Gazing into those eyes filled with lethal intent, Andrew''s mouth opened, but before he could utter another word, a beam of white light enveloped both his body and head.


    In the blink of an eye, Andrew''s corpse disappeared from the Enchanted Forest and reappeared in the sports field of Star Cluster Academy.


    Now, apart from another instructor responsible for the assessment, he was the only figure there.


    Andrew looked around in a daze, unable to believe he was the first to be eliminated.


    Struggling to ept this reality, he shook his head, muttering, "Impossible. How could I be the first to be eliminated? It must be an illusion. Yes, it has to be an illusion. How else could I have encountered John? This must be part of the assessment.


    It has to be."


    The assessing instructor nced at Andrew, who seemed to be losing his grip on reality, and calmly dered, "Andrew, you have failed the assessment."


    The instructor''s words crushed all of Andrew''s illusions like a sledgehammer, leaving him slumped on the ground, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word.


    The audience on both sides of the sports field was also stirred.


    Passing the preliminary test of the Ster Assessment, even if one''s strength wascking, should not result in failing to survive in the dungeon for even ten minutes.


    The surrounding gazes stung Andrew.


    Suddenly, he rose to his feet and roared, "This can''t be real! How could I possibly be eliminated? And John, just someone who squeaked through the preliminary test by exploiting loopholes, how could he eliminate me? I refuse to ept this! I suspect there''s something wrong with Star Cluster Academy''s assessment!"


    The moment those words were uttered, an immediate silence fell over the entire venue.


    Every gaze turned toward Andrew, looking at him as if he were mad.


    In fact, he appeared to be exactly that.


    Star Cluster Academy, with its history of over 130 years, had never faced allegations of a wed assessment process.


    If there were ims about issues with the preliminary test, Star Cluster Academy might not respond, given that the institution doesn''t ce much emphasis on it.


    They care more about thebat assessment; the preliminary test was introducedter primarily to filter out candidates—otherwise, the assessment dungeon would be overwhelmed.


    But to im there were issues with the assessment dungeon was severe.


    Everyone knew that the Assessment Dungeon was Headmistress Sophia''s domain.


    Andrew''s statement was tantamount to using Sophia, a semi-god, of helping John cheat.


    The assessing instructor''s expression darkened.


    He looked at Andrew coldly and said, "I''ll say it once more, you have been eliminated. Now, you can choose to stay here quietly until the assessment is over, then go home to sleep, or you can choose to have me throw you out, and then you can roll home to sleep yourself."


    As he finished, a tremendous aura burst forth from the instructor, pressing down on Andrew like a mountain.


    Fear painted Andrew''s face, and he trembled all over.


    Confronted with such an oppressive force, he finally realized this was Star Cluster Academy, not a ce where he could act recklessly.


    "I''m sorry, I was impulsive. I''ll leave now!" Andrew hastily said.


    Scrambling to his feet, he dared not linger any longer.


    Bowed and defeated like a dog that had lost its home, he quickly left the sports field.


    All these events were observed by the senior members of the academy from the top of the gymnasium.


    They looked towards Sophia, noticing she was meditating with her eyes closed, seemingly unconcerned.


    The group exchanged nces, shrugged their shoulders, and continued their conversation and tea-drinking without giving the matter much thought.


    Such incidents weremon and not worth fussing over.


    They had even encountered a situation before where an assessment participant, unable to ept reality, nned to blow up Star Cluster Academy with explosives the day after failing the assessment, an act that was beyond shocking.


    Vice Chancellor Geoffrey sat on the sofa, sipping his coffee, the silver mirror in his hand disying John.


    His gaze, however, was fixed on the blood-colored longsword in John''s hands, filled with curiosity.


    After a long look, Geoffrey frowned and said to the others, "Doesn''t the item in this kid''s hand look a lot like a divine artifact?"


    At his words, everyone was startled and turned their attention to the longsword in John''s hands.


    Then, exmations of astonishment echoed around the top of the gymnasium.


    Sophia''s brows furrowed, and she said, "Quiet."


    Hearing this, everyone quickly lowered their voices.


    With over ten thousand assessment participants entering her domain, even Sophia needed to expend a significant amount of mind power to maintain its operation, so they dared not disturb her further.


    A department head eximed, "Though it''s damaged, the item in this kid''s hand is indeed a divine artifact."


