Chest

"This system really was inconvenient."

Lin Qi looked at the system panel in the lower-left corner of his vision, his brow furrowing.

Although he had successfully set Qin Mu as the game's test opponent, aside from setting the test duration, there were no other control options. Picking out geniuses like this was truly rather difficult.

And the time settings were even more rigid, with only three tiers in total.

The 10-second tier.

The 20-second tier.

The 30-second tier.

"Since I'm picking geniuses in the end, they can't be too mediocre." After some thought, Lin Qi directly chose the second tier.

Second-tier geniuses were neither too outstanding nor too poor. Only newcomers selected this way would be worth harvesting. After all, if he wanted to rapidly raise his strength, it depended entirely on the players' talents. The higher their talent, the faster he would improve.

System: Test opponent configured. The test will open in half an hour. Please select the number of recruitment slots for those who pass the test.

"Then let's have seven." Lin Qi did not hesitate, intending to recruit more players.

At present, he did not lack the food and water needed to keep players alive, and expanding the underground section of the martial arts hall required a great deal of manpower.

Previously, he had been cautious because he feared the recruited players would be useless. Now that there was a round of screening, at least he would not be bringing in strange people.

"Dojo Master!"

Just as Lin Qi confirmed the number of recruitment slots, Twilight of the Gods, covered in mud, charged over in excitement and nearly crashed straight into him.

"Dojo Master! I made a huge discovery!"

"What huge discovery?"

"I dug up a chest underground!"

"A chest?"

Lin Qi was rather dumbfounded when he heard that. This was not an MMO game—how could someone really dig up a chest?

"Yes! I'll take you to see it."

Seeing Lin Qi's baffled expression, Twilight of the Gods became even more convinced that this NPC was a little foolish.

In a virtual game, what was so surprising about digging up a chest?

Before long, Twilight of the Gods led Lin Qi to the underground storeroom. At that moment, a large chest sat inside it.

"It really is a chest!" Lin Qi was stunned as he looked at the large box.

The box was the size of a suitcase and entirely made from an unknown metal. On one side were words from the High Martial world.

High School Entrance Examination Textbooks, Year 2214!

In a sense, it truly was a treasure chest. Quite a few students from several hundred years ago would probably have loved it.

Lin Qi immediately opened the unlocked chest. Inside was a huge stack of entrance examination papers, and the scores written on them were simply horrifying to behold.

That made Lin Qi somewhat understand why its owner had deliberately packed these things into a metal box and even buried it underground.

"Dojo Master, are these things useful?" Twilight of the Gods looked at Lin Qi with anticipation written all over his face.

In MMO games, chests were treasures that contained all sorts of valuable items. Although this chest in front of them was different from those MMO chests, and its contents were nothing but a pile of paper—

Since it had been buried underground, it should surely trigger some special event and yield some high-tier reward.

After all, this NPC had constantly been making them dig holes underground. If it had nothing to do with the chest before them, not even ghosts would believe it.

"Uh..."

Looking at Twilight of the Gods' expectant little eyes, Lin Qi did not know what to say for a moment.

If he said they were useful, they might indeed have been useful to high school students in 2214. But using these eye-searing things to demand a reward from him was a little too much.

"They're useless?" Twilight of the Gods looked at Lin Qi's disdainful expression in confusion. "That shouldn't be possible. That area was so dangerous—I died four times before I finally managed to carry this box back. How could it be useless?"

"You died four times just to carry the box back?"

After hearing that, Lin Qi could not help feeling even more sympathy for Twilight of the Gods. But sympathy was sympathy, and a deal was a deal. He could not casually ruin such a good relationship.

"Mm!"

Just as Lin Qi was about to comfort Twilight of the Gods, he suddenly noticed that aside from the many exam papers, there were actually two books in the chest.

Crushing Rock Fist: You Deserve It—One Punch to Break Your Teacher's Defense!

Leopard Shadow Steps: Teaching You How to Triple Jump on the Entrance Exam!

"Are entrance exams in this world really this insane?" Looking at the two entrance exam textbooks, Lin Qi suddenly felt that he had underestimated the high school students of this world.

