Regret, and Another Increase in Strength!

"Damn, that spear strike was fast!"

"What a fast strike! It was practically a bolt of lightning!"

"His attack speed rivals that of a Wind-Type Ability awakener, but isn't he supposed to be a lightning-type awakener?"

"..."

Seeing the black-clad figure on the projection screen instantly kill the Shadow Cat Ferocious Beast like a bolt of lightning, the many teachers in the stands were all stunned.

Fast! Precise! Ruthless!

That was their first impression of Xu Jingming.

Chen Fan, Class 5's homeroom teacher, widened his eyes.

Since the school arranged Practical Combat Courses, he had a fairly good grasp of the combat strength of most students in his class.

Yet during practical combat classes, Xu Jingming's performance could only be considered passable. There was no way he should have been capable of such a level now!

"What a guy. He actually managed to hide it from me for so long!"

"With spear skills like that, wouldn't it have been better to show them sooner? Why insist on waiting until the college entrance examination to make a name for yourself?"

"But with spear skills like these, even with only an E-rank metahuman ability, he can still get a pretty good result in the college entrance examination."

Chen Fan nodded slightly. "It seems my advice for him not to take the Martial Arts College Entrance Examination was unnecessary."

"A powerful physique and formidable spear skills..."

Zhao Yao, the Principal of Second High School, let out a long breath before shaking his head. "What a pity..."

"Yes, what a pity."

Zhang Wenshan, the Education Bureau Director, was also somewhat disappointed.

A strong physique and weapon proficiency were indeed considerable advantages during the awakener stage.

However, as one's level rose higher and higher, the advantages brought by physique and skill would gradually diminish.

After all, Metahumans were Metahumans.

Abilities were what truly mattered in battle!

"If only he had a C-Rank Ability, paired with this physique and spear technique, first place in Jiangcheng would definitely be his!"

"But he only has an E-rank metahuman ability."

Zhang Wenshan could not help lamenting once more.

Unlike the Principal and Education Bureau Director, Chen Fan, Class 5's homeroom teacher, took it rather well.

As long as Xu Jingming could remain in Jiangcheng's top ten until the end of the college entrance examination, he would definitely be able to attend a decent Metahuman University.

Of course, even if Xu Jingming did not kill another ferocious beast from this point onward and finished the examination with his current results, he could still enter a Metahuman University. It just would not be a particularly good one.

Compared to the outcome Chen Fan had expected—failing the examination or even dying—this was already better by an unimaginable margin...

'Killed one First-Order Shadow Cat. Ability Points +9.'

Within the Ruined Town, Xu Jingming had just killed a Shadow Cat. Listening to the notification in his mind, he was in an excellent mood.

There were even more ferocious beasts in the Central Area of the Ruined Town than he had imagined.

He had only been here for a little over an hour, yet he had already killed more than twenty First-Order Low-Rank Ferocious Beasts, along with over ten peak unranked ferocious beasts.

The Ability Points accumulated on his System Information Panel had already reached 312!

"Not bad. As expected, hunting ferocious beasts in the Central Area is more efficient."

Xu Jingming nodded in satisfaction, then heard the hum of rapidly spinning propellers.

A drone flew over from the distance and hovered several dozen meters above his head.

"A tracking Camera Drone? Have I entered the top ten already?"

Xu Jingming opened his Smart Watch and checked his ranking:

'9th place: Xu Jingming, 607 points. (Jiang City Second High School)'

"As expected, I'm already in the top ten."

A smile appeared on Xu Jingming's face.

The appearance of the Camera Drone meant that all of his upcoming battles would be visible to the outside world.

Even when he used his ability later, his S-rank Purple Heaven Divine Lightning would be exposed as well.

After all, the S-rank Purple Heaven Divine Lightning he could currently summon was far too extraordinary. There was no way to disguise it as an E-rank Weak Electric Ability.

Of course, Xu Jingming had never intended to hide it.

"The Martial Arts College Entrance Examination tests a candidate's strength and potential. The better my results, the more choices I'll have.

"Only an idiot would give up on earning more points just to hide their ability."

Xu Jingming's gaze sharpened as he opened his System Information Panel:

Name: Xu Jingming

Level: Awakener

Ability: Purple Heaven Divine Lightning (S)

Physique: 141 Qi-Blood (+)

Mental: 160 Hz (+)

Skills: Spear Technique (Advanced), Lightning Gale Slash (Beginner +)

Ability Points: 312

"I already have over three hundred Ability Points, yet I still can't increase my level?"

Xu Jingming frowned when he failed to find a plus sign beside his level.

There were only two possible explanations for this.

The first was that evolving from an awakener into a Metahuman required too many Ability Points, and three hundred was still not enough.

The second was that becoming a Metahuman from an awakener required certain conditions. Until those conditions were met, even the system could not directly raise his level.

"To evolve from an awakener into a Metahuman, I need to first learn a Metahuman Cultivation Method.

"It seems I can't level up because I haven't learned a Metahuman Cultivation Method yet."

Xu Jingming silently made his guess.

A Metahuman Cultivation Method was a fundamental requirement for an awakener to advance into a Metahuman.

Yet even the worst Metahuman Cultivation Method cost over a million yuan.

Given Xu Jingming's financial situation, he naturally could not afford one.

He had initially thought that the system would let him bypass this basic requirement, but it seemed he had been mistaken.

"Still, with my current combat strength, I'm not much weaker than a true Metahuman."

"I'll wait until after the college entrance examination. Once I enter a Metahuman University and learn a Metahuman Cultivation Method, I'll become a Metahuman then."

Xu Jingming did not dwell on it. What mattered most now was how to use these three hundred or so Ability Points.

"For now, only my basic attributes and Battle Techniques can be upgraded. I don't need Battle Techniques yet, so I'll directly upgrade my basic attributes."

After thinking for a moment, Xu Jingming allocated all of his Ability Points to his two major basic attributes.

He assigned 200 points to Physique and 112 points to Mental.

Physique: 141 → 181 Qi-Blood

Mental: 160 → 182 Hz

As his basic attributes rose, Xu Jingming immediately felt power surge through his entire body, while his mind became clearer than ever before.

The fatigue he had accumulated from traveling and fighting continuously was completely swept away at that moment!

"Awesome!"

Xu Jingming laughed loudly and casually spun the Black Obsidian Spear in a beautiful flourish.

Both the speed and force of his spear strikes had become far greater than before!

"With a physique like this, combined with my Advanced Spear Technique, even against a First-Order Mid-Rank Ferocious Beast in the Core Area, I can easily kill it without using my ability!"

At this moment, Xu Jingming was brimming with confidence in his strength.

"The ferocious beasts in the Core Area are stronger and more numerous!

"Now that my strength has improved once again, there's no need to stay in the Central Area any longer. I'll head straight for the Core Area!"

With a shake of his spear, the bright red blood staining it was flung clean away by inertia.

Then, carrying the spear on his back, Xu Jingming checked the map before dashing toward the Core Area.

With his enhanced physique, his sprinting speed at that moment was even slightly faster than Zhou Mingyang's when empowered by his Wind-Type Ability!

And behind him, the Camera Drone followed closely like an annoying little tail...