Feng Jian emerged from the Floor 29 portal to find a besieged village ablaze under a crimson sky. Smoke curled into the air, mingling with acrid flame. A shrill alert echoed through his Asura System:
[FIRST WAVE OBJECTIVE]
Save the burning village within 15 minutes.
Penalty: –100 ADP per fallen villager.
From the academy stands, the departure bell rang, marking Maria and her team's second-place finish on Floor 23. Corner and Loreto shared third at Floor 22, followed by Lucca and Tang's Basilisk squad—everyone else had exited the trials, leaving only one feed: Feng's.
Maria glanced up from her team's podium and caught Lisa's gaze on the screen. Lisa offered a faint, knowing smile. Behind Maria, Rose murmured:
"Do you know him? You trained with him…"
Maria's eyes narrowed. "Something like that."
Soon we'll see how they act around each other, she thought, returning her focus to the flames.
First Wave: Herding the Innocent
Environment: Timber cottages ringed by thatch-roofed huts. Narrow alleys choked with smoke.
Monsters: 13 × Goblins (A-Rank – Fire Qi; nimble, torch-wielding, ambush specialists)
Feng slipped through the shadows, every movement silent. He did not attack. Instead, a series of Silent Steps guided the terrified villagers toward the central square, away from collapsing roofs and leaping flames.
When the last villager reached safety, Feng scanned the tally: 400 ADP lost—a steep price for 4 fallen souls. Four minutes remained on his timer.
He let the goblins advance, luring them into a narrow lane between two scorched cottages. There, light was dim, and smoke swirled low.
Battle Sequence:
Shadow Fang Ambush: From the blackened doorway, Poison Fang pierced the first goblin's throat—no scream, only a wet gasp.
Guard Fang Parry: An incoming torch swipe was deflected into another attacker, igniting a goblin's own torch in reverse.
Eclipse Step: A variant of Shadow Step, Feng moved within the goblins' merged shadows, isolating each target.
Within four minutes, all 13 goblins lay unmoving.
Second Wave: Hunters of the Forest
[SECOND WAVE OBJECTIVE]
Identify and kill 13 hidden scouts within 20 minutes.
Penalty: –150 ADP per 3 minutes without a kill.
Monsters: 13 × Scout Goblins (Earth–Dark Qi; camouflagers, burrowers, ambushers)
Environment: Surrounding woods—dense undergrowth, collapsed tree fortifications.
Feng activated Aura Skin, rippling blue-black Qi across his form. He drew his black katana and Poison Fang, mixing Natural with Wind Qi to heighten perception.
Key Tactics:
Tomb of the Shadow Serpent: He linked every shadow within 400m, distinguishing living forms by their Qi signatures.
Stealth Strikes: Surfacing from concealed roots, he severed ambushers before they could speak.
Poison Fang Throws: Battling deeper scouts, he flung the left dagger at concealed hunters, each strike silencing traps and freeing his path.
By minute 20, he'd dispatched all 13. His blade dripped with dark ichor; the forest fell silent again.
Result: 20-minute clear, –600 ADP penalty balanced by 260 ADP earned (13 × 20)
Cumulative ADP Update: 1,507 + 630 + 930 + 800 – 400 + 260 – 600 = 3,627
Exact tally subject to in-system rounding.
Feng Jian sheathed his blades as the village's outline shrank behind him. Ahead: Floor 30's final trial—one that would etch his name into the academy's history.
End of Chapter 19