Chapter 160: Abnormal Display of Magic Power

When he walked off the stage, Evelyn was waiting for him at the entrance of the passageway. “Good presentation.”

“What about your Flame Compression?”

Evelyn shrugged. “Nothing new. I’ll be lucky to get an average score, but that’s not the point!” She winked at Chen Shang, who naturally knew what she meant. She was waiting for the practical combat phase. That Divine Artifact of hers would definitely shock a lot of people.

The results of the first assessment were soon announced. Chen Shang ranked seventh in overall score. There were many capable individuals among the apprentices, but the uniqueness of his Samadhi True Flame had earned him quite a few points.

Soon, it was time for the second phase: the basic ability test.

The testing hall was located on the second underground floor of the arena. It consisted of a row of small, enclosed rooms, each containing nothing but a single instrument and a chair. The apprentices entered one by one according to their number tags to test three metrics: Constitution, Spirit, and Magic Power. The instrument automatically recorded and uploaded the data in real time.

Chen Shang’s Constitution tested at 125, and his Spirit at 130. This was an increase of a few points compared to before, marking steady progress. After all, the growth of Spiritual Power didn’t happen overnight.

His Magic Power, however, was a different story. When he placed his hand on the instrument, his Spiritual Power sank into his three Magic Springs. The main spring, the second spring, and the third spring surged simultaneously. The numbers on the instrument jumped wildly, causing even the examiner to cast a sidelong glance before finally settling at 342.

“Your Magic Power Value?” The First Level Wizard’s gaze swept over him, though he politely refrained from using his Spiritual Power to probe Chen Shang.

“Ah, I opened up Multiple Magic Springs…” Chen Shang offered a brief explanation.

“Incredible. You’re only a Second Level Apprentice, right? Keep up the good work!” the First Level Wizard praised, recording the score.

By the time Chen Shang walked out of the testing hall, quite a few people who had finished their tests had already gathered in the lobby outside. Soon, gazes fell upon him, sizing him up. At the same time, hushed whispers broke out, rippling through the lobby like waves on water.

“How could a Second Level Apprentice have a Magic Power of over three hundred?”

“Did he use some kind of amplification device?”

“Is the machine broken?”

“His name is Chen Shang. He’s the genius Lord Haimer mentioned… Rumor has it that he possesses Multiple Magic Springs, which explains that monstrous Magic Power.”

Someone who had read Chen Shang’s paper spoke up to explain, and only then did the others come to a sudden realization.

Evelyn leaned against the wall and glanced at Chen Shang without a hint of surprise on her face. She had long known about his absurd Magic Power.

Solem squeezed through the crowd with a smile. “Chen, your Magic Power Value is a bit ridiculous. I scored 152, which is less than half of yours.”

Baal poked his head out from the side, his face pale. “I only got 109. Your Cultivation speed is way too fast!”

Chen Shang just smiled and said nothing.

Soon, the comprehensive ability test began. Each apprentice had to connect their Spiritual Power to the Wizard Celestial Net and enter a separate assessment space. There, they would face randomly generated Elemental Puppets and had to defeat as many as possible within a time limit.

Chen Shang put on the Spiritual Power connection device and closed his eyes. The world shattered into countless tiny points of light before restructuring itself in the darkness. A moment later, he stood on a wasteland. The sky was grayish-white, devoid of clouds or a sun. In the distance, newly generating Elemental Puppets radiated various colors of light.

The first puppet quickly materialized before him. It stood about two meters tall, its entire body wreathed in flames. It was a Fire Elemental Puppet.

Chen Shang didn’t use any special Witchcraft. He directly activated the Eye of Truth, extended a single finger, and condensed a drop of One-Element Heavy Water compressed to the absolute limit. Although it was only the size of a fingernail, its density was incredibly high, causing the surrounding air to warp slightly.

The Eye of Truth located the Elemental Puppet’s weak point. Then, the Energy Ball ejected outward. The sphere traced a straight line through the air, precisely striking a specific energy node on the puppet’s body. The puppet instantly shattered, dissipating into motes of light.

Although the system didn’t provide real-time scoring, he could sense that using the Eye of Truth to find weak points and following up with counter-attribute Witchcraft yielded devastating results.

Immediately after, a second puppet emerged from the ground. This was an Earth Elemental Puppet, twice the size of the first one. Under Chen Shang’s attack, it quickly crumbled into pieces.

Third, fourth, fifth. The variety of Elemental Puppets increased, their attributes became more complex, and their tiers grew higher. However, his response remained consistent: his Eye of Truth locked onto their nodes, and he used compressed elements for precision strikes. He used no unnecessary Magic and wasted no extra Magic Power.

When the thirty-fifth puppet dissipated, the system signaled that time was up, and he was teleported out of the Virtual Space.

The scores were released a few minutes later. Chen Shang’s efficiency ratio ranked fifth in the Second Level Apprentice group, and his comprehensive ability score ranked fourth. Combined with his results from the first two tests, his overall ranking was sixth—a rather outstanding achievement.

Baal didn’t pass. His comprehensive ability score was too low, dropping his overall ranking outside the top hundred. But he wasn’t dismayed; instead, he sighed in relief.

“Bro, I’ll just focus on doing business to earn resources and improve steadily. This kind of assessment really isn’t for me.”

Chen Shang didn’t try to persuade him otherwise. Everyone had their own path.

Evelyn ranked thirty-fifth overall. Because the virtual arena did not allow external equipment, she had to rely entirely on her own strength. Solem ranked forty-first overall. The other members of their small circle had similar scores.

The people on Senior Sister Leia’s list all ranked quite high, practically sweeping the top ten. This was especially true for that Alicia, who took first place overall. He didn’t know what method she used, but her comprehensive ability value was incredibly high.

The only exception was the Illusionist named Kali, as Illusion Techniques had mediocre destructive power against Elemental Puppets. People like her were similar to Evelyn—they both planned to rely on the practical combat phase to earn their points.

“Fortunately, I also plan to earn points in practical combat!” Chen Shang silently memorized the names of these formidable figures and quietly waited for the combat phase to begin.