Chapter 131: Kilan! 12,000 Points! Xu Jingming Arrives!

As the new students in the hall whispered among themselves, a girl in a silver-white battle suit entered through the entrance.

The girl's features were alluring and radiant, and her body, tightly wrapped in the battle suit, bore a maturity and fullness incongruous with her age.

"It's Song Qiuyun! That second-place newcomer from Mo Da!"

Song Qiuyun possessed not only a stunning appearance and figure, but also exceptional strength.

Many among the three schools' newcomers recognized her.

So when she arrived, everyone stared at her expectantly, eager to see her final score and ranking.

But as Song Qiuyun stepped into the hall and swept her eyes across the crowd, she failed to spot the familiar figure of Gao Da.

Her brows slightly furrowed, then she walked forward to the machine at the center of the hall.

She removed the smart bracelet from her wrist and inserted it into the device.

Hum—

The machine whirred, scanning the video clips recorded inside the smart bracelet to determine whether cheating had occurred.

Moments later, a mechanical electronic voice sounded:

"Song Qiuyun of Mo Du Institute of Psychic Abilities, score confirmed. Total score: 12,000! Rank: First!"

The next instant,

on the holographic projection within the hall,

Song Qiuyun's name leapt to the top spot, radiating brilliant golden light!

"Over twelve thousand points! Amazing!"

"Tsk tsk, no surprise—she's Mo Da's second-place newcomer."

"Compared to her, Li Chengzhi from Mo Da still falls short."

"..."

The new students burst into exclamations.

Currently, the top ten newcomers on the leaderboard all had scores above ten thousand.

But the highest score until now had been only 11,000—Song Qiuyun's 12,000 naturally overshadowed them all.

Yet everyone knew,

that the S-class Kilan from Jing Da, and the S-class Xu Jingming from Mo Da, had not yet returned.

Song Qiuyun's first-place ranking was only temporary.

"Well done."

Ling Shuang, vice principal of Mo Da, smiled and offered her encouragement.

"Thank you, Principal."

Song Qiuyun gave a slight nod and stepped aside to stand quietly.

"Song Qiuyun? Is she the direct descendant of Senior Song from Sichuan?"

After Song Qiuyun left, Xu Ping, vice principal of Qing Jing Institute of Psychic Abilities, asked curiously.

"She is Senior Song's great-granddaughter."

Ling Shuang, vice principal of Mo Da, nodded slightly.

Though both were Grand Masters, Song Qiuyun's great-grandfather, Song Daoyuan, had been active eighty years ago.

For Grand Masters like them who had risen only in the past decade, he was truly a senior figure.

"A direct bloodline of a Master Zongshi family, with decent talent as well.

Instead of being cultivated within the family, she's sent to school—that's unusual."

Xu Ping, vice principal of Jing Da, murmured in amazement.

Generally, when a powerful Martial Saint or Master Zongshi family produced a prodigy,

they would choose to cultivate them within the family, not send them to elite universities.

After all, those ancient families possessed the same resources as elite universities—often even better ones.

The Song family of Sichuan, to which Song Qiuyun belonged, was precisely such a deeply rooted clan.

"Little Yun, good job—12,000 points."

On the other side,

Zhou Ying, her aunt, who had been waiting inside the hall, saw Song Qiuyun return safely.

She exhaled in relief, swaying her slender waist as she walked over with a smile to Song Qiuyun's side.

Then she frowned slightly:

"Huh? Didn't your little boyfriend come back with you?"

"No. A few days after entering the Demon Cave, he split from me and went alone into the central region."

Song Qiuyun shook her head slightly.

She hadn't expected Xu Jingming still hadn't returned.

"I see."

Aunt Zhou Ying immediately understood, and she greatly approved of this approach.

If Xu Jingming had stayed with Song Qiuyun the entire time after entering the Demon Cave,

she would have looked down on him.

"By the way, didn't you two do anything else out in the wasteland?"

Pausing, Aunt Zhou Ying leaned closer, asking with subtle implication.

"What else?"

Song Qiuyun blinked in surprise, noticing a hint of... something suggestive—in her aunt's eyes.

