Among the crowd, Robert watched as John rampaged through the test dungeon.
His crimson eyes were filled with intense jealousy and desire.
In his view, John's formidable power must stem from the Legacy of the Crimson Demon and that divine artifact.
Otherwise, how could John possess strength that far surpasses those of his level?
This only intensified his longing.
The stronger and more demon-like John appeared, the more Robert yearned to kill him.
If it weren't for the presence of many powerful individuals at Star Cluster Academy, Robert would have liked to act immediately, to completely drain John of everything he possessed.
"What he has will be mine sooner or later; there's no need to rush," Robert consoled his eager heart, his gaze towards John growing more murderous by the moment.
...
In the core area of the Enchanted Forest.
Isabella wiped the sweat off her pristine forehead, her face showing signs of fatigue, but her eyes sparkled with joy.
She had been lucky enough to encounter a lv40 elite monster.
After exerting all her strength to defeat it, she earned a whopping 1000 points.
Clutching her fist, Isabella proudly declared, "With this, I'll surely leave you all in the dust. The first place can only belong to me, Isabella!"
Regaining some of her strength, she happily took out her assessment card, imagining herself far ahead of John, ready to crush the arrogance of that conceited individual.
However, when Isabella saw the information displayed on her assessment card, she was frozen on the spot.
[First Place]: John — 15791
[Second Place]: Isabella — 6357
[Third Place]: Amelia — 5565
[Fourth Place]: Matthew — 5375
...
Watching John at the top with his terrifying 17000 points, Isabella rubbed her eyes, thinking she had seen incorrectly.
But when she opened her eyes again, she found that in the blink of an eye, John's points had already jumped to 18000.
Moreover, his score was increasing at a dreadfully rapid pace.
Isabella, her pretty face full of astonishment, saw the score nearly triple her own and couldn't help but disbelieve, "How is this possible?! How could he have so many points? There must be a problem with the assessment card..."
Despite saying this, Isabella knew it was nearly impossible for there to be an issue with the assessment card.
This was the Stellar Test; how could such a basic error occur? Her face gradually turned pale.
Isabella had always felt that even if John had some strength, he couldn't possibly compare to her.
But now, seeing John far ahead, each number seemed like a slap to her face, an intolerable reality.
Isabella's complexion turned from pale to flushed.
Biting her lip, her eyes were full of unwillingness, and it seemed as if flames were burning in her pupils.
She was not someone who took to losing kindly.
Although uncertain about how John had accumulated so many points, surely it must have cost him greatly, requiring him to rest for a while.
With some time still left before the assessment ended, Isabella felt there might still be a chance to surpass John.
...
In the core region of the Enchanted Forest, a silver-white waterfall cascaded from a cliff.
The turbulent river water, like a giant rock smashing into the pond, stirred up a sky full of spray.
Beside the pond, Amelia was battling a level 35 lord-tier Black-armored Bear.
Her expression was serious, sword in hand, her figure swift as the wind.
Lethal flashes of her sword flew from her grasp, leaving deep, bone-visible wounds on the Black-armored Bear.
The Black-armored Bear roared in anger, its claw swipes, sharp as steel knives, carrying immense force, yet it couldn't touch the nimble and petite Amelia.
Seizing an opportunity, Amelia's sword glowed as she stomped her foot, her speed surging as her form turned into a silver streak of light.
The silver light of her sword was fleeting.
Amelia and the Black-armored Bear passed by each other.
Suddenly, the bear's body stiffened.
Amelia stood up, her chest heaving as she slowly sheathed her sword.
Behind her, the Black-armored Bear collapsed with a thud, dissolving into specks of white light.
Amelia's expression eased as she pulled out her assessment card, only to find her ranking was still second.
This came as a surprise to her.
After all, she had just defeated a lord-tier monster and earned a significant number of points, yet the gap between her and that participant named Isabella wasn't much.
However, Amelia didn't mind much.
She wasn't overly concerned about her score or ranking, seldom checking it even once an hour.
Amelia came to Star Cluster Academy because she had heard that the Federal's famous swordsman, Celestiblade Victor, was an alumnus, which inspired her to join.
