After witnessing Xu Jingming's overwhelming strength, Zhou Mingyang couldn't help muttering complaints under his breath—but deep down, he knew the truth:
Xu Jingming was indeed stronger than him.
"Where did this monster even come from? He doesn't even seem like an Ability User, yet killing Tier-1 beasts is like slicing vegetables for him…"
Grumbling silently, Zhou Mingyang continued on his own path to slay beasts.
He couldn't match Xu Jingming's power, but he still had to defend his second place ranking.
So he weaved through the Core Zone, hunting for killable targets.
At first, in the first two hours, it was manageable.
He would occasionally encounter a lone Tier-1 Mid-Level beast or a small group of three or four Tier-1 beasts.
But by the third hour, Zhou Mingyang began to notice fewer beasts on his route.
By the fourth hour, after wandering the Core Zone for what felt like forever, he didn't see a single beast.
"What's going on? Where did all the beasts go?"
Zhou Mingyang froze, frustration bubbling up.
He kicked a fist-sized stone on the ground in a fit of irritation.
As an Ability User, his strength was formidable.
The rock shot forward, smashing against a rusty metal billboard with a loud CRASH.
Under normal circumstances, he would never have done something that might attract nearby beasts' attention.
But now… he wanted them to come.
Only… they didn't.
Instead, his noise drew the attention of humans.
Three of them—a pair of boys and a girl—were approaching, waving from a distance:
"Yo, Mingyang."
"You three? How come you're all together?"
Zhou Mingyang eyed them curiously as they drew near.
Like him, they were all First High School Rocket Class students, Tier-1 Lower-Level Ability Users.
They knew each other well.
Besides Zhou Mingyang, these three held the other top ranks in the Martial Arts exam.
"You'll have to ask Xu Jingming that," the bald boy on the right shrugged helplessly.
"He cleared out all the beasts in the Core Zone. We couldn't find any, so we had no choice but to meet up."
A soft-voiced girl in the middle added, "We'd been wandering for over half an hour. We heard some noise, thought it was beasts… ran excitedly over here… and it turned out to be you."
Despite her petite frame, she carried a massive broadsword—a shocking contrast to her delicate appearance.
The long-haired boy on the left shook his head.
"Xu Jingming killed all the beasts? Impossible!"
Zhou Mingyang furrowed his brow, refusing to believe it.
After all, the Core Zone was stocked with at least 300–400 beasts for the exam.
Killing them all in just a few hours? That was unimaginable.
"You haven't checked the rankings in a while. Here—look at Xu Jingming's score, and you'll understand."
The bald boy activated his smartwatch, projecting the rankings into midair with a buzz:
1st: Xu Jingming — 3435 pts (Second High School, Jiangcheng)
2nd: Zhou Mingyang — 1103 pts (First High School, Jiangcheng)
3rd: Wu Hao — 945 pts (First High School, Jiangcheng)
...
"Three… three thousand four hundred points?!"
Zhou Mingyang, usually composed and graceful, nearly popped his eyes out.
"So now you understand why we said Xu Jingming cleared out all the beasts?"
The bald boy closed the projection with a wry smile.
"Scoring per Tier-1 Lower-Level beast is roughly 14–16 points, per Tier-1 Mid-Level beast is 20–22 points.
3435 points… even after subtracting the 700+ points he earned in the mid-region, there's still over 2500 points left.
That means Xu Jingming alone killed almost 200 beasts in the Core Zone!
Add the few kills we made ourselves… basically, the Core Zone's beasts are gone."
Zhou Mingyang's jaw dropped.
Ever since entering the exam, he had only focused on maximizing his kills for higher points.
He had never imagined that the beasts could be completely wiped out!
"No wonder Xu Jingming was so worried about people stealing his kills… he already knew this would happen!"
Recalling his first conversation with Xu Jingming, Zhou Mingyang felt as if a hundred thousand wild horses were galloping across his mind.
Meanwhile, inside the exam hall, the news of 3435 points sent shockwaves.
"This score is insane! Even at worst, Xu Jingming is top ten in Jiangnan Province!"
"Top ten! When has Jiangcheng ever produced a score like this?!"
"Breaking records… Xu Jingming just shattered Jiangcheng's history!"
Outside the exam hall, the principals and teachers were ecstatic.
3435 points essentially guaranteed Xu Jingming a spot in the Jiangnan Province Top Ten—the best result in Jiangcheng ever.
"Unbelievable… and all with just a spear!"
Second High School's principal, Zhao Yao, felt a heat rising through his chest, overwhelmed with pride.
Top ten in Jiangnan Province meant that top-tier Ability User universities nationwide would fight over him!
"Who would've thought that from our Jiangcheng, Xu Jingming would appear—a child born to dominate the beasts!"
Education Bureau Director Zhang Wenshan couldn't stop smiling.
He no longer cared that Xu Jingming only had an E-Rank ability.
With this kind of performance, even F-Rank Ability Users would have universities scrambling to recruit them.
"Xu Jingming is downright insane—he cleared almost the entire Core Zone in just three to four hours. He's definitely a combat freak in the making."
Zhou Mingyang and his peers didn't know the exact number of beasts deployed in the Core Zone—but Director Zhang Wenshan certainly did.
There were 450 Tier-1 Lower-Level beasts and 40 Tier-1 Mid-Level beasts.
After accounting for beast-versus-beast deaths and the kills by Zhou Mingyang's group…
Xu Jingming alone killed nearly half the Core Zone in just three to four hours.
That alone was enough to illustrate the terrifying scale of his strength.
"Xu Jingming's parents both died during a beast surge when he was young. Perhaps that's why he hates beasts so much," explained homeroom teacher Chen Fan.
"I see."
Zhang Wenshan nodded, his face hardening.
"Hmph! Sooner or later, humanity will wipe all the beasts off the planet."
"Don't worry… that day will come," added Principal Zhao Yao, voice cold as he thought of the beasts' savagery.