224: Today's speedrun leaderboard!

“However…”

Jiang Yuan looked up at the sky. He had been in the Dream Tower for a bit too long, and it was getting late.

Better end the battle quickly and go home early.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yuan patted Shi Ji’s shoulder. Shi Ji understood Jiang Yuan’s meaning and retreated a step, moving behind Jiang Yuan.

Although Zhu Zhenzhong didn't understand Jiang Yuan's situation, he knew that someone had arrived at Zhongyuan Academy who could summon others to fight in his place.

It must be this guy, he thought.

But if he remembered correctly, didn't he just enroll a while ago?

Not only did he have this thought, but in the spectator stands, his companions shared the same idea.

“If I remember correctly, that guy only entered Zhongyuan Academy four or five months ago, right?”

“Probably. Although we’ve been in the Grotto-Heaven this whole time, we occasionally hear news about him when we come out.”

“It was indeed four or five months ago.”

The medium-length haired man nodded, “I remember saying back then that he was still very far from us, and it would take at least one or two years for him to be able to challenge us.”

After the medium-length haired man finished speaking, the long-haired girl beside him also nodded, “Yes, I remember it was about four months ago when we entered the Winged Race Secret Realm.”

“Uh…”

The long-haired girl’s words instantly silenced everyone.

“Uh, are you saying…”

The medium-length haired man swallowed hard, “He only took three or four months to go from the First Realm to the Fourth Realm?”

“No, even though there aren't breakthrough thresholds for the first three realms, does he really have to be this fast?”

“Do you think it’s possible he used a Star Power Orb?” The long-haired girl pondered for a moment, then spoke weakly.

“He did use a Star Power Orb.”

Coincidentally, Mu Qianshan was sitting next to them.

Mu Qianshan had heard their entire conversation.

Hearing their curiosity, Mu Qianshan spoke directly.

“As expected, I said it! How could anyone be a genius to that extent? So he relied on external power.”

Hearing Mu Qianshan say this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

But soon, they reacted, turning to look at Mu Qianshan: “You are?”

“Oh, I’m his friend. We used the Star Power Orb together,” Mu Qianshan grinned, showing his white teeth as he spoke to the others.

Ah, this reaction is just right.

Can't give others the illusion that Jiang Yuan is a genius.

A tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind.

This was what Jiang Yuan had taught him back then.

However, the next second, the smile on his face froze.

Why did Jiang Yuan take out a purple-grade Card?

Why did he even bring Zhao Gongming out?

Didn't he say that a tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind?

What do you mean by this?

Zhao Gongming appeared before Zhu Zhenzhong, holding a Steel Whip.

Under Jiang Yuan and Shi Ji’s gentle gaze, Zhao Gongming raised his Steel Whip and easily blocked the greatsword in Zhu Zhenzhong’s hand.

Zhu Zhenzhong was somewhat surprised. The opponent was only at Jiang Lou Initial Stage of the Fourth Realm, so why was it so easy for him to block a full-strength blow from his Jiang Lou Mid Stage strength?

The giant sword in Zhu Zhenzhong's hand was enhanced by a purple-grade Skill Card.

Plus, the giant sword in his hand was itself a purple-grade Equipment Card. Logically, even if the opponent's Steel Whip was also purple-grade, he could see very clearly that there was no Star Power fluctuation on the opponent's Steel Whip.

In other words, the opponent's Steel Whip had no skills applied, yet it blocked his attack?

How is that possible?

However, the next second, a look of horror appeared in Zhu Zhenzhong's eyes.

The Steel Whip gently flicked, disrupting the force in his hand, and then the Steel Whip struck towards him.

However, Zhu Zhenzhong did not panic too much. With a thought, a shield on his arm shone with purple light.

The next second, a shield made of purple crystal Energy appeared in front of him.

Purple-grade Defensive Equipment: [Purple Crystal Wrist Shield]!

The Purple Crystal Wrist Shield has two defensive skills.

[Purple Crystal Shield]: Forms a shield composed of purple crystal Energy, which, while blocking the opponent's attack, can absorb a portion of the damage caused by the opponent's attack as Energy and temporarily increase defense.

The other skill is [Rune Resonance], which, while increasing defense, can temporarily immune negative effects attached to the opponent's attack.

Both defensive skills of the Purple Crystal Wrist Shield are very good.

Unfortunately, he encountered the Steel Whip in Zhao Gongming’s hand.

[Breaking Heaven’s Net]!

Increases the power of Energy-based defenses caused by defensive equipment by fifty percent.

At the same time, it breaks defensive effects whose defense is lower than the Steel Whip's attack power.

