Chapter 170: Who Is Jiang Chen, the National Top Scholar

Inside Shenlong Tower, Jiang Chen did not intervene in the other members' trials.

That was also good training for them; they couldn't forever hide under Jiang Chen's wing.

Fang Hongxiu Jiao shouted, her left hand gripping a Shield, her right hand wielding a Knight Long Sword, moving with extreme fluidity, stirring up a fierce Storm.

Various Skills were released in rapid succession, with no superfluous movement; her performance was nearly perfect.

Three Abyssal Demon Dogs, simulated from Shenlong Tower, frantically attacked her, but each time she deftly dodged or blocked, greatly easing the pressure on the team's healer.

Lin Caier had silently slipped behind the Abyssal Demon Dogs, thrusting her Dagger, and the Skill erupted instantly.

Skill: Lethal Strike!

A muffled Explosion sounded, and one Abyssal Demon Dog fell outright.

Lin Caier struck twice in succession, Skill: Internal Explosion!

The Abyssal Demon Dog that was stabbed erupted with a huge blast from within, then was blown away.

Lin Caier cleanly eliminated the two demon dogs.

"Slash!"

Fang Hongxiu Jiao let out a shout and slashed the last Abyssal Demon Dog.

She breathed lightly, her chest visibly rising and falling.

At this point, they had already completed half of the passage.

The number of Abyssal Demon Dogs was also increasing, from the initial one to three now.

However, Fang Hongxiu had no intention of seeking Jiang Chen's help; she wanted to test her own limits.

In an Instance, facing multiple enemies simultaneously is commonplace, especially in high‑level Instances.

Fang Hongxiu told herself that she was about to enter the Top Academy and could not concede easily.

She gathered her courage, and the team pressed onward.

Sure enough, four demon dogs appeared at once, and Fang Hongxiu re‑engaged the battle

fight.

Lin Caier hid in the shadows, ready to look for an opening.

Liu Cui closely observed the battle, constantly ready to unleash a healing Skill.

Zhang Yang seemed a bit bored.

For a Prophet, once the status boost is released, there is basically nothing left to do.

Within the whole team, aside from Jiang Chen, he seemed the most idle.

At this moment, many teams had already been eliminated by the Sea Selection.

Team names turned gray one after another, then vanished from the Light Screen.

The rankings on the Light Screen kept shifting, while Jiang Chen's team remained steadily in the middle.

Hong Jishi had been watching the entire Sea Selection process.

"What is Jiang Chen kid doing? Why is the progress so slow?"

"Other teams have already earned 40 points, Jiang Chen's team only has 23 points, what's going on?"

"Lao Li, can you reveal some information?"

Li Xueru firmly refused the request: "I cannot."

"Besides, this Sea Selection isn't about speed; the most important thing is clearing the passage."

"Do you lack confidence in Jiang Chen?"

Hong Jishi laughed heartily, saying: "Joke, Jiang Chen has champion material; the Sea Selection means nothing to him."

"Then that's fine, why rush?"

Li Xueru, as the overseer of Shenlong Tower, was crystal clear about everything happening inside the Tower.

He naturally knew that Jiang Chen never lifted a hand, merely watching the whole thing.

Otherwise, they would have cleared the Sea Selection long ago.

Hong Jishi watched more and more teams being eliminated.

"Is the elimination rate you set perhaps too high?"

Li Xueru said softly, "Not high; the eliminated teams are basically those with an average level below 23, such teams even if

they aren't eliminated here, they would be the first to be eliminated in the competition."

"There is also a portion of teams whose Compatibility is abysmal; keeping such teams is useless."

"The goal of the Sea Selection is to pick teams that excel in all aspects, and the Difficulty I set isn't high; even lower‑level teams can pass as long as they have good synergy."

Hong Jishi sighed helplessly, "Fine, you talk a lot, you win."

Finally, five Abyssal Demon Dogs appeared simultaneously.

Fang Hongxiu Jiao shouted, "Control!"

Liu Cui and Zhang Yang acted at the same time.

The Elder and the Prophet both possessed the same Skill, Wind Shackles.

Each of them locked one, directly controlling the Abyssal Demon Dog.

However, their levels were too low, so Wind Shackles could only control for a short time, merely 30 seconds.

But for Fang Hongxiu and Lin Caier, 30 seconds was enough.

Fang Hongxiu quickly drew the remaining three Abyssal Demon Dogs over, creating an opening for Lin Caier.

The team's synergy was flawless.

They swiftly eliminated the five Abyssal Demon Dogs.

With Liu Cui and Zhang Yang joining, dealing with five Abyssal Demon Dogs was even easier than before.

Fang Hongxiu probably also knows her own limits.

Without relying on others, handling four Abyssal Demon Dogs at once is her limit.

Since Liu Cui and Zhang Yang started joining the fight, the team's progress speed has noticeably quickened.

This time Jiang Chen truly became a lone wanderer, genuinely idle.

Jiang Chen was rather curious about this hands‑off feeling, unhurriedly trailing the team.

Jiang Chen Squad's ranking began to rise.

Gradually they caught up.

From the middle they gradually caught up to the front.

In the end they slipped into the top thousand of their group.

—

At this moment, among the more than 30,000 teams in their group, a large majority had already been eliminated.

Fewer than 10,000 remained.

Six, seven, eight Abyssal Demon Dogs appeared simultaneously.

