Chapter 78: Special Exam (5)
Boom!
As Su Chen swung his sword, a silver-white dragon formed from sword energy descended from the sky, landing directly on half of the giant armored worm's body exposed on the ground.
The next second, the giant armored worm, which was still drilling into the ground, seemed to pause and stop.
At the same time, Su Chen's figure fell lightly from the air.
After landing, he turned around and walked toward Zheng Liu and the other two, not even glancing at the giant armored worm that had ceased moving.
Just after he took a few steps, countless bloodlines appeared on the exposed half of the giant armored worm's body, causing black blood to spurt out.
The giant armored worm, once so powerful in the eyes of Zheng Liu and the others, was killed by Su Chen so easily... with just one sword.
---
[You killed a Nine Nether Giant Armored Worm (Eighth Level of Qi Gathering Stage) and gained 100 experience points...]
[Current experience points: 4325]
---
Su Chen looked at the panel prompt that appeared before him and silently put away the magic sword in his hand.
He returned to Zheng Liu and the other two, glanced at them in amazement, and said calmly, "Go east. The West is the lair of the evil creatures. Don't go the wrong way."
After kindly reminding them, Su Chen walked west alone without waiting for their response.
Zheng Liu watched Su Chen walk away, and just as she was about to say something, Xu Jianliang stopped her.
Xu Jianliang glanced at Zheng Liu's puzzled expression and shook his head, signaling her not to speak.
After Su Chen disappeared into the night, Zheng Liu couldn't help but say, "Jianliang, why did you hold me back just now? We could have tried to act together with Su. You've seen his strength; if..."
"Innocent."
Before Zheng Liu could finish her words, Chai Xi interrupted her.
He looked in the direction where Su Chen had left and explained calmly, "Zheng Liu wants to act with others, but that also requires others to be willing."
"As for the three of us, not only would there be no benefit for him to take us along, but he would also have to take care of us. Do you think he would be willing to shoulder the burden of three?"
"Student Su was kind enough to save us and tell us where to go to be safer. You even wanted him to protect us. Zheng Liu, why are you so naive? Do you think everyone is as kind as Student Xu Jianliang?"
After listening to Chai Xi's words, Zheng Liu finally realized how foolish her earlier thoughts were.
But people are like this: even when they know they've made a mistake, they tend to be stubborn. Therefore, she snorted and refused to admit her error.
Seeing Chai Xi scolding Zheng Liu again, Xu Jianliang felt speechless.
To maintain the team atmosphere, Xu Jianliang acted as a peacemaker once more.
"Alright, alright, you two should stop arguing. There was such a big noise here just now; we should get back as soon as possible."
"You see, Jianliang is smart, unlike someone who is foolish and can only cry."
"You..."
"Alright, alright, stop arguing, stop arguing."
Seeing Zheng Liu and Chai Xi about to quarrel again, Xu Jianliang felt a headache.
Alas, this team... is not easy to lead.
At the same time, in a square in the west of the city...
"Ahhh! Don't come over here!"
A student from No. 3 High School collapsed on the ground, terror etched on his face as he looked at the approaching monster.
It was a humanoid creature about 15 meters tall, resembling a mantis.
Faced with the three middle school students who had lost their will to fight and could only cry and beg for mercy, a human-like smile appeared on the monster's face.
"Tell me where you all suddenly came from, and maybe I can let you go."
The three high school students were stunned when they heard the evil creature suddenly speak in human language.
But the next second, they reacted suddenly.
This is not human speech at all. This evil creature is using the "telepathic communication" that only cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Stage can employ.
The so-called telepathic communication is essentially a form of communication through telepathy.
The most significant feature of this method is that it allows different species to communicate without obstacles.
The fact that this evil creature could transmit sound via telepathy undoubtedly indicated to the three middle school students that it was at the Foundation Establishment Stage.
Thinking of this, the three high school students, already somewhat frightened, fell into complete despair.
Damn it, damn it, damn it. In such a vast examination hall, why am I so unlucky to encounter an evil creature in the Foundation Establishment Stage?