Zhu Zhenzhong was very close, and he could clearly see that his Purple Crystal Shield, the moment it touched the Steel Whip, turned into scattered purple fragments falling from the sky.

The calm in Zhu Zhenzhong's eyes also turned to horror.

However, he quickly came to his senses, because he had already exited the Martial Arts Arena.

He “died.”

In the Martial Arts Arena, once one side is defeated, the Martial Arts Arena disappears.

And he appeared outside the Martial Arts Arena at this time, which meant that he was instantly killed by that attack just now.

“No…”

Zhu Zhenzhong looked puzzled.

No, how did you, with Jiang Lou Initial Stage strength, instantly kill me, who is at Jiang Lou Mid Stage?

Is this reasonable?

“Hmm, who should I choose next?”

Compared to Zhu Zhenzhong’s surprise, Jiang Yuan, who had also exited the Martial Arts Arena, had already picked up his phone, preparing to select his next challenge target.

On the fourth-year ranking list, some avatars were lit up, while others were dark.

A lit avatar meant the person was currently at school.

A dark avatar meant the person was not at school.

How to put it, the fourth-year ranking list was more user-friendly than the first, second, and third-year lists.

So Jiang Yuan quickly selected his challenge target.

A Student ranked 3376.

Among the 50 people he could challenge, he was the highest ranked person currently at school.

Jiang Yuan quickly sent the challenge message, and the appointment time was, of course, chosen for now.

As long as the other party could accept and not change the time, he still had time to fight another match.

Or, fight a few more matches.

It feels like there's not much difference from the Dream Tower.

I wonder if I can reach first place in the fourth year with my current Jiang Lou Initial Stage strength of the Fourth Realm.

I didn't fight in the third year, but in the first and second years, I was delayed for some reasons.

Being able to see if challengers are at school on the fourth-year challenge ranking list is really great.

“Hmm, what’s wrong?”

After Jiang Yuan put away his phone, he saw Zhu Zhenzhong looking at him with a surprised expression.

“No, how did you do that?”

“Do what?”

Jiang Yuan looked puzzled. How else could it be done? It just happened that way.

“How did you manage to instantly kill someone at the Mid Stage with Initial Stage strength?”

“Uh…”

Seeing Zhu Zhenzhong ask again, Jiang Yuan was silent for a moment.

How should he tell him?

Should he say that besides Zhao Gongming, Nezha could also do it?

Wouldn't that be too much of a blow to the other party?

Should he tell him that Shi Ji can't instantly kill him?

After all, Shi Ji's only equipment right now is a Taia Sword.

However, Shi Ji doesn't seem to be a character with terrifying combat power.

At the very least, she can't compare to Nezha and Zhao Gongming.

However, if Shi Ji were given some time, in the eyes of enemies, Shi Ji might be even more troublesome than Zhao Gongming and Nezha.

It can only be said that the two sides are not from the same system.

If calculated according to the military system, Nezha is a general, Zhao Gongming is a grand general, then Shi Ji is the commander.

After all, being able to control tens of thousands of Undead Bone Sea, Shi Ji’s ability is naturally beyond doubt.

It's just that in a one-on-one battle like in the Martial Arts Arena, Shi Ji's combat power isn't very conspicuous.

“Perhaps this is just my fighting style.”

Jiang Yuan didn't know how to explain, so he could only find an excuse to brush him off.

Not only Zhu Zhenzhong, but even Zhu Zhenzhong’s teammates in the spectator stands turned to look at Mu Qianshan, their faces silent.

“Didn’t you say his strength was boosted by a Star Power Orb?”

Generally speaking, for those whose strength is boosted by a Star Power Orb, their Star Power will be unstable, resulting in a significant reduction in the effectiveness of various Card when used, due to the unstable Star Power injected.

This is why many people, even if they have a Star Power Orb, choose not to use it for advancement.

In battle, if combat power is halved, the impact is too great.

Unless, after using a Star Power Orb, one cultivates diligently in a safe place for a period of time.

This way, the unstable Star Power will gradually solidify.

But with that time, one could completely cultivate on their own without using a Star Power Orb.

But looking at that guy on the field...

If even with unstable Star Power his combat power is like this, then once his Star Power returns to normal, wouldn't he be able to instantly kill even those at Late Stage?

Is this reasonable?

They were puzzled, and Mu Qianshan just opened his mouth, unable to say anything.

What else could he say? What about “a tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind”?

And you do this to me?

However, what they didn't know was that unstable Star Power did indeed affect Jiang Yuan.

But it only affected the use of Skill Card.

Cards like Shi Ji, Nezha, and Zhao Gongming were not affected at all.

