Slay! Exam King!

"Fang Xiaoxia, you're ruining my plans again!" Recognizing who had arrived, the faceless man roared in fury. The sonic wave sent the puddles on the white-tiled bathroom floor trembling and rippling, setting ears buzzing. "Now that you're here, don't even think about leaving." "This time, I'll lock you away and turn you into a caged bird so you can never ruin my plans again!" Sure enough, this monster also called Fang Xiaoyan "Fang Xiaoxia." Beside her, Bai Zhou quietly and deliberately sized up Fang Xiaoyan, staring at that familiar yet unfamiliar, youthful face in contemplation. *Xiaoyan, Xiaoxia—I can't tell them apart at all.* *Could she really be that hissing little fire dragon?* Right now, Bai Zhou wished he knew a spatial teleportation technique so he could zip over to Fang Xiaoxia's house and see whether the Fang Xiaoxia he knew was still there... "Exam King, you really have gotten stronger—" Fang Xiaoyan's expression was tense and grave. "But this time, no matter what, I won't let you run wild anymore!" Having watched the Exam King grow stronger step by step with her own eyes, standing on the opposing side had only left her progressively weaker. By now, Fang Xiaoyan was completely incapable of matching him in raw power. This matter had to be brought to an end, or Yuanmeng Middle School would truly become a hellish playground ruled by the Exam King. Fortunately, she hadn't come alone this time... At that moment, the faceless man cast a wary gaze onto Bai Zhou. "And what kind of nobody is this punk next to you?" "A teacher? Since when did Tinghai Middle School get such a young teacher?" Just like a student taking a final exam, the Exam King claimed outwardly not to have studied, showing apparent disdain, but every single one of his actual movements was rife with vigilance and tension. He scrutinized the staff badge on Bai Zhou's chest, breaking down and analyzing every detail of the man's posture like solving a test problem. The one who had hurled the stool leg inside must have been this seemingly ordinary, mysterious man. Just from the fact that he dared to spout such lunatic nonsense after seeing what the creature looked like... It was clear he was no ordinary person, and certainly arrived with ill intent! "Teacher, you..." Fang Xiaoyan turned to look at Bai Zhou. Unable to gauge his true depth, she felt both worried and anxious, wracking her brain to remember if there was anything she had failed to explain on their way here. Bai Zhou, however, paid no mind to whatever gibberish the other side was babbling. He simply strode forward and tapped the badge on his chest. "Disrespecting a teacher—that's two more points deducted." "Suspension for self-reflection will be considered, along with a demerit on your student record!" "—Everything ends here." When dealing with the likes of the Exam King... Students might be afraid, but he was a teacher. What did he have to fear? "Not even a teacher gets a pass!" Bristling like an enraged cat, the Exam King's figure began to swell, and grotesque wrinkles rippled across the faceless man's blank visage. "Nobody can stop me!" "Otherwise, if Tinghai Middle School's hundred-percent key admission rate is ruined—" "Can either of you take responsibility?!" The furious roar grew louder and louder, like a howling gale of malice. Accompanied by a thunderous detonation— "Ahhh!" An incredulous shriek escaped Jia Tingting. Before her eyes, the faceless man's body tore open. A monster crawled out from inside. A mummified monstrosity, tightly wrapped and bound in test papers covered in solved exercises, manifested before Bai Zhou and Fang Xiaoyan. Yellowed, blackened sheets of crumpled exam papers were densely packed with errors repeatedly corrected in red ink, collectively forming this creature's burial shroud. It was massive, well over two meters tall, its head scraping against the ceiling in an instant. Yet it remained hunched over, as if bearing the weight of a crushing backpack. One of its hands took the form of a ruler, keen as a blade, while the other was a colossal compass, sharp as a spear. Its facial features were even stranger: upon a three-dimensional triangular head, one eye was an "×" and the other was a "√," while its mouth was an "o." —This colossal, grotesque creature was the true form of the Exam King. As a foul stench carrying the fermented stink of sweat, foot odor, and rotten filth blasted their faces, a vicious battle was unavoidable. "No wonder Tinghai Middle School has a hundred-percent key admission rate..." Bai Zhou blinked, covering his nose and mouth in disgust. "With something like this guarding the place, anyone who held the class back was probably eaten by it." *Whoosh—* A violent gust swept through. Jia Tingting was frightened nearly to the point of fainting. Yet the monster strode right past her dazed, slumped figure, advancing directly toward Bai Zhou as an oppressive