Exam Room Live Stream

Tianyi Academy was massive—so massive that Shen Sui found it astonishing that such a footprint could exist in the land-scarce Magic City.

As Shen Sui walked into the school, a single glance revealed no end to the campus in sight.

This wasn't just a matter of money; it seemed the Tianyi Club was highly valued by the Magic City higher-ups.

Directly facing the main gate stood the academy's tallest building. Following university tradition, this had to be the library. Beside the library was a bowl-shaped structure that looked like a gymnasium—this was Tianyi Academy's duel arena.

"This Tianyi Club is really loaded," one examinee couldn't help exclaiming at the sight of the duel arena. "No wonder they're planning to challenge for the national club championship this year. Just the arena here is more luxurious than the main venues in some first-tier cities."

"Don't even mention it. I've seen the info—this duel arena was built to the scale of a first-tier city's main venue. I heard it'll be open to the public for events."

The academy had a clear count of examinees and distributed the exam locations across the campus to manage the flow. Soon, the crowded masses were split up, making the campus look much more spacious, even giving the impression of plenty of room to spare.

Considering potential counter-relationships between different Soul Card Worlds, the examiners were randomly assigned, with the principle being that they wouldn't accept students who had bad luck.

Exam Room Three, Xu Tianzhi.

Shen Sui glanced at the exam room and examiner he'd drawn, then asked a nearby volunteer with a hint of curiosity: "Excuse me, does this examiner have a good temper?"

"Wow, classmate, your luck is pretty bad," the volunteer said, looking at the number on Shen Sui's slip with pity. "This is the highest-ranked examiner of them all. Xu Tianzhi is fifth-tier, a pretty strong player even in the club."

"Fifth-tier Soul Card Master," Shen Sui nodded, then asked again, "So, does he have a good temper?"

"Classmate, don't have such naive thoughts," the volunteer said with a grin. "Even if his temper is good, if you perform poorly, you'll still be ruthlessly eliminated. No examiner plays favorites."

"I get all that, so does he have a good temper?" Shen Sui asked once more.

"Why are you so hung up on the examiner's temper?" The volunteer was a bit baffled, but after thinking it over, he answered Shen Sui's question. "Senior Xu has the best reputation in the club, so of course his temper is good. He's even got the nickname 'Benevolent Gentleman of the Duel Arena.'"

"Oh, in that case, if he loses a duel, he wouldn't go looking for a real fight with his opponent, would he?" Shen Sui muttered, stroking his chin.

Hearing Shen Sui's words, the volunteer couldn't help rolling his eyes. From what this kid was saying, it sounded like he intended to beat Xu Tianzhi in the duel exam.

Was that possible? No way!

A fifth-tier Soul Card Master, even if his deck was cut to twenty cards, his duel experience and deck depth would be more than enough to crush a greenhorn like this.

Hearing that the examiner had a good temper, Shen Sui's last concern faded. He nodded with satisfaction, asked for the location of Exam Room Three, and walked off with a light step.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Tianyi Academy's Dean, Liang Hui, was hosting a reporter from Magic City TV Station.

Magic City Tianyi Academy was a project highly valued by the Magic City higher-ups. As one of China's most economically developed cities, Magic City hadn't produced a national champion in several years.

So, with a wave of the pen, several projects related to Soul Card Duels were launched, with the goal of making Magic City the national center for Soul Card Duels.

Tianyi Academy was the most important of these projects, key to developing Soul Card Duel talent in Magic City.

Although all the good students were snapped up by those old, established duel academies, if you sifted through the leftover dregs carefully enough, you could still find gold. That was why Tianyi Academy didn't restrict theoretical exam scores.

Some people dueled based on instinct and talent; their theoretical scores might be poor, but their duel talent was definitely not lacking. These were exactly the kind of people Tianyi Academy was recruiting.

[Damn it, is this old guy still not done blabbing? Hurry up and check out the exam room! I want to see a duel! I want to see blood flow!]

On the live stream site, the audience was already impatient, frantically spamming comments.

[Yeah, yeah! I want to see blood flow!]

"Alright, Dean Liang," the reporter said, ignoring the comments but knowing what the audience wanted to see, smiling. "Since we have the chance, how about we take a look at the exam site? I'm sure the viewers in front of their screens are very eager to see the duel exam in action."

"Sure, sure." Liang Hui nodded repeatedly. He had prepared for this, specifically adding Xu Tianzhi to the list of examiners. A fifth-tier Soul Card Master—no way he'd embarrass himself on a national broadcast. "Then let's go to Exam Room Three."

"Exam Room Three?" The reporter had clearly done her homework. "Is that the exam room overseen by fifth-tier Xu Tianzhi? Player Xu has been riding a wave of momentum lately. He won the ZeTian Cup by relying on a lucky draw to turn the tables and defeat He Zhong, seventh-dan from the Hangshi Nongquan Club, claiming the championship. I'm sure he'll be able to advance to seventh-dan through the tier-up tournament next year, right?"

