High Martial Arts: Slay enemies to become stronger, forge invincibility from billions of corpses.

By this point, Song Chen started encountering other examinees.

The core area is vast, but top candidates tend to venture deeper into it, making it inevitable that they will run into each other.

Song Chen spotted a figure in the distance, dressed in a gray combat uniform, holding a knife in each hand, fighting against three mutated wolves.

He vaguely remembered this person; his name seemed to be Chen Mo, a genius from the next city.

Chen Mo's knife was fast, each cut clean and swift.

Two of the three wolves fell in less than ten seconds. The third wolf turned to run away, but was pinned to the ground by his knife.

Chen Mo drew his knife, looked up and saw Song Chen, his gaze lingering on him for a second.

Song Chen nodded at him, but Chen Mo didn't say anything and turned to walk in another direction.

After walking a few hundred meters more, Song Chen heard the sounds of intense fighting coming from ahead.

He walked through a thicket and saw a figure—Zhao Lingxi.

She stood in an open space, surrounded by the corpses of more than a dozen mutated hyenas.

Her fire-based ability was still burning, the grass beneath her feet was scorched black, and scorching heat filled the air.

She saw Song Chen, her lips curled slightly, she didn't say anything, and turned to disappear into the woods.

Song Chen continued to delve deeper.

The monsters deep within the core area are becoming increasingly dense, stronger, and more numerous.

Second-tier mid-grade, second-tier high-grade, and even second-tier peak beasts have begun to appear.

He no longer picks his targets; he kills whatever he encounters.

A mutated lynx of mid-tier rank, moving with lightning speed, was predicted by him with the aid of his True Sight Eye, and it was slain in one strike.

Two mutated wild boars of the second rank charged at him, one after the other. He dodged the first one's charge, paralyzed the second one with lightning, then severed the first one's hind leg with a single slash before turning back to kill the second one.

He directly unleashed a Sky-Splitting Thunder to clear out a swarm of mutated poisonous bees.

The score is rising, the ranking is rising, fifteenth, twelfth, ninth.

"Song Chen has made it into the top ten!"

At the Anning City Examination Center, someone exclaimed in surprise.

On the screen, that name was climbing at a breathtaking speed.

It took less than an hour to go from 52nd to the top 10.

"How many points did he score?"

"Over 10,000 points."

"Over ten thousand? Wasn't it only a few thousand a moment ago?"

"He went on a killing spree in the core area."

On the big screen, Song Chen's score was still increasing.

Each jump represents the fall of a mythical beast.

The ranking jumped from ninth to seventh, and from seventh to fifth.

"He's still killing."

"Look at how fast his score is increasing; it's even faster than Zhou Jin's."

"Zhou Jin is also in the core area, but his score isn't rising as fast. Song Chen's hunting efficiency is too high."

Song Chen stood under a large tree, covered in blood from various strange beasts. These second-tier beasts no longer posed a threat to him.

He leaned against the tree trunk and rested with his eyes closed for thirty seconds.

Fifth place wasn't enough, so he stood up and kept walking.

Half an hour later, he encountered another pack of mutated wolves.

Not three or five, but more than twenty.

There are always many wolf-like monsters, so there are naturally many in the examination room as well.

Leading the pack was a silver-gray giant wolf at the peak of the second tier, the size of a small calf, exuding a suffocating sense of oppression.

Song Chen stopped and gripped the knife handle tightly.

More than twenty second-tier wolves, and one peak second-tier alpha wolf.

This might be the biggest wave of monsters he's ever encountered in the core area.

If we kill them all, we can break into the top three in the rankings.

He took a deep breath and did not back down.

The first wolf pounced, but he dodged to the side and killed it with a single strike. The second and third wolves attacked simultaneously, but he unfurled his wings of whirlwind, soaring into the air to dodge their bites, landing with flashes of his blade.

The two wolves fell down.

More wolves surged forward, and he no longer held back, unleashing the full power of the Sky-Splitting Thunder. A purple electric net enveloped his body, and the wolves that charged forward were electrocuted and stiffened.

He took the opportunity to wield his knife and harvest them, one after another.

The alpha wolf moved, its speed so fast that it was just a fleeting silver-gray blur, its sharp claws tearing through the air, aiming straight for his throat.

Song Chen had no time to dodge and could only parry with his knife. The immense force sent him flying, crashing to the ground and rolling twice.

