Chapter 45 : Chapter 45
Chapter 45. The Black God Suit, Twice the Speed of Sound? How Are You Faster Than a Martial God?
Huazhong University’s martial exam livestream chat.
“Damn, what was that cool black mech? It flashed across the screen in an instant. That speed definitely broke the sound barrier!”
“Huh? Which feed did you see it on?”
“Camera Seven. Just now, one of the examinees transformed into black battle armor, and his running speed directly exceeded the speed of sound!”
“No way! That overpowered? Once you hit the speed of sound, that is already comparable to a Martial God. You people are making this up. There is nothing on Camera Seven.”
“It already ran off. I am checking each screen one by one. Give me a moment.”
“...”
In an instant, the legend of the black battle armor exceeding the speed of sound spread through the livestream comments.
At the martial exam venue, Shen Qingyue’s eyes were wide with disbelief as she stared at feed number seven.
What exactly was that black battle armor on Xiao Chen just now? Its speed had been almost twice the speed of sound!
At that moment, Su Zhan, who was seated beside her, asked with a strange expression, “Sister Qingyue, was Jiang Yichen’s black battle armor a newly developed sixth-generation battle armor from your Jiang family?”
Jiang Yichen’s realm test had already piqued Su Zhan’s interest somewhat, so he had also seen the scene just now of Jiang Yichen piloting the black battle armor and dashing along at twice the speed of sound.
Weapons, equipment, and life-saving methods were all allowed in the martial exam. They were part of one’s strength as well.
Shen Qingyue forced out an awkward but polite smile. “Perhaps... it is.”
She did not know either. The Jiang family’s sixth-generation battle armor had not even been developed yet. And even if it had been, it would only have barely been able to reach the speed of sound.
How could it possibly have reached twice the speed of sound?
Where had Xiao Chen gotten that black battle armor from?
Shen Qingyue sank into thought.
Su Zhan, hearing that answer, understood that Shen Qingyue was unwilling to say more. After all, sixth-generation battle armor was a commercial secret. How could anyone casually reveal it to outsiders?
He sighed. “It is just a pity that with only the strength of the Fifth Layer of the Third Realm, trying to control that kind of battle armor will probably be too much for him.”
“Instead of relying on his own effort to cultivate, he wants to rely on external tools to pass the martial exam. He really does know how to play clever little tricks.” Su Zhan shook his head in disappointment and slowly shifted his gaze away.
But what disappointed Su Zhan was not that point alone. It was that Jiang Yichen was not relying on his own strength to fight demon beasts, but placing his hopes on external objects instead.
A timid person like that would never accomplish anything great, and there was no way he would marry his daughter to someone so lacking in courage.
Shen Qingyue wanted to explain, but the truth was that she could not even begin to explain it herself. All she could do was support her forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
She felt utterly helpless.
Xiao Chen, could you not put on a better performance? Even if you are only acting, at least let us see some determination, some ambition!
Are you really trying to drive your mother to death from anger?
Shen Qingyue let out a sigh.
Zhou Mingyuan and Jiang Dongnian, meanwhile, listened from the side. Seeing the disappointment on Su Zhan’s face toward Jiang Yichen, they secretly rejoiced.
Although neither of them had seen Jiang Yichen’s black battle armor, they were not worried that Jiang Yichen could rely on it to pass the martial exam.
Whether it was a Magical Artifact or battle armor, the higher the grade, the greater the strength required from the martial artist using it.
If someone with insufficient strength tried to operate high-grade battle armor, the only result would be total exhaustion and collapse.
With Jiang Yichen’s Fifth Layer of the Third Realm strength, that high-grade battle armor would at most allow him to attack once before draining every bit of Spiritual Energy from his body.
That little scheme was not very clever at all.
...
Monster Battlefield.
“A Supreme-grade gift pack for barely passing? Nice.”
Jiang Yichen, clad in that dazzling black-and-red battle armor, stared at the third option before him, his eyes instantly lighting up.
Taking first place in the martial exam would certainly let him put on an impressive show, but being neither good nor bad, merely passing, and walking away with a Supreme-grade gift pack was far more worthwhile.
Besides, if he took first place in the martial exam, his carefree slacker days would likely come to an end.
The first people who would refuse to allow that would be his parents. They would definitely drag him home to inherit the family business and force him to shoulder the responsibility of becoming the Jiang family heir.
In his previous life, Jiang Feng had been that miserable fool. After becoming the heir, every matter large and small in the family had needed his attention, and on top of that, he still had to cultivate.
It could be said that he had not had the slightest bit of time for entertainment. After all, the Jiang family was the number-one great clan in Huaxia. There were more matters to handle than anyone could ever finish.
The heir did have power, yes, but that power was meant for a born workhorse.
Jiang Yichen made up his mind at once. He absolutely could not let his parents think he still had potential. Slacking off was the true meaning of life.
Being a lovesick fool in his previous life had already been miserable enough. In this life, enjoying himself and being happy was all that mattered.
Jiang Yichen directly chose the third option and opened his martial exam wristband. A window displaying the points ranking appeared.
First place: Chu Xingchen, 3600 points
Second place: Jiang Feng, 3000 points
...
10,000th place: Zhao Qiang, 300 points
Less than half an hour had passed since they entered, and Chu Xingchen already had more than three thousand points. That was equivalent to killing twelve third-rank demon beasts.
The competition was fierce.
But that had nothing to do with him.
Jiang Yichen glanced at Su Linyu’s points as well. Just like him, she had a goose egg.
It seemed Su Linyu had not killed any demon beasts at all and had instead chosen to look for him first.
