"Zhou Mingyang, currently in first place, has 412 points. It seems he's already started his bloody harvest in the Middle Zone," commented one of the observers.
"His 'Light Swift Wind' ability is indeed excellent for rapid movement. Even in the provincial capital's martial arts exam, his speed wouldn't be inferior to others," added another.
"We have to hand it to Principal Liu, almost everyone in the top ten is from your school," a third remarked.
On the open field outside the abandoned town, ten huge projection screens were set up. They broadcast images from military drones tracking the top ten participants by points. Beneath these large screens were thousands of small projections from fixed cameras installed throughout the town. These images were enlarged on the main screen only when necessary.
Next to the projections hung a ranking list, meticulously displaying the points and positions of every participant. Temporary grandstands for spectators were set up below the screens, where principals and teachers from the Department of Education and various schools discussed the students' progress.
At the center of attention was a middle-aged man in a suit with a close haircut—Liu Hang, the principal of Jiangcheng First Middle School. In the top ten rankings, with the exception of one student from Third Middle School, all the others were from First Middle School.
"Zhou Mingyang is our ace in Jiangcheng. In this exam, he should make it into the provincial top hundred in Jiangnan," said a short, stout middle-aged man sitting in the front row. He nodded approvingly while looking at the first screen, where Zhou Mingyang was displaying impressive results. This man was Zhang Wenshan, the Head of the Jiangcheng Department of Education.
"By the way, it's been many years since we had a student from Jiangcheng make it into the provincial top hundred in Jiangnan," remarked Liu Hang, the principal of First Middle School, sitting next to the Head of the Department of Education, with a hint of sadness.
Jiangnan Province was one of the most populous in Great Xia, comprising 24 prefecture-level cities and nearly 34 county-level cities. Jiangcheng was located in the most remote northern part of Jiangnan Province, suffering from a lack of resources and ranking among the last in economic development among the 24 prefecture-level cities. Consequently, the annual educational funding from the provincial capital, Ninan City, was quite meager.
This was why Jiangcheng rarely showed high results in the annual martial arts exams. The best historical result was achieved seven or eight years ago, when one participant awakened an A-level ability, allowing him to enter the provincial top hundred in Jiangnan. Since then, despite the appearance of several A-level ability users, no one had managed to repeat that success.
However, Zhou Mingyang from the current graduating class had once again instilled hope in them.
"I've always been satisfied with the quality of education at your First Middle School," nodded Zhang Wenshan, the Head of the Department of Education. "By the way, Third Middle School is also performing quite well; they at least have one student in the top ten."
"However, Second Middle School is lagging a bit; their best result is only 18th place," he added.
Jiangcheng First Middle School was the best in the city. Second and Third Middle Schools lagged significantly behind it. In previous years, the top ten in the martial arts exam always consisted exclusively of students from First Middle School, leaving no chance for students from Second and Third.
"We really do have a few quite talented students this year," said the principal of Third Middle School with an undisguised smile.
Compared to him, the principal of Second Middle School, Zhao Yao, looked somewhat embarrassed. Usually, Second Middle School outperformed Third, but this year, the situation seemed to have shifted.
"Although our school's results aren't particularly good this year…" Principal Zhao Yao thought, studying the ranking list for a long time. He found that only eight students from Second Middle School had made it into the top fifty.
"Li Ming, Yang Jian, Tang Ju… They are all from the elite Class 1-1. But who is this Xu Jingming? I've never heard that name."
The results of the martial arts exam directly affected the distribution of educational funds among the schools. Therefore, Zhao Yao was more or less familiar with his school's top students. However, the name "Xu Jingming" was new to him.
"Perhaps he's a hidden talent from one of the ordinary parallel classes. I'll ask the homeroom teachers later," Zhao Yao thought, not attaching much significance to it. After all, Second Middle School had many students, and the appearance of one or two who had been hiding their abilities was not unusual.
If Principal Zhao Yao didn't pay much attention to it, the homeroom teacher of Class 5, Third Year, of Second Middle School, Chen Fan, sitting in the back rows, was simply stunned. He knew Xu Jingming well. The boy was merely an Awakened with an E-level ability—how could he possibly have made it into the top 50? And now, Xu Jingming was the best student in their entire Class 5! This was simply unbelievable!
"Was he hiding his strength?" Chen Fan pondered. "But no matter how much he hid it, an E-level ability remains an E-level ability. It couldn't have suddenly transformed into an S-level, could it?"
"How did he manage to score so many points?"
Homeroom Teacher Chen Fan couldn't find an answer to these questions. The martial arts exam involved real battles with ferocious beasts; there could be no cheating here.
Unfortunately, the main screen only showed the top ten participants, and among the thousands of small images from the fixed cameras, it was impossible to find Xu Jingming. Chen Fan could not see how his student was achieving such high scores.
Unable to see the action but knowing about Xu Jingming's high ranking, Chen Fan felt like a cat who had smelled catnip but couldn't reach it—excruciatingly curious...
Meanwhile, in the abandoned town, Xu Jingming finally entered the Middle Zone after half an hour of rapid movement.
"Rrrrr!"
"Awooooo!"
Compared to the Peripheral Zone, there was a noticeably greater number of ferocious beasts in the Middle Zone. Walking down the street, Xu Jingming heard the growling and howling of beasts in the distance. The air seemed saturated with the smell of blood and a sense of savage fury.
Crunch!
Xu Jingming walked, holding his spear and clenching an energy bar between his teeth. His combat boots crushed an old plastic basin by the side of the road. The once-durable plastic, after decades of exposure to wind and rain, had become as brittle as crisps, crumbling into dust at a light press.
As he advanced, Xu Jingming carefully surveyed his surroundings. The town of Weiyuan, now in ruins, once had a population of about 100,000. When the ferocious beasts breached the city's defenses, many did not manage to evacuate, and almost 50,000 to 60,000 people perished in the jaws of the monsters.
On the outskirts, there were no particular signs of destruction yet. But as Xu Jingming entered what was once the city center, the picture changed. Abandoned cars, dark red stains of dried blood on the destroyed streets, and rare human bones, not yet fully decayed, eloquently testified to the bloody and brutal tragedy that unfolded here years ago...