Chapter 100: Chapter 99: Such a High Ranking?

A day drifted by. The evening sunlight fell upon Kunlun City, and the shadows of the scattered buildings cast jagged silhouettes to the south.

The weary students from Fourth Middle School wiped the blood and sweat from their faces as they trudged out of the vine-choked perimeter of the Secret Realm, sighing endlessly.

Dozens of students dragged various Middle Tier Demon Beasts, each larger than a lion, while hundreds of others each pulled a Low Tier Demon Beast, following Zhang Heng as they headed back.

"The efficiency isn’t bad. On the first day, we managed to kill over thirty Middle Tier Demon Beasts in the outer perimeter. Most people will get to eat Middle Tier Demon Beast meat, which will replenish their Qi Blood quickly."

Ye Shu scanned the crowd and commented casually, "It’s a shame we didn’t run into any High Tier Demon Beasts. The four of us at the Steel Bone Realm didn’t even have a chance to make a move. There weren’t many Middle Tier Demon Beasts either."

"This is how the college entrance exam always starts. You probe deeper step by step. Besides the ten major high schools from the provincial capital, what high school would just charge in to hunt High Tier Demon Beasts right from the get-go?"

Zhang Heng took a deep breath and waved his hand. "We’re almost at the temporary base. Class Fifteen, go find some discarded wooden furniture in the nearby buildings. We need to start a fire and roast some meat..."

SCRAPE...

The sound of carapaces dragging on the ground drew closer, accompanied by excited chatter. "Haha, we’re eating High Tier Demon Beast Meat tonight! There’s more than we can eat in three days!"

"With Brother Jiang around, getting into Northwest Martial University is practically guaranteed!"

CLOMP CLOMP CLOMP.

Jiang Qiu clutched a Demon Beast leg in each hand, the two small elephant-sized High Tier Demon Beasts he was dragging making a sound on the shattered road that was music to their ears. Dozens of students followed, each shouldering a Middle Tier Demon Beast, their laughter ringing out as their steps were heavy yet fast.

"Damn it, how do they have two or three times as many Middle Tier Demon Beasts as we do, and two High Tier Demon Beasts on top of that?"

A few students from Fourth Middle School clenched their fists in anger, their faces flushing red as looks of shock and suspicion flashed in their eyes.

"What’s going on?" Ye Shu’s brows furrowed. She flicked on her exam wristband and tapped it twice. The moment the projected leaderboard appeared, her eyes went wide. "What the hell? Gao Yuan City’s Outer City Eighth Middle School is ranked forty-seventh?!"

[Team Score Leaderboard]

[First Place: Yongjiang City’s Inner City First Middle School — 44011]

[...]

[Forty-sixth Place: Gao Yuan City’s Inner City Fourth Middle School — 3872]

[Forty-seventh Place: Gao Yuan City’s Outer City Eighth Middle School — 2168]

[Forty-eighth Place: Yongjiang City’s Outer City First Middle School — 1056]

[...]

Across the entire province, seven major cities were competing in the exam. It was a given that the top forty-six spots would be occupied by the ten major high schools from the provincial capital and the thirty-six other Inner City high schools.

Below them, the strongest should have been the several Outer City high schools from the provincial capital, Yongjiang City. Those were teams of three to four hundred people, and they even had students in the Steel Bone Realm.

But now, Gao Yuan City’s Outer City Eighth Middle School, with just over eighty people, was leaving everyone in the dust, hot on the heels of the Inner City high schools!

A wave of absurdity washed over Ye Shu. Zhang Heng’s eyes were wide as well, spittle flying as he yelled, "Quick, look at the individual rankings! How many points does their leader have!"

"The leader, the leader..." Ye Shu bit her lower lip, hastily switching leaderboards. Her finger had barely swiped when it froze, her pupils contracting sharply. "Jiang Qiu, first on the Gao Yuan City individual candidate ranking, thirty-third on the overall Northwest Province individual candidate ranking, with 1651 points..."

"How many?!" Zhang Heng’s heart skipped a beat. With a CLICK, he activated his own exam wristband. He swiped frantically a couple of times, then his hand froze mid-air. He was dumbfounded. "How can he be thirty-third? Our Sanliang City’s number one is only fifty-fourth..."

His gaze fixed on the bottom of the list, on his own rank of one hundred and seventy-third, which he swallowed down with a gulp.

At that moment, the other students from Fourth Middle School also activated their exam wristbands. A furious chatter, like a string of firecrackers, erupted, and no one could contain it.

The passing team from Eighth Middle School glanced back at them from a distance, their spirits soaring even higher. Dinner was going to taste even better tonight.

...

CLICK.

A lighter ignited nine bonfires. Over eighty people sat around them in the grand lobby of a hotel. The two butchered High Tier Demon Beasts had been distributed to the various group leaders; Sun Yongsheng took his own portion. Everyone cheerfully followed Jiang Qiu’s instructions.

