Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
When the morning bell of the assessment rang out across Cloud Creek City, tens of thousands of young men and women who had passed the preliminary test streamed in from every corner of the city like tributaries converging into a great river, heading toward Cloud Creek Academy's inner plaza.
Unlike the open and noisy outer plaza, the inner plaza was far more solemn and imposing. Its ground was paved with mirror-smooth white jade, while enormous scholar statues a hundred meters tall stood around it, each radiating an air of wisdom and majesty. At the center of the plaza was an incomparably vast circular formation, engraved with intricate and profound runes that gave off faint spatial fluctuations.
With his bronze token, Lin Xiao entered the plaza without issue. At a glance, he spotted the especially conspicuous Shi Lei and Su Yue amid the crowd.
Shi Lei's burly, small-mountain-like frame stood out like a crane among chickens among the generally lean cultivators. As the treasured daughter of the City Lord's Mansion, Su Yue naturally had quite a few young heirs from noble families gathered around her, fawning over her. Yet her lively, ethereal temperament still made her seem like the moon surrounded by stars.
"Lin Xiao, over here!" Shi Lei waved his arms excitedly.
Lin Xiao walked over, and Su Yue smiled and nodded at him as well, naturally putting some distance between herself and the "flies" around her.
Their group immediately drew the attention of many people nearby.
Shi Lei was Iron Rock City's genius, famed for his Innate Divine Strength. Su Yue was the pearl in the City Lord's Mansion's palm, blessed with both talent and beauty. Lin Xiao, meanwhile, was the mysterious dark horse who had stunned the entire crowd with a single punch three days ago.
The three of them standing together were undoubtedly a powerful team that could not be underestimated.
"Hmph, three ignorant fools gathering together—do they really think they can take first place?"
Not far away, Wang Chen stared at them resentfully with several lackeys behind him, his words dripping with sour jealousy. Beside him stood another youth in luxurious clothing, his expression arrogant and his aura stronger than Wang Chen's.
[System Notification: Scanning target: Li Mo] [Realm: Body Refinement Fourth Level] [Background: Collateral descendant of the Royal City Li Family]
Clearly, Wang Chen had found himself a backer as well.
Lin Xiao and the other two simply ignored those hostile gazes.
Just then, space twisted atop the raised platform at the front of the plaza, and three old men dressed in moon-white robes appeared silently before the crowd.
No powerful aura leaked from their bodies. They looked like three ordinary old grandfathers from next door. Yet the instant they appeared, the noisy plaza fell utterly silent. Everyone felt a pressure originating from the depths of their souls—an absolute suppression on the level of life itself.
"Silence!"
The white-haired elder at the front spoke slowly. His voice was not loud, yet every person heard it clearly.
"I am Chu Tianxing, the Outer Court Vice Dean of Cloud Creek Academy. Today, I will preside over your entrance examination."
"You must already know that Cloud Creek Academy's assessments have never been simple contests of strength. What we seek are true talents who possess wisdom, courage, strength, and teamwork."
"Therefore, your first round of assessment will take place in a small secret realm under our academy's control—the Myriad Beast Mountain Range!"
As Chu Tianxing finished speaking, he waved his hand.
The space behind him rippled like water, and an enormous light screen unfolded. It displayed a vast, boundless primeval mountain range, thick with forests and rushing rivers, where countless Demonic Beasts could vaguely be seen moving about.
"The Myriad Beast Mountain Range is home to tens of thousands of Demonic Beasts ranging from the First Order to the Third Order. Your task is to survive there for three days while hunting Demonic Beasts and obtaining the beast cores within their bodies."
"Each First-Order Lower Grade beast core is worth 1 point. Middle Grade, 2 points; Upper Grade, 5 points. Second-Order Lower Grade, 10 points; Middle Grade, 20 points; Upper Grade, 50 points. Third-Order Lower Grade, 100 points; Middle Grade, 200 points; Upper Grade, 500 points."
"After three days, we will rank you according to each person's total score. Only the top one thousand in total points may advance to the next round of assessment."
"In the mountain range, you may form teams freely or travel alone. We do not prohibit competition among students. In other words... you may seize other people's beast cores. But remember one thing: killing is strictly forbidden! Should anyone be found deliberately causing another's death, they will not only be eliminated immediately, but their cultivation will be crippled and they will be imprisoned for life! The tokens on each of you can record your points, and when your life is in danger, you may crush them to be teleported out. Of course, crushing one also means elimination."
Those cruel rules made quite a few of the young men and women present turn pale.
The fact that robbery was not forbidden meant they had to face not only the threat of Demonic Beasts, but also guard against schemes from their own kind!
A flash of excitement passed through Lin Xiao's eyes. This kind of chaotic law of the jungle was simply like a fish returning to water for him!
"Alright, the rules have been announced." Chu Tianxing glanced at the enormous formation in the center of the plaza. "Now, enter the teleportation formation in groups of one hundred according to your token numbers!"
At his command, the formation blazed with light.
"Numbers one through one hundred, enter the formation!"
The first hundred students stepped into the formation with uneasy hearts. In a flash of light, their figures vanished from where they stood.
"Lin Xiao, Su Yue, we're in the same group! Great!" Shi Lei said excitedly after looking at his token, then at Lin Xiao and Su Yue. Their numbers were all between seven hundred and eight hundred.
"Looks like the academy deliberately placed people of similar strength, or those who stood close together during registration, in the same groups to make it easier for them to team up early on," Lin Xiao analyzed.
Very soon, it was their group's turn.
"Numbers seven hundred and one through eight hundred, enter the formation!"
Lin Xiao, Shi Lei, and Su Yue exchanged glances before stepping into the dazzling light without hesitation.
