Overtaking

“Impossible!”

“Even if we scraped every magic beast in all of Mingxi City, the total K-points would barely hit sixty! How could anyone solo—or even as a pair—rack up that many points?”

“Is Rhine Academy trying to fail every single candidate?”

“Maybe… that’s exactly what they want.”

“Haven’t you noticed? Every beast here is only [Mortal Dust] tier. [Gold Vein] level ones are almost nonexistent. Given our average strength, even if one [Gold Vein] beast gives ten points, we wouldn’t have the mana reserves to survive the fight.”

“So you’re saying… this is actually a test of our ability to clear the field?”

“That’s a fair interpretation.”

“As for what comes next…” Sui Ming gazed toward the gleaming white city walls not far ahead.

“That—will be the real battlefield.”

“Our little tricks won’t work in there. This is probably their way of filtering out anyone who doesn’t have genuine ability.”

“Then… then what about me? I’m just an alchemist! I can’t even lift a sword properly… and… and my Soul Invocation is barely useful…”

“Relax. You’ve got me, haven’t you?”

“But… Sui-ge, you’re only [Mortal Dust] Tier 2, even lower than me…”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“What matters is that I can take out every single one of them. And that’s more than enough.”

“Pretty cocky, aren’t you… kid.”

A voice rang out from the nearby forest.

“So you’re the ones sniping us from behind?”

The man’s rage surged like a wall of fire, rolling toward them.

“N-no… it wasn’t us…”

“Cut the crap! We tracked the lingering mana traces here! I don’t know what method you used, but—”

BOOM!

There wasn’t even time to react—no invocation, no defense.

A flash of golden light howled through the air, slicing a vivid arc of blood behind it.

Beheaded. Instant kill.

“You dare!”

The second man spread his arms, a pale yellow phantom slowly forming behind him.

[Soul Invocation—Tiger of Misfortune]

“Take my Tiger Fang Strike!”

Watching the guy move like a turtle, Sui Ming sighed deeply.

A clean arc of the blade—another life gone.

“You talk too much. For a second, I thought you were an announcer.”

He casually flicked the blood from the blade, then carefully slid White Cry back into its sheath.

He had no intention of dirtying this meaningful weapon unnecessarily—a quiet gesture of respect for the girl who had forged it.

On Sui Ming’s card, the score changed from exactly 60 to 65.

Clearly, his guess had been right.

“Sui… Sui-ge, you’re amazing.”

Ral was utterly at a loss for words, unsure how to express his awe.

Those two just now were both at least [Mortal Dust] Tier 4 Soul Invokers.

And yet—neither had stood a chance against Sui Ming’s blade.

Wasn’t this… just a little too absurd?

Sui Ming felt the mana churning within him.

He could sense the changes brought by his awakening—not just faster reflexes, but an all-around enhancement of his physical abilities.

Which meant he could now employ more advanced ancient martial techniques.

A welcome revelation, especially with the kind of battles they were about to face.

“Let’s go.”

“Let’s see if these so-called prodigies… are worthy of the title.”

Half an hour earlier—

“Let’s see here…”

Anna stared at the ranking board, her interest clearly piqued by the constant shifts in names.

“Not bad this year. Someone’s already broken fifty points?”

“Won’t be long before they figure out what this trial’s really about.”

“Peaceful grinding won’t get them far. In the end, bloodshed is the only path forward.”

“Eternal blood is the forge of unbreakable will, the seed of everlasting glory!”

“…Okay, chill. Did you forget to take your meds again?”

“Oh, come on—this is the best batch we’ve had in years. Let me be excited.”

“Once the performance numbers are in, the bonuses will follow. That bastard at Rhine won’t have any reason to cut my pay—bwahaha!”

“Enough already.”

Bai Yunqing sighed and glanced at the screen.

Top of the board: Bai Luoxia, with a solid 56 points.

Second place: Lecter, the eldest son of the Fenrir Family, just two points behind.

Everyone else? The gap was starting to show.

“Wait… hold on. Who’s that?!”

Anna suddenly jolted upright, pointing at the two names that had just surged upward.

The leaderboard had updated.

“Wait—why is one of the names just gibberish? And what the hell is that Heikale alchemist doing there?”

“Is he really just an alchemist? Or some kind of monster the Heikale family’s been secretly grooming?”

“As for that gibberish name…”

Bai Yunqing narrowed his eyes.

Anyone who could invade the artifact [Virtual-Reality Mirror] was not your average participant.

“Regardless of their motives, we should probably pause the selection.”

“I’ll run a quick scan just in case. If someone from [The Abyss] got in, the damage would be catastrophic.”

“I can’t allow any of these talents to be lost.”

“Little He, you there?”

“Present and accounted for, Your Majesty.”

The scruffy, half-asleep man suddenly appeared beside the throne like a ghost.

“Is he… still in Noah City?”

“Ah… um… I think so…”

“Ugh—spit it out. Was it Xi who asked you to do this?”

“Aha… yeah.”

Heikale lowered his head in shame.

“I owed him a favor from long ago… so I…”

“You’ve been protecting him all these years?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Hold on, Your Majesty! If anything happens, come for me instead! He’s already suffered enough!”

“Who said anything about touching him?”

Bai Yunqing rolled his eyes.

“Eh?”

“You’ve been by my side all these years. Surely you know me better than that by now.”

“But you’re right.”

“We do owe him. We owe him a lot.”

“Alright. Just a few tweaks and the trial can be paused temporarily.”

“No need to investigate further. I already know who that ‘gibberish’ is.”

“No way! I can’t allow even the smallest risk to go unchecked!”

“Then what if I told you…”

“That the one behind the gibberish is your mission target this time?”

“The assassin from Rhine Academy—Miss Anna.”