Not Cheating, Just a Lucky Break

Someone frowned. "I've heard of several of the names listed above. They're all rare geniuses, but when did this Fang Che appear?"

Someone was puzzled.

The white-haired, bearded man frowned. "Besides, these results are far too strange. He went straight from thirty-nine to ninety-one, jumping by two points every time. That means every kill was a Level-Five Demon Beast. Twenty-six Level-Five Demon Beasts in a row? Forget about whether he ran into a pack of Demon Beasts—what cultivation could slaughter Level-Five Demon Beasts as easily as chopping vegetables?"

"Someone who applied to the Martial Academy but hasn't entered yet would be a Martial Master at best, right? Could he really do that?"

Everyone shook their heads. It would have to be a Martial Ancestor.

"Could he be cheating?"

"Cheating seems impossible, right? If he were cheating, they would have reported it. But the people over there still haven't reported anything."

In the jungle.

Two men in black stood high in the distance, hidden among the branches and leaves, watching the scene ahead with speechless expressions.

It was a canyon.

Countless Blood Fang Demon Wolves were rushing excitedly into the canyon.

Some Blood Fang Demon Wolves that were still far away had even activated their innate divine abilities and ridden the wind over, charging inside as if they couldn't wait another moment.

Within the canyon, a stick of incense was burning beneath a cliff, against the cliff wall.

To enter the canyon and then reach the cliff, one had to get past several enormous boulders. Only a winding path remained.

The narrow path was just wide enough for a single Demon Wolf to enter, and even then, it had to move carefully to avoid colliding with the stones.

That sly brat was waiting at the final fork.

He stood at the edge of the cliff, Wind Steel Longsword in hand. Beneath the cliff at his feet, the incense stick emitted Spiritual Beast Soul-Soothing Incense, the scent most alluring to the Blood Fang Demon Wolves. He guided the scent into the winding path.

A Demon Wolf rushed over excitedly. The moment its head appeared, a sword cleaved down.

The wolf was killed without spilling blood. Its life force and soul were severed at the same instant.

Then a small knife dug in, and a core and several drops of blood entered the nameplate together.

He kicked upward.

The Demon Wolf's corpse was kicked off the cliff.

Then another came. The same sword, the same dig, the same drop, the same kick.

The operation had become second nature. Judging only by his movements, which flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and running water, he looked exactly like a seasoned worker who had been doing this job for decades.

One Level-Five Demon Wolf, then another, then a third...

Fang Che moved swiftly and cleanly, working with great diligence.

But the two Martial Academy instructors watching grew more and more speechless. An old complaint piled up in their mouths until they could neither spit it out nor swallow it.

"Does this count as cheating?" one of them asked through telepathy, stunned.

The other felt as though his mouth were full of bitter herbs. "This really doesn't count as cheating."

"What?"

"Because he's been fighting from start to finish. The fight has been easier, yes, but he really is fighting and killing."

The other man felt his throat ache slightly as he said it.

The two fell silent at the same time.

Was Fang Che fighting? Yes.

But compared with the other prodigies, his "fighting" was just too... easy.

When people at the same cultivation level encountered Blood Fang Demon Wolves like these, they would be exhausted half to death and might not even manage to kill one. They would still suffer injuries.

But Fang Che's method was one sword, one dig, one drop, one toss.

And it was over.

It was as easy as dipping a steamed bun into minced garlic while eating.

Yet they simply couldn't say he was cheating!

This was truly...

Fan Tiantiao, who was watching as well, had his mouth hanging wide open, his chin nearly hitting the ground. He muttered to himself, "Motherf—... What the hell, that was insanely creative. Damn, I've really seen the world today..."

Qian Sanjiang's eyes shone. "Holy crap, holy crap, what a talent..."

The cliff was not very high, only two or three hundred meters, but looking down from above, one could see only a sea of clouds and mist. The bottom was nowhere in sight.

On the ground beneath the cliff lay countless withered bones, piled up in heaps.

The Demon Wolf corpses that kept falling landed motionless on the ground. Yet beneath each corpse, blood quietly began to seep out.

The moment the blood touched the ground, it vanished.

As the blood continued to drain away, the Demon Wolf corpses steadily lost their luster. After the blood had run dry, the energy within their flesh and bones continued to seep out and sink into the earth.

At last, even the wolfhide grew slack and powerless, like a scrap of cloth that had rotted for several years. Its surface remained intact, but a single breath could scatter it.

Only the wolves' fur remained attached, its color bright and glossy.

Even if someone descended beneath the cliff and saw these corpses, they would not notice that the Demon Wolves had already rotted through. They merely looked unchanged on the outside.

Throughout the entire mountain forest, this scene was occurring in countless places. Every corpse that had lost its life underwent the same transformation. All the energy seeped into the earth and flowed toward a certain direction.

But no one noticed.

After killing the Demon Wolves, Fang Che kept looking around. He always felt that something was wrong.

Yet no matter what he did, he couldn't find the cause.

Where was the problem?

Several hundred zhang beneath the ground, a broken body lay quietly.

It seemed to have died countless years ago, yet it had not rotted.

Threads of blood energy seeped down from countless directions and steadily gathered toward the body.

They converged like trickling streams flowing into the sea.

