"Everyone overlooked you."
Qi Ziyue slowly emerged, her light purple gown immaculate, her skin still as fair and flawless as when she had entered the examination grounds.
Her beautiful eyes were fixed on Shi Yan, as though she wished to see straight through him.
She vaguely sensed that the person who would contend with her for first place in the end would not be those few S-Class candidates, but the somewhat handsome boy before her.
"So you were the one who snatched my demonic beasts."
Shi Yan's expression remained calm as he sized up the unbelievably beautiful girl.
Compared to her, Lu Jiaojiao fell short by far more than a little.
Lu Jiaojiao was a pretty vase on the surface, while Qi Ziyue was a goddess from the moon palace, breathtaking from her spirit to her bearing.
It was just that the girl was somewhat aloof, and did not seem easy to talk to.
"Would you be willing to enter the Core Zone with me tonight?"
Qi Ziyue clearly was not good at small talk and went straight to the point.
She was not fully confident that she could handle a Second-Order Demonic Beast.
Moreover, the three from Jiangnan High School No. 1 would definitely cooperate. When the time came to compete for Second-Order Demonic Beasts, she would not be able to beat them.
Originally, she had planned to cooperate with Wu Qiang from Shennan No. 1 High School, but who would have thought that Wu Qiang had already gotten together with a girl who possessed charming abilities.
Looking over all the candidates on the rankings, Shi Yan was the most suitable person to cooperate with her.
Yet Shi Yan's answer caught her somewhat off guard.
"I'm not willing."
Shi Yan shook his head and rejected her.
By the time he fought through the night, he would probably be able to enter the Core Zone alone.
A Second-Order Demonic Beast was worth fifty Martial Virtue Points. He did not want to share the results with anyone else.
"Uh... all right. Sorry to bother you."
Qi Ziyue was slightly stunned. Then her fair, pretty face flushed red, and she quickly left in tiny steps.
In an instant, the aloof goddess had turned into a little girl who looked as if she had made a mistake.
That contrast left Shi Yan somewhat startled as well.
This girl was not aloof and hard to talk to. She was... socially anxious?
"Keep killing demonic beasts."
Shi Yan ignored her and headed alone toward the area closer to the Core Zone.
Not long afterward, he stopped in a relatively dark place.
Compared with where he had been before, there were rarely any traces of candidates here.
After casually knocking down a few trees, demonic beasts followed the scent over.
"As expected of Pig Head Mountain."
Looking at the several Wild Boar Demons in the distance, Shi Yan snorted through his nostrils.
Half a minute later.
[First-Order Wild Boar Demon killed. Martial Virtue Points +3] [First-Order Wild Boar Demon killed. Martial Virtue Points +4] ...
Next, Shi Yan deftly drained the Wild Boar Demons of blood.
This time, no one finally came to snatch them away.
Other demonic beasts were drawn over by the scent of blood.
Their numbers were not as great as the previous two times, but their quality was higher.
Thus, a bloody feast unfolded.
"Taboo! This is a great taboo!"
Outside the examination grounds, Qin Feng, who had always been stern, kept speaking up.
Demonic beasts were already bloodthirsty, yet Shi Yan was still draining blood. This was a warrior's great taboo.
The first time, it had been because they were in the outer area, where demonic beasts posed little threat, so he had found it hard to say anything.
The second time, because four warriors had helped him, Qin Feng had held his tongue for a long while.
Now Shi Yan was close to the Core Zone and still dared to do this. He was practically making a joke of his own life.
Not only Qin Feng, but Principal Li Shuogen and Mo Changfeng of the Extreme Martial Arts Hall were also frowning deeply.
Was Shi Yan stopping at nothing for points?
Throughout past Martial Arts Examinations, quite a few candidates had exploited loopholes in the examination rules.
One such method was to desperately kill demonic beasts at a certain point, earn a massive wave of points, then trigger the rescue order.
At Shi Yan's speed, he could completely kill until his base score was maxed out.
Seven hundred and fifty, plus the fifty bonus points he had received earlier, made eight hundred. That surpassed the vast majority of candidates.
Given the difficulty of this examination in South of the Yangtze, he could enter any of the Four Great Famous Schools with ease.
Yet these people did not want to see Shi Yan become such a person.
