Chapter 130: 48,000 Ability Points! Return!

"Ha—"

Xu Jingming exhaled a long breath, the divine thunder in the sky receding as he slowly opened his eyes, faint excitement glimmering within.

He had advanced to Second Rank Upper Tier in mid-August, while still in the Source Water Wasteland.

By now, in December, barely three months had passed.

For a regular adept, breaking from Second Rank Upper Tier to Third Rank would take at least two or three years of cultivation!

Even among the prodigies of Magic University, most required half a year or even a full year to complete the breakthrough!

"It seems my innate cultivation talent isn't bad either..."

Xu Jingming smiled and opened his system interface.

【Name】: Xu Jingming

【Rank】: Third Rank Lower Tier (+)

【Ability】: Purple Thunder Divine Lightning (S)

【Physique】: 2032 Qi (++)

【Spirit】: 1513 He (++)

【Skills】: Spear Technique (Master), Heavenly Thunder Art (Beginner+), Mingyuleikai (Beginner+), Fist Technique (Intermediate+), Thunder Spear (Advanced+), Chain Lightning Spear (Intermediate+), Thunder Flash (Advanced+), Thunder Prison (Intermediate+), Lightning Gale Break (Master+)

【Body Cultivation】: Thunder Indestructible Body (Fourth Stage+)

【Ability Points】: 48429

From Second Rank Upper Tier to Third Rank Lower Tier, Xu Jingming's physique and spirit each increased by nearly 400 points!

His Qi had even broken through the 2000-point threshold!

Xu Jingming could feel the dense, ceaselessly surging blood-qi within him, like a mighty river in constant motion.

Yet when his gaze fell upon the Ability column, his brow slightly furrowed.

Before entering the Demon Cave, his system interface showed 13, 00 ability points.

After entering the Demon Cave, he continuously slaughtered, accumulating another 35, 00 ability points.

Combined, they totaled a staggering 48, 00 ability points!

Yet behind his S-rank ability, Purple Thunder Divine Lightning, there was still no plus sign.

"Forty-eight thousand ability points—enough to carry me from Third to Fourth Rank—and still not enough to upgrade my ability..."

Xu Jingming felt a touch of helplessness.

Of course, compared to advancing from Third to Fourth Rank, evolving his S-rank ability into SS-rank was far more tempting.

After all, SS-rank wasn't the end—if the Deep Blue System could evolve abilities,

then the legendary SSS-rank ability was within reach.

"I'll accumulate more. If I still can't upgrade after reaching 50, 00 ability points, I'll temporarily give up.

Prioritize rank advancement, then hunt beasts."

Xu Jingming silently decided, "But before that, I need to return to the supply base."

Today is the 8th; the day after tomorrow, the 10th, is when the three universities finalize the new students' rankings—he wouldn't miss it.

"I recall the first-place reward is the right to choose any one combat technique from the three top universities' combat scripture libraries."

"I just wonder if there's an SS-rank lightning-based combat technique suitable for me..."

Even before final scores were tallied, Xu Jingming was already anticipating the first-place reward.

Of course, he had his own confidence.

"With my score, securing first place shouldn't be a problem."

Xu Jingming opened the smart bracelet on his wrist.

Vrrrm~~~

A pale blue holographic image projected before his eyes.

Name: Xu Jingming

School: Magic City Institute of Esoteric Abilities

Score: 402341

Correct,

his score had accumulated to a full 400, 00 points!

The reason for such a high score was that within this past month, he had slain over twenty Fourth Rank Lower Tier beasts!

Each Fourth Rank Lower Tier beast granted 10, 00 points; over twenty of them gave him over 200, 00 base points alone!

Add in the other beasts he'd slain, and his total reached a terrifying 400, 00 points...

Of course,

his beast-hunting wasn't without peril—he had faced several life-or-death crises.

The most perilous moment came

after he'd slain a group of Third Rank Peak beasts, when he encountered a Fifth Rank Mid-Tier Wind Terror Wolf!

The instant he saw the Wind Terror Wolf, Xu Jingming knew this was the greatest life-or-death crisis he'd ever faced!

Without hesitation, he swallowed three Grade-3 Blood-Explosion Pills, activated Thunder Extreme State, and unleashed Thunder Flash to flee desperately.

Yet during his escape, he was struck by a wind blade.

The terrifying blade tore through his S-rank Mingyuleikai and B-rank combat armor before striking his back.

For a normal Second Rank Upper Tier adept, even a weakened wind blade would have sliced him cleanly in two.

But Xu Jingming's Thunder Indestructible Body had reached the Fourth Stage—his physique was formidable!

The wind blade penetrated about seven or eight centimeters into his back before losing momentum and vanishing into thin air.

His entire back was drenched in a sea of blood.

The searing pain nearly sent him into unconsciousness.

Yet he held on through sheer willpower and ultimately escaped the Fifth Rank Mid-Tier Wind Terror Wolf.

Afterwards, Xu Jingming drank a bottle of S-rank Earth Spirit Spring and rested for two full days in a cave.

During that time, he took four or five Grade-2 healing pills crafted by Jiang Chu, finally recovering completely.

Even now, a faint but massive scar from that wind blade remained on his back.

"Although the efficiency of gathering ability points in the Demon Cave is high, it's extremely dangerous."

Though he had the Deep Blue System, Xu Jingming never arrogantly believed he could roam freely through the middle of the Demon Cave.

It was precisely this caution that allowed him to escape multiple life-or-death crises.

"With my rank now at Third, today's training ends here. Tomorrow, I'll head back."

Xu Jingming closed his eyes slightly, slipping into light sleep.

The next morning, he set off toward Shun'an Supply Base.

December 10th,

today was the day the three top universities finalized the new students' rankings.

Although it was only seven in the morning, the first-floor lobby of Shun'an Supply Base's main building was already packed with people.

Most were third-university freshmen; many others were civilian adepts come to watch.

Only because the lobby was so spacious could it accommodate so many.

At the center of the lobby stood a massive black machine.

It was the scoring machine—placing your smart bracelet into it would instantly calculate your final ranking.

Beside the machine sat the delegation leaders from the three top universities, including Magic University's vice principal Ling Shuang, along with numerous instructors.

People kept arriving, dusty and weary, from outside.

They inserted their smart bracelets into the machine to confirm their final rankings.

"I got 1, 01 points—1, 23rd place! Too bad, just missed the top 1, 00."

"What's the regret? You submitted your bracelet yesterday; the real elites won't show up until today—your rank will likely drop further."

"True enough—those elites must have terrifying scores!"

"..."

The three-university freshmen chattered among themselves.

Most freshmen had already returned to the supply base in recent days,

submitted their bracelets, and received their rankings.

But they knew the crucial moment was still today.

No—only the final two hours!

These two hours would be the fiercest battleground for the elites!