    An instructor, looking envious, said, "He''s only at the silver-tier, right? Where did he get a divine artifact from? Even sage-tier powerhouses would have a hard time obtaining such items!"


    Another instructor, with graying hair, frowned andmented, "The aura from this knife feels somewhat familiar to the aura of House Carter, yet it seems not quite the same."


    A department head pondered for a moment, then said, "I remember two months ago, a dark god secret realm rted to House Carter appeared near Sterburg. At that time, the Dusk Sect also caused quite amotion in Sterburg, and the former heir of House Carter died in that secret realm. This guy might have obtained this divine artifact from that secret realm."


    Vice Chancellor Geoffrey realized, "That means he must be the same kid who killed Rean back then, and it seems he''s associated with Victor."


    This mention jogged everyone''s memory.


    After all, the incident in Sterburg had been a big deal, well-known throughout the Imperial Capital.


    However, two months had passed, and given the distance, they hadn''t immediately connected the dots.


    An instructor mused, "So it''s him. No wonder I found his name so familiar. It''s no surprise he managed to kill Rean. With that divine artifact, there''s probably no defense he can''t break, short of the gods."


    The instructor with graying hairmented with satisfaction, "We''ve got quite a few promising talents this year. Including this genius from Hidden Stars, we have four top-tier talents alone, aside from the second miss of House Medici and thisd. That girl with the sword and another named Matthew are also impressive."


    Another instructor chuckled bitterly, "It should be three. I heard this guy blew up seven or eight testing Crystal Balls during the test. We can''t determine his talent or aptitude just yet."


    Geoffreyughed, "Regardless, he can''t be far off. Victor wouldn''t have taken a special interest in him otherwise. It seems Star Cluster Academy has found itself a treasure this time."


    The other instructors nodded in agreement, their faces showing satisfied smiles.


    Knowing about these talents, they no longer worried about the academy''s performance.


    This year''s Academy Competition promised to be quite interesting.


    ...


    Unaware of the discussions taking ce outside, John continued his endeavor within the Enchanted Forest.


    After eliminating Andrew, John gained his 70 points, reaching a total of 120 points and climbing to the 34th rank.


    In just a short while, the top three contenders had already surpassed 300 points, and those in the top ten were approaching or had reached 200 points.


    John shook his head.


    Thesepetitors were indeed relentless.


    With his fellow candidates putting in so much effort, John felt it improper to ck off.


    He began to move swiftly through the Enchanted Forest, heading towards its core area.


    Along the way, the monsters he encountered couldn''t withstand even one of his skills.


    [You have killed a lv28 "Treant (Normal)" and gained 45000 Exp!]


    [You have killed a lv32 "Ghost-Faced Spider (Elite)" and gained 130000 Exp!]


    [You have killed a lv36 "Venomous Centipede (Normal)" and gained 97000 Exp!]


    ...


    Vividly colored skills continuously flew from John''s hands, each inflicting massive damage, and seldom did any monster necessitate a second skill for defeat.


    As John ventured deeper into the Enchanted Forest, the level of the monsters he encountered progressively increased, as did the points and experience they yielded.


    John''s Exp and points began to surge rapidly.


    It wasn''t long before he was enveloped in a white glow of leveling up.


    [Your level has increased to lv26, and you have gained 20 free attribute points!]


    He allocated all the free attribute points to Spirit.


    At this point, John''s mind power attribute was nearing 2600 points, with ordinary skill damage reaching a terrifying 250000.


    Meanwhile, John''s points had umted to 1209, propelling him into the top 3 of the points leaderboard.


    The first ce on the leaderboard had changed to Isabe, with points reaching 1310.


    Amelia was closely behind in second ce, with 1228 points.


    The previously third-ranked Jonathan had fallen out of the top 10, whereabouts unknown.


    The fourth ce had be someone named Matthew, the golden-haired youth John had noticed in the sports field.


    John''s rapid ascent in points naturally drew much attention.


    In the core area of the Enchanted Forest, Isabe, wrapped in intense mes, reduced a lv35 elite monster to ashes, once again iming the top spot on the leaderboard.


    However, before she could revel in surpassing Amelia, Isabe noticed John ranked third.


    The sight of his name left her astonished.


    Isabe eximed in shock, "When did he climb to third ce?!"