After years upon years, no one knew how much had been absorbed. There was not the slightest visible change, except that the blood-and-baleful aura surrounding it had grown a little denser.

White Cloud Martial Academy.

Everyone watched in a daze as the points beside Fang Che's name shot upward like a rocket.

Starting from ninety-one points, they surged all the way to two hundred and one before pausing once more.

Then they began to rise wildly again.

They continued until they reached two hundred and ninety-nine.

At last, they stopped.

He sat high atop the rankings.

So far, Qiu Yunshang, who ranked second, had only seventy-seven points.

The gap was practically the distance between heaven and earth!

After that, Fang Che's points never moved again.

The white-haired vice principal finally gave an order. "Fang Che should have stopped earning points. Quickly check what kind of Demon Beasts he killed. Then send a message to the instructors who escorted those Martial Students here and ask what happened."

Very soon, all the cores were delivered and piled high across the floor.

One heap.

"They're all Blood Fang Demon Wolves?"

All the teachers at White Cloud Martial Academy were stunned.

After a long while, the white-haired man stamped his foot. "That brat must have exploited a loophole! Blood Fang Demon Wolves have a fatal weakness: Tranquility Grass..."

Just then, the news from the front came back as well. "Fang Che used Spiritual Beast Soul-Soothing Incense. It should be..."

The others looked at one another.

"That's possible?" "What are we supposed to do, then?"

"What else can we do?"

The white-haired man stamped his foot. "He didn't cheat, no matter how you look at it. We can only let it go! Sigh... Once that brat enters the Martial Academy, I'll have to see what kind of creature he really is."

With that, he stormed out with his hands clasped behind his back.

Someone outside announced, "Headmaster, a secret report."

The Headmaster said, "Bring it in."

A moment later.

In his study, the Headmaster looked at a sheet of paper before him.

The four words on the paper were rapidly fading: "Keep an eye on Fang Che."

The Headmaster's gaze was deep and unfathomable.

Just as the Martial Academy had expected.

After Fang Che's points reached two hundred and ninety-nine, he stopped killing.

There was not much Soul-Soothing Incense left, but Blood Fang Demon Wolves were still coming one after another from all over the mountain.

Fang Che no longer wanted to continue killing.

He had enough points.

Once he surpassed two hundred, he could enter without an examination.

Continuing to kill had little meaning.

Besides, he kept feeling that something was wrong here. He couldn't explain what was wrong, but he didn't want to stay another moment.

Here, even hearing his own heartbeat made him feel alarmed.

This feeling was far too wrong.

There was bound to be some tremendous danger! So the moment he had the points, he would leave!

Wei Zihao felt that his luck was pretty good. While killing Demon Beasts like this, he had actually discovered a spiritual ginseng! A peak Level-Six Demon Beast was guarding it.

Wei Zihao could not kill it by himself, so he offered a generous reward and joined forces with more than a dozen Martial Students to slay the Demon Beast.

None of the others had noticed where the spiritual ginseng was. Wei Zihao secretly rejoiced.

They were about to kill the Demon Beast.

Once that happened, he would pay the money he had promised, then toss the Level-Six Demon Beast's corpse out for them to fight over the points. He could quietly make a fortune.

As blood sprayed and the Demon Beast shrieked, flesh flew everywhere. The Martial Students were all delighted. Seeing success within reach, they put in even more effort.

Just then.

A black shadow swept across the sky with a whoosh.

Suddenly, it let out a startled sound and flew back.

It landed on a nearby treetop, eyes shining as it looked down. Rubbing its chin, it said, "Oh, this is pretty good."

It was Fang Che.

Wei Zihao was overjoyed. "Brother Fang, please lend us a hand and help kill this Demon Beast. I, Wei, will definitely reward you handsomely!"

Fang Che laughed heartily. "Sure. Then how about I take that Enlightenment Blood Spirit Ginseng?"

"Enlightenment Blood Spirit Ginseng?"

Kang Zijian, who had been fighting, immediately somersaulted out of the fray, his face full of confusion. "What Enlightenment Blood Spirit Ginseng?"

The others also stopped fighting one after another.

"What Enlightenment Blood Spirit Ginseng?"

"Wasn't this a peak Level-Six Demon Beast?"

"Spiritual ginseng? What's that supposed to be? What's going on?"

"..."

Wei Zihao's eyes widened, his expression one of utter despair.

It took him a moment to react. Then he nearly ground every tooth in his mouth to pieces!

How could he have expected that casually inviting Fang Che over would cause such a huge disaster? That bastard had revealed the existence of the Enlightenment Blood Spirit Ginseng with a single sentence! This was a rare Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure.

This was simply too much!

His eyes blazed as he glared at Fang Che, wishing he could tear the man's mouth apart.

Why is your mouth so damn filthy?

Fang Che looked innocent as he glanced at Kang Zijian and the others. "What? Weren't you fighting over that Enlightenment Blood Spirit Ginseng? You were fighting so fiercely that I thought you wanted that Enlightenment Blood Spirit Ginseng, which could improve one's aptitude after being consumed."

He clicked his tongue twice. "It's a fine treasure. It's already turned red. After consuming it, raising one's aptitude by an entire level is as certain as the sun rising in the east!"