50: Chapter 50 Reaching the Summit! The Hunt Begins!

Although Principal Yao Guishan's strength was inferior to the Head of the Lu Family—he was only a Seventh-Rank Deity—Principal Yao Guishan was backed by the Yao Family of the Capital, which was a Celestial Family, so he naturally did not fear the Head of the Lu Family.

Principal Yao Guishan curled his lip. "Oh, still being stubborn as a dead duck. Fine, then let's keep watching and see who gets the last laugh!"

Inside the virtual battlefield, with the goat head blasted apart by Fara, the Purgatory Chimera's defeat was destined to be a matter of time.

Fara tossed the torn-off goat horn to the side, clenched his fists, and stared at the remaining two trembling heads, revealing a cruel smile.

The Purgatory Chimera was now in a miserable state. One of its three heads had been blasted off, and the remaining lion head and leopard head no longer had their previous arrogant air. The mane of the lion head had been ripped out by more than half, and its face was covered in blood; the leopard head had several fangs broken, and its jaw was crooked.

It was afraid, truly afraid. As a Gold-Tier peak gatekeeper, it had lorded over this region for so long, and it had never seen such an unreasonable fighting style. The golden-armored giant before it was even more beastly than a ferocious beast!

The Purgatory Chimera's massive body began to shrink back, its six legs kicking wildly on the ground as it tried to turn and flee.

"Want to run? Did you ask my fists first!" Fara shouted, his legs thrusting hard against the ground as he chased after it like a cannonball.

At this moment, the buffs from Fara's Chaotic Cloak Fist Technique had stacked to a truly terrifying level.

"Six million."

"Seven million."

"Seven point eight million!"

Fara's comprehensive combat power was approaching the eight-million mark! This was eight million combat power! Fang Chuan estimated that a follower with this level of combat power far exceeded that of an ordinary peak demigod follower.

Fara caught up to the Purgatory Chimera in a few steps, grabbed its tail, and yanked it back with force.

The Purgatory Chimera's massive body was directly pulled off balance, crashing heavily onto the ground and creating a large crater.

"Roar!" The lion head turned, wanting to make a final struggle. It opened its bloody maw, attempting to bite Fara's arm.

Fara didn't dodge at all, instead thrusting his left hand directly into the lion head's mouth and grabbing its tongue.

"Shut up!" Fara formed his right hand into a fist the size of a sandbag and smashed it down onto the lion head's forehead.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" One punch followed another, each carrying the sound of breaking air.

Fara's fists erupted with visible white shockwaves; each punch that landed was like a falling meteorite, brutally caving in the Purgatory Chimera's skull over a large area, causing the black gold floor tiles of the entire plaza to shatter amidst the rumbling vibrations!

The Purgatory Chimera's body twitched violently, and the leopard head frantically bit at Fara's thigh from the side, but against Fara's layer of dark golden skin, it only left a few white marks, unable to even break through the defense.

Fang Chuan checked the time; there were less than three hours left until the end of the assessment. Not wanting to waste any more time, he gave the order: "Fara, stop playing around, send it on its way!"

"Yes!" Fara responded. He stopped his punches, wrapped his hands around the lion head's neck, engaged his waist, and gave it a fierce twist.

"Snap!" A crisp sound of bone breaking echoed throughout the plaza. The Purgatory Chimera's remaining half of the lion head was directly and forcefully twisted off by Fara, hanging limply from its neck, completely still.

The massive body collapsed to the ground with a boom, kicking up a cloud of black dust. The Purgatory Chimera was dead!

The notification sound of the virtual battlefield immediately rang in the minds of all candidates.

"Ding! Congratulations to candidate Fang Chuan for successfully killing the Level 80 Gold-Tier peak gatekeeper 'Purgatory Chimera,' obtaining 1.5 million points!"

Fang Chuan looked at the rapidly rising points on the panel and nodded with satisfaction. 1.5 million points—this haul was truly a massive profit.

Zhang Chao stood behind, staring blankly at the corpse of the Purgatory Chimera, only coming back to his senses after a long while.

"We won just like that?"

"Captain, does your follower's combat power... actually have an upper limit?" Liu Ruyan couldn't help but ask.

Fang Chuan smiled and casually made up an excuse: "What upper limit? It's just that his skills happened to counter this monster. Just lucky, just lucky."

Liu Ruyan rolled her eyes, thinking to herself: I'd be a fool to believe you!

Fang Chuan glanced at the massive beast-bone building behind the Purgatory Chimera, his eyes lighting up.

