Chapter 28

"Lanxing? Are you asleep?" After stealing the points from the neighboring tent, Li Tongfu came straight over to the girls' tent.

Xu Jintang did not answer.

Before long, she heard a rustling sound.

It was Li Tongfu lifting the tent flap and stepping inside.

Bent at the waist, he stole their points one by one just as before, then crushed each person's jade token.

Only then did he come to Xu Jintang, the last of them.

"Sorry, Lanxing. You're all just too trusting." A hint of smugness and helplessness crept into Li Tongfu's voice.

He reached out, about to take the points token at Xu Jintang's waist, when his entire body suddenly froze for an instant. Afterward, all his movements slowed by half a beat.

Li Tongfu froze, not yet understanding what was happening.

Just then, Xu Jintang opened her eyes, a cold glint flashing through them.

She immediately struck, clamping a hand hard around Li Tongfu's throat. "Brother Li, you really put on quite a show today."

Only then did Li Tongfu realize that he had been exposed all along.

He sneered. "That's your fault for being so stupid!" With that, he immediately activated his ability, preparing to break free.

Xu Jintang gave him no chance to resist. Tightening her grip, she hurled him over her shoulder and pinned him to the ground.

When he realized he could not overcome Xu Jintang's strength at all, panic crept onto Li Tongfu's face.

How was this damn girl so strong in close combat?

Half a minute later, Xu Jintang had bound all of Li Tongfu's limbs together.

"Lanxing, how about we split those six people's points evenly? Don't worry. If we keep working together like this, we can definitely swindle plenty more points." Realizing he had run into someone he could not handle, Li Tongfu could only swallow his pride and beg for mercy.

Xu Jintang ignored him, took the points token from his waist, and swiped it against her own.

[Points +370]

[Total points: 750]

At the same time, an area-wide announcement rang out through the stillness of the night:

"Congratulations to examinee Xu Jintang for reaching sixth place. The Joint Examination Red Ranking will be updated shortly."

"Congratulations to examinee Xu Jintang for reaching..."

"Congratulations to examinee Xu Jintang..."

The three announcements woke quite a few sleeping examinees, and they all looked up toward the horizon.

The Joint Examination Red Ranking still hung in the pitch-dark safe zone.

Xu Jintang's name flashed red and shot straight up to sixth place.

Hearing the announcement, Li Tongfu's eyes filled with shock, and he began to stammer. "Y-you lied to me! You're not Xu Lanxing at all. You're actually... Xu Jintang!"

Xu Jintang's gaze turned cold, and she crushed Li Tongfu's points token.

The next moment, Li Tongfu slowly vanished before her eyes.

Someone who swindled people and ambushed his teammates in the middle of the night deserved no sympathy.

Xu Jintang hung her points token back at her waist and glanced back at the two now-empty tents.

With a wave of her hand, she put both tents into her bracelet's storage space.

Then she turned and quietly left.

The night was still long. With only herself left, Xu Jintang did not dare openly take out a tent and sleep.

After some thought, she had no choice but to find a tree and climb to the top in a few quick movements. Leaning against a thick branch, she slowly closed her eyes, intending to doze for a while.

Very few demonic beasts could fly, so sleeping high up was still safe.

Meanwhile, in the safe zone's camp.

Wei Zixuan looked up in shock at the updated Joint Examination Red Ranking.

Sister Jintang was incredible. It was only the first day, and she had already climbed another three places.

He had only found this safe zone after wandering around the Death Forest.

This was the only safe zone in the entire battlefield. Examinees were strictly forbidden from fighting here, no demonic beasts would wander in, and there were supply shops selling food, drinks, and other provisions. It was the best place to spend the night.

Besides him, quite a few other examinees were in the camp.

They had all just fallen asleep, only to be woken by the announcement at the same time.

Unable to sleep, they began discussing it quietly:

"Just who is this Xu Jintang? How did she shoot straight up to sixth place in a single day?"

"To climb from ninth to sixth, she would've needed at least several hundred more points at once. It's already dark. How could she be hunting demonic beasts? Xu Jintang must have robbed other examinees of their points!"

"Everyone else was sleeping, but she snuck out to steal points. That's despicable!"

"We all need to stay on guard from now on. This is only the first day of the joint examination. If we get eliminated early, we're done for."

Wei Zixuan heard every word.

He frowned.

Sister Jintang wasn't the sort to ambush people. There had to be some misunderstanding.

Zhuang Silin and the other four watching the examination all fell silent.

Naturally, none of them approved of Li Tongfu stealing points.

They also thought it was perfectly normal for Xu Jintang to rob him in return.