A faint sensation of dizziness came over them, as though their souls had been pulled from their bodies and sent racing through a dazzling, multicolored passage.
The next second, the solid sensation of earth beneath their feet returned.
The rich fragrance of grass and trees, mixed with the damp, earthy smell of soil, instantly filled their nostrils. Strange birdcalls and beast roars rang in their ears.
They had arrived at the Myriad Beast Mountain Range.
This was a vast primeval forest. Towering ancient trees blocked out the sky, enormous vines coiled like horned dragons, and the ground was blanketed with thick fallen leaves. The spiritual energy in the air was several times denser than in Cloud Creek City.
"So this is a secret realm? It feels so real!" Shi Lei looked around curiously.
"Everyone, be careful. Danger lurks on every side here." Su Yue was far more cautious. She drew a soft sword from her waist and vigilantly observed the surrounding movements.
The hundred people teleported over with them had already scattered throughout the area. Some immediately gathered in groups of three or five, while others swiftly chose a direction and disappeared into the depths of the forest.
"What do we do?" Shi Lei looked toward Lin Xiao. Without realizing it, he had already begun treating Lin Xiao as the backbone of their group.
Lin Xiao did not answer immediately. He closed his eyes, and his powerful spiritual force spread outward like radar. At the same time, a simple 3D terrain map rapidly formed on his system panel.
[Scanning surrounding environment...] [Water source discovered: A stream lies three hundred meters to the left front.] [Demonic Beast group discovered: Around twenty First-Order Lower Grade Demonic Beasts, Iron Claw Monkeys, are located one li to the right rear.] [High-level Demonic Beast aura discovered: Signs of Second-order Demonic Beast activity five li to the southeast.] [Other student teams discovered: Three teams, each located in a different direction.]
Countless pieces of information flooded into his mind in an instant.
"We'll go left." Lin Xiao opened his eyes and spoke decisively. "First, get close to the water source. Then clear out the weakest group of Demonic Beasts near us and test our teamwork."
"Alright!" Shi Lei and Su Yue had no objections.
The three immediately set off. Lin Xiao led from the front, Shi Lei supported from the middle, and Su Yue guarded the rear, watching for ambushes from behind.
Before long, they reached the territory of the Iron Claw Monkeys.
They were a group of tree-dwelling monkey-type Demonic Beasts. They were not large, but their claws were as hard and sharp as steel, gleaming with a metallic sheen. They moved with extreme speed and excelled at launching surprise attacks from the trees.
"I'll lure them out!" Shi Lei volunteered. He picked up a head-sized stone from the ground, took a deep breath, and hurled it toward the densest part of the monkey troop.
Whoosh—
The stone tore through the air like a cannonball and smashed a thick branch apart.
"Screech! Screech! Screech!"
The monkey troop was instantly enraged. With sharp cries, they pounced on the three from every direction like black lightning.
"Su Yue, watch their claws! Don't let them scratch you! Shi Lei, hold the front!" Lin Xiao commanded calmly.
"Leave it to me!" Shi Lei roared, planting himself at the very front like a wall. He had no weapon; his pair of iron fists were his finest weapons. An Iron Claw Monkey lunged at him from above, only for his punch to smash into it. Its brains burst out, and it died on the spot.
Su Yue moved with nimble grace like a butterfly flitting among flowers. The soft sword in her hand danced into a ball of silver light as she weaved through the monkey troop, every strike precisely piercing vital areas such as an Iron Claw Monkey's eye or throat.
Lin Xiao, meanwhile, was like a ghost.
He had no fixed position. One moment, he was at the front assisting Shi Lei; the next, he was protecting Su Yue from the flank. Every move he made was simple and efficient. The refined steel dagger in his hand always slit an Iron Claw Monkey's throat from the most inconceivable angle.
On his system panel, every Iron Claw Monkey's movement path and weaknesses were clearly marked in red lines. All he needed to do was follow the prompts and reap lives.
The coordination between the three was unexpectedly seamless.
Shi Lei's ferocity, Su Yue's agility, and Lin Xiao's scalpel-like precise and lethal hunting formed a perfect cycle of combat.
In less than a quarter of an hour, more than twenty Iron Claw Monkeys had been slaughtered by them all.
[Successfully killed First-Order Lower Grade Demonic Beast: Iron Claw Monkey x 23] [Points gained: 23]
The number on Lin Xiao's token changed from 0 to 23.
"Phew... phew... That was incredible!" Shi Lei wiped away his sweat, his face full of excitement.
Su Yue's pretty face was slightly flushed as well. When she looked at Lin Xiao, there was an extra glimmer in her eyes. She had noticed that Lin Xiao always seemed able to anticipate danger in advance and give the most correct response. This kind of control over the battlefield was simply not something a sixteen-year-old youth should possess.
Lin Xiao paid no attention to their amazement. He skillfully began cutting open the Iron Claw Monkeys' corpses and extracting the rice-grain-sized beast cores within.
Just then, a rustling sound of footsteps came from the forest not far away.
Lin Xiao's gaze sharpened. He immediately put away the beast cores and assumed a guarded stance.
Five students emerged from behind the trees. The leader was none other than Li Mo, a collateral descendant of the Royal City Li Family. And behind him was Wang Chen, wearing a vicious grin.
"Well, if it isn't Qingyang City's great genius?" Wang Chen said in a mocking tone. "Not bad harvest. Too bad it's about to become ours."
Li Mo folded his arms and looked down at Lin Xiao's group of three as though they were his prey.
"Hand over the beast cores you just obtained, along with all the points on your tokens." Li Mo's tone was filled with an unquestionable command. "Then crush your own tokens and get out. That way, I can let you suffer a little less."
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