Chapter 42: The Fifth Night

The fifth night.

The map shrank once more, and the conflicts between examinees grew increasingly fierce. Every minute and second, someone was brutally eliminated.

Jiang Yan fought his way through, and the points in his hand had already reached the terrifying number of 3,200.

“I wonder what the top score is now.”

Jiang Yan pondered. Of course, he didn’t believe that a single day’s gains could surpass the points others had accumulated over the previous four days.

During the exam, rankings were unknown, and information about other examinees was concealed—everything proceeded in the dark.

In contrast, the audience enjoyed a god’s-eye view throughout, with the leaderboard in the upper right corner of the live stream clear and straightforward.

“He’s climbing, he’s climbing! Jiang Yan has already broken into the top five thousand!”

“Truly impressive. Sleeping for the first four days, yet in just one day, he’s left most people behind.”

“Does anyone else feel like Jiang Yan’s battles with other examinees are almost always one-saber kills? It’s as if everyone else is a pushover.”

“Hahaha, the War God from the upper realm feasts on our lower realm’s prodigies. Believe it or not, any examinee still in the competition could easily crush us.”

Jiang Yan’s overwhelming strength gave the bullet comments the illusion that “these examinees are weak; I could do it too.”

The officials showed great respect to this examinee, who had taken first place in both previous rounds. Prolonged solo footage of him caused his popularity to soar once again.

Jiang Yan was simply too fast.

Battles raged on, and every examinee before him fell to a single saber strike—without exception.

Under such high-intensity combat, Jiang Yan’s Battle Saint Armor accumulated attributes at a terrifying rate.

Battle Saint Armor: Defense Attribute +190% (originally 100%)

Other Attributes +89% (originally 50%)

A golden cloak trailed behind Jiang Yan as a new blazing sun rose in the dark sky.

“It’s Shang Xingren! Jiang Yan is heading toward Shang Xingren, the top-ranked on the leaderboard!”

The commentator shouted with fervor.

The bullet comment audience was swept up in the heated atmosphere.

As the saying goes, kings do not meet kings. These two had displayed strength far surpassing others since the first round. It was assumed their decisive battle would only occur in the final circle, but unexpectedly, it was about to unfold now.

Shang Xingren was taking a short rest, eyes closed in deep concentration.

Suddenly, his brow twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes.

He had heard the wind.

Sure enough, light shone from behind him. Against the light, he saw his own short shadow.

“Interesting. He’s coming for me.”

Shang Xingren stood up and looked toward the golden glow above.

His brow furrowed, and the playful, irreverent expression he had worn throughout the exam vanished from his face.

In the next moment, his figure disappeared from the spot.

“Spatial ability! Shang Xingren’s untested ability during the exam is actually spatial ability!”

“It seems Shang Xingren held back in the first round. With his spatial ability, securing first place would have been no problem at all.”

The two commentators played off each other.

No one had expected that Shang Xingren, who had consistently ranked in the top five across all leaderboards, had been hiding such a heaven-defying Talent.

Why was everyone so eager for Spatial Talent?

Here’s a fact: this alternate space, which served as the examination grounds every year, was created by the Spatial Martial Saint.

No one knew how the Spatial Martial Saint obtained this alternate space.

But without a doubt, Spatial Talent played a decisive role.

The most feared type of opponent among all Martial Artists.

Unpredictable and elusive in battle, suddenly teleporting behind you to deliver a saber strike—isn’t that just dirty?

In Jiang Yan’s field of vision, Shang Xingren inexplicably vanished from his spot.

He suddenly smiled.

Recalling a certain troublesome fellow from another space.

Behind him, the wind howled.

Clang!

Jiang Yan gripped his saber and swept it backward.

Two pieces of steel collided, sparking fiercely in the air.

The sharp aura behind him disappeared—Shang Xingren, having failed in his strike, vanished without a trace.

System Log updated: You successfully blocked damage, triggering 【Parry and Counter】

Pfft—

From the shadows, Shang Xingren let out a muffled groan, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

He wiped away the bloodstain, his expression dark and terrifying.

Yet, to an outsider, this scene appeared as nothing more than Jiang Yan casually sweeping his saber backward, followed by sparks flying in the air.

Throughout the entire fight, Shang Xingren’s body had only appeared vaguely once.

“Even the fighting style is so similar.”

Jiang Yan licked his lips, the blood within him beginning to boil.

“Finally, a worthy opponent.”

From the void, a cold laugh echoed.

Whoosh!

From the shadows, the glint of a blade emerged.

Thud!

The sharp dagger sank into the golden phantom image of a cloak, unable to penetrate any further.

Jiang Yan remained unscathed.

He grabbed the dagger with a backhand motion.

With a crack, the dagger was crushed into fragments.

Shang Xingren’s attack had failed to harm Jiang Yan in the slightest.

However, as things stood, it seemed Jiang Yan couldn’t do much to Shang Xingren either.

“Can’t break through the defense, huh? Then how about this?”

Ripples spread from Jiang Yan’s location, as though something was being compressed.

The air grew scorching hot, filled with the scent of gunpowder.

Boom!

The entire space erupted in an explosion, turning the dim sky momentarily into daylight. The immense heat dyed the sky crimson like burning clouds, and the entire area became a blazing red.

“You have sustained minor damage. Battle Saint Armor slightly improved.”

The cloak fluttered, the blazing flames scraping away a bit of dead skin from Jiang Yan’s body.

He grew even more excited. As expected of an examination ground teeming with experts—there was always someone who could surprise him.

Jiang Yan looked forward to Shang Xingren bringing him even more surprises.

Then, there was no movement.

Jiang Yan: ? Can’t fire consecutively?

Below, Shang Xingren half-knelt on the ground, his chest heaving violently, his mouth opening and closing as he gasped heavily.

“As expected, this move is still too much of a strain.”

He struggled to lift his head. Above him was the sea of flames he had just created, with Jiang Yan’s figure submerged within, nowhere to be seen.

“A fine opponent.”

Shang Xingren bestowed upon Jiang Yan the highest praise.

“But that’s all there is to it.”

“Is that so?”

Shang Xingren’s pupils contracted, completely unprepared for Jiang Yan to emerge unscathed from this move.

“Yan Thunder Destruction Slash.”

A surge of Saber Qi crossed the distance between them. Empowered by the immense attributes of the Battle Saint Armor, the Yan Thunder Destruction Slash reached a new level of might.

A sea of thunder tore through the air, roaring toward Shang Xingren.

Boom!

The area where Shang Xingren stood was charred black, marked by a massive saber scar. Within the deep gash, endless flashes of thunder flickered, a testament to the power of this strike.

Smoke without injury—Jiang Yan understood this well.

He very much wanted to say that Shang Xingren was merely an inferior substitute for the Void-Splitting Weasel.

Yes, just an inferior substitute. The Void-Splitting Weasel in the Battle Space could almost continuously shuttle through space for an hour, far surpassing this Shang Xingren he was currently fighting, not by a small margin.

And when Jiang Yan had slain the Void-Splitting Weasel, he was only at the second rank of Blood Coagulation.

Of course, there is suspicion that he relied on reviving to stack damage.

In front of him, there was no one.

Jiang Yan sheathed his saber, muttering to himself.

“Is this… running away?”

Male commentator: “Is Shang Xingren using his Spatial Talent to hide within space, preparing to find another opportunity to heavily injure Jiang Yan?”

Female commentator: “Unfortunately, Shang Xingren’s previous two attacks failed to break Jiang Yan’s defense. I wonder what strategy he will employ in his next attack?”

“Alright, let’s show the audience Shang Xingren’s first-person perspective.”