17: Chapter 17 Weekly Test and Deduction: The Immortal Martial Legion Shows Its Initial Prowess

The Formation in the Advanced meditation room isolated all sounds, and the consciousness of Wang Pingan sank into the Divine Kingdom, watching the passage of time.

Four days in the outside world, eight years within the Divine Kingdom.

Eight years of time was enough to give a barren continent a completely new look. The Spiritual Qi of the Small Spirit Vein nourished every inch of land, and the Purple Cloud Peach Forest had expanded into a sea of fruits. The pinkish-purple peach blossoms never faded all year round, and the dense Spiritual Qi condensed into a visible thin mist.

The red land beside the Mysterious Blood Pool had changed even more drastically.

The Red Blood Ginseng Field was meticulously tended by the citizens. The one with the fullest age had grown to the height of an adult's forearm, and the blood-red ginseng body glowed slightly in the soil. The emitted power of Qi and blood enveloped the entire Martial Dao cultivation area in a layer of light red halo.

The most important thing was population.

After eight years of reproduction, coupled with the effect of the Elementary Fertility Card, the total population of the Divine Kingdom had broken through three thousand. (The Elementary Fertility Card can accelerate pregnancy time.)

Nearly half of them had stepped into the threshold of cultivation. The Martial Dao Citizens had reached an average of Body Forging Layer 2, the Cultivation Citizens had reached an average of Body Refining Layer 2, and the most elite batch had already touched the threshold of Layer 3.

Wang Pingan withdrew his consciousness and exited the Divine Kingdom.

He glanced at his watch. Five days had passed since the Awakening, and tomorrow was the weekly exam arranged by the school.

The weekly exam adopted the Divine Kingdom sandbox simulation mode, importing the citizen legion data of each student into a virtual sandbox for real-troop confrontation. It did not hurt people or destroy objects, purely competing in citizen combat power, command ability, and civilization development.

This was the first time newly awakened students formally showed their trump cards to the outside world.

Wang Pingan stood up and stretched his somewhat stiff neck. As soon as he walked out of the meditation room, he saw a circle of people surrounding the corridor, discussing in groups of three or five.

"Have you heard? The grouping list for the weekly exam tomorrow is out!"

"Who is matched against whom? Is there anything worth watching?"

"Yes! Wang Pingan from our Grade 3 Class 4 has been matched with Wang Jincheng from Class 1!"

Wang Pingan paused slightly in his steps.

Wang Jincheng?

Someone in the crowd noticed him coming out, and their voice immediately lowered by a few decibels.

"The principal character is here. I wonder if he has any confidence."

"Wang Jincheng is on the lightning magic path, and his burst is extremely fierce. I heard a few days ago that his citizens can already draw lightning into their bodies."

"Wang Pingan here practices Immortal-Martial Dual Cultivation. A few days ago, winning ten against a hundred in the actual combat class was a win, but those were classmates, and the gold content is different."

Wang Pingan ignored these discussions and walked straight toward the classroom.

Zhao Yang was clinging to the door frame and looking inside. Seeing him, he immediately waved, "Pingan! Come, come, come, I just gathered some intelligence!"

Wang Pingan walked to his side, "What intelligence?"

Zhao Yang leaned closer, his eyes full of excitement, "Wang Jincheng has been practicing day and night these past few days. His lightning-path citizens can already release basic lightning strike Spells, and their attack power is very strong."

Wang Pingan nodded, "What else?"

"Also, Wang Jincheng bought a batch of E-rank Spirit Stone cards and poured all of them into the thunder pool. The Spiritual Qi concentration in his Divine Kingdom is much higher than ours." Zhao Yang clicked his tongue twice, "The direct lineage of the main Wang Family is just different; they invest heavily in resources."

Wang Pingan was noncommittal.

He knew very well in his heart that Wang Jincheng had an initial special building like the thunder pool and focused Family cultivation, so his resources would definitely not be few. But having more resources did not mean the citizens' combat power was strong.

Lightning magic had a strong burst in the early stage, but it also consumed a lot and took slower to form.

In comparison, his Immortal Martial Legion was already fully armed. The average cultivation of his citizens was higher by at least a small tier, with tacit cooperation and excellent equipment.

For this battle, Wang Pingan felt confident in his heart.

"Pingan, are you confident?" Zhao Yang could not help asking.

Wang Pingan looked at the classmates in the classroom discussing the weekly exam, his tone calm, "We will only know after fighting."

Early the next morning, the grand auditorium of Tianhai No. 1 High School was transformed into the weekly exam examination room.

Over a thousand Grade 3 students sat in zoned areas according to their classes, and each person had an independent sandbox simulation platform in front of them. The giant light screen above the auditorium displayed the real-time images of each match in real time.

When Wang Pingan walked into the auditorium, he clearly felt that the surrounding gazes were more concentrated than usual.

"That is Wang Pingan, the one who fought ten against a hundred in the actual combat class the day before yesterday."

"I heard he was matched with Wang Jincheng. The civil war between two A-rank geniuses of the Wang Family will definitely be a good watch."

"I bet Wang Jincheng will win. The lightning magic burst is too fierce, and Immortal-Martial Dual Cultivation cannot withstand it in the early stage."

The proctor was a Tier 3 Deity. He pressed his hand down, and the noise in the auditorium gradually subsided.

"The weekly exam simulation officially begins. Match one, Wang Jincheng versus Wang Pingan. Both parties, please enter the virtual sandbox."

Wang Pingan closed his eyes, and his consciousness fully connected to the sandbox.

The next moment, he stood on a vast plain. This was a battlefield map randomly generated by the System, with a river in the center and sparse woods on both sides.

