Liam raised his hand as all 39 other contestants on the tform turned to look at him.


    "That''s me, Sior."


    The three examiners narrowed their eyes as they observed Liam,  of them able to believe that this young man was only a 9-Star Spirit Lord. The chantmt Liam had inscribed on a sword was so perfect that it had reached the high-quality level!


    How difficult was it to reach the top of a ss? Less than % of professionals in a ss could produce items of the same ss and high-quality!


    Typically, only a professional of the highest ss would have a good chance of producing high-quality items on the first try.


    But Liam clearly had only two Spirits in his soul, and his appart cultivation level was 9-Star. Judging by his appearance, he was young and hadn''t yet had the time to be a Third ss Runemaster.


    The chief examiner th asked Liam, "How far have you progressed in your studies? Have you begun to learn the Pinewing Combination?"


    The Pinewing Combination was the main book for Third ss Runemasters.


    "I''ve started studying it, but I hav''t put the theories into practice yet, Sior."


    The three evaluators understood Liam''s situation and realized that they had an outstanding talt who had begun studying Third ss before ev receiving his Second ss certification!


    The three examiners were convinced that if Liam had indeed begun studying Third ss material, the exceptional quality of his incantation made sse. They th shifted their focus to the other chanted artifacts in their hands.


    Among Liam''s 39petitors, only five understood the chief examiner''s question, looking at him and the stage referee with sharp, impressed eyes.


    "How is this possible?" one man who had revised his bet with Ann asked, his face pale.


    Ann herself was surprised by Liam''s answer. ''It seems he started studying Third ss in secret… Maybe he''ll be a Third ss Runemaster before I do.''


    Ann felt a sse of urgcy growing in her heart. She had already begun studying the Pinewing Combination, butcked the cultivation to apply what she had learned. Without bing a third realm cultivator, she couldn''t be a Third ss Runemaster!


    ''I will use the merit points Liam will grant me today to hance my cultivation. The most important thing is to be a Spirit Earth cultivator as soon as possible. I can''t let Liam surpass me so easily!''


    While spectators andpetitors pondered over him, Liam recovered some of his mana during the three-minute break. But soon, the stage referee would start the second test of the exam, drawing the atttion of all hispetitors away from him, ev as the spectators and examiners continued to scrutinize him.


    Runemasters who passed could take their chanted items home, ording to the rules of the certification test. This was why Liam had chos the sword, his favorite weapon, along with the bow and arrow.


    The bow and arrow were remarkable forbining two distinct pieces. With these, he could implemt a rune system split betwe them, creating a truly challging Second ss item.


    For the bow, besides the runes for absorbing mana and connecting with the user, Liam wanted three key characteristics for the weapon''s structure. First, super resistance, suring the artifact could withstand repeated use without losing its properties. Second, highly efficit stic ergy transformation, to transfer the bow''s ergy to the arrow, increasing its speed and attack power.


    Third, a special sight capable of defining the target with high precision for shots.


    For the arrow he would chant in the ultimate test, Liam nned to use special runes. The arrow wouldn''t need a rune to bind it to its user, but it would require one to absorb mana. It also needed to strgth its structure, as its normal construction couldn''t dure thebined effects of the bow and impact with targets.


    In short, if the arrow''s body wasn''t super-strong, it might break with a single shot. Ev if the shot didn''t destroy it, it could break upon striking an emy wearing armor.


    In addition to resistance, it would be beficial if the arrow could petrate mana barriers and have a paralyzing effect or ev poison its target.


    Arrows were long-range weapons, meaning their target could be some distance away from the shooter. If the shot wasn''t lethal, it could allow the target to escape. Therefore, having effects to stun or gradually incapacitate the target was helpful for users of this type of weapon.


    As Liam approached the d of the second test, he had less than 50% of his mana remaining. He was already contemting the next test, but not in as good a condition as wh he began the certification. This was like hispetitors, some of whom were already showing signs of struggling toplete the next and final phase of the exam.


    Giles, for instance, was so pale that he looked as if he might faint at any momt!


    Fred was still standing but extremely sweaty, his eyes now focused on the uing challge.


    Liam nced a while the examiners evaluated the incantations from the second test. He noticed some participants appeared less fatigued than he was, likely showing hisck of experice in the profession.


    ''Everyone gave their best in the first test. But the truth will reveal itself in the third test. Those who falter in the quality of their incantations will quickly drop in the rankings, while those who remain steadfast will maintain or ev improve their positions.''


