042: Beacon Smoke

"No matter what hidden cards you have, now that I'm this close, with my vitality, I'll smash you to bits!!"

Seeing that he was now less than thirty meters from Tang Jian, Gu Du's eyes widened with wild joy. He roared, immediately activating the Green Hat Card within his culti-device!

The Hulk's hat!

In an instant, a bright green hat appeared directly on Gu Du's head, and an immense surge of energy began to course through his body.

This energy wasn't a direct infusion for a forced enhancement, but it made Gu Du feel an intense pain and an incredibly powerful sensation rapidly filling his body.

"Ugh!—"

Gu Du roared, his imposing figure suddenly growing three inches taller. His entire musculature swelled dramatically, and his hands, engorged with blood, looked like cattail leaf fans.

But just then.

A puff of pungent air suddenly rushed at him from the opposite direction, like a black shadow.

"What is that?"

Gu Du was startled. Having been wary of Tang Jian all along, he swiftly dodged to the left.

However, thwack!

The black shadow dispersed like rain, spreading all over the ground and drenching Gu Du.

"Sticky oil?" Gu Du looked at the black sticky oil that covered him, his face twitching involuntarily twice.

This was the hidden card he'd been wary of all this time?

Just a mere Sticky Oil Card?

Gu Du sneered, looking at Tang Jian, who was now less than twenty meters away. "Is this your trump card?"

"That's right! And it's all over your face!"

Tang Jian smiled, snapped his fingers, and a fireball rapidly condensed, spun, and enlarged at his fingertips.

Gu Du's eyes suddenly narrowed, his pupils contracting.

"Shit!!"

"Watch out!!!"

Hu Lingli's shriek came from behind him.

Gu Du roared, the large muscles in his legs contracting fiercely. His body, like a giant gorilla, lunged toward Tang Jian.

The fireball flew swiftly.

Gu Du's figure flashed, nearly twisting his lower back, barely managing to dodge.

Bang!

The fireball struck the ground, immediately contacting the sticky oil. Adding fuel to the fire, it instantly transformed into a fierce blaze that surged upward, rapidly wrapping around Gu Du like a line of fire.

"Ahhh—!"

Gu Du let out a shrill scream, instantly turning into a man engulfed in flames. Thick black smoke billowed from his entire body as he struggled, unwillingly, to lunge at Tang Jian.

Tang Jian, however, had anticipated this and swiftly moved to dodge.

"Stop!"

Hu Lingli yelped, her culti-device flashing. A small whirlwind formed and spun in front of her, kicking up sand, and rapidly moved in an arc toward Tang Jian.

"Idiot!" Tang Jian scoffed with a disdainful smile, moving like a nimble fish in water, avoiding it before the small whirlwind could sweep by in its arc.

The tornado moved quickly, but the small whirlwind wasn't a tornado after all; it was just a small column of wind.

Its trajectory was an arc.

As long as one was a little further away and anticipated its movement, it could be easily avoided. For Tang Jian, it wasn't much of a challenge at all.

However, Gu Du, now a man on fire, wasn't so lucky. He was grazed by the small whirlwind as it swept past in an arc.

Suddenly, the wind fanned the flames, making them burn even more fiercely.

Small whirlwind + attached raging flames = Beacon Smoke!

At this moment, Hu Lingli was practically helping an outsider beat her own person. The small whirlwind was easily avoided by Tang Jian but intensified the flames on Gu Du.

Seeing the raging fire on Gu Du, Hu Lingli's pretty face turned deathly pale, and her legs went weak with fright.

Gu Du let out a shrill scream, his movement speed plummeting. He collapsed to the ground, and soon his body faded and disappeared.

Points +4.

Tang Jian's ranking on the scoreboard suddenly shot up, directly surpassing Wu Chun, whose points had just reached 10, making him the top scorer.

"Is this bastard on an unstoppable rampage? Why is he so ruthless today?"

In a mound under a high slope in the wilderness, Yang Mao had completely buried himself, only his eyes visible. He screamed internally, watching with disbelief as Tang Jian shot to the top of the scoreboard.

