Turbulence Rises, Heading to the Core Area

Inside the Martial Arts Examination arena.

A drooling, crimson-eyed beast, larger than an elephant and shaped like a tiger, continuously scraped its claws, gouging furrows into the ground.

It let out a loud roar at the black-haired youth before it.

"Roar!"

The beast roared and transformed into a streak of lightning, charging at the youth like a tank, a landslide, or a tsunami.

Compared to this beast, the youth was like a small boat in a tsunami.

Tiny, insignificant.

But just as the beast was about to tear him apart, the youth moved.

Without much visible effort, his body shifted several meters to the side as if by magic. The beast lunged and missed.

The beast intended to attack again, opening its mouth to bite the youth, but before it could even open its mouth.

The youth suddenly stood up, leaped, and delivered a whip kick as fast as lightning, striking the beast's face with a loud bang.

"Roar."

A pained cry.

The beast's head, comparable in size to a small car, was twisted by the youth's whip kick.

Immediately after, its feet left the ground. Its body, weighing over ten tons, was actually kicked into the air and sent flying backward with a whoosh.

With a loud boom, it smashed into a three-story building dozens of meters away.

The three-story building, constructed entirely of reinforced concrete and standing for decades, collapsed with a roar.

"Very good. After cultivating my movement technique to its peak, my evasion abilities have become even stronger."

"In actual combat, fierce beasts below the peak of Level 1 can't even touch me."

"And my strength has also increased several times over!"

"It's no exaggeration to say that within the realm of Level 1 Martial Artists, I should be in the T0 tier!"

He flashed to the front of the beast and landed another punch, killing it.

Hearing the system notification chime in his ear, Li Ziyu nodded with satisfaction.

Four days had passed since the Martial Arts Examination began. After hunting for these two days, he had lost count of how many fierce beasts he had killed.

He killed every one he encountered, progressing from the outer edges of the examination area to the core region.

He was now only a step away from the center.

By the end of it, he had become somewhat numb, even tired of the system prompts.

If the fierce beasts in these examination grounds hadn't been specially processed by the officials beforehand, with the number he had killed, they would have likely lost themselves to mental invasion.

However, the harvest these days had been plentiful.

His blade technique, movement technique, and body tempering method had all reached the pinnacle!

Even the defensive battle skill he later cultivated had reached the advanced level.

"Open system panel."

Name: Li Ziyu.

Realm: Advanced Level 1 Martial Artist.

Combat Skills: Peak Raging Bull Body Tempering Method, Peak Movement Technique, Peak Blade Technique, Advanced Vajra Body, Gale Blade Technique.

System: Martial God System.

Function: Can absorb all things, enhance Qi and Blood. Other functions to be discovered by the host.

"I don't know if other cities have cultivators who have all their martial skills at the peak like I do, but in Xujiang City, besides me, there shouldn't be a second person!"

He was a humble person, so he didn't claim to be invincible among Level 1 Martial Artists.

But Li Ziyu felt that he was definitely in the T0 tier.

After thinking for a moment, Li Ziyu tapped a few times on the wristband on his right hand, opening the score bracelet.

The leaderboard for the entire examination ground appeared before him.

First place: Li Ziyu, Score 3800.

Second place: Nangong Ao, Score 1200.

Third place: Wang Long, Score 980.

Fourth place: Xia Lin, Score 970.

"As expected, I'm in first place, and my score is almost triple that of the second place!"

"It seems I've secured the top spot in Xujiang City's Martial Arts Examination, and my score is enough to get into those four prestigious schools. I just wonder how I'll rank nationally."

Li Ziyu mused. His personality was to either not do something at all, or to do it to the best of his ability.

Since he had decided to aim for the four prestigious schools, he would compete for the national championship!

After a moment of thought, a sharp glint flashed in Li Ziyu's eyes.

With his gaze fixed, he gripped his greatsword, moved his body, and rushed towards the central area.

"They say there's a Level 2 fierce beast in the central area specifically for talented examinees vying for national rankings. Killing it can earn you dozens of times the usual points."

"Let's go there!"

"Did he leave?"

"He left. Phew, the pressure was terrifying."

