Chapter 49: The Heavenly Ranking Youth?

Chapter 49: Chapter 49: The Heavenly Ranking Youth?

Li Heng was focused on grinding mobs in the Dungeon, honing his Swordsmanship and Body Technique. He had no idea, however, that he had already been placed on Lin Jiangang’s high-priority watch list.

「An hour ago, at the Fallen Jiao Icefield encampment.」

"Manager Lin, this is the summary of today’s reports."

Late on the third night of the mock exam, the Snow Leopard resources in the Icefield Area were nearly depleted. This led to incidents of students fighting fiercely over resources, causing some to teleport out.

With limited Snow Leopard resources, the number of Soul Energy Items dropped was naturally also very limited. Those students who had no Soul Energy Items to turn in, despite their immense reluctance, also teleported away in the end.

students had entered the Falling Flood Dragon Icefield Secret Realm. After just two days, only 112 remained at the encampment.

The elimination rate for this mock college entrance exam was very high; it could even be considered the highest in the last decade.

However, when Lin Jiangang saw this elimination rate, he wasn’t disappointed or dejected. Instead, a smile appeared on his face.

After all, he, Lin Jiangang, wasn’t a teacher. He was the manager in charge at the City Combat Hall. He was here to supervise the mock college entrance exam only to complete a task assigned by the city.

He didn’t care about the number of students; quality was what he truly focused on.

’Select ten "outstanding talents" to participate in the nationally-directed Soul Energy college entrance exam!’

He had originally thought this task would be quite difficult, but from the looks of it now, he had received files on many "outstanding talents" and was very satisfied with them.

He was very confident about completing the city’s mission this time, and he was also greatly looking forward to the rewards from the city after its completion.

After quickly browsing through the initial reports, Lin Jiangang’s main focus shifted to the "Outstanding Talents" section.

"They all entered the Wind Snow Area in groups and returned safely. Not bad!"

He had skimmed the previous content ten lines at a time, but when he got to the "Outstanding Talents" section, Lin Jiangang began to read carefully. As he went through the information, he would sometimes smile and nod, other times shake his head and sigh.

He didn’t hold back his praise for some of the particularly impressive teams. Finally, Lin Jiangang saw the team report for Zheng Zhuoran and the others.

"This team’s composition is quite good. Five people: four Soul Apprentices and a team medic. They can dish out damage and take it, and their mobility and endurance are both outstanding. They turned in five Snowflake Little Demons and also submitted a Frost Spider corpse as an advance. Very good. This must be the third Frost Spider turned in over the last three days, right? By the way, about this Frost Spider, was it a group kill? Or did a single member take it down alone?"

Seeing the Frost Spider, Lin Jiangang couldn’t help but ask a couple more questions.

The staff member replied with some exasperation, "Manager, about that Frost Spider... why don’t you... take a look for yourself?"

As he spoke, he took the Frost Spider’s corpse out of a Space Stone. Lin Jiangang’s curiosity was piqued. He wondered what reason the staff member could possibly have for taking out the Frost Spider for him to see.

So, he moved closer to the Frost Spider’s corpse.

’A single wound, splitting it in two. That indicates formidable strength!’

’The cut is clean, which means the strike was incredibly decisive!’

’This scene... it seems a little familiar?’

’Wait!’

’Is this a sword wound?’

"Li Heng from Thirteenth Middle School?"

Lin Jiangang hadn’t even looked at it for more than a few moments before he felt a sense of déja vu.

The same kind of Frost Spider, the same clean and decisive sword wound—in an instant, Lin Jiangang’s thoughts flew to one particular student.

The student who had amazed him on the very first day.

Hearing Lin Jiangang’s rhetorical question, the staff member didn’t speak. He just gave a helpless wave of his hand and stared quietly at Lin Jiangang.

The latter, whether he deduced something from the staff member’s reaction or came to a conclusion on his own, followed up with another question: "Then why isn’t Li Heng’s name on this team’s roster?"

"According to one of their team members, Li Heng teleported away."