shadow blanketed the entire space. "This child simply didn't work hard enough, which is why her grades plummeted like this! She herself believes she doesn't deserve to live! What right do you meddling outsiders—" "Have to object?!" The voice vibrated so hard that their eardrums buzzed. "Study? Study my ass!" Bai Zhou spat, the purple-gold saber spinning into his palm as curses spilled from his mouth. "Who hasn't studied hard before? Back then, I was number one every year, collecting little red flower rewards!" "And what came of it?" "Turns out life isn't just about the studying right in front of you—it depends on whether you've got parents wearing black robes backing you up!" "If you can't guarantee someone a job later, quit making empty promises and driving them to death!" Fang Xiaoyan: "?" Jia Tingting: "?" The monster that the Exam King had become: "?" *What in the world is this guy talking about?!* ...It truly brought back memories; Bai Zhou was reminded of Li Wang once more. Infusing spirituality, purple-gold light rippled across his hand. A buzzing drone sounded as though ripping the air apart. Bai Zhou was quietly gathering power, yet continued speaking on the surface, leaving the Exam King looking somewhat bewildered. Upon that triangular face, right between the "√" and the "×," a "?" symbol almost seemed to form. "Studying is important, sure. But a monster like you, who cares only about grades to the point of driving others to their deaths..." "Is the one who truly deserves to die!" He drew his blade and bent his waist. "—What era do you think this is, fighting all on your own? In the Federation, making it out in the world hasn't been just about test scores for a long time." He bent his knees, accumulating force. Bai Zhou said in a low voice at last: "Just like right now. Your biggest surprise and your greatest failure lie in one simple fact—" "Fang Xiaoyan has me standing behind her." The moment his words fell— *Boom!* Bai Zhou's figure vanished from where he stood. Waiting around for a monster to stroll over was not Bai Zhou's style. Striking first to seize the upper hand was an important lesson taught to him by the plump white man in the Deep Ruin Realm! *Clang—* *Boom! Boom! Boom!* Bai Zhou, swooping in like a phantom, clashed in fierce combat with the Exam King, who hastily raised his arms in defense. Robes fluttered as their fighting figures blurred together, churning the surrounding air into chaos and sending shattered tiles flying. A clash between man and monster. The diminutive figure yielded nothing before the hulking monstrosity, evoking an ancient epic carved into a mural. With every slight movement of the Exam King, thousands of paper sheets rustled all over his body. Amid the howling wind came muffled noises, resembling the stifled late-night sobbing of students like Jia Tingting. Such sounds could disrupt anyone's focus, but Bai Zhou's expression never wavered. He swung his saber like a crescent moon cleaving through the air, the blade's whistle tearing through everything. "M-Monsters... Two monsters!" Jia Tingting was utterly dumbfounded. She could never have imagined that the person locked in fierce combat with this colossal, hideous monster would be her school's... Teacher?! Where had this PE teacher even come from? She had attended Yuanmeng Middle School for so long, yet no one had ever taught her anything like this! A scene so thoroughly beyond common sense nearly fried her brain. Driven by the instinct to survive, she summoned the last dregs of her strength to crawl out of the dense black patterns beneath her feet. Hugging her legs, she huddled shivering in the restroom corner, squirming backward with all her might, wishing she could dig a hole through the wall behind her. "Teacher! You have to be careful!" Fang Xiaoyan was equally dazzled by the sight, but she didn't forget to warn Bai Zhou: "The Exam King has already devoured six failing students." "Once he eats this last one and completes his final metamorphosis, he'll be comparable to a Rank 4 Extraordinary!" *So he's close to Rank 4.* Bai Zhou's expression remained unchanged, though inwardly he thought... *This strength is just right!* If it were a true Rank 4 Extraordinary, Bai Zhou would indeed have a rough time winning. However, a Rank 3 on the verge of Rank 4 was the perfect touchstone to test his own capabilities. After all, while Bai Zhou was only Rank 2, he wasn't an ordinary Extraordinary. He was a "Destined." What was more, he possessed a full set of Extraordinary equipment the Exam King had never even laid eyes on— He channeled three units of spirituality into it. Full throttle! *Buzz, buzz, buzz!* Like a roaring chainsaw, the purple-gold saber seemed to awaken, its blade-energy surging violently. A downward diagonal slash from the upper right, rivaling the burst of a secret technique, cleaved fiercely toward the Exam King's head. The Exam King blocked with his right arm, holding the razor-sharp compass horizontal against the saber. *Hum—* A purple-gold flash zipped through midair like a glowing dawn horizon. *Crack!