Gao Wu: Oh no! Young Master Zhen is a cultivator!

Inside the cave, Sun Jinghuan was still relentlessly attacking the giant crocodile blocking the entrance.

The Flaming Blade slashed repeatedly at the Megalodon's head and back, reducing the crocodile's health to one-third.

Hearing the commotion outside, he paused slightly in his movements with the Flame Blade.

Then Lin Ran rushed over, stepping on the head of the giant crocodile blocking the cave entrance, and nodded to Sun Jinghuan.

"Thank you for helping to lure the monster, Young Master Sun."

As soon as he finished speaking, the long knife in his hand pierced the center of the Megalodon's skull.

The blade pierced through the skull and went through the entire cranial cavity.

The Megalodon's body froze for a moment before turning into specks of light.

Points +2000.

In total, Lin Ran had received 7,100 points from Sun Jinghuan.

Looking at the leaderboard, his total score was now more than double that of the second-place player.

The flames in Sun Jinghuan's hand died down, his eyes filled with confusion: "How did you do that?"

"Of course, it was done with a knife." Lin Ran twirled the knife. "If you want to see more details, we'll demonstrate it again on the stage after the mock exam."

Unfortunately, the points competition only allows competition, not elimination.

Just as soldiers can compete for military merits on the battlefield, they are absolutely not allowed to attack their comrades.

The intention behind this rule is also quite clear.

The goal is to encourage competition among students while ensuring that relatively outstanding students are not directly eliminated by more outstanding students.

Therefore, this mock exam is called a points-based competition, not an elimination round.

Knowing he was no match for Lin Ran, Sun Jinghuan didn't engage in a fight and walked straight out of the cave.

Two family henchmen quickly followed, also without uttering a word.

Sun Jinghuan now only has two choices left.

Either keep fighting the Tier 3 mutated beasts, only to have the final blow stolen just as you're about to finish them off.

Either fight only mutated beasts below the second tier, quickly end the battle, and don't give Lin Ran a chance to make a move.

Both options frustrated him.

The first path was clearly blocked, and the second path would result in slow point accumulation. He really messed up this mock exam.

However, he still had to make a choice eventually.

In the time that followed, he specifically targeted mutated creatures that were easy to kill instantly, determined not to give Lin Ran a chance to finish him off.

After following for half an hour, Lin Ran finally ran out of patience and walked in the opposite direction.

For the next two hours, he swept along the edge of the island on his own.

First-tier crystal-shelled worms, void soft-touch larvae, scale-clawed crabs, and miasma-feathered sparrows; second-tier phantom spiders, rock-backed sea lizards, and miasma pythons—I dealt with whatever I saw on the spot.

After passing through a dense forest, the terrain suddenly opened up ahead.

A rocky beach extends from the edge of the treeline, with pebbles of varying sizes, some as tall as a person and others only reaching the ankle.

The stones on the ground had a dark purple sheen, as if they had been soaked in some element for a long time.

In the center of the rocky beach stood a humanoid creature more than two meters tall.

Its body is made of deep purple crystalline rock, with glowing crack patterns embedded in its joints, and a ring of rotating stone fragments around its body.

The Rift Rock Demon looks intimidating, but it's actually only at Tier 1.

The prototype of this thing is not a creature native to Earth, but an elemental creation from a spacetime rift somewhere.

"Hey! Big guy!" Lin Ran called out to it.

The Rift Rock Demon sensed the intruder, and the rings of shattered rocks around its body suddenly accelerated, sending dozens of fist-sized stones hurtling towards Lin Ran.

Ding ding ding!

Lin Ran swung his long sword, scattering the rubble everywhere.

At the same time, he strode forward and slashed the Rock Demon in the chest with his sword.

Click!

The core crystal shattered, and the crack patterns faded.

Points +50.

One fell to the ground, while two more Rift Rock Demons rose from the pile of rubble at the edge of the rocky beach.

Lin Ran didn't give them time to react, slicing them off one by one, clean and efficient.

After going around in circles, he ran into Sun Jinghuan again.

