Magic: Reincarnate from high-voltage electricity at the start, level up independently.

The boy walked slowly toward Xu Wan.

At first, the onlookers couldn't figure out his intentions and began to discuss among themselves.

The whispers around him instantly took a different turn when he began to gather dense magical power in his right palm.

"Good grief, this guy's taking advantage of her weakness! The squad leader of Class Three is a beauty, and this guy shows absolutely no chivalry. If I rushed over to be a hero and save the damsel in distress, maybe I could..."

"Ha, you dead suck-up, ugly as you are but dreaming big."

"Try saying that again!"

Xu Wan overheard the conversation of those around her. She turned her head slightly with all her might and saw that the boy was already close to her, so close that her heart sank.

She tried to get up, supporting herself on the cold ground, but her whole body was weak and sore, and the magic power in her meridians was completely exhausted. She could only lie on the ground in a sorry state, without even the strength to lift her head, looking like a stray dog.

Is this what it feels like to be powerless?

It was truly incredibly frustrating.

"If Heaven had not given birth to Xu Wan, the Dharma would have remained in eternal darkness."

A bitter smile tugged at the corners of Xu Wan's lips as she murmured softly, her tone ambiguous, neither self-mockery nor resignation clear.

The battle in the arena had reached a fever pitch, the air thick with the lingering effects of clashing magic and a faint smell of blood.

The few remaining players on the field were either at their lowest health or had exhausted their mana; they were all at their last gasp and could barely stand.

"One, two... five, seven, almost there."

Chu Ge closed his eyes and murmured to himself, his breathing steady, quietly waiting for the final moment to arrive.

On the other side of the venue.

The duel between Li Muzi and Chen Xun was the most brutal.

The two mid-level mages had already fought to the death, each move deadly, leaving no room for retreat.

"boom--"

A burst of green light erupted from Chen Xun's palm, and countless vines grew wildly, coalescing into an incredibly thick, thorny giant vine that slammed down on Li Muzi with a devastating force.

After the attack, his face turned pale, and he let out a soft sigh as his magical power was completely exhausted.

Li Muzi suddenly flipped to the side, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow. She staggered a few steps when she landed, and her situation was similar. Her magic power was also completely exhausted.

Chen Xun took two pills out of his pocket, waved them at the disheveled girl, and asked in a deep voice:

"Should we continue the fight?"

"war."

Li Muzi uttered only one word, then took out two pills from her bosom and swallowed them without hesitation.

"I'll see you through to the end."

After swallowing the pills, both of their mana bars instantly returned to full, and they were surrounded by a faint red light, causing their combat power to surge dramatically.

"A single strike can decide the outcome."

Chen Xun clenched his fists, green light gathering wildly around him, his eyes filled with a desperate ruthlessness.

"End all of this."

A chill suddenly rose from Li Muzi's body, snowflakes condensed on her shoulders, and her gaze was as cold as ice. When their eyes met, sparks flew, and they raised their hands to cast spells almost simultaneously.

"Chiba: Rising Dragon Soars to the Heavens!"

Chen Xun roared, and thousands of green leaves around him instantly grew wildly, carrying a rich wood-elemental magic power. They gathered together like a tide, layer upon layer, transforming into a giant azure dragon that blotted out the sky.

With its mouth wide open and fangs sharp, the dragon roared throughout the arena, making everyone's eardrums ache. With an aura of dominance and crushing everything, it swooped straight down towards Li Muzi, violently distorting the air wherever it passed.

"roar--!"

"Winter's Roar: Snow Dragon's Cry".

A burst of cold air erupted from Li Muzi's fingertips, and fluffy snowflakes instantly began to fall from the sky. Centered on her, the temperature within a radius of dozens of meters plummeted by tens of degrees, and thick frost instantly condensed on the ground, transforming it into a vast snowfield in the blink of an eye, with a bone-chilling cold.

Countless icicles and snowflakes frantically coalesced, and a crystal-clear, snow-white frost dragon took shape in the cold wind. Its eyes were icy, and its body was as hard as black iron. Facing the green dragon shadow that blotted out the sky, it charged forward fiercely, with the cold wind howling and carrying the power to freeze everything.

"roar--!"

This final blow completely drained all the surging magical power from their bodies, squandering the power brought by the medicine.

At this moment, they no longer cared about winning or losing; they were only fighting for the sake of fighting, only to determine the final outcome.

"boom--!!!"

The two dragons, one blue and one white, collided violently in the center of the arena. Neither side backed down, and the intense collision emitted a blinding light.

A deafening explosion swept across the entire area, and an extremely powerful shockwave spread wildly outwards from the point of impact.

The ground was riddled with cracks, and the stands trembled slightly. The few remaining contestants, barely alive, were swept away by the aftershocks before they could even scream, their figures instantly turning into jumbled messes and eliminating them from the competition.

Only the white-haired girl remained seated calmly in the center of the arena, undisturbed.

The wind whipped her hair, swirling and turning wildly, but she didn't even lift her eyelids. The earth-shattering battle around her had nothing to do with her.

The aftershocks of the collision between the two dragons dissipated, and the effects of the berserk drug had not yet worn off, but Li Muzi and Chen Xun no longer had any magic power to fight, and their health bars were only a thin sliver left.

"Aren't you going to use any props?" Chen Xun asked softly, looking at the girl in front of him.

"I gave away one of the healing pills a long time ago; I don't need it."

For Li Muzi, the amount of blood she had was not of great significance. Once a mage's magic power was exhausted, she was essentially at the mercy of others and was not far from death.

She suddenly asked curiously, "And what about yours?"

"It's already been used up."

