A Tier 6 warship. The fact that The High Speaker possessed a personal vessel of this caliber spoke volumes about his standing within the Solaris hierarchy.

  So that’s a Tier 6 warship... Lance’s eyes narrowed as he watched the mountain of metal descend. Wait, I almost forgot. If my system has a [Reconstruction] function... does that mean I can reconstruct a spaceship?

  If I could get my hands on a Tier 3 ship, the system’s grade-jump would likely repair it into a Tier 5, or even a Tier 6 or 7 vessel!

  The thought sent a jolt of excitement through Lance.

  In this era, a high-grade starship was arguably more valuable than an individual warrior. A warship of the same rank as a cultivator generally possessed far superior firepower. If utilized correctly, a ship was the ultimate tool for cross-rank assassination.

  With the system in his possession, Lance was essentially sitting on an infinite fleet of high-tier vessels—provided he had the base materials.

  I’ll need to pass this exam first, he reminded himself. Once I’m in, I can earn enough Credits to buy a decent hull for Reconstruction. A higher base grade usually yields a more terrifying result.

  It was a matter of probability. Out of ten Tier 1 [Void Cores], eight might upgrade to Tier 3, and two to Tier 4. But with a Tier 2 core, those same eight would reach Tier 4, and a lucky few might even hit Tier 5.

  The higher the starting point, the higher the ceiling.

  "Those who have been disqualified may wait here for your planetary representatives to retrieve you," The High Speaker’s voice boomed from the heavens. "The rest of you will accompany me to the true site of the Solaris Academy Entrance Examination!"

  A massive Tractor Beam erupted from the underside of the descending Tier 6 vessel. The beam was so vast it swallowed the entire plaza, lifting nearly a million youths into the air simultaneously.

  They floated upward, a sea of geniuses drifting into the open hangar of the mountain-sized ship. Left behind were the four hundred thousand disqualified candidates, staring up at the sky with hollow, defeated expressions. Among them were even a few S-Rank geniuses. In that moment, the only thing they felt was the crushing weight of regret.

  The interior of the Tier 6 warship was vast beyond imagination. Even with over a million people inside, the hangar didn't feel crowded.

  As the ship accelerated, a gargantuan holographic projection flickered to life in the center of the bay. It displayed a star system where dozens of planets, all glowing with an intense, fiery orange hue, orbited a massive, blinding star.

  Lance stared at the projection. Something about it felt familiar.

  "Everyone, look closely. This star system is your final testing ground," The High Speaker’s voice echoed through the hangar. "It is known as the Pyre System!!"

  Lance’s eyes narrowed. He remembered now. When he was checking the stats of his new Blaze Demon Spear, he had seen a brief mention of this sector.

  This was the ancestral home of the Cinder Demon race.

  Each of the dozen planets in the projection was nearly as large as Planet Solaris itself. Because they lacked artificial gravity fields, their natural gravity was hundreds of times stronger than Mother Planet’s. No biological life survived here except for the Cinder Demons.

  And in the heart of that central star lived a being of near-infinite power: the Cinder Emperor.

  "The Cinder Emperor rarely manifests, so you need not worry about it," The High Speaker explained. "However, you must remain vigilant. Every planet in this system is home to multiple [Great Grandmaster] Cinder Demons, thousands of [Grandmaster] warriors, and an innumerable horde of [Gold Tier] demons."

  "Cinder Demons are born as Silver Tier warriors and reach maturity at the Gold Tier. Do not be complacent. If you encounter a demon stronger than yourself, your only objective is to run."

  The geniuses in the hangar turned pale. A sixty-percent mortality rate suddenly seemed like an optimistic estimate.

  "Your specific target is Pyre-7—the planet with the weakest overall concentration of high-tier demons. Your objective is simple: kill."

  "Killing a [Gold Tier, Rank 1] Cinder Demon earns you 1 point. A Rank 2 earns 2 points, Rank 3 is 4 points, and Rank 4 is 8. The score doubles with each rank. Slaying a half-step [Grandmaster]—a [Gold Tier, Rank 10]—is worth 512 points."

