The First Academy.

The dean was looking at the a.s.sessment rankings of this cohort with grat.i.tude.

Although the two geniuses, Ye Liangfei and Zhang Xukun, were goners before the a.s.sessment even begun, arousing fear and anxiety in everyone, the graduation season had commenced successfully!

Well…

It even brought out many geniuses!

For example…

The child called Zhong Chu.

Although he did not know what bad experience the parents had in the past to give him such a name, his talent could not be doubted!

Look.

He thrashed all the students and clinched the top place domineeringly!

In that case…

He should not perform too badly in the a.s.sessment.

Well…

The dean felt glad.

However, inexplicably, he could feel a lingering sense of danger.

It was very strange.

For a cultivator at his level, problems must have occurred if he were to have such a premonition. It might really be a bad omen!

This feeling…

The last time he felt his way was during the Lunar Shadow legacy!

Tap!

Tap!

The dean tapped the table lightly.

After a long time…

The a.s.sistant pushed open the door and entered. "Dean."

"The matter that I have asked you to do. How is it going?"

The dean asked.

"Uh—"

The a.s.sistant scratched his head. "I've already investigated clearly. Lu Ming made a trip to the school to join in on the fun. He then went home. Afterward, he went inside at the Sword Card Master a.s.sociation and has not left."

"Oh?"

The dean heaved a sigh of relief. "He didn't go anywhere?"

"Well…"

The a.s.sistant looked like he wanted to say something but held himself back.

"Tell me!"

The dean furrowed his brows tightly.

"Well…

"After two days of observation, we discovered that after Lu Ming went back to rest, that girl called Xiaobai also slept in Lu Ming's room. She even brought some shower supplies inside. Most probably, she even bathed inside…"

The a.s.sistant sighed.

The dean had a strange look on his face.

He merely wanted to check if Lu Ming had come to school to stir up trouble…

He did not expect to find out about this!

Xiaobai that child…

If he did not remember it wrong, she was only twelve years old?!

It was really…

"I trust Lu Ming."

The dean wore a grave expression.

He felt that Lu Ming was very principled with such major things. Of course, the nature of this situation was different and he felt that it was better to inform the parent.

"Inform Xiaobai's parents about it," the dean instructed.

"I've told him."

The a.s.sistant's expression turned uglier. "I found out that Xiaobai's father is called Jiang Feng and has also gotten his contact information. I called him. But…"

"What's the matter?"

The dean felt strange.

The a.s.sistant took a deep breath. "He just replied — the child has to bear the surname Jiang!!!"

The dean wore a baffled expression.

d.a.m.n. What kind of parent is this?!

…

At this very moment…

Somewhere.

Below the jet black ground.

Jiang Feng turned around and changed his posture. He was sneering at the communication device.

d.a.m.n!

This must have been Lu Ming's deliberate attempt to fool him!

He was coveting Shadow Coins?

No way!

He was a dead man in name now! The Shadow Coins belonged to him! He would take this opportunity to cultivate in seclusion and improve his ability again…

Well…

It is also time for a breakthrough.

This was what Jiang Feng thought.

However…

At this moment.

Click!

The darkness in front of him suddenly disappeared. Lights flashed and a few figures suddenly appeared before his eyes. Their gazes met Jiang Feng's and their bodies instantly froze.

After a long time…

There was a scream.

The few shadows ran away.

"d.a.m.n!

"The corpse has come to life!

"T-there… is really a corpse!

"To h.e.l.l with it!"

Everyone could sense the aura exuding from that person in the coffin and was trembling with fear. They ran a few hundred kilometers at once and then gingerly stopped.

d.a.m.n. It was too terrifying!

They were just robbing a grave. Who would expect the corpse to come to life in his coffin?!

Jiang Feng glanced at the few fleeing figures speechlessly.

Forget it.

He waved his hands and buried himself in the grave again.

He fell into a deep slumber again.

…

At this very moment…

The World of Darkness and Shadows.

The a.s.sessment of the graduation season had begun.

1. The first test, survival.

A line of huge words appeared on the screen and then disappeared.

"Survival?"

Lu Ming was somewhat surprised.

Unexpectedly, The First Academy's a.s.sessment was that straightforward.

As a college, shouldn't their a.s.sessment be the same as the Breeze Pavilion? They could a.s.sess the talent, comprehending ability and so on? Why the h.e.l.l were they a.s.sessing survival skills…

Shus.h.!.+

The words on the screen appeared and disappeared constantly.

"Children…"

"Remember!

"As students of The First Academy, you can only become more powerful if you survive. Henceforth, you will be deemed as failing the a.s.sessment if you remain in the community…

"Go to the suburbs.

"Go and find a world that belongs to you!"

