Chapter Eighty-Five: Sun Yu’s Results Annulled (Second Update Requesting Subscription)

"They're fighting!"
A message came through the channel from Xu Zhiyuan, the Shadow Stalker, who had infiltrated the Orc King's city under the cover of darkness last night to gather intelligence. Now, he was providing a live broadcast of the unfolding events.
"This Devil Lord is incredible. His true form is even larger than the Orc Chieftain, and he can summon swarms of devilish undead and wraiths, completely overwhelming the opposition!"
"Whoa, he's even summoned several level-forty elite monsters—something called Void Ritual Summoners. They're constructing a massive ritual spell, pouring in countless souls. It looks like they're trying to summon something!"
At that moment, Sun Yu's brow twitched, and a sudden sense of unease arose in his heart. He asked,
"What ritual spell is it? Is the Orc Chieftain dead yet?"
"I don't know exactly what the ritual spell is, but it looks extremely sinister—he's been throwing in heaps of corpses and souls."
"Take a closer look. I'll ask the class leader."
He hadn't finished speaking when Xu Zhiyuan's voice rang out in excitement:
"Good news! The Orc Chieftain has been taken down!"
Sun Yu quickly opened his panel and found a new notification: his summoned creature had killed the Orc Chieftain, earning him a staggering one hundred points and five permissions.
In an instant, his previous unease was swept away, replaced by joy:
"Success!"
"I've won, Chu Cheng is definitely defeated!"
"Congratulations!"
"Congratulations!"
"Congratulations to all!"
The team members all offered their congratulations; the smile on Sun Yu's face was unstoppable, and he was already pondering what to say to Chu Cheng when they met.
Just then, Xu Zhiyuan's puzzled voice suddenly sounded in the channel:
"Huh? Why is that Devil Lord suddenly smiling at me?"
No sooner had he spoken than a terrified scream echoed in the channel:
"Damn it, Sun Yu, why has your Devil Lord projection turned hostile?"
"This is bad, he's casting a spell on me!"
"Help me, stop him—"
The words were cut short, and then everyone received a prompt:
"Notification: Team member Xu Zhiyuan has died!"
Everyone was dumbfounded, exchanging bewildered glances before finally reacting and turning to look at Sun Yu.
His face had gone pale; he hurriedly took out the scroll he had used to summon the Devil Lord and began reciting incantations, hoping to communicate. However, as soon as he finished, the scroll glowed eerily, a chilling laugh resounded, and the scroll shattered into countless ghostly lights and vanished.
Everyone was stunned.
"This..."
Sun Yu’s face was ashen, and in his mind flashed the words his father had spoken when he handed him the scroll—

"This scroll is powerful, but extremely risky. Remember, never listen to anything that devil says, and don’t let it linger too long. Ideally, banish it after a single use. If you use it twice, the risk of losing control is considerable. It’s best to have your class supervisor nearby to help banish it if needed."
"What if I use it three times?"
"There's a risk of losing control!"
Nothing had happened after two consecutive uses, so he thought he was lucky. He never expected...

Just then—

"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"
A succession of muffled thunder rolled in from afar, sounding like endless thunderclaps or tidal waves rising from the distance, making everyone feel deeply unsettled.
Everyone looked up in confusion, faintly hearing a groan from the void.
"Ow!"
Chu Cheng suddenly felt the back of his head burning hot; he instinctively slapped it, and a sharp screech rang out. Then something seemed to explode, and all at once, he felt an immense lightness throughout his body.
In that instant, Chu Cheng understood.
The mark left on him by Imotal had been expelled.
When Chu Cheng next saw the vice principal, he appeared as a being of light, descending from the heavens like a deity. A powerful voice rang in Chu Cheng’s ears:
"Sun Yu violated the rules in this joint exam. His results are void!"
"You were marked by the Devil Lord due to his actions—a misfortune not of your own making. The purification this time requires no deduction of points or permissions."
A look of delight crossed Chu Cheng’s face—of course, not having to pay was best. Those points could have been spent on attributes or skills, after all.
Yet his joy lasted less than a second before Principal Du’s avatar spoke again:
"However, the void mark on you is formed from the remnants of many void entities' wills. Purifying it will consume a large amount of domain essence. If you wish to offset the cost with points and permissions, you must pay eighty points and eight permissions. Do you wish to have it purified as well?"
"Hiss!"
The cost made Chu Cheng inhale sharply.
"That much? But I don’t have that many permissions."
"You may make up the difference after the exam concludes."
Chu Cheng replied,
"Please, Principal, help me purify it."
There was no choice. He’d have to spend a hefty sum on a high-level purification scroll after leaving anyway—it made no difference.
Moreover, having the principal purify it was safer and more thorough, with no risk of lingering traces.
With his consent, Vice Principal Du’s avatar, the being of light, stretched out a hand and touched him. Chu Cheng felt the entire world pressing in on him; in a flash, unimaginable forces struck him, rendering him senseless and unconscious.
To observers, his space seemed to contract sharply, then infinite rays of light exploded from within him. Indescribable, twisted void shadows were expelled and writhed madly in the air, gradually dissipating.
When he came to, the being of light was gone and everything had returned to normal.
He stood there, dazed, for a long time before slowly regaining his senses. Mo Han’s voice reached his ears:

"Check your panel—the principal said there’d be some pure essence left after the mark was purified."
He immediately focused and opened his panel, scanning the attribute screen up and down, soon noticing something unusual. He checked the notifications:
"Notification: Washed by domain power. Unknown mark on you has been purified."
"Notification: Washed by domain power. Void mark on you has been purified. Remaining pure essence has been converted to free attribute points."
"Notification: Washed by domain power. Void mark on you has been purified. Remaining pure essence has been converted to free attribute points."
"Notification: Washed by domain power..."
Chu Cheng glanced at the stream of notifications—over twenty in one sweep. He looked at his attribute panel: an extra twenty-four free attribute points.
"In other words, although my void mark was purified, it wasn’t done crudely. The harmful parts were removed, leaving behind some pure essence, which was converted to free attribute points."
"Absolutely fantastic!"
"Those points were well spent."
A void mark that was a hidden threat, yet now provided twenty-four extra free attribute points—it was beyond value.
"Now that the Devil Lord’s projection has been dealt with, what about Sun Yu?"
Mo Han's answer surprised him:
"Though the Devil Lord’s projection was handled, its will wasn’t destroyed—it escaped. The principal will conduct a thorough sweep before the next cycle ends. As for Sun Yu—hmph, his results have already been nullified!"
"The principal sees all!"
On the other side, compared to Chu Cheng's newfound lightness, Sun Yu now stood pale and motionless.
"Your exam results are void!"
Class leader He Xiao strode up to him, face flushed with anger, and reprimanded him:
"Fool!"
"Who told you to play clever tricks?"
He Xiao glared at him, took a deep breath to calm his fury, and said,
"Using that item was already skirting the rules. I swallowed my pride and paid extra permissions to get the school to turn a blind eye. You could have used this opportunity to profit quietly, but instead, you insisted on competing against others."
"Was Chu Cheng’s performance really such a bother to you? Why did you mock him?"
"You could have surpassed him directly—why resort to these tricks?"
"Now look, the vice principal has declared your actions as cheating. All achievements gained by this means are canceled, including points, permissions, and reward chests from killing the boss."
"Moreover, you must compensate for all consequences caused by your loss of control, including Xu Zhiyuan’s accidental death."
Sun Yu stood there, pale, filled with shock and fury.
He was unwilling, but had no words for rebuttal.