Only then did she realize what the other meant; her lovely face flushed instantly pink, and she pouted:

"Auntie, how could that even be possible..."

"Good, good—there's nothing like that." Auntie Zhou Ying finally let out a full sigh of relief.

After Song Qiuyun arrived, more and more freshmen returned, confirming their scores and rankings.

Among them was the S-rank foreign exchange student from Jingcheng Institute of Esoteric Abilities: Kieran, from India.

He entered the hall precisely at eight o'clock.

"It's Kieran, Jingcheng's S-rank foreign exchange student! He's back!"

"He must be number one now."

"I wonder what his score is, but it's surely at least fifty or sixty thousand."

"About right—he's third-rank, and an S-rank Esoteric Ability Awakened."

"..."

Listening to the murmurs of the surrounding freshmen.

On Kieran's dark-yellow Indian face, a broad smile spread—he was clearly enjoying every bit of it.

He strode quickly to the machine at the hall's center and inserted his smart bracelet.

Before long, an electronic chime sounded:

"Kieran Rao of Jingcheng Institute of Esoteric Abilities—score confirmed. Total: 110,000! Rank: First!"

Boom!

On the central holographic ranking board, Kieran Rao's name shot straight to the top spot!

His score—100,000 higher than Song Qiuyun's—left everyone in the hall stunned.

"One hundred and ten thousand?! That's insane!"

"Damn, my score doesn't even reach one-tenth of his."

"The gap's too huge—Song Qiuyun only got twelve thousand."

"..."

Though everyone knew Kieran was an external recruit brought in by Jingcheng.

The staggering score gap still left the freshmen from Mo University and Jin University with bitter expressions.

This is cheating—there's no way to compete...

"One hundred and ten thousand points—I must congratulate Chancellor Xu before anyone else on securing first place."

In the instructor zone of the hall, Vice Chancellor Jiang Quan of Jin University offered his congratulations to Jingcheng's Vice Chancellor Xu Ping.

"Oh, no, I just got lucky."

Though he spoke humbly, Xu Ping's smile was radiant.

Whoever secured first place gained priority rights to distribute this year's resources.

Even if second and third went to Mo University's Xu Jingming and Song Qiuyun, it didn't matter.

As long as priority rights were secured, that was enough!

Nearby, Vice Chancellor Ling Shuang narrowed her eyes but said nothing.

Though the hope was slim, given Xu Jingming's confidence during the last meeting...

Maybe he'd still surprise her...

With Kieran's arrival, all major figures in this freshman competition—except Xu Jingming—had now arrived.

Notably, after Kieran,

Jin University's male student Dong Sheng, a mid-level second-rank cultivator,

scored 13,000 total points, surpassing Song Qiuyun's 12,000 to claim second place.

Yet before Kieran's terrifying 110,000 points,

the freshmen were only mildly surprised by his mid-level second-rank status—no great commotion followed.

Time flew swiftly, and it was already 8:52.

Only eight minutes remained until the 9:00 cutoff for score submission.

At this point, most freshmen had already submitted their smart bracelets and received their scores and rankings.

Yet,

Xu Jingming's figure still had not appeared in the hall.

"Has Xu Jingming from Mo University not returned? Could something have happened to him?"

"It's possible—the Demon Caves are too dangerous."

"No way—he used to go into the Wild Zones all the time at school. He wouldn't be that careless."

"..."

The freshmen whispered among themselves.

Those unfamiliar with Xu Jingming, who'd only heard his name, were merely puzzled why he hadn't shown up.

But those like Liu Wentao, who knew Xu Jingming well, couldn't help but worry.

Song Qiuyun also furrowed her delicate brows.

Kieran of Jingcheng, though outwardly appearing puzzled, inwardly hoped Xu Jingming would never return.

After all, there was competition between nations on Blue Star—should Great Xia lose one S-rank,

his home country, India, might one day face one less formidable enemy.

"Xu Jingming's back!"

Yet just then—

A voice of surprise suddenly came from the entrance of the hall, causing everyone to instinctively look over.

Indeed, a tall and slender young man stepped in with steady strides.

It was none other than Mo Da's S-class, Xu Jingming, whom everyone had been waiting for!