18: 12 hours countdown

Roar—

A bear's roar resounded across the sky!

The Silver Earth Bear, at the Qi Refining Realm Peak and standing five meters tall, glared with wide eyes, continuously pounding its chest and making dull thumping sounds.

Its shadow stretched infinitely, and the star-swallowing soldier, standing twenty meters tall like a small hill in front of the Silver Earth Bear, opened its palm.

Bang—

With a single slap, it knocked the Silver Earth Bear into the ground, unable to move!

Covered in blood, the Silver Earth Bear held its arms high above its head and roared again, but it was merely a bluff, attempting to scare off the star-swallowing soldier with its roar!

As Lu Yuan, who was controlling the star-swallowing soldier, prepared to slaughter this Silver Earth Bear, a system prompt rang in his ears.

[Ding, congratulations to the host for triggering the A-Rank Hidden Quest: Surpassing Oneself.]

[Surpassing Oneself: Kill a Qi Refining Realm Peak ferocious beast to be rewarded with two Earth-rank Spirit Skills for Puppet Masters!]

Lu Yuan: "???"

It's that simple?

He had been able to kill Qi Refining Realm Peak ferocious beasts back when he was at the Qi Refining Realm Three Star.

The hidden quest was triggered one second, and the next, Lu Yuan controlled the star-swallowing soldier to slap the Silver Earth Bear to death!

The system remained silent for a full several dozen seconds.

[Ding, congratulations to the host for completing the A-Rank Hidden Quest: Surpassing Oneself. Reward: Puppet Master Earth-rank Spirit Skill · Suppression Puppet, and Earth-rank Spirit Skill · Substitute Puppet!]

"That's it? It's completed?" Lu Yuan was surprised, but he guessed the system hadn't expected him to break through his realm so quickly, and that he would possess nearly eight hundred ghost puppet soldiers in less than half a month!

On Blue Star, Spirit Skills are divided into Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow grades. Previously, the system had rewarded him with Profound-grade ones, but this time it was Earth-rank!

Earth-rank Spirit Skills are invaluable and cannot be measured by money; to obtain them, one must join certain major factions or top academies.

After checking the effects of the two newly acquired Earth-rank Spirit Skills, Lu Yuan immediately became interested.

[Suppression Puppet: Suppress the target by one to two minor realms. The number of targets and the degree of suppression depend on the user's strength. Currently, two targets can be selected!]

[Substitute Puppet: Can help the user block one full-power blow from a Practitioner below the Divine Power Realm!]

"Suppressing realms?" Lu Yuan focused on the Earth-rank Spirit Skill · Suppression Puppet. The Substitute Puppet was also good and could be used to save his life at critical moments.

"Lu Yuan is still killing ferocious beasts. Goodness, my eyes are sore from watching, yet he's still killing!"

"The Martial Examination ends in two days; he's definitely trying his best to boost his score before it gets dark!"

"I can't take it anymore, I'm going to sleep. I'll come back to watch Lu Yuan's live stream tomorrow morning."

Lu Yeli, who sent this bullet comment, yawned repeatedly, lay down on her bed, and fell into a groggy sleep.

With Lu Yuan participating in the Martial Examination, Lu Yeli, who was home alone during summer vacation, lived a boring life.

All day long, she did nothing but sleep and eat, watching Lu Yuan's performance in the Martial Examination during the day.

Before falling asleep, Lu Yeli glanced at Lu Yuan's score and ranking.

[14th Place Nationally: Lu Yuan, 350,000 points (Yunhai High School, Tianhua City, Hailan Province)]

Waking up to daylight, Lu Yeli stretched, and just then, at 8:00 AM, Lu Yuan's live stream started.

After seeing Lu Yuan's ranking, Lu Yeli was instantly wide awake.

[4th Place Nationally: Lu Yuan, 450,000 points (Yunhai High School, Tianhua City, Hailan Province)]

Fourth place nationally!

Lu Yeli first confirmed she wasn't dreaming, then quickly deduced that Lu Yuan had been hunting ferocious beasts all night.

