Chapter 32: Slaying the Spirit

Jiang Jian's expression was grave.

He clearly perceived that the aura radiating from the mannequin was terrifying.

He held his wooden sword horizontally before him.

Secretly, he channeled the Purifying Spirit True Fire, ready to shield his surroundings at any moment.

The mannequin stood there without attacking, instead offering a sinister smile and saying, "My luck is good this time; I've completed the task of severely injuring an examinee."

"Now, I just need to find a place to rest until your assessment ends."

"Then I can claim a new identity device."

"And regain my freedom."

The mannequin looked intoxicated, turned around, and walked into a clothing store.

It found a comfortable chair and lay down.

Du Fang's voice trembled slightly: "Jiang Jian, what should we do?"

Song Ling also looked over.

Jiang Jian was silent for a moment before saying, "This guy is a bit powerful. Don't provoke it; let's go find other unofficial citizens first."

"Okay."

"We'll listen to you."

The two nodded repeatedly.

Song Ling channeled Mental Healing, slowly restoring the trio's Qi.

Five minutes later.

Jiang Jian's Qi had mostly recovered. He stood up and said in a deep voice, "Time is tight; we must continue upward."

Du Fang followed behind him, turning his head to look at the mannequin in the clothing store: "That thing is too fierce."

The mannequin seemed to sense something; it lay on the chair, glanced toward them, and revealed a strange smile.

"Ignore it."

Jiang Jian dropped those words and walked directly onto the swaying light ladder.

A small portion of the assessment time had already passed.

Only 90 minutes remained.

The second floor.

Jiang Jian walked in front.

He navigated the winding corridor, walking over a hundred meters.

Du Fang and Song Ling followed in silence, not saying a word.

"Is the distance enough?"

Jiang Jian stopped and spoke suddenly.

Du Fang suppressed the panic on his face and said in a deep voice, "It's enough."

Jiang Jian lowered his gaze to the floor beneath his feet and whispered, "Now."

Du Fang's expression turned fierce.

Gritting his teeth, he slowly brought his palms together.

Silently, a giant sword shimmering with brilliance manifested.

"《Ten Thousand Phenomena Sword Art》, First Form."

"Heavy Sword Destroys the Mountain!"

Du Fang exhausted almost all of his Qi.

He struggled to control the transparent giant sword, smashing it fiercely toward the floor!

Boom!

A deafening roar!

The thick floor collapsed instantly!

In the clothing store on the first floor, the mannequin suddenly raised its head, its pupils contracting sharply!

It was too late to react.

The transparent giant sword had already smashed into the mannequin's head!

Clang!

A harsh sound of metal clashing tore through their eardrums!

Sparks flew from the top of the mannequin's head!

Its head was smashed directly inward!

The mannequin's body swayed, its expression dazed for a split second.

The next moment.

Its pupils refocused, and it was filled with rage!

"You dare to ambush me!"

Before the hoarse scream could finish.

Another wooden sword pierced straight into its eye socket!

The mannequin looked at the flimsy wooden sword; although rage surged within, it remembered the heavy sword from before and chose not to take the hit head-on.

Instead, it shifted its form and left the clothing store!

The wooden sword fell powerlessly to the ground.

Clearly, it had not been imbued with Qi.

"You fell for it."

Jiang Jian sneered, his mind moving to channel the Purifying Spirit True Fire to its limit!

"《Purifying Spirit True Method》, First Form."

"Slaying the Spirit!"

Boom!

Outside the clothing store, blood-red flames burned fiercely, covering the sky!

The mannequin stood in place, looking panicked.

The next second.

All the blood-red flames were absorbed by it completely.

"What is this flame..."

The mannequin looked at its hands and feet, feeling a vague sense of unease.

Suddenly.

The mannequin's vision went black, and it lost consciousness completely.

Jiang Jian walked out of the clothing store, looking at the mannequin collapsed on the ground with a calm expression.

The "Slaying the Spirit" he had just performed.

Was a supplementary spell recorded in the 《Purifying Spirit True Method》.

Using "Slaying the Spirit" could ignore physical strength.

It burned the spirit and soul of a living being directly; it was incredibly tyrannical.

Du Fang stepped forward, still shaken: "This thing is truly resistant to beating."

The "Heavy Sword Destroys the Mountain" from just now.

Was also the first time he had performed the technique associated with his God-Given Talent.

Du Fang stood beside Jiang Jian, savoring the feeling from just now, still feeling somewhat unsatisfied.

Some God-Given Talents came with supplementary training manuals.

Among them were associated techniques that were extremely powerful.

"It's a pity my Level 3 Heart didn't come with a training method."

Song Ling channeled Mental Healing to restore Qi for Jiang Jian and Du Fang, her face showing envy.

"I can only rely on Talent Light Orbs to make up for it later."

Du Fang looked at her, didn't dwell on the topic, and asked Jiang Jian: "Jiang Jian, how did you know that the floors could isolate aura?"

Jiang Jian said softly: "This shopping mall has a spiral light ladder that goes straight to the sixth floor."

"With such a large space left open, sound travels very clearly."

