There was only a quarter of an hour left until the quarterly assessment began and all the students were quietly waiting while trying to adjust themselves to the most optimum fighting state.

The opponents they would have to face were fiendishly strong and they would be eliminated from the Blood Kill Camp if they failed the assessment. Under those circumstances, no one dared to be careless.

Lin Xun silently stared at the battle arena in the distance. As he looked at the fire brute experts imprisoned in the cages, wisps of information about fire brutes surfaced to his mind.

“Hey, who bet that guy would be the first to succeed? That’s the most ridiculous thing I have heard!”

Suddenly, a harsh sneer sounded.

Lin Xun didn’t have to turn his head around to know that he was ‘that guy’ they were referring to.

He knew that many students were looking at him with mocking and disdainful gazes.

Even Shi Yu and Ning Meng wore bewildered expressions.

This was all a result of the bet that Xiaoman had made with the other instructors. The details of the bet rapidly spread throughout Blood Kill Camp and sparked a commotion.

Consequently, Lin Xun had become the “focus” of the entire Blood Kill Camp and many people spoke contemptuously of him.

He received the same treatment from the people of the 39th Campground. Although he had already proven himself through his hard work and had made it to the top ranks with his score, many students still didn’t believe that he would be the first to kill a brute warrior in the quarterly assessment.

In their view, the bet was absurd!

In the 39th Campground alone, Gong Ming, Shi Yu, Ning Meng, and Qi Can were all stronger than Lin Xun. Even Li Qiu, Mu Lengxin, and Ye Xiaoqi weren’t inferior to him. Based on those facts, no one would believe that Lin Xun would be the first to kill a brute warrior!

Most importantly, all students from the twenty campgrounds would participate in the quarterly assessment. Most of the students from the other campgrounds were as equally skilled and remarkable as Lin Xun and many were much more powerful.

For example, Lin Xun couldn’t be compared to students such as Bai Lingxi, Zhao Yin, Zhangsun Hen, and Li Duxing, who had long made a name for themselves in Blood Kill Camp.

No one took the bet seriously. It was more like a ridiculous farce to make people laugh.

Even Shi Yu and Ning Meng were shocked as if they had seen a ghost when they heard about it. They grabbed Lin Xun and questioned him for a long time, wondering if he had lost his mind. Otherwise, how would he be involved in such a ridiculous bet?

Lin Xun couldn’t say anything and just smiled wryly.

How could he tell them that all this was caused by the woman Xiaoman?

Therefore, Lin Xun could only turn a deaf ear to the occasional sneers and laughter and ignore all sorts of gazes.

“Lin Xun, can you actually do it?”

Ning Meng suddenly stormed over and ran his eyes up and down Lin Xun. He then frowned. “Look at you, you have nothing on you except a blade and a broken crossbow. But look at the others, which one of them isn’t armed to the teeth?”

Surprised, Lin Xun turned his head and glanced around. Sure enough, except for him, all the other students from the 39th Campground were covered in aeth tools from head to toe, including armor, shoulder pads, wrist guards, battle boots, battle blades, crossbows, and aeth bows…Everyone was like a shelf of aeth weapons, radiating dazzling and blinding light.

“Isn’t that too much?” Lin Xun hadn’t noticed previously but his eyes widened when he took a closer look. Those guys have invested a lot to pass the quarterly assessment!

Even Ning Meng, Shi Yu, and Qi Can were fully armed.

Lin Xun sighed regrettably. If this is a real battlefield, I could become rich if I stripped those guys of their aeth tools. The amount I made from selling them would be enough to purchase a property in the Forbidden City.

Ning Meng suddenly felt uncomfortable. The way that Lin Xun looked at him was like a dishonest businessman eyeing a little fat sheep.

“Did you hear what I said!?” Ning Meng snapped.

“Oh, don’t worry. I have some confidence.” Lin Xun said casually. He wasn’t particularly worried despite not being equipped with any aeth tools or rune armaments except a blade and the Flying Star Crossbow.

“My heart is about to shatter because of you, but you still seem like you don’t care!” Ning Meng grew angrier and angrier. “Never mind, just be careful. If you dare to fail this assessment, I will beat you to death!”

He stormed off.

Lin Xun helplessly watched Ning Meng leave. Gazing at the Flying Star Crossbow in his hand, he muttered, “With this, it’s impossible that I won’t pass the assessment, right?”

……

While waiting for the assessment to begin, the people in the other assessment areas were also discussing the bet about Lin Xun.

There were all sorts of comments—mocking, disdainful, surprise, ridicule...

Some people were even furious that Lin Xun acted so arrogant and looked down on other students. They felt he should be beaten up to teach him a lesson.

As for the incomparably dazzling top students such as Bai Lingxi, Zhao Yin, Zhangsun Hen, and Li Duxing, they only treated the bet as a joke and didn’t take it seriously.

