"Oh? You met Xu Jingming? Quickly, tell us, what is his superpower?" As soon as Zhou Mingyang mentioned meeting Xu Jingming, the others immediately became animated.
"I can't say for sure what type of superpower he has, but his physical condition is extremely strong. His life energy level is definitely over 180 units," Zhou Mingyang shared his assumptions, shaking his head.
"180 units of life energy? No wonder he's so powerful," the bald guy whistled.
For ordinary Awakened, the life energy level was about 100 units. They, being Lower-Rank First-Stage Superpower Users, had only about 130 units. 180 units of life energy seemed like an unattainable goal to them.
"Strong physique, most likely he's an enhancement superpower user," the long-haired guy speculated, trying to sound indifferent, but a hint of envy was audible in his voice. "If he has that level of life energy after activating an enhancement superpower, then it's still somewhat normal."
"No, Xu Jingming is still at the Awakened stage," Zhou Mingyang shook his head again. He didn't refute the long-haired guy's assumption that Xu Jingming had an enhancement superpower. After all, he thought so himself.
"Awakened?" exclaimed the petite girl with the massive sword. "So, we, Superpower Users, can't even compare to a single Awakened person?"
These words caused everyone present to fall into a profound silence. After a moment, Zhou Mingyang said melancholically, "I have to say, Meng Di, you always manage to grasp the essence."
Meng Di was the only girl among these Superpower Users. She had a B-level enhancement superpower and held fourth place in the rankings.
"I'm just in shock, really," Meng Di stuck out her tongue. Her cute expression sharply contrasted with the enormous sword in her hands, but Zhou Mingyang and the others were already used to it.
"Xu Jingming is truly a monster. To be so strong while only at the Awakened stage…" The bald guy looked puzzled. After a pause, he added, "But what should we do now? There's about an hour and a half left until the end of the exam. All the ferocious beasts in the Central Zone are wiped out; maybe we should return to the Middle Zone?"
In the martial arts exam, everyone aimed to kill as many ferocious beasts as possible to gain more points. Naturally, they couldn't just stand idle for the remaining hour and a half.
"It's at least a half-hour walk from here to the Middle Zone; we'll waste too much time traveling. Plus, the Middle Zone mainly has High-Level unranked ferocious beasts; killing them doesn't yield many points," Zhou Mingyang said thoughtfully. "Instead of returning to the Middle Zone, we'd better try going to the Absolute Central Zone together."
"The Absolute Central Zone?" Hearing this, everyone involuntarily shuddered.
The ferocious beasts in the Absolute Central Zone were at least High-Rank First-Stage, and some had even reached the Second Stage and become Beast Lords. Even for them, Lower-Rank First-Stage Superpower Users, entering there was associated with a significant risk to their lives.
"Going there alone is like walking to your death. But if the four of us team up, we can try," the bald guy hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded. The martial arts exam determined their entire future! Although for them, as Superpower Users, failing this exam wouldn't be catastrophic, if there was a chance to enter a better university, they didn't want to miss it.
"I'm game," Meng Di giggled.
"It seems this is our only option," the long-haired guy also nodded.
"Alright, let's move out quickly then," Zhou Mingyang was a decisive person. Having made the decision, he immediately led the group forward.
Somewhere in the Central Zone of the ruined town, Xu Jingming walked down a street with his spear slung across his back. This had once been a city street, but now the concrete surface was cracked everywhere, overgrown with weeds, presenting a picture of desolation. The surrounding buildings and shops were also in ruins.
However, Xu Jingming paid no mind to his surroundings; all his attention was focused on the system interface:
[Level]: Awakened
[Superpower]: Divine Thunder of the Purple Sky (S)
[Physical]: 181 vitality (+)
[Spirit]: 182 spirit points (+)
[Skills]: Spear Mastery (high level+), Lightning Breakthrough (beginner level+)
[Ability Points]: 2413
2413 ability points!
Xu Jingming's eyes sparkled. This was his entire income since entering the Central Zone, and such a quantity of Ability Points was truly impressive!
However, even with so many points, the plus sign next to his level still hadn't appeared. This confirmed his guess that without a Superpower Cultivation Technique, he could not advance to the Superpower User level.
"But now I have eliminated almost all the ferocious beasts in the Central Zone," Xu Jingming thought. "To continue gaining Ability Points, I need to go to the Absolute Central Zone. However, there are Second-Stage ferocious beasts there; before going, I need to strengthen myself a little."
Xu Jingming clicked the plus sign next to the combat technique 'Lightning Breakthrough.'
Ability points -100.
Lightning Breakthrough: Initial Level → Intermediate Level.
Ability points -200.
Lightning Breakthrough: Intermediate Level → Advanced Level.
Xu Jingming spent 300 Ability Points and immediately raised the combat technique to the High Level. In an instant, this technique became as familiar to him as if he had practiced it a thousand times.
"Now I have more confidence in fighting that Second-Stage ferocious beast," he thought.
Although he had a lot of Ability Points, Xu Jingming didn't spend them all on boosting his base attributes. He only raised his life energy level to 180 units at the very beginning, and now he improved a combat technique. One could say he was very economical.
On the one hand, Ability Points were precious, and after the martial arts exam, he wouldn't have such an opportunity to accumulate them. On the other hand, when he enrolled in a Superpower University, these points would find other uses. But most importantly, his current strength was already enough to deal with the Second-Stage ferocious beast in the Absolute Central Zone, and further enhancement was not required.
Having finished allocating the points, Xu Jingming ate the remaining two energy bars from his backpack, replenishing his strength. Then, he looked at the map and resolutely headed towards the Absolute Central Zone.
Compared to the overall map of the martial arts exam, the Absolute Central Zone seemed tiny, almost a dot. However, in reality, it wasn't just a dot but an entire residential complex!
This was a residential complex called Jinse Yuan. Dozens of ferocious beasts inhabited the open area of the complex. Unlike ordinary groups of ferocious beasts, these were of different species: Shadow Cats, Iron Wild Boars, and even One-Horned Rhinos.
It should be noted that ferocious beasts are cruel by nature, and different species usually see each other as prey. The fact that such a large number of different ferocious beast species peacefully coexisted in one group meant that there was a Beast Lord among them capable of keeping everyone in subjugation.
This Beast Lord turned out to be a massive gray bear lying in the deepest part of the open area!
Unlike an ordinary gray bear, this one was enormous, like a tank. Its eyes were blood-red, as if reflecting mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Even just being there, this ferocious beast radiated a terrifying aura.
By this time, Zhou Mingyang's group had already reached the vicinity. Standing on the roof of a building, they looked down. Upon seeing the gray bear resting below, everyone's face changed.
"That's a Bloodthirsty Ferocious Bear," Zhou Mingyang said grimly.
There was a difference in strength between various ferocious beast species. For example, a First-Stage Shadow Cat could never defeat a One-Horned Rhino of the same stage. This was called species superiority.
And the Bloodthirsty Ferocious Bear was known among ferocious beasts as a rare and extremely dangerous species. Not to mention its terrifying strength, its thick hide alone, covered with matted fur, was tougher than E-level alloy! Even a missile couldn't easily pierce it!