Translator: CinderTL
Path to Heaven.
As Jiang Ye stepped onto the Path to Heaven—a silver, galaxy-like road stretching straight into the clouds—he immediately felt an immense pressure.
"What?!" Jiang Ye thought, inwardly shocked. "Almost twice the normal gravity!"
This fifty-kilometer-long Path to Heaven was clearly no easy walk.
Just setting foot on it brought him face-to-face with overwhelming resistance.
An ordinary person would likely struggle to even stand upright in such conditions.
But the participants were all provincial geniuses, and this level of pressure posed no real obstacle to them.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Over a thousand freshmen transformed into magnificent streaks of light, hurtling upward.
"Charge!" Jiang Ye channeled stellar energy into his battle armor, instantly boosting his speed.
"This battle armor feels like an extension of my own body," he mused.
"By continuously channeling stellar energy, I can unleash tremendous propulsion." Jiang Ye found the sensation peculiar. "It's like I'm sprinting through the air under my own power."
To put it plainly, the armor's capabilities were directly tied to his own strength.
The stronger one's power, the faster the battle armor's speed would surge.
Jiang Ye's base speed had already been enhanced by 50%.
Now, with the battle armor's assistance, his speed instantly skyrocketed exponentially.
"Brother Lin," Jiang Ye quickly caught up to Lin Yushu.
"Brother Jiang, it seems we'll be fighting side-by-side once again," Lin Yushu remarked with a sigh.
"Fighting side-by-side?" Jiang Ye shook his head with a smile. "My apologies, Brother Lin, but this time... I'm aiming for a higher ranking!"
"Brother Lin, I'm accelerating now!"
Boom!
Jiang Ye transformed into a phantom, sprinting forward with unrestrained fury.
Swiftwind Step: Instantly increases speed by 100%. Can be activated manually, lasts 30 seconds, cooldown: 3 minutes.
Speed Control: Freely adjust speed within a range of 100%-500%. Each 100% increase reduces other attributes by 20%.
Speed increased by 100%
Speed increased by 100%
Speed increased by 100%
Jiang Ye's speed continued to surge relentlessly!
In the blink of an eye, he had overtaken dozens of competitors.
"Who's that? Their speed is insane!"
"Holy crap, what just flew past?"
"How is this possible? The speed difference is enormous!" The dozens of students Jiang Ye had left behind were stunned.
Yet Jiang Ye's speed continued to accelerate.
Surpassing! Surpassing again and again!
In just half a minute, Jiang Ye caught up to Zhao Qingli.
It had to be said, the value of selling a million units a month was considerable.
Although Zhao Qingli possessed a B-tier Physique, among the thousands of freshmen, she ranked within the third echelon, possibly even the second!
"Class Monitor," Jiang Ye said.
"Don't worry about me," Zhao Qingli replied, turning her delicate face. "Keep moving forward."
"Alright." Jiang Ye transformed into a streak of light, surging ahead.
Zhao Qingli stared after him, her eyes wide with surprise.
I told you to go ahead, and you actually did?
And Jiang Ye's speed... it's insane!
He's already overtaken hundreds of people in just a few dozen seconds.
Whoosh! Jiang Ye flashed past Song Wanbai like lightning.
Song Wanbai froze momentarily, then her eyes widened in shock.
"How can he be so fast?" she exclaimed, utterly astonished. Speed was her forte, yet Jiang Ye had effortlessly surpassed her.
Jiang Ye's speed continued to escalate.
Jiang Ye surpassed wave after wave of opponents.
In the blink of an eye, he had already reached the first echelon!
But this was not his final destination.
His figure moved like lightning, relentlessly speeding along the Path to Heaven. Ahead of him now were only Class A students!
"Increase by another 50%!" Jiang Ye willed it, and his speed surged again.
Whoosh! Like a gust of wind, he swept past Xu Haoran.
"Brother Jiang?" Xu Haoran stared after him, dumbfounded.
What the hell was that?!
How could Jiang Ye possibly be so much faster than him?!
"Charge!" Xu Haoran unleashed his full power, transforming into a streak of light as he chased after Jiang Ye.
Xu Haoran was a prodigy from Yuncheng Middle School.
Though not quite on par with the likes of Lin Qingwei and Su Tong'er, his College Entrance Examination score still reached an impressive 936 points, earning him a spot as a Mid A-Tier student at Penglai University.
Xu Haoran's sights had always been set on surpassing the few Upper A-tier students.
But Jiang Ye? He was merely a B-tier!
