4: Chapter 4

4

Luck was on his side.

That flock of Dark-Feathered Crows, over twenty of them, happened to stumble right into his attack range.

A Lions Roar Technique bolstered by a Critical Hit swept through; they didn't even have a chance to struggle.

Twelve more to go.

The mission was almost complete.

How were the others doing? Jiang Haojie shook off the stray thoughts; now was not the time for distractions.

The moment he learned his talent was **, he had indeed thought about giving up.

But the appearance of the system changed everything.

It wasn't just the academy assessment; now there was another reason he had to reach the top—the top scorer of the Longcheng College Entrance Examination.

Simply dominating high school was far from enough.

Though he didn't yet know what the 'Lucky Roulette'

actually was, he absolutely did not want to lose any martial arts or internal skills.

That was all the capital he had to turn his life around.

Without stopping his pace, his consciousness delved into the system space.

That Dark-Feathered Crow King from earlier should have left something behind.

A fan floated quietly there.

Jet-black throughout with distinct feather quills, it bore a divine resemblance to the one held by the legendary Zhuge.

Information surfaced accordingly:

[Crow Feather Fan: System-produced, F-grade weapon.

Can release Wind Blades; restricted to wind-element Ability Users or Awakened with wind-related abilities.

Transferable.

Note: System weapons have a chance to be obtained only when the host kills First-Order monsters or above.

Weapons are under direct system control; the host can destroy them with a single thought.]

With a slight thought from Jiang Haojie, the black fan fell into his palm.

It was cold to the touch, and the feather quills were tough.

He didn't know how to use a fan, but it was a weapon after all.

He'd use it for now; when he no longer needed it, perhaps he could trade it for some money—life had to go on.

The fact that he could obtain weapons by killing monsters had to remain a secret.

Once leaked, trouble would coil around him like vines.

Before possessing sufficient strength, keeping a low profile was his only armor.

“Ah—!”

A sudden scream pierced the silence of the woods, interrupting his train of thought.

Jiang Haojie paused.

He had originally thought this secret realm was sliced into countless ** fragments, with everyone trapped in their own silent world.

But now he heard a human voice—it turned out everyone was on the same land, only their sight was separated by an invisible force.

Standing still for a moment, he followed the faint sounds and walked forward.

***

Su Qingxue leaned against a withered tree, her fingertips trembling slightly.

She didn't have to be here.

As an SS-rank Support System Psionic, invitation letters from the Five Great Academies were already lying quietly on her desk.

But she insisted on pushing open that door of security and stepping into the danger of this graduation assessment.

Support System Awakened were never born to walk alone.

Her talents were entwining vines and a halo of recovery; they needed to lean on the swords and flames of others to bloom.

In the past ten minutes, she had exhausted her energy just to barely drive away a few wandering low-level monsters.

However, the dark shadow appearing before her eyes now was too fast and its form was blurred; she knew just from its aura—this was a First-Order monster.

Escape.

She turned and rushed into the depths of the woods, her ears filled with her own panicked breathing and the sound of branches scraping against her.

The dark shadow followed like a ghost, getting closer and closer.

Suddenly, her foot tripped.

Gnarled tree roots protruded from the ground; she tumbled forward, dust and grass clippings choking her nose and mouth, her long hair becoming messy and caked in mud.

Whoosh—

The dark shadow pounced again.

Su Qingxue squeezed her eyes shut and held her head, tears sliding down and mixing with the dirt on her cheeks.

***

Jiang Haojie leaped onto a low slope, his gaze falling onto the messy clearing below.

Even though they were in different classes, he recognized the figure curled on the ground at a glance.

Su Qingxue.

This name was known to almost everyone in the academy.

If Jiang Haojie was remembered for occupying the top of the grades list year-round, then Su Qingxue was because of another kind of radiance—she was the type of person whose mere appearance at the end of a hallway would cause the noise to instinctively quiet down a few notches.

He had seen her test results on the day of the assessment **: SS-rank, Wood-element Psionic, Support-oriented.

A pure and precious talent.

But now she was fallen in the mud, her hair in disarray, her sleeves torn by thorns, and that eerie dark shadow was pouncing down from mid-air—

There was no time to hesitate.

Jiang Haojie pushed off with his toes, his body sweeping down the slope like a pale green breeze, and in the blink of an eye, he stood between Su Qingxue and the dark shadow.

