The True Assessment

Chapter 043: The Real Assessment

"Fifteen years old, cultivation Houtian Eighth Layer!"

After hearing the examiner announce the test results, Qin Shaofeng smiled slightly and walked silently to Du Meng's side.

The first and second tests weren't finished yet, so the final strength assessment would still take some time.

However, Qin Shaofeng noticed that if things continued like this, there would be quite a few people participating in the third assessment!

But after inquiring, Qin Shaofeng finally understood that not everyone could participate in the final third assessment.

First, those over eighteen years old could not participate, as it was unnecessary!

At eighteen, if one had even a little talent, they would already be a Xiantian Martial Artist. Such individuals could fully become official students of Lianyang Academy, and after the three-month period expired, they could even be directly promoted to Star Students.

Second, those whose cultivation was below Houtian Fifth Level did not need to participate in the third assessment, unless they were under fifteen years old.

This third assessment evaluated the students Lianyang Academy truly needed. Those who didn't meet the age requirement or had too low a cultivation level would be eliminated.

Although some people could still pass the assessment, at most they would become reserve students of Lianyang Academy. After the three-month period expired, they would ultimately be unable to remain at Lianyang Academy.

Knowing this, Qin Shaofeng became increasingly eager for the third assessment.

Time passed bit by bit. Starting from early morning until the afternoon, all the participants were finally tested.

During this time, Qin Shaofeng heard many discussions about powerful geniuses appearing at certain assessment locations near the city gates.

However, the most exceptional genius was the young boy he had seen that morning, a nine-year-old Xiantian Martial Master.

Besides him, quite a few Xiantian Martial Masters under eighteen years old had also appeared.

Qin Shaofeng truly realized that compared to the entire Lianyang Kingdom, Lanjiang City was just a remote corner, not worth mentioning.

Indeed, after all, the recruitment for Lianyang Academy was a major event in Lianyang Kingdom, gathering countless geniuses from all over the country.

However, even with all the geniuses in Lianyang Kingdom, the number who could ultimately enter Lianyang Academy and become its students was likely not very high.

This recruitment assessment had over 150,000 participants, but only less than 30,000 could participate in the actual third assessment.

And among these 30,000, how many would pass the assessment was still unknown.

The third assessment was a strength test.

Participants would enter a special area and defeat Lianyang Academy's puppets. This process had ten stages.

Only by passing the first three stages could one be considered to have passed the assessment.

If you couldn't even pass the first three stages, then I'm sorry, your level is not even qualified to be a reserve student of Lianyang Academy. After staying at Lianyang Academy for three months, you will directly leave!

If one could pass seven stages, they could directly become an official member of Lianyang Academy.

Of course, passing the seventh stage was not easy.

Every year, during Lianyang Academy's recruitment assessment, only the top two to three hundred people could pass the first six stages. But when it came to the seventh stage, having one hundred people would already be considered very good.

As for the eighth stage, it was basically achievable only by the top twenty to thirty geniuses.

But that was the maximum, because the number of people who passed the ninth stage was extremely few. If three to five were produced each year, it would already be considered quite a lot.

The reason for this was that before the assessment, some true geniuses had already been taken away by the powerful figures of Lianyang Academy.

In the eyes of those powerful figures, the geniuses they fancied did not need to participate in any strength assessment.

Because of this, since Lianyang Academy was established, fewer than a hundred people had managed to pass the tenth stage in the third strength assessment during the recruitment drive.

Lianyang Academy had already been established for over a thousand years.

Less than a hundred people in a thousand years, which showed how extraordinarily difficult the tenth stage was!

After understanding all this, Qin Shaofeng and Du Meng were both greatly astonished.

Qin Shaofeng even secretly wondered how many stages he could endure.

Ultimately, Qin Shaofeng realized that if he truly aimed for first place, he would need to pass at least the eighth stage, and even attempt the ninth stage.

For the reward of a level increase, 1000 Points, and a chance to draw, Qin Shaofeng was determined to give it his all!

Regarding the academy's recruitment assessment, besides the academy's instructors and powerful figures, some students also attached great importance to it.

Where there are people, there is conflict. Lianyang Academy was no exception. Among the students of Lianyang Academy, there were countless factions, and these factions were in constant conflict.

The academy's instructors did not intervene in this matter; instead, some were happy to see it.

Because progress comes from conflict!

As long as no lives were lost and no academy rules were violated, the instructors wouldn't care.

The recruitment assessment represented the addition of new students to Lianyang Academy. The various factions of Lianyang Academy would naturally send people to observe and recruit fresh blood to strengthen their own factions.

At this moment, in a separate special area, many students wearing Lianyang Academy student uniforms were observing the participants who had already begun the third assessment.

Lianyang Academy had a unified student uniform, but the colors differed.

White was the uniform for reserve students, cyan for official students, and blue for Star Students at the Xiantian Martial Master realm.