"Impossible!" Lin Jiangang’s voice carried a faint trace of anger. He immediately continued, "The entire team, except for that girl named Bai Shasha who had some minor scrapes, was completely unharmed. And now you’re telling me that the one who was probably the strongest member just teleported away?" 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

"Manager, it’s not just you who finds it unbelievable—I wouldn’t believe it either! But right up until I came to report to you, Li Heng hadn’t been seen in the encampment. He couldn’t possibly be spending the night out on the Icefield, right?" The staff member’s voice was filled with helplessness.

Lin Jiangang fell silent. For a moment, the staff member’s explanation left him at a loss for words.

’Although I’ve never personally interacted with Li Heng, you can know a man by his Swordsmanship. I can’t say for sure about other things, but this Li Heng’s strength should far exceed that of most students in this mock exam. Top ten... even top three would be no problem for him.’

On the very first day, Lin Jiangang had even considered including Li Heng among the "ten outstanding individuals" to be reported to the city after the exam.

And now, this Li Heng had teleported away.

’He quit the exam midway?’

’It’s not that quitting the exam is forbidden, it’s just that I can’t figure out the reason. Why on earth would he do that?!’

’It was practically common sense.’

’Exam Secret Realms are the safest, most stable, and also the easiest Secret Realms for obtaining Soul Energy Items!’

’A Secret Realm like this, one that has already been sealed and can be used for exam trials, is far superior in both safety and stability compared to other unsealed or less-explored Secret Realms!’

’As long as you stay inside the Secret Realm and are both bold and careful, getting Soul Energy Items, equipment, and so on isn’t an issue.’

’To give up a trove of Soul Energy Items and choose to teleport away instead?’

’A student with this kind of strength definitely doesn’t have an issue with intelligence. So could it be for some other reason?’

"Did you follow up and ask for the reason why Li Heng teleported away?" Lin Jiangang asked with a frown.

"At first, for various reasons, I didn’t inquire. But honestly, I was as curious as you are, Manager. So after my shift, I went and found a member of that team named Zheng Zhuoran and got a general idea of the situation. They were on a long downhill slope when they encountered a large pack of Cold Ice Pythons..." the staff member began to explain.

「Two minutes later.」

’A long slope... and a large pack of Cold Ice Pythons?’

’How did they end up at the Ice Lake?’

’Did they wander in by mistake?’

’But that’s not right either, it doesn’t add up!’

"The entire team was almost completely unharmed, and according to Zheng Zhuoran, they had more than enough time to retreat. So why would Li Heng still teleport away? Heh... don’t tell me a person with his kind of strength would be so scared by a pack of Cold Ice Pythons that he couldn’t even move!" Lin Jiangang was still unconvinced, a playful look suddenly appearing in his eyes.

"Of course not! A low-key student master who can use that kind of Swordsmanship, how could he be so scared of soul beasts that he’s paralyzed with fear? At the very least, he’d still be able to move! Besides, based on some of the things Zheng Zhuoran said, my personal guess is... Li Heng might be on the verge of breaking through to the Soul Warrior realm, and that’s why..."

"Good work! You should go get some rest. As for this matter with Li Heng, I’ll personally look into it after the exam is over. Regarding your little theory just now... Li Heng is a Soul Apprentice. Understand?"

When Lin Jiangang said the words "Soul Apprentice," his tone was heavy.

The staff member, taking the hint, nodded and left.

Watching the staff member’s retreating back, Lin Jiangang fell into deep thought.

’A suspected Soul Warrior who’s only 18 years old?!’

’This is no laughing matter.’

’The Soul Energy Alliance stipulates that anyone who reaches the Soul Warrior realm at or under the age of 20 is to be included on the Alliance’s Youth Heaven-rank List.’

’And for a spot on the Heaven-rank List to be confirmed for a third-year high school student about to take the Secret Realm college entrance exam... the implications are immense.’

’So far, everything about this Li Heng is based on observing his Swordsmanship and hearing reports of his performance. I still need to "investigate" him in person.’ Lin Jiangang didn’t want to make any mistakes on a matter like this; he couldn’t bear the responsibility!