The moment he raised his arm to block, a heavy force struck his arm, jarring him back half a step.

He took the opportunity to grab Su Qingxue's wrist and retreat quickly to the side, but the dark shadow clung to them, like a hyena that had caught the scent of blood.

“Ah—!”

A sharp scream pierced his eardrums.

Su Qingxue struggled desperately in his arms, crying out incoherently, “Don't eat me... please...”

“Shut up.”

Jiang Haojie barked in a low voice to stop her, his brow furrowed beneath the mask. “Keep screaming and I'll leave you here.”

The crying stopped abruptly.

Su Qingxue raised her eyes blankly, and through her hazy tears, she saw a cold silver spider-patterned mask covering most of the newcomer's face, revealing only a tight jawline and a pair of calm eyes.

She was stunned.

In her moment of despair, there was actually someone else in this desolate secret realm.

And this person had actually stopped for her.

The surroundings suddenly went quiet.

Jiang Haojie took advantage of the opening to flick his wrist, and a black feather folding fan slid from his sleeve into his palm.

He swung his arm out, and a pale green arc-shaped Wind Blade condensed out of thin air, silently cutting through the turbid air and slashing straight toward the pursuing dark shadow.

As the Wind Blade drifted weakly through the air, invisible cold sweat almost dripped from Jiang Haojie's brow.

This thing can probably only split a few withered branches, he thought.

But the Wind Blade worked after all—the dark shadow leaped back.

Only now did Jiang Haojie see clearly that it was actually a dark green mantis, no larger than a kitten, but its forelimbs shimmered with a blade-like cold light.

A First-Order monster, the Swift-Blade Mantis.

So that was it; no wonder Su Qingxue was in such a hard fight.

“Stay here and don't move.”

Jiang Haojie released his hold on Su Qingxue and charged straight toward the mantis.

The mantis's body flickered, turning into a shifting afterimage once more, its arms swinging rapidly, aiming straight for Jiang Haojie's face.

He raised the Crow Feather Fan in his hand to block, and the sharp ring of clashing metal erupted—though this F-grade weapon wasn't good for offense, its texture was tough enough to barely withstand this storm-like hacking.

Clang!

After another collision, the mantis suddenly retreated.

Jiang Haojie wanted to pursue, but the opponent had already blurred into a green shadow.

He immediately stepped into the Lingbo Microsteps, his speed increasing sharply, yet he was still half a beat slower than the mantis.

Who exactly is this person? Su Qingxue stared at the unfamiliar back, her mind filled with suspicion.

Could it be a Physical Enhancer who was hiding their strength? But among this year's seniors, she had never heard of such a figure.

She knew Yan Chun, the only S-rank Physical Enhancer, and his physique was completely different from this person's.

What surprised her even more was that, judging by the aura, this person was clearly still at Zero-Order.

A Zero-Order actually being able to contend with a First-Order monster to this extent... how could such a guy be unknown?

The Swift-Blade Mantis had clearly noticed its advantage in speed; it pushed its movement to the limit, turning into a green whirlwind surrounding Jiang Haojie, its blade-arms slashing down from every angle.

The clanging sounds of impact were continuous; Jiang Haojie was completely suppressed, barely managing to hold his own relying only on his excellent combat instincts.

He couldn't keep wearing himself out like this.

Jiang Haojie's mind raced; taking an opening to knock the mantis back, he put away the feather fan and took a deep breath—

“Roar!!”

The roar exploded like thunder, making even the air tremble.

Su Qingxue hurriedly covered her ears, yet she was still left dizzy by the sound waves.

The Swift-Blade Mantis, bearing the brunt of the attack, suddenly stiffened, its compound eyes losing focus.

Now! Jiang Haojie lunged forward, his fist imbued with all his strength as the power of a Critical Hit surged through his bones and muscles.

Bang!

In the muffled sound, the mantis's body was sent smashing into the ground like a kite with a broken string.

This blow actually failed to completely destroy it, showing how tough its carapace was.

Jiang Haojie caught a glimpse of the number appearing on his student badge: ×89.

He turned and walked back, only to see Su Qingxue still staring at him blankly, her eyes filled with **.

“Are you okay?”

Jiang Haojie asked with a slight frown.

“Huh? No... it's nothing.”

Su Qingxue snapped out of her daze and shook her head gently. The buzzing in her ears finally faded a bit, though a residual noise still lingered. “Classmate, which class are you from? Why are you here?”

