Chapter 41: Heavenly Dao Sect

Jiang Yan’s speed was astonishingly fast; in an instant, he landed right in front of Ai Ning.

Ai Ning broke out in a cold sweat, hastily backing away while muttering incessantly, “Jiang… Jiang Yan, don’t come any closer.”

Jiang Yan smiled and said, “I still prefer your former arrogant and unruly demeanor. Could you bring that back?”

Ai Ning’s face flushed with embarrassment, a flicker of anger appearing briefly before he quickly concealed it.

“We have no past grudges or recent conflicts. If you let me go now, I promise to reward you handsomely once we’re out.”

Jiang Yan spread his hands and shook his head helplessly. “Sorry, but this is the College Entrance Exam. To me, you’re just points.”

With that, he wasted no more words and drew his saber.

“I’ll fight you to the death!”

Ai Ning roared, raising his sword and charging forward.

One second later.

Jiang Yan looked at the additional 600 points on his scoreboard, a gratified smile spreading across his face.

“This kid was quite a catch.”

Ai Ning’s journey in the Martial Examination had come to an end. However, most candidates who had survived this long were tough nuts to crack, and continuing to hide wouldn’t have done him much good. With these 600 points added to his previous score, he could now secure admission to a decent university.

“Heavenly Thunder Decree!”

From a distance, a yellow Talisman shot over, exploding mid-air. In an instant, a bolt of Startling Thunder descended from the sky, accompanied by the deafening roar of thunder.

Boom!

The Falling Thunder struck behind Jiang Yan, tearing a hole in his clothes but leaving him completely unscathed.

Jiang Yan turned around to see a young man dressed in Daoist robes staring at him in astonishment, his eyes wide with disbelief.

“Good heavens, I’ve run into a tough one. This humble Daoist shall take his leave.”

With that, the Daoist conjured a Talisman with his hands, his feet stirring up a gust of wind as he swiftly fled the scene.

How could Jiang Yan let him get away?

With the [Haste] Trait and the Battle Saint Armor, he executed the Nine Leaps Continuous Steps, riding the wind as his figure transformed into a whirlwind in pursuit.

The Daoist pedaled his legs furiously, thinking he had put some distance between them. Just as he was about to catch his breath, a series of sonic booms echoed in his ears. Turning back, he saw the man from earlier flying through the air at an incredible speed.

“Daoist Ancestors of the Three Pure Ones, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, Tathagata Buddha, Prajna Buddhas—what kind of monster is this?”

Cursing loudly, the Daoist crushed another Talisman, his speed increasing sharply.

“Yan Thunder—Destruction Slash!”

Jiang Yan’s Aura surged dramatically as he aimed his saber at the fleeing Daoist ahead.

[You have triggered Dual Casting]

The Yan Thunder Destruction Slash, with its meticulous Proficiency, unleashed the momentum of Startling Thunder. Boundless purple divine thunder, intertwined with Blade Momentum, erupted forth.

Endless lightning engulfed the Daoist’s body, while a terrifying, destructive Aura tore through everything.

“Golden Body Talisman!”

“Heaven and Earth Derivation Incantation.”

“Immeasurable Golden Body!”

A chill ran down the Daoist’s spine as he sensed a force powerful enough to claim his life hurtling toward him.

“Which ancestral master has come to take the College Entrance Exam? Weren’t Martial Artists in the mortal world supposed to be ordinary?”

Cursing again, the Daoist used every defensive Talisman he had on him. Dozens of life-saving trump cards he had prepared over the past few days for the final rounds were exhausted in an instant.

The Daoist glanced back at the sea of lightning and swallowed hard.

“Surely this will block it, right?”

Regret washed over him. If only he hadn’t been so reckless as to launch that sneak attack. Now, all his Talismans were gone.

Boom!

Thunder flooded the world as two massive Phantom Images of blades descended.

Thud!

The Taoist’s body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing through countless large trees along the way before carving a deep trench into the ground.

The talismans from earlier had blocked at least ninety percent of the attack, but the remaining ten percent was still more than the Taoist could withstand.

He violently spat out a mouthful of blood, his aura beginning to grow feeble and weak.

