Chapter 98

When they encountered the divine statue trap, if it weren't for Libra, their entire group might have been buried in the tomb.

"By the way," Xu Jintang looked up at Xue Zhongqi, "What were the effects of the skills you evolved after reaching the Second Tier?"

Mentioning this, Xue Zhongqi revealed a smug look on his face, "My second skill effect is Soul Brand. After use, it can Soul Brand mark on an enemy target. Enemies locked on by me will have their mental energy consumption rate doubled for one minute, and their attack damage will be reduced by 10%."

Xu Jintang looked at him with surprise, "Your superpowers are getting more and more vicious."

"Right? This ability is disgusting. When he used me to practice this ability, my mental energy was almost completely drained." Song Tianqi immediately agreed.

After the meal, everyone cleaned up the dishes and went to the conference room to discuss tactics.

Xu Jintang stood at the front of the conference table, his hands resting on the edge. "Teacher Zhuang didn't tell me the exact time of the friendly match, but it's probably this week. We need to practice our teamwork again in the next few days."

"In addition, I need to check the new ability information with everyone. My current mental power level is at the Peak Third Tier, and I've also gained two new skill effects. One is Chains of Ice, which mainly binds enemies and deals some ice-attribute damage. The other is Ice Blade Storm, which is an area-of-effect attack."

A moment of silence fell over the meeting room.

"Am I hallucinating?" Song Tianqi picked at his ears, looking around at Yan Yuting and the other two with a bewildered expression.

Yan Yuting, equally bewildered, asked, "Peak Third Tier?"

The squad leader only spent less than a week in the army, and now he's back and jumped two ranks?!

Xue Zhongqi and Jiang Shiyi also cast hesitant glances over.

Xu Jintang nodded, "That's right. It's a long story, so I won't go into details. In short, I am indeed at the Peak Third Tier now. Considering the new skills Xue Zhongqi and Yuting gained after advancing to Second Tier, the overall strength of our experimental class has improved significantly. I suggest we have a practice match later to see how everyone has improved during this time."

"Wait, class monitor." Yan Yuting raised his hand to interrupt her, "Isn't your special ability the Domain Slow? How come all your other skills are ice-based?"

Song Tianqi and Jiang Shiyi had the same expression as her.

The three of them were completely unaware that Xu Jintang possessed supernatural abilities.

Xue Zhongqi, the only one in the know, sat up straight and cleared his throat. "The class monitor's special ability has always had the potential to evolve. I heard them mention this when Teacher Zhuang selected us for the experimental class."

Yan Yuting's pupils dilated.

She knew it! With such formidable fighting power, the class monitor couldn't possibly be just a simple support role!

Song Tianqi and Jiang Shiyi were also taken aback.

However, the two seemed to have gotten used to Xu Jintang's unexpected situation and quickly calmed down.

Song Tianqi asked with a smile, "So, class monitor, your special ability is now ice?"

Xu Jintang smiled slightly and replied, "It's the Domain of Ice."

Simple ice-based abilities and Domain of Ice are two completely different concepts.

Song Tianqi was deeply moved.

From now on, the class monitor will hit harder, so there's no more slacking off or being lazy!

"The upcoming practice match will be 2v3. To be fair, the group assignments will be decided by drawing lots." Xu Jintang quickly took a box from the side and put in three Attack Inscription and two Defense Inscription.

"Those who draw the same type of inscription will be grouped together. Who will be the first?" Xu Jintang's gaze swept over the four people.

Yan Yuting stepped forward first, randomly picking an inscription from the box. "It's Attack Inscription, so I'll be in the three-person group."

Afterwards, the others came forward one after another to draw lots.

Half a minute later, the group assignments were announced:

Duo: Xu Jintang and Jiang Shiyi

The trio: Song Tianqi, Yan Yuting, and Xue Zhongqi

Song Tianqi immediately started complaining and whining, "You have one Peak Third Tier and one Fourth Tier, how are the three of us supposed to fight?"

Yan Yuting held his forehead, his tone convinced. "This lottery was definitely rigged! Let's do it again."

"We already agreed, there's no going back on it now. Besides, if we draw again and Shi Yi and I Shiyi up in a trio, wouldn't that make things even worse for you guys?" Xu Jintang replied.

Xue Zhongqi stood up, resignedly saying, "Well, another round might not necessarily be better than the current group situation."

"The training match shall now begin." Xu Jintang smiled slightly.

Soon, the five of them went downstairs to the arena training area and activated the safety shield.

A battle is about to break out.

A chill ran through Xu Jintang's palm.

Then, the ice spread rapidly from her feet outwards.

Song Tianqi shouted, "Flame Tongue Breath!"

The phantom of the Vermilion Bird slowly emerged from behind him.

The Vermilion Bird spread its wings and spewed out a wave of fire that crashed into the ice.

Under the scorching heat, the ice layer spread more slowly, and a plume of white smoke rose from above.

Xu Jintang continued to mobilize his mental energy.

Hard ice chains rapidly emerged from the ground and coiled around Song Tianqi.

At that moment, an invisible weakening force descended upon her.