Shus.h.!.+

The words disappeared again.

This?

They forced the students to go to the suburbs and then look at who could survive for the longest time? Did it not seem strange to them?

Just as Lu Ming felt that something was odd..

Shus.h.!.+

Another line of words flashed.

"The chase warrant will be published soon. Henceforth, the lowest rung of this world will hunt you down until the end of the missions in the a.s.sessment…"

Everyone's countenance changed drastically.

d.a.m.n!

Has the school gone mad?!

They knew that the school's a.s.sessment was extraordinary but they did not expect the first test to be a hunt!

To h.e.l.l with it!

Everyone ran toward the suburbs like madmen.

Lu Ming heard wailing sounds from the team videos provided by the Shadow Combat Suit…

"h.e.l.l… what kind of a.s.sessment is this?!"

"Hide further away. The nearer you are to the community, the greater the chances of them finding you."

"Bulls.h.i.+t, do you know how dangerous the suburbs are?"

The students were fleeing crazily.

This was crazy!

What else could Lu Ming say?

This was also the first time that a killing order was published at the start of the graduation a.s.sessment…

"Go!"

Lu Ming dashed to the suburbs.

Over there, he saw countless familiar figures in a uniformed attire rus.h.i.+ng toward the suburbs.

At this very moment…

Numbers popped up on the screen constantly.

"Countdown until the killing order is published: 300 seconds."

"Countdown until the killing order is published: 299 seconds.""

…

After a long time…

It was time to publish the killing order!

On the mission board at the community area, some low-level missions suddenly appeared. The target audience was actually the shadows in the community!

"Eh?"

The shadows were filled with curiosity.

99% of the missions there were to be executed in reality. This was merely a platform. However, these missions were to be carried out in the World of Darkness and Shadows!

"I've not seen such missions for a long time…"

"The rewards are similar to that of the missions published for real life?"

"Interesting."

"It's less dangerous here. We can give it a try."

Many shadows were tempted.

Hence…

The killing a.s.sessment facing the students began in full swing.

The World of Darkness and Shadows was huge and it was not that easy to locate someone. Unfortunately, the killing order even provided the area — Near the XX community.

Hence…

A huge number of eliminations began to appear.

…

Somewhere.

A student was killed by a shadow monster when avoiding the order.

Somewhere.

A student was slayed by the shadow chasing him when he was fighting with a shadow monster!

Somewhere.

A student was killed by a shadow who pa.s.sed by when he escaped to a nearby community.

Shus.h.!.+

Shus.h.!.+

Rows of names on the screen turned grey.

A large-scale elimination had begun!

The group of people who were not powerful, experienced or smart enough was eliminated first! On the other hand, students who possessed true combat abilities were s.h.i.+ning!

In a certain place, a student killed their a.s.sa.s.sin! (The first mission has failed. The second mission has been published and is in progress…)

+10 points!

At this very moment, everyone then realized how to attain points during the a.s.sessment. It was actually — Counterattack!

Yes.

Staying alive would only ensure that one would not be eliminated!

A true powerful figure had to retaliate and kill the other party before they could attain more points, higher rankings and results! Each time they killed an enemy, they could get 10 points!

Hence…

The powerful students began to lay an ambush to retaliate.

A true battle had begun.

Shus.h.!.+

Shus.h.!.+

The ranking list changed constantly.

Some people could not beat their enemies and were defeated eventually.

Some people retaliated and killed enemies constantly and eventually topped the rankings.

This ranking and this test had displayed all the students' ability clearly.

…

Tian Du City.

The First Academy.

Those cultivators at the square, the students of The First Academy and the teachers and management of the entire school were paying close attention to the changes in the ranking.

Gao Tianlang appeared in the rankings.

Lu Yan appeared in the rankings.

Some of the slightly famous cultivators had also dashed to the top hundred.

However…

What surprised everyone was that Zhong Chu had disappeared.

Yes.

Right from the beginning, they did not see Zhong Chu!!!

There was actually no news of the dazzling genius at the preliminary a.s.sessment!

Had he been eliminated?

No.

Someone deliberately scrolled to the bottom of the rankings and was shocked to discover that this genius by the name of Zhong Chu had a big zero attached to his name…

His score was actually zero!

"What is happening?!"

"This goes to say that he is still facing his first hunt down?"

"This score…"

"It's not logical. With Zhong Chu's ability, it should not be a problem to kill one person?"

Everyone was astonished.

"Tell me, is it possible that Zhong Chu can kill an a.s.sa.s.sin but he did not do so. On the other hand, he is deliberately keeping that person alive…" Someone suddenly thought of something. "This kind of mission won't send a powerful enemy! He wouldn't be eliminated then… This is commonly termed as four guaranteeing one pig!"