Jiang Yan descended from the sky, his gaze as indifferent as a deity’s as he looked down upon the Taoist lying on the ground, barely clinging to life.

“Big brother… it’s a misunderstanding.”

Jiang Yan paid no heed.

He slashed apart the Taoist’s robes, and a scorecard fell out.

Under the Taoist’s despairing gaze, Jiang Yan picked up the scorecard.

In the next moment, the Taoist was directly eliminated and teleported out of the examination grounds.

1902.5

This was Jiang Yan’s current score.

“However, it’s quite unusual for a Taoist to participate in the College Entrance Exam.”

Jiang Yan murmured to himself, wondering if there might be other disciples from reclusive sects or famous families taking part in this exam.

Indeed, that was the case.

In the official live stream room.

The name ranked first was not Shang Xingren, who had been in the spotlight a few days earlier, nor was it the gun-wielding war goddess Li Qingyue.

Instead, it was an extremely unfamiliar name, one that had almost no presence in the previous rounds of the exam.

Heavenly Dao Gate—Zhang Daoran.

In the live stream footage, Zhang Daoran formed hand seals with his fingers, silently reciting obscure incantations while striking a strange pose. Soon, a bolt of lightning as thick as a bucket descended from the sky, piercing straight through a third-rank Early Stage Fierce Beast.

Zhang Daoran’s expression remained icy, showing no excessive emotion despite gaining points. He merely glanced in a certain direction, his sword-like brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.

“Such a dense aura of talismans… has Junior Brother Daoqing encountered a formidable opponent?”

Zhang Daoran initially intended to go and investigate, but after taking a single step, he stopped.

“Forget it. Although Junior Brother is usually playful, since he used so many talismans, he must have resolved the trouble. There’s no need for me to intervene.”

With that, he turned and headed elsewhere.

For now, accumulating points was what mattered.

This scene was naturally captured by the live stream.

: Wow, is this a disciple of the Heavenly Dao Gate? His strength is truly impressive.

: Quick, director, show us what happened to the Junior Brother he mentioned.

: We want to see the talismans! Director, switch the perspective!

The director naturally obliged, directly switching the feed to Jiang Yan’s location.

Unfortunately, however, the battle had long since ended.

Jiang Yan had also disappeared to who knows where.

On the ground, there was a deep trench carved out by Zhang Daoqing’s impact, a bottomless sword scar stretching across, the surroundings charred black with faint crackles of thunder—clear evidence of a fierce battle.

“Alright, the battle here was intense. Let’s replay the footage to see exactly what happened.”

Soon, the live stream footage was retrieved.

The scenes of Jiang Yan defeating Ai Ning, being ambushed, and then eliminating Zhang Daoqing were displayed in their entirety.

When Jiang Yan’s face appeared on screen, the official live stream room erupted in commotion for a while.

In recent days, Jiang Yan had almost no screen time, so many had nearly forgotten about him.

“Yan Thunder Destruction Slash!”

The moment the thunder saber appeared, the entire live stream room began to boil.

“Holy crap, it’s actually the Heaven Rank Martial Skill ‘Yan Thunder Destruction Slash’!”

“Look, the Startling Thunder manifests, surging endlessly. This is clearly the 【Startling Thunder】 that only appears when one achieves micro-level Proficiency!”

“Was Jiang Yan always this strong?”

“No, what realm is he even at as a Martial Artist? How has he already started cultivating a Heavenly Grade Martial Skill?”

Generally speaking, the higher the Martial Skill Grade, the more difficult it is to master, especially in the initial stages of the Martial Way.

At this point, most Martial Artists tend to focus on training their Physical Body and simply don’t have the mental capacity to practice high-grade Martial Skills.

High-grade Martial Skills only demonstrate effective power when combined with high-realm Martial Artists, and those just starting their cultivation have no need to touch such things.

An eighteen or nineteen-year-old student, having to both advance his Realm and manage Martial Skills, simply couldn’t handle it all.

Yet Jiang Yan did it. Not only that, he pushed its Proficiency to the astonishingly subtle realm, truly terrifying.

It wasn’t until Taoist Zhang Daoqing was eliminated by Jiang Yan that Bullet Comments began to pop up one after another.

“This guy is a freak.”