Chapter 48: The Martial Examination Ends

Jiang Yan took a step forward, descending like a meteor, and stomped on Zhang Daoran’s chest.

“Ugh—”

Zhang Daoran let out a muffled groan. The sound of bones cracking echoed as he reverted to his original form, the possession by the Dao Ancestor forcibly shattered.

Jiang Yan stomped down once more, extinguishing even the last trace of the Dao Ancestor’s divine aura beneath his foot, completely draining Zhang Daoran of all strength and means.

From behind, a dagger silently materialized.

Its tip slid across the sacred robe, leaving no damage.

With swift reflexes, Jiang Yan grabbed the dagger’s hilt and yanked Shang Xingren, who had been hiding in the void, into the open.

A punch landed squarely in Shang Xingren’s abdomen, causing his eyes to bulge as he spat out a mouthful of filthy blood.

Thud!

Jiang Yan tossed him into the pit like garbage, where he lay side by side with Zhang Daoran.

From that moment, Jiang Yan emerged utterly victorious.

In this battle, only Zhang Daoran’s Spirit Summoning Technique had given him a slight surprise.

He seized the scorecards of the others, and his points swelled by several hundred thousand once more.

The figures of the four vanished from the spot, clearly teleported out of the alternate space, signaling the end of their College Entrance Exam journey.

Jiang Yan shook his hand, no longer feeling any desire to attack. No matter how hard the remaining examinees tried, they could never surpass him now.

He found a cliff, flew to the rock face, carved out a cave, and once again pretended to enter a cultivation state, though his consciousness had already entered the Divine Martial Space.

Within the Battle Space.

“Trickster Mage: Fourth Grade Inner Astral Early Stage Martial Artist.”

“Talent: Miracle.”

“Begin challenge?”

Jiang Yan carefully examined the tall figure before him.

This fellow called the Trickster Mage wore a suit and a bowler hat, standing tall at an estimated height of around 1.9 meters. He had the appearance of an elegant middle-aged man, with the corners of his mustache slightly upturned.

“This time, it’s actually a person?”

The previous challenges had all been against powerful Fierce Beasts. This was the first time Jiang Yan had seen anyone other than himself appear in the Divine Martial Space.

“A Fourth Grade Martial Artist, and a creation of the Divine Martial Space at that—his strength must surely surpass mine.”

Creatures from the Divine Martial Space were inherently stronger than those from the outside world, as evidenced by the previous challenges.

“Never mind, it’s been a while since I died. Let’s give it a try.”

Jiang Yan stopped overthinking. Who cared how strong he was? He’d face death first as a sign of respect.

“Challenge!”

As Jiang Yan spoke, the Trickster Mage ahead suddenly moved.

He removed his bowler hat and walked calmly over to Jiang Yan.

Under Jiang Yan’s curious gaze, the Trickster Mage reached his hand into the hat, rhythmically moving it as if searching for something.

Since Jiang Yan was approaching this first challenge with a probing mindset, he didn’t interrupt.

The Trickster Mage’s expression was particularly animated as he kept reaching deeper into the hat, showing signs of exertion, as if something inside was resisting.

The hat began to tremble, the Trickster Mage’s performance brimming with tension.

Pop!

Suddenly, the Trickster Mage seemed to be pulled by some immense force, and his entire body vanished into the hat.

The hat fell to the ground.

Jiang Yan was utterly bewildered.

“Is this… magic?”

Jiang Yan picked up the bowler hat from the ground and curiously peered into its opening.

It was completely empty.

“Tsk, some people always use the guise of magic to practice sorcery.”

Suddenly, a hand emerged from inside the hat.

That hand was pale and slender, and Jiang Yan was certain it belonged to the Trickster Mage.

The fingers danced nimbly, as agile as a tiny person. Using the index and middle fingers as feet, they struggled to climb onto the brim of the hat, then walked along Jiang Yan’s arm to his shoulder before leaping down and grabbing onto the clothes on his chest.

