In the invigilation room.
Everyone was fixated on the large screen.
After a long while, one of the invigilators finally snapped out of it: “Su Fu… won?”
“Not just won, but won spectacularly!”
“Never mind the flashy process and maneuvers, just the result alone shows that Su Fu completely dominated!”
From the very beginning, using her identity as a doctor to enter the small prison, to teaming up with her allies to lure in the top three powerhouses, and finally forcing the Warden to intervene, she sealed the deal with a decisive move!
Her entire operation was smooth and seamless, a textbook-level performance!
“Her score should be quite high now. Taking down the Warden means she should pass the exam without a problem.”
“Her ranking might be high too. Just this level of strategy and courage alone is enough to put her at the top.”
Everyone silently agreed: “And now that the top three are gone, the small prison is completely theirs.”
In the invigilation footage, Su Fu and Jiang Qingyu had already uncovered the truth of the instance:
[The Celestial Prison Ruins showed abnormal fluctuations, awakening the dormant Warden. These Wardens of order, armed with chains of rules, attempted to rebuild the ancient Celestial Prison.]
“The Shen Yan AI will probably factor in the decryption points. They didn’t lose out on this one.”
“But the most shocking part is still how Su Fu successfully outmaneuvered the top three!”
At this, the invigilation room fell into a brief silence once more.
Indeed, looking back now, from the moment the top three saw Jiang Qingyu, they had already fallen into the trap.
They couldn’t let Warden No. 5 go, so they had to kill Jiang Qingyu first.
Then, Jiang Qingyu would lead them straight into the trap Su Fu had set.
“Speaking of which, isn’t this the first time someone from the ninth tier has gone toe-to-toe with the top three, and even come out on top?”
“I feel like from now on, whenever people mention the top three, Su Fu’s name will inevitably come up.”
The teachers chuckled: “Who could argue? She played them like a fiddle, and then had the audacity to add, ‘Thanks for your cooperation.’ Honestly, she really should be thankful.”
“That casual remark is probably going to stick with the top three for a long time.”
“From now on, we can’t just say ‘top three.’ This year, it’s the top four!”
But just then, an old invigilator sighed, his eyes tinged with regret: “If only they had a few more months to develop, this match would have been truly spectacular.”
In terms of pure strength, Su Fu and Jiang Qingyu were still slightly inferior.
It was only through strategy, teamwork, and the advantages of the exam rules that they managed to defeat the top three.
But someone disagreed.
Fenggu Liangjie spoke up: “But… who’s to say resources aren’t part of one’s strength?”
“Development time? Do you really think this is a game?”
“Take Asuka Amakawa, for example. Born into a family of shrine maidens, with generations of accumulated secret techniques. How could a few months of effort ever catch up to that?”
Zhou Nanyuan fell silent at this.
Of course, he knew that from the day Asuka Amakawa was born, the family’s archives, the guidance of her elders, and the secret techniques passed down through generations were all prepared for her.
Fenggu Liangjie’s eyes held a hint of mockery as he said: “And those are the riches the Amakawa family has amassed over time and through bloodshed. How could an individual ever hope to catch up in such a short time?”
Their backgrounds are set, and they must admit their shortcomings.
The crowd fell silent.
They understood this principle well, so they felt regret, but no one would do anything about it.
Because there are simply too many people like this.
How could they possibly feel regret for all of them?
“However…” A young proctor hesitated but finally spoke up:
“They’re probably going to have a tough time from now on.”
“Exactly,” another proctor chimed in.
“The top three aren’t fools. They were caught off guard this time, but now that they’ve figured out the rules, they’re numerous, powerful, and all prodigies. If they’re determined to deal with them…”
He didn’t finish, but the implication was clear.
“Take those two from the fifth high, for example,” someone pointed at the screen.
“How many times has Pi Chu Xi tried to persuade them? Yet they still firmly follow the top three. That’s prestige, that’s the recognition that comes with strength.”
“So, even if they won this battle beautifully, they’ll still have to face what’s coming. The real test is yet to come.”
“Now, the top three are working together seamlessly, and they have the charisma to rally others. They’re almost certain to win in the Great Prison.”
“Numbers and strength-it’s as simple as that.”
“Hiss… So, their best move now is actually to seek goodwill from the top three?”
How ridiculous.
They just won, and now they have to turn around and beg for cooperation?
What is this?
A victory surrender ceremony?
“Although it sounds absurd, it’s undeniably the optimal solution.”
“After all, there are three Wardens in the Great Prison. It’s really not easy to deal with.”
“And…” the person paused, “Klaus would probably agree.”
The crowd nodded thoughtfully.
Indeed, Klaus was highly likely to accept Su Fu and her companions.
First, he was truly virtuous and wouldn’t lash out just because he lost.
Second, he had the confidence and strength to keep them in check.
That laid the foundation for cooperation.
But…
Would Su Fu be willing?
She just won, yet now she has to lower her head and seek cooperation.
They thought about it—if it were them, they probably wouldn’t be able to swallow their pride.
But what could they do if they were unwilling?
Circumstances are stronger than individuals.
Now that most of the exam’s rules have been figured out, Su Fu and her team’s advantages have been greatly diminished.
If they continue to fight alone, they’re definitely no match for the top three.
Without the constraints of the rules, the gap in strength will only become more apparent.
Moreover, the top three have the numbers.
