"One thousand points."
Qi Ziyue closed the Leaderboard, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief.
Shi Yan's strength had completely exceeded her expectations.
He had not reached one thousand points step by step; he had shot straight from eight hundred and fifty to one thousand.
In other words, Shi Yan had killed the last three Second-Order Demonic Beasts in a short span of time.
That had already defied common sense!
How could a First-Order Warrior kill three Second-Order Demonic Beasts all at once?
"What a strange person."
Qi Ziyue felt that she still did not understand Shi Yan well enough.
Likewise, Shi Yan's stunning performance had stirred her competitive spirit.
She tilted her head up at the sky and softly called out in her heart.
The next moment, a Moon Blade emitting a faint purple glow appeared behind her.
One could see the purple moon echoing the moon in the sky from afar, specks of moonlight appearing and drifting into the Moon Blade.
On nights with a moon, her combat strength was at its peak!
With the Moon Blade suspended behind her back and a curved saber in hand, she stepped into the dense thicket ahead.
When she emerged again, her curved saber was already stained with blood, and her score had risen from 750 to 800.
"Wu Qiang, I think we were wrong before. Being alone seems to ignite one's fighting spirit even more."
Qi Ziyue slightly turned her exquisite face, stained with traces of blood, toward the grass not far away.
She knew Wu Qiang and Lu Jiaojiao were hiding there, and she could roughly guess why they had come.
But she no longer wanted to form a team, so she voiced her thoughts first.
After saying that, she headed deeper inside.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
The towering weeds trembled slightly, revealing Wu Qiang and Lu Jiaojiao.
Wu Qiang said nothing, merely watching the direction in which Qi Ziyue had departed.
Only after a while did he turn around and look at Lu Jiaojiao, whose face had gone somewhat pale.
"You should leave. Our cooperation ends here. Let me give you one final piece of advice: a person must rely on themself."
After saying that, he did not look back as he headed deeper into the Core Zone from another direction.
Yes, Second-Order Demonic Beasts were formidable, but his arrows had never been slow.
Moreover, Shi Yan had already obtained all the regular and bonus points. He had surely left the examination grounds by now, so this was precisely Wu Qiang's time to shine.
"No."
Lu Jiaojiao's face turned pale as she staggered backward.
Unfortunately, Wu Qiang ignored her and soon vanished from sight.
Lu Jiaojiao felt as though the sky were about to collapse.
He had been the strongest genius she could cling to, yet now everything had turned into a dream bubble.
"Fine, fine, fine! Just you wait!"
At last, she cast a resentful glance at the dark Core Zone ahead before turning and walking toward the outer area.
"Strange, why hasn't he come out yet?"
Outside the examination grounds, Shi Yan's "abnormal" behavior once again sparked heated discussion.
One thousand points was already a perfect score. Killing more Demonic Beasts would not earn any additional points.
Yet Shi Yan still showed no intention of leaving. With his saber in hand, he continued deeper inside.
Then everyone gradually became numb.
The Second-Order Shadow Cat was killed by Shi Yan.
The Second-Order Blood Python Bull was cut down by Shi Yan.
The Second-Order Startled Wind Sparrow was burned to death by Shi Yan.
Dawn broke, and the morning sunlight shone into the examination grounds.
Wu Qiang emerged from the dense forest of the Core Zone, his hair disheveled and his eyes bloodshot.
"Ah! Where are the Second-Order Demonic Beasts?!"
He threw his head back and roared, filled with unwillingness and madness.
He had already circled the entire Core Zone eight times.
He had not seen a single Second-Order Demonic Beast, the kind that made examinees pale at the very mention of them!
He opened the Leaderboard.
First place, Shi Yan (Baiyun No. 1 High School), 1000 points. Second place, Gu Hao (Jiangnan High School No. 1), 800 points. Fifth place, Qi Ziyue (Jiangnan No. 3 High School), 800 points. Sixth place, Wu Qiang (Shennan No. 1 High School), 750 points.
