The Fifth Night

Night Five.

The map shrank again, and the fighting among examinees grew fiercer. Every second, someone was eliminated.

Jiang Yan cut through all challengers, his Points reaching a terrifying 3200.

"I wonder what the first place score is now."

Jiang Yan thought. He certainly didn't believe his one-day haul could surpass what others had earned over the previous four days.

During the exam, rankings were unknown, and information on other examinees was nonexistent—everything was done in the dark.

Compared to the examinees, the audience had a god's-eye view the whole time. The Rankings in the top-right corner of the livestream were crystal clear.

"He's moving up! Jiang Yan has already broken into the top five thousand."

"Impressive. He slept through the first four days, and in just one day, he's overtaken most people."

"Does anyone else feel like Jiang Yan's fights against other examinees are one-hit kills? It's like everyone else is a scrub."

"Haha, the upper-realm War God feeds on our lower-realm Prodigies. Believe it or not, any examinee still in the game right now could crush us single-handedly."

Jiang Yan's strength gave the chat a false impression: "These examinees are weak—I could do that too."

The officials showed favor to this double first-place finisher from the first two rounds, giving him extended solo camera time that boosted his buzz even further.

Jiang Yan was simply too fast.

The battles were relentless. Every examinee before him fell in one strike, without exception.

Under this high-intensity combat, Jiang Yan's Battle Saint Armor stacked attributes at a terrifying rate.

Battle Saint Armor: Defense +190% (was 100%)

Other attributes +89% (was 50%)

The golden cape trailed behind Jiang Yan as a new blazing sun rose in the dark sky.

"It's Shang Xingren! Jiang Yan is heading straight for Shang Xingren, the Rankings leader!"

The commentator shouted with fervor.

The chat audience was swept up in the heated atmosphere.

As the saying goes, kings don't meet kings. These two had shown overwhelming strength since the first round, and everyone thought their decisive battle would wait until the final circle—but now it was happening.

Shang Xingren was resting, eyes closed in concentration.

Suddenly, his brow twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes.

He heard the wind.

Sure enough, light shone from behind, and he saw his own short shadow cast before him.

"Interesting. Coming for me."

Shang Xingren stood up and looked at the golden glow above.

His brow furrowed, and the carefree expression he'd worn throughout the exam vanished.

The next second, his figure disappeared from where he stood.

"Space ability! Shang Xingren's never used it in combat during the exam—and it's space ability!"

"Looks like Shang Xingren was holding back in the first round. With his space ability, taking first place would be no problem at all."

The two commentators played off each other.

No one had expected that Shang Xingren, who had consistently ranked in the top five across all Rankings, had been hiding such an incredible talent.

Why was everyone so obsessed with space talent?

Here's a fact: the pocket dimension used as the exam grounds every year came from the Space Martial Saint.

No one knew how the Space Martial Saint had obtained that pocket dimension.

But without a doubt, space talent had played a decisive role.

It was the type of opponent all martial artists feared most.

Unpredictable in battle—suddenly teleporting behind you for a strike. How insidious was that?

In Jiang Yan's sight, Shang Xingren inexplicably vanished from his spot.

He suddenly smiled.

He thought of a certain cellmate from a certain space.

Behind him, the wind howled.

Clang!

Jiang Yan swung his blade in a backward arc.

Two pieces of steel clashed, sparks flying violently in the air.

The sharp aura behind him vanished. Shang Xingren, failing his strike, disappeared without a trace.

System Log updated: You successfully blocked damage, triggering Parry.

Pfft—

In the shadows, Shang Xingren let out a muffled grunt, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

He wiped away the bloodstain, his face dark and terrifying.

But to an outsider, it looked like Jiang Yan had casually swept his blade backward, and sparks had flared in the air.

Throughout the entire fight, Shang Xingren's body had only appeared as a blur once.

"Even the fighting style is this similar."

Jiang Yan licked his lips, the blood inside him beginning to boil.

"Finally met a worthy opponent."

From the void, a cold laugh echoed.

Whoosh!

A blade tip materialized from the shadows.

Thud!

The sharp dagger sank into the golden cloak's afterimage, unable to penetrate a single inch further.

Jiang Yan, completely unharmed.

He grabbed the dagger in a reverse grip.

Crack—

The dagger was crushed into pieces.

Shang Xingren's attacks couldn't harm Jiang Yan at all.

But for now, it seemed Jiang Yan couldn't do much to Shang Xingren either.

"Can't break the defense? Then try this."

Ripples spread faintly from Jiang Yan's position, as if something was being compressed.

The air grew scorching hot, thick with the smell of gunpowder.

Boom!

The entire space erupted in an explosion, turning the dim sky white for a moment. The immense heat dyed the whole sky into a blazing sunset, the entire region glowing a searing red.

"You have taken minor damage. Battle Saint Armor slightly upgraded."

The cloak billowed. The sea of flames had scraped off a bit of dead skin from Jiang Yan.

He grew even more excited. Truly, the examination grounds were packed with experts—someone always brought him surprises.

Jiang Yan eagerly awaited more surprises from Shang Xingren.

Then, silence.

Jiang Yan: ? Can't chain-cast?

Below, Shang Xingren knelt on one knee, his chest heaving violently, mouth opening and closing as he let out heavy, ragged breaths.

"As expected, this move was still too much."

He lifted his head with effort. Above him was the sea of fire he had just created; Jiang Yan's figure was swallowed within it, nowhere to be seen.

"A worthy opponent."

Shang Xingren gave Jiang Yan the highest praise.

"But that's all it amounts to."

"Is that so?"

Shang Xingren's pupils contracted. He hadn't expected Jiang Yan to walk out of that move.

"Abyssal Thunder Annihilation Slash."

A blade aura crossed the distance between them. Empowered by the massive attributes of the Battle Saint Armor, the Abyssal Thunder Annihilation Slash's might reached a new peak.

The thunder sea tore through the air, roaring as it surged toward Shang Xingren.

Boom!

The area where Shang Xingren stood was charred black, a massive blade scar gouged into the ground. Endless thunder flickered within the deep gash, a testament to the strike's terrifying power.

No damage if there's smoke—Jiang Yan knew the rule.

He wanted to say that Shang Xingren was just a downgraded version of the Void-Rending Weasel.

That's right, merely a downgraded version. The Void-Rending Weasel in the Combat Space could weave through space almost nonstop for an hour, far stronger than this Shang Xingren he was currently fighting.

And when Jiang Yan had killed that Void-Rending Weasel, he was only at second-grade Blood Coagulation.

Of course, there was the suspicion that he'd stacked damage through revivals.

Before him, empty air.

Jiang Yan sheathed his blade, muttering to himself.

"Is this... a retreat?"

Male commentator: "Is Shang Xingren using his spatial talent to lurk in space, waiting for another chance to cripple Jiang Yan?"

Female commentator: "Unfortunately, Shang Xingren's previous two attacks failed to breach Jiang Yan's defense. I wonder what countermeasure he'll use for his next strike?"

"Alright, let's show the audience Shang Xingren's first-person perspective."