practicing saber techniques flashed before his eyes. In the end, the images converged, becoming an ingrained familiarity with the saber in his hand.
If he had previously been a brute who only knew how to wave his saber around and hack wildly, he was now a saber wielder who had mastered countless techniques.
"This feeling is pretty good."
Recalling his previous battles against demonic beasts, he felt that if he faced them again, he would save much more effort and handle them with greater ease.
Just as he was rejoicing, a fierce gust of wind suddenly blew head-on.
Its force nearly made Shi Yan lose his footing.
One had to know that the saber in his hand weighed a full 480 pounds.
Looking up, he discovered an enormous eagle.
Its wingspan had reached an astonishing ten meters!
"Fuck, Level 2!"
Shi Yan had never expected to encounter a Second-Order Demonic Beast so quickly.
However, after glancing at the black eagle's corpse nearby, he roughly understood.
Kill the little one, and the old one comes, huh?
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Before he could think any further, the enormous black eagle violently flapped its wings, sending a dense barrage of hard feathers shooting down at high speed.
Shi Yan's expression shifted slightly. As expected of a Second-Order Demonic Beast, it did not blindly charge like the Level 1 beasts. It knew how to use its aerial advantage against its enemy.
Fortunately, he had just upgraded his saber technique.
The saber in his hand erupted with raging flames, then he swung it over his head, instantly forming a surging wave of fire.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The black feathers fell into the fiery waves and immediately turned into balls of flame, leaving not even dregs behind.
"Screee!"
Seeing that its attack had failed, the giant eagle let out a piercing cry and began flapping its wings wildly.
In an instant, violent winds swept through the area. Trees snapped, sand flew, and stones shot through the air.
Fortunately, Shi Yan had been prepared. He planted his feet firmly and raised his saber to resist.
At the same time, his ability activated and spread across his entire body.
The terror of Southern Bright Blazing Fire revealed itself at this moment.
The moment grass, wood, earth, and stone came close, they were burned to nothing.
Seeing this, Shi Yan's heart stirred.
In the next second, he put on an exhausted expression, then released the saber in his hand and let the wind carry it away.
Only after he slammed into the root of a wind-snapped tree did he forcefully clutch its protruding broken section.
Then his eyes dulled, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Just as expected, the violent wind stopped two seconds later, and the giant eagle dived down.
Its huge, icy claws stabbed viciously toward Shi Yan.
With that size and speed, Shi Yan felt that one hit would be enough to leave him dead here.
Even a Heart-Guarding Mirror would be useless.
However, he had no intention of clashing head-on with the giant eagle.
At the critical instant, with the enormous claws about to reach him, he abruptly shifted aside and grabbed one of the claws covered in azure scales.
Then, Southern Bright Blazing Fire erupted.
This was his plan: lure the Black Feather Eagle down, then give it a good burning.
It could now be confirmed that Second-Order Demonic Beasts had brains, but not much of one.
"Screee!"
Boundless terror flooded the giant eagle's mind.
It felt as though what it had grabbed was not a human, but a god.
That was a supreme existence originating from the depths of its bloodline!
Thus, rather than finishing Shi Yan off, it quickly withdrew its claws and pressed its head to the ground.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
In the next second, flames ignited across its body.
The scorching fire instantly destroyed its head before it could even struggle.
Within seconds, its body turned to ashes as well.
It was dead!
[Defeated a Level 2 Black Feather Eagle across realms. Martial virtue abounds, Martial Virtue Points +50]
"Holy shit!"
Shi Yan sprang to his feet in a roll, delight written across his face.
Killing across realms actually gave this much!
It was just that the consumption was a little high.
He felt that the energy in his body could burn demonic beasts like this at most three more times.
At full strength, he should be able to do it five times.
"No wonder the homeroom teacher said not to mess with those two-fifties..."
Shi Yan now understood Qin Feng's earlier warning.
Second-Order Demonic Beasts truly were dangerous.
If not for his unusual ability, coupled with a breakthrough in the heat of battle, he might have had to end the examination early.
"First, I'll find a place to rest."
Having understood the strength of Second-Order Demonic Beasts, Shi Yan decided to recover first.
Picking up his saber, he cut off one thigh from the little eagle before leaving the area.
It was called a little eagle, but that leg still weighed dozens of pounds, enough to feed him.
What Shi Yan did not know was that because he had killed the Level 2 Black Feather Eagle, the outside world had already erupted.
"What? He entered the top twenty directly? I've never heard of this Shi Yan!"
Seeing the name that had suddenly appeared in the top twenty, someone could not help crying out in shock.
"Baiyun No. 1 High School, a local school! My god, when did a genius like this emerge?"
"A Second-Order Demonic Beast, tsk tsk, those flames are definitely S-Class!"
"He got the bonus points in just half a day. He's crushing those key high schools from South of the Yangtze!"
"Teacher, don't pull me. My arm is about to break. I don't understand Shi Yan's situation either."
"Lin Ye, three minutes. I want all information on this Shi Yan."
Chief Commander Luo Hai had, at some point, risen from the viewing platform directly in front of the giant screen.
In every College Entrance Examination, bonus points were the most closely watched and scrutinized category.
Because obtaining bonus points represented killing demonic beasts across realms.
And over ninety percent of those capable of killing demonic beasts across realms were geniuses among geniuses.
Shi Yan was the first examinee in this Martial Arts Examination to receive bonus points!
One had to know that when this place had been chosen as the examination site, the upper ranks across all of South of the Yangtze had already prepared themselves for the possibility that no examinees would receive bonus points this year.
After all, the demonic beasts that had just emerged were completely wild and had never been subjected to any human interference.
They were far more dangerous than the demonic beasts previously placed into examination sites, which carried fear toward humans.
The fact that principals from all the surrounding schools had come here was enough to show part of the reason. They were not merely here to watch—they were also this examination's rescue force.
"Director Luo, I've sent it to you."
Lin Ye, dressed in black, stepped forward with a bitter smile on his face.
He could only blame himself for not taking it seriously enough.
At Bigui Residential Area, he had only helped Shi Yan a little.
But Extreme Martial Arts Hall had directly given that saber to Shi Yan.
"It's not your fault. A D-Class ability at the beginning was simply too misleading."
Luo Hai glanced at the projected contents rising from his watch and immediately understood.
"But it doesn't matter. There are still four years of Martial Arts University ahead of us. We still have a chance."
To prevent the unchecked expansion of martial artist organizations, Huaxia Kingdom had long stipulated that students could not join any martial artist organization before completing their studies—not even official ones.
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