77: Chapter 77 Five Days of Solo Play, School-wide Announcement

In the teleportation hall, only five days had passed.

For other freshmen, five days was not long.

Some had just gathered their teammates and were arguing incessantly over the distribution of profits.

Some returned wounded, their faces ashen, their divine fires dim, and their subjects suffering heavy losses; they collapsed in the protection array, unable to speak for a long while.

Others were still watching and waiting, calculating to follow only after others had carved out a bloody path.

The teleportation arrays in the hall operated day and night.

Everyone had their own schemes when entering, but the difference between them was like clouds and mud upon exiting.

Some were ecstatic with the origins they had plundered, while others returned via the array with their auras faded to the extreme.

For the most miserable ones, the teleportation array's light screen flashed only once, and their names were quietly erased from the freshman roster.

When the divine core shattered, the person was gone too.

Xinghe University never stopped for the deceased.

The thirty percent casualty rate in the freshman handbook was never an empty statement.

Five days later, the teleportation hall was still noisy.

The golden-haired youth Lu Ming, who had previously spoken with sarcasm, was standing in front of a group of freshmen.

Seven people followed behind him, with a complete configuration: the Mechanical path provided firepower, the Beast-taming path was responsible for reconnaissance, the Dharma-cultivation path provided support from the center, and two disciples from aristocratic families of the Central Star Domain were there to anchor the formation.

Lu Ming came from the Lu family of the Central Ninth Star Domain, where a Sixth-Rank Divine ancestor sat in command; his foundation was far beyond that of a remote, third-rate family like Wang Pingan's.

He looked down on Wang Pingan, and not just because he was a chatterbox.

Wang Pingan was a champion from a backwater planet who had turned heads with his strength and guaranteed admission qualification as soon as he entered the school, and now he even wanted to solo a foreign divine kingdom.

If such a person really gained a foothold, he would inevitably squeeze into the forefront of the freshman resource ranking.

The ranking spots were limited; Grade A training rooms, divine point subsidies, mentor favor, and scarce foreign coordinates were all allocated according to rank.

If Wang Pingan occupied one more spot, another aristocratic disciple would have to be pushed down.

Lu Ming was unwilling to yield.

So, he had to suppress Wang Pingan's momentum first.

Yet Wang Pingan had not accepted his invitation and had even closed all team-up requests directly.

This made him stew with anger.

Someone from a remote star domain should know the rules upon entering Xinghe University and honestly act as a subordinate to the Central Star Domain teams.

A freshman nearby glanced at the teleportation records and laughed, "Brother Lu, that Wang Pingan hasn't come out yet. It's been five days; he's probably just scraping by on the outskirts of the Blood Moon Wreckage and retreated because he couldn't hold on."

Another person chimed in, "I've asked about the Blood Moon Wreckage; the outskirts are swarming with bone spiders, and the blood mist in the depths can corrode divine fire. Going in alone is purely suicide."

Lu Ming gave a soft snort, his tone disdainful.

"A Seventeen Stars champion is a treasure over there, but here, they are nothing. The one thing Xinghe University doesn't lack is champions."

As soon as he finished speaking, a teleportation array to his side and rear suddenly lit up.

A dark red light surged out from the array patterns.

The eyes of many people in the hall were immediately drawn to it.

This color was not common.

Only those who had just emerged from a high-intensity bloody battle and were stained with a heavy battlefield aura would bring out such remnants.

The halo gradually dissipated, and a figure stepped out from the center of the array.

Wang Pingan had returned.

His robes were still quite neat, his expression calm, showing no ripples.

But the moment he stepped out of the teleportation array, a suffocatingly heavy blood-evil aura, carrying the ferocity of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, rushed towards them.

That was not merely killing intent, but the legion's baleful aura that had been carved into his marrow, precipitated only after five years of life-and-death struggle and the death of over six hundred elites under his command.

Several freshmen nearby showed horror and subconsciously took a half-step back.

One guy who had just escaped from a foreign battlefield had his legs go weak when hit by this aura.

The hall fell silent.

Lu Ming also saw Wang Pingan.

He was first shocked by the blood-evil aura, his heart tightening, but he immediately forced his expression to steady.

He did not believe Wang Pingan could solo the Blood Moon Wreckage.

Five days, solo, a demigod foreign divine kingdom.

Putting these three conditions together, it was absolutely impossible.

The only explanation was that Wang Pingan had only killed some low-rank bone spiders on the outskirts and, unable to stay any longer, had run back himself.

Thinking of this, Lu Ming felt slightly more settled.

He took two steps forward and raised his voice deliberately, "What? Hid on the outskirts for five days and finally couldn't take it anymore?"

Many freshmen nearby looked over upon hearing the sound, their eyes filled with curiosity.

Wang Pingan did not stop, only giving him a faint glance.

That gaze was so calm it made Lu Ming's chest feel stifled.

He hated this kind of look the most—no argument, no anger, not even treating him as an existence that needed to be dealt with.

It was more unpleasant than being directly insulted.

Lu Ming's face darkened, and he continued, "Wang Pingan, Xinghe University is not that small arena of yours in the Seventeen Stars. Soloing a foreign divine kingdom? It sounds impressive, but you die just as fast."

Wang Pingan stopped.

The hall became even quieter.

Lu Ming thought he was going to retort, and the corners of his mouth were just about to curl up.

However, Wang Pingan only said, "If you want to set off, hurry up and don't block the way."

Lu Ming's face froze on the spot.

Several teammates behind him also showed annoyance.

"What do you mean?"

