Rankings

College Entrance Exam Official Livestream.

The official livestream hung at the top of every streaming platform's front page, its heat index soaring to two hundred million, with nearly thirty million viewers watching the broadcast together.

In the main feed, a test-taker was locked in fierce combat with a ferocious beast.

Two commentators—one male, one female—provided voiceover from the background.

"This test-taker named Ai Ning is putting on quite a brave show. Although he's only at Blood Coagulation Late Stage, he dares to face a Second-Order peak ferocious beast head-on, and even gains the upper hand."

"That's right. But the map shows another test-taker heading his way. I wonder who will end up claiming this beast's Points?"

As the commentator finished speaking, the feed cut to a test-taker rushing over.

"It's actually Shang Xingren, currently ranked second. In just half an hour since the exam began, Shang Xingren has already taken down one Second-Order ferocious beast and two Third-Order ones, earning a total of 110 Points."

The livestream's barrage exploded.

: That Ai Ning is done for. Shang Xingren is from the Divine Capital's Shang Family—a Mid-Stage Third-Rank Martial Artist with countless tricks up his sleeve. No way he survives.

: Tough luck. Running into the Top Ranker right at the start. Ai Ning's exam score is probably screwed.

: Hahaha, this Ai Ning is still stupidly going toe-to-toe with that Second-Order beast. By the time Shang Xingren actually gets here, he won't even be able to run.

On screen, Ai Ning gripped his Nurturing Sword Embryo, locked in a fierce struggle with the Second-Order ferocious beast, completely unaware of the figure that had appeared behind him.

"Hah! Soaring Cloud Sword Slash!"

Just as he was about to finish the beast off, a figure suddenly materialized in front of him.

The man appeared before him eerily, catching Ai Ning's unstoppable sword strike between two fingers, while his other hand formed a fist and drove straight into the beast's skull.

The beast's head exploded. Shang Xingren pocketed another ten Points.

"You dare steal my kill?!"

Ai Ning erupted in fury.

Bam!

Shang Xingren spun and kicked. Ai Ning's body flew backward uncontrollably.

"Noisy."

Ai Ning crashed to the ground, coughing up blood.

Terror flickered across his face as he finally realized he'd run into someone he couldn't afford to mess with.

He cursed inwardly.

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it, damn it! Why is everyone so strong?

Jiang Yan was. This man was too. Every single one of them was an opponent he couldn't hope to beat.

No, I can't lose my 'revive' chance here. Otherwise, I really will fail the exam.

Ai Ning gritted his teeth and turned to flee.

Shang Xingren didn't even spare Ai Ning a glance. He just sneered—an ant—and turned away.

In Shang Xingren's mind, someone like Ai Ning couldn't have many Points on his scoreboard anyway.

His mindset was the same as Jiang Yan's: aim for first place, and harvest these ants in the final circle. No need to waste effort now.

"It seems test-taker Shang Xingren has chosen to avoid battle for now, with no intention of finishing the job. But defeating Ai Ning, a Late-Stage Second-Order, with a single move—his strength truly lives up to his reputation."

"Ai Ning's choice to flee is a sound tactic. The exam has only just begun. If he loses his revive chance now, there will be zero margin for error over the next seven days."

The two commentators analyzed the fight, speaking with authority.

But the barrage was far less rational—almost purely emotional venting, calling Ai Ning a coward for not even putting up a fight.

At this point, no one knew what Shang Xingren's talent actually was.

So far, every opponent he'd faced had been taken down in one move. As a result, viewers hoped some test-taker would force Shang Xingren to show his true strength.

The feed switched.

A girl wielding a long spear was battling a Mid-Stage Third-Order ferocious beast.

Her momentum was fierce, her spirit unyielding. She drove the spear straight through the beast's skull. Blood splattered, and she didn't even blink.

: Ahhh, Qingyue-wife is so cool! Beautiful and this strong.

: I heard Qingyue-wife suppressed her Second-Order cultivation for a whole year, only finding the 'Qi' that suited her best right before the exam, breaking through straight to Third-Order Xiantian.

: Geniuses like her can break through whenever they want. Deliberately suppressing her cultivation to pursue the ultimate martial path—that kind of spirit isn't something just anyone has.

Normally, ferocious beasts of the same rank are stronger than martial artists.

But in front of these geniuses, that rule clearly didn't hold.

Modu Li Family, Li Qingle, S-rank Talent.

Her spearplay was masterful, and she'd attracted a huge fanbase since the first round.

Of course, being easy on the eyes was part of it. This damn world was just that shallow.

Inside the official livestream, the big screen kept cycling through test-takers on the Rankings.

A real-time leaderboard hung in the upper right corner of the live room, recording the candidates' current scores.

Rank 1: Shang Xingren

Rank 2: Li Qingle

Rank 3: Xiao Ziming

The rankings kept shifting. Before long, Shang Xingren was pushed down by Xiao Ziming below him, but soon after, Li Qingle, ranked second, surged back to first.

The top three were practically a tug-of-war among these three; those behind couldn't even hope to catch up.

These three barely used their "Qi" from the Xiantian realm, and even martial skills were rarely employed.

It was as if the College Entrance Exam was just their plaything—they had to weigh whether striking was even worth it.

Third-tier fighters against a bunch of first- and second-tiers, and top-tier geniuses at that—the other candidates had no way to deal with them.

Fortunately, there was an unspoken consensus among the strong.

That was—Raising Pigs.

They weren't in a rush to snatch scoreboards; they just casually killed a few Fierce Beasts to kill time, planning to fatten the "pigs" before slaughtering them. This required absolute confidence in one's own strength to pull off.

But even with this hit-or-miss attitude, the top thousand on the Rankings were almost fixed faces.

The gap in strength was too vast. While they casually killed a third-tier Fierce Beast, ordinary candidates had to battle first-tier ones day and night for days.

Suddenly, a wave of excitement swept through the live chat.

"What about Jiang Yan, the first-place winner from the first two rounds? Why isn't the stream showing him at all?"

"Exactly. I didn't even see Jiang Yan's name in the top thousand. That guy can't be that weak, can he?"

"I think so too. He was hyped up so much a few days ago, but now that it's the real deal, he's gone limp."

"I'm from the 9527 Live Room. The situation now... well, how do I put it? You'd better go see for yourselves."

Jiang Yan had stirred up such a huge buzz two days ago, only to vanish in the actual combat—this genuinely baffled those who hadn't watched his stream.

"Director, look at Jiang Yan!"

"That's right, stop cutting to random shots. We want to see Jiang Yan."

The director clearly received the feedback and switched the camera to Jiang Yan.

The next second, the live room with tens of millions of viewers fell into an eerie silence.