24: Chapter 24 Monthly Assessment: A Stunning Debut

A week passed in the blink of an eye. The Key Class monthly assessment arrived on schedule.

The atmosphere in the entire classroom was heavier than ever before. Everyone here was a Prodigy, accustomed to victory, and no one was willing to accept the humiliation of being eliminated for ranking last.

Everyone's gaze, whether intentional or not, drifted toward two spots.

One was Monitor Zhou Yi.

The other was the owner of the only empty seat, Jiang Xun.

During the sparring session last week, Jiang Xun had used a set of unheard-of ancient battle formations to crush Monitor Zhou Yi's top lackey, Zhao Kai, in three minutes. It was like a thorn stuck in the eyes of these elite scions.

For the past week, Monitor Zhou Yi hadn't caused any more trouble, but the gloom in his eyes had grown thicker day by day.

The instructor walked into the classroom with a stern expression. Without any wasted words, he directly activated the holographic projection in the center of the classroom.

"This monthly assessment is divided into three parts."

"One, assessment of Divine Kingdom Civilization Rank."

"Two, comprehensive combat power evaluation of believers."

"Three, Divine Kingdom confrontation."

"The student with the highest overall score will receive a fifty percent resource allocation for next month. The last place student will leave the Key Class."

After reading the cold rules, the instructor's gaze swept across the room.

"For the Divine Kingdom confrontation segment, challenges are free. Now, who will go first?"

Before his voice had even faded, a figure stood up abruptly.

It was Monitor Zhou Yi. He didn't even look at the instructor, his bloodshot eyes locked onto Jiang Xun like a beast ready to devour someone.

"I, Monitor Zhou Yi, challenge Jiang Xun."

The air in the entire classroom instantly froze.

It was here; everyone knew this was the main event of the day.

"Granted." The instructor nodded, seemingly having anticipated this scene.

Jiang Xun stood up calmly and walked to the other end of the projection area, facing Monitor Zhou Yi from across the distance.

"Jiang Xun, did you really think that because you relied on some opportunistic ancient battle formation to win against Zhao Kai in the last sparring session, you could stand on equal footing with us?"

Monitor Zhou Yi's voice was hoarse, filled with undisguised malice.

"Today, I will let you see just how ridiculous your little tricks are in the face of absolute power!"

He raised his hand abruptly, and Divine Power flooded into the virtual sandbox in front of him frantically.

"Summon! My trump card!"

Boom!

A loud noise erupted, as if thunder had struck from the flat ground. On the sandbox battlefield, a massive figure ten meters tall condensed out of thin air.

It was a giant composed of pure lightning, its body wreathed in countless leaping electrical snakes. Every breath it took caused the air to crackle and pop. On its massive head, two points of scarlet light overlooked Jiang Xun's tiny Divine Kingdom sandbox.

A-Rank Civilization core unit—Thunder Colossus!

A terrifying pressure instantly enveloped the entire classroom.

Many Prodigies turned pale; even just through the projection, they could feel their Divine Soul trembling.

"Is... is this Monitor Zhou Yi's true strength? It's too terrifying!"

"How can anyone fight this? With one stomp, Jiang Xun's believers will be crushed into meat paste, right?"

In the corner, Xu Qingran's brows were tightly furrowed, her eyes filled with worry.

The instructor also adjusted his glasses, his expression grave. The energy fluctuation of the Thunder Colossus was at least thirty percent stronger than last month. It seemed Monitor Zhou Yi had invested heavily over this past week.

However, Jiang Xun, who was at the center of the pressure, merely pushed up his glasses, the gaze behind the lenses devoid of any ripples.

He didn't even look at the majestic Thunder Colossus, instead looking at Monitor Zhou Yi and speaking indifferently.

"Is that it?"

"You're courting death!"

Monitor Zhou Yi was thoroughly enraged, and he roared out the command.

"Crush them!"

The Thunder Colossus moved.

Its massive body took a step forward, and the entire sandbox trembled because of it. The giant fist wrapped in an electrical net, like a meteorite, smashed down fiercely toward the military formation formed by Jiang Xun's believers!

In that instant, everyone held their breath, as if they had already seen the tragic sight of the Human Race believers' flesh and blood flying everywhere. Jiang Xun's defeat was certain.

Just at this moment, Jiang Xun's voice rang out clearly in the sandbox.