After all, they belonged to Summoning Card. As long as they appeared, they were Jiang Yuan's strength limit, and had absolutely nothing to do with how Jiang Yuan injected Star Power.

It's like how people with unstable Star Power also have basically no impact when using Equipment Card.

However, when they use Equipment Card, it's their own person, so unstable Star Power will affect combat power.

But on Jiang Yuan's side, it's the Card Spirit that uses the Equipment Card, so it naturally has nothing to do with Jiang Yuan.

Therefore, the only things that unstable Star Power could affect Jiang Yuan were the Five Elements Skill Card.

Of course, there were also the Seventy-Two Transformations series of Card.

“You…”

Zhu Zhenzhong wanted to continue asking, but he was interrupted by a sudden arrival.

“Uh, who just challenged me…?”

Huang Gangping arrived at the Martial Arts Arena and was stunned when he saw Jiang Yuan and Zhu Zhenzhong. After his gaze swept over them both, he asked.

“Me, me.”

Jiang Yuan raised his hand, then went with Huang Gangping to the Martial Arts Arena ring and activated the Card [Martial Arts Arena].

Seeing this, Zhu Zhenzhong could only close his mouth, found a seat in the spectator stands, and prepared to watch their battle.

However, as soon as Zhu Zhenzhong’s butt landed on the seat, the battle was already over.

Huang Gangping was only at Jiang Lou Initial Stage strength, just like Jiang Yuan.

So, to deal with Huang Gangping, Jiang Yuan only sent out Shi Ji.

Shi Ji summoned Salami, Jin Shanshan, and Re-Zero, three Undead Enslavement, and almost instantly ended the battle.

Under Re-Zero's control with wood-attribute Energy arrows, Salami and Jin Shanshan quickly advanced and directly killed the opponent!

With the enhancement of Taia Sword, Salami and the other two had nearly Jiang Lou Mid Stage strength.

Dealing with a Jiang Lou Initial Stage guy was still very simple.

“Uh, that fast?”

Zhu Zhenzhong was stunned for a moment, then turned to his companion beside him and asked.

“You were just as fast.”

The long-haired man was silent for a moment, then nodded helplessly to Zhu Zhenzhong.

“…”

Zhu Zhenzhong was silent for a moment: “Don’t say it. We’re breaking up for a minute.”

“Hmm, next, next, there’s still time.”

After exiting the Martial Arts Arena, Jiang Yuan once again began to select his challenge target.

“You’re the one!”

His luck was good this time; the highest-ranked person within 50 spots of him was currently at school.

Jiang Yuan didn't hesitate and directly sent a challenge to the other party.

The challenge time was still now, and the other party quickly accepted the challenge.

Huang Gangping was a bit annoyed, why did he lose so quickly!

They were clearly of equal strength!

However, was the opponent a Beast Tamer Card Master? Why did he summon…

Undead?

Salami was of the Undead Bone race, Jin Shanshan was of the Undead Gold Clan, and Re-Zero was of the Undead Art Clan.

He could recognize these, but was that beautiful girl also of the Undead?

But he didn't see her make any moves? Could she be of the Undead Royal Family?

Huang Gangping was puzzled, but having already lost the battle and clearly seeing his opponent schedule the next challenge, he chose to watch his battle.

It was too fast just now; he didn't even realize how he was defeated.

He went to the spectator stands to watch from an observer's perspective.

Soon, the next victim… challenger arrived.

This time, it wasn't Shi Ji who appeared, but Nezha.

Jiang Yuan just wanted to be fast now.

After all, there were over three thousand fourth-year Students, and it was already the end of the month. If he didn't challenge quickly, the rewards he would get wouldn't be very good.

Nezha also possessed the ability to instantly kill.

This opponent was still at Jiang Lou Initial Stage strength, and Jiang Yuan didn't even give Nezha the Fire Tipped Spear.

Just a Universe Throw from the Qiankun Circle was enough.

Instant kill again!

Today's speedrun leaderboard!

[Synopsis] Listen to me, I’m really just a Life Mage.

I only know life skills, kneading bread, conjuring water, lighting a small flame to boil water. That’s very normal, right?

So that wasn't a meteorite just now, it really was bread, just a tad too big.

That in the sky isn't the sun, it's just my small fireball for boiling water, the flame temperature is a tad too high.

Ah, that flood in the Cursed Land really wasn’t intentional, the water creation spell went out of control.

Ah, you mean this? As a small mage who only knows life skills, it's understandable to contract and raise a Nine-Tailed Divine Fox, right?

You ask how she learned her gem skills? Just add points every week.

By the way, this year is the Year of the Dragon. After speedrunning this maze and returning home, I'll raise a dragon.

“Ah ah ah ah! Who let him be a Life Mage!”