A9-Level Assessment

In his boundless dantian, two miniature planets ceaselessly revolved as Cosmic Origin Energy surged without end.

Suddenly, all the Origin Energy seemed to be summoned, rushing rapidly toward one spot, quickly forming a new miniature planet. After comprehending the Domain of Wood, Yin Congyang smoothly advanced to Planetary Level third stage.

"Cosmic shuttle will commence in one minute, returning to the Original Universe," the spacecraft began to decelerate, and the onboard Optical Computer announced, "After returning to the Original Universe, there will be approximately two hours until the destination. Please prepare!"

Yin Congyang, who had been in his daily cultivation, perked up. It was finally almost there. Alone on the spacecraft for over two months, aside from sparing some time each day to enter the Virtual Universe, chat with a few brothers, and verify his ideas in the Killing Field, he spent the rest of his time cultivating. Of course, he no longer went to the Battle Space—the opponents there could no longer pressure him.

At this moment, he was filled with anticipation for the upcoming training camp. Deep down, he was someone who loved challenges, possessing a strong heart and unwavering will. Moreover, as he comprehended more domains, the Law force and the mysterious fluctuations in his dantian nourished his soul excellently, making it increasingly powerful, and a powerful soul bred a strong will.

The spacecraft vibrated slightly for a few seconds.

"Cosmic shuttle complete, successfully returned to the Original Universe. Enable exterior simulation?" the spacecraft's AI voice sounded.

"Enable."

"100% exterior simulation enabled."

The entire cabin's surroundings, including the floor and ceiling, began to fade until they completely disappeared. Yin Congyang looked at the pitch-black starry sky before him. Only a distant cluster of stars emitted faint light; there were no stars nearby.

As expected, the spacecraft rapidly flew toward the distant star cluster. Over an hour later, Yin Congyang suddenly felt a ripple pass over the spacecraft, and then the scene before him changed. What came into view was a massive planet, far larger than Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System. Around it orbited eight satellites. Strangely, this planetary system had no star, and the planet itself did not emit light, but the eight satellites, orbiting the planet at different angles, each radiated various lights, preventing the system from being completely dark.

"Beep~"

"Signal received. Sending four-dimensional quintuple verification code... Verification successful. The spacecraft will enter C9 Spaceport and prepare to land..." After a cumbersome verification process, the spacecraft slowly landed on the designated spaceport ground.

"This spacecraft has completed its mission. Thank you for your ride," the spacecraft AI said with a slightly cheerful tone, as if pleased with completing its task. "Please disembark. After disembarking, follow the ground guidance to report to the Elite Training Camp instructor at the Green Pouch Secret Realm..."

Yin Congyang looked at the spacecraft, suddenly struck by a thought, and asked, "If I want to leave the training camp later, will I take this same spacecraft?"

"This spacecraft is only responsible for delivering trainees to the training camp," the spacecraft AI replied quickly.

Yin Congyang said no more, turned, and flew out of the spacecraft. A bright yellow guidance light strip appeared on the ground, with a directional arrow at its tip. He followed the light strip forward, entering a massive tower-shaped building. The hall was empty. The light strip extended upward, and after flying to the sixth floor, it pointed to a room.

"Swoosh~"

Yin Congyang reached the door. The highly technological door retracted inward with a rotating motion, and he stepped inside.

In the center of the room sat four people—the same four who had been observing the screen earlier. They now sat upright with solemn expressions.

The leading woman with purple hair stared directly at Yin Congyang, her gaze carrying pressure: "Trainee Yin Congyang, from the Silver Blue Star System, Black Dragon Mountain Star Domain."

"Yes, Instructor." Yin Congyang replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, unmoved by the oppressive look from the purple-haired woman.

"Good. You are currently at Planetary Level third stage, having comprehended three Law domains, meeting the Elite Training Camp's standards. The camp is divided into Planetary Level and Star Level. The four of us instructors unanimously agree to admit you to the Planetary Level Elite Training Camp," the purple-haired woman continued. "The Planetary Level training camp is divided into four classes: A, B, C, and D. New trainees usually enter Class D. However, due to your outstanding talent, we can offer you an assessment opportunity. If you pass, you can directly enter Class A. Are you willing to accept the assessment? I should warn you: the resources allocated to the four classes differ, but you will face the most difficult A9-Level Assessment. This assessment is conducted in reality and carries some danger. Historically, among trainees taking the A9-Level Assessment for the first time, there is a 10% mortality rate. Of those 10% who died, 95% were below Planetary Level fifth stage. Think it over carefully..."

Yin Congyang pondered briefly, then asked the purple-haired woman, "Instructor, may I ask a question?"

"You may ask, but I don't guarantee an answer."