Looking at the three high school students who were too scared to speak, the humanoid evil creature at the Foundation Establishment Stage shook its head with regret.
"You won't tell me? That's a pity."
The evil creature swung its sword and directly severed the head of the third high school student.
Gazing at the headless bodies of the three high school students, it licked the blood on the blade of its right arm, boredom evident on its face.
"Weak, too weak."
"Why doesn't the king let me hunt down those human cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Stage? It's too boring here."
As it spoke, the Foundation Establishment Stage evil creature waved its hand, signaling the other Nine Nether Clan creatures beside it to share the body of the third high school student.
Then it flapped its wings, flew into the air, and stopped, looking down at the ruined city below, muttering, "Alas, I hope I can get some valuable prey."
After saying that, it suddenly flew toward another location in the ruins to continue its patrol.
---
[Name: Jade-faced Mantis]
[Race: Nine Nether Clan]
[Strength: Second level of Foundation Establishment Stage]
[Features: A special humanoid creature evolved from the Jade Mantis, with superb swordsmanship.]
---
At four o'clock in the morning, in a shopping mall in the west district of the city...
Bang!
Su Chen killed the spider-faced man in front of him with a sword.
The green lotus pupil in his eyes kept spinning, checking to see if there were any other Nine Nether Clan evil creatures moving around.
Thanks to his outstanding agility and swordsmanship, he had killed countless Nine Nether Clan evil creatures thus far, gaining more than two thousand experience points.
The speed at which he earned these experience points was even faster than during the dungeon.
Had he not feared being besieged by the Nine Nether Clan's evil creatures, he might have gone on a killing spree to further accelerate his experience acquisition.
After all, a single Nine Nether Clan evil creature in the Foundation Establishment Stage did not pose much of a threat to him.
Because even without employing the special method of the heretic Path Sword, his current strength was sufficient to defeat an ordinary Foundation Establishment Stage Nine Nether Clan evil creature in one-on-one combat.
But the battlefield is no joke.
If a Nine Nether Clan evil creature in the Foundation Establishment Stage brought a large number of Qi Gathering Stage evil creatures to besiege him, he would have no choice but to run away.
His current advantage lies in his offensive power, which far exceeds his level.
In contrast, his life-saving methods and defensive capabilities are somewhat sparse and ordinary.
Once he becomes besieged, he will be in danger unless he can break out of the encirclement quickly.
Otherwise, with his fragile body, even ordinary evil creatures in the Qi Gathering Stage could inflict fatal harm on him.
"I will pay more attention to this aspect of cultivation in the future. After all, I can't be resurrected infinitely in reality, like in the dungeon."
"Fortunately, it's not too late to realize this now, and there's still time to remedy the situation."
"Among the magical powers of gold and earth attributes, there should be quite a few that meet my requirements. I will just pay more attention to them in the future."
"As long as I can improve my ability to survive and my physical strength, I will have no more weaknesses."
Thinking this, Su Chen turned and walked towards the underground garage of the shopping mall.
Su Chen's special affinity for underground garages stemmed from his powerful spiritual perception at the Foundation Establishment Stage.
However, this ability cannot penetrate more than ten meters underground to sense the situation within.
Therefore, as long as he hides underground, he doesn't have to worry about being discovered by the Foundation Establishment Stage evil creatures above.
But just when Su Chen arrived on the first floor of the mall and was about to walk to the underground garage, a series of dark shadows suddenly sliced through the hollow area in the center of the mall and attacked him fiercely.
Almost instinctively, Su Chen swung his sword toward the black shadow.
Bang!
As sparks flew, Su Chen felt a tremendous force emanating from the magic sword, causing him to slide back a considerable distance before finally stopping.
He raised his head, the green lotus in his pupils spinning rapidly, and looked at the powerful enemy who had suddenly appeared in front of him with a serious expression.
Examining the sparse lotus marks on his opponent's body and the heavy energy reaction within it, Su Chen quickly deduced the other's strength level.
That's right, it's the Foundation Establishment Stage.