  "However, if any of you manage to kill a [Grandmaster] Cinder Demon, even a Rank 1, you will be awarded 100,000 points!"

  "The top one hundred scorers will be granted immediate entry into Solaris Academy. Based on our historical data, a single [Grandmaster] kill is a guaranteed ticket into the Academy. Good luck."

  The High Speaker’s voice was warm, but his words left the crowd in a state of stunned silence.

  A [Grandmaster] Cinder Demon? It was a laughable prospect. Like the Skrulls, a Cinder Demon [Grandmaster] was guaranteed to have achieved the second rotation of Source Essence. Combined with their innate B-Rank [Flame Power] trait, their combat strength was astronomical. For the vast majority of candidates, those 100,000 points were a mirage—something to look at, but never to touch.

  This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

  So many Grandmaster-level demons? Lance’s lips curled into a faint smirk. This is going to be a goldmine for farming my Soul and CON reserves.

  The more powerful the opponent, the more energy he could harvest through his [Near-Death Loop].

  The other geniuses were already deep in hushed, frantic discussions.

  "Cinder Demons are incredibly resilient. We’ll need to be surgical."

  "We’re being deployed randomly. I just hope I don't land in a nest."

  "What’s there to fear? The High Speaker is proctoring. Even if the Cinder Emperor shows up, it might not be able to take the old man down."

  "I heard the Void Cores from these demons are worth twice as much as standard ones. If we survive, we’re going to be rich!"

  Lance ignored the chatter and closed his eyes, sinking back into his cultivation as the ship tore through the void.

  Two hours later, the ambient temperature in the hangar began to climb. Everyone rushed to the virtual observation ports. Before them lay a star system that looked like a vision of hell. Every planet was a glowing ember, wreathed in seas of molten rock and superheated gas.

  The ship settled into orbit above a massive planet. Though only a tenth the size of Planet Solaris, it was still hundreds of thousands of times larger than Planet Silvermoon.

  Ding!

  "Arrival at the Pyre System. Commencing random deployment. All personnel, prepare for drop!"

  "I'll see you at Solaris Academy," Selina said, her voice serious as she looked at Lance.

  "See you there," Lance replied with a confident nod.

  The floor beneath them retracted, and thousands of specialized flight suits rose from the sub-deck, automatically enveloping the candidates in pressurized armor.

  Clank! Clank!

  The magnetic locks engaged, sealing everyone into their suits.

  "Airlocks opening. Deployment in 3... 2... 1... Do not resist the descent trajectory!!"

  The airlocks hissed open, and following a synthesized prompt from the ship’s AI, the million candidates were launched into the sky. They streaked through the void like a cluster of falling stars, hurtling toward the burning surface below.

  Lance didn't resist. Guided by the flight suit’s thrusters, he tore through the thick atmosphere. A wall of searing heat instantly enveloped him. Even with the suit’s insulation filtering out ninety-nine percent of the friction, the residual temperature spiked into the hundreds of degrees. For a lesser warrior, this would have been a death sentence; for the elites gathered here, it was merely an uncomfortable breeze.

  Finally, the mass of candidates cleared the cloud layer and scattered across the horizon. Given the sheer scale of the planet, even a million people were like drops of water in an ocean. If a billion people lived here, they still wouldn't feel crowded. As it stood, each candidate was separated from their nearest rival by at least a hundred kilometers.

  Lance’s flight suit spent several more minutes navigating the thermals before finally committing to a landing site.

  BOOM! RUMBLE!!!

  With a thunderous impact, the suit’s kinetic dampeners flared, and Lance slammed into the scorched earth.

  Clack!

  The pressurized armor immediately began to retract, folding into itself with mechanical precision until it had shrunken into a small, watch-sized device fastened to Lance’s right wrist.

  "The defensive rating on this thing is only Tier 4. If it takes a direct hit, it’s going to shatter," Lance muttered, checking the module. Then again, if someone at this level took a hit powerful enough to break the suit, they’d likely be dead anyway.