"But Xu Yu fought upstairs for a long time without a single sound coming down."

"So I concluded that there must be an array in the middle of the floors to isolate sound and aura."

While speaking.

The mannequin's corpse shrank rapidly.

In just a few dozen seconds.

It had turned into a piece of black iron the size of a palm.

The identity device's notification sound arrived belatedly.

"Squad notification: Refined Iron Monster has died."

"Number of unofficial citizens killed: 36."

"Special notification: Killing the Refined Iron Monster grants extra assessment points."

Hearing the sound.

Du Fang and Song Ling were both overjoyed.

Jiang Jian, however, turned his head to look at the mall entrance.

A proctor was walking toward the mall entrance.

He walked up, bent down, and picked up the black iron.

Then he looked at Jiang Jian, his eyes showing admiration.

"Not bad."

"To actually use the floor array to ambush and kill the monster together."

"This piece of refined iron was originally your spoils of war."

The proctor's gaze was piercing.

"It's just that I've been forging armor recently and happen to need this thing."

"I wonder if you students could spare this piece of refined iron for me?"

Hearing this.

Du Fang was about to speak but was stopped by Jiang Jian.

Jiang Jian pondered for a moment and said, "Since the teacher needs it, we will gift this stone to you."

"Good, thank you, students."

The proctor smiled, hid the black iron in his robes, and revealed a piece of important information.

"Killing the Refined Iron Monster significantly increases your assessment points."

"According to my estimation."

"Among the 1800 freshmen."

"Your assessment scores are already enough to enter the top 100, which is the Second Academy."

"Quit while you're ahead."

The proctor's face showed kindness.

"If you continue, sustaining serious injuries will affect your training in the early stages of enrollment."

Hearing this.

Du Fang and Song Ling looked at each other, both hesitant.

"Your performance has already been very good."

The proctor continued, "Most freshmen have no combat experience."

"When they encounter a ghost ambush, they panic and are severely injured and eliminated."

"You have persisted for so long and killed quite a few unofficial citizens."

"And you've obtained good assessment points."

"It is worthy of praise."

Hearing the proctor's praise.

Du Fang squeezed out a smile: "Thank you for your affirmation, teacher."

The proctor nodded: "You few are, after all, Level 3 talents and the future pillars of my Linjiang Academy; you should be encouraged."

Jiang Jian was silent for a moment and said, "Teacher, I want to stay until the time is up."

The proctor raised an eyebrow.

He could naturally see.

In the current squad, Song Ling and Du Fang were both led by Jiang Jian.

Slaying the Refined Iron Monster was also a strategy decided by Jiang Jian.

Jiang Jian turned his head to look at the two: "The Refined Iron Monster gives a lot of assessment points."

"The teacher just said it's enough to enter the Second Academy."

"If you don't want to continue, you can end the assessment now."

Du Fang hesitated for a moment and asked, "Jiang Jian, what about you? Do you want to continue?"

Jiang Jian nodded.

Du Fang gritted his teeth and said, "I'll stay and help you!"

"Anyway, with Song Ling's Mental Healing to help restore spiritual power, our endurance isn't bad."

Song Ling stood beside Du Fang, saying nothing.

Her attitude was self-evident.

The proctor smiled and looked at Jiang Jian.

"Since you've decided, proceed according to your thoughts."

"If you encounter a danger of serious injury, just call out 'teacher', and I will save you."

"I will try my best to ensure you don't get hurt."

"So as not to affect your training in the early stages of enrollment."

Hearing this.

Jiang Jian's tone was sincere: "Thank you, teacher."

The proctor waved his hand.

He turned around and walked out of the shopping mall.

Song Ling continuously channeled Mental Healing to help restore their Qi.

After a while.

Her face was as pale as paper.

"Jiang Jian, I need to rest for a while."

Song Ling stopped her actions and sighed.

"Continuously channeling my God-Given Talent has exhausted my spirit; I'm dizzy and can't take much more."

At this moment.

Jiang Jian's Qi had recovered to sixty percent.

And Du Fang had recovered to eighty percent.

"It's fine; if it really doesn't work, you can end the assessment first."

Jiang Jian said.

Song Ling shook her head firmly: "My Qi is enough, I can still help you; just give me ten minutes to rest a little."

Jiang Jian checked the time.

There were 55 minutes left in the assessment.

"Okay, then let's rest for a quarter of an hour."

Jiang Jian nodded, "When there are 40 minutes left, we'll set off again."

Du Fang sat on the ground, his expression relaxed: "With the Refined Iron Monster's assessment points, we are guaranteed to be in the Second Academy."

Song Ling also nodded and smiled: "Thanks to Jiang Jian."

Jiang Jian didn't speak.

Instead, he looked thoughtful.

The special notification for extra assessment points had appeared twice for him.

The first time was after killing the Toy Octopus Monster.

The second time was when killing the Refined Iron Monster.

"Calculating this way."

"My assessment points should be much higher than Du Fang and Song Ling's."

"It's even possible."

"That I've already entered the top 50."

Thoughts surged.

Jiang Jian had a vague idea of his assessment results in his heart.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 33 =====