Chen Xun gave a wry smile, then explained:

"I haven't advanced to the Magic Crystal level yet; I only temporarily possess the strength of a mid-level mage thanks to items."

In terms of true strength, I am inferior to you.

"Okay, good luck."

After saying this expressionlessly, the girl collapsed to the ground, curling up into a small ball.

Chen Xun followed closely behind.

The two mid-level mages fell down. Although they were not dead, they had completely lost their ability to fight, which was no different from being eliminated.

Chu Ge: "?"

She slowly opened her eyes, stood up, and glanced at the two people lying motionless on the ground in the distance. Her face was blank, and there was still a hint of languor in her eyes.

Is this considered... a bargain?

They didn't do anything...

Now, even if they don't want to bully the weak, they have no other choice.

Chu Ge gathered a wisp of magic power in his palm and with a casual wave, easily eliminated the two already weakened individuals.

Now, she was the only one left in the empty arena.

A murmur of disapproval immediately arose from the onlookers.

"Sigh, if I had known that sitting in the middle and not moving would have guaranteed a win, I would have definitely been the first to grab that spot."

"Dream on! If you dare sit down there, I'll be the first to punch you!"

"That's right, bro, don't be so arrogant. If you were sitting in the middle, even a passing dog would dare to mate with you."

Chu Ge stood there waiting for a long time, but the expected system announcement of "exam over" never came.

The audience also noticed something was wrong and began to discuss it, with their doubts growing louder.

"Wasn't the exam already over? Why haven't we received any notification yet?"

"Could it be that the virtual world and the real world have lost contact? That's so ridiculous!"

"If that's the case, then I want to be the Bone King!"

"You're more like a hammer than a hammer."

"As anyone who's watched anime knows, if you finish defeating a boss and the background music still plays, congratulations, that was just a warm-up, the real tough guy is about to appear."

The discussion among the crowd rose and fell, growing more and more intense, until someone suddenly noticed something amiss.

"Look at the death toll display screen; the elimination number is 279!"

"Oh, I hadn't noticed until you pointed it out. Aren't there 281 candidates taking the exam this time?"

"That's right! One person is missing!"

"I know! It's the horror movie 'The Disappearing Exam Taker'!"

"Don't scare me, this is a perfectly good fantasy exam, why is it turning into a mystery..."

Amidst the clamor of discussion, Chu Ge suddenly looked up, his gaze precisely fixed on the southwest corner of the arena.

There, a blurry figure was slowly emerging from the void.

A gasp of surprise erupted from the spectator stands:

"It's Ding Hu, the class monitor of Class Two!"

"It's him! Why is he still on the field?"

"What just happened? Did it become invisible?"

After Ding Hu appeared, he walked step by step towards Chu Ge, speaking as he went, his voice deep and resonant:

"You don't need to guess anymore, I used an invisibility item, but this item will forcibly restrict your movement after use, and you have to wait an hour for the effect to be removed."

In a short while, Ding Hu had already walked up to Chu Ge.

He was over two meters tall, with a robust and muscular build, and his shadow completely enveloped the petite Chu Ge.

Ding Hu came from a martial arts school. After awakening his magic, he entered the First Middle School. He was one of the few fire mages in the school, and his talent was among the best in the school.

No one expected that the final hidden boss of this chaotic battle would be him.

Ding Hu looked down at Chu Ge, his tone indifferent:

"White-haired Xiao Yan, everyone says you are extremely strong. I've long wanted to test my skills against you."

"Then let's fight."

Chu Ge raised her eyes to meet his gaze, her palm quietly gathering magic power, waiting for him to make the first move.

But Ding Hu shook his head: "No, you are a mid-level mage. I can't beat you in a head-on fight."

Chu Ge frowned slightly, a sense of doubt rising in his heart.

What does that mean?

Fear before the battle even begins?

She despised those with weak resolve, even less than the brave rat she had encountered before.

Just then, Ding Hu, with a coin between his fingers, suddenly tossed it into the air.

The coin landed between the two with a "clink," spinning rapidly and instantly creating a silver light screen of about five square meters, completely enveloping them.

Chu Ge's eyes widened slightly, and he immediately realized that the magic power within his body was instantly unusable, and he had lost contact with it.

Ding Hu observed her reaction and spoke calmly:

"Can't you feel the magic anymore?"

"Don't worry, the magic hasn't disappeared, it's just been temporarily sealed, and so has mine."

He explained slowly:

"The moment the coin spins, the two people closest to it will be forcibly pulled into the 'life-or-death' zone."

"Within this realm, only the most primitive hand-to-hand combat can be used to fight, and the realm will only be dispelled when one of them dies."

Ding Hu knew in his heart that relying solely on the invisibility item might not be enough to win first place.

So before the free-for-all began, he approached several weaker captains and persuaded them to hand over their special items to him, promising that if he ultimately won, he would share all the monthly exam rewards with them.

In the end, the captain of Class Six handed him the "fight to the death" coin.

After listening, Chu Ge simply responded with a faint "Yes."

"oh."

Just this one word?

Ding Hu frowned as he looked at the white-haired girl in front of him, who was barely taller than his shoulder. She was looking up at him with her big eyes.

He couldn't help but emphasize his words, speaking slowly and deliberately:

Do you even understand what I'm saying?

"You can't use magic anymore. You've become a normal person completely, understand?"

"You can only fight me hand-to-hand. I've trained in combat for years, and every move I make will defeat you, understand?"

"I could kill you with one punch, no doubt about it, understand?"

A flicker of excitement suddenly flashed in Chu Ge's previously calm eyes, and he asked expectantly:

"You mean...?"

"Ready to fight me in the octagon?"

Ding Hu: "?"