"Let's go, let's go loot the spoils!" Fang Chuan waved his hand and strode into the beast-bone building with Zhang Chao and Liu Ruyan.

Fang Chuan led Zhang Chao and Liu Ruyan into the massive beast-bone building. As soon as they entered, a dense aura of energy rushed toward them. The interior of the building was very spacious, with various glowing crystals embedded in the walls, illuminating the inside brightly.

In the very center of the building, treasures were piled up like a small mountain. There were Divine Kingdom building blueprints radiating colorful light, boxes of high-order energy crystals, and various rare pieces of follower equipment.

Zhang Chao's eyes went straight; he ran over, picked up a longsword gleaming with a cold light, and trembled with excitement.

"Brother Chuan! Look at this sword; this is Gold-Tier equipment! Outside, this could sell for several million Faith Points!" Zhang Chao said excitedly.

"This place is truly worthy of being the treasury of the Core Area; the value of these resources is too high. Just these building blueprints alone, if converted into points, would be worth at least several million." Liu Ruyan quickly estimated.

Fang Chuan nodded and began to collect the spoils without hesitation.

"Ding! Obtained S-Grade Divine Kingdom building blueprint [Storm Altar], converted to 300,000 points!"

"Ding! Obtained 10,000 high-order energy crystals, converted to 500,000 points!"

"Ding! Obtained rare follower equipment [Berserker's Axe], converted to 200,000 points!"

...Fang Chuan spent over ten minutes looting the treasures in this beast-bone building until there was almost nothing left.

He checked his points; these treasures added up to a total increase of five million points! Adding the 1.5 million points from killing the Purgatory Chimera, as well as the points he had previously accumulated, Fang Chuan's total points had now reached a truly terrifying number.

Fang Chuan did not hog all the rewards. He knew that although Zhang Chao and Liu Ruyan hadn't helped much along the way, they had still done their best, and giving them a little benefit was necessary.

"Chaozi, Ruyan, the remaining treasures are worth about 1.2 million points. Chaozi, you take 800,000; Ruyan, you take 400,000. Any objections?"

"No, no, no! Brother Chuan, I can't take this! I was just tagging along the whole way, and Fara killed the Purgatory Chimera all by himself—how could I have the face to take so many points!" Zhang Chao was so anxious his face turned red.

Liu Ruyan also added, "Captain, Zhang Chao is right. We didn't contribute, and we would feel guilty accepting these points. You should keep them for yourself; you currently need the points to solidify your first-place position."

"If I tell you to take them, then take them. Why so much nonsense? If you consider me a brother, then accept it. Besides, I already have enough points; I don't need this little bit. If you two take the points, your rankings will improve, which will be good for your future university entrance exams." Fang Chuan said in a firm tone.

Hearing Fang Chuan say this, Zhang Chao's eyes turned a bit red. He knew Fang Chuan was taking care of him. He gritted his teeth and nodded heavily.

"Fine! Brother Chuan, then I'll shamelessly accept. Rest assured, from now on, my life belongs to you; if you tell me to go east, I will never go west!" Zhang Chao patted his chest in assurance.

Seeing this, Liu Ruyan no longer declined and said softly, "Thank you, Captain."

After distributing the points, Fang Chuan opened the points leaderboard. By this time, the leaderboard had undergone an earth-shattering change.

First Place: Fang Chuan, 8.61 million points! Second Place: Lu Hai, 3.25 million points. Third Place: Qin Yao, 3.18 million points. Fourth Place: Lin Xiaoxiao, 3.1 million points. Fifth Place: Zhang Chao, 1.21 million points. Sixth Place: Liu Ruyan, 1.1 million points.

Fang Chuan's name hung high at the top of the list, shimmering in gold, and the point total behind it was more than double that of the second-place Lu Hai!

Fang Chuan closed the leaderboard. He knew that reaching the top would definitely attract the attention of those three SSS-Grade geniuses. The real decisive battle was just beginning.

In the Meteor Wasteland, on a plain scorched by fire, Lu Hai sat on the back of a massive Gold Griffin, looking down at the Holy Light Knight army currently clearing out ferocious beasts, his face full of a smug smile.

He had just wiped out a large ferocious beast nest, and his points had risen by another 100,000, reaching 3.25 million.

"Hmph, the first-place position is mine." Lu Hai muttered to himself, full of confidence.

But just at this moment, the virtual battlefield's broadcast sounded.

"Ding! Congratulations to candidate Fang Chuan for successfully killing the Level 80 Gold-Tier peak gatekeeper 'Purgatory Chimera,' obtaining 1.5 million points!"