The Jade-faced Mantis regarded Su Chen with interest visible in its triangular head.
"I'm lucky. I encountered valuable prey."
"Human, I hope you can let me experience some of the fun of fighting."
The Jade-faced Mantis spoke in an arrogant tone, as though it regarded Su Chen merely as a toy to pass the time and did not take him seriously at all.
But Su Chen wasn't the only one feeling lucky at this moment.
After all, upon seeing the appearance of the Jade-faced Mantis, Su Chen immediately surveyed the surrounding environment.
He discovered that this Jade-faced Mantis had found him alone and that there weren't any other Nine Nether Clan creatures within a 100-meter radius.
For him, facing a lone Nine Nether Clan evil creature in the Foundation Establishment Stage was merely a delivered experience package!
His luck was exceptionally good!
At the same time, in the conference room of No. 2 High School...
When the Jade-faced Mantis found Su Chen, Su Chen, who was originally a little-known figure, was suddenly noticed by many teachers.
After all, there were only ten Foundation Establishment Stage Nine Nether Clan evil creatures in the entire examination room.
Therefore, each of their actions would naturally draw the attention of the teachers in the conference room.
A teacher from No. 3 High School looked at Su Chen, who was confronted by the Jade-faced Mantis and remarked with some regret, "The students from No. 1 High School are a bit unlucky. In less than a day, they encountered a Foundation Establishment Stage evil creature alone, and it was a Jade-faced Mantis known for its speed. Looks like he will be eliminated soon."
A nearby teacher from No. 2 High School immediately agreed, "Who says it's not true? In previous joint exams, the majority of students were eliminated by Jade-faced Mantises."
"After all, this kind of Foundation Establishment evil creature, which boasts extremely fast speed and superb swordsmanship, is almost impossible for most candidates to defeat."
"If I remember correctly, the last student who defeated a Jade-faced Mantis in a one-on-one match was a genius who was admitted to Shangqing Daogong No. 1 High School ten years ago, right?"
"But even that genius barely won against a Jade-faced Mantis that was only in a severely injured state."
Chen Fugui listened to the discussion between the two teachers, feeling anxious as he looked at Su Chen on the screen.
Although he was one of the few who knew Su Chen better, his understanding was limited to the mock exam at that time.
With Su Chen's performance during that event, he wouldn't be able to defeat the Jade-faced Mantis, known as a candidate killer.
Thinking that Su Chen, whom he had placed high hopes on, might fail on the first day of the joint entrance examination of three schools filled him with an overall sense of bad luck.
In such a large examination hall, how come he happened to meet this Jade-faced Mantis alone? It's just a pity he didn't buy a lottery ticket!
Additionally, while others aimed to cooperate with their classmates, he acted as though he didn't need anyone else's help.
What's up with this kid? Does he think he's so talented that he can bully others in the examination room?
No, once he leaves the examination room later, he'll need to be given a lesson.
A cultivator can be proud, but he must never be arrogant.
If he enters the Taoist Academy in this state, he will suffer a great loss!
After all, the Taoist Academy has everything except monsters that are superior to geniuses!
In the abandoned shopping mall, the Jade-faced Mantis assessed Su Chen, who had stood there motionless since his arrival.
The monster thought Su Chen was just like the several human cultivators it had met before, all frightened at the sight of it.
This made the Jade-faced Mantis somewhat disappointed.
After all, it had rushed over after sensing a large number of its subordinates had perished.
When it discovered that the one responsible for the deaths of many of its minions was merely one person, it grew very interested in Su Chen, feeling that it had found an excellent toy.
This interest peaked after Su Chen nullified its initial attack.
From the time it arrived in Yushan City until now, it had not encountered any decent enemies.
Only a handful of beings could withstand even one of its strikes.
Therefore, seeing Su Chen's expression of 'giving up resistance' rendered the Jade-faced Mantis somewhat disappointed.
What's the fun in killing prey that doesn't resist?
Thinking this, the Jade-faced Mantis spoke again, preparing to incite the fighting spirit of its new toy.