The student uniforms above blue were no longer just student uniforms; they were the golden robes of elite students at Lianyang Academy. Students wearing them held a status no lower than that of ordinary instructors within the academy.

In fact, many instructors at Lianyang Academy were themselves elite students who wore golden student robes.

Of course, such individuals would naturally not be present here to observe the admissions assessment.

Among the crowd of students, most wore green student uniforms, indicating they were regular students. Only seven or eight wore blue student uniforms, marking them as Star Students.

Of these seven or eight, three stood out the most. Their blue student uniforms were each embroidered with five shining golden stars.

This signified that all three were Five-star students, meaning they were Xiantian Martial Masters at the Xiantian Fifth Layer.

These three – two men and one woman – represented the three largest factions at Lianyang Academy: the Heavenly King Party, the Lone Wolf Gang, and the Nine Phoenix Garden.

Watching the participants begin the strength assessment, it wasn't long before the Five-star student from the Heavenly King Party frowned in dissatisfaction. "Weak! Weak! Weak! The newcomers this year are truly too weak. It's been a quarter of an hour, and not a single person has passed the fifth stage. This is so disappointing!"

"Heh, I say, Brother Lin, don't be in such a hurry. You're getting impatient already? If you really can't stand it, just leave!"

The speaker was the Five-star student from the Lone Wolf Gang. He was short, only about 1.6 meters tall, but the sharp glint in his eyes indicated he was no ordinary person. If one judged him by his appearance, they would surely fall into his trap.

The Five-star student from the Heavenly King Party, Brother Lin, naturally understood this. He shot the other man a fierce look and snorted coldly, but remained silent.

Leave?

What a joke. He had fought hard to get this recruitment opportunity, all to recruit some strong newcomers and gain favor with the higher-ups of the Heavenly King Party. Why would he leave so easily?

For a moment, he felt a surge of annoyance towards the man from the Lone Wolf Gang.

But unfortunately, the other party's status was not low, and he couldn't do anything about him.

Seeing the tense atmosphere, the only woman among the three suddenly smiled. "Why must you two be like this? We all understand that truly talented newcomers have already been recruited. This strength test now is just a matter of hope. Whether it can truly manifest and make those behind us care about geniuses is still unknown!"

This woman was an external affairs supervisor for the Nine Phoenix Garden, a faction composed entirely of women.

Although they were all women, the Nine Phoenix Garden was not weak. Especially among them were several leaders with "Phoenix" in their titles, who were outstanding among Lianyang Academy's students.

Even the Heavenly King Party and the Lone Wolf Gang, known for their arrogance and domineering ways, dared not underestimate the Nine Phoenix Garden.

When the woman spoke, the Five-star students from the Heavenly King Party and the Lone Wolf Gang finally fell silent.

The real assessment began!

Seeing someone enter the puppet assessment area, Qin Shaofeng paid close attention.

To Qin Shaofeng's astonishment, the first person to enter their assessment area retreated within a minute.

Qin Shaofeng also noticed that the person's chest was stained with blood, indicating they were injured.

Although he didn't know what happened inside the assessment area, Qin Shaofeng was sure that person hadn't even passed the first stage.

This was because the gate of the puppet assessment area also had ten rings on it.

If one passed a corresponding stage, the rings on the gate would light up accordingly.

The first person had a bad start, failing to pass even one stage, and was destined to have no connection with Lianyang Academy.

As for the second person, they fared slightly better, passing the first stage but failing in the second.

It wasn't until more than ten people had gone through that someone finally passed the third stage.

By this time, a quarter of an hour had already passed.

A quarter of an hour after the start, and only then did someone pass the third stage.

As for someone passing the fifth stage, that happened a full hour later.

Of course, this was just for Qin Shaofeng's assessment area. Qin Shaofeng didn't know about other locations, but he assumed the difference wouldn't be significant.

This couldn't help but make Qin Shaofeng sigh inwardly: As expected of Lianyang Academy. It's truly not easy to join.

While lost in thought, it was the turn of a boy around fifteen or sixteen years old.

To Qin Shaofeng's surprise, before entering the assessment area, the boy glanced in his direction, a hint of provocation in his eyes.

Qin Shaofeng initially thought the boy was targeting him, but he soon realized the boy's gaze seemed to be directed at Du Meng, who was beside him.

Unfortunately, the boy's provocative gaze was destined to go unnoticed by Du Meng.

Given Du Meng's personality, after waiting for over an hour, he had already grown bored.

He was dozing off at the moment, so who would pay attention to anyone's gaze?

But while Du Meng didn't care, Qin Shaofeng did.

He knew Du Meng's personality well; he wouldn't provoke trouble. So, this meant the other party was the aggressor?

But why?

Qin Shaofeng was puzzled, but then he quickly remembered.

This boy was one of the people who had been in the same assessment group as him and Du Meng from the beginning.