My setting is above yours!

Chapter 116 Cooperation? No, I alone am enough! (5k4)

Having obtained the intelligence, Ron naturally saw no need to keep these magicians around.

He casually dispatched the group of magicians, stuffed the meager few dozen point tokens into a sack, and said nonchalantly to the group of superpowered individuals:
"Alright, you guys handle this yourselves. Those who need to leave, leave. Those who need to continue taking the exam, continue taking the exam... Don't let the Magician catch you again and use you as bait."

"Okay...brother, thank you so much this time..."

Someone looked at Ron, their eyes filled with gratitude:

"If it weren't for you, we probably would have been tormented for a long time longer..."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but grit his teeth:

"You mean it's just a monthly exam? What are these magicians thinking? It's so ridiculous..."

Another person looked at Ron, a hint of admiration in their eyes, and gave him a thumbs up:
"I told you you're the real number one in the physics department. Those academic rankings are useless. Real exams only show real ability!"

"Ron, keep it up! You have to snatch first place back from those magicians this month!"

Ron chuckled lightly, said nothing, and casually hoisted the sack onto his shoulder, like a simple farmer going to a market in the countryside, and slowly walked towards the promotion channel.

Those candidates who hadn't seen Ron in the exam hall might have underestimated him, but these superpowered individuals, who had just been freed from their constraints and had finally regained their freedom, were now filled with admiration as they watched Ron leave.

After all, if others don't know, how could they not know?

Ron's tattered burlap sack, which looked like it was just picked up off the street and was even a bit leaky, was actually full of proof of his strength—a whole bunch of point tokens!
However... that's true.

As they watched Ron's departing figure, a slight worry inevitably crept into their hearts.

According to these magicians, Wang Yi used such cheating methods in the advanced exam, and may have already acquired the abilities of a [Color Position] magician...

'To be comparable to a Level 4 power... even Ron probably wouldn't stand a chance...'

'Sigh... I really hope Ron can win...'

Unaware that he had been recognized by this group of superpowered individuals as the last hope of the physics department, and eagerly anticipating his victory over Wang Yi, Ron had already arrived at the advancement channel and witnessed a scene that was not much different from the lower-level examination hall.

Stepping onto the magic circle, the dense array patterns immediately flickered with light, and a mechanical notification sounded in Ron's ear:

"To advance to the advanced examination room, please submit your scorecard."

A light screen popped up in the lower right corner of his vision, asking Ron to confirm whether to submit his points.

Thanks to the windfall he gained from hunting monsters and plundering the magicians, Ron's points have now exceeded four hundred. The requirement for promotion is only two hundred points, so he naturally handed them over generously.

"Points requirements met, promotion channel activated, countdown: ten, nine, eight..."

The teleportation array lit up like a breath, and Ron saw everything around him turn into data bubbles, before his eyes went completely black—

The next moment, when Ron opened his eyes, he saw a hazy mist.

"The examination room has been upgraded to a higher level, and optimized points tokens have been issued to the candidates."

A mechanical voice rang in his ears, and Ron immediately saw the points tokens he had accumulated in the lower and middle level exams vanish like data bubbles along with the tattered sack containing them. Then, they coalesced into a square identity card with Ron's name written on it.

The number "206" flashing below his name was exactly the number of points Ron had left.

Looking at the points token in my hand, a section with extended information popped up on it, just like in a game—

[Advanced Points Token: Points will be automatically awarded upon defeating monsters.]

"They actually used something like this... The monsters in the advanced exam halls have a lot of points, making it impossible for normal candidates to take them away at will, so they prepared this mechanism?"

Ron muttered to himself, but his mind didn't linger on such a trivial matter for long. Instead, he quickly and very seriously examined everything around him—

At this moment, he stood at the entrance of a magnificent city. Countless exquisitely built houses lined the streets, and in the distance, he could see the mottled stone walls in the very center of the city, topped with the spires of the royal city, piercing into the murky clouds...