* The tip of the compass was sheared off, the mirror-smooth cross-section testifying to what had just transpired. "Auuugh—what kind of blade is that?! What kind of blade is that?!" A bumpkin anomaly that had never seen an Extraordinary weapon tasted bitter defeat at Bai Zhou's hands. Staring at the severed compass point lying on the floor, it wailed in agonizing pain: "My compass point! My compass point!" "...I told you before." Brushing a fingertip along the blade edge, Teacher Bai spoke with earnest gravity: "When making your way in the world, you can't rely solely on hard work and going it alone." "—Financial power is also essential. If you don't have it, others always will." "..." This was the first time Fang Xiaoyan had ever seen the Exam King suffer a setback so effortlessly. Stunned into silence, she felt that the terrifying weight of her lifelong archenemy was rapidly deflating. "I understand now!" At that moment, the "√" and "×" in the eye positions of the Exam King's triangular head both morphed into "!". As if struck by sudden enlightenment, he hissed furiously in a low voice: "The extracurricular stories in the textbooks said that when the Buddha attained enlightenment, eighty billion demon troops, the three daughters of Mara, and six kinds of earthquakes throughout the three thousand great thousand worlds appeared as Mara came to obstruct the path!" "Now I face my final metamorphosis, and you are the demons sent to block my path—the ultimate trial bestowed upon me by destiny!" "As long as I defeat you... I will soar to the heavens!" "Give me a break." Bai Zhou rolled his eyes at the words. He had heard similar stories before. Yet in the black robes' textbook version back in Wancheng, the Grand Elder of the black robes had specifically annotated the flaw in that tale: If such a colossal commotion had truly occurred, why was the Buddha the only one who ever knew about it? The Buddha claimed it was because everything transpired within His Venerable Self's "single fleeting thoughts." In Bai Zhou's view... "Exam King, stop hallucinating." *Looks like another one studied himself into insanity.* Glancing at the Exam King with a mixture of pity and disgust, Bai Zhou decided it was time to bring this to an end. "There's really no need to pile this kind of pressure on yourself." Yet the moment Bai Zhou's voice faded... another change occurred! "Marshal Wrong-Answer! General Stress! Chancellor Guilt! Grand Tutor Chicken Soup! Viceroy Procrastination! Censor Sloth!" Gazing at Bai Zhou, this "path-blocking demon," with deep-seated hatred, the Exam King raised both arms and bellowed: "—Come forth, my Seven Heroes Under the King!" Before his voice had even faded, All manner of demonic spirits materialized behind the Exam King. Six hideous heads trailing pale green flames slowly circled the massive, deformed monster. No wonder the Exam King needed only Jia Tingting to undergo metamorphosis into Rank 4. His so-called Seven Heroes Under the King were only one short of completion! At Yuanmeng Middle School, what Fang Xiaoyan had been facing all along had never been as simple as just one Exam King... "..." Yet when Fang Xiaoyan saw these demonic specters, she felt no revulsion—only a complex expression, her shimmering gaze mingled with sorrow and guilt. Bai Zhou's eyes widened as well. For he clearly saw that atop the heads of each of these spirits hung identical last words— [I don't deserve to live.] [No, I don't want to die!] [Save... save... me...] The near-identical last words of each ghost matched the message Bai Zhou had previously seen on the floor nearby completely! This meant they were the captive souls of deceased students enslaved by the Exam King... Amid the Exam King's cackling laughter, the specters unleashed a volley of attacks toward Bai Zhou in unison— "Take a blast of Guilt Coloration!" "Have a taste of Chicken Soup Reminiscence!" "Stress Blanket! Sloth Drag!" All manner of illusory memories and emotions assailed Bai Zhou. Generally speaking, anyone who had ever attended school would feel anguish under such an onslaught and collapse on their own. —Unfortunately for them, Bai Zhou was far from "general." His expression remained entirely unmoved as he simply raised his blade. A mind forged of iron, blissfully illiterate to their doubts. He showed not the slightest empathy for the students' agony—not because Bai Zhou had never suffered, but because the black robes' Youth Training Corps was vastly more torturous than any curriculum at Yuanmeng Middle School. Rolling in mud until filthy, sparring until covered in bruises, jumping through fiery rings, and being denied meals if he failed to recite texts... No one understood suffering better than Bai Zhou! "How is this