157: The chaotic battle ended, and the Order Alliance emerged victorious.

The phantom of the river of civilization completely dissipated into the Void Realm, leaving only a strange area in the center of the valley that had been washed smooth as a mirror by the power of rules, with lingering traces of faint warmth and order, and the rapidly fading scent of death in the air, proving that the supreme strike, which transcended Ranks and condensed the wisdom of a hundred schools, had once bloomed here.

The battlefield fell into a dead silence.

But this silence lasted only for a few breaths.

The first to break the silence was the thunderous cheering of the survivors on the main defensive line on the south bank of the Lancang River!

"We won! We won!!"

"The undead... the undead have all fallen!!"

"Long live the Dominator! Long live the Order Alliance!!"

"Long live the The Way of the Hundred Schools!!"

Hoarse, excited, tearful, and incredulous shouts erupted like a long-accumulated volcano! The surviving warriors—whether they were scarred Behemoths, exhausted Dwarves, Elves who had run out of arrows, or the various Servants from the subordinate Divine Kingdoms who had fought until they were numb—all dropped their weapons (if they could still carry them) and embraced each other, either kneeling and weeping, roaring at the sky, or bowing down in the direction of Lin Zhou and the others!

Surviving a desperate situation was nothing more than this! Just a few minutes ago, they were still struggling in a sea of undead, their defensive lines in jeopardy, everyone prepared to die in battle or have their divine realm projections crushed. Yet now, the seemingly endless enemies had vanished into thin air under their leader's incredible strike! This sharp contrast from Hell to Heaven caused all tensed nerves to relax instantly, followed by an explosion of the purest and most fanatical emotions.

Throughout the defensive line, the emblem projections representing the member Divine Kingdoms of the Order Alliance lit up like bamboo shoots after rain. Although most were dim and covered in cracks, they shone stubbornly, reflecting the faint but unwavering phantoms of the [Jixia Academy] and the [Net of Law] in the center.

Li Mo's voice, carrying unmistakable excitement and exhaustion, rang out intermittently in the ears of the commanders through the still-functioning communication array: "Confirmed... confirmed that the activity of the undead army has completely ceased! Energy reactions have dissipated by over 99%! The summoning from the gate of death has stopped, and the force field strength has dropped by over 70%! Repeat, we... held! We... won the first round of the melee!"

Victory!

Three simple words, yet they carried the weight of a thousand catties, drowning out all the noise and making the cheers even more fervent.

The valley where the Sharp Knife Squad was located.

Su Yueyao knelt beside Lin Zhou, her hands pressed lightly against his back. Cold moonlight, like the gentlest stream of water, poured continuously into Lin Zhou's body, soothing his cracked Godhead that was almost extinguished and repairing his Divine Soul, which was on the verge of collapse due to over-burning. Fine beads of sweat broke out on her forehead, and her face was paler than before, clearly showing great exhaustion, but her gaze was focused and her movements gentle.

Zhao Hao, Wang Meng, Qin Qing, and the others gathered around. Although each was injured and their auras were weak, their faces were filled with the relief of surviving and deep awe for Lin Zhou. The power and mystery of that strike, which had gathered the strength of a hundred schools and summoned the river of civilization, were deeply etched into the depths of their Souls.

"Lin Zhou, how are you?" Zhao Hao asked anxiously, wanting to step forward but afraid of disturbing Su Yueyao's treatment.

Lin Zhou slowly opened his eyes. The golden flames in his eyes had dimmed, leaving only a faint ember, but his gaze was clear and calm. He waved his hand slightly and said hoarsely but with a smile: "Not dead yet... just a bit... exhausted." He looked inward; his condition was indeed terrible.

Personal Status Panel (Rough post-battle assessment):

Godhead Rank: LV101 (Faint Divinity) — Status: Severely damaged (covered in cracks, 92% of Origin consumed), processing efficiency dropped by 80%, temporarily unable to withstand high-intensity divine arts or Law invocations.

Divine Power Reserve: Nearly depleted (less than 1%), recovery speed dropped to an extremely low level due to Godhead damage.

