"First place Zhou Mingyang has 412 points. Looks like he's already begun a killing spree in the middle zone."
"His Swift Gale Movement ability is excellent for traveling. Even in the provincial capital's Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, that kind of movement speed wouldn't be considered weak."
"Speaking of which, Principal Liu is truly impressive. Almost all of the top ten students are from your school."
"..."
Outside the ruined town, on an open field, ten massive projection screens floated in the air.
These screens were capturing live footage using military-grade drones, currently tracking the top ten scoring candidates.
Beneath those ten massive projections were thousands of smaller projection screens.
Those were fed by fixed surveillance cameras installed throughout the ruined town. Only when necessary would their footage be enlarged onto the main projection screens.
Beside the projection screens stood a ranking board listing each candidate's score and ranking in detail.
On the temporary spectator stands below, officials from the Education Bureau, along with principals and teachers from various schools, were commenting on the students' performances.
Among them, a middle-aged man wearing a suit and sporting short hair was the center of attention.
He was Principal Liu Hang of Jiangcheng First High School.
Among the top ten on the Martial Arts ranking list, aside from a single student from Jiangcheng Third High School, all the others were students from First High School.
"Zhou Mingyang is Jiangcheng's ace. In this year's Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, he should be able to break into the Top 100 of Jiangnan Province."
In the front row of the spectator stands sat a short and stout middle-aged man.
Watching Zhou Mingyang slaughter Fierce Beasts on the first projection screen, he nodded slightly.
His name was Zhang Wenshan, Director of the Jiangcheng Education Bureau.
"Come to think of it, Jiangcheng hasn't produced a student who entered the Jiangnan Province Top 100 in many years."
Seated beside him, Principal Liu Hang of First High School sighed with emotion.
Jiangnan Province was one of the most populous provinces in the Great Xia Nation, containing 24 prefecture-level cities and nearly 34 county-level cities.
Jiangcheng itself was located in the remote northern region of Jiangnan Province, with scarce resources and weak economic development—ranking near the bottom among the 24 cities.
Because of that, the annual education funding allocated from the provincial capital Ning'an City was relatively limited.
For this very reason, Jiangcheng had never achieved outstanding results in the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam over the years.
The best historical result had occurred seven or eight years ago, when a student awakened an A-class Ability and barely entered the Top 100 of Jiangnan Province.
Although several more A-class Ability Users had appeared in the years since, none had managed to enter the provincial Top 100 again.
But this year, Zhou Mingyang had rekindled their hope.
"I've always been satisfied with First High School's education quality."
Director Zhang Wenshan nodded.
"Also, Third High School has done well this year. At least one student made it into the Top Ten."
"However, Second High School seems weaker this time. Their highest-ranked student is only in 18th place."
Jiangcheng First High School was the best high school in the city.
Second and Third High Schools were noticeably weaker by comparison.
In previous years' Martial Arts College Entrance Exams, the Top Ten had been completely dominated by First High School students, leaving no room for students from the other schools.
"This year, our school has produced several students with excellent talent."
The principal of Third High School couldn't stop smiling.
Compared to him, the principal of Second High School, Zhao Yao, looked somewhat embarrassed.
In past years, Second High School had always ranked above Third High School.
But this year, the situation seemed reversed.
'It does seem like our school's performance this year isn't very good...'
Principal Zhao Yao scanned the rankings carefully.
He found that only eight students from Second High School had made it into the Top Fifty.
'Li Ming, Yang Jian, Tang Ju... these are all students from Class One, the elite Rocket Class. But who is this Xu Jingming? I've never seen this name before.'
The results of the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam directly determined each school's education funding allocation.
So Zhao Yao was fairly familiar with his school's top-performing students.
Yet the name Xu Jingming was completely unfamiliar to him.
"Maybe he's a hidden student from one of the regular classes. I'll ask the homeroom teachers later."
Zhao Yao didn't think much of it.
After all, with so many students at Second High School, it wasn't strange for one or two students to secretly hide their true strength.
While Principal Zhao Yao didn't pay much attention, someone seated further back in the stands was completely stunned.
That person was Chen Fan, the homeroom teacher of Senior Class 3–5 at Second High School.
He knew Xu Jingming very clearly.
Xu Jingming was only an E-class Ability User.
So how had he suddenly entered the Top Fifty?
And now, within their entire Class 5, Xu Jingming had the highest ranking!
It was unbelievable!
"Could it be that he's been hiding his strength?"
"But no matter how much you hide, an E-class ability is still an E-class ability. It can't suddenly become an S-class ability, can it?"
"So how did he manage to get such a high score?"
Teacher Chen Fan was utterly baffled.
The Martial Arts College Entrance Exam involved real, life-and-death combat against Fierce Beasts.
There was absolutely no room for cheating.
Unfortunately, the main projection screens only displayed the Top Ten candidates.
Below them were thousands of fixed-camera feeds, densely packed and impossible to distinguish clearly.
Trying to find Xu Jingming's footage among them was simply impossible.
Unable to see Xu Jingming's combat footage, and having no idea how he had earned such a high score, Chen Fan felt restless—
Like a kitten smelling catnip but unable to reach it, his curiosity itched unbearably.
...
Inside the ruined town, after half an hour of continuous movement, Xu Jingming finally entered the middle zone.
"Roar~~"
"Awooo~~~"
Compared to the outer zone, the middle zone contained noticeably more Fierce Beasts.
Even while walking, Xu Jingming could hear distant roars and howls of Fierce Beasts.
The air itself seemed filled with a scent of blood and violent ferocity.
Crack—
Xu Jingming carried his spear while holding a nutrition bar in his mouth. His combat boot stepped onto a broken plastic basin by the roadside.
What had once been durable plastic had become brittle after decades of exposure to wind and rain—shattering instantly into fragments under his step.
As he moved forward, Xu Jingming carefully observed his surroundings.
The ruined town, formerly known as Weiyuan Town, once had a population of nearly 100,000 people.
When the Fierce Beasts broke through the city defenses, many civilians hadn't managed to evacuate in time.
Nearly 50,000 to 60,000 people had perished in the jaws of the beasts.
In the outer suburbs, there had been few visible signs of that disaster.
But after entering what would have been the urban district of the ruined town—
He could now see abandoned vehicles that had never been driven away...
Dark red bloodstains dried into the cracked ground...
And scattered human skeletons that had yet to fully weather away...
All revealing the bloody cruelty of that catastrophic past.