"He's really not afraid of losing his life by being ambushed by ferocious beasts at night. He's not worried about his own safety, but I am." Lu Yeli complained, feeling that Lu Yuan was pushing himself too hard.

In the center of Taian City, Lu Yuan's eyes were bloodshot, and large numbers of ferocious beast corpses lay all around!

Qi Refining Eighth Star Giant Shield Beasts, Qi Refining Eighth Star Diamond Bears, Qi Refining Realm Peak Scarlet Blood Leopards...

"450,000 points!"

Having fought continuously for a day and a night, Lu Yuan was not only not sleepy, but exceptionally excited, especially seeing his score rise from 350,000 to 450,000 points!

And his realm had broken through again, reaching the Qi Refining Fifth Star!

A cold wind blew, and morning dew slid off the leaves. This place was a very famous Technology Park in China, located in the fallen zone of Taian City.

The Technology Park should have been built in the suburbs, but for various reasons, it was located in the center of Taian City.

With ferocious beast corpses everywhere, Lu Yuan looked at the young man who had been fighting and hunting ferocious beasts alongside him last night.

He wore a black and gold school uniform with the words "Thunder Alliance" printed on his chest, and his body radiated the aura of three different attributes: Lightning, Earth, and Wind!

"Chu Wushe." Lu Yuan recognized the peer's identity.

It was none other than Chu Wushe, who had the highest popularity to become the national number one before the Martial Examination and had awakened a four-attribute Combat Class!

Their eyes met. Chu Wushe did not communicate with Lu Yuan, only glancing at the star-swallowing soldier standing over thirty meters tall behind Lu Yuan.

"It seems Jiang Tianxia has met her match; he might be the one who takes second place nationally," Chu Wushe thought.

He had thought that the person who broke into the Technology Park in second place was Jiang Tianxia, but to his surprise, it was an unfamiliar peer.

Before leaving, Chu Wushe thought of something and stopped.

"There are still many ferocious beasts in the park. Let's divide the territory by the central building; you go south, I'll go north, and we won't interfere with each other." After saying this, Chu Wushe disappeared on the spot.

He didn't care who was second nationally, as long as he was first!

Lu Yuan shrugged.

No matter how noble Chu Wushe's status was, it had nothing to do with him. Splitting the ferocious beasts in the park half and half was fine, avoiding the awkward situation of competing for beasts.

"Lu Yuan and Chu Wushe have met. It looks like both of them pulled an all-nighter!"

"The number one and number four in the nation have met. Interesting. It's a pity they didn't communicate much, but they tacitly went in opposite directions to hunt ferocious beasts!"

"Lu Yuan's score was too low in the first two days of the Martial Examination, otherwise he would have had a chance to charge into the national top three!"

The combined audience of the two's live streams reached 40 million people, and the massive amount of bullet comments made the stream extremely laggy, though fortunately, it returned to normal after a while.

The audience felt sorry for Lu Yuan. He was currently 50,000 points behind the third-ranked Ge Yanping, and there wasn't much time left for Lu Yuan to overtake him!

"So many Qi Refining Realm Peak ferocious beasts?"

Lu Yuan, in the park, scanned the area ahead. Every building had at least seven or eight Qi Refining Realm Peak ferocious beasts; one would think he had poked a beast's nest!

No wonder Chu Wushe had never appeared near the city center; it turns out he had found a treasure trove!

The four great calamities, the Blood Slaughter Legion, the Heavens Punishment Legion, the Star Swallowing Legion...

The seven major Puppet Corps were mobilized collectively!

Standing on the shoulder of the most powerful Star Swallowing Legion, Lu Yuan looked down at the ferocious beasts below. Spiritual power condensed into spirit threads that flew through the air, precisely merging into the bodies of all the Puppet Corps!

"Start the slaughter!"

Blood Butcher took the lead, with Rotten Scab, Vast Nether, and Zhangsha following closely behind!

Blood mist, ice spikes, vines, and meteors shrouded an area of five miles, and a slaughter targeting the ferocious beasts proceeded in an orderly manner!

