In the Secret Realm.
"Using the Great Success Stage Gray Flame Strike at full power directly drained almost half of my Star Power," Su Yuan felt the consumption in his body and shook his head slightly, "Indeed, using Green Skills that require pure Star Power is still too strenuous..."
Although Su Yuan was only at the Star Apprentice Eighth Stage, he possessed a C-level Star Power Talent, which meant the total amount of Star Power in the vortex inside him even surpassed that of Fang Kun and Lv Xinghen, who were at the Ninth Stage.
This showed that high-level Green Skills indeed had significant consumption, and weren't something someone at the Star Apprentice Level could use casually.
However, the advantage of the Gray Flame Strike lay in its speed, as fast as lightning; its power wasn't considered top-notch among Green Skills. Without going all out, Su Yuan wasn't sure he could blow off both heads of the Poison Fire Two-headed Python in one strike.
Su Yuan walked over to the side of the Poison Fire Two-headed Python in a few steps, used a locator to take a snapshot, then pulled out his long knife to find and extract its Star Core from the snake's body.
This Star Core was interwoven with red and green colors; because the Poison Fire Two-headed Python was at the Bronze Middle Stage, the Star Power fluctuation within the core was also quite strong.
"Su Yuan, you really are not simple..."
Jiang Jun stared blankly at Su Yuan, who had finished dealing with the carcass of the Two-headed Python, and still couldn't completely calm the shock in her heart.
"But really, I have to thank you this time. Otherwise, I would have had to call for help at that moment. Now, with half a day left until the end of the trial, being eliminated now might not even preserve a top twenty spot."
Not keeping a spot in the top twenty would mean no Green Skill, which was quite a blow for Jiang Jun, who came from a common background.
Su Yuan put away the Star Core and smiled, "Let's just say this makes us even for the hint you gave me during the Atlas class."
"Atlas class?" Jiang Jun was taken aback and then realized what Su Yuan meant, shaking her head, "What is that? It's a trifle."
Su Yuan casually said, "It was something I did in passing."
Jiang Jun wanted to say something more, but an exclamation came from nearby.
"That was impressive!" Lv Xinghen, carrying a longsword and striding over, looked Su Yuan up and down, "Too fierce! I'm Lv Xinghen from First Middle School, which school are you from, classmate?"
Su Yuan replied, "Fourth Middle School, Su Yuan."
Lv Xinghen naturally recognized the Fourth Middle School uniform on Su Yuan, but still found it somewhat hard to believe, "To explode the Poison Fire Two-headed Python with a single strike…Fourth Middle School actually hid such a genius, I had no idea! And that move just now, was it Instant Movement?"
Su Yuan smiled and glanced at Lv Xinghen but said nothing more.
It's generally not polite for an unfamiliar person to inquire about someone else's embedded Star Card Skills and specifics.
Lv Xinghen also realized and coughed a few times, "Ah! My apologies, I was just too shocked! Sorry, sorry!"
"It's fine," Su Yuan shook his head lightly.
Seeing the slightly pale face of Jiang Jun, Su Yuan advised her, "You should stop aiming for Bronze Star Beasts. With less than ten at the Ninth Stage participating in the trial and now that you're injured, focus on securing a spot in the top ten."
Jiang Jun nodded, "Yeah, I understand."
"Well then, that's it for now. I'm leaving."
After saying that, Su Yuan stopped paying attention to them and quickly left toward the distance.
In this Rainforest Secret Realm filled with Star Beasts, even if not for points, to obtain Star Dust, he had to make the most of the time left to hunt more Star Beasts.
"So his name is Su Yuan..." Watching Su Yuan gradually disappear into the distance, Lv Xinghen turned to Jiang Jun and asked, "How come I've never heard of such a powerful individual from Fourth Middle School before?"
"I don't know."
Jiang Jun secretly curled her lips, thinking to herself, not only you outsiders from other schools, but I also didn't know how this guy who just awakened recently could be so strong.
Of course, Jiang Jun wouldn't blab about Su Yuan's awakening just last month.