Looking at the magnificent city and then at the lingering wisps of mist, Ron paused, a subtle thought forming in his mind:

'Could this be... the "Foggy City"?'

Looking around more carefully, Ron spotted a rather quaint old shop on the side of the street with an advertisement written in Old Rodland.

Ron carefully examined the names on the paper, and after discovering the word "Prorick," he was completely certain of his suspicions.

"That's right, this advanced exam venue just happens to simulate the 'Foggy City'!"

Proric, the city-state of the Lord of Cinder, which was said to have existed in the "Era of the Embers" before the "Potion Age," has finally crossed the time gap of three entire eras and reappeared in the ideal city of the "Superpower Age"...

However, perhaps due to the passage of time, the information about Ideal City is somewhat distorted. It even describes the "Foggy City" of the "Potion Era" as written in Old Rodland, a language commonly used only in the "Era of Embers," instead of the common language that has been passed down to the "Superpower Era"...

'I never expected to visit Fog City before even reaching it in the Potions Era, but instead, I've already made it to Fog City in Ideal City...'

Ron felt a pang of emotion, but he also realized a problem:
'If the Ideal City even has records of such minute details… what kind of legacy did the gods who guided the progress of the era leave for it?'

'It's like... directly archiving an entire era's past, which is why the current Ideal City is able to recreate everything from the [Potion Era] in simulated reality...'

'Was this the work of the Lord of Time? Hmm, thinking about it carefully, it should be him... Recording moments and preserving memories, that's the job of the Hall of Memories...'

'If that's the case... if I had access to [Prometheus], ​​wouldn't I not only be able to improve my [Ability Formula], but also have the opportunity to use the [Central Intelligence]'s permissions to search for records of the [Potion Era]?'

'If I could figure out the timeline and remember the information recorded by Ideal City, wouldn't I be able to foresee everything and have the opportunity to participate in all the major events that are about to happen, such as the "Potion Era," and even profit from the chaos?'

Thinking of this, Ron couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement, and his desire to win first place in the monthly exam became even stronger.

However, while we can have these thoughts, we must also be grounded in reality.

Without hesitation, Ron chose the same fighting style he used in the intermediate exam...

He darted into a house on the side of the street, using [Vector Manipulation] to refract the light and conceal himself as much as possible.

Then, he turned his gaze to the lower right corner of his field of vision, where an interface popped up as he entered the advanced examination room, displaying a virtual map—

However, this time is quite different from before.

On the map, there is only one large red dot, marked "Ultimate Monster," wandering just north of the map, a short distance from that weathered high wall...

And next to the red dot, there is a "Containment Point" marked in green!
Seeing everything on the map, Ron suddenly understood:

'Damn it... After possessing the power of this final boss, Wang Yi, wielding the power of the heroic spirit, simply went to block the evacuation point of the advanced examination hall!'

He planned to wait patiently, essentially trapping everyone inside the [Hollow Battlefield], preventing anyone from leaving with their points!

'This person is ruthless...'

Ron felt a sense of relief, but he didn't feel too much pressure.

After all, Wang Yi's strategy of waiting patiently was to avoid defeating other examinees who might be truly trapped and eliminated in the [Hollow Battlefield].

For Ron, Wang Yi's presence at the evacuation point, waiting for him to come to him, actually meant that he wouldn't be wandering around other areas...

This actually gave Ron plenty of time to prepare!

'It seems I should take this opportunity to disrupt his possession ritual...'

Ron pondered for a moment, having already made his next plan.

No matter how strong Wang Yi is, he ultimately relies on the power of that heroic spirit...

His ability to be possessed by a heroic spirit was not due to genuine recognition from the spirit, but rather through some kind of possession ritual—

Based on the occult knowledge Ron learned from Idrila, it's hard to believe that such a ritual could be permanent or without cost...

