First place! (Seeking recommendation votes!)

  The high-rise buildings of Beifeng Shuyuan are also waiting for the final result.

  Dean Tao looked at the sunset that was slowly falling behind the mountains, pacing back and forth on the martial arts training grounds. As the dean of Beimang Academy, he was known for being calm and composed, having managed the academy for decades, but today his mind was more restless than ever before.

  "Director Li, how's the situation now?"

  "Reporting to the Dean, there were 48 people who participated in this graduation assessment. 38 have returned. Six people have been confirmed dead by other students. In addition, four disciples, Ma Ruyuan, Wei Zhen, Zou Yi and Ye Chen, have not returned and their whereabouts are unknown."

  Li Cang said in a low voice.

  "It has been confirmed that six people have died...... In the past, only one or two people would die unexpectedly during graduation assessments. But this time, the number of deaths accounts for one-eighth of the total number, which is many more than in previous years! And there are still four people who haven't returned, if they also died, it would exceed one-fifth, that's a truly devastating casualty!"

  Dean Tao frowned.

  "Dean, the reward for this assessment is much better than in previous years. A Blood Essence Ring refined by an immortal, worth at least a thousand gold, enough to make many disciples fight to the death for it...... There's something I don't know if I should say, but Zheng Zicheng inexplicably took out a Blood Essence Ring to reward the first place winner, I really don't know what he's thinking!"

  Li Cang hummed in a low, stifled tone. As the head instructor of the Upper House, he had finally managed to train a group of young warriors, but before they could even take to the battlefield to serve the Wu State, nearly 20% of them had already died. How could he not be angry?

  Dean Tao turned his head and glanced at Zheng Zicheng in the distance, waved his hand and said in a low voice, "Zheng Zicheng has Guoshi Zhengyuan to back him up, plus he is young and arrogant, and does things without considering the consequences. Don't bother with him. Is there any news about Ma Ruyuan?"

  "There were disciples who had seen Ma Ruyuan before, I called them over to ask questions."

  Li Cang finished speaking and called over a few young martial artists from among the crowd of students.

  Several young warriors looked somewhat flustered and forced themselves to calm down.

  "Dean! Master Ma and Junior Leaf had a bit of a dispute earlier. They met on the north slope of the mountain, where Junior Leaf was being stubborn and unreasonable. Master Ma only said a few words, but Junior Leaf started arguing with him."

  "They were arguing with each other by themselves. We were far away and didn't hear what they were saying."

  Then a pack of twenty or thirty gray wolves appeared, and the two of them fell into the wolves' siege. We several people desperately killed the wolves, wanting to rush over to rescue them, but we were no match for the vast number of gray wolves, and could only retreat. Master Ma and Disciple Ye Chen were surrounded by the pack of wolves.

  "Master Ma and Disciple Ye Chen, died young... afraid of more disasters than blessings!"

  The young man with a pale face said, squeezing out a few more tears.

  "Yes, Dean, we've done our best!"

  Several young people nodded in agreement.

  "It's done!"

  Dean Tao took one look and knew they were just trying to shirk responsibility, pushing everything onto the Grey Wolf Gang. He furrowed his brow, waved his hand and let them leave.

  "This year, our school finally gave birth to two martial artists with good qualifications, but unfortunately they fell together. What a pity! It's almost dusk now, and those who should return have returned early. Those who haven't returned yet seem to be hopeless. Chief Instructor Li, let's start counting the wolf heads of each student and determine the ranking for this graduation exam."

  Dean Tao sighed.

  General Li Cang is about to receive his orders.

  Suddenly, a teacher from the academy hurried to the school grounds and loudly announced with joy, "Principal, they're back! Ye Chen, Wei Zhen, and Zou Yi, three students, have returned from Beifeng Mountain!"

  "Great, welcome back!"

  Dean Tao was overjoyed at once.

  On the martial arts training grounds, many high-ranking officials and students looked towards the direction of the sound.

  Only three young martial artists were seen following their instructor into the martial arts training grounds.

  A fifteen or sixteen-year-old young martial artist, slightly thin in build, walked in the middle, carrying a string of five large wolf heads on his back. His entire body was covered in crimson bloodstains, with wounds all over his upper body, and a strong bloody aura rushed towards the school grounds.

  On both sides stood a nineteen- or twenty-year-old martial artist, each carrying a wolf's head on his back.

  On the martial arts training ground, dozens of students all showed a look of shock. Their eyes were almost all on Ye Chen.

  "Five-headed wolf!"

  "How did Ye Chen end up with five wolf heads in his hands?"

  Many students felt a chill in their hearts as soon as they saw Ye Chen carrying a large string of wolf heads.

  In order to compete for the top three places in the graduation assessment, or even the first place, many of them are from wealthy families and have bought rare wolf heads from other students with a lot of money. At this time, Ye Chen suddenly appeared out of nowhere, bringing five wolf heads back to the martial arts school field, making many students feel tremendous pressure.

  If it can't get into the top three, the huge financial investment before is equivalent to pouring water.

  "Ye Chen and his two senior brothers, Wei Zhen and Zou Yi, should have gone hunting together in the mountains. The string of wolf heads on Ye Chen's back might have more than half belonging to Wei Zhen and Zou Yi, but they let Ye Chen carry them back instead. After all, Ye Chen had just entered the sixth layer of the Refining Body stage and could only handle one or two wolf heads at most." A young master from a wealthy family who had just spent a fortune buying two wolf heads didn't believe it and still held onto some hope, countering with disdain.

