Leaderboard

The next day at noon.

Ji Yun's number was even, so he would only enter the Wilderness Zone to hunt monsters tomorrow. Thus, today he planned to use his one opportunity. After all, aside from the Gravity Room, there was nothing in the training camp that could help him improve his strength.

On the ninth floor of the Nine-Fold Tower, only a few foreign trainees were sparring and competing.

"Eh? You're Ji Yun?" one of the trainees who had witnessed Shi Jiang and Christine's bet there asked.

"Yes."

"Looks like you're using your chance. Good luck." The foreign youth said amiably. After all, trainees selected through external trials generally had decent strength and potential, making them worth befriending.

Ji Yun nodded with a smile and walked toward the Trial Room. The Trial Room scanned Ji Yun to confirm his identity.

Ji Yun lay down on the sofa and picked up the azure-blue helmet beside him. The Consciousness Sensor 'helmet' refracted a dazzling azure glow under the light.

"Let's begin. Let's see just how hard this Trial Tower really is."

On the boundless silver earth, the sky was an endless starry universe.

"Name: Ji Yun Gender: Male Identity: Official Trainee of the Elite Training Camp Trial Tower Level: 1.6"

Without another word, Ji Yun changed into his Combat Suit and strode straight into the black hole.

It was still that vast, verdant prairie.

"Ji Yun." The electronic voice echoed across the entire prairie. "You have completed Phase B of the first floor. The next step is Phase C. Your goal is to kill 200 Reckless Bulls within 50 minutes. Among these 200 Reckless Bull monsters, 190 are Low-Level Beast Generals and 10 are Mid-Level Beast Generals. Good luck!"

"Whoosh~~" On the prairie, a mighty herd of two hundred Reckless Bulls appeared in an instant, including a few giant bulls with fiery red horns.

"Moo—"

The momentum of over a hundred bulls thundered from afar. The ground trembled. Led by ten Mid-Level Beast General Reckless Bulls, the herd surged toward Ji Yun like a roaring tide! With his Low-Level War General physique, a single direct impact would likely leave him incapacitated, trampled into meat paste by the herd.

Ji Yun smiled faintly, gripped his spear, and charged against the tide, plunging straight into the herd.

******

Outside, the few people slightly familiar with Ji Yun were watching the changes in his ranking on the leaderboard.

Jiang Chuan, Jiang Fang, and Shi Jiang—who had once wished Ji Yun well in his assessment—were all waiting on the ninth floor of the Nine-Fold Tower.

"Teacher Jiang Fang, what level do you think Ji Yun can reach?" Shi Jiang asked. He was also curious about Ji Yun's strength.

"Yeah, Aunt. After I took Ji Yun for testing yesterday, I asked you, but you wouldn't say how strong he really is." Clearly, Jiang Chuan was also curious about Ji Yun's strength, since most newcomers only made breakthroughs after enjoying the training camp's cultivation conditions.

Jiang Fang smiled faintly and said nothing, only replying, "Just watch the leaderboard changes."

Seeing Jiang Fang being mysterious, Jiang Chuan and Shi Jiang had nothing more to say and simply stared at the leaderboard's fluctuations.

Clearly, Ji Yun was still last—number 182.

Virtual space.

Ji Yun stood amidst the piled corpses of Reckless Bulls, a smile on his face.

"Time taken: 13 minutes 18 seconds. Killed 190 Low-Level Beast General Reckless Bulls and 10 Mid-Level Beast General Reckless Bulls. Phase C cleared. First floor of the Trial Tower cleared. Congratulations, Trainee Ji Yun." The electronic voice rang out, and the entire prairie flashed with light before vanishing completely. The surrounding endless world transformed into a desert!

The desert had rolling dunes, a completely different terrain.

Each floor of the Trial Tower had three phases: A, B, and C. For example, completing Phase A of the second floor gave a score of 2.3, Phase B gave 2.6, and Phase C gave 3.0.