In other words, aside from the five people ahead, no one else had killed a Second-Order Demonic Beast.
But if they had not been killed, where had the Second-Order Demonic Beasts gone?
Could there have been only nine Second-Order Demonic Beasts in the entire examination grounds?
Impossible. Even if not enough Second-Order Demonic Beasts had been born because spiritual energy had only recently erupted, the Monster Suppression Bureau would have captured enough Second-Order Demonic Beasts.
Otherwise, why set up bonus points at all?
Just as he was puzzled, movement came from the distant grass.
Three figures emerged, their eyes rimmed with bloodshot veins.
Then they stared at Wu Qiang, wide-eyed.
The three of them could not find the remaining Second-Order Demonic Beasts either.
The imagined scene of Demonic Beasts running rampant at night had never occurred at all.
A moment later, Qi Ziyue came out as well.
Her long dress was already somewhat torn, and two dark circles had appeared beneath her exquisite face.
Several people who had once regarded one another as rivals looked at each other again and again, until a terrifying thought arose in their hearts.
Their expressions grew uglier and uglier, before finally turning into immense shock:
The Second-Order Demonic Beasts had been wiped out!
And aside from them, the only person capable of killing Second-Order Demonic Beasts across ranks was that person.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Wu Qiang suddenly screamed, looking deranged as he wildly fired arrows in every direction.
Seeing this, Qi Ziyue and the others could only retreat far away.
Indeed, they had originally been nearly equal in strength, yet the final result was that he had fallen fifty points behind everyone else. Anyone would feel miserable in his shoes.
Qi Ziyue turned back to glance at the shadowy forest behind her, pouted slightly, then headed toward the outer area.
The sky had already brightened. It was time to wait in the outer area for the College Entrance Examination to end.
After walking several hundred meters, her pace suddenly slowed.
Whether it was fate or not, she had actually arrived at the place where she had first encountered Shi Yan.
The Demonic Beast corpses were still there, though by now they had been gnawed away by more than half.
She even saw several enormous cat demons still madly tearing apart the Demonic Beast carcasses on the ground.
"That's not right. I still have a chance!"
As though she had thought of something, her eyes suddenly lit up. She turned and ran toward the Core Zone.
Last night, she had overlooked something very important!
When searching for Second-Order Demonic Beasts, she had relied on Spiritual Power to sense them. If there were only Level 1 Demonic Beasts, she would actively avoid them.
After all, killing Level 1 Demonic Beasts earned no points and only wasted stamina.
And now, if she wanted to come back from the dead, she had to find the Level 1 Demonic Beasts in the Core Zone—places where they gathered in heaps.
There was no other reason: Shi Yan liked killing Second-Order Demonic Beasts!
He had not left after reaching one thousand points and had continued killing all the remaining Second-Order Demonic Beasts. That proved Shi Yan liked killing them.
She did not care why Shi Yan liked killing Second-Order Demonic Beasts. She only knew that if she wanted to find Second-Order Demonic Beasts, she had to go back.
Because with the Second-Order Demonic Beasts gone, Shi Yan would make the Level 1 Demonic Beasts become Second-Order Demonic Beasts!
Half an hour later.
Qi Ziyue finally stopped. Looking at the sight before her, she smiled.
It was a small hill. Outside it lay Demonic Beast corpses covering the ground, varying in size and species.
There were Level 1 Demonic Beasts, as well as Second-Order Demonic Beasts.
Shi Yan was stuffing these corpses into a Stone Cave halfway up the hill.
He really was feeding Demonic Beasts!
She saw Shi Yan, and Shi Yan saw her as well.
"Heh—Qi Ziyue, why are you wearing two panda eyes? Did someone beat you up?"
"You..."
Qi Ziyue's face instantly flushed to the roots of her ears, but when she thought of her score, she still gathered her courage and said:
"Shi Yan, can you share some Second-Order Demonic Beasts with me? I... I can agree to some of your requests."
Before you continue