If Ron searches diligently, he might be able to find the ritual that is still in effect. Destroying the ritual would destroy the spirit's possession!
With that thought in mind, Ron immediately stopped hesitating, switched to [Embers of the Age of Gods], and activated his Magic Vision—

The next moment, he saw two murky beams of magical light, like seven-colored oil paint, shoot into the sky, as bright and conspicuous as lighthouses.

Ron quickly determined the directions and found that one of them originated from near the extraction point, while the other came from the center of the map—what else is there to say?

Clearly, one of the magical beams came from Wang Yi... and the other must have come from the ritual that Wang Yi had previously constructed!
Ron pondered for a moment, then immediately dashed towards the very center of the map.

Before long, he traversed the streets of the simulated Fog City and arrived at the central crossroads of this small, simulated map—

Here, everything was so peaceful it seemed as if nothing existed, except that the already thin mist had thickened even more...

But Ron, with his magical vision, easily saw the array patterns that were shimmering with magical energy, as dazzling as the sun—

'It's somewhat similar to the [Consolidation Ritual]. I wonder if destroying the magic circle will have any practical effects...'

Ron seemed to be deep in thought. Without hesitation, he casually shattered the soil beside him, causing the patterns of the magic circle to become blurred and completely disintegrate.

He used his magical vision to look at the evacuation point not far away and found that the magical light was still strong, seemingly unaffected in the slightest.

'It's ineffective? No, then why has this ritual been running in the first place...? Its purpose isn't to control the possession of Heroic Spirits, but something else entirely?'

Ron frowned and looked at the ground again, only to find that although the magic circle, which had stopped functioning, no longer emitted any magical light, an extremely bright magical glow was still emanating from beneath the ground—

He paused slightly, then immediately used [Vector Manipulation] to dig through the soil and follow the light. He soon spotted a mottled glass bottle that looked as if it had once contained something.

However, the glass bottle was now empty, only retaining a distinct "mysterious" magical power, and also revealing a magical reaction with some extraordinary characteristics of the "mysterious" sequence...

Upon seeing the glass bottle, Ron paused for a moment, then immediately understood—

'This must be the very relic that once carried that heroic spirit!'

But soon, a doubt arose in Ron's mind:
'Wait a minute... When [Clear Heart] gave the example before, wasn't the artifact a dark silver spearhead?'

Why has it, at this point in time, become a mottled glass bottle?

Ron was puzzled, but couldn't find the reason, so he had to suppress his doubts and focus on how to deal with Wang Yi.

Although it is unknown how Wang Yi's ritual actually works, judging from his choice to imprison the holy relic here and only take the heroic spirit away, Ron knows that if this thing is used well, it will definitely have a chance to shake the heroic spirit that is attached to Wang Yi!
After all... Wang Yi arrived here early and made so many preparations, yet he didn't take the relic that once carried the heroic spirit with him; there must have been a reason...

'I'll try using [Illusion Dissolve] then. Maybe I can knock Wang Yi into a state of Heroic Spirit Possession, and then use the Relic to capture the Heroic Spirit and put it under my control...'

Ron seemed to be deep in thought, a slight smile playing on his lips as he put the prank prop he had prepared for Wang Yi into his pocket.

Without further hesitation, he prepared to head straight to the evacuation point to see if he could defeat Wang Yi with his current strength.

But before he could take a step, he heard scattered footsteps coming from the street corner not far away, as if someone was rushing towards him...

Ron frowned and instinctively hid further into the shadows of a nearby house, only to see a familiar figure approaching from the street corner.

At this moment, You An walked over with a cold face, followed by a large group of examinees.

For some reason, they all had a red cloth strip tied around their arms. This cloth strip was rough and simple, obviously made from red cloth strips torn off randomly from the place in the foggy city...

'The same red ribbons... Yu'an is still at the very front... What's going on? He's formed a whole line?'

'For what purpose? To deal with Wang Yi?'

