Reaching the Summit as Number One! The Dongjiang Geniuses Stunned into Stupidity!

"This is getting a bit too difficult, isn't it?"

"The health pool isn't that large, but the defense and magic resistance are set way too high!"

Inside the examination command center, as the exam commenced, countless people stared intently at the massive screens.

At this moment, the screens were exclusively displaying those who had risen to fame at a young age—the candidates most likely to secure the top spot in this year's college entrance examination across Dongjiang Province.

Lan Ruoyi was prominently among them.

Aside from her, there were over twenty other candidates from various examination halls who had also reached Level 29 or higher and chosen the Purgatory difficulty.

It was fair to say these individuals had essentially locked down the top 20 rankings within Dongjiang Province for this examination.

As for the gold-badged candidates who chose the Nightmare difficulty, a few dark horses might still emerge.

"First-tier basic job skills don't have very high base damage, usually just a little over a hundred at most."

"Plus, wearing equipment isn't allowed, so their stat bonuses won't be high either. For an average professional, a skill that might normally deal one or two hundred points of damage on the status panel will likely be reduced to just a dozen or so points when hitting this goblin."

Someone projected themselves into the perspective of these candidates.

Under a first-tier advancement, devoid of equipment, potion effects, or buff effects, simply piercing the defense was already difficult.

In the end, it might genuinely turn into a mere skin-scraping battle.

Li Yuanjing chuckled softly, "Why else do you think this difficulty level was vetoed by me in the end and no longer used in official assessments?"

Sitting beside him, Qi Guoguang scanned the giant screen carefully, yet failed to find any trace of Lin Yi.

"Where is that Level 42 kid?"

Reminded by this, Li Yuanjing also realized that Lin Yi's dungeon feed was absent from the big screen.

At that moment, an official in charge of broadcasting the dungeon footage hurriedly reported, "Reporting! Our spiritual crystal system's broadcast feed automatically captures footage according to a specific logic."

"The current priority logic is based on the job rarity of these candidates."

"Leaders, we have already dispatched specialized personnel to retrieve the dungeon footage of the candidate named Lin Yi that you are concerned about. We expect to have his feed projected onto the screen within 2 minutes!"

Li Yuanjing nodded.

Conventionally, rare and uncommon classes were definitely superior to ordinary professionals.

Therefore, having such a capture logic was entirely justifiable.

They simply needed to wait quietly for Lin Yi's dungeon footage to appear.

Taking advantage of the few dozen seconds before the first round of testing officially began, Li Yuanjing waved his hand and continued, "Get me a list of those who chose the Purgatory difficulty this time, categorized by their comprehensive level and job rarity."

Soon, a roster was handed over to him.

Just by looking at the surnames of the candidates ranked in the top ten, Li Yuanjing could basically guess which influential noble family each prodigy came from.

"Heh, isn't this person ranked first on the list your youngest son?"

"You're an uncommon professional from the archer lineage, yet he actually awakened a legendary class. His future is boundless!"

Qi Guoguang similarly received such a list.

The person ranked first on the list was named Li Zerui, who happened to be Li Yuanjing's second son.

"Zerui is still a bit lazy on ordinary days, not worth mentioning. On the other hand, your granddaughter is no pushover either, haha!"

The person ranked second on the list was none other than Qi Xiaying, likewise a legendary-tier professional.

"Not at all, not at all. Xiaying hasn't inherited her father's diligence in the slightest; she slacks off quite a bit at home too!"

The high-ranking officials of the Dongjiang Province Education Bureau and the Professionals Alliance, sitting beside and behind the two heavyweights, could not help but inwardly scoff as they watched these two bigwigs engage in such blatant, humble bragging.

This was simply too obnoxious.

That being said, most people still kept their eyes glued to the two individuals on the big screen.

Because everyone knew that the person most likely to claim the top spot in the first round would undoubtedly be one of these two.

The 1-minute countdown ended.

Shortly after, on the big screen, a short goblin monster abruptly spawned right in front of the young man on the left.

The youth reacted with extreme speed. The moment he raised his right hand, his entire palm was plated with a layer of silver metallic casing, and subsequently, the center of his palm deformed into a pitch-black gun muzzle!

Boom!!

The next instant, a rocket propelled grenade blasted out from the muzzle, striking the goblin monster and instantly triggering a massive explosion.

The goblin's health bar plummeted by a large chunk. This single attack dealt approximately close to 1,000 points of damage.

Under the condition of 1,000 magic and physical resistance, this damage output was already very impressive.

However, high-power attacks like rocket launchers seemingly required a reloading time, preventing him from using them frequently.

Thus, the muzzle on his right arm transformed back into a machine gun barrel.

The rat-tat-tat sound of gunfire echoed as a countless barrage of dense bullets was unloaded onto the goblin monster, tearing its flesh apart.

"Such fierce firepower!"

"Is this what the gunman-tier legendary class, Alloy Modified Vanguard, is capable of?"

"It feels like he won't even need 20 seconds to burst that goblin to death with damage!"

"Elder Qi's granddaughter is also formidable. Look over there, she already has over a dozen emblazoned crests revolving around her. She's probably charging up for a burst!"

On the big screen next to Li Zerui's feed.

Qi Xiaying, dressed in light martial attire and radiating heroism, struck the goblin monster with relentless punches and kicks at an astonishing speed.

Every tenth strike caused a crest glowing with multicolored elemental radiance to materialize around her.

Her class was called the Battle Spirit Master.

Despite being a class advancement from the mage lineage, her means of attack were almost exclusively close-quarters combat.

Every melee attack added magical damage, while the stored crests simultaneously provided various elemental effects.

Under the girl's deliberate control, the crests revolving around her glowed with a predominantly orange-red radiance.

Once fired, these fire-attribute crests would inflict a burning effect on the target, and their base damage was the highest among all elemental crests.

Under such assessment conditions that required explosive output and the prompt elimination of monsters, this was undoubtedly the optimal choice.

"Both of them are fighting so fast!"

"Their health pools are already down to around 70%! And only two or three seconds have passed!"

"That girl from the Lan family seems formidable too!"

Countless people watched the shining Dongjiang prodigies on the screen, filled with immense excitement.

However, the next moment, in the upper right corner of the screen, the previously vacant spot reserved for the leaderboard suddenly flashed.

A name abruptly materialized.

It instantly silenced all discussions within the entire examination command center.

[Total Score Ranking]

[Current Test Round: Round 1]

[Rank: NO.1, Candidate Lin Yi, Time taken to clear Round 1: 2.36 seconds, Score earned: 1000!]

What?

Everyone was dumbfounded.

They looked at Li Zerui, Qi Xiaying, and the others who were still furiously dishing out damage on the big screen, feeling as though their brains were about to fry.

What on earth was going on!

Why were the others barely halfway through the health bar while you straight-up obliterated yours??

Not only were the Dongjiang high-ups watching from the command center shocked.

Countless candidates who were fighting desperately in the first round of testing were utterly shocked as well!

Boom!

Another rocket propelled grenade blasted out from Li Zerui's right arm muzzle.

However, it missed.

His mind was in chaos, his shooting had slowed, and he had completely forgotten how to aim!

He had been utterly certain of securing first place in the province for this first round.

Yet, never in his wildest dreams had he expected that while he was only halfway through chipping down his target, someone else had already finished the job!