"Rock Battle Soul, activate."

Hum!

A layer of earthy yellow shimmer lit up simultaneously on his one hundred Bronze Rank believers.

Their muscles knotted together at a speed visible to the naked eye, and rock-like patterns emerged on the surface of their skin. Facing the world-destroying punch, not a single person retreated, their eyes filled with fearlessness and fanaticism.

Boom!!!

The giant fist landed, and the blinding electric light instantly swallowed everything.

However, when the light dissipated, the entire room was deathly silent.

Everyone's eyes were about to pop out.

In the center of the sandbox, a huge crater had appeared, with electric arcs still leaping within it.

Yet, those one hundred Human Race believers were still standing in place.

The military formation they had formed had actually withstood the Thunder Colossus's full-strength blow! Although the formation was somewhat scattered, not a single person had fallen!

"No! Impossible!" Monitor Zhou Yi's face drained completely of color, and he let out an incredulous scream. "What kind of monster is this?! How could my Thunder Colossus not even kill a group of Bronze Rank ants?!"

He didn't know that this was precisely the terrifying aspect of [Civilization Deduction].

By fusing the strength enhancement of the Orc "Berserk" and the physical damage reduction of the Undead "Tenacity," and then eliminating all side effects, the created [Rock Battle Soul] allowed Jiang Xun's believers to possess defense and resilience far exceeding their Rank!

"Surprised?"

Jiang Xun's voice rang out again, carrying a hint of mockery.

"There is even more to surprise you next."

"Armor Piercing, focus fire."

As the order was given, a sharp shimmer lit up on the spears and bows in all the believers' hands.

This was a brand new Law that Jiang Xun had deduced by consuming Faith Points.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Over a hundred attacks empowered by the "Armor Piercing" Law, like a rain of death, did not attack the Colossus's limbs, but were instead aimed with pinpoint accuracy at the pulsating energy core in its chest!

Crack!

A crisp sound, like glass shattering, rang out.

A tiny crack appeared on the core in the Thunder Colossus's chest.

Immediately afterward, the cracks spread across its entire body like a spiderweb.

The electric snakes wrapped around it extinguished one by one, and its massive body swayed before collapsing to its knees in the deathly silence.

Finally, it turned into specks of light filling the sky and dissipated without a trace.

[Divine Kingdom confrontation ended. Jiang Xun, victory.]

The cold, mechanical voice hit everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.

Monitor Zhou Yi stood blankly in place, utterly dejected, muttering to himself.

"My Colossus... My Colossus..."

Meanwhile, another voice rang out in Jiang Xun's mind.

[Detected enemy Divine Kingdom core unit collapsed...]

[SSS-rank Talent [Civilization Plunder] activated...]

[Plunder successful! Obtained A-Rank Thunder Colossus Civilization Fragment * 3!]

[Plunder successful! Obtained Lightning-type Law Fragment * 1!]

Jiang Xun's eyes flickered slightly. In his Talent panel, the analysis diagram for the Thunder Colossus slowly unfolded.

He noticed that in the construction method of the energy core, there was a peculiar "energy amplification circuit," and its construction principle was seventy percent similar to a certain sacrificial circuit of an Evil God civilization that he had seen in the "fragment of civilizational history."

Jiang Xun remained calm and kept this discovery deeply in his mind.

The final results were announced.

Jiang Xun, with an indisputable crushing posture, won first place overall in the monthly assessment!

During the resource allocation segment, Jiang Xun took away the largest share of resources under the awe-filled gazes of everyone.

This included that "Lightning-type Law Fragment" which Monitor Zhou Yi had long coveted and planned to use to strengthen the Thunder Colossus.

He held the crystal-clear fragment, walked up to the completely dejected Monitor Zhou Yi, and right in front of him, activated his Divine Power slightly, slowly merging the fragment into his own palm.

Monitor Zhou Yi trembled all over and looked up abruptly, his eyes filled with malice and despair, but he couldn't say a single word.

The assessment ended, and the crowd dispersed.

Just as Jiang Xun was preparing to leave, a cold, clear voice rang out behind him.

Xu Qingran walked over. In her beautiful eyes, there was a complex mix of emotions—no longer scrutiny, but deep confusion and shock.

She looked at Jiang Xun and asked, word by word.

"Your fighting style is very similar to my father's."

"Who... exactly are you?"