But they had not expected the other examinees to misunderstand.

"Interesting. These examinees keep surprising me, one after another. One even stole points in the middle of the night, only to get robbed himself because he wasn't strong enough." Shi Lekang had produced a folding fan from somewhere and fanned himself as he remarked on it.

Zhuang Silin shook her head and rose to get some rest. "It's late. I'm going to bed. I'll watch more tomorrow."

The other three military academy teachers nodded as well. "Teacher Shi, we'll head back to rest too."

Watching the other teachers leave one after another until he was alone in the room, Shi Lekang silently waved his folding fan. Finding it rather dull, he got up and left the room too.

Chapter 28

The mist in the Death Forest grew thicker late at night.

The entire night passed peacefully.

The next morning, sunlight shone over the land, dispelling the haze.

Xu Jintang woke and opened her eyes, rubbing her sore neck.

She clapped her hands and leaped down from the tree.

"Who's there! Who is it!" a startled cry came from nearby.

Xu Jintang turned her head and quickly spotted the girl over there.

The girl looked frightened and extremely wary.

Xu Jintang raised both hands and smiled. "I was just coming down from a tree."

A short sword immediately appeared in the girl's hand. Her expression tense, she stared at Xu Jintang. "Stay back! I don't have many points."

Xu Jintang stayed where she was, keeping a smile on her face. "I'm not here to steal points. I just wanted directions. Are there any supply stations or safe zones nearby?"

After going hungry all day yesterday and barely sleeping, she was utterly exhausted. All she wanted was somewhere quiet to rest for a while.

The girl hesitated. Seeing that Xu Jintang really had no intention of attacking, she finally pointed in a direction.

"Go one kilometer east. There's a safe zone."

"Okay, thanks." Something occurred to Xu Jintang, and she asked again, "One last question. Why are you so wary? Are you afraid someone will steal your points? Did people already start robbing others yesterday?"

The girl said coldly, "Didn't you hear that announcement about Xu Jintang yesterday? Her ranking suddenly jumped to sixth in the middle of the night, when everyone was asleep. She must have ambushed people and stolen their points!"

"With her setting an example, the other strong examinees are bound to get ideas too. Either way, the joint examination won't be peaceful from now on."

Xu Jintang fell silent for a while.

So she was the reason.

"Thanks. I'll head to the safe zone, then." Xu Jintang smiled and turned east.

A long line had already formed outside the safe zone's supply shop, with its end nowhere in sight.

Xu Jintang was startled when she entered.

So many people.

"Sister Lanxing. Sister Lanxing." A cautious voice came from behind her.

Xu Jintang looked back and saw Wei Zixuan timidly hiding behind a stone pillar nearby, beckoning to her.

Xu Jintang turned and walked toward him. "What's wrong? Why are you hiding over there?"

Wei Zixuan swallowed and quickly pulled her into a secluded corner.

"Sis, what did you do last night?" Wei Zixuan asked apprehensively.

Xu Jintang quickly recounted what had happened the previous night.

Wei Zixuan slapped his thigh. "I knew it! It was just what I thought. You'd never ambush someone."

Before arriving, Xu Jintang had already learned from the girl that people had misunderstood her. She quickly caught on. "So lots of people in the safe zone last night thought I was ambushing people?"

Wei Zixuan nodded. "A lot of people are on edge now, afraid they'll get robbed as soon as they leave the safe zone. I'm planning to get in line in a bit too and stock up on supplies, so I can come back here as little as possible."

Xu Jintang thought for a while. "How do they sell supplies here?"

"You buy them with points. Ten points gets you one bottle of nutrient solution. They also have survival supplies like camping tents, but those cost more."

Xu Jintang rubbed her chin. Buying supplies was another expense. There really were not enough points to go around.

Seeing the line outside the supply shop growing longer, Wei Zixuan hurriedly said, "Sis, let's get in line first."

"Okay." Xu Jintang and Wei Zixuan quietly joined the back of the line.

While waiting in line, something else suddenly occurred to Xu Jintang. "A tier-one demonic beast is only worth ten points. What about tier two?"

Wei Zixuan immediately replied, "Yesterday, some people in the safe zone formed a team and killed a tier-two demonic beast. It was worth a hundred points in total. Split between the five of them, they each got twenty points."

Xu Jintang nodded.

Sure enough, the higher a demonic beast's tier, the more points it was worth.

Then a tier-three demonic beast would definitely be worth even more points, perhaps as many as a thousand.

She needed to find a way to score big.

Before long, it was Xu Jintang and Wei Zixuan's turn to buy supplies.