"What?!" Lu Hai stood up abruptly. He immediately opened the points leaderboard, but when he saw the first line of the leaderboard, his expression instantly froze.

First Place: Fang Chuan, 8.61 million points!

He rubbed his eyes hard and looked at the panel again. The number hadn't changed; it was still 8.61 million. And his own name was firmly suppressed in second place, with a point gap so large it was jaw-dropping.

"Fang Chuan? Is that the trash who awakened an F-Grade Divine Kingdom? How could he possibly get over eight million points! This is absolutely impossible!" Lu Hai roared in anger.

A follower beside him cautiously approached, took a look at the leaderboard, and was also shocked.

"Young Master Lu, this... did this Fang Chuan find some super relic? Otherwise, how could his points rise so much all at once?" the follower stammered.

The more Lu Hai thought about it, the angrier he became. He had always been a favored child of heaven in Qinghe City and had never submitted to any of his peers. He knew Fang Chuan; before awakening his Divine Kingdom, Fang Chuan was on par with him in every aspect.

But when they awakened their Divine Kingdoms, he had ruthlessly trampled Fang Chuan under his feet. Now, this nemesis had actually turned his luck around and once again suppressed his brilliance; he absolutely could not swallow this humiliation!

"Pass on my order: everyone stop clearing the outer nests and immediately advance to the Core Area! I want to personally meet this Fang Chuan and see exactly what kind of skills he has!" Lu Hai shouted his order to his followers.

The Holy Light human army let out roars, turned around, and flew toward the Core Area in a mighty force.

Meanwhile, in another crystal mountain range, Qin Yao was commanding her Elemental Spirits to dismantle a massive rock beast. She sensed the vibration of her bracelet, opened it, and saw the notification that the points leaderboard had refreshed.

She took a look, and a trace of surprise appeared on her originally calm face.

"Fang Chuan? 8.61 million points?" Qin Yao frowned slightly.

She had a slight impression of this name; it seemed to be a very ordinary student from "No. 1 High School." She had originally thought this joint examination would be a competition between her, Lu Hai, and Lin Xiaoxiao, but she hadn't expected a dark horse to appear out of nowhere.

"Interesting. I originally thought this would just be a boring formality. It seems this trip finally has a prey that can make me take things seriously," Qin Yao said softly.

The water Elemental Spirits beside her flew over and circled around her.

Qin Yao stroked the head of the water Elemental Spirit, her eyes becoming serious.

"Let's go, we're heading to the Core Area too. I'd like to see what kind of existence this Fang Chuan's followers are and whether they can withstand my Elemental Tides."

With a wave of Qin Yao's hand, the Elemental Spirits gathered into a magnificent torrent, carrying her as they flew toward the Core Area.

Meanwhile, in that swampy area shrouded by acid rain, Lin Xiaoxiao was sitting on the shoulder of a Slaughter Mecha, yawning out of boredom. Her mechanical army had just finished clearing out the monsters in one area, and the ground was covered with monster remains.

"So boring, these monsters are too weak; there's no challenge at all." Lin Xiaoxiao muttered.

She opened the leaderboard, wanting to see how much Lu Hai's and Qin Yao's points had risen. As a result, she saw Fang Chuan ranked in first place at a glance.

"Wow!" Lin Xiaoxiao's large eyes instantly lit up, as if she had discovered a new world.

"8.61 million points! That's over five million more than that arrogant Lu Hai! Who is this Fang Chuan? He's too amazing!" Lin Xiaoxiao clapped her hands in excitement.

She didn't actually care that much about rankings; she was more interested in fun things. Now, an unknown person had suddenly trampled the three great geniuses under his feet; in her view, this was simply too interesting!

"Mechanical Legion, listen up! Target, Core Area! We're going to find that guy named Fang Chuan to play with!" Lin Xiaoxiao shouted.

Countless mechanical spiders and self-destruct robots made clattering mechanical sounds, quickly assembled, and followed Lin Xiaoxiao's Slaughter Mecha, advancing toward the Core Area in a mighty force.

Outside the arena, in the central control hall, everyone saw the movements of the three great geniuses through the big screen.

On the map, the red light representing Lu Hai, the blue light representing Qin Yao, and the silver light representing Lin Xiaoxiao were rapidly converging toward the center of the Core Area from three different directions.

And the golden light representing Fang Chuan was staying in a building deep within the Core Area.

The atmosphere in the hall instantly became excited to the extreme.

"They're going to meet! All three great geniuses are heading straight for Fang Chuan!" someone exclaimed.