"Does the A9-Level Assessment exceed the limit of Planetary Level combat power? And why can't it be conducted in the Virtual Universe?" Yin Congyang asked cautiously.

A trace of a smile appeared on the purple-haired woman's cold expression. "You're quite clever. I can tell you clearly: A-level stands for Planetary Level, and 9 stands for ninth stage. So A9-Level means the limit assessment for Planetary Level ninth stage. As for why it can't be done in the Virtual Universe...

Assessments in the Virtual Universe generally use uniform physical attributes. However, an individual's combat power isn't just about secret techniques, skills, domains, or Law comprehension—one's own physical condition is also a crucial aspect. When facing life-and-death crises in reality, every response truly reflects willpower, temperament, and many other aspects. These are the most intuitive.

The training camp's intelligent system and the four of us instructors can use this as a basis to judge whether a trainee is qualified to receive resources from the Elite Training Camp for cultivation and whether they can withstand brutal competition and elimination..."

Yin Congyang nodded and said firmly, "I am willing to participate in the assessment, Instructor."

The four instructors exchanged glances and nodded slightly. The purple-haired woman turned to the largest man, who had a head of short golden hair, and said, "Then please, Instructor Golden Lion, take the trainee to apply for the assessment."

Golden Lion, whose short golden hair made him look like a lion, grinned, stood up with a rustle, and waved at Yin Congyang. "Follow me!"

He turned and walked toward a door in another direction, and Yin Congyang followed.

The two left the tower-shaped building. Instructor Golden Lion flew through the air with Yin Congyang, heading straight in one direction.

As they flew, Golden Lion turned his head to look at Yin Congyang. He found this kid interesting. "Don't you want to ask anything?"

Earlier, Yin Congyang had relied on his powerful soul force to remain unfazed by the four's oppressive gazes, but that didn't mean they weren't strong—they were all Universe Level ninth stage experts. So he was genuinely curious: "Instructor Golden Lion, all four of you are Universe Level experts. Why would someone as insignificant as me, a Planetary Level trainee, warrant all of you waiting for me here?"

Instructor Golden Lion said with a hint of meaning, "It's just routine. The previous batch of Planetary Level trainees—some broke through to Star Level and went to the Star Level training camp on the other hemisphere, some died in various trials, and a small number who survived but couldn't break through to Star Level within a hundred years were demoted to external members and left the camp.

The training camp was empty, so the few of us could watch your performance on the way here from the Surveillance Room... Over the past few days, people have been reporting in one after another. You're among the more talented ones in this batch. Including you, only five have qualified for the A9-Level Assessment. Two have already failed—one went to Class B, and one died..."

He grinned maliciously at Yin Congyang. "Why do we care so much? For points, of course. You're already an internal member, so I can tell you this. You trainees also have points, but your points and our points have completely different values. How do we earn points? It depends on how many of you in this batch become successful over the next hundred years. The more successful you are, the higher our points naturally become..."

Yin Congyang asked doubtfully, "Is breaking through to Star Level considered success?"

Instructor Golden Lion laughed heartily. "Of course not. Breaking through to Star Level is just the most basic condition. Other things like Force Amplitude, Telekinesis Amplitude, domains, Laws, secret technique training results—there's a whole series of assessment standards. But the most important thing..."

He suddenly lowered his voice. "The most important assessment standard is the Heaven-Reaching Tower. Everything before that is illusory. How many floors of the Heaven-Reaching Tower you can clear is the most intuitive measure of genius... If you clear enough floors, you might even be directly absorbed into the headquarters and become a core member!"

Yin Congyang's eyes lit up. "So this is the promotion path for internal members? Doesn't sound too hard."

Instructor Golden Lion glared. "Not too hard? Do you know that even I, at my current level, haven't cleared enough floors of the Heaven-Reaching Tower as a Planetary Level to be directly absorbed into the headquarters as a core member? And I'm now Universe Level ninth stage, Domain ninth level!"

Seeing Yin Congyang a bit stunned, he said smugly, "See how hard it is? Actually, the Heaven-Reaching Tower is just a benchmark for people to look at. The fastest promotion path into the Virtual Universe Company's core layer is actually the once-every-ten-thousand-years 'Universe Human Peak Genius Tournament.' The top 1,000 can directly enter the core. Unfortunately, the next one starts in just two or three years—you won't make it. Of course, the Genius Tournament is a competition among Star Level geniuses across the entire universe. Even if you went, you might not make the top 1,000 and enter the core directly... So don't aim too high. Take it step by step..."

Yin Congyang's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he sighed: If I hadn't known I'd miss the Genius Tournament, do you think I'd want to come to this damn place?

The two flew at great speed. As they spoke, Instructor Golden Lion stopped. "We're here..."

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