Three hours passed quickly.
In the examination grounds, the broadcast rang out again.
"The third round of the examination is about to begin. All candidates, please prepare yourselves. The examination rules will now be announced."
"This examination will use a multiplayer competition format. All candidates will be randomly exiled into a large map. Each of you will receive a scoreboard displaying your current score.
Candidates may earn points by killing Fierce Beasts, or by plundering other candidates' scoreboards.
After successfully plundering another candidate, you will receive half of that candidate's points.
The plundered candidate will be randomly teleported to an area within a hundred-meter radius where no one is present. If plundered a second time, that candidate will lose the qualification to continue the examination. Their final score will be based on their score before elimination."
"This examination will last seven days. At 24:00 each day, the map's range will shrink.
After the fourth day ends, all candidates will lose their teleportation opportunity. If your scoreboard is plundered, you will lose all points and withdraw from this examination. However, the points you had before withdrawing will be retained as part of your College Entrance Exam score."
"Meanwhile, after the fourth day, plundering another person's scoreboard will grant you all of their points."
Jiang Yan listened carefully to the rules, feeling that this final examination was truly brutal. From beginning to end, it hinted that candidates should plunder other people's points.
"Isn't this just like that four-character game from my previous life?"
Shrinking the circle every day was clearly meant to increase the chances of candidates running into one another.
Losing the "revival" opportunity after the fourth day was clearly meant to encourage candidates to fight among themselves, wasn't it?
A single College Entrance Exam was enough to reveal Blue Star's underlying attitude toward martial artists.
That was to let them grow wild, never cultivating flowers in a greenhouse.
Jiang Yan continued listening to the rules for calculating points.
Unlike before, this final round had no ranking points. Every single point could only be seized through strength.
Killing a First-Order Fierce Beast earned 5 points.
Killing a Second-Order Fierce Beast earned 10 points.
Killing a Third-Order Fierce Beast earned 50 points.
Killing a Fourth-Order Fierce Beast earned 100 points.
It was worth mentioning that if one believed they were about to be killed by a Fierce Beast, they could press the help button on their scoreboard in advance.
After requesting help, the candidate would be directly eliminated and teleported out of the examination grounds, with no chance of "revival."
Jiang Yan pondered. Since the rules stated that killing Fourth-Order Fierce Beasts could earn points, that meant Fourth-Order Fierce Beasts existed in this examination. He just did not know what proportion they made up, though there probably would not be many.
Killing one Third-Order Fierce Beast was worth killing ten First-Order Fierce Beasts. In this competition, strong candidates could easily open up a vast gap over ordinary candidates.
Soon, the competition began.
Jiang Yan appeared in a barren desert. In his hand was a metal-wrapped, highly technological-looking plaque, its black screen displaying "0."
Below the black screen was a red button. It was locked by fingerprint, and only he could press it. Once he did, Jiang Yan would declare himself eliminated.
He tucked the scoreboard into his pocket and began observing his surroundings.
"There isn't even a blade of grass here. Looks like hiding will be impossible, but it does make things convenient for me."
Jiang Yan once again used Wind Rider and Nine Consecutive Steps, leaping into the sky to survey the terrain.
In his field of view, the north was a vast expanse of snowy mountains, the west was desolate wasteland, the east was low grassland, and the south remained completely barren.
Within his sight, he spotted quite a few candidates and Fierce Beasts.
The livestream viewers had already grown accustomed to the footage flying all over the place. Some even joked that anyone wanting to watch Jiang Yan's livestream had better get a helicopter pilot's license first.
The real-time tracking of the livestream footage had truly put these viewers through the wringer.
"No, I'm getting dizzy. I'm going to the bathroom to throw up a few times first."
"Same."
"I think Jiang Yan should first find Fierce Beasts to kill. After four days, he can plunder other people's scoreboards. That is the only way to maximize his gains."
Some people began analyzing the pros and cons and devising plans for Jiang Yan, believing this was the only way for him to gain the most points.
This comment won the approval of most viewers.
Kill monsters for the first four days, seize scoreboards for the final three. With the thousand points Jiang Yan had earned earlier, even in the worst-case scenario, he could still place in the top hundred.
At present, the strengths of the major candidates had not yet been fully revealed, so no one would conclude that Jiang Yan could one hundred percent become the College Entrance Exam Top Scholar.
Of course, he was currently the most favored candidate for College Entrance Exam Top Scholar, but that was only an expectation.
For commoners to defeat the powerful and wealthy had been a tale the masses never tired of discussing, no matter how many years passed.
Just as the comments expected, Jiang Yan had no intention of fighting the other candidates during the first four days. He would wait until the final three days, after fattening the sheep, before slaughtering the lambs.
He dove down from midair and slashed with his blade. A Second-Order Fire-Breathing Lizard did not even have time to defend itself before becoming a dead soul beneath his blade.
Just as he was about to leave, a sharp cry came from behind him.
"Wait!"
Jiang Yan turned around and saw a pretty woman with a ponytail standing with her hands on her hips, arrogantly ordering him,
"You stole this young lady's monster. As punishment, hand over your scoreboard."
Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow, wondering whether this woman was an idiot.
Seeing Jiang Yan's disdainful expression, the woman stamped her foot in anger, raised a whip, and said viciously,
"Since you refuse to hand it over willingly, don't blame me for being rude."
With a flick of her wrist, the whip in her hand transformed into a venomous snake and lashed toward Jiang Yan.
Jiang Yan counterattacked with his blade, shattering the whip before the girl's astonished eyes.
The Alloy Long Blade hovered above the woman's head.
"Hand over the scoreboard."
"No!"
"Heh. The examination may forbid killing, but it never said I couldn't cripple someone." Jiang Yan sneered.
Jiang Yan used his blade to lift the woman's chin. Its edge slowly sliced open her flesh, bright-red blood flowing from the wound.
Terror began to show on the woman's face.
"You... you can't do this."
Bang!
Jiang Yan kicked the woman flying. Her body shot backward, her head smashing against the ground. The violent impact left her consciousness muddled, and she fainted on the spot.
Jiang Yan walked over and took the scoreboard from her clothes, just as he was about to study how this little thing worked.
The scoreboard before him vanished along with the woman's body.
Jiang Yan looked at his own scoreboard.
2.5
"Looks like she killed a First-Order Fierce Beast earlier."
A First-Order Fierce Beast was worth 5 points. Half deducted came to 2.5 points, which was completely correct.
Jiang Yan simply stopped moving. He had come up with a better idea.
Since plundering other candidates after the fourth day would grant him all their points, did that mean that as long as he plundered the first-place candidate, he would directly become first?
Before then, he would not need to waste time and effort killing Fierce Beasts at all.
But this approach had one drawback.
If Jiang Yan failed to defeat first place and had not earned any points beforehand, then he would be eliminated with zero points.
"So, can I defeat first place?"
Jiang Yan had no benchmark right now and did not know just how strong the other top candidates were.
Before you continue