By now, Xu Jintang had dodged several meters away to escape Yang Tuo's pursuit.
"Stone Ancient Bird, attack from the flank!" At Wei Zixuan's command, the enormous Earth-Breaking Stone Ancient Bird immediately turned and charged at Yang Tuo.
Xu Jintang turned in unspoken coordination and swiftly withdrew from the battlefield.
The mantis beast that had been pursuing Yang Tuo charged over, while a peak third-tier Stone Ancient Bird approached from the side.
With a grim expression, Yang Tuo quickly rolled aside, narrowly dodging the blow.
But as soon as that strike passed, the two demonic beasts formed another pincer attack, striking at him from front and back.
"Xu Lanxing, don't let me get a chance, or I'll definitely kill you!"
Driven nearly mad, Yang Tuo was so furious that his breathing grew heavy, but the moment he finished speaking, he had to raise his axe again to block the two demonic beasts' attacks.
Xu Jintang smiled and ignored him. Bending down, she removed the point tokens from his five lackeys one by one.
[Points +180] [Points +270]
"Congratulations to examinee Xu Jintang on reaching fifth place. The Joint Examination Red Ranking will be updated shortly."
"Congratulations to examinee Xu Jintang..."
The familiar broadcast rang out from the sky right on cue.
The five lackeys, who had already been tied up, all looked at Xu Jintang in disbelief.
"Y-you're Xu Jintang, the one ranked sixth?!"
Xu Jintang curled her lips into a smile. "Fifth now."
Then she turned toward Wei Zixuan and waved the three remaining point tokens in her hand. "You put in plenty of work. You can have the points from these three."
"Sure thing, sis!" Wei Zixuan hurried over and quickly claimed the other three examinees' points.
The broadcast sounded again:
"Congratulations to examinee Wei Zixuan on reaching seventh place. The Joint Examination Red Ranking will be updated shortly."
"Congratulations to examinee Wei Zixuan..."
Yang Tuo and his companions were completely dumbfounded.
The deadweights they had scorned in every way were actually all on the Joint Examination Red Ranking!
They were even ranked higher than Yang Tuo.
Yang Tuo finally realized that he had truly gone too far this time.
As he dodged the two demonic beasts' attacks, he gritted his teeth and began to think.
Not a single examinee on the Joint Examination Red Ranking was someone to take lightly. He could not keep dragging this out.
Clenching his teeth in resentment, Yang Tuo gathered his strength again. The massive axe in his hands instantly erupted with twice its previous power, actually knocking aside both demonic beasts' attacks.
Before the demonic beasts could react, he made a snap decision, turned, and ran deeper into the forest.
"Jintang, he's running. Should we chase him?" Wei Zixuan hurriedly asked.
Xu Jintang withdrew her gaze. "If he could hold out alone against two third-tier demonic beasts for this long, he must still have a trump card. Forget it. Let him go."
Wei Zixuan nodded. "We've already made a profit from this anyway. But... after getting away, he might come back for revenge."
Xu Jintang said, "We'll deal with whatever comes our way. Besides, he was the one who provoked us first."
"Yeah." Wei Zixuan nodded.
After withdrawing his gaze, Wei Zixuan glanced at the five people still tied to the trees.
After a moment's thought, he raised his hand and crushed all five of their point tokens.
Under the earlier joint assault from Yang Tuo and his companions, the third-tier mantis beast's fighting strength had already been nearly exhausted.
A few minutes later, working together, Xu Jintang and Wei Zixuan drove the third-tier mantis beast back again and again. At last, it fell dead, turning into a glowing orb of points.
Xu Jintang stepped forward and reached out to touch the orb.
[Points +1000]
"Half each." Xu Jintang immediately transferred half the points to Wei Zixuan.
This time, the Joint Examination Red Ranking did not change.
Xu Jintang and Wei Zixuan exchanged a look.
Wei Zixuan speculated, "Looks like the people at the top of the Joint Examination Red Ranking all have terrifying point totals."
Xu Jintang was analyzing it too.
The top four examinees were all second-tier ability users.
If they were strong enough, they could fight above their tier and directly target third-tier demonic beasts to hunt.
A single third-tier demonic beast was worth at least a thousand points. Killing two or three would earn several thousand points. That really was a terrifying total.
The joint examination had been underway for two days.
The five chief examiners were all quietly watching the examinees' performances.
"This Xu Jintang is rather interesting. She's reached fifth place on the Joint Examination Red Ranking in just two days," Shi Lekang said with a smile.
The other three military academy teachers offered opposing views:
"But she reached fifth place so quickly because she stole all her points. That doesn't demonstrate her individual ability."
"Aren't you being too demanding of her? She only has a support ability, after all. Getting this far already counts as an exceptional performance."
"When we go to the battlefield to kill enemies in the future, we can't rely on swindling and trickery to eliminate demonic beasts, can we? Ultimately, combat ability is what best demonstrates an examinee's strength."
