Reserve Qualification Test

The dead began the Reserve Trial.

Xianghua Village

Trial Overview: Xianghua Village had three sights: the Village Guardian at the entrance, Fallen Blossom Cave on the back mountain, and White Dragon Fish in the river.

Trial Mission: Survive for 7 days.

Trial Difficulty: F-rank (Extremely Easy)

Trial Reward: Obtain Dimension Apostle reserve qualification.

(Note: During the mission, additional side quests, chain quests, hidden quests, and other types of missions may be activated.)

Warning: Mentioning or revealing anything related to Dimension Paradise during the Reserve Trial was forbidden. Violators would be stripped of their trial qualification.

Reminder: Do not casually leave the Trial Mission area. Otherwise, unknown circumstances such as an increase in trial difficulty might occur. You would bear the consequences of this action yourself.

Reminder: You had mastered this world's language and received an identity disguise: Passing Traveler.

As the countdown ended, Chu Danqing opened his eyes once more and sensed the changes around him.

He was leaning against a tree, dressed in a fresh set of clothes resembling ancient attire.

He carried a bundle on his back containing some copper coins, several pieces of dry rations, and a flask of clean water.

After briefly sorting through them, he decisively rose to his feet and turned his gaze to the two skills and one item he had obtained.

Summoning Basics: LV1

Skill Effect: Increased all summon attributes by 1%. Summons received a bonus equal to 10% of the Apostle's average attributes.

Basic Summoning Art: LV1

Skill Effect: Increased summon talent and skill effects by 1%, and increased summon potential and growth.

(Note: No summon detected. No valid knowledge-transmission medium detected. Basic Skills had not been activated.)

Type One Summoning Contract Scroll

Type: Contract Item

Quality: Common

Durability: 1/1

Effect: After being used on a target, judgment would be made based on the target's unwarped self-will, favorability, and attribute gap. Upon successful judgment, the target would be converted into a Permanent Summon.

(Note: Permanent Summons contracted through forced success via attribute disparity might have issues such as low loyalty.)

How should he put it? Chu Danqing felt that the future held promise, but the road before him was shrouded in darkness.

The two skills were utterly useless before he had a summon.

Fortunately, the trial difficulty was Extremely Easy, and all it required was for him to survive seven days.

Other than being forbidden from revealing any information related to Dimension Paradise, everything else depended on his own actions.

Theoretically, as long as he did not court death, his chances of passing the Reserve Trial were very high.

As for the consequences of failing the trial, naturally, it meant death. Dimension Paradise had not even stated a penalty for failure; the answer was plain as day.

"It's getting dark. I need to reach Xianghua Village as quickly as possible."

There was no need to think about it. The end of this road was his mission objective, especially with something resembling a signpost standing nearby.

So there was no need to worry about taking the wrong road.

He had already estimated that the dry rations and clean water in his hands could not last him seven days.

Xianghua Village was indeed dangerous, but he also knew that danger and profit went hand in hand.

Dimension Paradise had trial evaluation standards. The higher the evaluation, the richer the reward would inevitably be.

Besides, staying out in the wilderness was no good either.

Judging from his clothes, this Trial World was likely an ancient world. Snakes, insects, rats, ants, jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards could all appear.

As a modern man, he had no experience surviving in the wild. Only places where people gathered gave him a sense of security.

He broke into a jog, doing his best to reach Xianghua Village before night fell.

But he soon had no choice but to stop.

An Old Wolf was crouching in the haystack by the roadside.

His field was paleontology, but that did not mean he knew nothing about modern creatures.

From the wolf's tangled, faded fur and the loose skin around its eyes and mouth, Chu Danqing identified its condition.

The Old Wolf sensed someone approaching and sprang out of the haystack, baring its fangs as it warned Chu Danqing away.

Judging from its emaciated frame and worn-down, shortened teeth, it was undoubtedly an Old Wolf.

Chu Danqing did not want any conflict with the Old Wolf.

Therefore, he avoided eye contact that might be taken as provocation while shouting and clapping his hands to make noise.

If he got bitten, without modern medical treatment, he could very well die in this ancient world.

The Old Wolf stared fixedly at the departing Chu Danqing, its gaze gradually sharpening.

Its posture also became fiercer and more focused. From afar, it looked like a mad dog.

Clearly, it was starving.

Its aged body could no longer hunt effectively. For a single bite of food, it was even willing to risk attacking a human.

Humans were far larger than wolves, so wolves normally would not choose humans as prey.

But this also exposed another weakness of the Old Wolf: its left hind leg seemed to be injured.

Its movements were affected as a result.

Chu Danqing's first thought was to turn and run, but he forcibly stopped himself.

This Old Wolf could be killed without taking a scratch!

Especially with its left hind leg impaired, and with hunger and old age weighing it down, all he needed was a suitable weapon for self-defense—such as the half-exposed hay fork in the haystack.

The trial was Extremely Easy, yet an Old Wolf had blocked the road to Xianghua Village. Chu Danqing could not help thinking this was also part of the trial.

He mentally assessed his own speed against that of the Old Wolf.

Then he suddenly moved, rushing toward the hay fork beside the haystack.

His action naturally startled the Old Wolf.

Its speed consequently dropped sharply, and a trace of cunning flashed through its eyes.

It seemed to be deliberately allowing Chu Danqing to retrieve the hay fork.

Chu Danqing did not notice this. His mind was filled with nothing but accelerating and reaching out.

The next moment, the hay fork was in his hands.

Before he could rejoice, the haystack behind the fork suddenly bulged outward, and a far more savage wolf's head thrust out from within.

Its jaws opened as it bit toward Chu Danqing's throat.

Chu Danqing was startled, but not stunned. Instead, he swiftly held the hay fork crosswise, jamming its wooden handle into the wolf's mouth.

In that instant, adrenaline surged through him. He erupted with strength far beyond normal, yanking the wolf out of the haystack and violently flinging it away.

The wolf failed to bite down on the hay fork's wooden handle and was hurled through the air, rolling several times before finally stopping.

Only then did Chu Danqing see clearly that the adult wolf hiding in the haystack had both hind legs severed at the roots, and one of its front paws was crippled as well.

Its body was also gaunt, with only its wolf head looking relatively normal. Clearly, it too had been starving badly.

"An Old Wolf and a Crippled Wolf."

"You worked together quite well. Looks like this wasn't the first time you've attacked passersby," Chu Danqing said coldly.

Meanwhile, the Old Wolf had lowered itself close to the ground and crept nearer to Chu Danqing.

While Chu Danqing's attention was on Crippled Wolf, it suddenly pounced at him from the side.