After fortunately killing two enemies, he found he had entered the top thirty on the scoreboard. He then started looking for a hiding spot, burying himself in the ground to wait for the assessment to end.

During this time, he had been keeping an eye on Tang Jian, feeling both jealousy and confusion, along with a touch of disbelief.

Could his old buddy really be this strong?

Meanwhile, Liu Kun, who was carefully moving through the forest on the other side of the wilderness, also found it unbelievable. His expression showed a mix of unwillingness, complexity, and a hint of frustration.

Originally, he had wanted to thoroughly surpass Tang Jian in today's assessment and secure a good score, solidifying his reputation as the top student in Class 32 of the third year.

As it turned out, Tang Jian had an explosive performance today, ranking first on the scoreboard with 11 points, which was 8 points higher than his own.

Is this guy a chicken dinner champion?

Is his killing ability in the wilderness that strong?

Gao Yang, who had already been eliminated, was now squatting in a corner, completely speechless.

He had realized that there were too many talented people in Class 23 of the second year.

He used to pride himself on being the perennial second-best in his class, always living in Liu Kun's shadow and unable to break free.

But looking at it now, Liu Kun was clearly just a superficial mini-boss, while the true big boss was Tang Jian, who had been Playing the Pig to Eat the Tiger all along.

No wonder Advisor Sun Yiying valued Tang Jian so much. This showed that the older, the wiser; she had long seen that Tang Jian was no ordinary person.

"Teacher Sun is truly amazing. I didn't expect the best student in your class not to be Liu Kun, but this student named Tang Jian. Tsk, tsk, this must be the ace you've cultivated, right?"

Vice Principal Zhou Dongbo looked at Tang Jian, who was ranked first on the scoreboard, his face filled with satisfaction and joy as he praised Sun Yiying.

As expected of a top student from Jinghua University! With the college entrance exam approaching, he's given the school such a big surprise.

At this time, some other teachers also expressed their admiration, though some also voiced doubts.

Jiang Zhendong, the teacher of Class 1, shook his head. "This student's vitality is clearly not strong enough. While his combat talent is indeed outstanding, the most important thing for a Card Cultivator is vitality, and Card Energy. However, it is indeed impressive that Teacher Sun can cultivate such a student."

Wu Yu, the teacher of Class 2, chimed in, "That's right. This student had some luck in the first assessment. At the very least, if he had encountered Wang Ba from our class, he probably wouldn't have had the chance to top the scoreboard."

Sun Yiying's eyes flashed with a cold glint. "What? Your Class 1 and Class 2 enjoy so many resources, and now you're being suppressed by a student from my Class 12. Are you sore losers?

What's so great about strong vitality? Is a few extra points of vitality that impressive?

Jiang Zhendong, your vitality is at least ten points higher than mine. Shall we spar?"

Jiang Zhendong's face twitched, and he quickly let out a dry chuckle. "Teacher Sun, you're joking. You're a top student from Jinghua University; your talent is obvious to all. There's no need for us to spar."

"If you're not going to spar, then shut up," Sun Yiying snorted.

Jiang Zhendong's face turned beet red.

Wu Yu chuckled inwardly at the sight but didn't dare to speak up again. The other teachers all watched the scene with smiles, joking a bit before ending the discussion.

Everyone knew that while vitality was important, some people were born warriors among Card Cultivators.

As long as the difference in vitality wasn't too outrageous, individuals with astonishing combat talent and a set of combo cards in hand could achieve classic victories of the weak over the strong.

As a Jinghua University student, Sun Yiying was precisely such an example.

Now it seemed that among the students she cultivated, there were also such powerful individuals.

Tang Jian's use of combo card skills, though seemingly naive and the combo skills themselves simple, was noteworthy.

However, in this assessment, he was the second person after Wu Chun to demonstrate power through combo card skills. Furthermore, Tang Jian's grasp of combat timing was far more mature and seasoned than Wu Chun's.