"Brother Jiang, I won't let you take the top spot in the province!" Xu Haoran erupted with over a hundred strands of stellar energy, his form electrifying as he rapidly closed the distance between them.
Though he usually appeared refined and approachable, deep down, he was an immensely proud man. He couldn't allow himself to lose to a mere B-Class student!
"Brother Jiang, I've caught up!" In the blink of an eye, Xu Haoran had closed the gap with Jiang Ye.
"As expected of Brother Haoran!" Jiang Ye laughed heartily. "Let's charge together!"
With that, he surged forward, his speed skyrocketing once more.
Boom! Like a cannonball, he exploded upward along the vast Path to Heaven.
"Holy shit!" Xu Haoran couldn't help but curse, his jaw dropping in astonishment. He was already pushing his speed to its limits, yet Jiang Ye had instantly increased his velocity by another thirty to forty percent!
"Damn it!"
Move your legs faster, you useless things! Xu Haoran roared inwardly, redoubling his efforts. But the gap between him and Jiang Ye only widened, growing ever larger.
"Brother Jiang, a man shouldn't go so fast!" Xu Haoran called out, his voice tinged with frustration as he stared at Jiang Ye's retreating figure.
Ahead of Jiang Ye now were only a handful of Mid A-Tier and Upper A-tier students.
"These people must possess innate talents," Jiang Ye murmured, his gaze fixed on the figures ahead.
His current speed had already increased by a full 400%.
Logically, this should have been enough to surpass everyone.
Yet the figures ahead were moving at speeds comparable to his own!
These geniuses had clearly cultivated acceleration techniques, granting them significant speed boosts.
Of course, it was also possible they possessed Dao Bone Aptitudes, granting them innate extraordinary power and specialized speed enhancements.
"Penglai University truly is a gathering of the strong!" Jiang Ye marveled inwardly.
Just as he prepared to accelerate again,
Suddenly,
Whoosh!
A massive surge of transcendent energy erupted on the Path to Heaven, cascading down like a tidal wave.
The energy surge carried terrifying momentum.
Boom! Instantly, the gravitational force on the entire Path to Heaven multiplied several times over.
Ten times normal gravity!
Rumble!
At the same time, countless massive boulders materialized, each weighing tens of thousands of kilograms. With terrifying roars, they hurtled toward the thousand-plus freshmen.
The boulders rolled down at breakneck speed.
Boom! The massive boulder, imbued with transcendent energy, crashed down with devastating force.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of freshmen were struck, sent flying hundreds of meters backward.
This setback instantly dropped them over a hundred places in the rankings.
Some were hit in the thigh, their combat prowess severely diminished.
Others were struck in the head, their figures dissolving as they were instantly eliminated.
At that moment, everyone slowed down, focusing entirely on dodging the dense barrage of falling rocks.
Compounding the challenge was the tenfold gravity, which made even Upper A-tier students struggle to advance.
Jiang Ye was no exception, forced to reduce his speed and adjust his movements.
The higher my speed, the more my attributes degrade, Jiang Ye thought grimly. Just now, my attributes dropped by 60%, nearly crushing me under the tenfold gravity.
Fortunately, he had managed to recover in time.
To be safe, I'll reduce my speed back to 100% for now.
Unknowingly, as Jiang Ye slowed down, many others seized the opportunity to catch up.
Inside the Penglai Heavenly Tower, within a separate spatial dimension...
"Falling Rock Pass—this stage will eliminate many!"
"Heh, it's only been two minutes, and already over a hundred have been eliminated."
"Hmm? Jiang Ye's stuck here too. His ranking has dropped from the top fifty to beyond a hundred." Dozens of teachers were discussing the situation.
Chen Yuntian watched this unfold, a flicker of doubt in his eyes. "Why has Jiang Ye suddenly slowed down so much? Falling Rock Pass is challenging, but he shouldn't be this cautious, right?"
On the projection, Jiang Ye's ranking continued to plummet.
In the blink of an eye, he had fallen to over one hundred and fifty.
"If he keeps dropping like this, it'll be even harder to catch up in the upcoming Demonic Sound Pass," Chen Yuntian muttered, shaking his head inwardly.
Time passed.
Three minutes later.
"Falling Rock Pass is over!"
"Over two hundred have been eliminated."
"Not bad. Last year's freshmen saw over three hundred eliminated in this stage alone," the crowd murmured.
Chen Yuntian glanced at Jiang Ye's position.
His brow furrowed instantly.
"Down to over two hundred? This is trouble!"
(End of the Chapter)