The Second Round Exam Concludes

Countless vines surged from all directions, weaving into an inescapable net intent on crushing Jiang Yan beneath them. The flower demon's eerie pink pupils radiated a mesmerizing light, its lips woven from stems and leaves parting and closing as it let out a rustling, shrill shriek that drilled into the ears like demonic sound.

Rustle, rustle!

Jiang Yan found the piercing cries increasingly irritating. He activated the Battle Saint Armor, and only after his stats were fully boosted did he feel some relief.

"Abyssal Thunder Annihilation Slash!"

Jiang Yan leaped up, cleaving through the incoming vines, then used the air to propel himself downward, transforming into a bolt of lightning as his blade struck toward the flower demon's main body.

The flower demon's main body retreated swiftly, releasing a dense mass of floral stems and leaves in an attempt to block Jiang Yan's path of attack.

As if Jiang Yan would let it have its way.

Blinding thunderlight exploded, brilliant as the sun itself descending.

A terrifying blade aura shot through like a comet piercing the sun, striking the flower demon's main body dead-on.

Boom!

The flower demon's main body was split in two under that fearsome blade momentum.

Yet the battle was far from over.

The flower demon's severed halves writhed on the ground, quickly stitching back together and regenerating.

In the System Log, Jiang Yan's skill proficiency steadily rose, and his physique strengthened alongside it.

The Battle Saint Armor grew more fervent in combat, the golden cape behind it blazing with radiant light, as if praising this entertaining fight.

Jiang Yan channeled his internal energy, and the Geng Metal Qi he had absorbed upon breaking through to Xiantian formed a faint phantom layer over his body.

Suddenly, the phantom expanded, then condensed onto Jiang Yan's blade.

Blade momentum sent the alloy blade trembling slightly. The Demon's Scale silently shifted his other attributes into strength. Jiang Yan activated Abyssal Thunder Annihilation Slash once more.

System Log updated:

Your Abyssal Thunder Annihilation Slash proficiency has increased to Mastery.

Thunderlight erupted outward, coalescing into a terrifying mass of blade aura.

"You have triggered Dual Casting."

Blade shadows overlapped, two auras of annihilation merging into one, hanging over the flower demon's head like a judgment.

"Dual Casting, luck is on my side."

Jiang Yan murmured, swinging his blade with all his might.

An annihilating blade aura engulfed the entire Combat Space. All that met the eye was blinding white, as if the world had returned to its origin.

"You have slain the Thousand Vine Flower Demon. Congratulations, you have obtained the Purple-Grade Word: Flower Language Amidst Thickets."

Flower Language Amidst Thickets: Your vitality is as tenacious as grass in the thickets; recovery speed after injury increased by 100%.

"You have slain the Thousand Vine Flower Demon. Heaven Rewards Diligence has triggered the pity mechanism."

"Congratulations, you have obtained the White-Grade Word: Swiftness."

Swiftness: You can fall asleep instantly and will not be disturbed by external factors.

In a sense, the drop rate for White-Grade Words was even lower than for Purple-Grade ones. Jiang Yan stared speechlessly at the newly acquired Swiftness Word, wondering what use this thing even had.

Jiang Yan trained from dawn to dusk every day, only allowing himself a light nap when utterly exhausted. So far, he had never experienced insomnia.

"Forget it. It's an extra free Word. Can't ask for too much."

"Combat Space has been updated. Continue challenge?"

"No."

Jiang Yan exited the Combat Space and headed to the Study Space to cultivate instead.

Host: Jiang Yan

Talent: Battle Saint Armor (Awaiting Evolution)

Realm: Xiantian

Skills: (Unranked) "Basic Saber Technique" — Perfected

(Yellow Grade Low) "Fierce Bull Strength" — Perfected

(Yellow Grade High) "Explosive Step" — Perfected

(Mystic Grade High) "Nine Consecutive Steps" — Perfected

(Heaven Grade High) "Abyssal Thunder Annihilation Slash" — Mastery

Words: Heaven Rewards Diligence (Lifebound), Truth of Desperation (Blue), Swiftness (Blue), Wind Rider (Blue), Blade Bearer (Purple), Moment of Truth (Orange), Demon's Scale (Purple), Multiple Casting (Self-Selected Special), Flower Language Amidst Thickets (Purple), Swiftness (White)

Special: Blade Momentum (Breakthrough available to Blade Intent), Geng Metal Mother Qi (Self-Named)

He wanted to study what exactly this Geng Metal Mother Qi inside him was.

Jiang Yan sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and meditated. Within his Spiritual Sense, the pathways of his meridians emerged, like roots burrowing deep into the earth, a tangled network of channels inside his body.

Threads of golden energy flowed along with his blood, joining the cycle of circulation.

