The Combat Begins

Morning sunlight was lovely, spilling into the residential compound and illuminating everything brightly.

A hover car was parked at the entrance, arranged by Divine Dragon Martial Hall.

The driver was a middle-aged man, and the moment he saw him come out, he immediately opened the door.

"Mr. Song, please get in."

Song Chen got inside, the car started, and it drove toward Third Martial Arts High School.

Twenty minutes later, the car stopped at the school gates.

Song Chen pushed the door open and stepped out, the sight before him causing him to pause slightly.

A massive crowd had already gathered at the school gates—examinees, parents, and teachers, forming a dense sea of people.

Colorful flags fluttered in the wind, and a banner bore the large characters: "Martial Arts College Entrance Exam Practical Assessment."

The moment he appeared in the crowd, someone recognized him.

"Song Chen is here."

"Sky Thunder Blade!"

"The city's number one is here."

"A vehicle from Divine Dragon Martial Hall dropped him off personally, what a display."

The crowd automatically parted a path. Countless gazes landed on him, some filled with worship, others with tension, curiosity, and complexity.

Song Chen walked through the crowd and entered the campus.

On the sports field, 1,300 examinees had already lined up according to their classes.

Third Middle School originally had over 3,000 senior high students, but only a third of them had signed up for the practical assessment.

In the queue for Class 3, Senior Grade 3, Lin Qingxue stood in the front row.

She wore a white combat uniform today, her hair tied into a high ponytail, looking spirited and heroic.

Seeing him, she pressed her lips into a smile, her eyes curving into crescents.

"Morning."

"Morning." Song Chen walked over and stood beside her.

"Did you sleep well last night?"

"Not bad, how about you?"

She answered honestly, "I was a little nervous, but seeing you made me not nervous anymore."

Song Chen paused, looked at her outstretched hand, and gently patted her shoulder: "You can do it."

"Mm!"

The head teacher, Li Guohua, stood at the front of the line, his gaze sweeping over everyone before finally landing on Song Chen.

He cleared his throat, his voice slightly raspy.

"Students, today is the day of the practical assessment. I won't say any redundant words—just one sentence: come back alive."

The 1,300 people remained silent; no one laughed.

The sports field quieted down. On the elevated platform, officials from the Education Bureau, leaders from Third Middle School, and representatives from the Garrison Command took their seats sequentially.

The gazes of a few people in the crowd were exceptionally sharp, sweeping over the examinees below the stage with scrutiny and anticipation.

On the platform, a middle-aged man in a black uniform asked in a low voice, "That one in the white clothes, whose child is that?"

The person beside him leaned in, following his gaze: "The Lin family's girl, Lin Zhengyang's daughter."

The middle-aged man nodded and said no more. His gaze continued to move, then suddenly stopped.

"The one in the windbreaker..."

"Song Chen," the person beside him immediately answered.

"A core member of Divine Dragon Martial Hall, cultural exam number one in the city, vitality value of 15.4, C-grade lightning ability, and his blade technique has reportedly already been practiced to the grand completion realm."

The middle-aged man's eyebrows arched: "Grand completion?"

"Yes, some people saw it with their own eyes."

The middle-aged man was silent for a few seconds and gave a soft chuckle: "Interesting."

On the stage, a middle-aged man wearing the uniform of the Garrison Command stood up.

His voice spread across the entire sports field through the Amplification Array.

"Students, I am Zhao Tieshan, the deputy commander of the Anning City Garrison Command and the commander-in-chief responsible for this practical assessment."

"The rules for the city's martial arts combat are very simple: hunt ferocious beasts in the Evergreen City examination zone with a time limit of eight hours."

"The scoring rules are as follows: first-rank low-grade, 1 point; first-rank mid-grade, 3 points; first-rank high-grade, 5 points; second-rank low-grade, 100 points; second-rank mid-grade, 300 points; second-rank high-grade, 500 points."

"Attacking fellow examinees is prohibited. Violators will be disqualified and banned from the college entrance exam for life. If you encounter life-threatening danger, you can crush your SOS Talisman; someone will rescue you, but your assessment will be terminated."