"d.a.m.n. This would do as well?!"

"Someone must have done this!"

Everyone was sighing.

The more he thought about it, the more they felt that this was possible.

Didn't you guys say that the a.s.sessment was about ability + intelligence?

Look.

Adopting this method would not go wrong?

Undoubtedly, amongst those who had not been eliminated, someone must be doing this! He was 'rearing' an a.s.sa.s.sin who was not as powerful as he was!

The objective was to avoid being eliminated!

It was just that…

If that was the case, he would not have any results?

"Killing one enemy can give him 10 points!"

"To an ordinary student, this may be better but Zhong Chu… Aren't we expecting too much from him?"

Some people were disappointed.

Yes.

He would not be eliminated by 'rearing' an a.s.sa.s.sin.

However…

That merely applied to an ordinary student!

Who is Zhong Chu?

You are the heroic champion from the last round. You vanquished all the students and attained the greatest progress. During this round, you actually turned into a salted fish with a null score!

That is so embarra.s.sing!

Do you merely have ability and not brains?!

According to people's estimation, Zhong Chu was initially a beginner six-star. After the tremendous increase in his ability during the first round, he was at least an intermediate six-star now!

In that case…

At the very least, he should retaliate and kill at least five to six opponents!

How could he be that much of a salted fish?!

"It is such a pity."

Some people had already decided to give up on Zhong Chu.

Such an att.i.tude… was unacceptable!

"Let's take note of Lu Yan."

"Gao Tianlang is also not bad."

"There are a few geniuses who are not bad over here too."

Everyone disregarded Zhong Chu.

However…

They did not know that Student Lu Ming, who was currently taking the ident.i.ty of Zhong Chu, was also baffled.

He saw the tips from the Shadow Combat Suit.

He also saw the retaliation by the students.

He also saw the latest score and rankings.

Afterward…

There was nothing more!

Where are the people?!

Where are the opponents?!

Right from the beginning, he did not see any a.s.sa.s.sins?!

Initially, he also wanted to avoid the opponents but he took the initiative to come out from hiding after discovering that he would gain points from retaliation. However, he had not seen any opponents since then!

Where was the a.s.sa.s.sin?!

Where was the enemy?

There was absolutely nothing!

Lu Ming was strolling leisurely and openly in the suburbs. Besides seeing a few dark shadows, he did not see an enemy!!!

Occasionally.

Some shadows would appear.

Lu Ming walked to them excitedly, only to discover that they were just pa.s.sing by. They left after taking a glance at him.

Lu Ming was speechless.

What is happening?!

Were the a.s.sa.s.sins hiding from him because he was too powerful?

…

At this very moment…

In the community, Zhong Chu was wandering around happily.

Well…

In fact, he was having a very good time.

He had completely delegated the a.s.sessment to Lu Ming. Violence was prohibited in the community area. Furthermore, Lu Ming had given him some Shadow Coins and he could spend them.

It was also just nice. He could experience the culture of the World of Darkness and Shadows.

For example—

Some 'special' services.

There was no other choice.

He was merely a shadow now and he had given his Shadow Combat Suit to Lu Ming. It was useless for him to improve his combat ability. He could only experience entertainment.

Hence…

He took out some Shadow Coins and entered the shadow ma.s.seur shop by the roadside.

Well…

A voluptuous lady appeared in the shop and gave him a ma.s.sage. Although she was seemingly formed by a shadow, the touch was real!

In fact, it was not bad…

Zhong Chu was having wonderful thoughts.

This kind of shadow ma.s.saging felt very special and thrilling and dialog boxes with words 'harder', 'oh' and so on appeared above his head.

The lady looked sullen.

Suddenly…

Zhong Chu felt that something was amiss.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the lady lifting up the hem of her dress and taking out an enormous item. He was instantly shocked and terrified.

Ouch!

Did he come to the wrong place?

Shus.h.!.+

Just as he wanted to get up, he felt that lady exerting pressure with her hands. A surge of strong force overcame him as the lady stabbed the item into his body in a familiar manner…

Poof!

There was a crisp and clear sound.

Zhong Chu's body suddenly turned stiff.

Oh…

It turned out that it was a weapon… c.r.a.p! What was there to be happy about?!

Zhong Chu wore a dumbstruck expression.

What is this place?

This is the community!

Is this woman mad? She dares to attack me here?!

Just as he thought of this, he saw a bolt of black lightning landing and striking that lady who had just stabbed him… The lady died on the spot.

This was the outcome of taking action in the community.

However…

Zhong Chu looked at the rod-like weapon which penetrated his chest dazedly. He could feel his life draining away from his body and he could not come to his senses for a long time.

Who did he provoke with getting a ma.s.sage?

…