Chapter 20: Have All the Ferocious Beasts Been Wiped Out by Xu Jingming?

After witnessing Xu Jingming's strength, Zhou Mingyang grumbled under his breath.

But he clearly knew inside: Xu Jingming was truly stronger than him!

"Where the hell did this monster come from? His aura doesn't even feel like an ability user's."

"Yet he kills first-tier ferocious beasts as easily as chopping vegetables."

He silently grumbled a few more times, then continued on his path of slaying ferocious beasts.

He couldn't match Xu Jingming's power, but he'd still hold onto second place.

So he moved through the core zone, searching for ferocious beasts he could take down.

The first two hours went fine—he occasionally encountered lone mid-tier first-tier ferocious beasts, or small groups of three or four.

But by the third hour, Zhou Mingyang clearly felt the number of ferocious beasts on the path had dropped sharply.

By the fourth hour, he wandered the core zone for ages and still couldn't spot a single ferocious beast!

"What's going on? Where did all the ferocious beasts go?"

Zhou Mingyang was stunned—he kicked a fist-sized chunk of rubble by the roadside in frustration.

As an ability user, his strength was no small thing.

The stone shot off violently, slamming into a rusted metal billboard with a boom—

Before, he would never have made such a move, one that would draw ferocious beasts' attention.

But now, he actually hoped some ferocious beast would come attracted by the noise.

No ferocious beast came—but he did attract a few humans.

Three people—a pair of men and a woman—were walking toward him, waving from afar:

"Hey, Mingyang."

"How'd you end up here?"

Zhou Mingyang stared at the three who approached him.

Like him, they were all students from the Rocket Class of Jiangcheng No. 1 High School, first-tier low-rank ability users.

They all knew each other—old acquaintances.

Aside from him, these three held the other three spots in the Wu Ke rankings among the top five.

"You'll have to ask Xu Jingming about that."

The bald boy on the far right shrugged helplessly.

"Xu Jingming wiped out all the ferocious beasts in the core zone. We couldn't find any, so we ended up grouping together."

The girl in the middle added softly.

She was petite, yet carried a massive greatsword—creating a stark contrast.

"We've been wandering around here for over half an hour. When we heard the noise, we thought it was a ferocious beast."

"We rushed over excitedly, only to find it was you."

The long-haired boy on the left shook his head and sighed.

"Xu Jingming wiped out all the ferocious beasts? Impossible!"

Zhou Mingyang frowned, instinctively refusing to believe it.

After all, to prepare for the Wu Ke Gaokao, the core zone had been stocked with at least three or four hundred ferocious beasts!

There was no way to kill off that many in just a few short hours!

"Clearly you haven't checked the rankings in a while. Here, look at Xu Jingming's score yourself."

The bald boy opened his smartwatch—it buzzed, and the ranking interface instantly projected into midair.

'#1: Xu Jingming, 3435 points (Jiangcheng No. 2 High School)'

'#2: Zhou Mingyang, 1103 points (Jiangcheng No. 1 High School)'

'#3: Wu Hao, 945 points (Jiangcheng No. 1 High School)'

'......'

"Th... three thousand four hundred points?!"

Staring at Xu Jingming's terrifying score, the usually composed Zhou Mingyang nearly popped his eyeballs out.

"Now you understand why we say Xu Jingming wiped out all the ferocious beasts?"

The bald boy sighed and shut off the virtual projection.

"Killing a first-tier low-rank ferocious beast grants about 14 to 16 points. A first-tier mid-rank one gives 20 to 22 points."

"3435 points—even subtracting the 700+ he earned in the central zone—still leaves over 2500."

"That means Xu Jingming alone killed nearly two hundred ferocious beasts in the core zone!"

"We've killed quite a few too. Combined, we've cleared every last one from the core zone."

This explanation left Zhou Mingyang stunned.

Since entering the exam, he'd only thought about killing as many ferocious beasts as possible to earn higher scores.

He'd never once considered the possibility that ferocious beasts could be completely wiped out!

"Damn! No wonder Xu Jingming was so scared of others stealing his kills back then—he'd already figured this out!"

Recalling his earlier conversation with Xu Jingming, Zhou Mingyang felt ten thousand grassy horses galloping through his chest...

"3435 points! That score is insane! Xu Jingming is at least top ten in Jiangnan Province!"

"Top ten! Top ten! When did Jiangcheng ever produce a result like this?!"

"He broke the record! Xu Jingming broke Jiangcheng's record!"

"......"

While Zhou Mingyang inside the exam hall was stunned by Xu Jingming's score, the school principals and teachers outside were overjoyed.

3435 points; Xu Jingming is destined to break into the top ten of Jiangnan Province.

And this score is the best in Jiangcheng's history!

"I never expected that Xu Jingming, relying solely on that long spear, could achieve this level!"

Principal Zhao Yao of No. 2 Middle School felt his whole body flush with heat, too excited to contain himself.

What does it mean to be in Jiangnan Province's top ten? They are heavenly prodigies every top-ten psychic high school in the nation will fight to recruit!

"A rare talent emerges from the fields—never thought Jiangcheng could have a student like Xu Jingming!"

Education Bureau Director Zhang Wenshan was also grinning broadly.

At this point, he no longer cared that Xu Jingming was merely an E-rank psychic.

After all, with such a score, even an F-rank psychic would be fought over by schools!

"But Xu Jingming is truly insane—in just three or four hours, he nearly wiped out all the ferocious beasts in the core zone."

Looks like he'll become a battle fanatic from now on!"

Zhou Mingyang and the others didn't know how many ferocious beasts were deployed in the core zone—could Director Zhang Wenshan of the Education Bureau not know?

The core zone deployed a total of 450 Tier-One Lower-tier ferocious beasts and 40 Tier-One Mid-tier ferocious beasts!

Excluding those killed in infighting among the beasts and those slain by Zhou Mingyang and his three companions.

Xu Jingming alone killed nearly half of all the ferocious beasts in the core zone!

And this occurred within just three or four hours, which alone demonstrates the terrifying extent of Xu Jingming's power.

"Xu Jingming's parents both died in a beast flood when he was young; perhaps that's why he hates ferocious beasts so intensely."

Added homeroom teacher Chen Fan.

"I see."

Zhang Wenshan nodded in sudden understanding, his expression turning cold: "Hmph! One day, humanity will exterminate every last ferocious beast!"

"Don't worry—there will be such a day."

Thinking of the ferocious beasts' brutality, Principal Zhao Yao could not help adding coldly,