Change

After all, he already knew the result, so naturally, there was nothing to look forward to. Moreover, seeing the nearly frenzied students, Guan Ning felt it was better to slip away; what was coming next would be even more shocking.

Shi Jiang saw Guan Ning's movements and understood instantly, nodding his head.

Activating his watch, Guan Ning's somewhat youthful voice came through: "Senior Brother Shi Jiang, I'm heading back first. Please tell Senior Sister Zhao Ruo for me!"

"You're going back? Don't you plan to see the final results?"

Before Shi Jiang could speak, Zhao Ruo chirped up.

Listening to the sharp voice coming from the watch, Guan Ning rubbed his ears. "There's no need to look at the results. The rankings won't change much. It's a foregone conclusion that neither Luo Feng nor I will fall out of the top one hundred. There's no point in staying any longer."

"Don't you want to see Luo Feng's final ranking?" Zhao Ruo thought of something and said with a mischievous grin, "Are you feeling uncomfortable because you saw Luo Feng surpass you by so much?"

Uncomfortable?

Was he?

Guan Ning wasn't sure himself; perhaps he was.

After all, he had struggled painstakingly for a month and even had the Tuoshan Deer cub to supplement his nutrition. His conditions were far better than Luo Feng's, yet he still hadn't surpassed him. Deep down, there was inevitably a bit of unwillingness.

However, this emotion was only a fleeting thought. After all, his goal had never been to surpass Luo Feng, but to keep moving forward—to see and experience these magnificent and wondrous places one by one: Earth, the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, the Virtual Universe Company, the Original Universe, the Universe Ocean, and the Hunyuan Continent.

"Speak up, why are you dazed?" Seeing Guan Ning blank out, Zhao Ruo joked, "No way? Did I really hit the mark, Little Ning..."

"What are you thinking? I feel like if I don't leave now, I won't be able to leave later." Guan Ning's face was covered in black lines. "Sister Ruo, Senior Brother Shi Jiang, I'm leaving first."

"Mm." Shi Jiang remained very friendly toward both him and Luo Feng.

Zhao Ruo also understood what Guan Ning meant and waved her hand. "You go back first, I'll come find you later."

Ending the call, Guan Ning left. Fortunately, he was in a corner, so he returned to the Jiangnan Pavilion with ease.

Not long after Guan Ning left, at 11:20, the leaderboard was refreshed once again—NO.68 Luo Feng (570403).

At this moment, the nearly one hundred students beneath the giant Black Dragon sculpture, as well as several War God instructors, were all staring at that name in shock.

Everyone knew that the students who had gone out to hunt had long since returned; the possibility of the rankings changing was extremely slim.

In other words—Luo Feng's ranking for April was 68th, which was practically set in stone.

"This has blown up!"

"Where did this freak Luo Feng pop out from?"

"My God!"

Even the most composed people were stunned by this ranking. Being 68th alone wasn't much, but "a student who just joined the training camp achieving 68th place in their first month" was a different story. The value of this achievement was higher than a veteran student of four or five years taking first place!

At this moment in Hongning Base City, intelligence personnel from military organizations of various countries, special administrative organizations, family conglomerates, and even mercenary groups, upon discovering the latest refreshed Black Dragon Ranking of the Elite Training Camp, didn't wait until 12 o'clock. As qualified intelligence officers, every person in charge immediately reported to their headquarters!

Luo Feng.

Ranking 68th in his first month was far more impressive than just being in the top hundred. More importantly, he was only 19 years old!

Guan Ning.

Although his ranking was only 86th, seemingly inferior to Luo Feng, in reality, the two were on par. After all, he was only 17 years old, two years younger than Luo Feng.

For super-powerful organizations like the five major powers and the two martial arts gyms, physical fitness could be rapidly enhanced through public means like Dragon Blood, or undisclosed special items...

However, movement technique realms, fist force exertion, and blade technique realms could not be forced. They could only be improved through repeated combat, repeated training, and by relying on "experience" and "comprehension"! In the words of the Elite Training Camp... it was "Battle Power Amplitude."

Luo Feng and Guan Ning were not only young, but their Battle Power Amplitude was clearly very high!

These were the talents they wanted to recruit.

The big shots who received the news didn't bother to rest; they immediately formulated a series of recruitment plans and warned their own members in the training camp that they must absolutely not provoke Guan Ning or Luo Feng.

In this way, even if they couldn't recruit the two, they wouldn't make enemies of them. Such large organizations and factions always prepared for multiple outcomes; this was called being prudent.

Meanwhile, John McLean, who was watching the Black Dragon Ranking with complex emotions, had his communication watch ring. It contained only one message—

"No matter what method you use, you must obtain Guan Ning's forgiveness. Otherwise, you know very well what the consequences will be. —Nicole Berg"

Seeing the name "Nicole Berg," John's expression turned extremely fearful, as if he had seen a demon, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

The organization behind John was the world's second-largest, the Demon Spider Mercenary Group. Its leader was Nicole Berg, not only a powerhouse beyond the War God level but also the owner of a Three-Eyed Demon Spider she had raised since it was small—which was also the origin of the Demon Spider Mercenary Group's name.