Only clowns would be involved in such a farce. They would be lowering themselves if they paid attention to it.

……

A temporary central campground was set up outside the main assessment areas. It was built on a low hill and provided a complete view of the different assessment areas.

“It's too late for you to regret it now.” Xu Sanqi said, retracting his gaze.

“Chief Xu, do you think I’m the kind of person who would regret my actions? I still believe that you all will fall in front of me this time!” Xiaoman smiled, her sexy and beautiful face beaming with confidence.

Xu Sanqi narrowed his eyes and in the end he chose to keep quiet when he looked at Xiaoman and saw her smiling calmly beside him.

……

A quarter of an hour later, the bell rang, and the assessment began!

In the 39th Campground assessment area, students started to board the arena one by one before curtains descended and covered the entire arena.

The students in the arena weren’t able to see the situation in the other areas to prevent them from being affected by the other students.

Lin Xun calmly ascended one of the arenas and stood quietly. His elegant figure had an air of ethereal calmness.

Lin Xun indifferently looked at the fire brute expert roaring furiously inside the cage opposite him.

“Little human bastard. I am Fire Brute Warrior Bafu. I have killed many little bastards like you in the past. If you’re afraid, hand over your heart and I will let you die a painless death.”

The fire brute warrior called Bafu was a middle-aged man with a ruthless and sinister appearance. His eyes resembled a pair of blood-colored flames and he emitted a bloodthirsty and violent aura.

Even if he was imprisoned in a cage, his aura was still extremely terrifying. It was an aura unique to people who had fought hundreds of battles. Any timid True Martial Stage cultivators would have collapsed from fear in the presence of his fighting spirit.

However, Lin Xun seemed unaware of the stifling atmosphere, and his deep jet-black eyes had a detached indifference as he quietly studied his opponent.

The Magi Brute Race was the greatest enemy of the empire. They were ruthless, tyrannical and savage!

In the past, they would hold a large-scale ceremony to worship the Magi Brute God every time they captured a city in the empire.

In their hearts, human beings were scumbags of the world and the most filthy and despicable trash that the Magi Brute God couldn’t tolerate.

It was understandable that Lin Xun didn’t have a good opinion of the Magi Brutes.

“Hahaha, little bastard, could it be that you are frightened out of your wits? So useless! You don’t even dare to let out a fart! Humans are so cowardly!” Bafu laughed sinisterly as he slammed the iron cage.

“I can tell that you’re eager to die.”

Lin Xun thought for a moment and continued, “I understand your desire to die. After all, all Magi Brutes are stupid.”

Bafu’s eyes reddened with murderous rage and he roared furiously.

Lin Xun was finally convinced that Instructor Xu Sanqi was right. It was easy to provoke a Magi Brute—just call them stupid, because they had been trying to wash away the name stupid for hundreds of years. They still hadn’t got what they wanted and there was a long story behind that.

It was just a name but the Magi Brute Race regarded it as their greatest shame. Perhaps, it was something that only someone stupid cared about and it also proved that Magi Brute experts were indeed stupid…

Clang!

Suddenly, the bell signaling the start of the quarterly assessment rang, and the iron cages imprisoning fire brute experts automatically opened.

With a rumble, Bafu who was about to go berserk with rage rushed out, his body enveloped in a terrifying glow of flames.

“Little bastard, die!”

Like the god of death descending upon the world, Bafu leapt into the sky while gripping blinding flames in both hands. He fiercely aimed them at Lin Xun.

Rumble—

The air sizzled as a blast of terrifying power swept across the air like a raging wave. It produced deafening explosions in the air.

This was the power of an expert comparable to a Spirit Dipper cultivator. Its power could threaten the life of any True Martial Stage cultivator.

Lin Xun felt a piercing pain across his skin and he couldn't help but wince. He could feel the terror of that blow, so much so that he didn’t have the confidence to withstand it.

However, he hadn’t budged an inch and just locked his eyes on his opponent, analyzing his movements and attacks.

Lin Xun had raised his right hand when his opponent soared into mid-air. In his left hand was a short black ordinary-looking crossbow. He firmly hooked his right index finger around the crossbow trigger.

Pfssttt!

Instantly, a peculiar, low-pitched noise resounded like a flute.

Bafu curved his lips in a disdainful smile. A crossbow? You want to kill me with that?

How funny!

He had lost count of how many human trash had tried to sneak up on him with a short crossbow and had been killed by him, so he wouldn’t take such an attack seriously.

However, his pupils suddenly shrank and he felt something was wrong. The short crossbow seemed different from those he had previously seen…

Silvery starlight suddenly bloomed like fireworks in his field of vision. It was so dazzling and beautiful that it almost felt oppressive and suffocating.

That’s—?

A strong feeling of danger surged to Bafu’s heart and his spirit violently shuddered. The incomparably stunning starlight almost drowned his body and mind.