I Have Infinite Skill Points

Lei, who always prided himself on being battle-hardened and having faced all sorts of situations and opponents, was now completely flustered. Even when facing a Galaxy Stage leader of the Exotic Beasts, Lei could stay calm and think clearly to find that glimmer of hope in a desperate situation. But in front of these five students, he lost his cool.

Just look at the tactics these five students set up! Are these even human tactics? Traps within traps, a chain of traps, all interlinked, every step a calculated move. From beginning to end, they didn't give me the slightest chance of survival.

Lei thought he had been very careful. He had confirmed the number of opponents and their strength, making sure he could completely overwhelm them before daring to pursue. He hadn't chased recklessly either, only accelerating confidently after confirming they had reached the center of the lake, where the view was open. But he still fell for their scheme!

That time, I admit defeat! After all, it was my fault for underestimating them. I deserved it! But everything that happened afterward was completely unexpected. Damn it, when you set up an ambush with two people, do you really need to have them take turns making their entrance?

Lei couldn't guess any of the students' thoughts. However, the students had predicted every single one of his moves with chilling accuracy. No matter how Lei and his men reacted, they were merely struggling within the confines of the students' trap. Step by step, he had been meticulously maneuvered into this dire situation.

Sixteen men. In just ten short minutes, only he remained, a lone ember.

So ruthless! So vicious! Are these even students anymore? I, Lei, am considered a ruthless man in this line of work, but you... you're absolute wolves!

The situation had suddenly reversed. Three Star Cloud Stage cultivators... no, that boy who killed two of his brothers with a single move—could he really be just Star Shine Stage? Perhaps he's a high-level Star Cloud Stage expert in disguise.

Four Star Cloud Stage warriors. Lei didn't even entertain the thought of turning around and running.

On the ice now, standing on the ice and thinking of escaping from an Ice Attribute Star Cloud Star Martial Warrior? Are you kidding me?

CLINK—

A crisp sound echoed as something fell onto the ice.

Wang Lan looked towards the sound. At Lei's feet, an empty vial, much like a perfume bottle, lay on the ice. A long needle for injection was attached to its top.

Wang Lan's brows furrowed, a sense of deep unease rising in his heart. Is that blue bottle an injectable drug? A stimulant, or something else?

RASPING—

Suddenly, a strange noise emanated from Lei's throat, and his entire face began to distort. His originally decent-looking face became exceptionally terrifying due to its savage contortion. Yet, this very face sparked a sudden, dawning familiarity in Wang Lan.

Chang Shuangyue! The potion... Magical Martial Artist... Demonic Transformation Potion! Several key points flashed through Wang Lan's mind.

"Everyone, be careful!" Wang Lan suddenly roared. "Xinyu, you three fall back! Leave this one to me."

Although they didn't understand Wang Lan's decision, they didn't hesitate, instantly retreating a considerable distance.

"You all deserve to die... I'm going to kill you... all of you... KILL—" Lei let out a heart-wrenching howl. Instantly, a terrifying, blood-red aura flared around his body.

His clothes burst apart. Countless spiky carapaces bulged from under his skin, tearing it open. Lei frantically ripped at the molting skin, and in moments, a monster over two meters tall, resembling a humanoid cricket, stood before Wang Lan and the others.

"Another one? Lanzi, what the hell is this thing?" Xu Xiangwen exclaimed.

"It's called a Magical Martial Artist. You all, get back further!" Wang Lan warned.

"You trash... weren't you going to kill me? Come on! Why the hesitation? I'm going to eat every last one of you... and then turn you into shit... HAHAHAHA..."

"Phoenix Form, activate!" Wang Lan declared.

Lei's mind was incredibly hazy. After the Demonization, his intellect had plummeted. Even his own consciousness began to waver, as if it were drifting away. The only thought remaining in his mind was to kill these beings before him.

Just as Lei was swelling with an arrogant delusion of being invincible, Wang Lan's deep, powerful voice reached his ears.

His vision, now through compound eyes, was difficult to process. In a daze, his multifaceted eyes caught the image of a phoenix, wings spread, wreathed in flame. Then, the phoenix vanished in a flash.

Wang Lan's figure became a streak of light, instantly appearing behind Lei. The Cross Decapitation Sword in front of Wang Lan flickered once, then extinguished like a snuffed-out lamp.

Suddenly, green blood began to drip slowly from Lei's forehead. It's like I'm trapped in a tiny space, Lei thought. My body... I can't move, like something's binding me. Suddenly, it felt like something fell.

In the next instant, before Jiang Xinyu and the others' eyes, the Star Martial Warrior who had just undergone a grotesque transformation seemed to be sliced by an invisible cross. His body then split into four pieces and scattered across the ground.

A notification-like voice sounded: "Killing an enemy of a higher level. Reward: 5,000 experience points, 50 skill points."

Exiting Phoenix Form, a wave of weakness instantly washed over Wang Lan. Fortunately, it didn't last long; the weakness was still within a tolerable range.

"Holy shit!"

After a long moment, Xu Xiangwen finally managed to force out those two words. It wasn't his fault; he wasn't a man of letters and couldn't find the words to describe his complex emotions. A simple "Holy shit!" conveyed it all.

"It's... over?" Gong Feiyu asked, still somewhat dazed. Even though it had happened right before his eyes, it was too fast, almost unbelievable.

"What do you think?" Jiang Xinyu retorted coolly, instantly moving to Wang Lan's side to support him. "How are you?"

