When they arrived at the Combat Hall, everyone finally understood what Zhong Honglian meant by "modification."
The original sports arena, which had spanned five thousand square meters, had its interior expanded countless times by Transcendent power. Its true size was impossible to measure.
After Jiang He and the others entered, they appeared on a floating platform suspended mid-air. Below them was a battlefield similar to the testing grounds, divided into eight combat zones separated by space.
Each combat zone was incredibly vast, as though several large football fields had been pieced together.
At the same time, the floating platform was equipped with a display screen.
Several options were listed on it.
[Battle Type: 1v1, 1v3, 3v3, 3v1…]
[Battle Difficulty: Easy, Normal, Hard.]
[Easy: The Metal Knight has no abilities, purely numerical stats.]
[Normal: The Metal Knight carries one random attribute.]
[Hard: According to the challenger's abilities, the Metal Knight can alter its attributes at any time to maintain a counter state, and it carries random skills.]
Clearly, the different difficulties and battle types existed to simulate various combat scenarios, providing students with richer fighting experience.
However, more than the combat settings themselves, what shocked Jiang He and the others was the abilities displayed by the Metal Knights—
Not only were they powerful, they could even display various attributes, and even skills?!
Jiang He remembered that the S-rank [Steel King]'s talent creations went far beyond Metal Knights. Just like his title implied, he could create an entire kingdom of steel.
If every creation within that kingdom was this strong, then wasn't that simply monstrous…
This was what a true S-rank talent plus an S-rank energy level meant?
"I'll go first!"
After the initial shock, Yunyang quickly calmed down.
He immediately rushed ahead to the display screen and tapped quickly.
[1v1][Hard]
With a flash of light, he vanished from the platform, transported into the battlefield.
On the other side of the arena, a Metal Knight appeared.
"Young people are always impatient. Don't they know the strong ones always save themselves for last…"
Jiang He thought to himself as he turned his focus toward the battle.
Yunyang had clearly learned his lesson. He did not immediately use his talent [Sole Law of Self]. Instead, while the Metal Knight's abilities had yet to show, he activated various skill boosts, stacking buffs upon himself again and again.
Only when he had reached peak combat strength did he use his talent to strip the Metal Knight of its Transcendent powers.
The Metal Knight rapidly increased its stats to resist the power of [Sole Law of Self]. Its combat ability skyrocketed, its speed soaring.
This time, Yunyang wasn't instantly defeated. By relying on his other skills, he maintained steady performance.
When the battle finally ended, he returned to the preparation seats, injured but alive.
The display screen revealed text.
[Difficulty: Hard]
[Final Battle Power Ratio: 112.7]
[Evaluation: Talent excellent, profession combination decent, actual combat experience severely lacking.]
"112.7…"
Yunyang wiped away his sweat.
Although compared to his initial test, his battle power ratio had only increased by 12.8—
This was on [Hard] difficulty, where the Metal Knight carried counter attributes.
Just like in the battle just now, facing the suppression of [Sole Law of Self], the Metal Knight had shifted into a purely physical attribute state, preventing Yunyang's talent from fully taking effect. It had even displayed abilities richer than during the test, along with extremely refined combat skills.
That made this power ratio far more valuable.
If it were Jiang He in his place, his performance would definitely be worse—he might not even break one hundred!
He thought this as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"Jiang He, it's your turn."
Jiang He eagerly tapped the screen.
[1v1][Hard]
The scene changed before his eyes, and he was instantly teleported into the arena.
On the opposite side of the battlefield, another Metal Knight refreshed into existence.
Unlike the test, the moment it appeared, streams of blue lightning erupted from its body, surging like thunderbolts!
Lightning attribute?
"Old Jiang, let me try out my new skill set first. Next time you can teach me how to operate."
Jiang He sent a message to Old Jiang, then willed his thoughts.
「Tarot Divination」
This was a Diviner's skill, with a very peculiar mechanism.
It wasn't like Word-Spirits. It wasn't cast directly, but instead required locking onto a target with spiritual power, then drawing a Tarot card for the target to divine their fate—
Each Tarot card had a completely different effect, and the difference between upright and reversed positions was critical.
Upright cards were mostly positive effects, like healing or strengthening.
Reversed cards were mostly negative effects—debuffs, damage, curses were all possible.
And just like how the future held many possibilities, reality allowed only one.
At any one time, a single target would only be affected by one Tarot card.
That was the trap.
This skill was like fortune-telling, but combat wasn't fortune-telling.
If he used the skill on an enemy and drew an upright Tarot card, giving them a buff, wouldn't that just be aiding the enemy?
If he used it on himself and drew a reversed Tarot card, then he'd be utterly screwed.
However—
It was, after all, a B-rank profession created by the Prophet, and not completely worthless.
So long as the user's affinity with time was sufficient, then before performing the Tarot divination, it was possible to guess the result.
Even—foresee the card in advance!
The Metal Knight was too far away, and Jiang He couldn't lock onto it with his spirit. He could only lock onto himself first.
And so, he "saw" his Tarot card.
The card was 「The World」.
The position—upright.
Jiang He couldn't help but smile.
"Looks like the future is standing on my side."
Jiang He used the Divination skill [High Priestess lv2], massively amplifying the effect of his next Tarot card.
He traced his finger through the air, and a card appeared between his fingertips.
[Upright World]
It represented possessing everything and dreams fulfilled. Its effect—massively enhancing his talent, stats, and all skills!
The card shattered, and Jiang He's base attributes soared. The World card brought absolute power and numbers!
On the platform, Yunyang, Chi Zhilei, and the other students watching saw his movements, and descriptions from the S-rank profession book about the Prophet path flashed through their minds. Their eyes widened.
Jiang He had actually switched to the most unrecommended S-rank path—the Prophet path?!
Did he really think he was the Prophet, with absurd time affinity, able to freely foresee the future?
Wasn't he afraid of choosing the wrong path and ruining his profession slots?
And yet…
He had actually used Tarot Divination, and immediately drawn the strongest Tarot card—upright World!!
Yunyang's heartbeat quickened. He widened his eyes further, trying to see more clearly—
He wanted to see if Jiang He was cheating.
"The true power of Word-Spirits lies in their ability to command the entire world!"
Jiang He glanced upward with a smile.
"Who says prophecy isn't a 「Word」?"
He spoke.
「Godspeed」「Revelation」「God's Gift」「Synesthesia」…
These were the C-rank Spell Words Jiang He had just inscribed. With the strength boost from the World Destroyer's skill, and now the full bonus from 「The World」, they exploded with several times the power!
They turned into countless buffs, stacking onto Jiang He's body, surging with terrifying momentum.
Even if Old Jiang had mocked him before, saying this was nothing but numbers…
So what? These were numbers he earned with his own ability!
Technique?
Combat skills?
Pass my stats first, then talk to me about operations!
By the time the Metal Knight charged in, Jiang He had already stacked countless rounds of buffs.
Its lightning-wrapped fist shot toward him, but Jiang He merely tilted his head slightly, letting it graze past his ear.
Before it could even move again—
Jiang He raised his right hand, gathered strength, and punched!
Flames burst from his fist as he slammed it into the Metal Knight's face, smashing it into the ground with a violent tremor!
On the platform's display screen, the battle power ratio spiked.
In an instant, it jumped to 60 points.
One punch for 60 battle power ratio?!
Yunyang's eyelids twitched violently.
Brother, are you sure you chose Hard mode?