Chapter 111: Peak of Third Sequence (II)

The moment he settled down, he summoned his Golden Brush and began transforming the beast cores he had collected. One by one, he altered their attributes, converting them into shadow-type cores suitable for the Shadow Titan Nurturing Method.

Once a core had been transformed, he immediately began absorbing its energy.

The process was familiar by now. The altered core supplied the necessary energy, which his cultivation method gradually absorbed to reinforce the boundary of his spiritual space.

Unfortunately, he had accumulated far too many cores.

Even when he focused entirely on the process, he could only transform around ten before his spiritual force became depleted. Once that happened, he had to stop and wait for his strength to recover before continuing.

And that was only the first step.

After transforming the cores, he still needed to consume them through cultivation.

At this rate, processing the entire collection would take an absurd amount of time.

Jackson silently glanced at the enormous number of beast cores stored in his inventory.

For the first time since beginning the hunt, he felt that he might have collected a little too much.

Still, the inconvenience was a problem for later.

Resources were resources, and he would rather spend a few extra hours processing them than leave them behind for someone else.

With that thought, Jackson closed his eyes again and resumed cultivating, quietly making use of every remaining moment before the academy transported the students out of the trial grounds.

"This should be the last of them, right..."

Jackson thought while ripping the beast core from a goblin’s chest.

After destroying the goblin watching tower, he had been moving leisurely among the corpses of goblins, slowly collecting the beast cores.

For him, collecting these beast cores was more difficult than destroying the tower entirely.

As Jackson moved, the others could only watch him from behind with complicated emotions in their eyes.

At this time, Jackson could hardly care what the others thought.

Without him realizing it, suddenly, the entire world shook.

One by one, professors of Golden Radiance Academy arrived in midair.

Dean Maxwell looked down at everyone with a bright smile on his face.

The next moment, his voice reverberated like thunder.

"The month-end trial has ended. Congratulations, everyone."

Following these words, the medical team of Golden Radiance Academy descended, treating the injured.

Although they had been very cautious, casualties had been impossible to avoid.

By the end, a few students were missing.

Dean Maxwell simply shook his head.

In the end, there was no escaping it.

After the rescue and cleaning operations were completed, the top rankers of the trial were announced.

For the first time in the academy’s history, a no-talent student had managed to defeat the heaven-chosen.

Although everyone present had witnessed that terrifying attack, their hearts were still shaking when Dean Maxwell announced it.

"Jackson Von Maximus ranks first with the most kills."

Jackson was already aware of the outcome, but when the second ranker was announced—

"Ranked second among the first-year students: Grace White."

He was surprised for a moment, then shook his head.

It did not matter.

Ranked third was none other than Alexander Drag.

Fourth was Veronica.

After her were Jonathan and Angela.

"For everyone that made it to the top ten, the academy treasury will be open for you for one day. You can choose any item based on your ranking. The higher the rank, the greater the rarity of the items displayed."

Jackson paid no further attention.

He simply sat down with his eyes closed, waiting for the exiting process to begin.

Of course, he was not idle.

Using the Golden Brush, he transformed the cores and consumed them.

Alas, he just had too many cores.

Even if he could transform ten of them before his spiritual force ran out, consuming all the cores was going to take a very long time.

...

The next day, inside his room, Jackson sat cross-legged.

A powerful force radiated out from his figure, distorting the air around him.

After staying up all night, he had finally managed to reach the absolute peak of the Third Sequence.

From the First Sequence to the Third Sequence in just a month.

This speed, if made public, would shatter the minds of countless geniuses.

But Jackson had just done that.

Jackson clenched and unclenched his fist several times, feeling the power flowing through his veins.

This surge confirmed the numbers on his status window were not a lie.

[Name — Jackson Von Maximus]

[Age — 16]

[Talent — Aura of Absolute Slaughter, Pause]

[Realm — Early Second Sequence]

[Spiritual Force — 99.9]

[Mana/Physique — 99.9]

Both of his attributes had risen to the absolute limit.

Just one slight push, and he could take the final step that had trapped countless geniuses in the academy, attaining the First Life Transformation.

Other than that, when he got the opportunity, he had also copied Veronica’s talent.

Of course, he had countless other choices.

One might wonder why he had chosen this one specifically, and not others.

First, Veronica’s talent had proven itself.

Second, it was his own attack.

If in the future he wanted to design something like Meteor Climbing Stance again, this talent might be of help.

Once he reached the Fourth Sequence, he wondered what kind of evolution this talent would undergo.

Right now, he wanted to do nothing more than take the final step.

He could finally cure Aella’s corruption.

All this time, he had not forgotten how little Aella was suffering.

Although the corruption did not seem to be harming her, Jackson could not stop worrying.

"Let’s return home and see how they are doing..."

Now that the month-end assessment had ended, he was free for four days.

The only reason he had not left was because he still had yet to claim the academy reward.

Just as he was thinking, a notification chimed in his ears.

Quickly opening it, he saw the academy reward list had finally been opened.

Jackson went through it and was almost blinded by the amount of wealth.

Rank Four battle armor... healing pills... everything one could imagine.

There were even some items that could not be found in the market.

Jackson took a deep breath to calm down his excitement.

As the first ranker, he could choose any three items from the list.

He already had something in mind that he wanted to choose.

First was the Void Crystal—the primary ingredient needed to undergo the First Life Transformation.

Second, the second part of Meteor Climbing Stance.

Finally, Rank Four battle armor.

When he first saw the item, Jackson could not believe his eyes.

To think they would place such a precious treasure in the student treasury.

Even though Jackson could not make use of it yet, he still chose it.

After he was done choosing, he felt his storage space vibrate as one by one, the items appeared inside.

The Void Crystal was a small fist-sized stone that resembled a pure white shining diamond.

While the Rank Four battle armor seemed to be made straight out of rubies.

It was entirely crimson, made from multiple small rubies hanging as fine grains.

Although eager, Jackson still could not try it out.

Only someone at the Fourth Sequence could make use of this item.

It was then he heard the sound of knocking coming from outside.

"Who...?"

Just then, a gentle voice filled with warmth came from outside.

"It’s me, Dean Maxwell. Student Jackson, forgive me for the sudden visit, but we have important matters to discuss."