Entering the Examination Grounds

"Release the gray wolves."

After unleashing his own aura, Li Wan dropped another bombshell on Wang Tianyu and the others.

As soon as Li Wan finished speaking, dozens of large trucks drove over from afar.

The trucks swayed as they approached the camp.

They were loaded with many things, but from so far away, Wang Tianyu could not see clearly.

A few minutes later, the trucks drew close to the camp, and Wang Tianyu finally saw what they carried.

The trucks were loaded with iron cages. All the cages were the same size, stacked neatly atop the vehicles.

The iron cages themselves were not the focus. What drew everyone's attention were the things inside them.

Each cage held a massive gray wolf, and every one of those wolves was roughly the same size.

The giant wolves were exceptionally feral, pacing restlessly within their cages.

When they saw Wang Tianyu and the other examinees, countless wolves bared their fangs and howled loudly.

Wang Tianyu was very familiar with the appearance of these giant wolves.

During the martial arts class assessment, the giant wolf in the basement had been similar to these wolves, both in color and size.

But back then, there had only been one gray giant wolf, and it had been created by a projection.

The wolves now were a living, breathing pack.

So many giant wolves gathered together made for a truly staggering sight.

The trucks deliberately circled around in front of Wang Tianyu and the others.

At the sight of these giant wolves, many examinees' expressions changed.

Hearing that there were a thousand wolves and seeing a thousand giant wolves with their own eyes were two completely different things.

After circling around Wang Tianyu and the others, the convoy stopped beside the iron fence at the foot of the mountain.

Once the trucks came to a stop, five soldiers in military uniforms stepped out of each cab.

These soldiers were clearly no ordinary people. Without wearing any protective gear, they began unloading the giant wolves from the trucks.

The soldiers moved quickly. Within minutes, the iron cages holding the giant wolves had all been unloaded onto the ground.

The soldiers did not stop moving. After unloading the wolves from the trucks,

they drove them, one by one, through the gate in the iron fence and up the mountain.

Freed from their cages, the giant wolves sprinted toward the depths of the mountain.

These soldiers were very strong. The giant wolves had no ability to resist them at all.

These giant wolves were living creatures, and their feral nature had not faded.

Naturally, they would not obediently comply. From time to time, a wolf launched an attack on the soldiers.

But the soldiers did not take the wolves' attacks seriously at all. They easily neutralized them.

Without injuring the wolves, the soldiers gave the disobedient ones a lesson.

"Whimper! Whimper!"

The wolves that had suffered pain no longer dared bare their fangs at the soldiers, turning and running up the mountain instead.

The soldiers moved with great speed. In less than ten minutes, all the giant wolves had been released into the mountain.

After driving the giant wolves lingering at the foot of the mountain farther uphill,

one soldier from each truck drove away, while the remaining soldiers stayed behind on standby.

Seeing that the wolves had all been released, Li Wan nodded.

"You have all seen it. These gray wolves are highly feral. They will not go easy on you. One bite will draw blood."

"Furthermore, your safety cannot be guaranteed in this martial arts examination. So I'll ask one last time: does anyone wish to withdraw? If so, step to the very front of the line."

After speaking, Li Wan swept his gaze across the thousand examinees below.

Once Li Wan's words fell, the camp became so quiet that only breathing could be heard.

Those with no intention of withdrawing wanted to see whether anyone else would quit, while those considering withdrawal searched for someone to take the lead.

In short, many examinees looked around, each harboring different thoughts.

A few seconds later, a girl stepped out from the Third High School group beside Wang Tianyu.

Her face was flushed red, and she kept her head lowered, only daring to stare at the ground.

With the girl taking the lead, several more people immediately stepped out from other groups.

"Anyone else? You only have one life. Once you choose to take this martial arts examination, it is equivalent to signing a life-and-death contract. You are all adults, and you must take responsibility for your choices."

Li Wan continued using his words to place pressure on the examinees.

"Ten seconds remain. If you do not choose to withdraw, then you will no longer have the chance to do so."

"Ten."

"Nine."

As Li Wan counted down, several more people could not withstand the pressure and chose to withdraw.

"One."

"Alright, time is up. Twenty people have chosen to withdraw. Congratulations, you no longer need to face these disgusting gray wolves. The remaining 980 of you will now begin the examination."

At the final stage, a total of twenty people chose to withdraw from the examination.

"Since twenty people have withdrawn, I have decided to add their forty points to one gray wolf."

"In other words, one gray wolf in the examination grounds is worth as much as forty-one points. That wolf will bear a marker. We'll see who gets lucky enough to claim this bonus gift package."

Li Wan redistributed the points of the twenty people who withdrew, ensuring that the total score available in Wang Tianyu's examination grounds remained three thousand points.

Clearly, the presence of such a gray wolf would further increase the likelihood of conflict among the examinees.

"Then I hereby announce the official start of this martial arts examination."

After Li Wan finished speaking, Wang Tianyu and the others followed the staff toward the foot of the mountain.

"This is a score counter. Hold down here, then bring it close to the other person's score counter, and you can take their points."

The staff member standing before Wang Tianyu handed him something resembling a watch.

"Sign here."

Wang Tianyu glanced over the words on the paper. It was something like a letter of undertaking.

It roughly stated that participation in this martial arts examination was entirely voluntary.

If insufficient ability during the examination led to any consequences, he himself would bear all responsibility.

Li Wan had already made all this very clear, so Wang Tianyu did not hesitate and directly signed his name on the paper.

"This part of the score counter is the distress button. If your life is in danger, you can press it. The nearest examination patrol will come to rescue you promptly, but because of the distance, they may not be able to reach you immediately."

After seeing Wang Tianyu sign the liability waiver, the staff member explained another function of the score counter.

"Remember, pressing the distress button means losing your qualification for the examination."

"Understood. Thank you!"

Wearing the score counter on his left wrist, Wang Tianyu entered the examination grounds.

Ten gates had been opened in the iron fence, allowing the examinees to enter the examination grounds quickly.

After Wang Tianyu and the others had all entered the examination grounds, the soldiers who had been standing nearby entered as well.

Clearly, these soldiers were the so-called examination patrols, responsible for monitoring the grounds and rescuing examinees in danger.

These soldiers were also the final safeguard for the examinees' lives.

"I really don't know what the higher-ups are thinking. If they wanted a real combat assessment, it should have matched a real battlefield completely. Now they've added some examination patrol rescue team. What's the point? How is this any different from the old examination format?"

Li Wan plopped down onto a chair, his tone full of dissatisfaction with the examination format.

"Alright, Old Li, say a little less. The higher-ups must have their reasons for doing this. Most of these examinees will never become martial artists, so don't look at this examination with a martial artist's mindset."

The director of the Martial Management Bureau had a good relationship with Li Wan. Faced with Li Wan's dissatisfaction, he said this with a cheerful smile.

"Fine, so you're saying my thinking has become rigid?"

Li Wan and this director of the Martial Management Bureau went way back, so he did not put on any airs before him.

"I never said that. You said it yourself. Come on, let's watch the examination first and see whether this batch has any promising seedlings."

As he spoke, the Martial Management Bureau director picked up the tablet on the table.

Cameras covered the entire examination grounds, transmitting footage from within the grounds to the tablet.

"It won't be that easy. If you don't buy me a drink, I won't let you off. I'll first see whether there are any promising seedlings. I'll settle accounts with you later."

Li Wan agreed with the Martial Management Bureau director's suggestion and picked up the tablet in front of him as well.

Randomly selecting footage from one camera, Li Wan began watching the examination.