Even in something as important as the martial exam, this girl was foolishly adorable.
Jiang Yichen shook his head and began thinking about how to land exactly on the passing line.
The condition for passing the martial exam was ranking within the top ten thousand.
But the problem was that the rankings were changing every second, which meant he would have to keep watching the leaderboard the entire time.
That... was far too troublesome.
It seemed he would still have to compete for 10,000th place.
Compete?
No, no, no. That was far too stressful.
He could not endure even the slightest suffering that came with competition. If there was hardship to be borne, could he not avoid it? Could it not be left for someone else instead? That was his slacker philosophy.
Jiang Yichen stroked his chin and fell into deep thought. So what was he supposed to do?
Just then, the system’s voice rang out.
【Ding! Congratulations, Host. Your divine beast Bai Ze has reached 29% growth and evolved from its juvenile form into its adolescent form, unlocking the divine beast skill ‘Auspicious Domain.’】
Hm?
The divine beast skill was ready.
Jiang Yichen opened the Pet Space. Only a day had passed since he had last seen it, yet Xiao Bai had already grown from its former adorable tiger-cub appearance to a size comparable to a Tibetan Mastiff.
The two horns on its head had grown from the size of thumbs to half a meter long, and that fluffy white fur had become sleek and glossy, rippling in the wind.
Jiang Yichen nodded slightly. Xiao Bai had grown up. It probably would not be long before it was large enough to ride.
【First Skill: Auspicious Domain.
Bai Ze is an auspicious beast. Wherever it appears, auspicious blessings descend from heaven. Within one thousand meters around Bai Ze, Auspicious Domain can form a blessed land of good fortune.
It can give rise to precious spiritual herbs and help demon beasts evolve and increase their strength. Moreover, within the domain, all demon beasts blessed by this auspicious fortune become undying and unkillable!】
Jiang Yichen was stunned.
Within the domain, demon beasts became undying and unkillable!
A divine beast skill in its adolescent stage was already this absurd?
He was genuinely shaken. Suddenly, it felt as though raising this divine beast had been more than worth it.
Mm... wait.
Within the domain, demon beasts were undying and unkillable. If it covered the entire Monster Battlefield, then the examinees would have no way to kill demon beasts and earn points.
The rankings would freeze in place as well.
A flash of inspiration struck Jiang Yichen’s mind, and the corners of his lips slowly rose.
As for the domain only having a range of one thousand meters, he was not worried at all.
To someone who had mastered Spatial Law, distance meant nothing.
As long as he spread the Void Eyes throughout the Monster Battlefield, he could completely cover it with Auspicious Domain.
Then all he had to do was first rush into 10,000th place, then activate the domain and lock the rankings in place. Once that happened, no one else would be able to kill demon beasts or gain points. Would that not solve everything?
Still... doing that would be rather destructive to the morale of the other examinees...
Jiang Yichen thought about it briefly, then blinked.
Why was he even worrying about that?
Rather than making things difficult for himself, he might as well make things difficult for everyone else. Since he had already chosen to slack off, what did any of that have to do with him?
Jiang Yichen smiled faintly. The Black God Suit covered his head once more, and he shot straight into the sky.
The moment he activated the scanner, two Spineback Lizards sleeping among the jagged stones in the rocky wasteland not far away appeared in his sight.
As the name implied, Spineback Lizards had bony spines growing from their backs, with long fangs jutting out from their mouths.
One was fourth-rank, and one was third-rank. The rank of the demon beast determined how many points one earned for killing it. A third-rank beast was worth 300 points, and a fourth-rank one was worth 400...
Jiang Yichen glanced at the rankings. In just one minute, the score of the person in 10,000th place had already reached 600.
The person in 9,998th place had 800 points.
Would killing these two not put him right into the top ten thousand?
A smile tugged at Jiang Yichen’s lips. In his hands appeared an ice-blue longsword and another longsword crackling with violet lightning.
They were the sixth-rank Magical Artifact rewarded by the system, Violet Lightning, Azure Frost. This was the perfect time to test them out.
Jiang Yichen rotated his wrists, and the two swords spun.
Hum!
A low vibration rang through the air. The instant space rippled, Jiang Yichen, clad in the Black God Suit, vanished in a flash.
Slash!
Only the sound of blades tearing through flesh rang out. Jiang Yichen slowly slid his swords back into their sheaths, not a trace of blood staining them.
Behind him, only the two Spineback Lizards remained, cut into pieces. The bright red blood quickly drew circling vampire bats from the sky.
Jiang Yichen put away his swords and looked at the rankings.
9,999th place: Jiang Yichen, 700 points
Perfect. Right on the mark.
Jiang Yichen immediately swept out a hand, and the surrounding space rippled as the Void Eyes began spreading at high speed across the entire Monster Battlefield.
No one else could perceive the changes in space, but in Jiang Yichen’s eyes, it was a different story.
The surrounding space slowly split open, as though an eye were opening and watching everything around it.
In that instant, he also gained multiple fields of vision. In only a brief moment, he was able to take in the entire Monster Battlefield.
Moreover, with the support of the Void Mirror, Jiang Yichen could ignore distance altogether and strike from afar.
He took a few slightly labored breaths. Setting up the Void Eyes over such a vast area had indeed been a bit too much for him.
Fortunately, he had succeeded.
He summoned Xiao Bai and stroked its head, while Xiao Bai affectionately rubbed itself against him.
“Xiao Bai, activate the Auspicious Domain!”
Xiao Bai, understanding human speech, nodded. It lightly stamped one forepaw against the ground, and seven-colored light began to shine and spread outward...