Map-Wide Killstreak?

 “You see, you see! This is my latest invention! I’ve named it the Mana-Tracing Vision Module! Cool name, right?”

“So… what exactly does it do?”

“It marks mana signatures within a certain radius on this screen. But, uh… everyone says it’s useless.”

“They say it has no combat power, no real strategic value, and it can’t even reliably identify the targets with mana…”

“The blips on the screen might be a magic beast… or just a rock filled with ambient mana. Totally unreliable for scouting.”

But the moment Sui Ming saw the screen in Larl’s hand, his whole body shuddered.

A terrifying idea took root in his mind.

Wasn’t this… basically a radar?

“I believe we’ll work together extremely well.”

Sui Ming smiled and placed a hand on Larl’s shoulder.

An odd and unsettling aura filled the air around them.

“Uh… o-okay…?”

Elsewhere in the forest, a blond-haired youth strolled leisurely among the trees.

No followers.

No fawning subordinates.

And for good reason…

“Ah, bloodstains on my clothes again… What a careless mess.”

Lector dabbed casually at the flecks of tissue on his sleeve, then continued walking as if nothing had happened.

Only the weak crave alliances and empty flattery.

To rely on others—such cooperation held no value for those with true strength.

Only the strong are worth aligning with.

A shadowy grey-black specter silently manifested behind him.

The smell of blood soaked the forest air.

Golden hair now speckled with crimson—viewed from behind, it made for a disturbingly surreal sight.

Death didn’t technically exist in the Mirror Realm.

But scenes this grotesque…

Were still rare.

The river of blood behind Lector flowed along the land’s contours, winding and thick.

Chunks of flesh littered the forest floor like butchered meat in a discount market.

Starving wolves devoured the souls of fallen Soul Invokers.

And as they absorbed those pure essences, the spectral gray wolf seemed to grow… ever larger.

“Princess Bai Luoxia… Only I am worthy to stand beside you.”

“Those others? Not even close.”

Cough cough

“By the way… where am I now?”

In a different forest zone—

“[Engrave—Principle of Order!]”

A streak of starlight—like the final flare of a dying comet—descended from the sky.

It transformed into chains of pure azure, crashing down upon the earth.

The impact resembled a meteor strike.

Trees and vegetation were obliterated in an instant.

Not a trace of life remained.

Bai Luoxia stood above the smoking crater, gaze cold as ever.

A massive beast’s silhouette crumbled beneath the smoke and mist.

Moments later, a dense fog of pure soul energy flowed into her golden card.

She glanced down at the glowing number etched onto it and sighed.

“Still too slow.”

The card now read: 56.

But with that gorilla-like beast dead, there were no more targets nearby for her to score points.

And that was precisely what the examiners wanted.

Once all the viable resources were depleted, students would be forced to fight one another—

In a ruthless struggle for points.

Anna never revealed the required number for admission.

But it was clear:

The more, the better.

As for the so-called loot chests…

Those were likely scattered within Mingxi City itself—

The true battlefield of the final phase.

A face emerged in her mind—

That white-haired boy.

A smile tugged at her lips.

Even with only [Mortal Dust] Tier 2 strength, Bai Luoxia felt the blood-soaked aura that clung to him.

It was stronger than the scent of any veteran from the battlefield.

He… was a walking mountain of corpses.

Her thoughts drifted back three years—

To the moment fire consumed her only family.

The boy she once trusted most…

Had killed the person she cherished most.

She hated herself.

Hated that she’d ever let him into her heart.

She regretted…

Regretted ever hesitating over such a trivial bond.

Why?!

Why couldn’t she forget his face, like a nightmare refusing to fade?!

“Why!”

Mana exploded around Bai Luoxia in a violent current of cold.

Winds surged across the clearing in a sudden burst.

Realizing she’d lost control, she slashed her own arm.

A thin line of blood trickled down, staining the lush grass beneath her feet.

“Tss—”

“Maybe… I should go check on him?”

The thought popped into her mind without warning—

And once it did, she couldn’t stop it.

“Over here! It’s a Flame Stone Lizard!”

“That thing’s worth two points!”

“Watch this!”

A boy sprinted toward the beast and leapt, his axe carving a perfect arc through the air.

Blood sprayed.

The blade struck true.

“It’s got one breath left! Finish it!”

Just as a girl raised her blade to deliver the final blow—

A blinding flash of light descended.

The blur zipped past both of them.

And all that remained was the lizard’s stone-cold corpse.

“What the hell?! Someone kill-stole!”

And that wasn’t the only group hit by such an incident.

“My points! What the hell?!”

“Who’s the bastard?!”

“I nearly died grinding down that damn beast—”

And the mastermind behind all this—

Well, beloved Mr. Sui Ming was currently…

“Wahahaha! Told you! We’re the perfect team!”

“This… uh, this is…”

Larl stared at the massive flood of points stacking up on both their cards.

“This is insane!”

“You don’t get it! This is called mechanics! Beautiful mechanics!”

Using Larl’s custom mana detector, combined with Sui Ming’s [Miracle—As Willed],

They were an unstoppable kill-stealing machine.

Enemy-locking plus mana-tracking?

Downright illegal.

In any game, they’d be banned in seconds.

Too bad this wasn’t a game.

There were no GMs in real life.

Sui Ming glanced at his card—

60 points, completely still.

Then checked the screen again.

“Strange… why’s it stuck at sixty? There’s still a ton of mana blips on the radar.”

And in that moment, he grasped the true nature of this selection exam.

“Looks like… sixty points is the line.”

“A high threshold?”

“No. I mean… the passing line.”