Even if it’s just a war of attrition, they can wear them down.
***
Exam site, the Great Prison.
Klaus and his team had already arrived at the foggy area of the Great Prison.
There was no other choice the Wardens of the Small Prison were all gone, leaving only the three toughest Wardens of the Great Prison.
Ming Yue Shuang stole a glance at the expressions of the three, then quickly lowered her head.
She had never seen Klaus look so grave before.
Asuka Amakawa seemed dazed, and even Zhou Tinlin, who was usually flamboyant and pretentious, was uncharacteristically silent and lost in thought.
She exchanged a glance with Shan Yuehua, and both saw shock in each other’s eyes.
Su Fu was truly outrageous, absolutely fierce!
Look at how these three big shots have been shaken they still haven’t fully recovered.
“Snap!”
Asuka Amakawa suddenly unleashed a divine flame, reducing the weeds in the corner to ashes.
She was still fuming!
When had she ever been manipulated to such an extent?
Shan Yuehua was startled and instinctively took half a step back.
Klaus was also jolted by this attack and finally snapped out of his daze.
He turned to the quiet Pi Chu Xi, who had been as silent as a chicken, and asked, “Su Fu, what exactly did she do in the big prison?”
Hearing this, Pi Chu Xi answered honestly, “Well… if we start from the beginning…”
He cautiously glanced at the expressions of the three, and seeing that no one stopped him, he continued, “At first, we all thought she was crazy, daring to confess in front of everyone…”
“And then, in a blink of an eye, she became the warden, and then…”
Pi Chu Xi went on to explain how Su Fu turned the tables on the Four Highs, successfully obtaining the doctor’s identity.
And how she chased him and his teammates all over the place, finally using transformation techniques to enter Area 3 and obtain the Rule Chain.
“As for how she caught me in the small prison in the end, I guess—”
“She probably discovered the two prisons with Jiang Qingyu long ago, then split up, waiting to use me as a pretext to smoothly move from the big prison to the small prison, and then…”
“You know the rest.”
After Pi Chu Xi finished speaking, everyone fell silent.
Ming Yue Shuang and Shan Yuehua were dumbfounded.
What kind of crazy moves had Su Fu pulled off, and the key was that they all worked!
They finally understood why Pi Chu Xi was so full of praise for Su Fu-she was truly formidable!
“Four divine skills…” Klaus muttered to himself, his voice tinged with rare disbelief.
“Transformation techniques to bypass rules, the Insightful Eye to see through rules, the Wind Fire Wheel for agile movement, and that damn Golden Cudgel for enhancement…”
This was practically tailor-made to break the Heavenly Prison!
It was a natural counter to this dungeon!
Clearly, no one had expected such a major bug to appear in the exam hall!
Asuka Amakawa’s expression was grave.
Su Fu was not only incredibly powerful but also highly intelligent, even slightly surpassing herself.
Combined with all these skills, she was starting to feel a bit wary.
Such an opponent was a real problem.
“If we had known earlier, we shouldn’t have chosen the small prison,” Zhou Tinlin said with regret.
“As a result, Su Fu ran rampant in the big prison and grew so quickly!”
Everyone agreed, but unfortunately, it was too late.
Who could have imagined that Su Fu would manage to get this far?
“Speaking of which,” Zhou Tinlin suddenly realized, “if they still want better results, they’ll have to come back here, right?”
Which meant that sooner or later, he would have to face Su Fu again?
Zhou Tinlin:”….”
Well, to be honest, the thought made him inexplicably nervous, but he knew it was just the psychological shadow of being outmaneuvered.
In reality, with the exam process more than halfway through, Su Fu’s advantage from exploiting the rules had greatly diminished.
Now, in the late stages, it was purely a matter of strength.
After reassuring himself, Zhou Tinlin finally straightened up and declared, “If she dares to come again…”
“Hmph, this Pharaoh will show her what a real power gap is!”
“I’ll wipe her out completely!”
At that moment, Pi Chu Xi timidly raised her hand.
“Um… what if Su Fu and the others want to cooperate?”
Klaus paused, considering the possibility.
To be honest, the likelihood was quite high.
After a long while, he finally spoke slowly, “Among the three Wardens, Number 1 is the most powerful.”
“If it’s just dealing with Number 1…” Klaus weighed his words carefully, “we could consider cooperation. But forget about the others.”
They had to secure the highest score on the entire exam.
The fact that they had already made a major mistake with Warden Number 5 meant they absolutely couldn’t afford to lose any more points.
Pi Chu Xi nodded obediently, indicating that he understood.
But the moment he lowered his head, his eyes darkened.
“This isn’t good. We can’t keep going like this.”
He secretly thought that although Klaus had allowed him to follow them, his priority was probably even lower than Wu Gao and the others.
In other words, he might end up with the smallest share.
The resolute attitude of the top three clearly showed they intended to take the biggest piece of the pie.
Whether he could even get the leftovers was questionable.
If that were the case, wouldn’t all his efforts be in vain?
Moreover, would Su Fu really come to the main prison?
He thought of Lin Mingxi, who had disappeared without a trace, but silently watched the top three without saying a word.
Exam site, small prison.
Su Fu and Jiang Qingyu crouched in the prison’s archives room, looking at the records before them.
“The decryption is complete. It seems this place is indeed the ruins of the Heavenly Prison, and the exam’s objective is for us to eliminate these awakened Wardens.”