Chapter 118: Terrace

On the holographic mega-screen.

The score leaderboard fluctuates in real time.

Suddenly.

Someone gasped in shock, leapt to their feet, and stared fixedly at the skyborne mega-screen!

“Who is that team?!”

“They’ve just gained over 400 points!”

On the vast skyborne leaderboard, the team name blazed with radiant light!

It erupted in brilliant crimson brilliance, tearing through countless other team names as it shot upward!

In just a few seconds, it surged into the top hundred!

What was shocking was.

All other combat teams had five names listed, neatly aligned.

But Jiang Jian’s combat team had only one name!

“Why does this combat team have only one person?!”

“One person?!”

“How is this possible!”

“A combat team with only one person!!!”

“Ah?!”

“Did I see that right?”

Countless people stared in disbelief at that glaringly prominent team name.

Jiang Jian’s combat team!

More people pulled out their identity devices, checked the team data, and confirmed repeatedly!

A few seconds later.

More and more eyes turned toward Jiang Jian’s ranking!

“It’s really just one person!”

“This is insane!”

“Wait! Wait! What did I just see!”

“I just watched his replay footage—the recording shows he alone eliminated over ten combat teams!”

“What?!”

“That’s impossible!”

As Jiang Jian’s battle footage spread like wildfire.

The joint forum of the two prefectures exploded instantly!

“There’s a monster!!!”

“So Biantai !”

“Why is he so strong!”

“He’s terrifyingly strong!”

“Over ten combat teams—all eliminated by him alone!”

“Monster!”

“Why is his spiritual energy cap so terrifying!”

“So strong!”

“Is he really at the Divine Gift realm?!”

“The terrifying power of his sword light, the deadly restraint of his sword array—it’s suffocating!”

“Is he a Level 3 talent? Are you sure he’s not Level 5?”

“Level 3 talent? Impossible!”

“Even more terrifying—he’s a student from Linjiang Prefecture!”

Meanwhile.

On the floating terrace.

Bang!

The Deputy Prefect, rarely losing composure, slammed his palm hard onto the table.

He sprang to his feet, staring fixedly at the screen, replaying the battle footage over and over!

“Our Linjiang Prefecture has a chance this time!”

Shock still lingered on the Deputy Prefect’s face.

Though his voice was hoarse, his eyes gleamed with hope!

Beside him.

Many prefectural officials noticed the Deputy Prefect’s unusual state and asked: “Deputy Prefect, what’s wrong?”

“Look for yourselves!”

The Deputy Prefect calmed his expression, swiping his fingers across the screen.

He enlarged Jiang Jian’s battle footage to full screen and replayed it repeatedly!

The officials all wore expressions of astonishment!

“He’s this strong?!”

“Is he a Level 5 talent from Hanjiang Prefecture?!”

“No, Deputy Prefect said he’s our Linjiang Prefecture student!”

“I don’t recall any Level 5 talents among this year’s new students in Linjiang.”

“He’s a Level 3 talent!”

“Level 3 talent?!”

“Strong to this degree?!”

……

By the waterside cliff.

Jiang Jian did not know.

As his ranking soared, many had already noticed him.

Behind him.

Hundreds of water spirits rose and fell, forming a massive wave!

“I won’t find any more water spirits now.”

Jiang Jian lifted his head, glancing at the mega-screen map.

His own crimson glow was too glaring.

Whenever he neared others, those representing other combat teams immediately fled ahead.

And the other light clusters, similar in strength to his own,

to avoid risk and preserve their rankings,

also chose to avoid contact, gradually drifting away.

“There.”

Jiang Jian stared at the map, his gaze shifting slightly.

He spotted a cluster of light points and moved closer again.

The instant his crimson light cluster began to move,

those light points seemed startled, scattering wildly far from the spot.

“Round Two: top one thousand advance.”

“Real-time ranking matters little—it only affects Round Three assignments.”

“No wonder these people avoid taking risks.”

Seeing this, Jiang Jian fell silent.

He simply stopped chasing.

By the waterside cliff,

he found a spot rich in spiritual energy, sat down on the ground, and began cultivation.

Suddenly.

His identity device emitted two consecutive alerts.

“Special Alert: Water spirits are formed from water vein spiritual energy—pure enough to consume directly, rapidly restoring spiritual energy.”

“Special Alert: Water spirits collected during Round Two count not only toward scores but also serve as rewards for combat teams.”

Hearing the voice,

Jiang Jian raised an eyebrow slightly.

He reached behind him, grabbed a water spirit at random.

A water spirit—a semi-transparent stream of azure light.

It was a spiritual resource formed from the dissolution of water vein spiritual energy.

Its aura was cool and brimming with spiritual energy.

“Indeed, no impurities.”

Jiang Jian sensed it for a moment, then placed the water spirit into his mouth.

Instantly,

a chilling energy spread through his entire body, permeating every limb and bone.

What surprised Jiang Jian here was that,

the qi generated by the water spirit was extremely gentle.

It directly filled the Shenque acupoint.

In an instant, it replenished three-tenths of his depleted qi!

Just now, he had fully activated the Qingshuang Sword Array.

Sustained for dozens of seconds, it had consumed nearly half his qi.

This single water spirit,

had restored all his consumed qi!

“Water spirits collected: 450.”

A notification chimed.

Jiang Jian erased the holographic screen and resumed his cultivation alone.

The second round’s water spirits, collected as points,

were meant for students to restore their qi.

On the celestial holographic map,

white dots grew fewer.

Light red dots, deep red clusters,

and bright, blazing red clusters like Jiang Jian’s,

grew increasingly numerous.

Some clever students, after estimating, concluded they wouldn’t make the top thousand.

They stopped collecting water spirits.

Instead, they hid with their existing water spirits, waiting for the second round to end.

In this way,

they could still take away the water spirits they had gathered.

Though they wouldn’t enter the top thousand,

they could still harvest many water spirits—no real loss.

After all,

the water spirits of Lingshui Cliff were extremely precious.

They were rare, potent medicines capable of rapidly restoring qi.

On trading platforms, their price was astronomically high.

Three hours passed quickly.

“Second round, ended!”

“Top one thousand in points, advance!”

“Others eliminated!”

As the cold voice rang out,

the celestial holographic screen trembled violently!

All combat squads ranked below one thousand,

their names dimmed instantly and froze in place!

Meanwhile, the top one thousand combat squads,

blazed brilliantly, continuing to radiate light!

The array’s staircase descended, enveloping Jiang Jian.

Within mere dozens of seconds,

it returned him to the circular stone steps of Zone 9.

Jiang Jian stepped off the staircase and glanced around, raising an eyebrow slightly.

On the stone steps above, below, and to either side—sparse and scattered—

not a single figure could be seen!

One hundred thousand freshmen, after two brutal rounds,

had been reduced to five thousand!

Ten zones, each originally with ten thousand,

now, on average,

each zone held only a few hundred.

“Third round: the top one thousand combat squads advance to the top ten!”

“Preparation time remaining: 300 seconds.”

(End of Chapter)