John knew a thing or two about Nicole Berg's methods, and he absolutely did not want to suffer those terrible consequences. Therefore, he had no choice but to find a way to obtain Guan Ning's forgiveness.

Thinking of this, John felt a pang of heartache. Besides the usage time for the Gravity Room and the Trial Tower, what else did he have that Guan Ning would find valuable?

It wasn't just John; even William, Candice, and others who had clashed with Luo Feng decided one after another not to provoke him again.

Others received the notice as well, and the students of the training camp sighed one after another.

The wind had changed!

Guan Ning, who had left early, knew nothing of this. Even if he did, he wouldn't care; after all, his gaze was no longer confined to Earth, but was looking higher and further...

Guan Ning sat in his study, looking at the ranking displayed on his laptop, and smiled. "Not bad, not bad. Finally squeezed into the top hundred."

During this month, Guan Ning was either in the Gravity Room or in the underground secret chamber. With the Tuoshan Deer cub, he naturally wouldn't go to the cafeteria again.

Every day, besides practicing his sword, he practiced his sword. Furthermore, he had the Basic Sword Technique, with a clear path to follow; he had Instructor Feng Mu to answer his questions and clear his doubts; he had far more access to the simulated Gravity Room than others; he had a soul that was constantly transforming and comprehension that was constantly strengthening; and he had the Tuoshan Deer cub to supplement his nutrition.

Under these various conditions, his strength improved rapidly, with progress made in every aspect, including physical fitness, sword techniques, and footwork.

Regarding his physical fitness, over this past month, he consumed 60 kilograms of venison and four deer antlers. The venison goes without saying, but the deer antlers were already potent supplements for nourishing essence and blood and strengthening tendons and bones; not to mention they came from a lord-level cub, making their effects incredibly potent.

Given Guan Ning's digestive speed, he required four to five kilograms of venison a day. Excluding the bones, the Tuoshan Deer cub he brought back yielded over eighty kilograms of meat. After he and Luo Feng's group ate over twenty kilograms at a barbecue, he consumed the remaining sixty kilograms of venison entirely within the month.

It should not have been enough, but the effect of the deer antlers was astonishing; the nutrients contained in those four small antlers alone exceeded those of the sixty kilograms of venison.

The consumption was immense, but the results were gratifying. On April 3rd, his strength was 8,500 kilograms, but now his strength had reached 17,200 kilograms, crossing the threshold of an intermediate Warlord.

An increase of 8,700 kilograms in one month seemed incredible—after all, in the original story, Luo Feng only improved by two or three thousand kilograms in a month—but for Guan Ning, it was perfectly reasonable.

The Tuoshan Deer cub goes without saying.

Luo Feng's imitation gravity room only provided two hours, whereas Guan Ning had eight hours.

In the Ancient Civilization Gravity Room, Guan Ning had three hours; not only was his time longer than Luo Feng's, but his efficiency was also higher. After all, he was training under 20 times gravity, which increased his efficiency by far more than just double.

Abundant nutrition, efficient training, and extended time—the combination of these three made an increase of over 8,000, nearly 9,000 kilograms, perfectly reasonable.

His intermediate Warlord-level physical fitness had met his requirements for this month.

Having finished with physical fitness, next were his sword techniques and footwork. Under these various conditions, although Guan Ning's sword techniques and footwork had not broken through to the third realm, he could already persist in the third realm for five minutes. The Dugu Sword Art was quite unique; the sword techniques and footwork advanced in tandem. There was no such thing as a situation where the sword technique was perfect while the footwork was only at the entry level, or the sword technique was specialized while the footwork was flawless; the two were complementary and mutually reinforcing.

Even this five-minute duration was enough for him to challenge the Trial Tower. Guan Ning's first attempt at the Trial Tower was on the 9th, between 12:00 and 13:00, which was a privilege granted to students by the training camp for their first month.

For the first floor of the Trial Tower, Guan Ning had already passed the A-Grade Trial. The remaining B-Grade and C-Grade trials were nothing to Guan Ning; he cleared them in just over thirty minutes, and his Trial Tower level became 2.0.

If he hadn't intentionally slowed down his clearing speed to temper himself, his speed in slaughtering the Reckless Bull herd would have been even faster!

By the second floor, the time limit, number of monsters, and monster levels remained unchanged; what changed was the type of monster.

The monsters on the first floor were Reckless Bulls, which were massive in size. Only three or four could attack him at once, and their attack methods were simple—either charging or using their sharp horns. Overall, they were still just crashing about, making it very simple for Guan Ning to either dodge or attack.

The second floor was different. The Iron-Armored Scorpions were smaller, and more than ten, or even over twenty, could attack Guan Ning simultaneously. Coupled with the desert environment that was extremely suitable for them, they were like fish in water. With scorpion stingers from the air, pincers on the ground, and stingers from beneath the earth, one could say attacks were coming from the sky, the ground, and underground! Moreover, their movements were erratic, making them extremely difficult to deal with.

However, Guan Ning's footwork and sword techniques were still up to the task. Even if an Iron-Armored Scorpion occasionally managed to strike him, the protection of his combat suit, combined with his defensive amplification, meant they couldn't cause him much trouble.

He cleared the second floor A-Grade Trial in less than ten minutes, but the B-Grade Trial was more troublesome, barely being cleared just before the 30-minute mark ended.