Chapter 14: Li Yang’s Unexpected Triumph – The Underdog Who Conquered the Rankings

Li Yang’s smile grew even brighter.

The exotic plants in the danger zone were indeed different.

Just cutting down one of them was worth two days of her previous efforts.

In that case, was the four-leaf clover in Heqing Community also a high-grade first-class plant?

Li Yang’s smile shocked the other candidates present.

Their minds were filled with one thought: She Is Laughing Maniacally!

She held an axe, facing the remains of the man-eating flower… and laughed uncontrollably!

The examiners in the control room: “…”

Why was she laughing?

Surely, she wasn’t getting addicted to the fight and planning to wipe out all the first-class exotic plants in the quarantine zone, right?

Li Yang quickly stopped laughing and swiftly conducted a review.

It was still very dangerous.

The man-eating flower was extremely vicious.

Its sprayed seeds were poisonous, and its gaping mouth had steel-like teeth.

If it weren’t for Chen Song pulling in front, she wouldn’t have been able to harvest it so easily.

And this was just a first-class exotic plant!

The lowest tier of exotic plants!

Li Yang still felt a lingering fear and muttered, “Exotic plants are indeed ruthless.”

It was better to rely on the agricultural department on plants with extremely high safety ratings, like four-leaf clovers and golden wheat.

She was harvesting exotic plants to extend her life, not to lose it!

Li Yang reaffirmed her goal.

The other candidates were still in a daze.

It was only after hearing her words that they slowly regained their senses.

What did she say?

Who was ruthless?

That so-called “ruthless” exotic plant had just been smashed to bits by her, while she laughed maniacally!

Who was actually more ruthless here?

Li Yang looked up at them and said, “I’m leaving.

Take care, everyone.”

They had destroyed her overnight spot, but they had also helped her gain ten years of life.

It was a fair trade.

Before anyone could respond, Li Yang had already dashed toward the nearest safe zone without looking back.

Chen Song: “…”

He opened his mouth, wanting to say, “I was wrong before, I’m sorry,” but he never got the chance.

The others panicked and called out, “Brother Chen!”

Chen Song didn’t stay either.

“I’m leaving too.”

Since sticking together was no longer an option, there was no point in forming a team.

The poisoned student, having no other choice, pressed the emergency rescue button.

An invigilator quickly arrived, but as he took the student away, he couldn’t help but glance repeatedly in the direction where Li Yang had disappeared.

Finally, he looked at the poisoned student with disdain, his expression full of disappointment “Couldn’t you have pressed the button earlier?

I wanted to watch the ‘Big Sensation’ up close.”

Yes, without Li Yang knowing, she had already become the hottest candidate in the East Hua Province practical combat exam zone.

The students might not have noticed, but the invigilators were monitoring the points leaderboard in real-time Li Yang had gained another 20 points, holding the top spot with an overwhelming lead of 200 points.

Li Yang quickly found a new overnight spot.

After settling in, she summoned her system panel.

Name: Li Yang

Lifespan: 14 years / 50 years

Physique: 90

Spirit: 90

Note: Only 14 years of lifespan remain.

Please harvest plants as soon as possible to extend life.

Li Yang felt reassured.

Now, there was no need to panic.

Even if she failed to get into the Agricultural Department of Zhongdu Military Academy this year, she would still have chances next year, the year after, and the year after that!

She no longer rushed to increase her physique and spirit values.

Both were already at 90, which was definitely enough before she became a Starbearer.

Besides, what was 14 years of life?

The average lifespan in this world was around seventy or eighty years, and she hadn’t even reached that yet!

That night, she slept soundly without dreams.

On the third day, instead of running around, Li Yang stayed in the safe zone, determined to hunt down any leftover plants she had missed.

Her persistence paid off.

With her exceptional 90-point spirit perception, she managed to locate the small exotic plants she had overlooked on the first day.

After a busy morning, she had gained another year of life.

