Invincible through Touching Corpses

The two people Lin Xinghai ultimately chose were named Leng Ruchen and Qin Qi.

Both were second-year students. Although they were still in the Blood Qi Realm, they had already fully completed their Divine Demon Body cultivation for this stage, and their Blood Qi Power exceeded 500 points.

According to their own accounts, they had both made it onto the Hero Ranking before, though they were only at the very bottom and were quickly knocked off the list.

But undeniably, they were among the top echelon of cultivators at the Blood Qi Realm.

With their level of strength, they certainly had no shortage of offers from other squads. The one and only reason they were willing to join Lin Xinghai’s team was, of course, because the Xinghai Squad paid well.

The two of them were strong enough to compete for a spot as a Special Class Student, even among the second-years. Unfortunately, a lack of Cultivation Resources had caused them to miss their chance.

When the gap in talent isn’t large, Special Class Students receive far more resources. If they didn’t find some other way to get ahead, they would have no chance of catching up.

That was precisely why Lin Xinghai’s squad was so appealing to them.

Of course, among the students who applied, there were some who were even stronger than these two. This was especially true for the dozen or so third-years, some of whom had already entered the Body Shaping Realm.

But Lin Xinghai didn’t choose them for two reasons. First, the third-years were about to leave for internships. Even if they joined his squad, they could only stay for a year, or possibly even less. Lin Xinghai had no interest in training them just for them to leave.

The second, more important reason was that the stronger a member was, the less likely they were to follow orders.

Leng Ruchen and Qin Qi were pretty much the only two powerhouses who were still willing to take orders, which is why they were ultimately chosen.

After getting the names, Little Fatty quickly went to inform them.

The next day, Lin Xinghai gathered all the members of the Xinghai Squad for a meal so everyone could meet and get to know one another.

He also informed the new members that they only went on one mission per week, and the rest of their time was their own to schedule as they pleased.

...

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, three weeks had passed.

As the first month of the semester drew to a close, a tense atmosphere began to settle over the entire academy.

The reason was simple: it was time for the monthly exams.

And since the format for the monthly, midterm, and final exams was different every time, everyone’s anxiety was amplified.

The entire class gathered in the large conference room for the first time since the semester began. There was no way around it; skipping the monthly exam meant an automatic score of zero.

A zero would guarantee a drop in a student’s Level the following month, so no one dared to be absent.

"Haha, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a full house like this." Their head teacher, Jian Hua, strode into the classroom, his eyes sweeping over the students as he spoke with a smile.

"Alright, I won’t waste any more time with pleasantries. I’m sure what you’re all most curious about right now is how this month’s exam will be conducted."

"For this monthly exam, the assessment method is very simple: you will challenge the Hero Ranking."

The moment Jian Hua finished speaking, the room erupted in an uproar. The Hero Ranking was simply not something students at their level could challenge.

It was true that the Hero Ranking was a list for cultivators in the Blood Qi Realm, meaning those on it were in the same realm as them.

The problem, however, was that many second- and even third-year students would linger at the Peak of the Blood Qi Realm for long periods to build a solid foundation.

With only 100 spots available on the Hero Ranking, even an average cultivator at the Peak of the Blood Qi Realm wasn’t qualified to be listed. Meanwhile, they were only one month into the semester, and not even seventy percent of their class had reached the Blood Qi Realm Middle Stage.

How could a student at the Blood Qi Realm Middle Stage possibly stand against someone at the Peak of the Blood Qi Realm who had been consolidating their power for two or three years? They would be powerless to resist, let alone mount a proper challenge.

That was why, under normal circumstances, it was considered a rare feat for even a top-tier Demon like a Special Class Student to make it onto the ranking even once by the end of their second semester as a first-year.

Normally, a student would have to reach their second year before they could hope to secure a firm footing on the Hero Ranking.

So, as the students exchanged bewildered glances, none of them could figure out what Jian Hua actually intended with this exam.

Jian Hua, of course, knew what they were all thinking. He raised a hand, gesturing for silence before continuing, "There’s no need to worry. This test is just to give you a taste of the gap between you and the upperclassmen. I’m not asking you to actually defeat a student from the Hero Ranking."

"Shortly, you will follow the academy’s rules and issue challenges to students on the Hero Ranking. Of course, since none of you are on the list, you can only challenge those ranked from 91st to 100th."

"We’ll have instructors present who will calculate your scores based on the damage you inflict on your opponent, or on the duration of your Defense."

"You should all choose your opponents rationally, based on your own abilities, to figure out the best way to earn a high score."

"You have thirty minutes to prepare. After that, we head to the arenas for the challenges."

After hearing Jian Hua’s explanation, everyone finally understood.

At the same time, the quick-witted students immediately realized that while the Rule seemed simple, there was a lot of room to strategize.

The students immediately broke into discussion.

The members of the Xinghai Squad quickly gathered around Lin Xinghai and began discussing how to score points most effectively.

After mulling over the Rule, Little Fatty was quite excited. "A Rule like this is pretty advantageous for me, I think."

"My Chaos Divine Body has the best Defense Power, and my Hurricane Superpower can be used to both hinder my opponent and help me escape."

"When the time comes, I’ll bring a Fine Steel Giant Shield up there for extra Defense, pick an opponent with weak Attack Power, and just focus on lasting as long as possible. Heh heh, I might even end up near the top of the rankings!"

The other members of the Xinghai Squad would be lying if they said they weren’t envious. They also realized that this kind of Rule was indeed extremely favorable for Little Fatty.

Still, whether it was advantageous or not depended on how one chose to approach it. All things considered, the Rule was still relatively fair.

The others voiced their own opinions, and they soon decided whether to focus on offense to score points or on stalling for Time.

Of course, that was an easy decision to make, as everyone had a thorough understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses.

As the discussion continued, they all realized that under this Rule, the most important factor was choosing the right opponent.

For example, an offensive specialist who picked a defensive one and couldn’t even break through their opponent’s Defense Superpower would be in for a rude awakening.

In that scenario, it would be better to face an equally aggressive opponent and trade blows to score points.

Therefore, intelligence on their potential opponents was crucial.

At the thought of needing to get files on the bottom ten students of the Hero Ranking within just half an hour, everyone’s gaze landed squarely on Little Fatty.

"I don’t have that information on hand," Little Fatty said as he took out his wrist-mounted computer, "but don’t worry. Just give me five minutes." He then began to leverage his network of contacts.

After a moment’s thought, Lin Xinghai also sent a message to Leng Ruchen and Qin Qi, asking them to send over whatever intelligence they had.

After all, those two had challenged the Hero Ranking before, so they must have done some research on the students listed there.

Their insights would be especially profound regarding opponents they had personally fought. Cross-referencing their intel with Little Fatty’s data would give them a much more complete picture.