Chapter 51

The great hall was in complete chaos.

All the students were desperately fighting and dodging the seemingly endless four-winged bats; but due to their overwhelming numbers, many students were already wounded, their bodies slashed with bloody gashes from the bats' sharp claws and fangs, their chest crystals flashing red nonstop.

Only a handful of stronger students had enough presence of mind to quickly group together for mutual support, so their losses were relatively minor.

Yet while everyone was busy battling the four-winged bats, no one noticed three figures near the edge of the hall, effortlessly evading the bats' searches beneath faint shadows, calmly commenting on the crowd inside.

"Hah, look at that guy—his face is almost torn to shreds."

"Holy crap, this guy got clipped right between the legs by a four-winged bat—look at his twisted face, wonder if he'll have psychological trauma from now on?"

"Poor guy."

"."

The three watched the panicked crowd inside the hall, feeling sympathy—and also regretting they'd forgotten to bring some sunflower seeds or snacks before entering; otherwise, watching the spectacle while snacking would've been perfect.

Li Luo suddenly glanced at Seeing Yu Lang and frowned. "Can you stop clinging so close to me? Don't you find that disgusting?"

The guy was gripping Li Luo's hand tightly, pressing himself even closer, reeking of sweat that made Li Luo feel nauseated.

Seeing Yu Lang retorted confidently: "You bad guy, what if you suddenly toss me out? I've got to hold on tight!"

Li Luo was speechless, thinking: If it weren't for you helping me hide my data, I'd have kicked your ass out already.

"Bro Li, don't you think we've performed perfectly? If we don't get full marks for this level, it'd be an injustice to heaven and earth!" Zhao Kuo grinned so wide his mouth seemed ready to split.

Li Luo nodded. In this evaluation stage, they hadn't been hit by a single four-winged bat—so if scoring was based purely on evasion, no one here could surpass them.

As the three watched leisurely, the four-winged bats rampaged through the hall for about half an hour, then suddenly, as if receiving some command, reversed direction en masse, surging like a black tide into the two dark Kong Dongs at the hall's highest point.

Clearly, this trial was over.

Many blood-splattered students collapsed where they stood.

At that moment, a crystal above the hall flickered with light, and a rapid scan of glowing netting swept over every person present.

Immediately, everyone saw numbers begin to flicker on their chest crystals.

"Huh? I've got base points—forty-six!"

"I've got fifty."

"Lucky me—I only got twenty!"

"."

Various cries of joy and despair erupted through the hall, chaotic and loud.

Yet while everyone was rejoicing or despairing over their own scores, Li Luo, Zhao Kuo, and Seeing Yu Lang at the edge stood frozen in stunned silence.

Because they realized their chest crystals still displayed zero.

"How is this possible!" Zhao Kuo stared, dumbfounded.

"We perfectly avoided every single four-winged bat attack!" Seeing Yu Lang was furious, feeling unfairly treated.

Li Luo hesitated, then said: "Could it be that the 'Water Shadow Technique' was too effective—blocked the scanning beam entirely, so we were just missed?"

Zhao Kuo looked utterly bewildered. "Can that even happen? Too good a concealment is a fault?"

"Actually… the scanning beam didn't even touch us," Seeing Yu Lang recalled.

For a moment, the three stared at each other—mind shattered.

No one expected this outcome. They'd been eagerly waiting for perfect base points—only to be told they'd hidden too well, so they got zero?

That's outrageous!

"No way—I'm filing a complaint! This is their mistake!" Seeing Yu Lang shouted.

Li Luo snorted. "If we walk out now, we lose our exam eligibility. Forget it. Zero is zero. Base points are meant to be stolen anyway—and there's still one more evaluation stage."

Hearing this, Seeing Yu Lang calmed slightly, but still muttered curses under his breath.

Li Luo dispelled the Water Shadow Technique, revealing their figures—immediately drawing glances from the hall. When the others saw the zero on their chest crystals, they too stared in shock.

Because even the worst-off students here had at least a few points—likely a performance bonus—but no one else had zero.

What the hell had these three done?

A few snickers of schadenfreude rose from the hall.

Facing those stares, Li Luo and the others remained expressionless, uninterested in lingering further—they turned and strode straight toward the large wooden door already open on the opposite side of the hall.

Damn it, so infuriating—we were laughing at these people, and now we're the ones being laughed at. Life's ups and downs really played out perfectly here.

As Li Luo and the others headed toward the next trial, at the foot of Bai Ling Mountain, a roar of excitement erupted.

Because the massive crystal wall before them began flashing scores, names popping up one after another, drawing every eye and triggering waves of gasps.

The scores flickered for a moment, then stabilized—the top names all bore one hundred base points.

That was the perfect score in the evaluation stage.

Unsurprisingly, names like Lü Qing'er and Shi Kong occupied the very top.

Countless eyes scanned the list—until someone suddenly gasped, spotting three strange scores.

Zero?

Everyone else's lowest score was one—considered a performance bonus—but zero? No one had ever seen that before.

So when these three zeros appeared, they instantly sparked heated discussion.

Especially when they saw the name attached to one of the zeros—there was outright uproar.

Nan Feng Academy, Li Luo.

Wasn't that the young master of Luo Lan Mansion? He was famous throughout Tian Shu Commandery—how the hell did he end up with zero?

What kind of situation is this?

"Hey, that zero—could it really be the young master?" Cai Wei saw the glaring zero and slowly opened her rose-red lips.

Yan Yan Lingqing rubbed her temples. "Besides him, who else in Nan Feng Academy is named Li Luo?"

"How could he get zero?" Cai Wei was torn between laughter and tears. "What on earth did he do?"

Yan Yan Lingqing spread her hands: "You ask me, who am I supposed to ask?"

"But it doesn't matter. These two assessment rounds are only for earning basic points. What truly decides the outcome is the final elimination tournament."

Cai Wei said helplessly: "This young manor lord really gives people no peace of mind."

Inside the central pavilion.

The old dean, Governor Shi, and Instructor An Lie likewise saw the three conspicuous zero scores, and for a moment they were all somewhat taken aback.

Then Governor Shi said with a smile: "Old Dean, the students of your South Wind Academy are quite special indeed."

The old dean frowned as he stared at those three names, feeling a bit of a headache. What on earth were these three troublemakers doing? It was truly too embarrassing.

Helpless at heart, he treated Governor Shi's mocking words as if he hadn't heard them. After all, it was only one layer of the assessment; it wasn't anything important.

Still, he hoped these three little ancestors wouldn't cause trouble next, or did they really think he, the old dean, couldn't lift his blade anymore?

(End of chapter)