Dungeon Combat Power Index

The skill remained unchanged.

His rank had not risen, but all his attributes had increased by nearly eighty percent.

Su Mu couldn't help raising an eyebrow.

He had merely expanded Lion Camel Ridge from one square kilometer to eight and tidied up the mountain a little, yet Little Drill Wind's attributes had doubled. And that was without any change in rank.

If he could expand it to eighty li, this card might well break through to S rank.

"His growth potential really is absurdly high," Su Mu marveled.

Then he checked his soul power.

0.

Not a single point remained.

The corner of Su Mu's mouth twitched.

He had planned to spend it all, but seeing that glaring "0" still left him with an indescribable feeling of emptiness. Since his awakening, he had burned through all 210 points of soul power in just over an hour.

"But it was worth it."

Su Mu withdrew his consciousness from the dungeon space and switched to the combat index screen.

Dungeon combat power index: 13796.

Buildings contributed 2100 points, the Stone Left Over from Mending Heaven contributed 1200, and the remaining 10496 all came from Little Drill Wind.

Su Mu stared at the number for a few seconds.

A combat power index above ten thousand was already upper-middle tier among newly awakened students.

But he knew that Little Drill Wind alone accounted for more than seventy percent of that number. Almost the entire dungeon's actual combat strength was riding on that single card.

It really was strong.

It really was fragile, too.

If Little Drill Wind was suppressed or targeted by concentrated fire, the entire dungeon would be left with two stones and a few bare mountains, utterly unable to fight back.

"That's how single-core systems are in the early stages," Su Mu said, consoling himself.

Of course he knew it wasn't safe, but he only had so many resources at hand. Getting Little Drill Wind to A rank was already a huge boon brought by the Journey to the West concept.

If someone else had an E-rank mountain-patrolling minor demon, let alone A rank, they would be lucky to raise it to D rank.

The problem now was that his soul power had reached zero. If he wanted to add anything else later, he would have to kill monsters for experience points and level up, allowing his soul power to recover naturally and even exceed its upper limit.

Meanwhile, in the principal's office in the administration building.

Zhao Jianguo and several teachers were still sitting in front of the observation screen.

The images on the screen were no longer changing as frequently as before.

Most students had completed the initial construction of their dungeon spaces, and the images were gradually stabilizing.

Only a handful of students were still making final adjustments.

Zhao Jianguo switched the screen to the statistics interface.

A ranking list popped up.

[Rongcheng No. 1 High School · Awakening Day Dungeon Combat Power Rankings]

First place: Ye Qingxue...18574

Second place: Wang Hao...14630

Third place: Lin Yuan...14220

Fourth place: Chen Zimo...14180

Fifth place: Zhou Xiang...13555

Sixth place: Li Ming...9456

Seventh place: Fang Yan...9270

Eighth place: Han Li...8985

...

Zhao Jianguo looked at the list and nodded slightly. "The top five have all broken ten thousand, and even tenth place has eighty-five hundred. Although many students aren't good at designing dungeons, the top students are a cut above those of previous years."

"You're right, Principal."

The teacher with glasses chimed in, his voice tinged with delight. "Especially the top three. The composition of their combat power indices is very healthy. Look, aside from the bonuses from Ye Qingxue's core card and her ice and snow domain, her combination of three ice-type trap cards and one elemental card is also very well balanced. Almost all of it translates into solid damage output and battlefield control."

"Wang Hao isn't bad either."

The female teacher pointed at the data for second place. "Martial Soul Resonance Link raised the combat power of all six F-rank fighting creature cards. Add the Chaotic Hair Cloak Hammer's own high attack stats, and his burst damage stands out at the same level."

"At this rate, at least ten people this year should be able to pass the nightmare-difficulty trial within seven days." The old mentor spoke slowly, his tone reflective. "In previous years, three or five would have been a good result."

Zhao Jianguo nodded slightly, but rather than rushing to a conclusion, he scrolled down the list.

He gave the data below fiftieth place a cursory glance.

Most of those students had combat values between three and six thousand, largely built up with core cards and basic terrain. Creature cards and trap cards made up a relatively small proportion.

Zhao Jianguo continued scrolling.

When he reached the one-hundred-and-seventies, his finger paused.

Su Mu, 178th place.

Combat value: 1172.

Zhao Jianguo frowned slightly.

"Has Su Mu's ranking fallen that low?" he said without thinking.

Several teachers beside him leaned over to look.

"That's normal."

The director of studies sighed. "His core card is an F-rank stone card, so its combat value is low to begin with. He only made it into the top two hundred because his soul power was high enough to build an extra mountain.

"Even if the other students have somewhat inferior core cards, they're at least creature or weapon cards, and their combat values are made up of solid offensive or defensive capabilities. What does he have? A mountain and a stone. When monsters come, is he going to fight them with his head?"

"Doesn't he still have an E-rank card he can claim?" someone asked.

"An E-rank creature card would add at most around five hundred combat points to a dungeon."

The teacher with glasses pushed them up and calculated rapidly. "Besides, given Su Mu's soul power reserves, he should have used up quite a bit already. Once he puts the card in, his ranking will rise by ten or twenty places at most, no more."

"When all is said and done, his core card is just too trashy."

"What a pity."

The female teacher sighed softly. "Su Mu's talent would rank among the best in our school's history. Two hundred and ten soul power, first in the city in dungeon design, and a better grasp and application of themes than many teachers. For a prospect like him, if his core card were just a little more normal, even if it were only C rank, his potential would be limitless."

"But it just had to be a stone."

The director of studies shook his head. "An F-rank stone, at that. A core card like that has nothing to do with 'combat' on a conceptual level. There's no precedent to follow for a special theme, either. Turning things around through design would be as hard as ascending to heaven."

The atmosphere in the office grew a little gloomy.

Zhao Jianguo was silent for a while before speaking slowly. "The heavens are unfair. But ultimately, the path of a dungeon master is a long one, and awakening is only the starting point. If Su Mu can find a loophole in the rules of his special theme, he might still have a chance."

Even as he said it, though, he didn't feel very confident himself.

"All right." Zhao Jianguo stood up. "It's getting late. I see most of the students have already gone to the trial grounds. Let's go take a look too, and collect some firsthand data while we're there."

Everyone stood and gathered their things.

The old mentor was last. He glanced at the screen and was about to turn it off, but his finger stopped in midair.

"Wait."

His voice was quiet, but everyone stopped in their tracks.

"Look at Su Mu's data."