"Sigh, after Xiantian, you have to absorb the world's qi to strengthen yourself. I hear some strong practitioners have created Breathing Techniques to aid qi absorption, but I've got nothing right now—just have to cultivate slowly."

Jiang Yan carefully connected with the qi that shared the same origin as his Geng Metal Mother Qi, trying to draw it into his body.

The Geng Metal Mother Qi seemed to receive Jiang Yan's command, beginning to emit gentle, fine rays of light that spread outward, pulling in the same-origin aura from the surroundings.

A faint glow shimmered across his skin.

System update only once daily

"You are absorbing qi. Your qi absorption speed has slightly increased."

"You are absorbing qi. Your qi absorption speed has slightly increased."

Jiang Yan gradually entered a state of flow.

"Sharpness..."

"Toughness..."

Jiang Yan seemed to grasp the core essence of the Geng Metal Mother Qi.

In simple terms, it could be both offensive and defensive—sharpness turned outward, toughness turned inward.

Time ticked by, second by second.

The Second Round Exam was drawing to a close.

Ding ding ding...

"The Second Round Exam has ended."

"Candidates who completed the task and successfully evacuated will begin the final round in three hours."

"Candidates who failed to evacuate will be teleported out of the alternate space."

When the Second Round results came out, some rejoiced while others grieved.

Some, due to bad luck, had their Marked Items snatched by others and missed their chance at the next round.

Others, thanks to good fortune, found two Marked Items and managed to scrape by to evacuation.

But more than anything, it came down to strength.

Those with real power always found a way to get enough Marked Items. Take He Xiao, for example—even though Jiang Yan had robbed him clean at the start and nearly crippled his right hand, his strength at the Second-Rank Perfection level still let him snatch from others later and complete the task to evacuate.

You could say luck might influence success or failure, but strength would almost certainly forge victory.

The officials began releasing the Points Rankings from the first two rounds.

1st: 9527 Jiang Yan - 1000 Points

2nd: 1 Shang Xingren - 800 Points

3rd: 36 Xiao Ziming - 800 Points

4th: 13 Lin Li - 800 Points

5th: Yang Hanyue - 800 Points

Among the top hundred, aside from Jiang Yan, every single one had 800 Points.

The ranking points from the first and second rounds totaled 400, and in the Second Round Exam, each extra Marked Item counted as 50 Points, adding up to another 400.

The top hundred had all achieved perfect clears—only Jiang Yan's first-place ranking points could edge them out.

But beyond the hundredth place, the candidates' strength began to drop off, and their scores grew uneven.

Overall, though, the current point gap was still small. Those with lower scores had every chance to overtake the ones above them.

Such uniform scores naturally weren't ideal for universities selecting talent, so outside experts speculated that the final round would widen the point gap the most.

Names like "Jiang Yan," "Shang Xingren," and "Lin Li" were swept into heated discussions.

No one had expected that someone from a small place could overpower the Two Capitals Prodigies and claim the most dazzling spot on the Rankings.

After all, in previous years, the top ten had always been monopolized by candidates from Modu and the other capital. Today, an outsider suddenly barging in was a real slap in the face to those two regions.

Their battle footage was clipped and analyzed frame by frame, as people guessed who had the best shot at becoming the College Entrance Exam Top Scholar.

Even Jiang Yan's fight with He Xiao was dug up.

Jiang Yan had swung his blade casually back then, but many sharp-eyed observers still caught the clues.

"Don't you guys feel something weird about the way Jiang Yan holds his blade?"

"Weird? What's weird about it? I think Jiang Yan looks awesome gripping his blade—clean, sharp strikes, extraordinary presence."

"No, it's that when he swings... it gives off this... you know... I can't describe it."

Just as the chatter was heating up, a comment suddenly popped up:

"Jiang Yan has mastered Blade Momentum. He just didn't show it in the fight."

"Blade Momentum? Am I crazy, or is the guy above me crazy? Blade Momentum is something a College Entrance Exam candidate should be thinking about at this age?"

"Hiss... now that you mention it, I've seen a Blade Momentum–wielding saber grandmaster demonstrate a few sword forms before. The spirit of it really did look a bit like Jiang Yan."

After that, someone pulled up a video of that saber grandmaster practicing and compared it to footage of Jiang Yan in combat.

And sure enough, when they laid them side by side, they could indeed see that same seamless, man-and-blade-as-one aura in Jiang Yan.

A startling thought immediately struck them—

Jiang Yan had truly mastered Blade Momentum!

Back in reality, Shen Donglin put away his phone, concealing his merit and fame.

After all, Jiang Yan was from their Southeast Province—using him to show off was only natural.

He bragged to his old friend, "I've had a bit of a connection with that young man Jiang Yan."