“Holy hell, what terrifying power!
Is this the Inferno Knight’s true strength?” “Wang Ping’s Inferno Knight is definitely the strongest!” “With momentum like that, even a Five-Star fierce beast is going to be crippled!” The examinees from First High School erupted into cheers, their eyes glued to the ferocious display on the live stream.
They had assumed the one-level disparity would leave the Inferno Knight completely suppressed by the Wood Spirit Vine.
Instead, Wang Ping had seized the initiative with ruthless aggression.
If this blazing spear strike could just draw blood, the Inferno Knight might actually carve out a path to victory.
But their premature celebrations died in their throats.
A collective gasp rippled through the viewing plaza.
The Inferno Knight’s blazing spear struck the Wood Spirit Vine dead-on—and did absolutely nothing.
Neither the crushing physical force of the thrust nor the searing elemental heat of the flames could pierce the beast’s hide.
“It’s demonic energy!
The Wood Spirit Vine has a unique innate ability,” a knowledgeable student blurted out, pointing at the screen.
“It forms a dense layer of demonic power over its bark to nullify incoming damage.
Combine that with the sheer level suppression…
that’s why the Inferno Knight’s ultimate strike didn’t even leave a scorch mark.” “Damn it!
If we can’t even break its defense, how the hell are we supposed to clear this?!” On the battlefield, Wang Ping’s expression darkened into a grim scowl.
The Wood Spirit Vine, however, felt no such hesitation.
Thick, writhing vines lashed out like a cluster of serpentine limbs, moving with a grotesque, eerie fluidity.
They coiled around the Inferno Knight.
The suffocating demonic energy radiating from the vines constricted, instantly shattering the knight’s protective flame shield into a shower of dying sparks.
Then, to the absolute horror of the spectating crowd, the Wood Spirit Vine split open a massive, jagged maw and swallowed the Inferno Knight whole.
The moment the jaws snapped shut, the spiritual link tethering the Inferno Knight to Wang Ping violently severed.
The battle was over.
Wang Ping sucked in a sharp breath, a cold sweat breaking out across his skin.
Four-Star and Five-Star—both might belong to the intermediate Magic Card tier, separated by a mere single star, but the chasm in raw power was impossible.
This brutal reality was exactly why Magic Card Elves and fierce beasts were strictly categorized by levels.
It was a bloody lesson for novice Magic Card Masters: never underestimate the hierarchy of power, lest you become monster feed.
With his primary card destroyed, Wang Ping’s body dissolved into a pillar of white light, forcefully ejecting him from the unified exam’s pocket dimension.
Meanwhile, in a separate dimensional instance, Bei Hanyun’s Water Azure Beast was drowning in a similarly grim nightmare against its own Wood Spirit Vine.
While the Water Azure Beast boasted a higher innate quality than the Inferno Knight, it was severely handicapped by elemental disadvantage.
Wood countered Water.
Even with the beast’s unique damage-reduction skills, it was hopelessly outmatched.
The Wood Spirit Vine whipped its tendrils in a frenzied barrage, tearing the water elemental’s form to shreds.
A mournful, bubbling shriek echoed across the arena.
The Water Azure Beast suffered the exact same gruesome fate as the Inferno Knight, dragged into the crushing depths of the Wood Spirit Vine’s maw.
Watching his strongest card vanish, Bei Hanyun offered a bitter, defeated smile.
A heartbeat later, he too dissolved into white light, banished from the exam space.
“Just as expected,” a viewer muttered in the live stream.
Watching Wang Ping and Bei Hanyun—two prodigies who had spent the earlier rounds ending battles in mere seconds—get unceremoniously eliminated brought a wave of grim realization over the crowd.
If it were truly that easy to punch above one’s weight class, the rigid grading system wouldn’t exist.
“Both Wang Ping and Bei Hanyun got completely walled by the Wood Spirit Vine.
I guess the final rankings for this unified exam are locked in,” a First High School student sighed, shaking his head in mild disappointment.
“Speak for yourselves, First and Second High School,” a snarky comment popped up in the chat.
“Don’t lump our Third High School in with your failures.” “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” The students from the top two schools bristled, staring at the sudden influx of arrogant messages.
“Something insane just happened!
Get your asses over to Luke’s live stream right now!