After Li Ziyu left, the two female examinees who had been hiding and watching, afraid to come out, finally emerged from the ruins.

Xiaoya, Xu Mengyao's best friend, patted her full chest with an expression of relief and said, "Even Level 1 Advanced fierce beasts can't withstand a single punch from Li Ziyu. What's his actual strength?"

"With that kind of strength, he's at least a Peak Level 1 Martial Artist, right!?"

"It's a good thing he didn't notice us. If he's still holding a grudge about you breaking up with him back then and decides to take revenge, we'll be in trouble."

Xu Mengyao didn't respond to her best friend's words. She just stared blankly in the direction Li Ziyu had disappeared, her face etched with unspeakable bitterness and regret.

Thinking back to five days ago.

Li Ziyu still belonged to her.

But now, she didn't even have the courage to stand in front of Li Ziyu.

She could only hide like a rat on the sidelines, witnessing Li Ziyu's bravery.

"If fate gave me another chance, I would never have made the choice I did back then..."

"Damn it! 3800 points!?? That's triple mine?! Li Ziyu, you sly fox, you were hiding your strength all along, holy crap!"

"How does he have so many points? How many fierce beasts did he kill? Cheating! Li Ziyu is definitely cheating!"

Central Area.

Nangong Ao's expression turned extremely ugly as he saw Li Ziyu's name at the top of the leaderboard.

He was so angry that he kept punching the wall, completely oblivious to the blood gushing from his hand.

"I am the strongest in Xujiang City! Some unknown nobody must have cheated to get such high points!!"

After venting his anger, a flicker of unwillingness crossed Nangong Ao's face.

Among the martial examinees in Xujiang City, he had always been the most dazzling.

When had someone else ever stolen his spotlight like this?

Thinking about the outside world's reaction to Li Ziyu's points made Nangong Ao feel as if he had swallowed a fly.

"Hmph! I'll go to that Level 2 fierce beast!"

"I don't believe Li Ziyu's strength is enough to kill that Level 2 fierce beast. As long as I kill it first, I can prove to the outside world that my strength is superior to Li Ziyu's!"

Nangong Ao thought, suppressed his emotions, and transformed into a yellow blur, rushing towards the very center of the central area.

"Hiss?! 3800 points? No way, right? Isn't that even better than Nangong Ao?"

"How can anyone in Xujiang City be stronger than Nangong Ao?"

In a certain area of the central zone.

Wang Long sat on the corpse of a fierce beast.

While wolfing down an energy bar, he scanned the points leaderboard, his expression fluctuating.

"Monster, 3800 points? That's already enough to be the top scorer in Su Province. Damn it, how am I supposed to catch up now!?"

"Nangong Ao's mood right now is probably worse than mine. Knowing him, he'll definitely head to the central area to hunt that Level 2 fierce beast to prove his strength."

"Then... I'll go take a look too!"

"I want to see just how strong this Li Ziyu person really is."

As someone who dreamed of surpassing Nangong Ao, Wang Long had thoroughly studied Nangong Ao's personality.

From his understanding of Nangong Ao, the man would definitely impulsively go hunt that Level 2 fierce beast.

Perhaps this person named Li Ziyu would also go.

He definitely would go!

Thinking this, Wang Long no longer cared about eating.

He shoved the rest into his mouth and swallowed it whole, then headed straight for the very center of the examination grounds.

"3800 points. Student Li Ziyu, are you finally starting to exert yourself?"

"You're even more formidable than I imagined, truly exceeding my expectations..."

Xia Lin looked at the name at the top of the leaderboard, her beautiful eyes shining with brilliance, and murmured to herself.

"He's so strong, and he's handsome too..."

Xia Lin's fair cheeks involuntarily flushed as if struck by a thought.

However, as soon as she looked up at the drone filming her not far away in the sky, she snapped back to reality, groaning and rubbing her cheeks:

"Ah, what am I thinking about?"

"I hope Li Ziyu doesn't see this part, or I'll be embarrassed."

Composing herself, Xia Lin looked back towards the center area, her eyes thoughtful:

"The Martial Arts Examination is almost over. They should all be heading towards that Level 2 Fierce Beast. I'll go take a look too!"