"B-ba...g..." The pain in his body began to flare, like numb, tingling feet suddenly shot through with electric currents. Each slight movement sent an intense, almost perversely satisfying jolt through him.

Jiang Xinyu was momentarily taken aback, then a blush quickly spread across her face. She held Wang Lan tightly.

"B-bag..." Wang Lan clenched his teeth, forcing out the word.

"A hug is enough. If you keep this up, I'll get angry," Jiang Xinyu said, flustered. "Wang Lan, when did you become like Xu Xiangwen? I always thought you were a decent person."

Xie Sisi had wanted to go over and check on Wang Lan, but seeing Jiang Xinyu there, she stopped. She watched them with envious eyes. They're so perfect together, a match made in heaven. A profound sense of guilt even washed over Xie Sisi for harboring feelings for Wang Lan.

"AHEM... Xinyu," Gong Feiyu interjected awkwardly, "I think Lanzi means... 'bag.' The tactical backpacks from those guys. They're still frozen in the ice..."

A cold breeze swept by. The blush on Jiang Xinyu's face didn't fade but deepened, spreading to her earlobes and neck. Jiang Xinyu released Wang Lan, pretending nothing was amiss. She lightly tapped her foot on the ice, and thirteen tactical backpacks rose from its depths.

"Wang Lan just used his Phoenix Form and is still weak," she explained, a little too quickly. "I was just supporting him..." Her explanation sounded rather weak and unconvincing.

The intense, electric jolts of pain finally began to subside. Though Wang Lan's limbs were still sore and weak, he could move again.

"Let's go. We need to find a safe place first," Wang Lan said.

The five of them left the lake area and found a relatively safe spot on the map. Gathering together, they began to count their spoils.

Xie Sisi was no longer dazed, but an expression of lingering fear still haunted her face. Today... I was part of killing people. Killing people was fundamentally different from killing Exotic Beasts; the psychological impact on her was entirely different. A butcher who had slaughtered hundreds, even thousands, of pigs might still not dare to kill a human. Although Xie Sisi hadn't personally killed anyone, she was part of Wang Lan's team. This counterattack had been a team effort. What the team did, she had a part in; there was no difference in her mind.

Perhaps noticing Xie Sisi's troubled thoughts, Jiang Xinyu moved to her side and put an arm around her shoulders. "These are things we Star Martial Warriors cannot avoid—both death and killing. If we don't kill them, they'll kill us. For our own safety, we have to strike first. The first time Xu Xiangwen, the others, and I entered the Elite Trials, we nearly died. The experienced guide we hired taught us a brutal lesson with his own life. In these Different Dimensional Spaces, places beyond the reach of the law, you can only trust yourself. Anyone else trying to get close is likely after your life."

"Thank you," Xie Sisi murmured. "I understand... it's just hard to adjust to so quickly. After all, they were human."

"Except for the last one," Xu Xiangwen chimed in, looking up with a smile after counting the Soul Beads. "We've struck it rich this time! A total of ten thousand Soul Beads!" he announced. "Those sixteen guys must have been in the Elite Trials for seven or eight days and were probably about to leave. They likely targeted us thinking we were fat sheep for a final score before heading out. We might have looked like fat sheep, but they weren't exactly poor themselves! So, with five of us, that's two thousand each."

The distribution of Soul Beads brought joy to everyone. Especially Xie Sisi; clutching her heavy backpack, she was so excited she was almost in tears. She had never imagined, not even in her wildest dreams, that she would one day possess so many Soul Beads.

"Three days left. Should we continue grinding? We should probably change locations, though," Xu Xiangwen said, his smile fading.

Wang Lan was toying with the blue vial in his hand, lost in thought. Hearing Xu Xiangwen, he suddenly looked up. "We're leaving."

"What?" Xu Xiangwen stared at Wang Lan in disbelief. "Leaving? The one hundred thousand per day fee for the Elite Trials is non-refundable if we leave early!"

"We've already far exceeded our expected gains, plus we got all these extra Soul Beads. It's time to go. There's a limit to everything; going too far is as bad as not going far enough."

Jiang Xinyu's eyes flickered, her gaze finally settling on the blue vial in Wang Lan's hand. "I think Wang Lan is right," she said. "We should leave. After what just happened, the Elite Trials aren't safe anymore. Since we've achieved our objective, it's better to leave early."

With both Wang Lan and Jiang Xinyu in agreement, Xu Xiangwen also consented. Leaving now was a bit of a pity, but considering their haul, they had made a massive profit. So be it. They could always come back after the college entrance exams.

The group left the rest area, heading straight for the Elite Trials entrance according to the map. Soul Beads couldn't be taken out. They either had to be absorbed in the designated safe rooms within the Elite Trials or turned over to the facility for recycling.

All four of them chose to absorb the Soul Beads. Money wasn't an issue for them. Xie Sisi, too, felt that money was far less important than Soul Beads; absorbed Soul Beads became truly hers. Two thousand Soul Beads would be enough to push her to the middle, or even late, Star Shine Stage. Besides, thanks to Wang Lan, her entry fee had been halved, so the five hundred thousand she paid was just right for the shortened trip.

Wang Lan, however, left the group and found the members of Camp Three. He was then taken to meet the camp commander, Wu Changfeng.

"Wang Lan, my friend!" Wu Changfeng greeted him enthusiastically, pulling him into a hug. "Back so soon? What's up? A huge haul?"

"The haul was significant, Brother Wu," Wang Lan replied. "But I have some urgent intelligence for you. Have you ever heard of Magical Martial Artists?"