"Haha, he's preparing for his sixth-dan promotion. To reach seventh-dan, his deck still isn't strong enough, so he's been working hard lately to guide his Soul Card Followers." Liang Hui wasn't just the dean of Tianyi Academy; he was also the manager of the Tianyi Club, so he was very familiar with his players' statuses.

The group chatted and laughed as they arrived at the third exam room.

The third exam room was in the duel academy's teaching building. The air conditioning inside was cranked up high, and walking into the hallway gave a faint chill.

Both sides of the hallway were lined with examinees waiting for their tests, and their faces all carried a hint of despair.

[Wow! Wow! They look so hopeless!]

[Haha, of course they're hopeless. The examiner for the duel exam is a fifth-tier Soul Card Master. Anyone would be hopeless, right?]

[Serves them right! A bunch of slackers who couldn't pass the theory exam and came to apply to Tianyi Academy. Do they really think a duel academy is a shelter? Taking in any trash?]

[What about the duel? Let's see the duel! I want to watch the pro crush the noobs!]

The comments buzzed as the camera moved forward.

The closer they got to the exam room, the thicker the atmosphere of despair became. At the door of the exam room, the camera faintly picked up the sound of sobbing.

It was the sound of examinees crying as they came out of the exam room, clearly having failed the duel exam.

Through the transparent floor-to-ceiling windows, the group could clearly see the duel happening inside.

Xu Tianzhi looked refined and gentle, very fair-skinned, wearing rimless glasses, with a soft smile always on his lips, giving off a warm, spring-like feeling.

However, his playstyle was completely at odds with his demeanor. This Android Deck, from a sci-fi interstellar world, always had a suffocating pressure during duels. Once Xu Tianzhi seized an opportunity to expand his board, even a seventh-dan Soul Card Master couldn't escape that pressure.

Inside the exam room, Xu Tianzhi's field was already full of Soul Cards—five followers, five face-down cards, showing no mercy at all. His opponent, a poor examinee, had an empty field with nothing.

[Wow, so pitiful. He's just a toy.]

In the comments, the audience was gloating.

[Don't be so sarcastic, alright? They're all duelists with dreams, at least.]

[An idealistic duelist shouldn't have such poor theoretical exam scores. Trash is trash—don't make excuses for them.]

[Right, right, right! I heard plenty of people with single-digit theory scores shamelessly showed up for the duel exam anyway. Who gave them the nerve?]

[Look at his expression—he's about to have a mental breakdown.]

[Guess why this exam hall is completely bare? It's to keep candidates from doing something irrational when they snap.]

"Dean Liang, if every examiner operates at this intensity, can your academy really fill three hundred slots in the duel exam?" the reporter asked curiously. "Not everyone is like that genius young lady from the Xin Yuan family, capable of defeating a fifth-rank Soul Card Master right out of high school."

[Xin Yuan family? Little Japan's?]

[Hey, you up there! Xin Yuan is a Huaxia surname too, you know! Have you even watched Soul Card Duels? The Xin Yuan family is a legacy family from the 19th Sci-Fi World—they've produced several National Champions.]

[I know that genius. She was entirely fed cards by her elders. Beating a fifth-rank with deck strength alone isn't convincing at all.]

[Right, right, right. I feel the same way. Soul Card Duel tournaments are getting boring—it's always the same big families. I wouldn't be surprised if they're throwing matches for each other. No wonder we haven't won many world titles. The domestic scene has zero pressure.]

[The guy above is right! Watching domestic tournaments is worse than watching foreign leagues. Those are actually good—the attendants have blonde hair and blue eyes, and huge chests!]

[Go on, go on!]

The bullet comments seemed to drift off-topic, but that didn't affect the on-site interview.

"Only strict selection can pick out true talent. If the first round fails, isn't there a second round?" Liang Hui said with a chuckle. "Magic City has already approved it—we can hold a second round of duel exams, specifically for candidates who failed the exams at other academies."

Colloquially known as, picking up trash.

Of course, what Liang Hui didn't mention was that, at the same time, Tianyi Academy was swinging a money club to recruit candidates from other academies who had passed their exams but came from poor families. That was the real target.

Tianyi Club might not have results, but it definitely had money.

"Please, candidate number thirty-seven, Shen Sui, enter the exam hall!"

At that moment, the next round's call came from the hallway.

[Look, look, look! Another piece of trash going to die!]

[Everyone, guess how many rounds before he loses?]

[I bet round three! I'll stake my spicy sticks on it!]

[I bet he wins! If I'm wrong, I'll turn into a Cat Girl!]

[Guy above, if you want to be a Cat Girl, just say so.]

The bullet comments instantly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.