Third High School just birthed an absolute monster!” Confused but curious, and with their own champions eliminated, the masses from First and Second High School flooded into Luke’s designated viewing channel.
“Holy shit!
Wang Ping and Bei Hanyun are already out, so why the hell is Luke still inside the exam space?!” “Wait, what is going on?
Shouldn’t he be fighting the Wood Spirit Vine right now?
Why is he facing an Angry Tiger?!” The discrepancy was glaring.
They had just watched the Wood Spirit Vine slaughter the top seeds.
Yet, on Luke’s screen, a completely different beast prowled the arena.
“Cheating!
He has to be exploiting a bug!” “Are you completely blind?!” The Third High School students fired back, their virtual voices dripping with venom.
“The Wood Spirit Vine is just an ordinary Five-Star fierce beast.
That Angry Tiger is a rare Five-Star fierce beast!
How the hell is fighting a stronger boss cheating?
You guys are a joke.” “If you think it’s a glitch, how about you swap places with him?” The aggressive retort silenced the skeptics.
Annoying as it was to admit, the Third High School crowd was right.
The Angry Tiger’s level and innate combat strength far exceeded that of the Wood Spirit Vine.
“I bet you’re all wondering where his Wood Spirit Vine went, aren’t you?” Seeing the rival schools stunned into silence, the Third High School students basked in the immense satisfaction.
“Let me spell it out for you: the Wood Spirit Vine got instantly vaporized by the Dark Magician Girl!” Impossible!
The collective minds of First and Second High School vehemently rejected the claim.
There was simply no way.
Wang Ping’s Inferno Knight and Bei Hanyun’s Water Azure Beast had been utterly crushed.
How could Luke’s Dark Magician Girl one-shot a Five-Star boss?
Was she going to kill it with her cute looks?
Granted, nobody denied that in terms of pure aesthetics, the Dark Magician Girl completely eclipsed the Inferno Knight, the Water Azure Beast, and the ugly Wood Spirit Vine combined.
But beauty didn’t equate to destructive power.
Refusing to accept the hearsay, a wave of pragmatic students immediately pulled up the live stream’s replay function.
“Damn it…
she really one-shot it?” The playback footage was obvious.
Unlike the desperate, grueling struggles of the other top seeds, the Dark Magician Girl had merely floated in the air, gazing down at the towering Wood Spirit Vine with a look of utter disdain.
She raised her wand, and a blinding burst of magic—a devastating Dark Burning Attack—erupted forward, reducing the massive beast to a cloud of drifting ash.
The entire execution was terrifyingly smooth.
It didn’t look like a battle against a Five-Star boss; it looked like she was swatting a One-Star pest.
But the Wood Spirit Vine was no pest.
The only logical conclusion was that the Dark Magician Girl’s raw combat power was astronomically higher than anyone had theorized—leagues beyond the Inferno Knight and Water Azure Beast.
“Holy hell…
She actually instantly killed a Five-Star Wood Spirit Vine.
This Dark Magician Girl’s combat specs are completely broken, aren’t they?” “What’s even more broken is Luke!
Is he really a student from our year?
How did a high schooler construct a Magic Card as overpowered as the Dark Magician Girl?” In an instant, Luke and his Dark Magician Girl monopolized the attention of the entire unified examination.
They were the undisputed center of the universe.
Meanwhile, back in the physical world, the teleportation light faded.
Wang Ping materialized on the polished stone of the First High School’s central plaza.
He let out a long, heavy sigh, though a faint, confident smile tugged at his lips.
“It’s over,” he murmured to himself, brushing the imaginary dust from his uniform.
“My score…
while it might not match the legendary prodigies of the past, it definitely surpassed Second High School’s top record from last year.” He puffed out his chest, his eyes gleaming with ambition.
“In this unified exam, I am definitely taking first place!” Basking in his own anticipated glory, Wang Ping stepped forward, fully expecting a roaring crowd, clapping hands, and a hero’s welcome.
Instead, he was met with the backs of his peers.
Everyone was huddled around their screens, completely ignoring his triumphant return.
Wang Ping blinked, his smile freezing on his face.
He looked around in utter bewilderment.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
Shouldn’t he be swarming with reporters and cheering classmates?
Why was everyone giving him the cold shoulder?
[Akarin’s Note: Enjoying the story?