Those who resorted to opportunism and trickery would not go far on the martial path.
Even leaving aside opportunism and trickery, Shi Yan's act of draining blood to attract demonic beasts could, if it became a habit, very likely leave him trapped in a place of no return in the future.
Inside the examination grounds, rescue forces were standing by. Outside in the future, he would not receive such treatment!
"Should I inform the Hall Master..."
Mo Changfeng stared at Shi Yan's feed, the fingers of his folded arms tapping continuously.
In the end, he decided to wait until after the Martial Arts Examination was over.
Luo Hai, the chief commander, was also frowning slightly. It was not because of Shi Yan's "trickery," but because Shi Yan had rejected Qi Ziyue.
Teamwork was a required course for entering the Monster Suppression Bureau.
Shi Yan seemed not to have grasped its essence...
"Hmph, Principal Gong, congratulations in advance to your No. 1 High School."
Li Bihuang from Jiangnan No. 3 High School said somewhat unwillingly.
The moment Shi Yan rejected Qi Ziyue, he knew the tide was already set.
Qi Ziyue indeed surpassed the three from Jiangnan High School No. 1 somewhat in individual ability, but Jiangnan No. 3 High School had only Qi Ziyue. It would be difficult for her to gain an advantage in bonus points.
Killing demonic beasts above one's level was no child's play.
Qi Ziyue might be able to kill one or two, but what about the ones after that?
There were 250 bonus points. She had to kill five of them to get them all, and no one could achieve that alone.
Shi Yan, the first to kill a Second-Order Demonic Beast, had shown them exactly why. After killing one, he had to withdraw and rest for a long time.
The Martial Arts Examination had limited time. Qi Ziyue would not be able to wait until she killed the fifth demonic beast.
The same went for Shi Yan.
"Principal Li, you taught that girl many skills for killing demonic beasts, but you alone neglected to teach her social skills."
This time, Gong Yanhua did not snap back at Li Bihuang. She merely smiled as she looked toward Qi Ziyue's feed.
If it had been her in her youth, she would have had at least ten ways to make Shi Yan form a team with her.
Li Bihuang gave a bitter smile and helplessly shook his head. "It's not like you don't know the Qi Family. How could I teach her..."
Amid everyone's discussion, Shi Yan's ranking on the screen continued to leap upward.
Many people's heartbeats accelerated along with his rising rank.
Eighteenth place.
Fifteenth place.
Tenth place...
Until his score became 751, Shi Yan directly became first.
"Shi Yan is in first place!"
Someone cried out in alarm.
Smiles also appeared on Qin Feng and Li Shuogen's faces.
Although they felt Shi Yan's method was not particularly advisable, this was the first time Baiyun No. 1 High School had achieved such a result.
After the cry of alarm, even more people turned in unison toward the rankings:
First place, Shi Yan (Baiyun No. 1 High School), 751 points.
Second place, Qi Ziyue (Jiangnan No. 3 High School), 750 points.
Sixth place, Wu Qiang (Shennan No. 1 High School), 750 points.
Seventh place, Zhang Tianzhi (Jiangnan High School No. 1), 688 points.
Second through sixth place all had 750 points, because their base scores had already reached the maximum. Killing more demonic beasts would not earn them points unless they killed Second-Order Demonic Beasts in the Core Zone.
Moreover, the top six had a cliff-like lead over those behind them.
However, people discovered that Shi Yan's score in first place was still rising.
759, 766, 788... It did not stop until it reached 800.
In other words, he had obtained every possible base point!
Some who had previously harbored suspicions could not help but draw in a slight breath.
At eight hundred points, Shi Yan should call for rescue now, right?
Yet in the feed, Shi Yan showed no intention of seeking help.
Although he was breathing heavily from exhaustion, after killing another batch of demonic beasts, he continued waiting for the next wave to arrive.
He even sliced off several pieces of demonic beast meat and roasted them during his spare moments.
"This..."
He was probably tired and wanted to eat his fill before continuing?
Then they would keep waiting.
Only, this wait lasted a little too long.
Not until the sun gave off its final warmth and disappeared behind the distant mountains did Shi Yan finally make a move.
He did not send a rescue signal, but instead headed toward the Core Zone.
"What?!"
Before you continue