Chapter 155: A Crushing Contest

The realm had fractured, and the power of the void beyond the boundary seeped through the shattered cracks, merging with the distorted laws of the world within, giving birth to countless terrifying monsters.

There were beings of the Extraordinary tier, the Legendary tier, and even multiple existences of the Divine Demon tier.

Yes, the original Oracle was a Divine Demon tier powerhouse—and a very formidable one at that.

Of course, the school had a relatively safe route leading to the Nest of Fate. As long as one followed the path without straying, the dangers remained within manageable limits.

But this “manageable” meant there were no Legendary tier monsters along the way.

As for the Extraordinary tier monsters—there were simply too many to avoid.

“We need to prepare in advance. Stock up on potions and items.”

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and shared his plan with Fang Xi, urging her to prepare plenty of potions and elixirs.

She was now an expert alchemist and could craft most of the potions herself, so it was just a matter of some resources.

Days passed as they diligently prepared.

As time went on, the once quiet villa district gradually grew lively again, with many new and returning students arriving one after another.

Though the returning students no longer had a chance to compete, it didn’t stop them from spectating—and observing the newcomers to see if any exceptional talents had emerged.

A week later, Chu Cheng and Fang Xi stepped forward together once more, heading toward the Mage Tower at the center of the Floating City.

It was the same auditorium as before, with the seats arranged just as last time.

The moment Chu Cheng and Fang Xi entered, they felt a strong, malevolent gaze upon them. Turning around, they saw Xu Mingli staring coldly at them.

“Looking for trouble!”

He withdrew his gaze expressionlessly, pondering silently—there was no time to deal with him now.

“Once Fang Xi finishes her class transfer, I’ll find a chance to settle this.”

After parting with Fang Xi, he found a seat in the center.

All the new students were full of vigor and spirit, their confidence shining through their expressions.

As more people filled the auditorium, a clear chime rang out on time. Several teaching assistants pushed open the doors and entered.

Chu Cheng glanced around and saw all the new students were present, but the number of senior students was far fewer than at the beginning of the term—about half of them hadn’t returned.

Without wasting words, Chief Assistant Lu got straight to the point:

“I believe everyone knows why we’re holding this class, so I won’t repeat it. On behalf of Instructor Yun Dingge, I will oversee this assessment. The rules are simple: no consumption of potions or elixirs, no use of scrolls or similar items, and no changing equipment mid-assessment.”

“The combat rule is no rules.”

His gaze swept the crowd coldly as he continued:

“I won’t elaborate much on the rules. You’ve all experienced the standards and should know them. Don’t try to be clever or claim I didn’t specify something is prohibited. I hold the final interpretation rights. Any violation will result in immediate elimination.”

His eyes passed over the twenty-three new students present, his voice grave:

“Now, I will teleport you into the competition arena. Anyone who wishes to forfeit may refuse the teleport.”

Without hesitation, twenty-three glowing portals appeared from thin air above the auditorium, each descending as a beam of light enveloped one student.

The beams vanished, and the students disappeared.

None of the twenty-three relinquished their chance.

Then, many of the elders in the auditorium communicated with the tower spirit and began to teleport away one by one.

Chu Cheng felt the space shift, and when it stabilized, he found himself standing on a vast metal platform. Beyond the platform lay an unfathomable void, and not far away floated another platform where figures stood.

Between them, countless streaks of light converged, swiftly outlining a colossal starry arena.

As the arena took shape, figures appeared in the spectator seats surrounding it—these were the assistants and numerous senior students.

A brilliant beam of light descended onto the central podium, where Instructor Yun Dingge stood.

Both Chu Cheng and the returning students bowed their heads in respect:

“Greetings, Instructor!”

Yun Dingge nodded, his voice cool and clear:

“Let us begin.”

Beside him, Assistant Lu Dongrui nodded and shouted loudly:

“The assessment officially begins now. New students, enter the arena.”

At that moment, Chu Cheng was teleported away again, this time to a vacant battlefield. A glowing screen appeared before him, displaying a set of rules and a 60-second countdown timer in the corner.

Within seconds, Chu Cheng finished reading the rules and understood what to do next.

This assessment was straightforward and consisted of two stages.

In the first stage, each new student had to single-handedly defeat five terrifying level-30 monster templates of different types. They needed to win at least three of these battles to advance.

Winning fewer than three meant immediate elimination.

The next stage was a series of battles among the survivors, where the last standing would naturally be the champion.

Everyone would fight in turn, making their strength clearly apparent—there would be no dispute.

The 60-second countdown quickly ended, and a beam of light descended.

Before him appeared a heavily armored human warrior, wielding a shield in one hand and a sword in the other.

Experienced Shield Warrior (Terrifying): Level 30, 45,000 HP.

“That feeling is so familiar!”

The next moment, the shield warrior charged at him with shield raised.

Chu Cheng grinned, drawing his twin swords and weaving a flourish as he focused his power. As the shield warrior closed to four meters, Chu Cheng unleashed a mighty divine strike.

“Clang!”

A deafening clash erupted, forcing Chu Cheng to step back as the charging warrior was knocked airborne.

He had precisely timed and measured the distance, releasing the divine strike at the optimal range to halt the opponent’s charge.

Skills were not invincible.

A charge did not guarantee initiative—when two combatants were evenly matched, skills could unleash far greater power than usual. The opponent could only dodge or defend.

But if the opponent’s strength was overwhelming, backed by superior attributes and refined combat techniques, then “skills” were merely specialized fighting maneuvers.

At this moment, the shield warrior posed no real threat to Chu Cheng—apart from his sturdy defense, he was quite ordinary.

At the start of the battle, Chu Cheng had absolute dominance thanks to his superior attributes and skill.

He could precisely block and parry all normal attacks. The opponent’s combat skills were insufficient, and the attribute gap wasn’t large enough to completely counter all techniques.

But how many times could the shield warrior use his skills?

After factoring in defense, how much damage would remain?

Chu Cheng currently had 7,880 HP.

Within a few seconds, he ramped up his attack speed to 1.7 strikes per second, soon triggering a time lock.

As the power of time surged through his body, two identical phantoms appeared beside him—one youthful and boyish, the other mature and middle-aged—each wielding the same weapons and striking with lightning speed at 1.7 strikes per second.

At full attack speed, even without activating the Death Force from his artifact, the time lock alone could unleash a terrifying 17,000 burst of damage in one second.

The combined strike of past, present, and future phantoms dealt an explosive 51,000 damage in an instant.

The shield warrior’s HP was far below that.

When the time lock ended and time’s power faded, the shield warrior’s body was shattered into pieces on the spot, blood spraying everywhere.

“Incredible!”

The newly acquired trait from his promotion was absurdly powerful, tripling his burst damage.

A boss of the same level simply couldn’t withstand a single time lock burst. Once triggered, it could reduce their health to critical levels; with full attack speed and an explosion, it was an instant kill.

“Next opponent!”

White light swept across the battlefield, and the corpse vanished.

Sixty seconds later, a warrior wielding twin blades appeared.

Ten seconds later, as the power of time dissipated, the warrior’s body shattered instantly, scattering across the ground.

“Next.”