He couldn't possibly still know fourth-tier spells, could he?

"That's insane!"

"This year in Dongjiang, the first round alone has produced a super dark horse!"

"Dark horse? This is a damn Celestial Horse!"

Countless voices buzzed with discussion.

From this day forward, the name Lin Yi had fully entered the sight of most people across Dongjiang.

Elsewhere, at the Examination Center.

"Deputy Director Li, that kid's 1000 points—is that a perfect score for this round?"

A subordinate asked.

Li Yuanjing nodded.

"Killing that Goblin within ten seconds earns full marks."

"Every second past ten seconds deducts ten points."

"The deduction stops at 500 points. As long as you kill the Goblin within the three-minute time limit for this round, you get the guaranteed 500 points for passing."

"This rule was drafted back in the day by Old Ye and me."

The "Old Ye" Li Yuanjing referred to was the top official of the Dongjiang Province Education Department—

Ye Heng.

But at the moment, he was in the capital attending a meeting.

"A perfect score on Purgatory Difficulty... how many years has it been since we've seen that?"

Qi Guoguang sighed with emotion.

A look of reminiscence flickered in Li Yuanjing's eyes.

"It's not hard for geniuses from top-tier base cities like the capital or Shanghai to get a perfect score on the first round of Purgatory Difficulty. But in Dongjiang, we haven't seen such a dazzling talent in nearly a decade."

"This kid is breaking new ground for the past ten years."

The screen in the main conference room suddenly flickered.

It was finally time to replay the footage of Lin Yi's performance in the first round.

Everyone was curious how Lin Yi had managed to clear the first round in just two seconds.

The playback began.

The entire replay lasted about four or five seconds, roughly matching Lin Yi's clear time.

But after watching it, everyone in the conference room was stunned.

"Play it again." Li Yuanjing found it hard to believe.

He immediately had his subordinates replay it.

As the second playback started, Li Yuanjing added, "Slow it down!"

With slow motion, everyone finally saw what Lin Yi had done.

It wasn't anything complicated.

The moment the Goblin appeared, five or six massive fireballs, each the size of a washbasin, materialized in front of Lin Yi.

These fireballs shot out like a chain of cannon fire, hammering the Goblin in a straight line at an extremely high frequency.

The Goblin's health plummeted at a terrifying rate!

Just over two seconds later, its health was Cleared.

By the time the Goblin vanished, seven or eight Flame Bursts were still mid-flight, blasting straight into the distance!

"That's the Tier 2 Skill Flame Burst for Fire Element Spellcasters, isn't it?" Li Yuanjing realized.

The first time, it was too fast.

He had even thought Lin Yi was using some kind of Fire Element Spell he didn't understand.

It looked like a fire dragon.

Now he saw it wasn't a fire dragon—it was just Lin Yi conjuring countless Flame Bursts in an instant and hammering them out in rapid succession.

Qi Guoguang nodded. "It's Flame Burst."

"This kid has already completed his Second Turn. Mastering a Tier 2 Skill isn't strange."

Li Yuanjing picked up the thread. "What's really strange is how he can unleash so many Flame Bursts with such terrifying efficiency, right?"

Qi Guoguang nodded gravely.

As the superior spell to Fireball, Flame Burst not only dealt higher damage but also had an effect Fireball lacked.

When dealing damage, it ignored 40% of the target's Magic Resistance.

Given the Goblins' high Magic Resistance, even he would abandon the higher-tier Triple Flame Spear and opt for Flame Burst instead.

It would absolutely kill monsters with greater efficiency.

"Does he have some kind of Quick Chant skill?"

Qi Guoguang shook his head. "Even a mage's Passive Skill, Quick Chant, upgraded to Tier 2, couldn't possibly achieve such an exaggerated effect."

"To unleash nearly twenty Flame Bursts in two seconds, there's only one possibility."

"This kid's Flame Burst is instant-cast!"

"Moreover, his Mana pool is deep enough to sustain releasing Flame Burst that many times in such a short span!"

Li Yuanjing also understood what Qi Guoguang meant.

"When he Awakened his class, he must have awakened some kind of talent along with it, right?"

Qi Guoguang confirmed, "Yes, and that talent should allow him to cast spells instantly, even enhancing skill consumption!"

"Then that's not surprising. No wonder he could level up this much in just thirty days."

To everyone present, the impact of an instant-cast Tier 2 Flame Burst was limited to the shock that Lin Yi was so young and had so little experience as a Class User.

At eighteen, having just Awakened his class a month ago, this combat power was indeed monstrous.

But that was all.

Soon, the replay ended.

On the big screen, the list of key examinees was displayed again.

This time, however, Lin Yi's footage was placed directly in the center.

Li Zerui and Qi Xiaying, the previous top contenders for the championship, were even pushed to the sides, giving up the C-spot to Lin Yi!

"I recall the second round test is about quickly eliminating multiple targets, right?"

"Yes."

"The first round tests a damage-dealing Class User's ability to quickly eliminate a Single Target—that is, burst damage."

"The second round tests burst damage against multiple targets."

"Honestly, the second round is much harder than the first, because most Class Users at First Turn only have one single-target low-tier skill, with almost no area-of-effect capability."

"Even if they do, it's usually just attacking the main target with some splash damage to its surroundings."

"The second round spawns twenty Goblins that don't move or attack, with around 300 in both defenses and only 1,000 HP."

"For certain Legendary Classes, if they already have a true AOE skill or method at First Turn, they'll have a huge advantage in this round."

Li Yuanjing had been eavesdropping on the discussions behind him.

A faint, barely noticeable smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

His son Li Zerui's class might lack many things, but it had plenty of Large Area firepower coverage skills.

The rocket barrage he used earlier was actually an AOE explosive damage.

This round, he might just take first place!

As for Lin Yi, though Li Yuanjing thought highly of him, based on his understanding, a mage, a Fire Element mage, even with a Tier 3 skill, Triple Flame Spear only had a slightly larger range.

Three spears coming down would hit at most three Goblins.

A true AOE skill was the Tier 4 Blazing Storm.

There was no way this kid could have such a High-Tier Skill at this level, right?

Qi Guoguang, sitting next to Li Yuanjing, naturally noticed his old friend's thoughts.

Heh.

It's not just your Zerui who has AOE skills.

My granddaughter has them too!

Just wait and see. In this second round, we're taking first place no matter what, to win one back.