A solo climb!

Suddenly, a dagger appeared out of thin air in that hand.

Thud!

The dagger ignored Jiang Yan’s physical defenses and plunged straight into his heart.

Jiang Yan blinked and gave a thumbs-up for the performance.

“Brilliant.”

The tiny finger figure bowed slightly, taking a curtain call for its act.

Jiang Yan fell to the ground, his death somewhat abrupt.

The tiny figure elegantly walked back to the top hat, then dramatically pulled the Trickster Mage out from inside.

Jiang Yan revived, curious about the Trickster Mage’s miraculous skills. This time, he went all out, intending to face it at his peak.

Deaths came in all sorts of bizarre ways, yet Jiang Yan remained unwavering.

The Trickster Mage’s Talent was Miracle, but it didn’t have to be this unreasonable.

Suddenly, several semi-trailer trucks were pulled out of the hat and hurled toward Jiang Yan. Who could withstand something like that?

“Your body has suffered severe damage. The Battle Saint Armor has undergone a minor Metamorphosis.”

…

By the end of the day, Jiang Yan had experienced all kinds of deaths, each one unexpected and even laughable upon recollection.

The seventh day.

Jiang Yan exited the Battle Space.

Outside, in the alternate dimension, the final zone had completely shrunk. The number of students who hadn’t been eliminated was roughly around a thousand.

The final zone had become as small as a residential complex, making it almost impossible for the thousand people to avoid running into each other.

Moreover, having survived this long, these individuals held terrifying amounts of points, so battles inevitably erupted.

Jiang Yan couldn’t be bothered to hunt down each examinee one by one. Once most of them were eliminated, the points would accumulate on a single person. Jiang Yan only needed to defeat that individual to end the competition.

By noon, the sounds of battle grew increasingly faint, indicating that only a handful of examinees remained.

In the afternoon, a blood-soaked youth sought out Jiang Yan.

Ranking second on the points leaderboard: Shi Anyuan.

“You’re the only one left. Eliminate you, and I’ll take first place in this competition!”

Despite being covered in injuries, Shi Anyuan’s Aura was undiminished. He boldly declared his intention to eliminate Jiang Yan as soon as he arrived.

Jiang Yan wasted no words, raising his Saber to point at his opponent.

“Let’s fight.”

“Haha, just what I wanted.”

Shi Anyuan didn’t use any weapons, charging at Jiang Yan with only his Physical Body.

“Vast Wilderness Tiger Pounce!”

Bam!

Jiang Yan kicked him flying.

The exam ended.

Well, it was a bit hasty, but that’s how it happened.

Although Shi Anyuan was quite capable, he only belonged at the same table as Xiao Ziming and the others.

If those four couldn’t defeat Jiang Yan, how could Shi Anyuan alone hope to win?

After picking up the scorecard, Jiang Yan and Shi Anyuan were teleported out of the alternate dimension together.

“It’s Jiang Yan! Examinee 【9527】 Jiang Yan has taken first place in this year’s College Entrance Exam. Let’s congratulate him!”

Bullet Comments flooded the screen.

The words “Zhuangyuan” filled the entire Live Stream Room.

: First place, unquestionably first place. The most prestigious first place in the history of the College Entrance Exam!

: Single-handedly taking on four Innate Martial Artists, overpowering all the Geniuses—has anything like this ever happened in the history of the exam?

: Congratulations to Jiang Yan for earning the title of Zhuangyuan!

: I declare, from now on, I’m Jiang God’s die-hard fan. Damn, he’s just too strong.

: A person from a small place actually managed to outshine all the Prodigies and take first place, and what’s more, they achieved first place in all three rounds of the exams. Who else could possibly do that?

: Don’t forget, they slept for the first four days and only started making an effort at the very end, yet still managed to get first place. If that’s not impressive, then what is?