However, when Amelia's beautiful eyes glanced at the top of the score leaderboard, she was momentarily taken aback.
"17000 points, John?" she exclaimed in surprise at seeing John at the top of the leaderboard.
Just as John had made a deep impression on her, Amelia also had a vivid memory of this individual targeted by many, the number one on the Celestial List, especially after sensing his overwhelming mind power.
She knew John could be strong, but she had no idea he could be this formidable.
Amelia was well aware of how challenging it was to accumulate so many points, giving her a more direct understanding of John's strength.
"Truly a terrifying individual," she thought to herself in awe.
...
Time flew swiftly, and soon it was evening.
The sky darkened, but the stadium remained lively and vibrant.
Star Cluster Academy considerately provided all spectators with food and beverages.
Despite the long hours, the audience's enthusiasm showed no signs of waning; the atmosphere was even more fervent than before.
Tens of thousands of spectators watched the extraordinary battles of geniuses on screen, occasionally bursting into waves of applause that swept across the venue like a tidal wave, as if to overturn the entire stadium.
In the Enchanted Forest, a tall mountain stood erect, adorned with towering giant trees.
John, enveloped in a red bloodlight and moving as fast as lightning, leaped across branches, dodging attacks from behind.
Pursuing him was a giant ape, as large as a small hill and covered in rocky armor, in a frenzied chase.
[Name: Titan Stoneape (Boss)]
[Level: lv40]
[HP: 1570000]
[Strength: 12680]
[Stamina: 15735]
[Defense: 21964]
[Speed: 1778]
[Skills: Rock Forest, Meteorite, Stone Armor, Stone Field…]
...
The Titan Stoneape, with its colossal stature of several dozen meters, charged through the forest, breaking rows of giant trees in its path, yet its speed remained unaffected.
Simultaneously, it kept unleashing skills, continuously attacking John.
"Whoosh!"
John dodged a stone spear over ten meters long, glancing back at this terrifying creature with a somewhat helpless expression.
He had originally just wanted to find a place to rest for a while but had unexpectedly encountered this creature.
If it had been a regular boss, it might have been manageable, but the Titan Stoneape's defense was exceptionally high, precisely countering John's magus type.
This forced him to keep moving and pulling away, daring not to directly confront it.
Seeing this agile "monkey" dodge its attack once more, the Titan Stoneape lost its patience.
"Roar!!"
It let out an angry roar, abruptly halting its charge, its body lighting up with an earthen yellow glow.
An incredibly powerful earth-based energy fluctuation burst forth from the Titan Stoneape.
Subsequently, the ground suddenly began to ripple like waves.
In just the blink of an eye, the area within hundreds of meters turned into a swamp, with all trees and vegetation starting to sink rapidly.
John nearly lost his grip and fell from the tree.
Glancing at the swamp below, he forcefully stepped on the tree trunk, propelling himself into the air, planning to escape the area before all the trees were engulfed by the swamp.
However, the Titan Stoneape seemed to anticipate John's move.
Its furry face cracked a sinister smile as a massive earth-based energy quickly converged, engulfing John in a tawny field of force in an instant.
"Stone Field!"
John felt his body suddenly become as heavy as a mountain, as if a great mass was pressing down on him, uncontrollably falling towards the swamp, beyond his command.
Simultaneously, a sharp Ground Spike suddenly rose from the swamp, aiming directly at John, as if intending to pierce through him entirely.
The external spectators, witnessing this scene, couldn't help but let out bursts of gasps, their hearts pounding with fear, involuntarily tensing up, with some even closing their eyes.
It seemed they had already envisioned the scene of John being impaled by the stone spike.
At the critical moment, John's reaction was swift.
His eyes lit up with black mist.
"Shadow Puppet!"
The stone spike passed through John's body without any hindrance, just as many were lamenting John's presumed elimination, feeling pity for him.
Suddenly, a blazing white spear tore through the sky, fiercely aiming at one of the Titan Stoneape's eyes.
"Blazing Light Spear!"
The Titan Stoneape hadn't anticipated that John could evade its attack and even seize the opportunity to counterattack.
"Boom!" The Blazing Light Spear struck the Titan Stoneape as fast as lightning, resulting in a violent explosion.
"-219518!"