"Eh? Did Chen Xuewei's team just wipe out a whole pack of Fierce Beasts?"
The Dean turned his head and glanced at the Score Counter rankings. He froze.
Chen Xuewei's team was still at the top of the rankings, with a score of 100 displayed beside their name!
That was more than three times the second-place team's score of 33.
The Principal adjusted his glasses, his brow furrowing. "If I remember correctly, their team only had 50 points half an hour ago. They gained 50 points in less than half an hour? How is that possible?"
"It is strange," the Dean said, equally puzzled.
"Did they kill fifty Fierce Beasts in half an hour? There aren't even any packs of Fierce Beasts in Mist Forest. How did they manage it?"
"The only possibility is..." The Principal suddenly seemed to remember something, and his gaze sharpened.
"What possibility?" the Dean asked.
"They killed a high-level Fierce Beast! To earn 50 points, it would have to be at least a level-five Fierce Beast or a level-three Wild Boss!"
"How is that possible?" The Dean shook his head, refusing to believe it. "There are only level-one and level-two Fierce Beasts in Mist Forest. Otherwise, we wouldn't dare bring students here for the exam every year."
"To be safe, let's go in and take a look."
"Right."
The two men took out their weapons and headed into Mist Forest.
Before long, the Principal and the Dean discovered the enormous corpse of the Green-Eyed Ink-Patterned Flood Dragon.
"They... They really did kill a level-three Wild Boss—and it was a Snake-type Boss, at that!"
The Dean was so shocked his jaw nearly hit the ground.
Setting aside the level gap, Snake-type Fierce Beasts were among the hardest to deal with in Cloud Sea.
Chen Xuewei's team had actually managed to kill a level-three Wild Boss!
That explained the sudden increase of 50 points.
"I've always heard that the first skill in the Chen Family's Skill Chain is incredibly powerful, but I never imagined it was this strong!" the Dean exclaimed.
He naturally assumed that Chen Xuewei's Earth-Tier Skill was the sole reason they had killed the Green-Eyed Ink-Patterned Flood Dragon.
"Earth-Tier Skills really are powerful." The Principal nodded in agreement, though a hint of doubt flickered in his eyes.
Are Earth-Tier Skills really that powerful?
"Chen Xuewei's team has already broken Sea City's Gaokao record of 91 points. They might be specially recruited by the Ministry of National Defense and sent to Novice Village Zone 1," the Dean said, unable to hide his excitement.
Sea City hadn't had a student enter Novice Village Zone 1 in a long time. He'd been mocked by friends from other cities over it, but this time, he might finally be able to hold his head high!
The Principal shook his head. "It's not that simple. Sea City is just a small place. The students taking the Gaokao in prosperous regions have access to more advanced and more varied Skill Chains. They can even create better, more advanced skills. Novice Zone 1 is a place where true talents gather. It's full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers."
"I... Either way, with these results, Chen Xuewei's team should have no trouble getting into Novice Zone 2 through 5," the Dean said, sighing inwardly.
In many cases, your starting point determined everything.
"The exam is almost over. Let's head back."
The five hours passed in a flash.
The Score Counter had stopped recording points. Even if they killed more Fierce Beasts, their scores wouldn't increase.
The teams began making their way out of the forest, their bodies exhausted.
"Let's head back too," Chen Xuewei said.
During the final hour, with Xiao Fan's skills boosting them, they had hunted Fierce Beasts much faster.
They had earned a total of 25 Core Power, which they split evenly, giving each of them another 5.
The five of them had come away from the exam with a haul.
Xiao Fan's current stats were:
ID: Jiu Chen Level: 2 (0/100) HP: 210/210 MP: 266/266 (+31) Strength: 10 Intelligence: 10 Spirit: 10 Agility: 10 Constitution: 10 Trait: Saint Skills: Halo of the Saint, Gift of the Saint 2 Equipment: None Core Power: 630
"The Halo of the Saint still gives me too little mana. Ten points of healing only adds one point of mana. Looks like it'll take a long time to farm more."
Xiao Fan looked at the 31 permanent points of extra mana and sighed.
It was so hard!
The skill couldn't be upgraded; the only way to improve it was through healing.
Still, it should be pretty useful in the late game.
"Brother Fan, I've noticed your healing is completely different from everyone else's," the Fatty suddenly said, coming over.
"Isn't that obvious? Anyone could tell," Zhang Yuanyuan said, rolling her eyes.
Everyone was in a good mood, and the tension from earlier had faded. The atmosphere was much more relaxed.
"I was talking to Brother Fan. Can you stop butting in?" the Fatty retorted.
"Whatever. Like I care!" Zhang Yuanyuan turned away.
"Oh? How is it different?" Xiao Fan asked, intrigued.
"Tsk. How do I put it?" The Fatty clicked his tongue and tilted his head, thinking for a moment before answering.
"Other people heal the body to stabilize the health bar. You stabilize the health bar to heal the body."
"Right, exactly!" Zhang Chao said, suddenly catching on.
Chen Xuewei turned around and joined the discussion.
"No matter how you do it, as long as it heals, that's what matters. And I think Xiao Fan's method is better. The old way of healing was really troublesome. Sometimes, you even had to find a safe place to perform surgery. Xiao Fan's healing doesn't need any of that. You can heal in the middle of a fight, just like we did earlier."
"Now that Xue Wei mentions it, she's right," Zhang Yuanyuan added.
"Xiao Fan, you created that skill yourself, didn't you?" Chen Xuewei asked suddenly.
"That's right." Xiao Fan nodded without hesitation.
When Xiao Fan admitted it, the others stared at him in disbelief.
Creating a skill—Xiao Fan had actually dared to create one! Before the exam, their homeroom teacher had repeatedly warned them not to create their own skills in the game.
But Xiao Fan hadn't just created one—he had created an incredibly powerful skill.
"Brother Fan, you're amazing!" The Fatty gave him a thumbs-up.
"Just luck." Xiao Fan remained calm, putting on an inscrutable expression.
"You're too modest, Xiao Fan." Zhang Chao looked at him enviously.
Creating a skill successfully was every player's lifelong dream.
"No wonder I'd never heard of it before. He came up with it himself. Xiao Fan, you've changed so much!" Chen Xuewei gazed at Xiao Fan's back and murmured to herself.
By the time Xiao Fan and the others left the forest, most of the students had already come out.
A crowd had gathered around the Score Counter.
They could hear girls crying out in surprise, and people talking about a "new record" and the like.
Xiao Fan and the others exchanged glances, anticipation showing on their faces.
They had already worked out their score.
Unless something unexpected happened, they were sure to take first place.
"I'll go check the score!" The Fatty hurried over, pushing his way through the crowd with his bulky frame.
Zhang Chao and Zhang Yuanyuan ran over to help.
Only Xiao Fan and Chen Xuewei remained where they were.
Before you continue