30: Lin Fan became famous after the provincial civil service exam rules changed.

Just as he walked out of the contestant's passage.

A group of reporters who had been waiting for a long time swarmed him like sharks smelling blood.

Their long lenses and short microphones almost poked Lin Fan's face.

"Student Lin Fan! I'm a reporter from 'Martial Arts Frontier'. May I ask if you were serious about having all contestants fight at once in the provincial exam?!"

"Lin Fan! Do you know that the provincial martial arts exam gathers elites from the entire province, including many Geniuses in the Late Stage or even Peak Martial Master realm? Where does your confidence come from?!"

"There are rumors that you've actually hidden your strength, and your true Qi and blood value isn't 1.02 at all. Can you reveal anything?!"

"Wang Teng's family just stated they're filing a formal protest against you, saying you deliberately humiliated him. What's your take on that?!"

...The questions grew sharper, and flashlights flickered incessantly.

Lin Fan stopped, raising a hand to gesture for quiet.

The reporters instinctively quieted down, their cameras focused on him.

"Many questions, but I'm in a hurry, so I'll pick a few to answer."

Lin Fan's tone was calm, as if the person who had just declared he would challenge everyone in the province on the stage wasn't him.

"First, I'm serious. Fighting round-robin matches one by one is a waste of time."

"Second, Late Stage Martial Master? Peak?" He paused. "I hope they can make me use more than one-tenth of my strength."

The reporters gasped.

The live stream's bullet comments instantly exploded:

[Arrogant! Arrogant to a new height!]

[One-tenth of his strength? How much did he use against Wang Teng?]

[I'm guessing... three-tenths? Five-tenths at most?]

[Wake up, upstairs! He blew up the Blood Thunder Secret Method with one punch! Does that look like he used five-tenths of his strength?!]

[So what he said is true? He might not have even used one-tenth of his strength against Wang Teng?!]

[I don't believe it! Unless he can really challenge everyone in the provincial exam!]

Lin Fan continued: "Third, Qi and blood value? If it's measured as 1.02, then it's 1.02. If the Power-Testing Stele could measure my true strength, it would have exploded long ago."

[Ding! Publicly questioning the authority of the Power-Testing Stele, prestige value +300!]

[Current prestige value: 11480 points!]

The reporters' eyes lit up; this was big news!

"Fourth, Wang Teng's family wants to protest?"

Lin Fan thought for a moment. "Tell them, protest invalid. If they're not convinced, Wang Teng can be arranged to fight again in the provincial exam. I'll provide a free... 'graduation service'."

His tone was very calm when he said the word "graduation."

But all the reporters, including the audience watching the live stream, felt a chill down their spines.

[Holy crap! He wants to shatter that thing again?!]

[Wang Teng: Don't come over here!!!]

[Killing hearts! This is killing hearts!]

[The Wang family must be furious...] (Only by being present can one experience the most authentic prestige atmosphere; other channels have insufficient prestige atmosphere, and the prestige value obtained is greatly reduced. Actually, it's mainly because I'm afraid of opening too many cheats and becoming invincible with nothing left to write.)

A female reporter squeezed forward, her voice a little excited: "Student Lin Fan! I'm your fan! What are your plans next? Will you make any special preparations for the provincial exam?"

Lin Fan glanced at her.

"Plans? Go home, eat, and sleep."

"Special preparations?" A slight smile played on his lips. "It's not me who needs to prepare, it's them."

With that, he ignored all further questions, pushed through the crowd, and walked straight out.

The reporters tried to follow but were politely stopped by several soldiers in military uniforms.

"Mr. Lin needs to rest. Everyone, please return."

These were people arranged by Colonel Zhao.

Lin Fan got into the waiting military off-road vehicle, with Lei Bao personally driving.

"You brat, you're really not afraid of offending people," Lei Bao looked at him through the rearview mirror. "The Wang family has considerable influence in Cloud City, and connections in the province too."

"When you said that publicly, they're definitely going to pull some tricks."

Lin Fan leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes to rest. "Let them try. If they make a big deal out of it, I'll 'graduate' the entire Wang family along with him."

Lei Bao: "..."

[Ding! Uttering arrogant words to threaten an aristocratic family, prestige value +200!]