In the jungle, a second-tier miasma python was engaged in a fierce battle with Sun Jinghuan and his two companions.

Lin Ran moved with lightning speed, taking a swift step forward and, with a swift stroke, wielded his blade, securing two hundred points.

"Thank you, Young Master Sun!"

"What are you doing?" Sun Jinghuan stood there, fists clenched. "Are you ever going to stop?"

Seeing that Sun Jinghuan had already broken down, Lin Ran waved his hand again: "Well, you go ahead and do your work, I'll come find you later!"

After saying that, he quickly slipped away without waiting for Sun Jinghuan's response.

During this time, they encountered Zhao Meng being attacked by scaled crabs and helped him out.

Zhao Meng was speechless: "Seriously? You're already number one on the leaderboard, and you still want to steal my points?"

"Ahem... well, I'm used to grabbing things like this, it just happens to me." Lin Ran looked slightly embarrassed.

Zhao Meng rubbed his head and said irritably, "You seem to be doing this quite easily. Do you think it's easy for me to lure this bunch of monsters?"

"Why lure them together to fight?" Lin Ran asked, puzzled.

Although the shell of this clawed crab is relatively hard, it is ultimately just a mutated creature.

With Zhao Meng's ninth-level Body Tempering cultivation, he could have easily killed them quickly; he shouldn't have been surrounded by a group of Scaled Claw Crabs.

"I lured these guys out from the shore of the lake in the middle of the island."

Zhao Meng pointed to the middle of the island: "There's a Tier 3 Tide Giant over there. If we don't lure it away, it will attack us."

"Tidal Giant?" Lin Ran raised an eyebrow.

Like the Rift Rock Demon, this thing is also an elemental creature.

Its entire body is made of water, making it immune to most physical attacks and a small number of elemental attacks.

It can change shape, and it's fine even if its body is pierced.

"Yes!" Zhao Meng nodded. "That thing is ridiculously strong, I can only avoid it."

"Alright, let me have a go at it!"

After saying that, Lin Ran headed straight for the lake in the center of the island.

Zhao Meng's voice came from behind: "Brother Ran, that thing is tough to deal with, be careful!"

Lin Ran waved to him with his back turned, and his figure quickly disappeared into the forest.

The lake in the center of the island is a deep blue color, and an elemental creature with a head and face but no hands and feet is swimming on the surface.

As it moved, ripples spread across the water's surface.

As Lin Ran approached, he heard someone call out from the side, "Brother Lin Ran!"

Chu Xining peeked out from behind a boulder, smiling and waving at him.

As soon as Chu Xining shouted, the Tide Giant turned its head.

It raised its translucent arm, and a ball of water condensed in its palm, hurtling towards the boulder where Chu Xining was hiding with a whooshing sound.

Chu Xining quickly shrank back behind the rock.

Whoosh!

The water ball grazed the edge of the boulder, then crashed into the tree trunk behind it, exploding into a white spray.

Lin Ran slipped behind the boulder and rolled his eyes at her: "Why are you being so clumsy?"

"I'm just happier when I see Brother Lin Ran." Chu Xining stuck out her tongue.

"What are you doing hiding here?" Lin Ran asked casually, then suddenly realized, "You want to deal with this guy?"

"Hmm!" Chu Xining nodded: "My talent happens to counter it, so I want to give it a try."

Lin Ran peeked half his face out from the edge of the boulder and glanced at the Tide Giants still searching for their target on the lake surface.

"If you can freeze it, I can help you launch a permanent freeze strategy."

"What is permafrost flow?" Chu Xining blinked twice.

"It's about freezing it completely, not giving it a chance to fight back."

Chu Xining's eyes lit up: "Is that okay?"

"If you can freeze it, then you can."

"But what if it hits me as soon as I go out?" Chu Xining pointed to the Tide Giant that was approaching them on the lake.

Lin Ran remained calm: "Simple. I'll attract its attention, you just need to unleash your power. Try to freeze it in one go."

"Okay." Chu Xining nodded emphatically, her hands already beginning to gather cold energy.