Lightning Armor

Along with the tests of age and cultivation, the third—and most important—test was combat!

Some prodigies might lack cultivation, yet their explosive fighting strength far surpassed that of ordinary people.

That often meant they had a special constitution or some other extraordinary ability.

Of course, prodigies like that were even rarer.

Lianyang Academy didn't truly concern itself with this. For the third test, it simply required applicants to demonstrate strength matching their current level.

Anyone with even a little knowledge of the three tests could find out what they involved.

Still, the little booklet Qin Shaofeng had bought explained them in greater detail and included some points to keep in mind. That was why he felt his thousand taels of gold had been well spent.

But what really caught Qin Shaofeng's attention was the final ranking.

Anyone who placed in the top hundred of the admission examination would receive a reward. The rewards for the top ten were especially tempting.

Besides pills that could improve one's strength, the most special reward was Contribution Points.

Qin Shaofeng didn't know much about Contribution Points. Even the booklet barely mentioned them. But considering the thousand taels of gold he'd paid, the senior student who had shown him around quietly let him in on a secret: Contribution Points could be exchanged for any cultivation resource the academy offered.

That reminded Qin Shaofeng of his system shop and System Points.

So Contribution Points were basically Lianyang Academy's currency!

And that was precisely why Qin Shaofeng cared so much about them.

The senior student had also told him that some things at Lianyang Academy couldn't be bought with gold alone. With enough Contribution Points, however, that was a different story.

At Lianyang Academy, as long as you had enough Contribution Points, you could even request guidance from a legendary powerhouse.

Once he understood this, Qin Shaofeng's eyes gleamed.

Honestly, Qin Shaofeng didn't know exactly how many people were taking the examination.

Still, he figured there had to be at least a hundred thousand.

That might sound exaggerated, but this examination brought together every prodigy in the entire Lianyang Kingdom. How could there be only a few?

Making the top hundred among a hundred thousand prodigies would be no easy feat!

Before he'd met the White-clothed girl and Du Meng, Qin Shaofeng might have felt confident.

But now, he didn't dare make any promises.

No matter what, though, Qin Shaofeng had decided to do his best and try for a good result.

Just as Qin Shaofeng was having these thoughts, the system suddenly chimed.

"System notification: Random system quest triggered—Examination!"

Examination: A random special quest with no level requirement. Rewards depend on the player's final result.

Low: Place in the top hundred of Lianyang Academy's admission examination. Reward upon completion: 1,000 experience points and 100 Points!

Mid: Place in the top ten of Lianyang Academy's admission examination. Reward upon completion: 3,000 experience points and 300 Points!

High: Place in the top three of Lianyang Academy's admission examination. Reward upon completion: 5,000 experience points and 500 Points!

Perfect: Take first place in Lianyang Academy's admission examination. Reward upon completion: the player's level increases by one, 1,000 Points, and one Normal Lottery chance!

What was this?

Qin Shaofeng was taken aback when the quest suddenly appeared.

But once he'd read it through, especially the rewards, his eyes practically turned green.

"Ha! Would you look at that—another lottery chance!"

Qin Shaofeng was delighted, but then he ran into a problem.

"Damn, perfect completion means taking first place? No wonder lottery chances are so hard to get!"

He complained, but a glint still flashed in Qin Shaofeng's eyes.

"It'll be tough, but pressure makes diamonds! First place, huh?"

Qin Shaofeng narrowed his eyes and made up his mind.

So what if it was first place? He'd throw everything he had into it this time!

There were still two days before the examination, and Qin Shaofeng planned to use them to improve his strength.

Now that first place was his goal, he naturally wouldn't slack off.

Qin Shaofeng had only just broken through to the Houtian Eighth Layer. He was still more than seven thousand experience points away from the Houtian Ninth Layer. Clearly, leveling up wasn't an option.

If he couldn't increase his strength by raising his level, he'd have to rely on other methods.

There was no shortage of alternatives. The most obvious was to find a skill that suited him and use it to boost his strength.

In Qin Shaofeng's eyes, Little Li Flying Dagger was incredibly sharp and powerful.

But its true strength came from unleashing all of one's Inner Qi Points in a single strike. Only then could Little Li Flying Dagger reach its full power.

Using Little Li Flying Dagger with just a hundred or a few hundred Inner Qi Points completely diminished its might.

So this powerful skill could only serve as his trump card.

What Qin Shaofeng needed now was a skill that suited him.

He brought up the system's status screen and opened the system shop, searching through the skills section.

Of course, Qin Shaofeng wasn't browsing at random. He hadn't forgotten that he had a Thunder Body, so he went straight to the lightning skills.

Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Art: An ancient cultivation technique practiced by the Thunder God. Once cultivated, it allows one to summon divine thunder from the Nine Heavens and wield the power of the Thunder God! Purchase price: 300 billion Points!

At first glance, Qin Shaofeng spotted an unbelievably powerful cultivation technique.

