Dragon Lurking in the Abyss

Pfft!

In the virtual city.

Jiang Ye punched the head off the last phantom.

Whoosh!

Everyone let out a breath of relief.

They had finally dealt with all three phantoms!

At that moment, apart from Jiang Ye, the other four members of his team were all severely injured. Jiang Ye himself was also badly hurt.

"Whew..."

In the shadows not far away, more phantoms began to gather.

This time, there were five!

"The third round."

Tao Xiaogang and the others saw this, helplessness flashing in their eyes.

They were in no shape to fight anymore!

Jiang Ye charged forward alone, hoping to kill one more phantom before he ran out of strength.

But he had underestimated the difficulty of the third round.

Half a minute later.

Jiang Ye and his four teammates exited the virtual city at the same time, and the system settlement screen appeared before them.

[This group has completed the Virtual Starry Sky assessment. Settlement in progress.]

[Best Finisher: Tao Xiaogang]

[Best Damage Absorber: Tao Xiaogang]

[.]

Tao Xiaogang had earned the top honor in two categories in a row. Even he was stunned.

[Best Damage Dealt: Jiang Ye]

[Best Field of View: Jiang Ye]

[Best Martial Will: Jiang Ye]

[Four Shadow Clan members killed, time taken: 21 minutes. Team's average injury rate: 85%.]

[This group's MVP: Jiang Ye, 70 points]

[Tao Xiaogang: 50 points]

[Xia Qing: 45 points]

Seeing this, Jiang Ye let out a breath of relief. He had almost thought he was going to be carried to victory.

Tao Xiaogang turned to him, embarrassed. "Brother Jiang, sorry—I stole several of your kills."

It was a strange coincidence.

Every time a Shadow Clan member was on the verge of death, it ended up right next to him. He couldn't just stand by and watch a phantom take a teammate down with it, could he?

So Tao Xiaogang had ended up picking up three kills without even realizing it.

Jiang Ye had personally killed only the last Shadow Clan member.

"It's fine." Jiang Ye shook his head, not bothered by it.

Once the system finished calculating the results, they exited the virtual space and returned to the metal hall.

Jiang Ye checked his virtual assessment score.

[Jiang Ye: 330 points]

"330 points? Just 20 short of the cutoff for a Martial Arts University." Jiang Ye smiled.

He also checked Li Zhichao and Xu Sisi's scores.

[Li Zhichao: 355 points]

[Xu Sisi: 315 points]

"355 points?" Jiang Ye was surprised by Li Zhichao's total.

He remembered that Li Zhichao's total from the first three assessments had been 295. That meant he'd scored only 60 on this one—even less than Jiang Ye!

Could he have failed to make it to the third round? Jiang Ye wondered.

The Virtual Starry Sky assessment was like a series of challenges.

The more rounds you passed, the higher your score.

Of the four Martial Arts assessments, this one carried the most weight, accounting for almost half the total.

The higher your score, the more points you could earn in the Virtual Starry Sky assessment.

Zhao Qingli, for instance, had scored a whopping 700 points, 300 of which came from this assessment.

Li Zhichao's low score meant that his run had ended before he could kill his way through the third round.

That means I should have the highest score in the class for the fourth assessment.

Too bad I'm still in second place overall.

Still, it's not bad. At least I'll get a ten-thousand-yuan scholarship.

Jiang Ye was already satisfied.

It had taken just one semester to climb from 25th place to this rank. Only he knew how much he'd put into it.

Elsewhere, Li Zhichao was also looking at the rankings.

"355 points." He stared at his score, but he wasn't satisfied.

Given his abilities, he shouldn't have scored so little on the last assessment.

But the Shadow Clan's howls had affected him too much.

Just then, Li Zhichao noticed a name.

"Jiang Ye, 330 points?"

"His virtual assessment score is higher than mine?"

Li Zhichao looked in Jiang Ye's direction.

He remembered that Jiang Ye had started the school year with a score of only 206.

In just one semester, he'd gained more than a hundred points?

That rate of improvement had already surpassed his own!

Li Zhichao seemed to realize something, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes.

"Damn it, I'm still in third place!"

Xu Sisi stared at her rank, her fair fist clenched tight.

"Jiang Ye scored 15 points more than me. He must have killed his way through the third wave, and his team's average injury rate must have been lower than ours."

The average injury rate referred to how often the team members were injured per minute.

If a teammate died, that rate would skyrocket.

Although no one in her group had died, almost everyone had been severely injured. Their average injury rate had reached 90%.

After a long while, Xu Sisi slowly breathed out and glanced at Jiang Ye not far away, looking a little helpless.

This guy seems to come from a poor family too, just like me.

Fine. I'd rather lose to him than to those hateful rich kids.

Xu Sisi sighed.

Then she clenched her fist again. "But it's only fifteen points. Next semester, I'll definitely overtake you!"

At the front of the hall, Zhang Jianwu said gravely, "Students who've completed the Martial Arts Four Trials may go home. You'll be seniors next year. Make good use of your summer break and work hard. Don't drag the class down!"

At his words, the students of Class Nine got up and left one after another.

Zhang Jianwu, however, glanced toward Jiang Ye, a glint flashing in his eyes.

"He scored 70 on the virtual assessment?"

"Looks like this kid has pretty strong Martial Will."

He had already seen Jiang Ye's combat skills.

Based on his assessment of Jiang Ye's abilities, a score of 50 would have been normal for this test, and at most he should have scored no more than 60.

Seventy? That was far beyond his expectations!

But the virtual assessment measured more than combat ability. It also tested Martial Will.

The Shadow Clan could interfere with a person's mind and plunge them into confusion.

Only those with strong Martial Will could lessen the effect.

The only reason Jiang Ye could have scored that high was his Martial Will.

Beside Zhang Jianwu, Wang Ziang smiled. "Director, were you looking at that student named Li Zhichao just now?"

"355 points. That's already above the cutoff for an Ordinary Martial Arts University. For a student in the Ordinary Class to reach that level in their second year is pretty impressive."

Wang Ziang gave his assessment.

Zhang Jianwu didn't reply.

Only after the students of Class Nine had all filed out did Zhang Jianwu speak at last. "Class Nine may be about to produce someone remarkable."

Wang Ziang looked completely baffled.

If anyone else had said that, he might have scoffed.

But when Zhang Jianwu said it, Wang Ziang couldn't help but take it seriously.

He couldn't resist asking, "Li Zhichao isn't quite that impressive, is he?"

Zhang Jianwu shook his head. "A dragon can lurk in the abyss, hidden among the common folk. Sometimes the one who looks unremarkable is the one who later rises above everyone else."

"A dragon lurking in the abyss?"

Wang Ziang was even more astonished. It was rare for the director to describe anyone as a dragon.

Could there be something special about Li Zhichao that I haven't noticed? Wang Ziang wondered.

"Fool!" Zhang Jianwu scolded. "You think I was talking about him?"

He shook his head and swept away.

Wang Ziang's eyes widened.

Not Li Zhichao?

Then could it be...

He checked the student in second place in Class Nine.

[Jiang Ye: 330 points]

"330 points?"

Wang Ziang muttered, "Impossible. Absolutely impossible!"

Even if he had only one arm left, he couldn't possibly score that few points!

"I get it."

Suddenly, Wang Ziang felt enlightened. His eyes cleared as he thought, The director was alluding to something. It sounded like he was talking about the Ordinary Class, but he was really talking about the Key Class.

Could I be that hidden dragon?