13: Chapter 13: A Max-Level Player Enters the Newbie Village

Jianghai City suburbs, Military Base No. 09.

At this moment, over ten thousand top students from dozens of high schools in Jianghai City had already gathered here.

Looking out, it was a dense sea of people.

"Look! That's the team from the City No. 1 High School!"

A commotion suddenly erupted in the crowd.

A team wearing uniform white and gold school uniforms strode over, their auras steady and refined, clearly a cut above the surrounding students.

Walking at the very front was a tall youth with short purple hair.

He walked with his hands in his pockets, his expression arrogant. With every step he took, faint electric arcs seemed to dance in the surrounding air, crackling audibly.

"It's Lei Potian! City No. 1 High School's top seed!"

"My god, I heard he awakened the S-rank elemental talent [Thunder Sovereign], and he's already been pre-selected by a top university in the capital before even graduating!"

"His blood energy is like a dragon; this pressure... he's probably already a Second-Rank Martial Artist, right?"

Amidst the exclamations of the crowd, Lei Potian looked straight ahead, as if the peers around him were merely roadside weeds, not worth a second glance.

In comparison, the team from Jianghai No. 3 High School appeared much more shabby.

Especially at the end of the line, where Lin Yuan stood all alone.

The other students from Jianghai No. 3 High School subconsciously kept their distance from him, their eyes darting away as if he were carrying some terrible plague.

"Stay away from him. I heard he completely offended Zhao Tianba. The Zhao family has made it clear: anyone who gets close to Lin Yuan is going against the Zhao family."

"What a pity. Although he has some brute strength, in the face of such capital and power, he's ultimately just cannon fodder."

Lin Yuan turned a deaf ear to these discussions.

There were no ripples in his heart; he even felt a little like laughing.

Second-Rank? S-rank talent?

"If this is what's called a heaven-sent genius, then the quality of this batch doesn't seem like much."

Just then, in that group of bright and shiny teams, he saw a familiar figure.

Su Yurou.

She was wearing the white and gold school uniform of City No. 1 High School, looking exceptionally pure and moving.

Because she had awakened a rare B-rank healing talent, she had been specially recruited by City No. 1 High School. At this moment, she was surrounded by several boys like stars around the moon, her face beaming with a confident smile.

As if sensing Lin Yuan's gaze, Su Yurou turned her head.

Their gazes met for an instant in the air.

Looking at Lin Yuan, who was alone and ostracized by everyone, a flash of complex emotion crossed Su Yurou's eyes.

There was pity, there was relief, and more than anything, a sense of superiority that "we are now people from two different worlds."

She quickly withdrew her gaze and turned to smile at the genius beside her.

Lin Yuan withdrew his gaze expressionlessly.

"Just a passerby."

"Yo, isn't this our great expert Lin?"

The crowd automatically parted as Zhao Tianba walked over with a group of people.

He was covered from head to toe in a shimmering silver heavy armor. It was combat armor forged from C-rank alloy, enough to withstand a full-strength strike from an ordinary Second-Rank Martial Artist.

He held an exaggeratedly styled flame battle axe in his hand, with two crimson beast cores embedded in the axe blade, emitting a scorching aura.

This set of equipment was worth at least three million!

"A pay-to-win player..." Lin Yuan sighed inwardly.

Zhao Tianba pointed to the ruined city in the distance, shrouded in mist, his eyes flashing with a cruel light:

"Once you enter the ruins, the surveillance has blind spots. In there, someone dying, or someone becoming crippled... that's a common occurrence."

The surrounding students from Jianghai No. 3 High School heard this and turned pale with fright, retreating even further.

Lin Yuan raised his eyelids and glanced at Zhao Tianba.

"Oh."

Lin Yuan spat out one word, then turned his head to continue looking at the scenery.

"You..."

This kind of disregard drove Zhao Tianba even crazier than verbal abuse. He gripped his battle axe tightly, veins bulging on his forehead: "Good! Very good! Let's see how long you can keep up the act! Once we enter, I'll make you kneel and beg me!"

Just then, a harsh alarm suddenly blared from the plaza's loudspeakers.

"Silence!"

"I am the commander-in-chief for this joint entrance exam, Lei Dong."

"I won't waste words. Martial artists are forged through killing, not just training!"

Lei Dong waved his large hand, and a massive holographic map behind him instantly unfolded, displaying the outline of a dilapidated and desolate city.

"This exam site: Abandoned Urban Area No. 09."

"The rules are as follows:"

"First, everyone must wear a point bracelet. Hunting an E-rank beast earns 1 point, a D-rank beast earns 10 points, and a C-rank beast earns 100 points!"

"Second, the survival time is 24 hours. After 24 hours, rankings will be based on points."

Speaking to this point, Lei Dong's voice suddenly turned cold and sharp, carrying a scent of blood:

"Third, and this is the most important point—"

"This exam allows competition! Allows looting! As long as you don't cause death, any means are permitted!"

"Defeating other candidates and seizing their bracelets allows you to directly inherit 50% of their points!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire venue was in an uproar.

"Looting? Inheriting half the points?"

"This... isn't this encouraging us to kill each other?"

"Too cruel! You work hard to kill monsters, only to have it snatched away by someone else. Isn't that just doing the work for someone else?"

The students discussed it heatedly, some excited, some fearful.

Lei Dong coldly watched the commotion below: "Think it's cruel? Then go home! The real battlefield is ten thousand times more cruel than this!"

"Finally, announcing the rewards."

"The top ten in the rankings will receive a guaranteed admission quota to the four major prestigious universities, as well as an S-rank combat technique!"

"First place..."

Lei Dong paused and dropped a bombshell:

"In addition to the above rewards, you will also receive a chance to soak in the 'Spirit Baptism Pool'!"

Hiss—!

Spirit Baptism Pool! That's a treasure land that can directly improve one's foundation and even has a chance to allow for a second awakening of one's talent!

Even an S-rank heaven-sent genius like Lei Potian had his breathing quicken upon hearing these words.

"Seizing bracelets allows inheriting half the points..."

Lin Yuan stroked his chin, a strange light shining in his deep eyes.

Hunting beasts?

Too tiring, and you have to search the whole map for monsters.

How could that compare to "hunting" those geniuses who have worked so hard to finish off the monsters?

"A max-level boss entering the novice village... interesting."

"All candidates, enter!"

Following the command, the massive steel gates slowly rose.

Tens of thousands of students surged like a tide into the mist-shrouded abandoned urban area.

Lin Yuan mingled in the crowd, walking leisurely.

Dozens of meters behind him, Zhao Tianba made a gesture to several students wearing uniforms from other schools.

Those were the cleaners he had paid a high price to hire, hired thugs specifically for doing dirty work.

Those few men grinned, silently blended into the crowd, and like a few venomous snakes, quietly followed after Lin Yuan.

And Lin Yuan seemed completely unaware, stepping lightly into the shadow-shrouded ruins.

The gates slammed shut.

"The hunt has begun."

However, who is the hunter and who is the prey, it is too early to draw a conclusion now.