Wang Pingan looked at the team behind him, his tone indifferent, "You've been forming a team for five days and still haven't gone in; I thought you were practicing your lip-flapping skills in the hall."

The words were not heavy, but they struck accurately.

Someone nearby couldn't hold back and let out a short laugh, then quickly stifled it.

Lu Ming couldn't save face.

His delay in forming a team was because he wanted to push the profit distribution ratio to the most favorable level for himself; everyone knew this, but no one had exposed it to his face.

With one sentence, Wang Pingan had put him on the spot in the middle of the hall.

Anger flared in Lu Ming's eyes, "Are you looking for death?"

Wang Pingan didn't look at him again.

After finishing a five-year bloody battle, he really had no interest in wasting words with someone who hadn't even been on a battlefield.

Lu Ming wanted to say more, but the battle record broadcast light screen above the teleportation hall suddenly changed color.

The originally light blue ranking interface instantly turned to a blinding dark red.

The expressions of everyone in the hall froze.

A dark red announcement.

This meant a freshman had completed a high-difficulty battle record, and the evaluation had reached the standard for a school-wide broadcast.

The words stuck in Lu Ming's throat were forcibly swallowed back.

In the center of the light screen, blood-colored text appeared line by line: [Battle record verification complete.] [Freshman Name: Wang Pingan.] [Invasion Target: Demigod-level foreign divine kingdom, Blood Moon Wreckage.] [Mode: Solo invasion.] [Result: Enemy divine core shattered, foreign demigod Blood Moon Spider King has fallen, Blood Moon Wreckage origin has been annexed.]

The hall was deathly silent.

The anger on Lu Ming's face froze.

Several teammates behind him widened their eyes, their breathing slowing by half a beat.

Someone looked at Wang Pingan in disbelief.

"Solo, and shattered a demigod foreign divine kingdom?"

"The Blood Moon Spider King is dead?"

"He really punched through to the core?"

"Five days? How is this possible..."

The next moment, the light screen continued to scroll: [Time taken: Five days.] [Comprehensive evaluation: S-Rank.] [Freshman real-time ranking: 98th place.] [Reward: Thirty Divine Points.]

The dark red light illuminated everyone's face.

Thirty Divine Points.

The moment this number popped out, many freshmen's eyes turned red.

For ordinary freshmen, getting three or five points from a team battle was considered good.

Wang Pingan's first solo battle had directly earned him thirty.

Even more shocking was the 98th place.

This batch of freshmen had a full ten thousand people; being able to squeeze into the top one hundred meant that he had left over nine thousand nine hundred people behind just a few days after enrollment.

Lu Ming's brain buzzed.

He had just been saying that Wang Pingan had been hiding on the outskirts for five days.

The next moment, the school-wide announcement had directly ground his words into a joke.

He could even feel that the glances from the surrounding freshmen had changed.

That sarcastic remark from a moment ago had now become a boomerang.

Wang Pingan looked up at the light screen, his expression still showing no ripples.

Thirty Divine Points, not bad.

98th place, that was also alright.

But what he cared about more was that his divine kingdom's area had grown to four thousand square kilometers, and that Immortal Martial Legion under his command could finally be considered to have truly undergone tempering.

Lu Ming stared fixedly at the light screen, his face a mix of blue and white.

He wanted to say that the Blood Moon Wreckage might just be a weak demigod divine kingdom.

But the S-Rank evaluation blocked all excuses.

Xinghe University's battle record system never played favorites; an S-Rank was a solid, top-tier evaluation.

Wang Pingan turned and walked towards the hall exit.

Lu Ming subconsciously stepped aside to make way.

The movement was small, but it was seen by many people around.

The person who had just been blocking the middle of the road with cold mockery had now stepped aside voluntarily.

The slap in the face had come too quickly, so quickly that he didn't even have room to be stubborn.

Wang Pingan walked past him without even glancing at him from the corner of his eye.

However, Lu Ming's face burned intensely.

Just as Wang Pingan was about to step out of the hall, a line of small golden text popped up above the light screen: [Detected that freshman Wang Pingan has obtained an S-Rank evaluation on his first real invasion.] [Triggering Grade A sequence qualification review.] [Please go to the Freshman Management Hall within seven days to receive the review task.]

The discussion that had just started in the hall was once again silenced by this line of text.

Grade A sequence.

These four words were heavier than thirty Divine Points.

The hierarchy for freshmen at Xinghe University was strict; ordinary students were ranked only according to points and battle records.

The Grade A sequence was different.

It was the list of seeds the school was truly betting on.

Once selected, resource permissions, mentor attention, and battlefield coordinate priority would skyrocket.

Many aristocratic disciples from the Central Star Domain poured massive resources before enrollment just to fight for a marginal spot in this qualification.

The Lu family, where Lu Ming belonged, had formed teams, bought intelligence, and paved the way for him, all with the goal of just reaching the threshold of the Grade A sequence candidates.

Yet he hadn't even fought his first battle.

Wang Pingan had already triggered the review.

Lu Ming's face turned completely ashen.

This time, he couldn't utter a single word.

Wang Pingan stopped and glanced at the golden prompt on the light screen, a faint, imperceptible ripple crossing his eyes.

The Blood Moon Wreckage was just the beginning.

The true resource ladder of Xinghe University was only now revealing its first level to him.

Above the hall, the sound of the school-wide announcement was still echoing: "Freshman Wang Pingan, soloed and shattered the demigod-level foreign divine kingdom Blood Moon Wreckage, taking five days, ranking climbed to 98th place among freshmen, rewarded with thirty Divine Points."