Today was the sixth day of the Martial Examination, with only one day left before it was officially declared over!

The rare number one trending topic was not Chu Wushe, but had become Lu Yuan!

Trending Topic #1: [A dark horse in the Martial Examination is born? Lu Yuan achieves another comeback, overtaking Ge Yanping with 520,000 points to become third nationally!]

[Every Day Must Win First: No way, brother, you really managed to charge from the national top twenty to third in two days!]

[Ni Babude Mo Wangana: This is too exaggerated. Lu Yuan's speed in hunting ferocious beasts is ridiculously fast, completely making up for the disadvantage of his low score in the first two days!]

[Screw Thread Worn Backwards Enjoy Yourself: Just good luck, finding a place with many ferocious beasts. If I were there, I could do it too (PS: I'm a troll).]

[Your Usernames Are Too Outrageous: The second-ranked Jiang Tianxia is now at 600,000 points. Lu Yuan is 80,000 points behind her. Could it be that...]

The seventh day of the Martial Examination ended at noon, with exactly twenty-six hours remaining!

As the Martial Examination entered its white-hot stage, the principals, Vice Principals, and mentors of the five top academies established in China's five super first-tier cities sat around LCD screens, holding detailed information on the top 100 examinees and engaging in heated discussions.

The top three ranked individuals, Chu Wushe, Jiang Tianxia, and Lu Yuan, became the focus of the discussion!

Imperial Capital, headquarters of the Seven Alliances and One Hall.

In the magnificent palace, eight empty chairs were placed in the center. As the doors opened, eight stern-faced Alliance Masters (Hall Masters) walked in.

They were the highest authorities in China and also the strongest Practitioners in China!

"Chu Wushe, four-attribute Combat Class, SSS-Rank Talent, Qi Refining Realm Six-Star!"

The Middle-Aged Man, dressed in luxurious attire and sitting on a pure white chair, looked at the current top three examinees in China.

"Jiang Tianxia, Gold Attribute Combat Class, SSS-Rank Talent, Qi Refining Fifth Star!"

"Lu Yuan, Puppet Master?"

The Middle-Aged Man narrowed his eyes.

"Lu Yuan, Puppet Master, SSS-Rank Talent, Qi Refining Realm Six-Star!"

"The aptitude of this year's examinees is quite good. In previous years, the highest realm on the last day of the Martial Examination was only the Qi Refining Realm Three Star, but this year, two people have broken through to the Six-Star level," the Middle-Aged Man said.

"There is no reversal for national number one; it belongs to Chu Wushe without a doubt. However, it's hard to say which of the two examinees, Lu Yuan or Jiang Tianxia, will be second and third," the Crimson Flame Alliance Master sitting on the fiery red chair said in a deep voice.

"The Martial Examination has not ended yet; do not jump to conclusions." The man sitting on the golden chair in the center, whose face could not be clearly seen, spoke in a calm tone.

Hearing this, the six Alliance Masters and Hall Masters nodded, assuming the Supreme Alliance Leader was referring to the dispute between Lu Yuan and Jiang Tianxia for second and third place.

While discussions outside the Martial Examination were heated, the examinees in Taian City were silent.

"What exactly is my ranking?" Wan Zichen, ranked fifth nationally, looked conflicted.

With less than twelve hours left until the end of the Martial Examination, Wan Zichen stared fixedly at his score.

His goal was the national top three.

"Forget it, gamble for it, turn a bicycle into a motorcycle!" Wan Zichen gritted his teeth, left the shelter, and disappeared into the night.

"Damn it, I'll risk it!"

Ge Yanping, ranked fourth nationally, kicked open a rickety wooden door. Rather than letting his mind wander, it was better to take the risk and hunt ferocious beasts at night.

With his strength, he only needed to be careful. If worst came to worst, he could use a Wind Attribute Spirit Skill to slip away!

Jiang Tianxia was one step ahead of them both, having left the shelter early, carrying her pitch-black greatsword!

The three of them gradually crept toward the Taian City Technology Park from three different directions, where Lu Yuan and Chu Wushe had already been fighting for a day and a night!