54: Chapter 54: Commoners Rise to the Top 100, Aristocratic Young Masters Collapse into a Frenzy!

Jiangcheng No. 3 High School, Campus Forum.

Late at night, a time when the vast majority of students should have been resting.

But tonight, the entire forum's traffic data showed a steep, vertical upward curve.

The cause was an anonymous post with no text description, only a single holographic screenshot.

The content of the screenshot was simple: the ranking interface of the provincial rising star rankings for starry sky war chess.

Amidst a screen full of dazzling IDs prefixed with the names of the provincial capital's top financial magnates and ancient noble families...

A clean, somewhat humble-looking name hung steadily in the ranks of the top one hundred.

[Rank 73: Jiangcheng - Commoner Sequence - Lin Yuan. Current Win Rate: 98%. Highest Winning Streak: 55 matches.]

For the first three minutes after this screenshot was posted, the thread was silent.

Three minutes later, the number of replies exploded like an avalanche.

“???”

“Photoshoped, right? What is the OP's motive, posting this kind of fake image in the middle of the night to disgust people?”

“A commoner from Jiangcheng can break into the provincial top hundred? Why don't you just say he crushed a True God with one hand?”

“Tech expert verification complete. No traces of tampering on the screenshot, and the holographic projection source file is normal. This image... is real.”

“Holy shit! Lin Yuan? Is that the powerhouse who got twelve million points in the practical exam, the undisputed number one among commoners?”

“Are you crazy! That's the provincial rising star rankings! Jiangcheng's top-ranked Su Yueying is currently only struggling around fiftieth place. How can he, with an F-grade Wasteland Divine Domain, charge to 73rd?”

“Wait, are you guys blind? Look at his win rate and winning streak. A 98% win rate and a 55-match winning streak. Is this data even achievable by a carbon-based lifeform?”

“Hiss—Holy shit! I was just looking at the ranking! A 98% win rate?! In starry sky war chess, the more wins you have, the more insane the opponents the system matches you with, and the higher their rank! This data is a hundred times more ridiculous than him being ranked 73rd!”

“A 55-match winning streak... This must mean he's been forcefully killing opponents above his level in every single match, eating them alive despite the system's win-rate sanctions... Just what kind of monsters is this Lin Yuan raising in his Divine Domain?”

All sorts of questioning, shocked, and unbelievable comments instantly flooded the screen.

Many scions of financial magnates, who usually held themselves high, suffered a mental breakdown.

The resource foundations they were so proud of...

Felt like a farcical comedy in the face of this screenshot.

“He must have exploited some system bug! Low-level mutants from a Wasteland Divine Domain wouldn't even make a splash against a heavy-armored legion or a group of mages. How could he get a 50-match winning streak?”

An ID with a second-rate noble family prefix replied sourly.

Less than ten seconds after this reply was posted...

An account with the ID [Young Master of Jiangcheng Meat Processing Plant] directly dropped into the thread and began a frenzied counter-argument mode.

It was Fatty Wang, who had rushed over the moment he caught the scent of the drama.

In the real world, Fatty Wang was lying on his sofa.

While using his mind to monitor the group of Black Demon Pigs in his Divine Domain as they ate their feed, his hands were typing on the virtual keyboard so fast they left afterimages.

“Is it that hard to admit someone else is excellent? The little hater is showing his true colors!”

“A bug? Why don't you find a starry sky war chess bug and show it to me?”

“That's a sandbox jointly developed by the military and the Supreme Deity Alliance! If you're so damn good, why don't you exploit your way to number one in the province?”

“My Brother Yuan was slicing through Silver-rank monsters like vegetables in the practical exam. What were you guys doing then? You were being chased and bitten by monsters until you pissed yourselves!”

“Now that you see someone else has ranked up, you start getting salty again.”

“This is just a basic operation, no need to be surprised. My Brother Yuan hasn't even gone all out yet. If he did, he'd shatter the galaxy!”

As Lin Yuan's only current Subordinate Deity, Fatty Wang shared in both his glory and his loss.

His combat power on the keyboard was not the least bit inferior to the mutated Black Demon Pigs in his Divine Domain.

One man fighting against the masses.

He forcefully flamed several usually arrogant second-rate noble scions until they muted themselves and fled.

“I'm definitely sticking to Brother Yuan for the rest of my life.” Fatty sniffled.

Looking at the screen full of 'Brother Yuan is awesome' and 'Brother Fatty, carry me,' he was so happy he almost blew a snot bubble.

This feeling of being a lackey—ptui, being a subordinate god...

Was damn satisfying!

At the same time, in Tianhai Provincial Capital.

Inside the training room of the Xiao Family Manor.

Xiao Ting had a grim expression as he stared at the light screen before him.

What was playing on the light screen was the recording of Lin Yuan's last match in starry sky war chess.

As a core scion of the provincial military faction, Xiao Ting possessed permissions far exceeding those of ordinary high school students.

He could not only check Lin Yuan's ranking but even retrieve unencrypted battle replays.

Half an hour ago, he was still sitting on his sofa swirling a wine glass.

Mocking Lin Yuan with others, saying he was just lucky and had exploited a loophole in the Jiangcheng exam.

But now, the clothes on his back were soaked with cold sweat.

In the recorded footage...

“Peak Platinum... Transcendent-grade Armament... Just where the hell did this monster come from?” Xiao Ting swallowed hard, his voice trembling.

What made him feel even more fear and made his scalp tingle was the monster under Lin Yuan's command.

A ten-meter-tall black monster, its entire body burning with Dark-gold Divine Fire.

It actually withstood a Peak Platinum-rank attack and sent the opponent flying half a meter with a single punch.