Watching the teachers argue over Xu Jintang, Zhuang Silin finally spoke up with a fair assessment. "Whatever methods she used to obtain her points, they're an aspect of her individual ability. Someone with strong combat power but no brains can easily suffer on the battlefield too. Our military academies want students with strong all-around qualities. There's no need to compare them on just one aspect."
Shi Lekang nodded. "That's true. Times have changed. These days, high-tier demonic beasts capable of taking human form are no less intelligent than we are. Sometimes, their tricks and scams are even more devious than ours. We really can't look at combat power alone."
Meanwhile, the examinees still camped in the safe zone were all stunned.
"I heard from another examinee that Xu Jintang only has one support ability. How on earth did she get to fifth place?"
"And this time, Xu Jintang's and Wei Zixuan's rankings changed together. Could it be... they've teamed up?"
"Then I get it. They must have teamed up to steal other examinees' points, and definitely from more than one person, or their rankings wouldn't have risen so fast."
"Those two are so underhanded! Everyone, make sure you watch out after leaving the safe zone."
Elsewhere, Yang Tuo, who had just escaped in a sorry state, clenched his fists hard, his face dark.
Just you wait!
After dividing the points from the third-tier demonic beast, Xu Jintang and Wei Zixuan quickly left the scene.
By then, the sun had set, and the sky was gradually darkening.
Chapter 30
Xu Jintang took out the two tents she had picked up earlier and set them on an open patch of ground.
"I've got the fire going. We'll take turns keeping watch tonight." After adding firewood, Wei Zixuan stood up and reported to Xu Jintang.
"Okay." Xu Jintang finished setting up the two tents, then came over and sat beside the fire to warm herself.
Wei Zixuan sat opposite her, took out the nutrient solution he had bought at the supply shop earlier, and drank a mouthful.
"Ugh, these living conditions are so rough. Not even a bite of hot food. We can only fill up on nutrient solution."
"I heard lots of dishes in military academy cafeterias have all kinds of heavenly treasures added to them. They don't just taste better, they also improve ability users' physical strength," Xu Jintang began musing.
Hearing that, Wei Zixuan immediately swallowed. "Right. Military academies don't just have better cafeterias. Their other resources and facilities are a whole lot better than the colleges' too."
And so the two began consoling themselves with thoughts of what they could not have, warming themselves by the fire while missing their old meals.
The night passed safely.
The next day, once it was fully light, Xu Jintang emerged from her tent and patted Wei Zixuan's shoulder. "Want to catch up on some sleep?"
Xu Jintang had kept watch during the first half of the night, and Wei Zixuan the second.
Out of caution, neither had dared sleep too deeply.
"No need. I'm doing fine." Wei Zixuan stood and stamped out the fire.
Xu Jintang put away both tents. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Let's play it safe today and focus on second-tier demonic beasts."
"Okay." Wei Zixuan nodded.
Once they had packed up, the two quickly set out deeper into the forest.
They had good luck that day. No unexpected obstacles sprang up in their path, and hunting second-tier demonic beasts went smoothly. Over the course of the morning, they each earned two hundred points.
Just as they were about to find somewhere to rest, the familiar broadcast suddenly sounded:
"In ten minutes, Death Forest will face its first demonic beast rampage and siege battle. Points earned from hunting demonic beasts during this period will be doubled. All examinees, do your best to survive."
"In ten minutes, Death Forest will face..."
"A demonic beast rampage and siege?" Wei Zixuan's eyes widened. "I knew the joint examination wouldn't be this easy."
Xu Jintang added, "And double points."
Wei Zixuan looked worried. "But there'll be a lot of demonic beasts in a rampage and siege. Even if they're all first-tier, it'll still be very dangerous."
Xu Jintang thought for a moment. "We need to find a temporary shelter."
She looked into the distance. Seeing the unbroken mountain range, she quickly had an idea. "Come on. Let's find a cave."
With limited time, Xu Jintang and Wei Zixuan did not dare delay and hurried toward the mountains.
Before long, a cave appeared before them.
At that moment, two groups were facing off at its entrance.
Xu Jintang and Wei Zixuan exchanged a glance, slowed down, and cautiously approached.
"Jing Yuanzheng, there's no need to compete among ourselves at a time like this. The demonic beasts will go on a rampage in just a few minutes. If we keep standing off here, we'll all die together when they charge over, and none of us will need to take the rest of the joint examination."
"Ah Yao, I've never wanted to compete with you. You're the one who's always been hostile toward me."
Crouching behind the bushes, Xu Jintang quietly raised her eyes to study the two groups.
The boy on the left, who had been called Jing Yuanzheng, wore a white shirt and looked very clean and fresh overall. Several teammates stood behind him.
The girl confronting him looked rather cold and spoke haughtily. Quite a few people stood behind her too.
"Who's there!" Suddenly noticing something, Yu Wanyao immediately turned toward the bushes.
Seeing that she had been discovered, Xu Jintang immediately stood up and raised both hands, a smile spreading across her face. "Please don't misunderstand, you two. My little brother and I just want to find a cave to shelter in. We don't mean anything else."