Chapter 196 - Students' Test

Saliya used her authority and granted Han Wu and the other students access to a 10,000-square-kilometer arena for sparring. Each student transferred their units onto a card and sent it to the field.

Those who opposed Han Wu joining them packed their cards with numerous units. In contrast, those who had once been on the reserve list already recognized Han Wu’s strength and added only a few units to avoid unnecessary losses.

After everyone finished summoning their forces, Han Wu stepped into the arena.

Saliya scanned the units on the field and instructed him, “Han Wu, you are free to use all your abilities and powers for this test.”

Han Wu nodded and projected his visage onto the field. The other students watched eagerly, hoping to see how he would handle the challenge. Inside, Han Wu found himself surrounded by countless units from various races and ranks, representing different students.

He quickly identified roughly 42 races, with their numbers reaching as high as 30 million. This army was powerful enough to destroy a micro civilization. Yet, they invested such vast numbers for what was essentially a simple test. The students awaited the outcome with anticipation.

“Thirty million units,” one whispered. “I doubt even Qin Shuang could handle that. Are we going overboard?”

“Overboard? No way. He broke the rules by entering as a transfer student. He has to prove why he deserves a place in the classroom.”

“Exactly. We don’t accept weaklings here. If he’s weak, he can’t just do whatever he wants.”

Many transfer students had never witnessed a battle on this scale, and they worried about Han Wu.

“I think the new students are overdoing it. Can Han Wu really handle this?”

“I doubt it. Sure, Han Wu always ranked first when we were still on the reserve list, but that was a long time ago. Since becoming official students, we’ve gone through two major courses and grown a lot stronger. I don’t think he’s had the same opportunities or challenges. I really don’t think he can pull it off.”

“It’s not that simple. Have you ever wondered why the college would break the rules to accept him if he were truly weak? Look at how Qin Shuang and Sun Qingnian treat him. They’re unusually courteous. Do you think talented people like them would bother with someone weak?”

“Hey, did you notice the gifts he prepared for Qin Shuang and Sun Qingnian? I sensed an energy comparable to Divine Skills in them. Those treasures definitely aren’t from the Divine Civilization. Could someone weak give away such precious treasures without hesitation?”

“There’s no point arguing here. Let’s just watch and see what he does. This is also our chance to find out if he’s improved or fallen behind.”

...

Qin Shuang and Sun Qingnian sat side by side, silent and focused on Han Wu. They were confident that he would pass the test with ease.

Han Wu glanced at the units around him and scoffed. Sending out 30 million units to test him was a steep investment, but no one had ever heard of him before. They did not know he welcomed sacrificing vast numbers of units in battle.

As the timer ticked on, he stretched out an arm and opened a gate to his divine realm. A black wind howled through the rift, and a massive swarm of locusts came pouring out. They rose into the sky in a churning black tide that quickly blotted out the sun.

The students gasped at the sight, then burst into laughter at the locusts.

“I thought he’d summon something powerful. Locusts? Seriously? They’re ridiculously weak. Even evolving them to Unique is a waste. I can’t wait to see his face when they’re all wiped out.”

“The Imperial College’s reputation must be fading if someone using locusts as their core race can pass. I’ll report this and the instructors who admitted him to the authorities. The college needs to restore its honor.”

“Locusts? That’s ridiculous. Their only advantage is sheer numbers, but how many could he really have? Wait, there are already 10 billion swarming in the air, and he’s still summoning more? Oh my goodness, is he going all out and cutting off his own retreat?”

Han Wu summoned all 30 billion of his locusts before closing the gate. Then he opened another gate, and skeletons shuffled out slowly.

At the head of the skeleton army stood two familiar figures: the Osteomancer and the Skeleton Reanimator. Freed from the suppression of the Skeleton Lord, both had become Lord life forms. Each commanded hundreds of Heroic skeletons and tens of thousands of Unique ones.

He was very pleased with their growth and decided to let them join the battle this time, sharing in the spoils. Skeletons thrived by killing others; every fight was an opportunity to increase their ranks. After summoning the locusts and skeletons, Han Wu stopped summoning more units.

There were too few enemies to go around, and he didn’t want his forces fighting each other over the remains. He sealed his gate as the countdown ended.

The opposing 30-million-strong army received its orders and launched their attack on Han Wu. At the same moment, the locusts and skeletons surged forward, defending their god with ruthless fury.

The locusts swept through the air at blinding speed, exploding in the midst of the enemy ranks. A hundred million locusts sacrificed themselves in the first wave, but in return, they wiped out 8 million units and severely wounded 7 million more. Only half of the original 30 million units remained capable of fighting, but their advance was blocked by the skeletons.

The Skeleton Reanimator raised 8 million new skeletons from the fallen corpses and turned them against their former comrades. Caught off guard, many enemy units were ambushed and slaughtered. The cycle continued as the Reanimator summoned more and more, dragging the entire battlefield into chaos.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Meanwhile, the students in the spectator stands were grumbling in frustration.

“Ah, damn it. If only I were down there with my units. I could’ve used my Divine Skill: Cleanse to reduce those skeletons to ashes. This is so frustrating.”

“Yeah. I have the Divine Skill: Celestial Sunfire. I could’ve turned all of them to ashes too. They won’t even have the chance to stand back up.”

“Wait, my core race is the Lamias. They aren’t affected by the Skeleton Reanimator’s skills. But those locusts are so annoying. They exploded for no reason and injured so many of our units. I have to order my Lamias to spray venom into the air to kill them.”

The student then used a secret method to contact the Lamias’ leader and instructed it to follow their plan. The leader commanded the troops to release a vast cloud of venom into the air to kill the locusts. Soon, a poisonous fog blanketed the sky, trapping the swarm inside.

The other students erupted into applause, cheering the one who had come up with the plan. Unfortunately, their celebration was short-lived. As the poison fog lifted, they realized none of the locusts had died. Worse still, the locusts went berserk, and the sounds of explosions rocked the field.

The student who had proposed the plan shouted in confusion, “What’s wrong? Did the locusts get high off the venom? What the heck is happening?”