"Now, begin drawing lots."

The 1,300 people stepped forward in order, each pulling a slip of paper from a box.

Song Chen was in the middle of the line. When his turn came, he reached inside, grabbed a random piece, and unfolded it.

"Evergreen City outskirts, Seventh District."

The staff member nodded and stamped the back of his hand.

He walked back to the line, and Lin Qingxue leaned over to look: "I'm in the Third District."

She spoke, her tone carrying a hint of disappointment.

Song Chen looked at her: "Do your best."

"You too."

"Now, collect your equipment!" Zhao Tieshan's voice rang out once more.

The examinees stepped forward in turn to collect their uniform combat gear and weapons.

C-grade combat uniform, gray, without any insignia.

C-grade standard combat blade, three feet seven inches, standard weighting.

Everyone, regardless of their strength, held the same blade and wore the same clothes.

Song Chen picked up the standard combat blade. It was very light, and the edge wasn't particularly sharp; it felt weightless in his hand.

He swung it twice to get a feel for the balance. It was all right—though far inferior to the Thunderbolt Blade, it would suffice.

Half an hour later, the 1,300 examinees were loaded onto 130 armored vehicles and driven toward Evergreen City.

Song Chen sat by the window, watching the scenery rapidly recede outside.

Fields, hills, forests, and then that familiar ruin.

A month ago, he had come here for the first time with a vitality value of 0.6, not even a martial artist.

Now he had returned—a second-rank martial artist, B-grade ability, and a blade grandmaster.

The armored vehicle stopped on the outskirts of Evergreen City.

The doors opened, and Song Chen jumped out of the car.

Before him lay a vast wilderness, and in the distance stood collapsed buildings and twisted steel bars.

The air was permeated with a familiar aura: spiritual energy, dust, and the stench of ferocious beasts.

A staff member walked over, checked his lot number, and then pointed in a certain direction.

"Seventh District. Follow this road for three kilometers. There will markers when you arrive."

Song Chen nodded and set off.

He took a few steps, then suddenly paused and glanced back.

Behind him, countless examinees were disembarking from the armored vehicles, dispersing like ants and flooding into every direction of Evergreen City.

In the distance, the big figures on the elevated platform were already seated, their gazes burning as they watched the ruins about to become a battlefield.

Further away, his parents, her parents, and countless other parents stood outside the cordon, craning their necks in anticipation.

Song Chen withdrew his gaze, turned around, and walked toward the Seventh District.

The Thunderbolt Blade wasn't at his waist, but he didn't need it; what was truly powerful was never the blade.

Before long, examinees from other cities arrived as well.

The practical assessment for the entire Nanjiang Province took place at the Evergreen City exam site.

The province's 23,700 examinees poured into this abandoned city like a tidal wave.

A black hover car slowly came to a halt.

The door opened, and a youth stepped out. He possessed a tall build, a stern expression, and a gaze as sharp as a blade edge.

"Who is that?" someone asked quietly.

"The eldest young master of the Zhou family, Zhou Jin. Vitality value of 21.3, rumored to have already awakened a B-grade ability."

"B-grade? Second rank?"

"That's right. The absolute favorite for the top scorer of this college entrance exam."

Zhou Jin swept an expressionless gaze over the crowd.

Soon, another car stopped.

This time it was a girl wearing a fiery-red combat uniform, her long hair draped over her shoulders, her brows and eyes fierce.

The moment she stepped out, a wave of heat radiated from her body, causing the people around her to instinctively take a step back.

"Fire Phoenix, Zhao Lingxi of the Zhao family. Vitality value of 13.8, B-grade fire-element ability, violent temper, not someone to mess with."

Shortly after, a tall and thin youth arrived at the examination grounds, wearing glasses and looking cultured and refined.

His pace was very steady, the distance of every step precisely uniform.

"Zhou Wenyuan, vitality value of 45.2, rumored to have the highest vitality in this cohort."

One after another, the top geniuses from Anning City and the surrounding regions arrived in succession.