"Hey, human boy, guess how many of your people I have killed up until now?"
Listening to the voice in his ear, Su Chen did not respond but maintained a calm demeanor as he stared at it.
The green lotus in his pupils kept spinning, as if recording something.
The Jade-faced Mantis was completely unaware of this.
Or rather, it had noticed but did not care at all.
Facing the silent Su Chen, the Jade-faced Mantis mused aloud, "One hundred and twenty-three. A full one hundred and twenty-three."
"I must admit that your human body is too weak."
"Even if it's a Foundation Establishment cultivator among your race, as long as I get close enough, I can easily kill them with one strike."
"To think, I miss the first human cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage I encountered; that was such a thrilling battle."
"Originally, I was no match for that guy. Many times when I attempted to approach him, he would use his magic weapon to drive me back."
"But guess what? To protect the ordinary people behind him and buy time for those weaker guys to escape, that guy took the initiative to withstand my attacks several times and forfeited many opportunities to inflict heavy damage on me."
"I don't understand what you human strongmen are thinking. Why do you have such bizarre ideas?"
"Such an action is simply the stupidest thing in our Nine Nether Clan."
"How can a strong person willingly give up the chance to escape to protect the weak?"
"But you know what? It was precisely because of your foolish ideas that I found the opportunity to turn defeat into victory."
"After identifying this, I abandoned my attempts to attack the Foundation Establishment Stage human and redirected my focus toward hunting down the ordinary people."
"As expected, that guy was not only furious, but he even distracted himself to use his magic weapon to protect those ordinary people."
"But this way, he wouldn't be able to focus on protecting himself!"
"I seized the moment and severed his arm with one strike, using that opportunity to eliminate his limbs a few strikes later."
"Do you want to guess why I didn't just kill him outright?"
As the waves of proud words poured forth from the Jade-faced Mantis's 'telepathic voice,' Su Chen maintained his calm expression, seemingly unmoved.
The more he did this, the more inexplicably angry the Jade-faced Mantis grew, wanting to provoke a response from Su Chen.
So it stepped closer to Su Chen, cheerfully declaring, "I want him to witness with his own eyes the weak individuals he protects being devoured by my men, one by one."
"Not only that, I want to keep him beside me to watch me hunt down those ordinary people who cannot resist."
"Hehehe... I miss the angry, helpless, and desperate look in his eyes. It was so amusing to me."
As it spoke, the Jade-faced Mantis walked within five steps of Su Chen.
At this point, Su Chen finally spoke.
"Are you done?"
"Um?"
The Jade-faced Mantis gazed at Su Chen in surprise, unable to comprehend where this Qi Gathering-stage toy got the boldness to say such things.
But the next second, it suddenly felt an inexplicable presence locking onto itself.
It felt as if countless sharp swords were poised at its neck, inducing an unprecedented sense of crisis.
The Jade-faced Mantis looked at Su Chen in disbelief, never having anticipated it would feel such oppression from a human cultivator in the Qi Gathering Stage.
What's going on?!
"Now that you're done... you can die now."
Clang!
With a dull sound as a sharp sword erupted from Su Chen's body, the Jade-faced Mantis suddenly saw a terrifying sword shadow rushing toward it.
The speed of this sword was so swift that it surpassed even the blade technique.
In the face of this sudden life-and-death crisis, the Jade-faced Mantis could only cross its arms in a hastily constructed defense.
As arrogant as it had been while mocking Su Chen before, it now found itself just as embarrassed, caught in a fluster.
Bang!
As the cold light illuminated and collided with its sharp blade arm, the Jade-faced Mantis felt piercing pain shoot through its arm.
Its blade arm, comparable to a human magic weapon, had cracked from Su Chen's sword.
No. How did this human cultivator ascertain that he had been injured at this specific point on his blade arm?
Could it be...
The Jade-faced Mantis glanced at Su Chen's oddly swirling lotus pupils and finally understood why this guy had been silent and only looking at him calmly.
It turns out that he had been observing its weaknesses!
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(End of this chapter.)