  "Wei Zhen, brother, were these wolf heads hunted together with you?"

  Someone in the crowd asked loudly.

  "No. These were all killed by Ye Chen Shixiong, I and Zou Shidi just basked in the glory of Ye Chen Shixiong, each killing a gray wolf."

  Wei Zhen hastily shook his head in denial.

  "These wolf heads were actually killed by Ye Chen!"

  The eyes of the students were exceptionally complex.

  Many people noticed that Wei Zhen actually called Ye Chen "Shixiong", what does this mean!?! Wei Zhen and Zou Yi, these two ordinary students, are considered old-timers in the Upper Academy. The 15-year-old Ye Chen can actually make Wei Zhen, a martial artist who has been struggling in the Upper Academy for many years, willingly call himself "Shidi".

  But Wei Zhen's statement is more credible.

  Because of the more than ten intersecting wolf claw wounds on Ye Chen's arm, he must have been in close contact with several gray wolves at the same time to leave such scars.

  Weizhen and Zou Yi had no injuries on their bodies, no obvious signs of battle. Even if they were hunting with Ye Chen, in the fight, they would not be the main force, but rather auxiliary hunters.

  Ye Chen arrived at the school grounds, feeling dozens of fiery gazes staring at him, he felt a bit uneasy and threw a string of wolf heads to the ground.

  "Five!"

  Chief Li Cang took a look, "The number of wolf heads you brought back is the same as Yan Han's... tied for first place...... I'm afraid it's not going to be easy. Hmm, wait, there's one that's the head wolf's skull, this skull is obviously much larger than the others!"

  Li Cang's chief instructor suddenly looked shocked and raised his head to look at Ye Chen.

  "What? Killed the head wolf?"

  "The alpha wolf is the strongest in the pack of gray wolves, equivalent to the sixth layer of the Refining Body stage. It's the most ferocious and cunning, and also the hardest to hunt. In each graduation assessment of the Academy, it's extremely rare for an alpha wolf to be killed." "So, Ye Chen has actually surpassed Big Brother Yan Han!"

  The students were shocked.

  The sun has set, and dusk is here.

  The one-month graduation assessment of Beiyue Academy has officially come to an end.

  Forty students from the Upper Academy on the north slope lined up in the martial arts training ground, with wolf heads placed in front of them. Those that had been there for some time were already covered in quicklime to prevent decay and odor. Only those killed in the last few days still had a strong smell of blood.

  "Wei Zhen, a wolf's head."

  "Yè Chén, five wolf heads. The first wolf head is one."

  "Bitterly cold, five wolf heads."

  "Wei Xun Yu, four wolf heads."

  "King..."

  "This assessment, Ye Chen killed the most gray wolves and had the highest grade. Ye Chen ranked first, Yan Han second, and Wei Xunyu third! The first prize is a Blood Pulse Ring. The top three will each receive a precious sword, fist set. Others will receive a letter of recommendation to the Wuguo Imperial Court. After graduation, you can go to Wangcheng with this letter or join the army...... In addition, five disciples did not bring back wolf heads and failed to pass this graduation assessment. I hope these five disciples will work harder in half a year."

  Dean Tao personally counted the wolf heads in front of each person, announced the ranking, and passed the graduation examination list.

  Many students' eyes involuntarily looked at Ye Chen, revealing envy and jealousy. The Blood Jade Ring, a treasure refined by an immortal, was not owned by many people in the Wu Kingdom, even among the aristocratic families, only a few could afford to covet it. Yet, it was snatched away by Ye Chen, this suddenly emerging commoner martial artist.

  Ye Chen was somewhat surprised that he actually came in first place.

  He was trapped on the cliff for nearly a month and had long given up hope of ranking, just wanting to hurry back to Beifeng Academy to pass the graduation assessment.

  Actually a month ago, he killed two gray wolves, the meat had already been eaten, leaving only two wolf skeletons, which were not counted. This morning, he killed four more gray wolves and cut off their heads. In addition, there was one that Wei Zhen and Zou Yi killed and gave to him voluntarily.

  So he brought back only five complete wolf heads.

  Unexpectedly, the five wolf heads, he was actually the top student of Beifeng Academy.

  Actually, Ye Chen had somewhat underestimated his own strength. As a Seventh Layer Body Refining cultivator, he could release knife-like energy from his moves, which was unprecedented among the students of Beimou Academy. If it were another student facing those four gray wolves alone, they would have died who-knows-how-many times already.

  "Master Shuang, that Blood Essence Ring is clearly yours. What's so special about Ye Chen that he could get his hands on such a treasure?"

  A young master of a noble family felt discontent in his heart and spoke in a low voice on a severely cold morning.

  He gave him a cold, disdainful glance and sneered: "Do you want me to be a petty person and snatch the Blood Pulse Ring from him? The Blood Pulse Ring can increase one's vitality by 10%, it's an unremarkable magical instrument, I don't care about it, what's your hurry?"

  "This..."

  The young master's face turned red with anger and he shut his mouth tightly.

  －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

  Ye Chen's first spiritual artifact was finally within his grasp.

  Everyone guess, after graduation assessment, he is going to the Wu State Court or venture into Yunzhou. Is it one person or a group of people?

  I bet 100 Q coins that no one can guess it. O(∩_∩)O!