A territory with a lush and thriving forest.

Yuan Zhao and his dozens of Blood Race People were in constant retreat.

Everyone was panting, their Physical Strength severely depleted.

Before them were eight enormous Slimes, each the size of a small house.

Each one was a different Color.

The red ones could spit Fireballs, the white ones could launch Ice Arrows, the green ones would spray poisonous gas, and the purple ones could summon Thunder...

Each possessed a super-strong Self-Healing Ability.

After taking a hit, they would quickly recover, making them impossible to kill.

Yuan Zhao and his men had already prevented one split, but their Physical Strength gave out, and they could only watch helplessly as one Emperor Slime split into three giant Slimes.

Then, those three split into nine.

They fought with all their might and managed to kill one more, but they also lost several Blood Race People in the process.

The remaining members had low Morale, and their Physical Strength was failing.

"Lord, should we fall back and counterattack using our Defense towers?"

Yuan Zhao shook his head. "It’s too late. We’ll run out of time if we go back, and we don’t have the Physical Strength to run that far anyway."

"Then didn’t we build our Defense towers for nothing?"

Yuan Zhao was helpless. "It can’t be helped. The rules for each test are slightly different. Even if we can’t use them this time, we can in the future. It definitely wasn’t for nothing."

"Lord, look! The Giant Slimes are all starting to tremble! They’re about to split again!"

Yuan Zhao sighed. "Everyone, group up! I know you’re all exhausted, but this is the last push. If we can kill one more, we’ll have completed our current objective!"

"Understood, my Lord."

Dozens of pale-faced Blood Race People gathered.

Their speed was extremely fast. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

They also had high Resistance to Spiritual Techniques.

And unlike in novels and movies, this Blood Race was not afraid of the sun.

Nor were they afraid of things like crosses or garlic.

It was just that their Attributes would be slightly weaker during the day and slightly stronger at night.

Their most powerful trait was their Vampire ability.

They didn’t need to use their mouths to drink the blood directly.

As long as they could wound an enemy, they could make the blood continuously fly out and stream directly into their mouths.

It could Damage the enemy, heal themselves, and count as a meal, all at the same time.

Truly, it killed three birds with one stone.

This was the advantage of the Blood Race.

They had breezed through the previous few stages, whether facing Naga Warriors or Succubi—they could drain them all.

However, against foes without blood, like Ghosts, Thunder Elements, and Earth Puppets, they were at a slight disadvantage.

Still, they could rely on their powerful Attributes to tear enemies apart.

Unfortunately, the ninth stage turned out to be the Emperor Slime.

When they slashed open wounds, they could only draw out a mouthful of sticky liquid, which failed to Supplement them at all.

After fighting to this point, they had only managed to kill one.

All eight Slimes before them were trembling.

The next moment, their bodies swelled and—WHOOSH—each one split into three.

The eight Giant Slimes split into twenty-four Large Slimes, each the size of a carriage.

"My Lord, what’s the plan?"

"Lord, they’re surrounding us!"

"I can’t... I’m out of Physical Strength."

"Me too, I’m so tired."

"Can’t we rest for a bit?"

"Yeah, we’re pushing ourselves too hard."

Yuan Zhao frowned, continuing to fall back.

Morale was low, and no one had the will to fight.

’This stage is probably a lost cause...’

SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

As their Physical Strength was exhausted, the pursuing Slimes closed in. Once in range, the variously colored Large Slimes all began to Attack.

A barrage of Fireballs, Ice Arrows, Thunder, and Poisonous Fog came at them.

Although the twenty-four Slimes were now smaller, the power of their Skills was still immense.

Under these circumstances, trying to kill another one was unrealistic.

’Forget it.’

Yuan Zhao raised his hand.

"Instructor, requesting support."

BANG! BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!

Chief Instructor Zhang Shouning descended. All the Slimes instantly turned into liquid, splattered across the ground.

「Meanwhile.」

In a territory of rolling hills and mountains.

Zhou Lue sat astride a Griffin’s back.

Dozens of Griffins were Flying around him.

Below, twenty-six Large Slimes followed the Griffins in the sky, moving by constantly Bouncing.

Zhou Lue frowned.

’These Slimes have too strong a Recovery Ability.’

When the Emperor Slime had appeared, his dozens of Griffins had taken turns performing a Dive Attack.

As a result, the Emperor Slime merely splattered out a lot of mucus and its Body shrank significantly, but otherwise it was unharmed.

However, the Griffins’ feathers were coated in sticky goo, which greatly hindered their Flying.

Afterward, the Emperor Slime split into three, then into nine, and now, it had split into twenty-seven.

These twenty-seven Large Slimes were slightly weaker.

They could now finally kill one Large Slime with a single round of Dives.

But the cost was two dead and three injured Griffins.

The moment they dove, all the Slimes would use their Skills.

The Griffins had to charge down through a hail of various Spiritual Technique attacks. They would be hit by a wave of attacks before they even reached their target.

Griffins were powerful.

Especially their mobility.

But their method of Attack was very limited.

It usually consisted of a high-speed Dive for a single strike against an enemy, or even a surprise attack.

Not many could withstand it.

But the disadvantage was also obvious.

They only got one strike.

If they missed, or failed to kill the enemy in one hit, they would have to face a counterattack.

Griffins needed coordination with other Soldier Types to be used to their full potential.

The Griffins’ speed had now slowed considerably, and they struggled to flap their wings.

The Griffins’ Attack style meant they were unable to sustain high-intensity combat.

"My Lord, look! Those Slimes are starting to tremble again!"

Zhou Lue’s Initial Hero said from the back of another Griffin.

Zhou Lue nodded. "We’ll see if there’s an opportunity in a moment, but I think this is it for this stage. The 30-minute Time limit is almost up."

Below, the remaining twenty-six Slimes split again.

This resulted in seventy-eight Medium-sized Slimes of various Colors.

They crowded together, jumping up and down as they chased Zhou Lue in the sky.

Zhou Lue still didn’t dare order an Attack.

After all, these Medium-sized Slimes were not small. Charging down into a storm of Spiritual Techniques would be a suicide mission.

Time ticked by. Zhou Lue only found two opportunities, managing to kill two Medium-sized Slimes.

Thirty minutes were up.

Chief Instructor Li Yin appeared on the ground.

The next moment, all the Slimes unleashed their Attack.

But Li Yin didn’t dodge or evade; he met their assault with a counterattack.

A few seconds later, the battle was over.

"Zhou Lue, the test is over. Come on out!"

Li Yin vanished.

Zhou Lue sighed. "Looks like the ninth stage is my limit. I wonder what my rank is."

Zhou Lue opened the rankings.

Zhao Chi also opened the rankings.

After Li Ruanyu left, Zhao Chi received a system notification.

[Ninth Stage Not Passed]

[You have exited the test]

[Victory] Prevented 3 splits, obtained Primordial Slime Bloodline

[Time Taken] 22 minutes 22 seconds

[Score] 42 points

[Total Score] 603 points

[Rank] 1st

Huh?

Seeing this score, Zhao Chi sat up straight from Gu Qing’s soft embrace.

’I’m first?’

’Why?’

’I didn’t pass the stage, and I didn’t even kill the Emperor Slime.’

’How did I still get 42 points?’

However, the victory column read: "Prevented 3 splits, obtained Primordial Slime Bloodline."

’So preventing splits and obtaining a bloodline also counts towards the score?’

But none of that mattered anymore.

He had never imagined he could actually take first place.

First place in the entire grade.

And first place in combat, no less.

Besides the score, there was another unexpected surprise this time.

The Primordial Slime Bloodline.