"Zhou Mingyang, ranked first with 412 points, seems to have already started a massacre in the Central Area."
"His Light and Swift Wind Ability is indeed excellent for traveling. His movement speed is impressive, even when compared to the Martial Arts college entrance exam in the provincial capital."
"Speaking of which, Principal Liu is truly remarkable; almost all of the top ten are from his school."
"…"
Outside the Ruined Town, there were ten enormous projection screens.
These were captured by military drones, showing the top ten candidates currently.
Below these ten large projection screens, there were thousands of smaller projection screens, densely packed together.
These were all recorded by fixed cameras placed throughout the Ruined Town, and would only be magnified to the main projection when needed.
Next to the projection screens was a ranking list, detailing each candidate's score and ranking information.
On the temporary spectator stands built below the projection screens, principals and teachers from the Education Bureau and various schools were commenting on the students on the ranking list.
Among them, a middle-aged man in a suit with short hair was the focus of attention.
He was Liu Hang, the principal of Jiangcheng First High School.
Among the top ten on the Martial Arts ranking list, with the exception of one student from Third High School, all the others were from First High School.
"Zhou Mingyang is our ace in Jiangcheng. This Martial Arts college entrance exam, he should be able to break into the top 100 in Jiangnan Province."
In the front row of the spectator stands, a short, stout middle-aged man looked at Zhou Mingyang, who was dominating on the first projection screen, and nodded slightly.
His name was Zhang Wenshan, the Director of the Jiangcheng Education Bureau.
"Speaking of which, it has been many years since Jiangcheng has had a candidate enter the top 100 in Jiangnan Province."
Liu Hang, the principal of First High School, sitting next to the Director of the Education Bureau, also expressed some emotion.
Jiangnan Province is a populous province in the Great Xia Nation, with 24 prefecture-level cities and nearly 34 county-level cities under its jurisdiction.
Jiangcheng is located in the most remote northern part of Jiangnan Province, with scarce resources and economic development that ranks among the lowest of the 24 prefecture-level cities.
Consequently, the education funding allocated by Ning'an City, the provincial capital of Jiangnan Province, each year is very limited.
It is precisely for this reason that Jiangcheng has never achieved very good results in the annual Martial Arts college entrance exam.
The best historical performance was seven or eight years ago, when someone Ability User an A-Class Ability and managed to break into the top 100 in Jiangnan Province.
Several years passed, and although Ability User with A-Class Abilities appeared in Jiangcheng during this period, none were able to break into the top 100 in Jiangnan Province again.
However, this year's Zhou Mingyang rekindled their hope.
"I have always been quite satisfied with the education at your First High School."
Director Zhang Wenshan of the Education Bureau nodded, "Also, Third High School is not bad either, finally someone made it into the top ten."
"However, Second High School is a bit lacking; their best result is only 18th place."
Jiangcheng First High School is the best middle school in Jiangcheng.
Second and Third High Schools are significantly inferior compared to First High School.
In previous years' Martial Arts college entrance exams, the top ten were monopolized by students from First High School, with no students from Second or Third High School to be seen.
"We indeed have several talented students this year."
The principal of Third High School had an uncontrollable smile on his face.
Compared to him, the expression of Zhao Yao, the principal of Second High School next to him, was somewhat awkward.
One must know that in previous years, Second High School always overshadowed Third High School.
This year's situation seemed to have reversed.
'But our high school's performance this year seems to be quite poor…'
Principal Zhao Yao of Second High School searched the score rankings for a long time and found that only eight students from Second High School appeared in the top fifty.
'Li Ming, Yang Jian, Tang Ju… these are all students from the accelerated class, but who is this Astret? I've never seen this name before.'
Martial Arts college entrance exam results directly determine the allocation of educational funds for each middle school.
Therefore, Zhao Yao had some understanding of the outstanding students in his school.
However, he had never heard the name 'Astret'.
"Perhaps he's a hidden student from another parallel class. I'll ask the homeroom teachers later and find out."
Zhao Yao didn't pay too much attention to this.
After all, with so many students in Second High School, it wasn't strange for one or two to occasionally hide their strength.
Principal Zhao Yao didn't pay much attention, but in the back row of seats, Chen Fan, the homeroom teacher of Class 5, Grade 3 at Second High School, was stunned.
He knew Astret very well.
The other party was merely an E-Class Ability Awakener, so how could he break into the top fifty?
And now, among their entire Class 5, Astret was the highest ranked!
It was simply unbelievable!
"Did he hide his strength?"
"But no matter how he hides it, an E-Class Ability is an E-Class Ability. It can't suddenly become an S-Class Ability, can it?"
"Then how exactly did he get such a high score?"
Homeroom teacher Chen Fan was completely baffled.
The Martial Arts college entrance exam involved genuine combat with fierce beasts; there was no room for any discrepancies.
Unfortunately, the main screen above only displayed the top ten students in the score rankings. The thousands of fixed cameras below were so densely packed that it was impossible to see clearly.
It was simply impossible for Chen Fan to find Astret's footage among them!
Unable to see the footage and unaware of how Astret obtained such a high score, homeroom teacher Chen Fan was like a kitten that smelled catnip but couldn't get it into its mouth, itching with unbearable curiosity… In the Ruined Town, after half an hour of rushing, Astret finally entered the Central Area.
"Roar~~"
"Howl~~~"
Compared to the Outer Area, there were significantly more fierce beasts in the Central Area.
Walking along the road, Astret could hear the roars and howls of fierce beasts in the distance.
The air seemed to be filled with a bloody and violent aura.
"Crack—"
Astret carried a long spear, a nutrition bar in his mouth, and his combat boots stepped on a dilapidated plastic basin by the roadside.
The once tough plastic, after decades of wind and rain, had become as brittle as instant noodles, crumbling into dregs with a light step.
As he walked, Astret observed his surroundings.
Weiyuan Town, the predecessor of the Ruined Town, had a population of approximately 100,000.
When the fierce beasts breached the city's defenses, many people did not have time to evacuate, and almost fifty to sixty thousand people perished at the mouths of the fierce beasts.
In the outer suburbs, there were no particular traces.
But upon entering what was equivalent to the urban area of the Ruined Town,
One could discern the bloodshed and cruelty of that year from the abandoned cars that hadn't been driven away, the dried dark red bloodstains on the dilapidated ground, and the scattered human skeletons that had yet to be weathered…