Ron frowned, his thoughts just beginning to form, when he saw Yuan approaching. Yuan's expression faltered slightly, then his gaze immediately turned cold, sweeping towards Ron's location—

"Who?! I've touched on your personal reality... Show yourself!"

'We've been discovered...'

Ron felt helpless as he watched Yuan, who had already fully activated [Gravity Control] and conjured a giant stone sphere out of thin air, preparing to smash it mercilessly towards him. He had no choice but to step out of the building's shadow.

The reason is simple... it's just that if they really fought Yu'an, they would only be asking for trouble in this structurally fragile house.

Yu An could easily have caused the building to collapse and buried Ron in the ruins by simply throwing a stone ball at it...

Using vector manipulation to reflect these collapsed ruins would be a waste of computing power. It would be better to go out into the streets and have a real fight, which would consume less computing power...

He looked at Yu'an, his [Vector Manipulation] already charged, ready to deflect the stone sphere—

But to his surprise, when Yu'an saw Ron walking out of the house, his expression froze, and then he stopped what he was doing...

"So it was you... I thought it was some magician from somewhere..."

His tone remained cold, clearly showing his dislike for Ron, but he stopped, indicating he had no intention of harming Ron.

'What's going on...? How could Yu'an actually refrain from attacking me?'

Ron frowned, somewhat puzzled, then noticed a glint in the eyes of the person next to Euan as they looked at him. They immediately spoke to Ron:

"Ron! Brother, all the physical-based superpowered individuals have united, and now we're just missing you!"

"Brother, you have no idea how unethical that Wang Yi is..."

"I don't know what kind of evil magic he used, but Wang Yi subdued the final BOSS and made him possess his body... He now has the strength to crush all of us examinees, and he even blocked the evacuation point!"

"So we've formed an alliance to take down this arrogant guy... We're just missing a genius like you to join us!"

As he was speaking, Yu'an, who was standing beside him, took over the conversation and calmly said:

"Ron, I know you must have been hiding your true abilities during the academic test, otherwise you wouldn't have only ranked eighth..."

"But this time, no matter what trump cards you have hidden, they won't be of much use when facing Wang Yi."

"So... let's join forces."

He spoke earnestly and extended his hand to Ron:

"I know you're definitely someone who doesn't give up easily, and you definitely want to win first place in this monthly exam..."

"However, after dealing with Wang Yi, if we really want to compete for first or second place, it will obviously be a matter between the two of us."

"If we cooperate to eliminate Wang Yi, then all the points will be in our hands. We can allocate them freely and precisely control the rankings—"

"I can promise that after I defeat Wang Yi, we will have a fair duel. Whoever wins the duel will get first place in this monthly exam..."

"Ron, what do you think?"

After hearing this, Ron couldn't help but sneer inwardly.

It sounds great, but what's the reality?
In the advanced examination room, killing monsters will automatically collect points. How will the point tokens be distributed?

Keep in mind that the evacuation point is right next to Wang Yi. Would the person who gets the points reward by taking down Wang Yi and the final boss really choose to allocate the points instead of taking a gamble and trying to grab a dubious first place?

The rewards for this monthly exam are incredibly attractive to both superpowered individuals and magicians!
And... does Ron have any need to cooperate with them?
When you have enough strength, the best option is to take all the winnings!

Thinking of this, Ron paused for a moment, then slowly and deliberately said:
"The distribution... The evacuation point is right next to Wang Yi. Once we truly defeat Wang Yi and get the points, who will distribute them? You will?"

“You don’t have that kind of credibility with me.”

As Ron spoke, he casually glanced at everyone and chuckled:
“I can understand you… Social animals often live in groups to cooperate and try to resist predation by higher predators—”

“Wang Yi is the wolf, and you are the sheep… It is only right that we cooperate to resist.”

"But... friends, I think you've misunderstood one thing."

"cooperate?"

Ron said, a grin spreading across his face:

"No, I am enough on my own!"

(End of this chapter)