The masked man slowly turned around.

He looked at the five examinees behind him with hollow eyes and stiff movements.

He reached out his hand, and a trace of faint black Qi stretched out from his fingertips, gently brushing across the bodies of the five people.

Moments later, he withdrew his hand and shook his head somewhat disappointedly.

"Three A-Ranks, two B-Ranks."

"How boring."

"Not even a single S-Rank."

He tilted his head and looked deep into the jungle, his voice under the mask carrying a hint of pleasant hoarseness.

"It seems we need to hurry up and find our other little friends."

As his voice fell, he turned around and took a step.

Behind him, five figures followed closely in unison, stepping with uniform paces like the most loyal marionettes.

Soon, they disappeared into the dense jungle.

This scene was not noticed by anyone.

At this moment, all the camera angles and popularity of the National Examination official live broadcast room were focused on another team.

Having learned the lesson of getting deflated by that crosstalk Master in Magic City.

Zhou Huai's actions became even more prompt and resolute.

He no longer even gave his opponents any chance to speak.

As long as they entered his field of vision, it was a set of smooth and flowing combo skills.

【Forbidden Spell: Geocenter Gravity Field】 for first-hand control.

【Forbidden Spell: Meteor Rain】 to follow up with destruction.

Can't take them away in one wave?

Then just add another 【Forbidden Spell: Thousand Mile Ice Seal】.

Under absolute strength suppression, any tactics appeared pale and powerless.

In just two short hours.

Exactly eighteen provincial teams and over eighty examinees had been sent out of Triple Island by him in this unreasonable manner.

Of course, there were also a few examinees with extremely fast reactions or special life-saving skills who narrowly escaped the moment the Meteor Fire Rain fell.

They became birds startled by the mere twang of a bow, frantically spreading the information across the island.

By now, most of the surviving teams already knew.

A Demon King had entered this year's National Examination.

See one team, annihilate one team.

Terrifying to this extent.

The bullet comments in the live broadcast room had long since changed from intense discussions at the beginning to uniform exclamations and teasing.

【Champion? What champion is there still to discuss? Who else could the top scholar this year be besides that Forbidden Spell Mage?】

【The only suspense now is whether Dongning Province can actually eliminate all the remaining teams!】

【I bet a pack of spicy strips that he can! This is simply a dimensional reduction strike!】

【I am one hundred percent sure now that he is definitely an SS-Rank Expert! Otherwise, it's impossible to have such a perverted suppression force!】

...

Meanwhile.

Imperial Capital, National Examination General Command Center.

At this moment, inside a spacious office on the top floor of the command center, the atmosphere seemed somewhat different.

An old man wearing a crisp general's uniform with two dazzling general's stars on his shoulders was staring intently at the huge light screen in front of him.

On the light screen was precisely the figure of Gandalf.

Zhang Donglai, General of the Great Xia Nation Military Department and the person in charge of this National Examination.

His fingers were lightly and rhythmically tapping on the desktop.

"General."

An assistant wearing a civilian uniform walked in quickly and handed over a newly printed document.

"It has been confirmed with Li Gang of Dongning Province."

"That examinee registered under the name 'Gandalf', and his profession is an Forbidden Spell Mage."

The assistant's voice paused, carrying a trace of uncontainable excitement.

"The preliminary rating given by Li Gang's side is suspected to be... an SS-Rank!"

"Snap!"

Zhang Donglai's fingers tapping on the desktop suddenly stopped.

He took the document, but his gaze did not leave the screen.

A moment later, a low chuckle came from his chest, and he said three words in succession.

"Good! Good! Good!"

"My Great Xia Nation has finally waited for the third SS-Rank!"

He slowly stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, and overlooked this massive steel metropolis.

"These past few years, we have needed such news far too much!"

His voice was low, carrying a hint of vicissitudes.

"The old principal of Imperial Capital Academy and the old marshal of the military department, they are all old."

"How many more years can they guard this country?"

The assistant behind him lowered his head, not daring to reply.

He knew very well what kind of heavy burden was suppressed in this Old General's heart.

In recent years, Great Xia Nation seemed peaceful and prosperous, but undercurrents were actually surging.

External pressures had never lessened.

Sakura Country, which had the deepest conflict with Great Xia Nation, had been like high-octane chicken blood these past two years, popping up two consecutive SS-Rank Experts. Coupled with the two veteran ones, there were a full four SS-Rank Experts, and their arrogance had reached the extreme.

