At two in the afternoon on the 9th, all the examinees were loaded onto specially assigned military trucks and sent in a deliberately jumbled order to the provincial Hunting Ground in Hedong Base Province.
This provincial Hunting Ground was more than five times larger than the one in Guanyun City. It occupied the Taian Mountain Range, which ran from north to south through Hedong Province. The area was covered in mountains and forests, and was also known as the Taian Hunting Ground.
Because of its terrain, the Taian Hunting Ground was also a natural barrier and link, serving as a buffer zone between the Hedong Province base and the foreign races.
Ever since Lu Chong had come to this world, this was his first time leaving Guanyun City.
More precisely, even his predecessor had never left Guanyun City.
Travel was simply too expensive in this era. The areas between the various base cities were Wilderness, where Exotic Beasts appeared in endless numbers and could never be completely wiped out.
Although powerful Exotic Beasts above Level 4 rarely appeared within the country's borders, they were still more than ordinary people could easily get past.
So anyone traveling from one base city to another needed a powerful escort, which naturally came at a high cost.
The examinees from Guanyun City needed military protection to reach the Taian Hunting Ground. The military trucks carried them, with all kinds of weapons escorting them from every direction. GgDown8
Naturally, a large number of military experts had also been deployed. Colonel Huang himself was leading the Elite Guard Company, and it was said that two Martial Ancestors had also been invited to stand guard.
Students taking the College Entrance Exam were not like bounty hunters who chose to venture into the Wilderness. Not the slightest mishap could be allowed.
If a powerful Exotic Beast really appeared along the way, the Provincial Military Region would even dispatch fighter jets and super-strong warriors to help, doing everything possible to keep the examinees from being affected.
On the way, Lu Chong didn't speak with any of the other examinees. He simply gazed through the window at the Wilderness's untouched scenery while checking his own status.
Name: Lu Chong
Level: Martial Artist, Fourth Stage (1%)
Martial Skills--
Human-Grade Low-Tier: Nine-Shadow Step, Mastery... Heart-Piercing Kick, Mastery
Human-Grade Mid-Tier: Seven-Step Killing Fist, Mastery; Three-Inch Palm, Mastery
Human-tier Top Grade: Tiger Roar Skill, Mastery
Earth-Grade Low-Tier: Wind Blade Leg, Mastery; Gale Shadowless Step, Mastery
Earth-Grade Mid-Tier: Golden Bell Shield, Microscopic (18%)
"Just as I expected, I successfully broke through to the Fourth Stage of Martial Artist today."
First was his cultivation. An hour after the tests that morning, he had naturally advanced to the Fourth Stage of Martial Artist.
Then there were his two Earth-Grade Low-Tier Martial Skills, Wind Blade Leg and Gale Shadowless Step, which had finally reached mastery just moments ago.
As for the Earth-Grade Mid-Tier Golden Bell Shield, his progress had slowed after reaching Microscopic. It would take at least another month to reach mastery.
Lu Chong wasn't in a hurry. With his current cultivation and Martial Skills, along with the combat experience he had accumulated during special training, he believed he could claim the Provincial Top Scholar title without much difficulty.
He had already learned that several top students at key high schools in the provincial capital had reached the Fifth Stage of Martial Artist this year, and one had even reached the Sixth Stage.
But Lu Chong, who possessed several Earth-Grade Martial Skills, wasn't worried.
All he needed to do was pay attention to the pace of the exam and not let anyone throw him off.
The faint roar of a beast drifted over from far away. It sounded like a Level 2 Exotic Beast, but Lu Chong noticed that before it could even show itself, military experts stationed around the perimeter had already cut it down.
Lu Chong remained unruffled. He was something of an expert himself by now, and this sort of scene was no longer unfamiliar to him.
The journey passed without incident. In less than two hours, the students were delivered to the southern edge of the Taian Hunting Ground, the boundary closest to Guanyun City.