  He scanned his surroundings. It was a hellish landscape of endless basalt plains and rivers of churning magma. In the distance, several volcanic peaks were in various states of violent eruption.

  "What a desolate place," Lance remarked.

  [System Notification: Candidate Stark has slain a Tier 3, 7-Star Cinder Demon. Points awarded: 64. Stark is now ranked 1st on the leaderboard!]

  The alert rang directly in his mind.

  "Someone’s already getting kills?" Lance was momentarily surprised. Then he remembered—he had been deployed to the far side of the planet. Those who landed directly beneath the ship’s drop point had been on the ground for nearly an hour.

  A quick glance at the leaderboard showed that while many people had already started racking up points, no one had crossed the 64-point mark until Stark.

  "I suppose I should actually get into Solaris Academy. Silas Stuart and the others worked too hard to get me here; it would be a shame to fail now. But first... let’s deal with the spear."

  Lance pulled the Blaze Demon Spear from his back. He didn't intend to start the hunt with a stock weapon.

  "System, [Reconstruction]!!"

  [System Alert: Command received. 5.4 million Exploits detected in this weapon. Commencing repair!!]

  A brilliant golden radiance—visible only to Lance—erupted from his hands, bathing the weapon.

  Lance’s eyes sparkled with anticipation. Five million [Exploits]? That means this weapon will jump to Rank 7 Mid-grade. That should be more than enough to carry me through to the [Planetary Class].

  Under the shroud of golden light, the spear underwent a fundamental metamorphosis. The originally fiery-red shaft darkened, turning into a matte, abyssal black. Tendrils of obsidian-colored fire began to dance around the blade, radiating a chilling, soul-crushing pressure.

  [System Announcement: Congratulations! 5.4 million Exploits successfully repaired. The weapon has evolved into the [Black Flame Spear]!]

  [Black Flame Spear]: A supreme weapon forged around the [Void Core] of a Black Flame Mad Lion, a [Void Beast] possessing the [SS-Rank Supernatural Trait]: Starry Black Flame. The weapon is infused with the essence of collapsed stars! It provides a massive multiplier to all fire-attribute [War Arts].

  Lance blinked at the description. The Blaze Demon Spear had been a powerful Rank 4 weapon based on B-Rank [Flame Power], but the Black Flame Spear was an entirely different beast. [Starry Black Flame] was a legendary power said to exist only within the crushing gravity of black holes.

  In scientific terms, when a massive star collapses, its fire is compressed by infinite gravity into a state of absolute heat and density. It was, quite literally, the ultimate upgrade to his [Solar Stellar Flame].

  "The material of this spear... it looks almost identical to the [Black Slayer Set]. They might actually be part of a set," Lance noted, observing how the obsidian flames matched the aesthetic of his combat suit.

  RUMBLE!!!

  Suddenly, the earth beneath his feet began to shake with a violent, rhythmic intensity. Lance’s eyes sharpened as he looked toward a ten-thousand-meter-tall volcano a few kilometers away. He gripped his new spear and gave it a casual, testing sweep through the air.

  SHING!

  The blade hummed, cutting a perfect arc through the superheated void.

  ROAR!!!!!

  A world-shaking roar erupted from the depths of the earth. The ground fractured as if a giant were trying to claw its way out.

  BOOM!!!

  The peak of the massive volcano suddenly disintegrated. A fountain of magma erupted, raining molten rock down across a radius of hundreds of kilometers.

  Nearby candidates, who had been hunting smaller demons, turned pale as they looked toward the mountain.

  A monstrous head, followed by a gargantuan torso, hauled itself out of the caldera. Two thousand meters tall and wreathed in flowing magma, the titan let out a roar that seemed to shatter the very clouds.

  A suffocating pressure swept across the plains, leaving every genius in the vicinity gasping for breath.

  "A [Grandmaster] Cinder Demon... and it’s at least Rank 6! How the hell is something that strong in the starting zone!?"