Staring at its description, he couldn't help exclaiming.

Good heavens! A cultivation technique practiced by the ancient Thunder God!

If I cultivated it...

But just as that thought crossed Qin Shaofeng's mind, he saw the final line.

"Holy crap, 300 billion Points? System, just kill me already!"

Staring at the golden-glowing number, Qin Shaofeng was completely dumbfounded.

Three hundred billion?

Forget three hundred billion—even if you took away the word "billion," Qin Shaofeng still didn't have enough!

He only had 300 Points!

The more he looked, the more frustrated he became.

"Damn, this is ridiculous. Is the system messing with me? Every skill costs hundreds of billions of Points. It's obviously picking on me because I'm broke!"

In the end, Qin Shaofeng couldn't take it anymore. He ignored the skills with astronomical prices and started looking at the ones he could afford.

Lightning Ball Technique: Human Grade One Star skill, one of the basic lightning skills! Purchase price: 100 Points!

Lightning Strike Technique: Human Grade Two Star skill, one of the basic lightning skills! Purchase price: 200 Points!

"Hmm, at least the Lightning Ball Technique and Lightning Strike Technique seem reasonable. I can afford them!"

After reading their descriptions, Qin Shaofeng finally breathed a sigh of relief and nodded to himself.

"These are the kinds of skills I'm looking for. Those Nine Heavens and Primordial thunder arts are just messing with me. Low-level skills are the way to go!"

Whether he was comforting himself or just jealous of the powerful skills, Qin Shaofeng muttered a few words under his breath. At last, his expression returned to normal.

Qin Shaofeng could afford the Lightning Ball Technique and Lightning Strike Technique, but neither satisfied him. He could only keep looking.

After searching for a while, Qin Shaofeng's gaze suddenly landed on one spot.

What he'd noticed was a small menu option, one that represented a whole series of lightning skills.

Lightning Release!

The moment he saw those two words, something stirred in Qin Shaofeng. He seemed to realize something, then hurriedly clicked on it.

Whoosh!

The system shop's status screen flickered. When the new screen appeared, Qin Shaofeng's breath caught and his face lit up with excitement.

"Hahaha! Just as I thought! The Lightning Release section really does have the Lightning Release Ninjutsu from Naruto!"

That was right. What appeared before Qin Shaofeng was the Lightning Release Ninjutsu from the hit anime Naruto back on Earth.

Qin Shaofeng wasn't unfamiliar with Naruto. After all, the anime had accompanied him through elementary school, junior high, high school, and even college.

He'd even learned quite a few of the hand signs from the internet. Now that he'd found the Lightning Release Ninjutsu—and might soon be able to learn it—how could he not get excited?

Lightning Release: Kirin: The ultimate secret art of Lightning Release Ninjutsu!

The very first Lightning Release technique to appear made Qin Shaofeng's heart stir.

"Lightning Release Kirin! That's one of Sasuke's most badass techniques!"

Qin Shaofeng still remembered Sasuke using Kirin to fight Itachi in the anime.

First, he'd launched Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique into the sky, rapidly heating the atmosphere and creating rising air currents that formed thunderclouds. Then he'd used not his own chakra, but the vast energy of the atmosphere to guide lightning down through the torrential rain and kill his opponent. Its power was immense, its range vast—enough to shatter mountains. Since the lightning struck in a mere thousandth of a second, the technique was impossible to evade.

In Qin Shaofeng's eyes, this was the coolest technique in all of Naruto.

Although Itachi's trump card, Susanoo, had successfully defended against it in the end...

In Qin Shaofeng's heart, Lightning Release Kirin was still an incredibly powerful technique.

He'd fallen for it at first sight.

Unfortunately, when he saw that it cost 100,000 Points, his enthusiasm fizzled.

"One hundred thousand Points!"

Qin Shaofeng groaned in anguish, his face full of helplessness.

But he'd already made up his mind. As soon as he had 100,000 Points, he'd learn Kirin.

He pictured himself summoning a gigantic kirin made of lightning with a single move, while countless demon beasts and powerful warriors vanished to ash before his eyes.

You had to take things one bite at a time. Haste made waste.

Ahem!

All right, he was just too short on Points. In the end, Qin Shaofeng could only tear his gaze away from Lightning Release Kirin and look for other techniques.

At last, Qin Shaofeng found a ninjutsu that satisfied him.

Lightning Release: Lightning Armor: Human Grade Three Star skill. Summons lightning to cover the body, forming lightning armor that increases the player's defense and blocks enemy attacks. Purchase price: 300 Points!

Qin Shaofeng hadn't chosen Lightning Armor on a whim. He already had Little Li Flying Dagger for offense, but he lacked a defensive skill. Lightning Armor would fill that gap perfectly.

Little Li Flying Dagger and Lightning Armor—one for offense, one for defense. Together, they really did give Qin Shaofeng a substantial boost in strength.