The military trucks began spreading out along the boundary, dropping off the examinees one by one and leaving them to wait for the Hunting Ground to open.
Each examinee had only an SOS Device and an Amulet.
The SOS Device showed their score and ranking, and most importantly, it could be used to call for help. The Amulet, meanwhile, could save their lives in a critical moment.
Besides those, the only other company they would have was the Livestream Drone hovering over each examinee.
Of course, they also had the Nutrition Bars and drinking water they'd brought along, enough to last six days. Everything had been carefully inspected to rule out any suspicion of cheating.
They waited in place for half an hour. It was nearly half past four when the alarm suddenly sounded--
"Attention, examinees. You have ten minutes to enter the Hunting Ground. The Light Wall will reactivate after ten minutes, and no one will be allowed in after that."
"Once again, all examinees are reminded: anyone who has not entered the Hunting Ground after ten minutes will be considered to have forfeited."
As the announcement sounded, the Energy Light Wall in front of Lu Chong opened, revealing the mountainous Hunting Ground within.
Without hesitation, Lu Chong stepped through. He only left his spot after the Light Wall rose again ten minutes later.
"It's finally starting!" Lu Chong felt a surge of excitement. "This is the real exam, and the part that counts for the most points."
Lu Chong glanced at his scoring SOS Device. Naturally, he had zero points so far.
But in just those ten minutes, the names of a number of examinees had already appeared on the Top 100 Scoreboard, along with their scores.
They were only single-digit scores, but Lu Chong understood that once someone appeared on the Scoreboard, the millions of viewers outside could see them, boosting the popularity of their personal livestream.
So many students, even knowing they wouldn't be able to keep up later, would still give it their all at the start, just to ride the Scoreboard's wave of attention.
"The longer you stay on the Scoreboard and the higher your rank, the more attention you attract, and the greater the returns."
Realizing this, Lu Chong didn't hesitate. His eyes fixed on the endless forests to the north, and he immediately unleashed Gale Step, racing forward with a roar.
He had entered the Taian Hunting Ground from the southern edge. To reach its heart and compete for the Positioning Devices of high-level Exotic Beasts, he would have to keep heading north.
This time, Lu Chong wouldn't wait. He was going to leave everyone in the dust and dominate the College Entrance Exam rankings.
He wasn't the only one. At that very moment, along the long boundary surrounding the Taian Hunting Ground, hundreds of thousands of examinees were pushing toward its core.
The aerial view on Hedong Province's official livestream showed the same scene: the examinees were like rivers flowing into the sea, converging from all directions on the Hunting Ground's inner region.
"It's starting! It's starting!"
The host of the official livestream was also growing excited, stirring the hearts of tens of millions of viewers.
"We're told that preparations for this year's Taian Hunting Ground are exceptionally thorough."
"Inside the Hunting Ground are territories for Level 1 and Level 2 Exotic Beasts of various stages. In the innermost region, there are even two ferocious Exotic Beasts that have just entered Level 3, waiting for the examinees to explore and earn points."
"But Level 3 Exotic Beasts are equivalent to human Martial Masters. Will any examinee really dare to venture in there?"
At that point, the host switched the camera to an expert beside him.
The expert shook his head slightly. "It'll be very, very difficult."
"Viewers should know that the strongest examinee in this year's cohort in Hedong Province has reached the Sixth Stage of Martial Artist."
"As far as I know, this student's Martial Skill training is also quite good."
"But at most, he can make it through the territory of a Level 2, Eighth Stage Exotic Beast. He might have some hope of making a final push into the Ninth Stage territory."
"The innermost region, where the Level 3 Exotic Beasts are, is probably out of reach," the expert said confidently.
The host couldn't help asking, "But if that's the case, why have we prepared a Level 3 Exotic Beast region in the Hunting Ground?"
...You provided this work, Global Catastrophe: My Martial Arts Train Themselves, by Yunyou Shuhai.
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