The alpha wolf pounced again. He gritted his teeth, and just as its claws were about to fall, he rolled to the side, his Thunderclap Blade slicing upwards and slicing open the wolf's belly.

The alpha wolf landed with a scream, but it didn't die.

It turned around, its eyes bloodshot, and pounced again.

Song Chen didn't dodge; instead, he went to meet the wolf head-on. The moment the alpha wolf pounced in front of him, he ducked, and the blade pierced its throat, penetrating the back of its neck.

The alpha wolf's body slammed down on him, pinning him to the ground, and blood cascaded over him like a waterfall.

[A peak Tier 2 mutated wolf has been killed, gaining 95 kill points.]

He pushed aside the wolf's corpse and stood up unsteadily.

The ground was littered with wolf carcasses, more than twenty in total. Their ranking jumped from fifth to third, then second, and then…

First place.

On the big screen, Song Chen's name jumped to the very top.

Red text, bold, enlarged.

The entire room fell silent.

Then, things exploded like a pot boiling over.

"Number one! Song Chen is number one!"

"He surpassed Zhou Jin!"

"How did he kill him?"

"Watching the replay, he killed a pack of mutated wolves in the core area, more than twenty of them, including a peak second-tier alpha wolf!"

Inside the Anning City Examination Center, representatives from various cities, admissions officers from major universities, martial arts coaches, and countless parents all had their eyes fixed on the name at the very top of the screen.

Song Chen!

The silence lasted for a few seconds, then someone spoke.

"How long has the exam been going? Zhou Jin hasn't even started yet."

The speaker was the admissions representative of the Shangjing Martial Arts University stationed in Nanjiang Province, a middle-aged man in his forties. His tone was indifferent, and there was a slight smile of disdain on his lips.

"Zhou Jin's tactic is to first find out the distribution of the alien beasts in the core area, and then plan the optimal hunting route. It's not that he can't kill them, he's just waiting."

Someone nearby chimed in, "Zhao Lingxi too. Her fire-based ability has strong large-scale destructive power. If she really goes all out, her score won't be lower than Song Chen's."

"And then there's Chen Mo, whose dual-wielding style hasn't been truly unleashed in the core area yet."

The people in Anning City remained silent.

The admissions officer from Beijing glanced at the screen, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

"Moreover, the practical assessment tests more than just killing monsters. Endurance, judgment, and risk control are all part of the scoring criteria. Killing quickly doesn't necessarily mean you can kill for long; this has only been two hours, and there are still six hours to go."

His words are not without merit.

Inside the examination center, many people looked more relaxed.

Yes, only two hours.

The real test is yet to come.

……

In the examination room, Song Chen leaned against a broken stone pillar, looking at the ranking interface with a slight frown.

There were more and more people in the core area, and he could sense that there were at least five groups of examinees around him.

On the left, a group of people are hunting down a pack of wolves. Their efficiency is low, but their method is reliable.

On the hillside to the right, Zhao Lingxi's fire ability erupted every few minutes, with astonishing force.

Further away, there were several more figures, likely Zhou Jin and Chen Mo.

Everyone was vying for monsters, causing hunting efficiency to plummet.

"This can't go on," he said in a low voice.

At our current pace, if we're unlucky, we might lose first place.

He needs bigger prey and a more efficient source of points.

Song Chen knew what to do.

He looked at the drone in the sky and shouted, "I request to challenge a Tier 3 alien beast."

Not long after, the drone landed in front of Song Chen, and a holographic projection unfolded in front of him.

On the pale blue light screen, a few lines of text slowly appeared.

[Candidate Song Chen, your current ranking: 1st. Do you wish to apply to challenge a Tier 3 alien beast?]

[Beast Challenge Description: The Martial Arts College Entrance Examination includes hidden challenge items for outstanding candidates.]

[One hundred Tier 3 alien beasts are imprisoned underground at the examination site, ready for candidates to challenge.]

The challenge will take place within a closed cage area, where other candidates will not be able to interfere.

[All Tier 3 beasts are at the initial stage of Tier 3, with health points between 120 and 200. Each beast killed grants between 20,000 and 40,000 points, depending on its health points.]

This project carries extremely high risks; please choose carefully.

Song Chen stared at those lines of text, her heart skipping a beat.

He took a deep breath and tapped on the projector.

"confirm."