Song Chen pulled his blade from the mantis's corpse, green bodily fluid sliding down its edge.
His left arm still hung at his side, numbness spreading from his fingertips to his shoulder. The entire arm felt as though it no longer belonged to him.
He shook his right hand and flexed his fingers.
He looked up at the score panel floating above the cage.
Still ranked first, Zhou Jin remained second, but the gap between them had widened to nearly forty thousand points.
With that score, he would have been enough to secure the top scholar's title in previous years.
Song Chen split open the mantis's head with a slash, rummaged through it, and removed the Third Rank Life Crystal Core along with a small green sphere.
After holding the sphere before his eyes for a brief inspection, he shoved it into his mouth without hesitation.
A powerful fishy stench made him want to vomit.
He endured it. Then warmth spread through his body, and his left arm returned to normal.
Song Chen did not leave the cage.
He stood where he was, staring at the patch of ground beneath his feet that had just closed up.
The mantis had risen from below. That meant there was more down there.
He pressed the communication button on the cage wall.
"Examiner, I request to continue the challenge."
At the Examination Center, those who had just been about to breathe a sigh of relief froze once more.
"He wants to fight again?" someone blurted out.
"Has he lost his mind? He still wants to fight?"
"This isn't a game where clearing one stage means another conveniently waits for you."
"What is he trying to do? Isn't over sixty thousand points enough?"
Someone shook their head and explained, "It isn't about the score.