Divine Fire (Fire of Civilization): Extremely weak, only able to maintain basic divinity conversion and conscious awareness; cannot be manifested or used in battle. Needs long-term nurturing and faith replenishment to recover.

divine office [Civilization · Education] / [Civilization · Law]: Activity reduced, authority effects weakened to less than 30% of normal.

Divine Soul Strength: Severely overdrawn, accompanied by minor internal injuries caused by rule backlash; requires rest and special repair.

Temple of Civilization Status: Due to summoning the phantom of the river of civilization and fusing the Power of the Hundred Schools, the Sanctuary itself (located in the true Divine Kingdom) also bore the load. It is currently in a "low-power repair" state, with access to some texts and Heroic Spirit summoning functions temporarily restricted.

civilization points Settlement (Preliminary): For leading the Alliance to resist the Undead Scourge, killing the Lich Lord (Hero unit), severely wounding the Divine Thought of the undead deity "Nether Bone," and dismantling the five-million-strong undead army, a massive amount of civilization points has been earned! The specific value requires detailed post-battle settlement, but it is estimated to be an unprecedented fortune, enough to unlock more high-level texts, summon stronger Heroic Spirits, and even exchange for precious items.

"You're more than 'a bit' exhausted." Su Yueyao withdrew her hand, panting slightly, her cold eyes carrying an unquestionable persistence. "Your Godhead is nearly shattered, and your Divine Soul is severely overdrawn. You must immediately return to the core of your Divine Kingdom for nurturing and cannot participate in any more battles or high-load activities." Her words were both for Lin Zhou and a reminder to the others.

Qin Qing nodded and said seriously, "Classmate Su is absolutely right. Student Lin Zhou is at the end of his rope and has even damaged his Origin. The remaining matters should be left to us." Although the Glow of her Judgment Angel was also dim, the power of Law remained, allowing her to stabilize the situation.

Wang Meng scratched his head and said gruffly, "Brother Lin, you rest! We'll take care of the remaining small fry!" Although his Behemoth Elder, Golden Mane, had lost a tusk and was covered in wounds, its ferocity remained undiminished.

Zhao Hao also patted his chest. "Don't worry! That broken gate looks half-dead too. I'll take some people to check it out; maybe we can tear it down!" He looked at the dim, tottering phantom of the gate of death in the distance, a look of eagerness flashing in his eyes.

Lin Zhou smiled weakly and did not object. He knew his physical condition had indeed reached its limit; forcing it would only make things worse. "Alright, cleaning the battlefield, guarding against remnants, tallying losses, comforting the wounded... I'll leave these to you. Especially..." He looked at the cheering crowd on the distant defensive line and further away at the other examinee factions that were either at a loss after the undead collapsed or starting to stir, "Integrating the Alliance, consolidating order, and preventing anyone from taking advantage of the chaos."

"Understood!" The several of them responded in unison and immediately began to act.

Qin Qing led the Judgment Angel squad toward the defensive line, beginning to use the power of Law to help stabilize morale and using Legalist methods to quickly tally the survival status and remaining combat power of each Divine Kingdom. Her calmness and fairness were particularly important at this time.

Wang Meng and Zhao Hao gathered the elites who could still move to form a mixed patrol, beginning to clear out any undead remnants that might exist on the edge of the battlefield (scattered ones that hadn't completely dissipated or new ones leaking from the gate of death), while vigilantly monitoring movements in other directions of the battlefield. As expected, Zhao Hao couldn't hold back and sent a small squad of Dragonblood Warriors, "guided" by the remains of several Gargoyles (which had fallen after the undead collapsed and were not completely destroyed but were now masterless), to cautiously scout toward the gate of death.

With the help of the remaining Mechanical Goblins from the Tian Gong Institute, Li Mo worked at full capacity to repair and restart the battlefield monitoring and communication networks, while also beginning the intense post-battle data statistics and point estimations—this concerned whether everyone could advance to the next round.

Su Yueyao did not leave; she stayed by Lin Zhou's side, continuing to use her Moonlight Divine Power to tend to him. There weren't many words between them, but a sense of unspoken understanding and trust, born from facing a life-and-death trial and entrusting their backs to each other, quietly grew in the tranquil flow of moonlight. Lin Zhou could feel that in Su Yueyao's Moonlight Divine Power, besides coldness and purification, there seemed to be an added trace of "resonance" and "protection" born from fighting together, which had a miraculous effect on stabilizing his injuries.