Although that monster was eventually killed in seconds by the concentrated fire of ten people...

That fearless combat power that could bridge the gap between ranks to cause a threat made Xiao Ting feel cold all over.

The scene of him boasting arrogantly to Lin Yuan at the Star Ring Salon couldn't help but surface in his mind.

“If you dare take the military's 200 million investment, I will make sure your Divine Domain is completely shattered during the Streaming Exam.”

Recalling what he had said, Xiao Ting now just wanted to give himself two big slaps.

“This combat power... If that monster gets close, my Tier 4 Lion-Dragons might not be able to block that strange vibration damage.”

He had originally thought his subordinates possessed extremely high air superiority and mobility...

Sufficient to toy with Lin Yuan's land-based troops until they died during the Streaming Exam.

But now, looking at the monster on the light screen that could forcefully merge into the shadows and cross space to output damage right in the opponent's face...

Xiao Ting knew very well.

His Lion-Dragons would not have an easy time under the opponent's heavy fists.

“Lunatic! Just where did Commander Xiao Lie dig up this freak!”

Xiao Ting stood up and kicked over the coffee table in front of him.

His attempt to look cool had turned into a boomerang, hitting him right between the eyes.

The Streaming Exam was a grand event watched by the entire province, and all the military bigwigs would be watching.

If, when the time came...

He was rubbed into the ground by Lin Yuan in front of the entire province, he would never be able to hold his head up in the Xiao Family again for the rest of his life.

“No! I absolutely cannot lose!”

Xiao Ting's eyes were bloodshot as he dialed the communication for the family's chief logistics manager.

“Young Master, what are your orders so late at night?”

“Go to the warehouse! Take out the entire thirty million faith points budget originally scheduled for me next month, right now!”

Xiao Ting roared into the communicator, “Then go to the family trading network and buy me three high-level Environment Cards and Time Cards. I want to accelerate the Divine Domain's deduction!”

“But Young Master, forced deduction will cause the overdrawing of the subordinates' origin...”

“Cut the crap! Overdrawing is better than being beaten to a pulp by a commoner! Go buy them! Also, I want that sealed [Battle Array] scroll!”

Cutting the communication, Xiao Ting slumped into his chair.

He now had only one thought: to boost his combat power at all costs before the Streaming Exam.

“Lin Yuan... you damn freak, I will never let you use me as a stepping stone!”

...

Jiangcheng, Spark Military Region Independent Villa.

Lin Yuan disconnected the virtual helmet and casually placed it on the table.

He stood up and went to the bathroom to wash his face with cold water.

Looking at himself in the mirror, his eyes showed no trace of emotion.

Even though he had been insta-killed by ten Peak Platinum cheaters, he didn't feel the slightest bit of frustration in his heart.

If your strength is inferior, you take your beating standing up.

starry sky war chess was, after all, just a deduction sandbox.

The appearance of ten Platinum warriors had instead completely dispelled the slight trace of laxity that had arisen in his heart due to his winning streak.

“The Tyrant's performance was even better than I expected.”

Lin Yuan wiped the water off his face and walked to the window.

Faced with an unbridgeable gap in rank, the Tyrant did not shrink back, erupting with a battle intent that surpassed its limits.

This fanatical aggressiveness was the core charm of the Wasteland Divine Domain.

Losing to the opponent wasn't shameful; he just had to wait for the Tyrant to advance to Platinum.

When that time came, it was anyone's guess who would emerge victorious.

“Sooner or later, I'll settle this score.”

Lin Yuan murmured softly to himself.

Afterward, he opened his personal terminal and pulled up the system backend of starry sky war chess.

[Rewards for the Top 100 of the provincial rising star rankings have been issued.]

[100 million faith points have been transferred to your personal account.]

[Random Gold-grade Resource Blind Box (1/1) has been added to your inventory.]

Looking at the long string of extra zeros in his account, Lin Yuan smiled with satisfaction.

“Open the blind box.”

Lin Yuan clicked the treasure chest icon in his inventory.

On the light screen, the treasure chest burst open.

Countless golden streams of light gathered in the room, finally condensing into a physical card with a gold-inlaid border.

On the front of the card was a drawing of a vast, vibrant grassland with a gentle breeze blowing through it.

[Gold-grade Environment Card: Abundant Green Grassland]

[Effect: After use, a high-energy pasture with an area of up to 100,000 square kilometers can be generated within the Divine Domain. The pasture contains abundant life energy, which can accelerate the reproduction speed of herbivorous and plant-type subordinates, and improve the efficiency of vitality recovery.]

Lin Yuan looked at this card and fell into silence.

It was a good item.

A Gold-grade Environment Card could be sold for a high price of at least ten million faith points on the market.

Deities who specialized in the Nature God system or the Life God system would find this thing quite rare.

But for him, it was purely a piece of scrap paper.

The core laws of the Wasteland Divine Domain were corrosion and destruction.

If he used this card, within half a day...

This vibrant grassland would be eroded by the Dark-gold Toxic Miasma and the Earth-vein Fire Poison until not a single blade of grass remained.

“No point in keeping it, just liquidate it.”

Lin Yuan opened his personal terminal and logged into the military's internal trading network, for which Commander Xiao had granted him access.

Clicking on 'List Item,' he scanned and uploaded the attribute illustration of the [Gold-grade Environment Card: Abundant Green Grassland].

“Price: 20 million faith points. Or equivalent Gold-grade Abyss Ores, high-level mechanical remains, or special materials with devouring properties.”

Lin Yuan added the exchange conditions in the remarks.

His living casting mother nest was currently hungry for more, and the more metal materials, the better.