Opposite him, the conscious projection of Wang Jincheng materialized at the same time.

The two looked at each other across a hundred meters.

Wang Jincheng spoke first, his voice spreading through the sandbox Formation across the entire auditorium: "Cousin Pingan, I did not expect to run into you in the first match."

Wang Pingan's expression was as usual: "Brother Jincheng, please go easy on me."

Wang Jincheng's mouth turned up: "I should be the one saying that. Lightning magic has no eyes. If it hurts your citizens later, do not blame your cousin for not reminding you."

As the words fell, the light gates on both sides of the sandbox lit up simultaneously.

On Wang Jincheng's side, three hundred lightning-path citizens stepped out. They wore rough leather armor, held iron swords in their hands, and were wrapped in electric arcs, crackling. The eyes of a dozen citizens in the front row flashed with electric light, clearly already able to release basic lightning strike Spells.

On Wang Pingan's side, five hundred Immortal Martial citizens arrayed and marched out. Fine steel heavy armor formed a silver-gray array, rune long swords pointed obliquely to the ground, the front-row Martial Dao Citizens held shields, and the back-row Cultivation Citizens held swords, forming a strict Formation.

A gasp of breath suddenly sounded in the auditorium.

"Why do not Wang Jincheng's citizens even have decent armor?"

"The equipment on Wang Pingan's side is too luxurious. Fine steel heavy armor plus rune long swords, how many Source Power Points must this cost?"

"The resource gap is visible to the naked eye. Although Wang Jincheng has a thunder pool, his equipment relies entirely on his citizens crafting it themselves, which cannot compare to this kind of direct pay-to-win."

Wang Jincheng also saw the equipment on the opposite side, and his expression changed slightly.

He originally thought that his lightning-path citizens were numerous enough and their burst was strong enough to wipe out Wang Pingan's Immortal Martial Legion in one wave. But looking at the opponent's Formation now, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Three hundred against five hundred, the equipment fell short by a large margin.

But the arrow was on the bowstring and had to be fired.

"Lightning-path citizens, prepare for lightning strike Spells!" Wang Jincheng raised his hand and gave the order.

Three hundred citizens raised their hands simultaneously, condensing balls of electricity in their palms. Electric arcs jumped in the air, making a harsh buzzing sound. The dozen or so citizens in the front row who could release lightning strike Spells compressed the electric balls to the extreme, and the blue-and-white light made people's eyes ache.

Everyone in the auditorium held their breath.

Everyone knew that the explosive power of lightning magic was the strongest among all basic elemental Spells. Once it hit, it was enough to severely injure citizens of the same tier on the spot.

Wang Pingan's expression did not change.

He raised his right hand and issued a divine decree: "Front row raises shields, back row uses Spiritual Qi shields, all members charge."

Five hundred citizens moved simultaneously.

The front-row Martial Dao Citizens raised their shields to the front. A light golden spiritual light circulated on the shield surface, which was the Spiritual Qi injected in advance by the Cultivation Citizens, which could greatly enhance the shield's defense. The back-row Cultivation Citizens raised their hands to cast Spells, propping up a translucent Spiritual Qi shield above their own side's heads.

Wang Jincheng clenched his teeth and shouted sternly: "Release!"

Three hundred balls of electricity shot out simultaneously. The blue-and-white lightning intertwined into a sea of electricity in the air, smashing toward Wang Pingan's army Formation with a sharp piercing sound.

Many people in the auditorium covered their eyes.

With this scale of simultaneous lightning strike Spells, even with Spiritual Qi shields, the front row would be torn open a gap.

However, the next moment, everyone was stunned.

The sea of electricity crashed into the Spiritual Qi shield. The shield shook violently, and dense ripples appeared on the surface, yet it stubbornly withstood the first round of salvo. The electric arcs slid to both sides along the shield surface, and only a few penetrated the shield, landing on the fine steel heavy armor and leaving only a few charred traces.

"How is this possible!" Wang Jincheng's pupils shrank.

His three hundred lightning-path citizens fired a salvo, yet they failed to pierce through the opponent's defense?

Wang Pingan's divine decree fell once again: "Intertwine and rout them, target the lightning-path citizens."

Five hundred Immortal Martial citizens began to charge. The Martial Dao Citizens were at the very front, their paces neat and uniform, and the fine steel heavy armor connected into a piece of silver-gray tide under the sunlight. The Cultivation Citizens followed closely behind, the rune long swords in their hands lit up with spiritual light, and Sword Qi began to condense on the blades.

Wang Jincheng reacted and loudly ordered: "Lightning-path citizens, second round of salvo, aim at the front row!"

But this time, Wang Pingan did not give him a chance.

The Cultivation Citizens raised their hands, and three hundred streaks of Sword Qi shot out from the army Formation, accurately colliding with the newly condensed electric balls. Sword Qi and lightning collided and burst in the air, electric arcs scattered, and the remaining power of the Sword Qi remained undiminished, directly slashing toward the Formation of the lightning-path citizens.

Wang Jincheng's lightning-path citizens' Formation immediately fell into chaos.

They were not good at close combat to begin with, and after being forced back by the Sword Qi, they were even more flustered. Several citizens who had just condensed electric balls were hit by the Sword Qi, staggering and flying backward.

And right in this short gap, Wang Pingan's Martial Dao Citizens had already rushed close.

Fine steel heavy armor crashed into rough leather armor, and rune long swords severed inferior iron swords.

The battlefield situation instantly tilted.

Wang Jincheng looked at his proud lightning-path citizens being smashed into disarray by the Immortal Martial Legion, and his face instantly turned ashen.