Time passed slowly amidst the busyness and recovery.

About an hour later (battlefield time), the grand and indifferent voice of the Virtual Battlefield once again rang out in the consciousness of all surviving Examinees without warning:

"The first round of the Myriad Worlds Melee has ended."

"Number of surviving Examinees confirmed: 103,721, meeting the criteria for advancement."

"Now, we will announce the list of the top one thousand ranked by points in this examination area, along with the corresponding team contribution data."

The moment the voice fell, a massive and brilliant light screen unfolded out of thin air in front of all Examinees, no matter where they were! At the very top of the light screen were the shimmering words: 'Ten Thousand Worlds Battlefield · 79th Examination Area Leaderboard.'

The list scrolled from top to bottom, and behind every name was detailed data that was staggering: personal kill count (categorized by Rank), evaluation of effective damage/interference dealt to enemy deities, team contribution (command, support, special roles, etc.), resource collection and defense evaluation, final survival score... and the most eye-catching of all—Total Points!

The light screen scrolled extremely fast, but everyone held their breath and stared intently at the list, searching for their own names, or... the name that had created a miracle.

The list began displaying from the one-thousandth place upwards.

900th... 800th... 500th... names flashed by continuously; some caused small gasps of surprise, while others remained unknown.

When the list reached the top one hundred, the names appearing were already dazzling, and the data behind them was heart-pounding, with kill counts easily numbering in the hundreds of thousands and team contribution percentages that were terrifyingly high.

50th... 30th... 20th... the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.

Finally, the top ten began to be announced!

10th... 9th... 8th... the appearance of each name was accompanied by a violent surge of energy and cheers (or jealous silence) from their respective regions (if identifiable).

7th... 6th... 5th... at this level, the points had reached an inconceivable height, representing not just slaughter, but the ultimate manifestation of strategy, command, special abilities, and the art of survival.

4th Place: A strange ID, unknown affiliation, with towering points.

And then—

3rd Place: Lin Zhou (Human Race, Star Domain: Undisclosed, Affiliation: Order Alliance)

Personal Points: 9,857,421

Major Contributions:

Hero Units Killed/Assisted: 4 (including Undead Bone Dragon Lord LV55+, Lich Lord Mordekaiser LV55).

Dealt significant rule damage and severe Divine Thought trauma to the hostile deity (Nether Bone, LV130); Contribution Evaluation: 37%.

Commanded and led the "Order Alliance" against the Undead Scourge; Alliance total kills evaluation: 5,283,177 (units), the highest in the examination area.

Team Contribution (within Order Alliance): 99.7% (Core decision-making and absolute leadership).

Special Rule Application: Successfully utilized unknown civilization rule power to significantly counter and purify death/chaos Divine Power, resulting in a decisive battlefield reversal.

Survival Score: S+ (Reversed the situation from a desperate state and preserved the maximum amount of friendly forces).

The moment the data was listed, the entire area where the Order Alliance was located fell silent for a moment, then erupted into a sky-piercing cheer even more frenzied and joyful than when they had won!

"Third! The Dominator is in third place!"

"My god! Over nine million points!!"

"Killed hero units! Severely wounded a True God! Commanded the extermination of over five million undead!!"

"Team contribution of 99.7%! Well-deserved!!"

"Our Alliance's total kills... over five million?! We really did it!"

Countless gazes filled with excitement, worship, and gratitude were cast toward the figure supported by Su Yueyao, still weak yet with a straight back. Lin Zhou's name hanging high in third place was not only his personal glory but also the best proof that the entire Order Alliance had fought its way out of a desperate situation and created a miracle! Behind these points was the bloody battle of everyone, as well as Lin Zhou's strike that turned the tide!

Zhao Hao, Wang Meng, and the others were even more excited, shouting and hollering, sharing in the glory.

However, before the cheers could subside, the list continued to be announced.

2nd Place: Another powerful stranger's ID, with points exceeding ten million.