possible! How can you be unaffected!" Faced with an incomprehensible outcome, the symbols in the Exam King's eyes shifted simultaneously into bewildered "?" marks. Yet the question marks turned back into exclamation points in the blink of an eye. The Exam King still had a trump card: "Come forth!" Raising a hand to summon the vengeful spirits, the ultimate secret technique that unified the traits of all six specters brewed in his palm. The moment it appeared, the wailing of aggrieved souls filled the air, and a shrill black wind howled through the cramped restroom. "Mother's Lecture—" A colossal, blurry figure resembling a loving mother slowly materialized behind the Exam King, creating a stark contrast with his deformed, hunchbacked frame. Whoever fell victim to this technique would manifest a "Lecturing Mother" and a faceless "Someone Else's Child" in their heart. The Lecturing Mother would inflict continuous negative effects upon the target. Meanwhile, Someone Else's Child was utterly flawless, superior to oneself in every conceivable way. One had to defeat this "Someone Else's Child" within the illusion to break the technique. An exceptionally tricky secret technique, practically unsolvable. Because the opponent you actually had to fight was the idealized, perfect version of yourself... This was the Exam King's greatest source of confidence and audacity when facing any Extraordinary. *Whoosh—* ...Yet as the black wind formed by the technique swept past Bai Zhou, he remained completely unfazed. His expression didn't change in the slightest; he merely blinked with a touch of perplexity. The Exam King wore a blank look: "?" Bai Zhou was equally puzzled: "What was that supposed to be?" *All that menacing buildup, and it amounted to nothing?* —Oh, right. He didn't have a mother. Because he had never heard tales of "someone else's child," he had no need to defeat an inner demon that had never existed in the first place. An orphan since childhood, Bai Zhou was utterly impregnable in this regard—terrifyingly resilient! At this, the Exam King panicked completely. An unknown phenomenon he had never encountered before made the Exam King wonder if he was dealing with an alien. Only now did he realize that despite appearing entirely ordinary under a human guise... Compared to his own deformed self, Bai Zhou was the true, incomprehensible "monster"! —He didn't act like a Blue Star native raised in the Federation at all! "Five Years of High School Entrance Exams, Three Years of Simulations!" Out of options, an endless sea of test questions spewed from the Exam King's palms, transforming into an overwhelming barrage that threatened to drown Bai Zhou. The vengeful spirits also tirelessly spewed attacks imbued with their respective traits, attempting to halt Bai Zhou's advance. Bai Zhou, however, had no desire to keep playing along. For within his sight, the last words etched onto the floor and the last words hovering above the ghosts' heads... Were glowing simultaneously, calling out to one another as if speaking to Bai Zhou. *Yeah, I know.* *Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—* Slashing through the barrage with his blade, forming a defense as airtight as an umbrella, Bai Zhou answered silently in his heart, *Your wishes...* *I have received them!* The next instant— Bai Zhou illuminated the glyphs within the Sea of Ignorance. First was [Soothe]. Then came [Light]. —This was a small experiment inspired on the spot after seeing the six vengeful spirits. First, an intangible soothing power suffused the Fate Principle space. Then, radiance erupting from the depths of the Fate Principle pushed outward, carrying that soothing energy along with it. *Hum—* Centered on Bai Zhou, brilliant light suddenly blazed forth. Everyone present shut their eyes involuntarily. Including the Exam King, who let out a scream, thinking he had gone blind. The [Light] carrying [Soothe] blossomed outward, sweeping over the six contorted specters. A second later, as if receiving pacification and purification, the ghosts took on peaceful expressions. The eerie green light gradually transformed into a translucent, pure white. At the same time, they broke free from the Exam King's control. "No! My Seven Heroes Under the King!!" The Exam King's frantic cry echoed from deep within the sea of light. Yet he soon had no time to worry about them. A chilling premonition of mortal peril abruptly gripped his heart. In the unseen space ahead, a sudden rush of howling wind arose, as though someone had leapt above his head. *What could leaping over my head possibly do...* He found out soon enough. A scalding, fiery sensation swept over the Exam King's entire body. Sensing the high heat of flames, the burial shroud of exam papers wrapped around him curled and ignited on its own. Accompanying it was a fierce shout echoing right beside his ear: "Moon Cinder—" "Oath of Victory Slash!!"