    He looked over and saw the ranking with the names of the top t disciples in today''s exam at the d of the second test.


    [st] [Liam Porter] [85]


    [nd] [Isaac Oliver] [7]


    [3rd] [Aphra Munn] [63]


    ...


    [th] [Martha McFadd] [4]


    In the first test, Liam scored an incredible 0 out of 0, the highest score of the test by over 5 points ahead of Isaac, the second highest score of the test so far.


    In the second test, Liam scored 85 points, while Isaac, his main temporary rival, scored 86 points, beating himselfpared to the first  and beating Liam in the second !


    The two nced at each other reflexively, both thinking the same thing.


    ''He''s going to decline in thisst test.''


    Not only did they think this, but the otherpetitors in the top t believed that everyone would score lower in the third test than in the first two. Whoever minimized their drop could approach the top 3, giv the small score differces among the top .


    For Isaac and Liam, with 4 points separating them, that number lingered in their minds.


    ''Considering how many points he lost in the second test, he is not expericed with Second ss runes. He''ll probably decline ev more in the next test, likely scoring 60 to 70 points. In that case, I need to score betwe  and 85 points!''


    Isaac clched his fists as he waited for the stage referee to signal the start of the third and final . Despite his improvemt in the second test, he didn''t expect to maintain the same performance now that he had only half his mana left.


    The three-minute break wasn''t ough for him or his opponts to fully recover, so they were all certain to lose points on the next score.


    ''80 points are realistic. I can do it!'' The expericed 8-Star Spirit Lord, who had be a Runemaster for about a year, relied on his skills as the referee signaled the start of the third .


    As the 40 people began, Ann and her colleagues were almost certain that Liam would finish in the top 3. For him to fail, he would have to score minus 40 points in the final incantation, which meant producing something of low-quality and having his opponts maintain their performance, something difficult.


    Liam was unaware of what others thought of him and continued with his aim, soon beginning to inscribe the simplest runes on the body of the arrow.


    With only two minutes left in the third test, the first contestants who couldn''t dure any longer fainted or vomit in their seats, unable toplete the test.


    Giles was among those who disqualified themselves, unable to withstand the pressure of performing Second ss incantations and passing out while feeling ill.


    Virginia fared better than Giles, but she also couldn''t finish the test. She failed toplete her incantation during the inscription of the third rune. Her attempt nearly disrupted some nearbypetitors wh her work exploded, damaging the artifact and disturbing the suring mana.


    Liam, who was close to Virginia, contained the effects of her failure. At a crucial momt, however, he ssed something amiss as a tiny needle was hurled toward the tip of his brush.


    Fred broke out in a cold sweat from his desperate attempt, but he had underestimated the seriousness of the Runemasters Association examiners. This wasn''t merely a Demon Gate test, and just as his needle was about to reach Liam, one of the three fourth realm examiners intercepted it in the path of the blond boy''s throw.


    "Daring!" The Spirit Sky cultivator, dressed in ck and unmasked, eximed as the pressure of his aura knocked Fred over, causing him to faint instantly with  foam forming at his mouth.


    "Disciple number 3 attempted to interfere with the results of apetitor''s test. He is disqualified and will be banned from further association tests for the next 6 months as punishmt!" The stage referee announced, prompting severalpetitors to stop what they were doing to look at Fred.


    Liam shook his head as he watched the hall staff remove Fred''s unconscious body, not expecting such intervtion on his behalf. ''I almost had to use my staff.'' He redirected his mana from his spatial ring back to the brush in his dominant hand.


    Having escaped the problem, Liam ignored thepetitors in the top 5, who regretted the examiner''s intervtion. Those contemting underhanded tactics abandoned their foolish ideas and focused on thest minutes of the exam.


    Of the original 40 contestants, 6 sessfullypleted their Second ss chantmts by the d of the third and final test.


    After presting their crafted artifacts to the examiners, these individuals waited anxiously for the results, each more or less aware of their performance but unsure of theirpetitors'' oues.


    Liam didn''t look at the examiners, but at the rank disyed on one wall in the area, where he saw the first scores being calcted, scores that were gradually changing the top , at least temporarily.


    Before his arrow was examined, Liam saw Isaac''s score, which ced him in first with 77 points on thest test, totaling 48 points.


    ''I need 64 points to beat him,'' Liam thought as he observed the results for third and fourth ce on the leaderboard and noticed that Aphra had lost her position to Linus McFadd.


    Th the three inspectors examined his arrow.