Amidst the boisterous atmosphere, fat rendered from the Demon Beast Meat dripped into the fires with a SIZZLE. A savory, charred aroma drifted on the waves of heat, sneaking its way into Qian Cheng’s nostrils.

He sat beside Hu Ye’ye, hugging his knees. The two of them were a little distant from each other, but their eyes were both glued to the large leg of meat being turned over in Zhang Shan’s hands.

Hu Ye’ye had at least eaten meat from a Middle Tier Demon Beast during the training hunts. As for him, before coming here, he had never even smelled the meat of a Low Tier Demon Beast...

"Everyone, quiet down and listen to me."

As soon as Jiang Qiu, seated in the main position, began to speak, the only sounds left in the lobby were the sizzle of fat and the roar of the wind-stoked flames. All eyes turned to him, like stars gazing at the moon.

"I promised Director Zhao that as your leader, I would do my best to ensure everyone’s safety. I will handle the High Tier Demon Beasts. As for the Middle Tier Demon Beasts, if you can handle them, deal with them yourselves. Don’t lose points because you’re being hesitant."

Jiang Qiu took a deep breath and raised his right hand. With a TAP, he brought up the individual score leaderboard, a long list of rankings that stretched up toward the ceiling, which flickered in the firelight.

Qian Cheng’s pupils shrank, and he quietly lowered his head.

’After a whole day of following Jiang Qiu, we only encountered Middle Tier Demon Beasts. Even when I worked with Hu Ye’ye and the others, I wasn’t much help, let alone getting a kill.’

’Zero points. Ranked dead last, 54,321st place.’

’With this kind of strength, it’ll be hard to get into Northwest Martial University. I’m just dragging down the school and Brother Jiang...’

"I’ve looked at the rankings. Right now, only Sun Yongsheng, Li Juefeng, and I have made it into the top ten thousand. Everyone else has a ways to go to reach the admission cutoff."

Jiang Qiu casually scrolled through the leaderboard. More and more students saw their names appear from the bottom of the list. The light in their eyes gradually dimmed, and their chins sank to their chests. The dark red shadows from the flames flickered across their blood-stained cheeks.

In previous years’ exams, most of the admitted students were in the Iron Flesh Realm, with few from the Copper Skin Realm. But now, participating in person and with Jiang Qiu leading the team, they discovered that most of the Iron Flesh Realm students couldn’t even touch the admission cutoff on the first day.

Sun Yongsheng leaned against a wall, arms crossed, and sighed lightly. "Most of the students at the top of the rankings aren’t taking the team route. They don’t care about the team ranking; they’re extreme solo players, just grinding for points. It’ll be hard for many of us to catch up."

’If grinding for points alone wasn’t so tiring, and if it wasn’t so safe and easy to coast with Jiang Qiu—plus, my grandfather did ask me to—I’d probably be an extreme point-grinder myself.’

’It’s just a shame that the Outer City high school my grandfather is in charge of has too few resources. We couldn’t get everyone to the Iron Flesh Realm, so killing Middle Tier Demon Beasts is a real struggle for them...’

"It’s not a big deal. The cutoff for the top ten thousand is only 20 or 30 points right now. As long as we find a colony of small, ant-like Demon Beasts, you’ll reach it in no time."

With a TAP, Jiang Qiu dismissed the leaderboard. He raised an eyebrow and scanned the students who still had their heads down, his expression calm. "The exam lasts for thirty days. From now on, you’ll have High Tier Demon Beast Meat to eat every day. That will be enough to help you forge stronger bodies.

If your strength is still not enough, I can also lead you down an unorthodox path and enter small-scale Secret Realms to search for rare treasures.

The ruins of Kunlun City are the exam grounds, but they’re also an opportunity for all of you to transform. Even if you don’t get into Northwest Martial University, you will still make progress here. Don’t get hung up on high or low scores.

And don’t feel like you’re dragging me down. You are doing this for yourselves. Just do your best."

Every resonant word struck a chord in their hearts. As the heat from the bonfires washed over their faces, they slowly raised their heads, a stellar glint faintly reappearing in their burning gazes.

"Now, let’s distribute the meat. Eat as much as you can, and strive to achieve a breakthrough in your Realm during the exam."

As his voice fell, Zhang Shan was the first to cut off a large piece of High Tier Demon Beast Meat for Jiang Qiu. The rest was distributed in succession, and the atmosphere gradually became lively again.

When Qian Cheng accepted the last large piece of Demon Beast Meat, his heart leaped. His gaze drifted from the departing Zhang Shan and then fixed on Jiang Qiu. A sourness welled up inside him, like biting into an unripe grape, and the feeling pricked at his nose.

’I have to work hard. I have to work harder! Even if I’ve only just reached the Copper Skin Realm, I have to kill a Middle Tier Demon Beast!’

’If I can’t get into Northwest Martial University, I’ll be letting myself down, and I’ll be letting Brother Jiang down!’