Fang Hongxiu and the others were still too low‑level; facing the ever‑increasing pressure, the fight grew harder.

Liu Cui breathed lightly, needing to Control and also to heal.

The pressure was not small for her.

Zhang Yang was roughly the same.

An hour had passed since the Sea selection began, and each person's status began to fade, needing replenishment.

Zhang Yang drank a bottle of Spirit Pill, restoring everyone's status.

After the status was restored, Zhang Yang plopped down on the ground.

Zhang Yang wore a helpless expression: "I've used up my Spiritual Power."

Liu Cui whispered: "I still have 300 Spiritual Power."

Without Spiritual Power, no Skill can be released.

Lin Caier also said softly: "I'm about done, too."

Although the Assassin's Skills consume very little Spiritual Power.

But Lin Caier had to keep Invisibility for a sneak attack, and Spiritual Power was draining rapidly.

Originally her Spiritual Power attribute wasn't as strong as that of mage‑type classes, sustaining it until now had already been difficult.

Fang Hongxiu panted: "Shall we rest a while?"

Lin Caier shook her head: "Or we can leave the rest to Jiang Chen; we've fought enough, the tests have been done."

Zhang Yang raised his hand: "I agree, I raise both hands and feet in agreement."

Liu Cui nodded: "That's about enough."

Hearing all teammates say that, Fang Hongxiu couldn't help but look at Jiang Chen: "Please, junior Jiang."

Jiang Chen waved his hand: "As you wish."

As he said, three Skeleton Warriors appeared in front of him.

Running forward with a crack—.

Ahead, eight more

Abyssal Demon Dogs.

The Skeleton Warriors charged, Blade raised, and a Abyssal Demon Dog was cut down on the spot.

A Level 27 Skeleton Warrior, 30× Amplify attributes, 22,500 Four-dimensional Attributes.

To deal with these merely Level 27 weakened Abyssal Demon Dogs.

It's basically one Blade per one.

No Skill needed, it's a one‑second kill.

In just about a second, the eight Abyssal Demon Dogs were already cut down.

Fang Hongxiu and the other two stared at each other.

They discussed various tactics, all this effort.

But in front of Jiang Chen's Skeleton Warrior, it was just a Blade matter.

This made their tactics seem ridiculous to them.

Truly, comparing people makes one furious.

Lin Caier comforted, "Don't be disappointed; Jiang Chen's Skeleton has always been strong, even a Level 40 High-level Demon can be cut down."

Lin Caier'er's counterproductive comfort made the three even sadder.

Zhang Yang shouted, "Ignore me, let me go cry for a while."

With Jiang Chen, the team's progress speed accelerated again.

The score began to rise rapidly.

At this point, the top few teams in their group saw their scores stop changing.

Their points uniformly reached 200.

Which means they had killed 200 Abyssal Demon Dogs.

As for why the minutes stopped, many could guess.

They had reached the final stage of the assessment, the BOSS Battle.

Now it's up to who can take the top spot.

The BOSS is not easily dealt with.

It not only tests the team's Compatibility, but also tests the team's overall combat capability.

Each team has already put forth all their effort to take on the BOSS.

Jiang Chen and the others finally arrived before the BOSS.

"Sure enough, it's a Dog Demon."

It has a

wing, and a wolf‑dog appearance.

Exactly the same as the Dog Demon Jiang Chen once killed.

As for its attribute, Jiang Chen is too lazy to check; it's unnecessary.

The Dog Demon, accompanied by nine Deep Shallow Demon Dogs, stands at the end of the passage, awaiting Jiang Chen and the others.

Fang Hongxiu tensed again: "Is this an Abyss Demon?"

Lin Caier said, "This is called an Abyss Dog Demon, but it's not a true Abyss Dog Demon; the real Abyss Dog Demon is stronger than this one."

Liu Cui asked softly, "Can Junior Jiang defeat it?"

Lin Caier smiled, "He has killed many Dog Demons already."

The few showed shocked expressions.

Fang Hongxiu believed Lin Caier's words: "I didn't expect Junior Jiang to be so formidable."

At this moment, three Skeleton Warriors had already rushed to the BOSS.

Nine Abyssal Demon Dogs simultaneously launched attacks toward the Skeleton Warriors.

Sharp teeth clamped tightly onto the Skeleton Warrior's bones.

The Skeleton Warrior triggered a Skill; a flash of Red Light on the Blade instantly eliminated three Abyssal Demon Dogs.

Skill: Corpse Explosion!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three consecutive Explosions—where are any Dog Demons left? Only corpses remain.

"Assessment passed!"

An authoritative voice rang out, and the group was sent to the outside world.

Jiang Chen Squad, which had originally been ranked hundreds of places lower, suddenly seemed to board a small Rocket and surged straight to the top.

The scores behind had already reached 300 points.

Jiang Chen Squad held the first place, its name becoming extremely dazzling.

The remaining teams eventually cleared the stage, but could only rank behind Jiang Chen Squad.

"I didn't expect that the later entrants would surpass the earlier ones."

"How did they manage it, eliminating the BOSS so quickly?"

"This Jiang Chen Squad is interesting; that name looks familiar to me."

"You forgot

? This year's National Top Scholar is named Jiang Chen."

"No way, didn't he just finish the college entrance exam? How can he join the level Group competition?"

"Maybe he levels up quickly; otherwise, how could he become the Top Scholar?"

On the competition field, discussions erupted instantly...