Assessment

Huo Qingyao was terrified.

As one of the three Ultimate Intelligent Goddesses of the Universe Human Alliance, the Goddess of Wisdom possessed authority that ranked among the very highest.

Even lofty Star Lords behaved with utmost respect before the three Goddesses, never daring to show the slightest impatience for fear of lowering their "evaluation" in the Goddesses' eyes.

Now that the Goddess of Wisdom had personally descended through her primary consciousness to sternly warn him, Huo Qingyao felt as though the sky had fallen.

"Ah?!"

Before Huo Qingyao could recover, Chu Shiyu beside him suddenly turned deathly pale.

His terror was no less than Huo Qingyao's—if anything, it was greater.

"You looked up Lin Yuan's information too?"

Huo Qingyao asked.

He suddenly turned to the others and warned them, "None of you should look up Lin Yuan's personal information."

Even he had been warned by the Goddess of Wisdom merely for looking up Lin Yuan's personal details. The others would fare even worse.

They were classmates, and their relationship had not deteriorated to that extent. There was no need to watch someone else get warned by the Goddess of Wisdom.

"Ah?"

The girls looked bewildered.

Huo Qingyao briefly explained what had happened to him.

"Just who is Lin Yuan? Why would even his personal information be encrypted by the Goddess of Wisdom?"

Chu Shiyuan finally came to his senses, his expression ugly.

In the era of Cosmic Human Civilization, citizens' personal information was considered private.

But he had only wanted to find out why Lin Yuan's name had been removed from the conscription list, yet he had been warned by the Goddess of Wisdom?

Such a high level of personal-information protection was reserved only for rare special talents and high-ranking citizens.

Could Lin Yuan be connected to either of those categories?

"No matter where he comes from, I've completely humiliated myself this time."

Huo Qingyao's face reddened slightly. He had just confidently declared in front of everyone that he would ask his uncle whether he could help Lin Yuan.

Yet Lin Yuan had not needed his help at all. His name had already been removed from the list.

"Zhao Qiwen, since you knew so early that Lin Yuan had been exempted from conscription, do you know anything else?"

As though recalling something, Chu Shiyu looked toward Zhao Qiwen, who was sitting nearby.

The others' eyes immediately lit up, and their gazes all fell on Zhao Qiwen.

Indeed.

Zhao Qiwen had been the first to say that Lin Yuan was no longer on the conscription list.

Clearly, Zhao Qiwen knew more than they did.

"I don't know much either."

Zhao Qiwen shook her head. After hesitating for a moment, she said truthfully, "A few days ago, I was working part-time at the sales office for the newly opened Water Moon District."

"I saw Lin Yuan there, and he directly bought a residence."

The moment she said that—

Everyone drew a sharp breath.

Water Moon District was quite famous. It had been heavily advertised during its development.

It was a genuine high-end residential complex, where any unit cost more than ten million.

If Zhao Qiwen was not lying, Lin Yuan was undoubtedly the wealthiest student in their school.

Casually spending tens of millions was something even Chu Shiyu found difficult to do, unless he used his family's connections to borrow money.

It was not that the Chu family lacked assets worth tens of millions, but Chu Shiyu could not represent the Chu family.

Huo Qingyao and Chu Shiyu exchanged a glance, their expressions complicated.

The two of them had fought each other in class for three years. Lin Yuan had probably watched it all.

Thinking about Lin Yuan's background, their open and covert struggles must have seemed as ridiculous to him as watching monkeys perform.

Zhao Qiwen glanced at the dejected Huo Qingyao and Chu Shiyu.

There was one more thing she had not said: Manager Wang at Water Moon's sales office had treated Lin Yuan with the reverence of a grandson meeting his grandfather.

Water Moon Real Estate Group was a famous property giant, with business spread across dozens of nearby cities. Manager Wang also had connections with several leaders in East Ning City, yet he had acted that way before Lin Yuan.

Just thinking about it made Zhao Qiwen shudder. She had actually spent three years with such a big shot?

"If..."

Zhao Qiwen lightly bit her lip, seemingly lost in thought.

"Lin Yuan actually has such an incredible background?"

Du Quan was somewhat dazed. He had known Lin Yuan for three years, but at this moment, he felt as if he had never truly known him at all.

Evolutionary Association.

A Black Hovercar arrived without a sound.

The Hovercar stopped, and Lin Yuan stepped out.

"So this is the Evolutionary Association?"

A strange feeling rose in Lin Yuan's heart.

Before him stood a gray building, exceptionally low-key. It did not even have a sign reading "Evolutionary Association."

"Are you Mr. Lin Yuan?"

A woman in a black skirt suit hurried over in small steps and asked tentatively. Her skirt was somewhat short, ending just above her knees and revealing her fair, slender legs.

"That's me."

Lin Yuan nodded.

"Please come inside, Mr. Lin."

Zhu Qianqian stole a glance at Lin Yuan before immediately walking ahead to lead the way.

She was the staff member who had failed to enter Lin Yuan's citizen identification number in time. Because of that incident, Zhu Qianqian had endured enormous pressure; saying she had spent every day in fear would not be an exaggeration.

If she had not obtained Lin Yuan's forgiveness, she would likely have been dismissed by her superior today.

Mr. Lin looks so young.

As Zhu Qianqian led the way, she stole another glance at him from the corner of her eye.

Following Zhu Qianqian, Lin Yuan entered the gray building and arrived before an elevator.

Once inside, Zhu Qianqian stood beside Lin Yuan and explained, "Mr. Lin, before registering as an evolver, you must undergo an assessment. Your Evolutionary Certificate will then be issued based on the assessment results."

"I know."

Lin Yuan nodded.

The Evolutionary Certificate contained a specific rank designation.

And that could only be determined through a strength assessment.

Not long afterward.

The two took the elevator to the twenty-second floor.

Ding. The elevator doors opened.

Inside were rows of small rooms.

They were made of dark-gold alloy and arranged neatly in two rows.

"Mr. Lin's Assessment Room is here."

Zhu Qianqian led Lin Yuan to the door of the innermost room.

"The assessment is conducted in this room?"

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"Yes and no."

Zhu Qianqian nodded, then shook her head.

She directly pushed open the door.

Inside stood a silver-white metal cabin.

"This is a Virtual World Cabin. Mr. Lin's assessment must be conducted in the Virtual World."

Zhu Qianqian did not beat around the bush and explained directly.

"In the Virtual World?"

Lin Yuan surveyed the room.

"Of course."

Zhu Qianqian smiled. "Powerful evolvers can easily destroy cities and wipe out lands. Could we possibly set aside an entire planet just to assess their strength?"

"Therefore, evolver assessments are basically conducted in the Virtual World."

At this point, Zhu Qianqian paused before continuing, "Mr. Lin, you needn't worry that your strength in the Virtual World will differ from your true strength outside."

"This is a Virtual World Cabin. As long as Mr. Lin lies inside, it can scan your entire body, perfectly simulate your physical form, and synchronize it with your body in the Virtual World."

"I see."

Lin Yuan nodded slightly.

Indeed, evolvers varied greatly in strength. Weaker ones, such as those who had not entered a rank or those at the third or fourth stage of the first rank, were manageable enough.

At most, they only needed to use a plaza to assess their strength.

But stronger evolvers, such as Lin Yuan—

Could destroy the gray building beneath their feet with a casual strike. And those even stronger, at the second, third, fourth, or even fifth rank... How many resources would it take to assess the strength of such powerful evolvers?

Therefore, placing the assessment site within the Virtual World was the most efficient method.

Within the Virtual World, everything was virtual.

Even simulating an entire galaxy was not difficult.