Immediately following—

1st Place (top scholar): Still an ID with some hidden information, with points as high as twelve million. Its data was equally terrifying, seemingly having obtained staggering points through another method (such as efficiently clearing out other Examinees, seizing core resources, etc.).

But at this moment, the members of the Order Alliance didn't care much about who was first or second. In their hearts, the weight of Lin Zhou's third place was irreplaceable! That was a record achieved after head-on crushing an Undead Scourge led by a LV130 deity with an epic building! Its difficulty and symbolic significance were far beyond what a simple clearing of the field could compare to.

The voice of the Virtual Battlefield rang out once more:

"The leaderboard public announcement has ended. Advancing Examinees will be teleported back to their respective initial login spaces in ten minutes for reward settlement and rest. The content of the next round of assessment will be announced in twenty-four hours (real-world time)."

"Special Notice: All remaining resources, building projections, and un-dissipated energy within the examination area will be reset after the teleportation begins."

This meant they still had a little time to deal with the "spoils of war," such as... the phantom of the [gate of death] that still existed despite being damaged, as well as valuable undead remains or energy crystals that might be left on the battlefield.

Just then, an emergency communication came from Li Mo, his tone filled with incomparable excitement and a hint of disbelief: "Boss! Zhao Hao's scout team has made a discovery! That gate of death... because 'Nether Bone's' Divine Soul was wounded and the undead army collapsed, its projection is rapidly becoming unstable, and the internal rules are beginning to dissipate! And... and we detected fluctuations of extremely high concentrations of [Death Divinity Crystal] fragments at its core where it's breaking down! Also... there's [Rule Source Essence] that might have been produced by the disintegration of the epic building card! This... this is an unimaginable Treasure Trove! But collecting it is very dangerous, and time is tight!"

Hearing this, a sharp light flashed in Lin Zhou's eyes. divinity crystals! Rule Source Essence! These were all top-tier treasures for igniting Divine Fire, elevating the Godhead, and strengthening the rules of the Divine Kingdom! Especially the latter, it might have miraculous effects on repairing his damaged Godhead and Temple of Civilization!

"Risk and opportunity coexist..." Lin Zhou took a deep breath and looked at Su Yueyao and the other companions. "Help me out, we... are going to meet the legacy of that 'gate' once more."

Almost at the same moment, outside the Virtual Battlefield, in the real Proctoring Center.

Countless massive monitoring light screens floated in the hall, displaying the battle situations and point data of various examination areas. When the final leaderboard of the 79th Examination Area, especially Lin Zhou's absurdly detailed contribution data, appeared on the main screen, the entire Proctoring Center fell into a strange silence.

Several senior proctors responsible for that examination area stared at the screen, dumbfounded.

"Undead Scourge... Epic-grade [gate of death] projection... LV130 undead deity examinee 'Nether Bone'... Five million undead army..."

"Crushed... no, it was a near 'purification'-style crushing... The lead, Lin Zhou, Faint Divinity LV101..."

"Civilization rules... Power of the Hundred Schools... river of civilization phantom..."

"Team contribution 99.7%... surviving Alliance members... 852 people?!"

An elderly proctor with white hair and an aura as deep as the sea slowly put down the recording crystal in his hand. A terrifying light erupted in his aged eyes, and his voice carried a hint of unbelievable trembling:

"With the body of a Faint Divinity, to unify a loose rabble, confront the Undead Scourge, integrate unknown civilization rules, severely wound a high-order True God projection, disintegrate a million-strong army, and preserve nearly a thousand allies..."

"This child... his ambitions are no small matter; his 'Dao'... I fear it will shake the sea of stars!"

"Immediately pull up his entire file! Focus on him! This battle's footage is to be encrypted and saved; the security level... Top Secret!"

The surrounding proctors looked at each other, all seeing the same shock and solemnity in each other's eyes. They knew that this examinee named Lin Zhou and his mysterious "The Way of the Hundred Schools" were no longer just a simple dark horse, but a new power full of unknowns and potential, sufficient to attract the true attention of the higher-ups!

The ripples of the College Entrance Exam have only just begun. And Lin Zhou's name is destined, from this moment on, to enter the vision of a broader stage.