Not to mention that well-deserved superpower—the Freedom Federation.

Leaving aside the SSS-Rank standing at the apex of the world pyramid, just the SS-Rank Experts alone numbered as many as seven.

Yet Great Xia Nation had been slow to produce any new forces.

This had always been a sharp sword hanging over the hearts of all high-ranking military officials.

"Now, we have finally waited for it too."

Zhang Donglai turned around, unable to conceal the joy on his face.

"And furthermore, a mage with such terrifying attack power!"

The staff officer aside hesitated for a moment before speaking, "General, this Gandalf's strength is completely of a crushing grade among these examinees."

"Should we... intervene slightly?"

"Lest we strike the other examinees too hard, especially those two from the Imperial Capital. Their pride is high, and I'm afraid..."

Zhang Donglai waved his hand, interrupting him.

"No need."

He sat back down in his chair, a meaningful smile appearing on his face.

"For young people, suffering a little blow is a good thing."

"Let them see in advance what it means that there is always a heaven beyond heaven, and a person beyond person."

"As for intervention?"

He chuckled softly.

"Whatever he wants to do, let him do it."

"I estimate that audiences across the country want to see this scene right now."

"It's also time to let people from other countries see just how astonishing the new generation SS-Rank of our Great Xia Nation is!"

...

On Triple Island.

At the entrance of a valley, three teams comprising fifteen examinees were falling into a bizarre standoff.

They were not fighting, just cautiously maintaining a distance from each other.

One of the teams was precisely the Magic City team that had narrowly escaped.

The other two were representative teams from the Imperial Capital and Chuan Capital.

Headed by the Imperial Capital team were a handsome man and a beautiful woman with outstanding temperaments.

The man had a tall and straight figure, a handsome face, wore a set of silver light armor, held a rune spear, and had eyes as sharp as an eagle.

As for the woman, she was dressed in an aqua-blue magic robe, possessed exquisite beauty, and had a cold and aloof temperament like an ice lotus on the peak of a snowy mountain.

The two just stood there, forming a scenery of their own. One could tell at a glance that they had extraordinary backgrounds.

"Presumably, everyone should have heard that a Demon King appeared in Dongning Province during this year's National Examination, right?"

The silver-armored youth spoke first, his voice clear and resonant, his gaze sweeping across the teams from Magic City and Chuan Capital.

"As far as I know, up until now, more than fifteen teams have been eliminated by him alone."

In the Magic City team, that little chubby fellow Guo De wearing a crosstalk changpao immediately showed an expression of lingering fear upon hearing these words.

He shook the paper fan in his hand, shaking his head repeatedly.

"This little brother, it's not like I just heard about it."

"I directly encountered him."

He patted his chest with lingering fear.

"If it weren't for my profession being a bit special, our Magic City team would probably have long since gone back to our hometown."

The captain of Chuan Capital, a muscular guy, also nodded.

"We've also heard about it."

She pointed to the distant sky.

"Those few big meteorites in the sky just now, we saw them clearly."

"It's simply outrageous."

That cold-tempered blue-robed woman from the Imperial Capital stepped forward, her chilly voice ringing out.

"In that case, everyone, how about we join forces?"

"First resolve that variable from Dongning Province."

"And then, we will fairly and squarely determine the victor?"

Upon hearing this, Guo De immediately put away his fan and slapped his thigh fiercely.

"Agreed! I agree with both hands and feet!"

He said righteously.

"I, Guo De, have loved peace all my life and originally didn't want to participate in such killing and fighting."

"But there's no way around it; if we don't resolve that Demon King, we will all be eliminated!"

"We in Magic City agree to join forces!"

The captain of Chuan Capital giggled, her eyes spinning around the silver-armored youth from the Imperial Capital with great interest.

"Seeing that this little big brother from the Imperial Capital is so handsome..."

"We in Chuan Capital also agree to join forces."

Only then did the silver-armored youth notice that the five burly men from Chuan Capital seemed to have been staring at him all along.

He couldn't help feeling a chill, instinctively taking half a step back.

On the other side.

Deep in the jungle.

That bizarre team led by the masked man had unconsciously expanded from six people to more than twenty people.

They still walked with uniform paces, like a silent legion of death, quietly closing in on the next target.