[Current prestige value: 11680 points!]

The car drove away from the Martial Arts Hall, heading towards Lin Fan's rented apartment.

"Colonel Zhao asked me to ask you, are you really planning to do that in the provincial exam?" Lei Bao said seriously. "Challenging everyone, that's never happened in the history of national martial arts exams."

"The rules might not allow it."

"Rules are made by people," Lin Fan opened his eyes. "If they think it's not allowed, I can phrase it differently."

"What phrasing?"

"For example..." Lin Fan smiled. "I stand on the stage, and if anyone makes me take a second move, I lose."

Lei Bao's hand trembled, and the car almost swerved into the median.

"You... that's even more outrageous than challenging everyone!"

Losing if he takes a second move?

Doesn't that mean one-shotting everyone?

The key was, with the strength Lin Fan displayed today, a Middle Stage Martial Master like Wang Teng was easily one-shotted.

One-shotting Late Stage Martial Masters... perhaps... it wasn't impossible either.

By the time Lin Fan returned to his rented apartment, it was already dark.

Pushing open the door, he didn't turn on the light, collapsing directly onto the bed.

It wasn't fatigue—with the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body's current recovery speed, those few matches were like a warm-up.

It was mental exhaustion.

"Putting on a show is also a skill..."

Lin Fan stared at the ceiling. "You have to be arrogant, but not too much; you have to crush them, but still leave some suspense. Tsk, it's hard."

[Ding! Detected Host's deep contemplation on the art of prestige, comprehension value +1! (No use whatsoever)]

Lin Fan: "..."

"System, are you bored?"

[This System is merely touched by the Host's spirit of striving for perfection.]

"Get lost."

Lin Fan sat up, his consciousness sinking into the System.

[Current prestige value: 11680 points]

[Advanced Lottery Chances: 3 times]

[Remaining items in 0.1 Discount Zone: Profound Rank High Grade Formation Introduction Jade Slip (800 points), Second-Grade Alchemist's Experience Notes (600 points)]

"Buy, buy, buy."

[Ding! Consumed 800 prestige value, purchased Formation Introduction Jade Slip!]

[Ding! Consumed 600 prestige value, purchased Second-Grade Alchemist's Experience Notes!]

[Current prestige value: 10280 points]

Two items appeared in the System space.

Lin Fan first extracted the Formation Jade Slip.

Buzz.

A vast amount of basic Formation knowledge flooded his mind: Spirit Gathering Formation, Maze Formation, Defense Formation, Killing Formation... from principles to deployment methods, and even breaking Formation techniques, all-encompassing.

"Good stuff."

Lin Fan's eyes lit up. "In future fights, I'll set up Formations first, ambushing people... no, tactical deployment will be more composed."

Next was the Alchemist's notes.

This time it was a physical object—a yellowed, thread-bound ancient book, with faded ink and a faint medicinal scent.

Flipping through a few pages, from identifying medicinal ingredients to controlling heat, from Pill Formula deduction to Pill forming techniques, it was incredibly detailed.

"Second-Grade Alchemist... almost capable of refining Medicinal Pills for the Martial Master realm."

Lin Fan pondered, "From now on, I won't always have to rely on the System for exchanges. Self-sufficiency, and I can even sell them for money."

Just as he finished tallying his gains, his phone rang.

An unknown number.

"Hello."

"Is this Student Lin Fan? I'm Zhou Zhenshan from the Provincial Martial Arts Association."

The voice on the other end belonged to the chief examiner from earlier. "Your performance today was very impressive."

"Examiner Zhou, is there something you need?"

"The provincial exam will be held in seven days, at the Tianwu Sports Center in the provincial capital."

"Your words... have sparked some discussion."

Lin Fan raised an eyebrow: "And?"

"After deliberation by the Provincial Association's high-level officials, and after consulting with the Ministry of Education..."

Zhou Zhenshan paused, his tone subtle. "They have, in principle, agreed to your proposal."

Lin Fan was stunned.

"In the first round of the provincial exam, among three hundred contestants, you can choose to defend the arena alone."

"The remaining two hundred and ninety-nine people will attack the arena in batches."