"Ji Yun, congratulations on clearing the first floor. Next is Phase A of the second floor. Your goal is to kill 50 'Low-Level Beast General' Iron-Armored Scorpions within 10 minutes. Good luck." The electronic voice of the virtual space echoed across the desert sky.

"Iron-Armored Scorpions?" Ji Yun muttered.

"I've never encountered this monster before. I need to be careful. Scorpions are usually venomous, and getting poisoned would be troublesome."

"Swoosh, swoosh"

From the endless desert, one after another, scorpions with dark red carapaces crawled out of the sand. Clearly, these scorpions could easily burrow into the desert. Each scorpion's carapace was dark red, while its long, pointed tail was pitch black. No one would doubt the lethal venom attack of that scorpion tail.

******

"It changed!"

Jiang Chuan suddenly exclaimed.

"What number is it now? Let me see too." Shi Jiang, who had been talking with Jiang Fang, was also startled.

"From 182nd to 104th."

"That fast!" Shi Jiang checked the leaderboard changes and was deeply shocked.

In his view, Ji Yun had the strength to break into the top 100 within the first month!

"A newcomer breaking into the top 100 in the first month has only happened five times in our training camp's history. Those five were all peerless geniuses of the highest order. The earliest was twenty years ago. Of those five, four are already High-Level War Gods, and one has even surpassed the War God level."

Jiang Fang searched through the records. She had high expectations for Ji Yun. Moreover, she felt that Ji Yun was far more than just 104th. With the realm Ji Yun had displayed, breaking into the top five might not even be a problem.

Inside the Trial Tower.

Ji Yun was accidentally scratched by an Iron-Armored Scorpion, and the wound stung with pain.

"Hah."

"I really fell for it." On the back of Ji Yun's left hand, a tiny cut had been opened by accident. Dealing with a creature like the Iron-Armored Scorpion for the first time made Ji Yun feel a bit troubled. These scorpions could all burrow into the sand to ambush him. Although Ji Yun could block their attacks, his unfamiliarity with their methods still caught him off guard.

"Time taken: 2 minutes 15 seconds. All 50 Iron-Armored Scorpions eliminated. Second floor, Phase A: Passed! Congratulations, Trainee Ji Yun." An emotionless electronic voice echoed across the entire desert sky.

Immediately after, Ji Yun's body returned to normal, and the surrounding corpses vanished.

"Ji Yun, congratulations on completing the second floor's Phase A trial. Next up is the second floor's Phase B trial. Your objective is to kill 90 'Low-Level Beast General Rank' Iron-Armored Scorpions and 10 Mid-Level Beast General Rank Iron-Armored Scorpions within 50 minutes. Good luck." The virtual space's electronic voice reverberated across the desert sky.

Soon, Ji Yun threw himself back into the hunt.

As Ji Yun adapted to the Iron-Armored Scorpions' attacks, he quickly passed the B-level trial, and even the A-level trial, ascending directly to the third floor.

******

"Oh my god, he's actually shot up to 71!" Jiang Chuan exclaimed again.

"Teacher Jiang Fang, give us a hint. Do you know what rank Ji Yun can reach?" Shi Jiang wore a bitter smile. To charge to 71 on the first day at the training camp, with the potential to go even higher—though Shi Jiang thought it unlikely, it was still astonishing enough.

Jiang Fang smiled without speaking, gesturing a number at Shi Jiang.

"Top fifty?" Shi Jiang was horrified. Breaking into the top 100 wasn't enough; he was aiming for the top fifty!

"It changed! It changed again!"

On the Black Dragon Ranking, Ji Yun's name jumped to—43rd place. Right behind him was a youth named Candice.

Inside a residence at the Elite Training Camp.

"Huh? Why am I ranked behind someone I don't even know?" Candice was puzzled and took the initiative to look up Ji Yun's information. The moment he did, he jumped up in shock.

"How is that possible? First day in camp, straight to 43rd. That's definitely the level of a seasoned War God, but War Gods have already graduated! Impossible, impossible." Candice paced back and forth in the room.