Lv Xinghen didn't ask further, merely sighing, "His strength probably isn't inferior to Kun's. With him in the mix, that third Weapon Card is likely out of our reach."
Jiang Jun casually said, "It doesn't matter to me. I'm injured anyway. As long as I can maintain my ranking and choose a good Skill, that's enough."
Not wanting a Weapon Card would be a lie, after all, there are only two special recruits but three Weapon Cards, so there's still a chance.
Originally, all those at Ninth Stage had the qualifications to compete for the last Weapon Card, but now Su Yuan has suddenly risen to prominence by killing the Poison Fire Two-headed Python with a single strike.
Such strength suggests it's not impossible for him to even surpass the two special recruits and take the lead in the trial, let alone seize a Weapon Card.
...
Time passed, and before they knew it, it was already afternoon, with only two or three hours left until the trial ended.
Inside the Secret Realm Command Center.
A city defense team member, looking at the information on the display screen, stood up and reported to Xiao Yong, "Captain Xiao, all the Bronze-level Star Beasts have been cleared!"
Before Xiao Yong could speak, Wang Haiping, in high spirits, laughed and said, "The students of this year are really extraordinary, being able to exterminate all the Bronze-level Star Beasts during the joint trial. This is the first time I can recall this happening."
Xiao Yong echoed, "Indeed it's the first time, but after all, this time we have two top academy special recruits, plus that freak..."
Xiao Yong's gaze involuntarily fell upon Su Yuan again.
The performance of this student was becoming more and more astonishing.
Suddenly recalling something, Wang Haiping spoke up, "By the way, Captain Xiao, I remember there's a rule in the joint trial that if all Bronze-level Star Beasts are defeated, then... an Elite Bronze Star Beast will be released."
"That's correct." Xiao Yong nodded, "Although we've never implemented this rule before, we do always have Elite Star Beasts on hand. Moreover, the higher-ups have just recently sent over a 'High-Level' one..."
As Xiao Yong spoke, he pressed a button on the console, and immediately, the 3D image of a formidable Star Beast with four hooves appeared on the monitor.
"Oh?" Wang Haiping showed a hint of surprise, then he smiled and said, "Such a rare breed is actually available, this time it's likely to eliminate a fair number of people early on."
After a moment of thought, Wang Haiping added, instructing, "It's very powerful, send more people there to ensure the students' safety, especially Su Yuan."
Xiao Yong casually took off his jacket and placed it aside: "Don't worry, Director Wang, I'll go there myself."
Wang Haiping smiled, "Good, then I can rest easy."
...
After killing the Poison Fire Two-headed Snake, Su Yuan went to the two neighboring red zones.
However, judging from the traces of battle and the corpses of Star Beasts, the Bronze Star Beasts in these two zones had already been killed.
"If that's the case, is this trial set to end like this?"
Su Yuan opened the map and checked, noticing that the red zones in the center of the Secret Realm were quite dense, and he had already been to them. If he moved further out, even if there were Bronze-level Star Beasts, he wouldn't have enough time to reach them.
But just then, a "beep beep beep" sound suddenly came from the locator, and at the same time, a black marker suddenly appeared on the map, right in the center of the Secret Realm, only a bit more than an hour's journey from his current location!
Upon closer inspection, this black marker was still moving.
"What's this?"
Su Yuan looked surprised, tapped on the black marker with his hand, and only a "BOSS" tag popped up.
"The final boss? There's such a thing?" Su Yuan speculated, "Even the Intermediate Bronze-level Poison Fire Two-headed Python isn't considered a BOSS, I wonder what kind of Star Beast this BOSS is—could it possibly be an Elite Star Beast?"
An idea sparked in Su Yuan's mind.
If it was an Elite Star Beast, it would be a Green Card for him and not to be missed!
Su Yuan assessed his internal state; after killing the Poison Fire Two-headed Snake, there had been no other high-intensity battles, so his Star Power had gradually recovered to about seventy percent.
"Seventy percent should be enough to use that move."
After a brief contemplation, Su Yuan looked at the slowly south-moving black marker on the map and immediately got up to pursue...