Ninety Li Is Halfway Through a Hundred-Li Journey

What followed was more or less as Lin Xuan had guessed.

It was just that the rate of elimination was far slower than before, because those who had endured this long were basically not the sort to give up lightly.

Unless they truly could not hold on any longer.

Ten minutes later.

"Xuan Xuan Younger Brother, Yan Older Brother, just leave me here."

Noticing that Xing Yan had begun to pant as well, Hua Yiren called out to Lin Xuan and Xing Yan. After taking a deep breath, she said, "I'm already truly grateful that you were willing to help me, but my abilities really aren't enough to support me through the rest of this assessment. You two, do your best!"

Lin Xuan could see that Xing Yan was indeed beginning to run out of strength, while Hua Yiren's face had gone deathly pale even with the two of them pulling her along.

There was truly no need to keep forcing it.

Thus, when Hua Yiren voluntarily withdrew, he nodded. "Then get some good rest, Sister Yiren. We'll do our best... Oh, right, Sister Yiren, leave the vines with us. They might come in handy later."

"No problem."

Hua Yiren glanced at Xing Yan and realized why Lin Xuan had said that.

After a brief thought, she used her Divine Ability again, turning one of the vines into a hard walking stick and handing it to Xing Yan.

She handed the other, softer vine to Lin Xuan.

Only after waving goodbye to the two of them did Hua Yiren sit down against the wall.

"Finally, I can rest."

Leaning against the wall just like that, Hua Yiren fell directly asleep.

"Yan Older Brother, are you all right?"

Lin Xuan glanced at Xing Yan beside him, a thought stirring in his heart.

With Hua Yiren, that human-shaped burden, gone, he immediately set his sights on Xing Yan.

Although Toddling had already vanished, Mystical Swiftness, as a talent one tier above it, naturally needed its experience to be grinded as well.

Unfortunately, Xing Yan had no intention of accepting his help. He shook his head and said,

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

Seeing Xing Yan fail to take the hint, Lin Xuan felt somewhat regretful.

Of course, he knew Xing Yan was not merely putting on a brave face. Xing Yan also seemed to share the same plan as him.

To use this opportunity to temper himself.

The reason Lin Xuan made that judgment was simple... Xing Yan had not used his Divine Ability even once so far!

It was possible that Xing Yan's Divine Ability was not much help in the current situation, but Lin Xuan's instincts told him that was probably not the case.

"It should be about time."

While grinding Mystical Swiftness's experience, Lin Xuan silently observed everyone else's situation.

Not long after Hua Yiren withdrew, more candidates began giving up one after another.

Some of them had clearly not reached their limits, yet they still chose to withdraw.

Because they could no longer see any hope of victory. This seemingly endless spiral staircase had even filled their hearts with despair.

A hundred-li journey was only half done at ninety li.

That saying could not have been more fitting for the present situation.

Suddenly—

Vice Dean Pei, who had been walking at the very front, stopped. Turning around, he looked at the remaining crowd and said,

"Congratulations. You have persevered until now. You have passed this stage."

Upon hearing those words, quite a few candidates dropped onto the ground with a thud, gasping for breath.

Among them was Xing Yan, who had stubbornly endured without using any other means.

Lin Xuan looked over those who remained and found that there were at most fewer than a hundred people left.

In other words, based on the total number of candidates at the start of the third round, two-thirds had already been eliminated.

But that was clearly still not enough.

Because only twenty-five people could remain after this round of assessment.

"Teacher, I think this is unfair!"

At that moment, a candidate who was gasping for breath like Xing Yan suddenly raised his hand and looked at Vice Dean Pei.

Still at it?

The moment Lin Xuan saw this, he had already guessed what the other person wanted to say.

Especially since a similar scene had taken place not long ago, and the previous person who had cried unfairness had already been eliminated.

"Oh? How is it unfair?"

Vice Dean Pei's tone was as calm as ever. Even his reply was word-for-word identical, making him a veritable human repeater.

"Teacher, you truly did not favor Martial Artists. Those people were foolish for not thinking of adapting before, and I agree with that."

Having learned from the previous candidate's lesson, this candidate was not as aggressive. He cupped his fists toward Vice Dean Pei and said, "But since the Spark Program is meant to select true genius elites, shouldn't they rely on their own efforts?

Some of them clearly only made it this far with other people's help. How can that count as true talent? That is plainly cheating!"

Following this candidate's protest, several others immediately voiced their opinions indignantly as well.

They all meant roughly the same thing: they wanted Vice Dean Pei to kick out those cheaters, as well as those who had aided and abetted them.

Xing Yan had only rested for a short while when he heard the candidates' protests, and he could not help but panic.

He did not regret helping Hua Yiren with Lin Xuan, but if he were truly eliminated because of it, he would certainly be upset.

After all, he was only eight years old.

Even if he had to act like an older brother in front of Lin Xuan, his age was what it was. How could he truly keep his joys and anger hidden from his face?

Only a small portion of those present watched the protesters' performance as though enjoying a show.

For instance, Lin Xuan, the boy in the brown suit, the boy with mechanical spider legs beneath his feet, and others.

Because they could see that no matter how grand and righteous the protesters' words sounded, at their core, they merely wanted to remove some competitors.

The ultimate purpose of this assessment was to leave only twenty-five people behind. Every additional competitor eliminated meant another sliver of hope for them.

Faced with these impassioned candidates, Vice Dean Pei merely asked calmly,

"Cheating presupposes rules... Did I ever state the rules for this stage?"

The protesting candidates were instantly rendered speechless.

Vice Dean Pei continued, "If the first stage tested your willpower, then this second stage tests your overall abilities and adaptability... To pass this stage, either your own abilities must be strong enough, or your adaptability must be strong enough. All I want is the result."

Seeing Vice Dean Pei put it so plainly, that protester immediately lost his fire.

"Any other questions?" Vice Dean Pei asked.

The protester repeatedly shook his head.

"Then follow me—"

Vice Dean Pei suddenly turned toward the inner side of the staircase. At the very moment he turned around, a door suddenly opened in the wall on that side.

Light from beyond the door shone onto the spiral staircase.

Without waiting for the candidates to ask further questions, Vice Dean Pei had already stepped through first.

Seeing this, everyone hurriedly followed after him.

"This is... How can this be?!"

Because he was relatively short, Lin Xuan jumped directly from the stairs through the doorway. When he saw the sight beyond it, he could not help revealing a look of shock!