Receiving Generous Rewards

The audience erupted with shock and confusion, as turbulent as boiling water.

Even the principals and department heads on the podium wore expressions of utter disbelief.

But they knew this had to be the handiwork of King Yama Zhou.

Consequently, they turned their heads to look directly at King Yama Zhou, who sat in the center of the podium.

"Director Zhou, what is going on here?"

King Yama Zhou rose slowly, braced his hands on the table, and said in a deep voice into the microphone: "Quiet!"

Whoosh!

The scene, which had been boiling like a volcanic eruption, instantly fell silent.

King Yama Zhou commanded great prestige; after all, he was the top official in charge of vocational education and trials for Nanzhou Province.

Every principal, department head, teacher, and student present was under his jurisdiction.

Everyone looked at the imposing King Yama Zhou with curious, inquisitive eyes.

Clearly, they were waiting for his explanation.

King Yama Zhou smiled faintly, and then his low, authoritative voice rang out:

"I presume all the teachers and students are curious why, despite Ling Zhan only passing the elite monster stage, it was said that he killed the final boss, Great Emperor Shanli."

"I will give you the answer here."

"In truth, I divided this trial into three stages in total."

"The first was a stage to test the candidates' basic combat proficiency and deepen their rational application of skills."

Upon hearing this, all the teachers and students nodded in agreement.

King Yama Zhou's stage arrangements could be described as extremely cautious and rigorous, testing every aspect of a candidate's level.

In the first stage, candidates only needed to establish a solid foundation in combat to pass easily.

As for the subsequent waves of quasi-elite monsters, they tested the candidates' rational use of skills. Quasi-elite monsters were not as easy to kill as ordinary monsters, so the candidate teams needed to utilize their skills reasonably.

You could neither exhaust your mana too quickly nor give those monsters any opportunity to exploit.

To put it bluntly, for ordinary candidates, this stage was a test of team coordination and skill application.

Once they passed this stage, candidates didn't really need to worry about their grades; they might not get into top-tier combat academies, but they could at least get into an ordinary one.

They wouldn't be relegated to bottom-tier combat academies.

Having understood King Yama Zhou's meaning, all the teachers and students looked forward to his explanation of the second stage, the elite monsters.

Why was it considered a pass if Ling Zhan killed an elite monster?

"As for this second stage, it was actually not an elite monster stage, but a boss stage!"

King Yama Zhou's voice struck everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.

It caused a sense of shock and confusion to surface in everyone's mind.

But before they could even ask, King Yama Zhou explained calmly:

"I imagine you are all wondering why that monster displayed a purple name, and why its level and health information were at the elite monster tier."

"I will clarify for you: in reality, the monster's true health, defense, and level were all fake! I arranged it that way on purpose!"

"In fact, this monster was the Supreme Poison Crab King, Great Emperor Shanli!"

Boom!

Everyone's heart was shaken once again!

"The purpose of setting the stage this way was to test the temperament of the top students!"

"Some top students are consistently at the top of their assessments, which leads them to develop an arrogant and dismissive mindset."

"I wondered, if I deliberately disguised the boss monster's information as an elite monster, how many top candidates would stumble here?"

"The facts prove that my original intention for this stage was correct! Because some top students were indeed left looking disheveled in this very stage!"

King Yama Zhou's stern voice echoed far and wide.

Some candidates had already lowered their heads in shame.

Those candidates were all top students who had failed at the third stage!

Those candidates with lowered heads—without exception—were the top students who usually ranked at the top of the assessments in their respective high schools!

These top students had been held in high regard by the teachers and students of their schools.

Yet, they had all stumbled.

At the same time, they finally understood why the elite monster's skills were so terrifying!

Why this elite monster was so difficult to deal with!

Bai Wushuang's face was the reddest, because King Yama Zhou had hit the nail on the head!

When he had arrived at the third stage earlier, seeing that the opponent was an elite monster with only elite-level health and defense, he had let his guard down!

The result was that when the monster unleashed its skill, Bai Wushuang had nearly lost his life!

"At this point, I expect some candidates want to say that bosses are inherently hard to fight, so who could pass this stage with such a test?"

King Yama Zhou sneered, staring at the failed candidates, his voice cold: "I also know that there are very few teams and top students among the Yundong City candidates who can defeat the boss, but that does not mean there are none."

"Moreover, the final grade for the last stage is not based on whether you killed this boss, but on how much of the boss's health you were able to whittle down!"

"That is to say, as long as you could whittle down half of this boss's health, your final grade could be set at [Excellent]!"

"But ask yourselves, when you failed due to arrogance and complacency, how much health did that monster lose?"

A single sentence.

It made the failures, who were already hanging their heads in shame, feel even more ashamed!

Because they asked themselves, and they hadn't even whittled down a third of that monster's health!

"Then, may I ask Director Zhou, does Senior Ling Zhan's result qualify him to challenge for the provincial trial championship?"

Suddenly, a bold female student raised her hand and stood up to ask King Yama Zhou.

Being asked by such a student made everyone else realize the truth!

That's right!

Since this was a boss stage, did Ling Zhan's terrifying result mean he could become the provincial trial champion in one fell swoop?

Hiss!

Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but gasp.

Even Principal Zhong's chubby face turned completely red like an apple from excitement.

His whole body was trembling!

City No. 1 High School... was about to produce a champion of the city-level trial rankings?

Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!!!!

Such a situation was simply shocking!

King Yama Zhou was also full of smiles, not intending to dampen their spirits.

He then added: "Of course, the third stage still exists."

"I said that this trial has three stages in total!"

"Naturally, this third stage is called the Endless Stage. It is very special. As for how special it is, you will see as you continue watching..."

Whoosh!

Upon hearing this, the teachers and students were shocked once again.

They looked at each other in dismay.

There was actually a third stage!?

But they soon calmed down.

Sure enough, this trial layout was very much in line with King Yama Zhou's style!

"Could it be that to win the provincial trial championship, one must pass the third stage?"

"That makes sense. After all, those monstrous geniuses from the province won't be stumped by such a simple boss stage!"

"Let's look forward to how special the third stage is!"

The crowd discussed it fervently.

After King Yama Zhou finished speaking, he sat back down and sipped his tea leisurely.

In truth, he hadn't expected that Ling Zhan, a Jobless Freelancer, could actually make it to this final step.

It truly shocked him.

But he wouldn't let that shock show on his face.