Trial Grounds

"Luo Yu! Don't forget our promise as men."

Chen Qi sidled up to Luo Yu, waggling his eyebrows.

"Don't worry. I wouldn't take all those materials from you for nothing."

Luo Yu smiled faintly.

He always liked, favorited, and tipped every video he watched. How could he ever freeload?

Just as everyone was growing bored out of their minds, a stern-looking middle-aged man walked into the center of the grounds.

The sight of his green vest, a symbol of Jonin strength, instantly silenced the noisy crowd.

He was a Jonin!

To everyone present, even getting to meet these two powerful Jonin was an honor.

In a tier-three city, Jonin were like guardian deities.

And Jiangli City had only two resident Jonin.

Curator Jiang of the Jiangli Dojo and President Bai of the Ninja Association's Jiangli City branch.

Although they were rarely seen in everyday life, the people of Jiangli City had all seen them on television at one time or another.

Whenever Jiangli City suffered attacks from Mutant Beasts from the Dark Forest, these two Jonin led the forces that drove them away.

And the Jonin before them was none other than President Bai!

Even President Bai had come. This assessment really was receiving special attention.

"I'm Bai Ju, president of the Ninja Association's Jiangli branch."

"It's now two in the afternoon, so I'll announce the rules for the Trainee Exam."

He paused, then continued, "I'm sure you've all heard that this Trainee Exam will follow a different format from previous years."

"For this exam, participants will hunt Mutant Beasts in a secret realm to earn points."

"The top two hundred scorers will be granted Apprentice Ninja status."

At those words, many participants turned deathly pale.

Even the lowest-level secret realms could only be explored by Genin. It was easy to imagine how dangerous they were.

They weren't even Apprentice Ninjas, yet they were being sent straight into a secret realm. Weren't they just meat for the Mutant Beasts?

Luo Yu, however, felt a faint stir of anticipation. His training had already hit a bottleneck.

If he wanted to improve quickly, his only option was to kill Genin-level Mutant Beasts above his own level and gain more attribute points.

As though he had guessed everyone's concerns, President Bai smiled. "Please, don't worry."

"For this assessment, I specifically requested permission from headquarters to use the Apprentice Level Trial Grounds."

Hearing that, everyone relaxed a little.

Luo Yu nodded in understanding as well.

They were different from the otherworldly secret realms that had broken through the barriers between planes in ancient times and appeared out of thin air.

The Trial Grounds were artificial secret realms created for practical combat training after humanity's extensive research into how secret realms formed.

Everything within the Secret Realm could be controlled.

Even if someone encountered danger, the control system could instantly teleport them back.

More importantly, they had nothing to fear from Apprentice Level Mutant Beasts.

"Of course, with the increased difficulty comes an increase in rewards."

The moment they heard President Bai was about to announce the rewards, everyone perked up.

Even Luo Yu listened closely. After all, he had come here not only to gain Apprentice Ninja status, but also to obtain Yamato's legacy fragment and upgrade his Hashirama Cells.

Even level-one Hashirama Cells provided tremendous bonuses.

He hardly dared imagine how absurdly powerful they would become after he upgraded them with the Yamato Fragment.

Clearing his throat, President Bai continued, "The five highest-scoring participants will receive Bronze Badges."

"First place will receive a Silver Badge."

Everyone marveled at such a generous offer.

A Ninja Badge was a symbol of status and strength.

From Apprentice Ninja to Super Kage, each rank had its corresponding badge.

Beyond that, badges also came in five grades: Common, bronze, silver, gold, and obsidian.

In Trainee Exams held in tier-three cities, even outstanding participants were normally awarded only Bronze Badges.

That was also the highest grade of badge the Ninja Association in Jiangli City was authorized to issue.

Correspondingly, tier-two cities could issue Silver Badges, while tier-one cities could issue Gold Badges.

After all, assessments in those higher-tier cities were far harder than those in Jiangli City, so higher-grade badges were naturally needed to attest to their worth.

As for the finest of all, the Obsidian Badge, only the association's headquarters had the authority to issue it.

And headquarters held no Trainee Exams at all. Its assessments started at Jonin.

It seemed President Bai had requested permission to award a Silver Badge for this assessment.

That alone showed how much importance he placed on it.

It could also mean that this assessment would be as difficult as those held in tier-two cities.

As a ninja advanced in rank, their badge's grade would not reset. It could even be raised through subsequent higher-level ninja assessments.

In other words, once someone earned a special badge in their Trainee Exam, that badge grade would stay with them for life.

Seeing that he had piqued everyone's interest, President Bai continued.

"These special badges aren't merely symbolic. Ninjas who possess them can enjoy many tangible benefits."

"For example, because of our physiology, we people of Blue Star can't remain for too long in Otherworld Secret Realms originating from other planes."

"Each hour spent there requires a fixed amount of Dimensional Aura, a material that functions as a fatigue allowance."

"Dimensional Aura is a resource monopolized by the association. Only the association can legally extract it, and a fixed amount is distributed each month according to ninja rank."

"To obtain more, you have to pay a hefty price at the association's shop or trade with private individuals."

"A higher-grade Ninja Badge means you'll receive more Dimensional Aura than others of the same rank."

"That means more time training in secret realms. In the long run, your progress will inevitably outstrip that of ninjas who invest less Dimensional Aura."

After hearing President Bai's explanation, Luo Yu finally understood.

Isn't this just the stamina system in a game?

Players only get a fixed amount of stamina each day to improve their characters.

Only big spenders who buy more stamina can pull ahead of other players.

These special badges are basically VIP tiers. Nothing but benefits.

Besides, I level up by killing Mutant Beasts and collecting the attribute points they drop.

That'll definitely require plenty of Dimensional Aura to keep me in the secret realms.

That first-place Silver Badge is mine.

But what about the Yamato legacy fragment we were promised?

Luo Yu wasn't the only one confused. The children of ninja families who had learned about the Yamato Legacy Fragment through special channels looked equally baffled.

The reward is a higher-grade badge, so where's the Yamato Fragment?

This isn't what our families were told.

Seeing the confusion on a small group of faces, President Bai said unhurriedly, "Besides the badges, we've placed a special reward in the Trial Grounds to encourage competition."

"A legacy fragment of Yamato, a powerful master of Wood Release."

The announcement immediately caused an uproar.

Apart from the well-informed children of ninja families, many people had no idea that this assessment would offer something so valuable.

After all, Wood Release was incredibly powerful. Even if using the Yamato Fragment only gave them a chance of obtaining it, it still held an irresistible allure for ninjas pursuing greater strength.

Rumor had it that the Ninja Research Society, an organization of rogue ninjas, had captured many Wood Release users as experimental material in its ongoing efforts to find a way to mass-produce Wood Release ninjas.

That alone showed just how rare and precious Wood Release was.