The examiners in the control room were speechless.

They had expected Li Yang to sweep through the first-class exotic plants…

But instead, she had started systematically hunting down the lowest-tier ones.

Honestly, they were beginning to feel sorry for those exotic plants.

One by one, before they even had the chance to do anything bad, they were uprooted completely.

By the afternoon of the third day, as the practical combat exam was nearing its end, the chief examiner’s voice echoed throughout the special quarantine zone and was transmitted to all candidates through the rescue devices.

“Please check your rescue devices.

The current rankings for the exam will now be announced.”

Li Yang was startled and quickly took out her rescue device.

The so-called rescue device was actually a small communicator with a large red button.

Pressing it would immediately call an invigilator for rescue.

Of course, in special cases, a voice command could also summon help.

Besides the red button, the rescue device had an optical projector similar to a mini projector.

As the chief examiner’s voice fell, a small screen was projected in front of each candidate.

At the top, bold words read:

301st East Hua Province First Batch Practical Exam Score Rankings.

Below were names and scores.

The screen was small, and the text was dense.

Before Li Yang could focus on reading, the chief examiner continued, “Candidates who rank in the top 20 will have the right to choose their own school.”

Li Yang: “!”

She had guessed correctly!

While the ranking didn’t determine whether someone passed the exam, the top 20 candidates would have the privilege of choosing their own schools!

Top 20 out of 200 people…

Li Yang started to feel nervous.

The only mutant creature she had truly killed was the man-eating flower from last night… right?

Although it was a high-grade first-class plant, there had only been one, and five people had fought it together.

If the points were split, there was no way she would make it into the top 20!

The names of the top three were hidden.

Without thinking twice, Li Yang ignored them and quickly scrolled down to find her own name.

Tenth place an old acquaintance, Fang Chuyun.

Impressive, the fiercest person in Huangcheng.

Twentieth place another familiar name, Chen Song.

It seemed his efforts over the past two days hadn’t been in vain, as he had managed to kill a few mutant creatures.

Li Yang kept scrolling.

She was already sure she wasn’t in the top 20.

She just hoped her ranking wasn’t too low, so she could try to climb higher in the afternoon.

The chief examiner was probably announcing the scores now to encourage candidates to seize the last opportunity and earn more points.

Sixty-sixth place another familiar name, Yu Hongyuan.

This Young Master Yu, who had practically drugged his way into the exam, had a very neat score—a perfectly round zero.

Yes, Yu Hongyuan’s score was zero.

Scrolling further down, there was a long list of names, all with big, round zeroes, up until around rank 100.

After that, the names were grayed out, meaning those candidates hadn’t survived and had been eliminated.

Li Yang felt a chill in her heart.

“There’s no way I have zero points…”

She returned to rank 66 and began checking upwards, trying to find her name.

Nothing.

Her name wasn’t there.

Li Yang turned to look at the top three hidden names.

“?”

Her head was filled with question marks.

Had she really made it to the top three?

Did those ugly shrubs, little broken flowers, and scrappy weeds actually count for points?

The chief examiner spoke, “The top three candidates have a chance to become this year’s Provincial Champion, Runner-up, and Third Place.”

All the candidates in the quarantine zone finished browsing the rankings and turned their curious eyes toward the three hidden names.

Most of them were thinking the same thing:

“Zhong Qian is definitely first place.”

“Who are second and third?”

“Jiang Yuqing is actually in fourth place…”

If they weren’t all avoiding gathering in groups, they would have already started heated discussions.

Of course, in their minds, there was absolutely no way the name “Li Yang” was among the top three.

The chief examiner continued, “Ranked third is Lin Zhaoqin, with 120 points.”

Lin Zhaoqin’s name and score finally appeared on the rescue device screen.

At the same time, the chief examiner announced her achievements.

“Lin Zhaoqin eliminated 20 first-tier low-level mutant creatures in two and a half days, earning 100 points.