Under the night sky, on the scales of the nearly twenty-story-tall Black Dragon Sculpture, names shone with crystal clarity.

Ever since Ji Yun's rank jumped to 104, trainees and teachers alike had been coming to watch his ranking and gather information about him.

But at this moment, the nearly hundred trainees gathered below the giant Black Dragon Sculpture, along with some War God teachers, were all staring in shock at that name—"NO.43 Ji Yun (570218)." After checking the information, these people all knew Ji Yun was a newcomer. But a newcomer charging to 43? Nearly impossible!

Half an hour later.

This group was already too stunned to close their mouths, because Ji Yun's name had soared to a jaw-dropping position.

"NO.1 Renatus & Bridge (530321)"

"NO.2 Ji Yun (570218)"

"Second? Second?" Upon learning this news, both trainees and War God teachers were utterly dazed. A newcomer who had just enrolled had charged to second place. And he hadn't even hunted any monsters to earn merit points yet—he'd reached second just like that! This was second place!

"This is a huge deal!"

Even the most composed person was shaken by this ranking. Just being second was already earth-shattering, but to achieve it on the very first day meant his strength—his strength within the Trial Tower—had already surpassed every trainee in the camp, and even most of the teachers!

Chu Qiang had held second place for a whole month, and the ranking battles were usually just the top five jostling among themselves. But now! A newcomer had snatched second place, which meant he was guaranteed to hold first place from now on!

Nine consecutive months, and that meant being taken as a disciple by either Hong or Thor!

*****

Ji Yun walked out of his room and saw Jiang Chuan, Shi Jiang, and training camp teacher Jiang Fang waiting for him outside.

"Ji Yun, you've really shocked everyone."

It was no wonder they said that. In fact, no trainee before had ever been able to possess Spear Path and movement techniques at the artistic conception level while still having a physical fitness of Mid-Level War General. By frequently battling monsters that surpassed his own strength, and even enduring the ocean beast tide, Ji Yun had gained a much deeper understanding of his own Spear Path.

Thus, from the moment he charged into the ocean beast horde, Ji Yun had already reached the Unity of Heaven and Man realm in his Spear Path.

It could be said that within the entire training camp, no trainee or teacher had a stronger Spear Path than him. Ji Yun even had the confidence to sit down and discuss the charm of the Spear Path with the founder of Fierce Wind, the Invincible War God Chen Qingzhi.

Virtual space.

Inside a large conference hall, the floor was silver, the walls were silver, and the massive round table was silver too! Only the six chairs were pure black, a black that seemed to devour everything. And now, around that silver round table on those six chairs...

Five of the chairs were occupied by five white-robed figures.

Among the five white-robed figures, three were Chinese, one was white, and one was black.

"Everyone, you are all already aware of that trainee Ji Yun, who ranked second on his first day in the camp."

"His Trial Tower level is 4.5, and his fist force exertion level is 3.2, meaning his combat amplitude is 14.4. Truly a genius," said a Chinese white-robed man. 1-2 was low-level, 2-4 was mid-level, 4-8 was high-level, and 8-16 was excellent.

"Inspector Knight, I recall you only broke through the fifth floor after becoming a being that surpassed the War God level, right? Besides, the disparity between Ji Yun's fist force exertion level and his Trial Tower results is simply inexplicable. Who would have thought he could reach a 4.5 level with only a 3.2 exertion level?"

The white-robed black man nodded. "He has no record of hunting monsters at all. His combat amplitude reaches 14.4, which is already faintly beyond the level of a High-Level War God. And he's only eighteen years old. Although his 3.2 exertion level is relatively low, it's still extremely outstanding."

An electronic voice suddenly rang out: "Everyone, the Hall Master's intention is to handle all benefits with the highest priority. Additionally, Inspector Wang, please make arrangements. The Hall Master wishes to meet this trainee Ji Yun in person."