It is the mark of Xue Zhongqi's Soul Brand.

Once an enemy target is locked on, the target's mental energy will be depleted at twice the rate within one minute.

Xu Jintang internally observed the situation within the Sea of Knowledge.

Her mental energy was indeed being depleted faster, but her mental sea was twice as large as others', so this level of depletion was nothing.

As for the 10% reduction in attack damage, it won't have much of an impact on her.

She ignored him and charged at Song Tianqi again.

On the other side, Jiang Shiyi eliminated Yan Yuting immediately.

As Yan Yuting flew off the stage, he tossed several slices of toast to Xue Zhongqi and his companion.

Song Tianqi took the toast and quickly stuffed it into his mouth.

At this moment, Xu Jintang had already rushed in front of him. He quickly retreated, nimbly turned a corner, and ran to the other side of the ring.

Xu Jintang maintained his speed, raising his hand to control the ice chain and continue the pursuit.

The ice chain quickly reached out towards Song Tianqi, and before he could dodge, his feet were entangled by it.

Xu Jintang slightly curled the corners of her lips and raised her hand to pull it.

The ice chains tightened rapidly, dragging Song Tianqi backward with frantic force.

Song Tianqi stumbled and fell to the ground.

He braced himself on the ground, quickly rolled over, and summoned the Vermilion Bird Token, "Crimson Flame Burst!"

Nine clusters of Scarlet Flame quickly coalesced, transforming into a fireball that attacked.

Xu Jintang stepped back lightly, and powerful ice-attribute energy frantically condensed in his palm.

As the fireball hurtled towards her, she raised her hands, her eyes reflecting the afterimages of the Ice Blade Storm.

The next second, a vortex of ice blades, accompanied by a powerful storm, appeared out of thin air and collided with the incoming fireball.

An invisible force rippled outwards.

Yan Yuting had already stepped off the stage, stared with his mouth slightly agape at the intense battle unfolding on the platform.

The class monitor's close combat ability was already terrifying, but now that her superpower has evolved, she can only be described as monstrous.

The training match ended in less than three minutes.

Unsurprisingly, Xu Jintang and his duo won decisively.

Song Tianqi pushed himself up from the ground, sat on the ring, and brushed the dust off his clothes. "There's absolutely no chance of winning."

Xue Zhongqi remained silent.

His Life Sharing can only be given to one person, and it only lasts for one minute. Once that time is up, either Xu Jintang or Jiang Shiyi can immediately eliminate him from the game.

Song Tianqi, the only one with combat ability, was completely suppressed by his opponent in terms of mental strength.

The trio had no chance to resist.

Xu Jintang clapped his hands and easily jumped off the stage. "Alright, I have a general understanding of your current strength. If Yu Wanyao and the other four don't improve too drastically, we should win the friendly match without a doubt."

Yan Yuting cautiously reminded him, "I heard that Wei Zixuan has recently advanced to the Second Tier as well. His ability to summon demonic beasts might pose a threat to us."

"And Yu Wanyao, she seems to have just broken through to the Peak Second Tier recently, so her strength will probably increase quite a bit," Jiang Shiyi added.

Xu Jintang walked to the edge of the ring, bent down, and turned off the safety shield. "Their strength has certainly improved, but we are not weak either. The match hasn't started yet, so let's not boost their morale and diminish our own."

"Exactly! We have our class monitor and Sister Shiyi backing us up. Just those two alone are enough to give the other side a headache. If you ask me, the one under the most pressure right now is definitely the other side." Song Tianqi said confidently, hands on his hips and back straight after coming down from the stage.

"Alright, that's enough training for today. You can dismiss everyone." Xu Jintang waved his hand, announcing the end of the training session.

Night falls, and a gentle breeze rustles through the treetops.

Xu Jintang returned to his room, sat cross-legged, and continued his cultivation.

She didn't stop practicing until midnight. She returned to her bedroom, leaned against the bed, and logged into the military academy's internal forum. She saw many people discussing that the Silver Light Military Academy would be coming to their academy for exchange and training in a while.

User 02837: [Silver Light Military Academy actually came to us for a friendly exchange this year? Did they recruit some potential geniuses?]

Leikedasi, the Longest Leg: [I heard their enrollment this year was quite good, they took in several Second Tier geniuses. But they're definitely still not as good as our military academy.]

Unwilling to Cultivate: [I heard they're incredibly arrogant. They've already defeated two of the five major military academies, saying challenging the others is pointless now, and they want to challenge us directly.]

User 08344: [Did any of you freshmen see this post? Stop slacking off, start practicing and crush Silver Light Military Academy!]

Silver Light Military Academy is not among the top five military academies, but it is a prestigious school that ranks among the top in the first-class military academies.

They hadn't heard much about them in previous years, so many people were surprised to hear that Silver Light Military Academy was suddenly coming to challenge Leikedasi.

Xu Jintang browsed the posts for a while, and many of the replies were saying that the first-year students should crush the Silver Light Military Academy.

Because the ones who came to challenge Leikedasi this time were first-year students from the Silver Light Military Academy.