She also eliminated two first-tier mid-level mutant creatures, earning 20 points.”

All the candidates who heard this gasped repeatedly.

Incredible!

Lin Zhaoqin truly lived up to her reputation as a prodigy!

She had actually taken down so many mutant creatures!

The chief examiner continued, “Ranked second is Zhong Qian, with 140 points.”

This announcement caused an uproar.

Candidates scattered throughout the quarantine zone started doubting their own ears.

What?

Zhong Qian was in second place?

The chief examiner’s calm voice continued.

“Zhong Qian eliminated 20 first-tier low-level mutant creatures, earning 100 points.

He also eliminated two first-tier mid-level mutant creatures, earning 20 points.

Additionally, he took down one first-tier high-level mutant creature, earning 20 points.”

Someone couldn’t help but shout, “Holy shit!

No wonder he’s called God Zhong he even took down a high-tier one!

That’s insane!”

“He cleared out every single mutant creature in Group 3, didn’t he?

If I had been in Group 3, I would’ve gotten a free pass to victory!”

“Wait… this has to be a mistake.

If Zhong Qian only placed second, then who the hell is first?!”

On the rescue device’s projected screen, everyone saw that Zhong Qian was only in second place.

The mystery of the hidden first-place candidate made them even more curious.

Among the nearly 100 candidates who were about to pass the exam, only a few had figured out the truth.

In Group 1, Fang Chuyun stared intently at the ranking list, with one name lingering in her mind Li Yang.

In Group 8, Chen Song was hiding in a tree hollow, lips tightly pressed together as he stared at the rankings, his heart fixated on one name Li Yang.

In Group 20, Yu Hongyuan, covered in dirt, was lying low in a pile of dry grass.

He had been cursing this damned exam for two days and nights.

Now, as he stared at the rankings in shock, he muttered, “No way, no way…

Mom couldn’t have been that sharp-eyed, right?”

The chief examiner finally revealed the name of the top-ranked candidate.

“Ranked first is Li Yang.

She…”

After a brief pause, the chief examiner announced her score.

“She earned 220 points.”

All the candidates: “???”

The control room exploded.

Not because the examiners were arguing, but because the candidates’ voices, transmitted through the rescue devices, had created a chaotic uproar in the control room.

“What the hell!

Who is Li Yang?!”

“220 points?!

How is that even possible?!”

“Where did this nobody come from, completely destroying Zhong Qian, Lin Zhaoqin, and Jiang Yuqing?!”

“What kind of ridiculous score is this?!

Have the examiners lost their minds, or have I?!”

Forget the others Li Yang herself was stunned.

Uh…

No way…

Did those ugly shrubs, little broken flowers, and scrappy weeds really count for points?

The chief examiner rubbed his forehead, bracing himself as he continued.

“Li Yang eliminated 100 non-ranked exotic plants, earning 200 points…”

As soon as he said this, the control room erupted in an even louder uproar.

“Non-ranked exotic plants count for points?!”

“She killed how many?!”

The chief examiner ignored the chaos and continued,

“Li Yang also eliminated one first-tier high-level exotic plant, earning 20 points.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the control room fell into a strange two-second silence.

Then the noise exploded again.

One of the teachers monitoring the screens had to ask, “Chief examiner, should we mute the audio?”

The chief examiner, now with a splitting headache, sighed, “Mute it.”

The control room fell silent, but the entire quarantine zone erupted into madness.

Candidates hidden in their respective spots couldn’t hold back their shock.

If their astonishment could materialize, it would probably blow up the entire quarantine zone.

The rescue device screens now displayed the complete rankings.

Forget the others Li Yang herself was dumbfounded.

The chief examiner remained expressionless as he continued his announcement.

“There are four hours left until the exam ends.

For the remaining time, we will remove the barriers between groups.

Candidates aiming for the top 20 in the rankings may now cross into other areas to challenge mutant creatures.”