Jiang Haojie didn't mention his class, only glossing over it vaguely: “Just passing by.

Since you're fine, I'm leaving.”

He had helped simply because they were from the same school and he didn't want to stand by and watch her die; besides, he hadn't come away empty-handed—taking down that Swift-Blade Mantis just now not only counted toward his mission progress, but also meant he could obtain another piece of equipment.

With that, he turned to leave.

“Wait,”

Su Qingxue called out to him, “Thank you for saving me just now.

My name is Su Qingxue, could you tell me your name?”

“It was nothing, don't worry about it.”

Jiang Haojie waved his hand and was about to step away when he felt a tug on his sleeve—Su Qingxue had grabbed his arm.

He looked back, his brow furrowed slightly.

Su Qingxue let go, her expression serious: “Don't misunderstand, I just want to remember your name so I can thank you properly in the future.”

“No need.”

Jiang Haojie had no intention of getting too involved with her and prepared to leave again.

But Su Qingxue called out to him once more, her eyes carrying a plea: “Classmate... could I ask you for a favor?”

***

“You want me to help you deal with monsters?”

Without waiting for her to explain, Jiang Haojie had already guessed her intention.

He knew Su Qingxue was a Wood-element Psionic whose specialty was supporting teammates; her own combat power was almost negligible.

Su Qingxue immediately nodded repeatedly.

Jiang Haojie fell into a pensive silence.

Helping wasn't out of the question, but if he took her along, his efficiency would definitely take a hit. If it delayed the completion of his system mission...

Seeing that he didn't answer for a long time, Su Qingxue hurriedly added: “I won't let you help for nothing! Let's exchange contact information. For every monster we take down, I'll pay you a thousand crystal coinss. How about it?”

“Deal.”

Jiang Haojie's eyes flickered.

She really did come from a wealthy family; she should have said so earlier—one thousand crystal coinss per monster was quite a lucrative deal.

If he hurried, there shouldn't be any problems. “But let me say this first: I haven't finished my own mission quota yet. I have to handle my part first before I deal with yours.”

“No problem.”

Su Qingxue made a gesture of agreement.

“Then... happy cooperating?”

She proactively reached out her hand, but Jiang Haojie only nodded and turned to walk forward.

Su Qingxue pursed her lips and quickly followed him.

As Jiang Haojie walked, he delved his consciousness into the system space.

The Swift-Blade Mantis was also a First-Order monster; he wondered what weapon it would yield this time.

Soon, two uniquely shaped long sabers entered his perception—the blades were thin as a cicada's wing, narrow and long, just like that mantis's pair of sharp forelimbs.

At the same time, a section of descriptive text appeared before his eyes.

Jiang Haojie's eyebrows rose slightly, and the Crow Feather Fan in his palm suddenly seemed dull and lusterless.

With a light thought, a pair of curved blades as thin as a cicada's wing quietly appeared in his hands—those were the 'Mantis Blade' bestowed by the system.

Though rated as the lowest F-grade, they were exceptionally tough and sharp. They felt heavy in his hands and made a faint whistling sound when swung.

Beside him, Su Qingxue's eyes flickered, her gaze falling on the pair of sharp blades that had appeared out of thin air.

Just a moment ago he clearly had a feather fan in his hand, and in an instant, he had changed weapons, as seamless as an illusion.

A trace of curiosity crossed her mind, but she didn't speak after all.

They were still strangers; prying into another's secrets was not a wise move.

About ten minutes later, the two stopped at the entrance of a valley.

The roars of wild beasts came from the valley. Su Qingxue's face turned slightly pale as she whispered: “The aura here is dangerous. Maybe we should leave.”

Jiang Haojie shook his head: “If you want to complete the trial, you have to clear the monsters here.

I still need eleven more. How about you?”

He looked into the depths of the valley; the restless aura there was exactly to his liking.

Su Qingxue was shocked.

It had only been half an hour since they entered this trial realm, and this person had already hunted so many? She lowered her eyes, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible: “Seventy-three more.”

Jiang Haojie's mouth twitched unconsciously, as if he had inadvertently stepped onto a sinking ship.

“Wait here. Enter only when I call you.”

After saying that, he stepped into the valley alone.

In an instant, the roars of beasts and the sound of blades cutting through the air intertwined into a terrifying clamor. Standing outside the valley, Su Qingxue felt a chill run down her spine.

In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Jiang Haojie reappeared.