He Took a Nap and Woke Up in First Place

Rather than search everywhere, it was better to circle the point and wait for reinforcements.

That was the clever plan Lu Chong came up with after seeing the Shadow Cat beside Sun Ze.

The Fifth-Stage Shadow Cat before them clearly had some intelligence and was on its guard. It knew that its chances of winning against three opponents were slim.

So it hid on a roof beam and waited for an opportunity, while using its own unique method to summon its companions.

Lu Chong figured he might as well play along. That way, he could save himself a lot of time.

However, the two unfamiliar students clearly didn't trust him.

One Shadow Cat in the darkness had already scared them half to death. How could they possibly dare to attract more?

"We should get out of here as soon as possible, or finish this quickly and take care of the Shadow Cat. We might still be able to make it," one of the students said urgently.

"Yeah. If we end up attracting a whole group, the four of us will be eliminated tonight," the other student agreed.

Lu Chong said nothing. He looked at Sun Ze, who had yet to voice an opinion.

Sun Ze had calmed down by now. He glanced at Lu Chong before saying, "I trust you."

"But, Brother Chong, could we team up with you for a while?"

If Lu Chong agreed, they might get something out of this encounter too.

Lu Chong thought it over. Since he planned to use them as bait anyway, he didn't mind sharing some points with them, so he agreed.

"No, no. We're not interested," the two students hurriedly refused, shaking their heads.

"If you want to team up, the two of you can do it. We're leaving."

After saying that, the two exchanged a glance and started to leave first, clearly hoping to leave Lu Chong and Sun Ze behind as cover.

"You..." Sun Ze was about to call after them, but Lu Chong stopped him.

"It's fine. Let them go," Lu Chong said with a faint, amused smile.

He had already sensed several familiar presences closing in from every direction.

At this point, it didn't matter whether the two left or stayed.

Sure enough, just as the two students reached the second floor, they spotted six pairs of glowing green eyes staring at them, full of menace.

"They're here! They're all here!"

The two nearly jumped out of their skin and hurried back upstairs.

But three more Shadow Cats had appeared on the third floor. There were now ten Fifth-Stage Shadow Cats in all, upstairs and down.

They had probably attracted every nearby Shadow Cat.

Mrow!

With the reinforcements here, both sides wasted no time.

The four Shadow Cats on the third floor each pounced on one of the four students.

At the same time, the six on the second floor sprang up from all directions and joined the attack.

"Just in time."

Lu Chong looked delighted. With one Monument-Splitting Palm, he knocked a Shadow Cat unconscious, then reached out and removed the Tracking Monitor around its neck.

A second Shadow Cat took the opportunity to attack from behind, swiping at the back of Lu Chong's head.

The claw came in with deadly force, aimed straight at a vital spot.

But when it struck, it only caught empty air, passing straight through Lu Chong's figure.

An afterimage!

With Lu Chong's footwork, an attack of this level was nowhere near a threat to him.

The Shadow Cat that had swiped through him was startled and tried to flee, but Lu Chong grabbed it by the tail and flung it into the wall, knocking it unconscious.

He removed its Tracking Monitor as he moved, then used his footwork to reach Sun Ze. In just a few moves, he got Sun Ze out of trouble and collected three more Tracking Monitors.

"Help us!"

By now, the two students were on the verge of collapse. Facing five Shadow Cats between them, they could only defend themselves. They were about to activate their Amulets and be eliminated.

"Brother Chong, please help them," Sun Ze pleaded, clutching his left arm, which had been scratched again.

Even without Sun Ze asking, Lu Chong would have gone to help—not for the sake of the two students, but for their Tracking Monitors.

Without a word, Lu Chong used Nine-Shadow Step to close in. He used only Monument-Splitting Palm, taking down the remaining Shadow Cats one by one.

Once every Shadow Cat had been knocked unconscious and silence returned, the two students were still dazed.

Was that it?

What kind of monster was this fellow? He had taken on a pack of Shadow Cats with ease.

Most importantly, Lu Chong was completely unharmed. Not even a speck of dirt had gotten on his black training uniform.

"These five Tracking Monitors are yours."

Lu Chong ignored the two students, who were still shaken and filled with regret, and tossed Sun Ze five Tracking Monitors.

"Brother Chong, that's too many. I didn't do much," Sun Ze said, waving his hands repeatedly.

"Since we teamed up, I can't leave you shortchanged. Take them. I'm not hurting for a few points," Lu Chong said with a smile.

"Besides, it's only a Mock Exam."

After saying that, Lu Chong collected his own Tracking Monitor without further discussion, then turned and leaped off the third floor, vanishing into the quiet night.

"Thanks," Sun Ze said silently as he put away the Tracking Monitors.

"Sun Ze, who was that classmate? How is he so strong?"

A short while after Lu Chong left, the other two students finally came to their senses and asked.

They were too embarrassed to bring up the team-up again, and they weren't jealous of the Tracking Monitors Sun Ze had.

There was no point being jealous. These things couldn't be snatched; stolen ones were useless. There were cameras everywhere.

Besides, the cameras would have recorded them personally refusing to team up with Lu Chong and Sun Ze.

Still, the two were extremely curious about the identity of that incredible student.

Sun Ze replied absentmindedly, "He's my classmate, Lu Chong. He's also the strongest in our class."

"Lu Chong?" one student murmured. "I don't think I saw him on the Scoreboard during the day."

Just then, the other student opened the Scoreboard and took a look. He let out a startled cry. "Lu Chong?!"

"Th-this is the top-ranked guy! When did that happen?"

Sun Ze was startled too. He'd been resting just now and hadn't checked the rankings.

He hurriedly checked the updated Scoreboard on his distress beacon and spotted the name at the top.

First place, Lu Chong, 431 points.

Second place, Xiang Yueya, 356 points.

"Wow, he's nearly eighty points ahead of second place."

"Too bad we didn't get to latch onto someone that strong."

"I only have four words to say: the boss is awesome!"

Elsewhere, perhaps because he had just drawn all the nearby Shadow Cats to him, Lu Chong didn't come across any more on the way. He made it to the territory of the Six-Stage Shadow Cats without a hitch.

It was only three in the morning. He could keep racking up points.

In the Monitoring Hall outside the Hunting Ground, Wang Tong had been staring at the big screen until his eyes were bloodshot. Only when that name shot up to the top of the rankings did he excitedly slap Li Chengjun on the thigh.

Li Chengjun had been cultivating with his eyes closed. The slap nearly made him lose control of his energy, and he shouted angrily, "What are you doing?"

"Look at the Scoreboard!" Wang Tong said with a grin.

Li Chengjun frowned and looked over. His eyes widened. "First place, Lu Chong?!"

"Damn, I took a nap. How'd he get to first place?"

Wang Tong looked smug. "This is nothing. Look at second place. He's seventy-five points behind. The gap's only going to grow."

Li Chengjun turned away, unwilling to look at Wang Tong's smug face. He simply closed his eyes again.