"Wow, what a fast spear thrust!"
"Unbelievably swift, like a bolt of lightning!"
"The attack speed is on par with Wind Superpower Users, but didn't he awaken a Lightning ability?"
Upon seeing the black figure on the projection, who, like a flash of lightning, instantly annihilated the ferocious beast—a Shadow Cat—many teachers in the stands were astonished. Speed, precision, and power—that was their first impression of Xu Jingming.
Chen Fan, the homeroom teacher of Class 5, was utterly wide-eyed with surprise. Thanks to the practical combat lessons at school, he generally knew the fighting capabilities of most of his students. But in those lessons, Xu Jingming showed only mediocre results and certainly couldn't display the level of mastery he had now!
"What a sly fox, how long has he managed to hide his true abilities!" Chen Fan thought. "With such spear mastery, why not show it earlier? Did he absolutely have to wait for the exam to surprise everyone."
"Though, with this level of spear mastery, even with an E-level superpower, it's certainly possible to achieve decent results in the exam," Chen Fan mused, nodding slightly. "It seems my attempts to dissuade him from taking the martial arts exam were unnecessary."
"A strong physique and impressive spear mastery," Principal Zhao Yao of Second Middle School took a deep breath, then shook his head. "What a pity..."
"Yes, it truly is a pity," Head of the Department of Education Zhang Wenshan also looked disappointed.
A sturdy physique and excellent weapon mastery did indeed provide a significant advantage at the Awakened stage. However, as the level grew, the benefits provided by physical conditioning and combat skills gradually diminished. Ultimately, Superpower Users relied primarily on their superpowers in battle!
"If he had at least a C-level superpower, combined with that physique and spear mastery, he would definitely take first place in Jiangcheng!" Zhang Wenshan said. "It's a shame he only has an E-level superpower."
The Head of the Department of Education again couldn't contain his disappointment.
In contrast to the principal and the Head of the Department of Education, who regretted Xu Jingming's potential, Homeroom Teacher Chen Fan of Class 5 viewed the situation more optimistically. Making it into the top ten in Jiangcheng, if he managed to hold this position until the end of the exam, guaranteed admission to a good Superpower University. Even if Xu Jingming didn't kill another ferocious beast, with such a result, he could still be admitted to a Superpower University, albeit not the most prestigious one.
Such a result was incomparably better than Chen Fan's expected failure in the exam or even the student's potential demise...
[First-Stage Shadow Cat slain. +9 Ability Points.]
In the ruined town, Xu Jingming, having just killed a Shadow Cat, heard this notification in his head and felt a surge of joy.
There were even more ferocious beasts in the central part of the ruined town than he had expected. In just over an hour spent here, he had already slain over twenty lower-ranked First-Stage ferocious beasts and over a dozen High-Level unranked beasts.
The number of accumulated Ability Points on his system panel had already reached 312!
"Not bad, it's really more efficient to kill ferocious beasts in the central zone," Xu Jingming nodded in satisfaction, and then he heard the whirring of rotating blades.
A drone flew in from afar and hovered several tens of meters above his head.
"A camera drone? Does that mean I've already entered the top ten?" Xu Jingming opened his smartwatch to check his ranking:
[9th Place: Xu Jingming, 607 points. (Jiangcheng Second Middle School)』
"In the top ten, indeed," a smile appeared on Xu Jingming's face.
The appearance of the camera drone meant that the entire process of his battles would now be broadcast to the outside world. Even his subsequent use of the S-level Purple Sky Divine Thunder superpower would also be revealed.
After all, the S-level Purple Sky Divine Thunder he summoned was simply too outstanding to be passed off as the E-level Weak Electric Discharge superpower.
Of course, Xu Jingming had no intention of hiding anything.
"The martial arts exam is precisely for testing the participants' strength and potential. The better the results, the greater the choice. Only a fool would sacrifice the opportunity to gain more points for the sake of concealing their superpower," Xu Jingming thought, focusing his gaze on his system information panel:
[Name]: Xu Jingming
[Level]: Awakened
[Superpower]: Divine Thunder of the Purple Sky (S)
[Physical]: 141 vitality points (+)
[Spirit]: 160 spirit points (+)
[Skills]: Spear Mastery (High Level), Lightning Breakthrough (Beginner Level+)
[Ability Points]: 312
"Over three hundred ability points already, and the level still can't be increased?" Xu Jingming frowned, not seeing a plus sign next to the level.
Such a situation could only arise for two reasons.
The first possibility was that the transition from an Awakened to a Superpower User required too many ability points, and three hundred points were still insufficient.
The second possibility was that a specific condition existed for the transition from an Awakened to a Superpower User, and until this condition was met, even the system could not directly increase the level.
"To transition from an Awakened to a Superpower User, I must first learn a Superpower Cultivation Technique. It seems that because I haven't learned this technique yet, I cannot increase my level," Xu Jingming hypothesized mentally.
A Superpower Cultivation Technique was the fundamental prerequisite for an Awakened to transition into a Superpower User. However, even the simplest technique cost no less than a million yuan. Given Xu Jingming's financial situation, he naturally couldn't afford to buy even one such technique.
He initially thought that with the system's help, he could bypass this basic condition, but now it seemed he was mistaken.
"However, with my current combat power, I'm already not much different from a true Superpower User," Xu Jingming thought. "In that case, I'll wait until the end of the exam, enroll in a Superpower University, learn the Superpower Cultivation Technique there, and then become a full-fledged Superpower User."
Xu Jingming did not dwell on this for long. The most important thing now was to decide how to use these over three hundred ability points.
"For now, only the basic attributes and combat techniques can be increased. Combat techniques aren't necessary for the moment, so I'll just increase the basic attributes," after a brief consideration, Xu Jingming distributed all the ability points between the two main attributes.
He invested 200 points in physique and 112 points in spirit.
[Physique]: 141 → 181 vitality points
[Spirit]: 160 → 182 spirit points
After boosting his base attributes, Xu Jingming immediately felt a surge of strength spread throughout his body, and his mind became clearer than ever before. The fatigue accumulated from the long journey and continuous battles vanished completely in an instant!
"Amazing!" Xu Jingming laughed loudly, casually executing a graceful move with the black spear.
The speed and power of his spear thrusts had significantly increased once again!
"With this physique and my High-Level Spear Mastery, I can easily kill even Mid-Rank First-Stage ferocious beasts from the Central Zone, without even using my superpower!" At this moment, Xu Jingming was brimming with confidence in his strength.
"The Central Zone has stronger beasts, and more of them! Since my strength has increased again, there's no point in staying in the Middle Zone; I'll head straight for the Central Zone!"
Xu Jingming shook his spear, and by inertia, the fresh blood covering it completely flew off. He then slung the spear across his back, looked at the map, and dashed in the direction of the Central Zone.
With his enhanced physique, his movement speed even surpassed that of Zhou Mingyang using his wind superpower!
And close behind him, clinging to his trail, the camera drone followed relentlessly...