When Li Ziyu was bored, several more buses came down the mountain road leading to the platform, and hundreds of students climbed off amid a cacophony of chatter.
At that moment, a buzzing sound rang out from the sky.
Li Ziyu felt a fierce gust sweep over his head. Narrowing his eyes, he looked up.
"It's nine o'clock. Close the passage into the examination grounds!"
A gigantic helicopter, its entire body painted in camouflage, appeared above everyone in the sky.
A middle-aged man in a camouflage uniform stood aboard the helicopter.
The man had bronze-colored skin and a resolute face. A massive scar ran from his neck all the way to the corner of his eye.
The voice had come from this man's mouth.
Without seeming to exert any effort, his voice still rolled across the entire platform like rumbling thunder, reaching the ears of tens of thousands of examinees.
Li Ziyu was the closest, so he was affected the most. The vibration left his ears buzzing.
As for the other examinees, they were even worse off. Every one of them had gone pale.
In an instant, the enormous examination grounds, where tens of thousands of examinees had gathered, fell utterly silent.
Only the helicopter's rotors buzzing overhead and the middle-aged man's voice remained.
"Strong!"
"Judging from this one display of shouting alone, his blood-qi strength is at least over a hundred! He's very likely a Level 3 Martial Artist!"
Li Ziyu stared at the middle-aged man in the air, his expression solemn.
Seeing that the crowd had quieted down, the camouflage-clad middle-aged man nodded in satisfaction.
As his words fell, the only passage leading to the platform was directly blocked off with a barricade.
After a pause, the camouflage-clad middle-aged man continued:
"I'll only explain the rules of the Martial Arts Exam once!"
"The place you're in is the examination grounds for this Martial Arts Exam—the entrance to Ma'an City's Wilderness Area."
"The fierce beasts inside have all been specially treated. You don't need to worry about being invaded by the beasts' consciousness after killing them."
"You only have one thing to do: kill fierce beasts!
"Kill fierce beasts with all your might! Use every means at your disposal to kill fierce beasts!"
"The area inside is divided into four regions: the central region, the core region, the outer region, and the fringe region. The levels of the fierce beasts differ as well."
"Killing fierce beasts of different levels will earn different amounts of Points. We have special methods for tallying the Points, so you don't need to worry about any errors in the count."
After a pause, the camouflage-clad middle-aged man continued expressionlessly:
"As for the admission requirements of the various martial arts schools... they'll be announced after your Martial Arts Exam ends. However, I can tell you in advance that the required scores are higher than in previous years!"
"So if you don't want to be eliminated, work hard and kill fierce beasts!"
After finishing, the middle-aged man waved his hand grandly. Another group of soldiers in camouflage uniforms emerged, carrying packages of supplies.
"Next, come collect the supplies you'll need for the Martial Arts Exam. One portion per person. Don't take extra."
After the middle-aged man finished speaking, the students on the platform began coming forward in an orderly fashion to collect their supplies. Li Ziyu was no exception.
When he opened the package, he found five popsicle-shaped objects, a silver-white bracelet, and a portable sleeping bag.
"The technology of this era really is advanced. Not only are the helicopters shaped like something out of science fiction, even these energy bars and bracelets are far more advanced than the world I lived in during my previous life."
Li Ziyu glanced up at the helicopter in the sky. Its shape was quite similar to that of a drone, though its size was thousands of times greater.
After one look, he withdrew his gaze, lowered his head, and put the bracelet on his wrist.
He tapped it, and a 3D Virtual Projection appeared in midair from nothing.
The bracelet was used to record Points. It could also display the Points of all the students participating in the Martial Arts Exam. At present, everyone's Points showed zero.
The admission scores for the various martial arts schools would be announced after the Martial Arts Exam ended, and they changed every year from the previous year.
Li Ziyu understood what the martial arts universities were trying to do: they wanted the examinees to give their all in the examination grounds and hold nothing back.
Although the scores had not been announced, they could still be roughly inferred from the admission scores of previous years.
Five hundred Points could get someone into an undergraduate martial arts school.
Eight hundred could get someone into a top-tier martial arts school.
With two thousand Points, one could enter those four prestigious schools.
Li Ziyu put the five energy bars away again. These energy bars were also a manifestation of advanced technology.
A single one could replenish two days' worth of energy and water consumption for a Level 1 Martial Artist. They were extraordinarily convenient.
"Damn! Why is it harder every year than the year before?! Are they trying to mess with our heads?"
"Yeah, who says otherwise? Raising the difficulty may not mean much to geniuses like Nangong Ao, but it's a real hardship for ordinary examinees like us."
"Damn it, and the fierce beasts in the central and core regions too. Why does killing one give so many more Points than killing one in the outer region? That's not fair!"
"Fair? This society has never had true fairness. If you're strong enough, you can go to the central region and kill fierce beasts too. No one's stopping you."
"Still, there are more fierce beasts in the outer and fringe regions. They're densely packed and easy to find. If your luck is good, the Points won't be low either."
While Li Ziyu was organizing his supplies, he heard some fellow students complaining indignantly nearby.
Li Ziyu listened quietly, and he felt somewhat moved as well.
He did not know what was going on with Great Xia, but the Martial Arts Exam truly had grown harder year after year.
Still, their conversation gave him some inspiration.
Li Ziyu's eyes flickered as he fell into thought.
At first, he had planned to head straight to the central region to hunt fierce beasts.
The fierce beasts in the central region did grant high Points.
But their positions there were more scattered, and their numbers were limited.
Coming here for the Martial Arts Exam was only one of his goals.
His main goal was still to kill fierce beasts and increase his strength.
The fierce beasts in the fringe and outer regions were densely distributed, and there were many of them.
In that case, he might as well start from the fringe region and push toward the central region!
The Martial Arts Exam lasted five days, after all, and with his current strength and speed—
Five days would be more than enough for him to kill a great many fierce beasts!
"Tsk, there are plenty of them, and we don't even need to worry about being invaded by their consciousness. The fierce beasts in this examination ground really are a treasure trove!"
"I just wonder how far my strength will improve in five days!"
At the First High School's position, Nangong Ao stood with his arms crossed, listening to the discussions and complaints around him with a look of disdain.
"Hmph! You're already complaining just because they said the difficulty was increasing? What a bunch of good-for-nothings."
"If I, Nangong Ao, still can't take first place in an environment full of good-for-nothings, that would truly be a joke!"
Wang Long had been watching Nangong Ao's movements all along. Seeing his disdainful, confident appearance, a surge of battle intent welled up in his heart, and he praised him aloud:
"As expected of the opponent I, Wang Long, personally chose. The publicly acknowledged strongest examinee in Xujiang City has an attitude worthy of becoming the whetstone for my blade!"
After the supplies had all been distributed, the camouflage-clad middle-aged man did not waste any more words. He acted swiftly, waving his hand again.
Around the platform, several enormous steel gates slowly rose under the soldiers' operation.
The middle-aged man's voice resounded across the entire grounds:
"The Martial Arts Exam begins!"
Before you continue