"As long as you can stand until the end, you will be the provincial champion."

Lin Fan smiled: "That's interesting."

"But there are adjustments to the rules," Zhou Zhenshan said sternly. "First, you may not rest or take any restorative Medicinal Pills during your defense."

"Second, the attackers can use a 'wheel battle' strategy and can team up."

"Third, once you are defeated, you are directly eliminated with no ranking."

"So, if I lose, I'm out, and if I win, I'm first?"

"Correct."

"Deal." Lin Fan agreed without hesitation.

A few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Lin Fan, are you sure? This is not a game."

"The provincial exam gathers the province's most elite Geniuses, with no less than twenty Late Stage Martial Masters, and even three who have touched the threshold of Peak Martial Master."

"Among them are also those with special Physiques, inherited unique techniques..."

"Examiner Zhou." Lin Fan interrupted. "Do you know why I made this request?"

"...Why?"

"Because fighting them one by one is too boring."

Lin Fan hung up the phone.

A few minutes later, his phone exploded.

Class groups, school groups, Cloud City local forums, provincial martial arts exam discussion boards... all were frantically spreading a piece of news:

[Provincial Exam Rules Temporarily Changed! Lin Fan of Cloud City will challenge all provincial Geniuses alone!]

The accompanying image was a profile shot of Lin Fan on the stage saying "come at me all at once," his eyes indifferent, a smile playing on his lips.

Below the post, comments refreshed hundreds per second:

[Crazy! Is the Provincial Association crazy too?!]

[If this succeeds, it will go down in history!]

[It won't succeed! Who does he think he is? A Martial King?!]

[Upstairs, don't forget, he blew up Wang Teng's Blood Thunder Secret Method with one punch today!]

[Wang Teng isn't even in the top thirty in the province! Those few monsters in the provincial exam are not on the same level at all!]

[Waiting for Lin Fan to get slapped in the face!]

[I've already bought tickets to the provincial capital, I must witness this scene with my own eyes!]

...In the rented apartment, Lin Fan scrolled through his phone, amused.

"Such high popularity... how much prestige value will there be at the provincial exam?"

He thought for a moment, then logged into his long-dormant social media account.

ID: Mortal Body Rivaling Gods

His last post was half a year ago: "Measured Qi and blood 0.8 today, at the bottom again. But I will work hard!"

Below were dozens of comforting comments, and Xiao Zhan's mockery from back then: "If effort was useful, what would we need Geniuses for?"

Lin Fan tapped his finger, posting a new update:

"Provincial exam, I'm here to harvest. @All provincial examinees, I suggest you prepare stretchers in advance and faint quickly to save my time."

Accompanying image: A photo of himself giving a 'V' sign in the mirror, with the dilapidated wall of his rented apartment in the background.

Click, send.

Five seconds later, the comment section exploded!

[Is this the man himself?!]

[Holy crap! The main character is here!]

[Arrogant! Too arrogant! Harvest?!]

[@Cloud City Wang Teng Brother, what do you think?]

[Wang Teng is still lying in the hospital...]

[@Provincial Capital Frenzied Song @Jiangnan City Soaring Heavens @Mountain City Savage Stone... Big Shots, come look! Someone is trash-talking right to your faces!]

Lin Fan put down his phone, satisfied.

[Ding! Publicly provoking all provincial Geniuses on a social platform, prestige value +800!]

[Ding! Inciting collective anger among all provincial examinees, prestige value +1200!]

[Current prestige value: 12280 points!]

"Comfortable."

Lin Fan stretched, intending to Cultivate the Eighty-Nine Arcane Art for a while, when there was another knock on the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

The sound was very light.

Lin Fan frowned, expanding his perception—a person stood outside the door, their Qi and blood not strong, but their aura was very special.

Like a sword hidden in its sheath.

He walked over and opened the door.

Outside the door, Su Muyu stood with a long sword on her back, holding an insulated food container.

Moonlight spilled onto her cold face, making her seem somewhat unreal.

"How did you know I live here?" Lin Fan raised an eyebrow.

"I asked Colonel Zhao." Su Muyu handed over the insulated food container. "My mom made some soup, said it's for you to replenish your energy."

Replenish? Replenish my ass...