Lin Qi then flipped through the two books. Both explained in detail how to learn Crushing Rock Fist and Leopard Shadow Steps. Unlike the Fitness Breathing Technique, which only had half of its contents, these two Apprentice-level martial techniques were complete.

"Where did you find this chest?" Lin Qi looked toward Twilight of the Gods, whose face was full of reluctant attachment.

This metal box was only the size of a small suitcase. Since a high school student capable of getting such grades had buried these things underground, there had to be more than one box—after all, the exam papers were only from the first year of high school.

"Is it useful?" Upon hearing Lin Qi's question, a glimmer of hope rose in Twilight of the Gods' heart.

"A little." Lin Qi nodded slightly. "I can count this chest as five hundred points for you."

Apprentice-level martial techniques cost at least twenty thousand bits on the market, though actually learning them was another matter altogether.

"I knew it was useful!" Hearing the reward of five hundred points, Twilight of the Gods' breathing grew heavy. He said excitedly, "I found it in a Great Rift more than forty meters underground. Several horned monsters, four or five meters long, were moving around there. I happened to shine my searchlight over them, and I saw dozens of boxes piled beside those horned monsters. So I carried one back while they were away."

"A Great Rift more than forty meters underground?" Lin Qi stared at Twilight of the Gods in utter astonishment.

This guy could really dig. More than forty meters underground—he was seriously planning to see just how deep underground he could dig.

At the same time, Lin Qi had to marvel at Twilight of the Gods' luck. He had encountered Unicorn Gold-Eating Rats, yet only died four times before carrying a box back.

Unicorn Gold-Eating Rats were among the common monsters found in the wild. They loved collecting hard metals and using them to build their nests. A Quasi-Martial Artist might barely survive against one in a one-on-one fight, but if they encountered several, death was certain.

"One chest is worth five hundred points. If I can get twenty, wouldn't I be able to directly obtain the middle volume of the Soul Shocking Breathing Technique?"

"Each death costs 648. Carrying one back took four 648s. I still need to move nineteen more boxes, which makes seventy-six 648s."

Twilight of the Gods calculated his savings, wondering whether he could carry back the other boxes as well. But he soon let out a sigh.

He was just an ordinary student. He could usually earn some money through game boosting, but the previous four 648s had already drained him dry. This month's entire allowance was gone, and now he could only live off his old savings.

Considering that he would die again later, if he really carried another two or three boxes, he would be stuck living on steamed buns and cabbage for the next few months.

"Forget about those boxes." Seeing that Twilight of the Gods still had ideas, Lin Qi warned him, "Unicorn Gold-Eating Rats are not only smart, they're extremely vigilant. It was luck that you managed to carry back one box. If you go again, those Unicorn Gold-Eating Rats won't be so easy to deal with. If you lure them to the martial arts hall, I'll have no choice but to expel you from it."

Those entrance exam boxes were good, but considering the danger posed by Unicorn Gold-Eating Rats, he had to warn him. After all, Obsidian Martial Arts Hall did not even have a single Quasi-Martial Artist right now. Facing Unicorn Gold-Eating Rats would mean certain death.

The moment Twilight of the Gods heard the word "expel," he immediately behaved himself.

They were all born as disciples of the martial arts hall. Being expelled meant they would no longer be disciples—equivalent to having their accounts deleted. After all, they could not leave the martial arts hall at all. The moment they did, they would die.

"Looks like there's more work to do during this time."

After lecturing Twilight of the Gods, Lin Qi carried the chest back to his lounge. He planned to organize Crushing Rock Fist and Leopard Shadow Steps as well, copying out several sets.

Then he could let the players exchange points for them. It would also enrich the game's class options, so that points would not be limited to exchanging for only a few items, leaving purchasing power severely lacking.

While Lin Qi organized and copied the two martial techniques, the forum for High Martial Descent on the gaming platform exploded.

System: The game test assessment has begun. All players who have preordered may now participate. Each death during the assessment will require 198 to revive.