There are a total of four high schools in Jiang City.
There were a little over a thousand martial arts exam candidates in total.
The martial arts exam is divided into two parts.
The first step is the preliminary selection.
More than a thousand candidates were selected to make up the top 256.
These 256 people will then compete in one-on-one duels, with the winners advancing to the next round, ultimately determining this year's martial arts champion.
The preliminary selection process is very simple and applicable nationwide.
Climb the Heaven-Reaching Tower.
The Martial Arts Heaven-Reaching Tower has nine floors.
Each floor is guarded by a guardian beast.
The strength of the guardian beast increases with each floor.
The top 256 candidates were ultimately ranked based on the number of floors they climbed and the time they took.
Inside a large conference room in the examination hall.
The city lord of Jiang City, the judges of the Law Enforcement Department, the minister of Ministry of Education, the City Defense Bureau, and other bigwigs of Jiang City gathered together.
"Have all the defenses inside and outside the city been arranged?" the city lord asked.
"Everything has been arranged according to your requirements," the City Defense Bureau replied.
The city lord nodded. "We must not let our guard down."
"Every year around the time of the martial arts exams, those bastards from the Fairness Society always cause trouble."
Everyone looked relaxed.
Jiang City is just a remote little town.
The Fairness Society would never waste its energy and resources on such things.
Moreover, the Otherworld was closed not long ago, so the Fairness Society even less likely to come.
The Minister of Ministry of Education glanced at the time, stood up, and said, "It's almost time; I need to go open the door."
After the minister left, the City Defense Bureau asked curiously, "Have the investigation into the Void Beast yielded any results?"
The city lord shook his head. "This is none of our business. We just need to do our duty."
Without a doubt, this victory over the Void Beast has added a very glorious chapter to the resumes of Jiang City's high-ranking officials.
For the next two years, they only need to follow the established procedures and avoid any unexpected incidents or accidents at work; promotion is just a matter of time.
"Speaking of which, the quality of martial arts candidates in Jiang City this year is very high, and there's even a gifted individual among them," the Judge said calmly.
The city lord laughed happily.
What's this?
It's all his achievement.
"How many prodigies are there this year?" the city lord asked.
The so-called prodigy possesses combat strength and potential far exceeding that of his peers, and is expected to become Advanced Martial Artist.
The Vice Minister of Ministry of Education glanced at the list and replied, " Sun Chenghao from No. 1 Middle School, Fang Songhua and Xie Xueying from No. 2 Middle School, Ge Pengfei from No. 3 Middle School, and Zhang San and Luo Zheng from No. 4 Middle School."
"Among Fang Songhua and Zhang San both broke through to the Level One Martial Artist, while the others reached level 0.9."
A hint of surprise flashed in the city lord's eyes. "So many people this year."
"By the way, what about Qin Ze from No. 2 Middle School?"
He had a deep impression of Qin Ze, after all, he was someone that Brother Yuanzi took special care of.
"Let me see." The deputy minister flipped through the list again. "The most recent blood and qi test result was 703, an average performance."
The city lord sighed, "It seems even the executor can misjudge people."
While the important figures chatted about everything under the sun, Qin Ze, the top scholar, had already passed through security and entered the examination hall.
The examination venue for the martial arts exam was actually a training ground of the City Defense Bureau, which was as big as five football fields.
In the center of the site stands a stone tablet over five meters tall, with crooked and grotesque patterns carved on it, giving it a rather mysterious appearance.
The moment Qin Ze saw the stone tablet, he felt a surge of emotion.
"That's... Void Beast?"
The faint aura emanating from the stone tablet was exactly the same as that of the Void Beast from five days ago.
The only difference is that this stone tablet doesn't have a loli voice.
Qin Ze frowned slightly.
What's going on?
The Void Beast have entered the city?
He quickly opened the chat group to ask.
[ Beast Tamer: I felt a strange unease from a stone tablet at the martial arts exam site, just like when I faced the Void Beast a few years ago.]
[ Passerby A: You actually survived the Void Beast horde, amazing!]
[ Fairies Don't Poop: You're talking about the Gate-Sealing Stele, right? What does it have to do with the Void Beast?]
[ Beast Tamer: Gate-Sealing Stele?]
[ Fairies Don't Poop: Fifty years ago, the Mystic Dream Otherworld of Sea Capital was transformed into a special Otherworld for martial arts examinations. On the day of the martial arts examinations, gates to this realm open simultaneously across the Otherworld, and the Heaven-Reaching Tower is located inside.]
[ Fairies Don't Poop: The stone tablet you mentioned is the location of the spatial gate. The Gate-Sealing Stele is usually used to block the gate.]
[ Scholar: I remember the Beast Tamer wasn't the top martial arts scholar, how could he not know about the Gate-Sealing Stele?]
[ Fairies Don't Poop: Maybe he was the top scholar fifty years ago, before the Heaven-Reaching Tower selection system existed]
[ Beast Tamer: I did come to the martial arts exam with a younger family member, Gate-Sealing Stele... makes me feel very uncomfortable.]
[ Passerby A: So the Beast Tamer is a hidden super master, at least Level Seven Martial Artist, right?]
[ Beast Tamer: Keep a low profile]
Qin Ze didn't expect that they would actually believe his casual boast.
[ Yao Yuan: The Gate-Sealing Stele is the Void Beast, or rather, a part of the Void Beast.]
[ Fairies Don't Poop: Huh?]
[ Yao Yuan: That Void Beast was slain fifty years ago by the current Minister of Ministry of Education, and its core shattered into hundreds of fragments.]
[ Yao Yuan: Experts have discovered through research that each fragment can open a portal leading to the location of any other fragment.]
[ Yao Yuan: Coincidentally, the Mystic Dream Otherworld was fully developed not long after, and the largest fragment was placed inside. One fragment was also placed in each city with a population of 100,000. It was activated during the martial arts examination.]
[ Fairies Don't Poop: Why not use this feature to evacuate people when a beast tide occurs?]
This was the question Qin Ze was about to ask.
[ Yao Yuan: The spatial passage opened by the crystal core fragments is extremely unstable. The maximum number of people who can pass through at one time is two thousand, and it will take several months to recover. If the number of people exceeds the limit, the passage will collapse.]
Qin Ze's doubts were all resolved.
The instant he saw the Gate-Sealing Stele, an image of countless strange beasts leaping out of it flashed through his mind.
Thankfully, it was a false alarm.
" Qin Ze, keep it up!"
The class monitor, who was not far away, gave Qin Ze a thumbs-up.
Qin Ze gave a thumbs up.
The Ministry of Education walked to the Gate-Sealing Stele and announced loudly, " The Gate-Sealing Stele is open. The students will be teleported to the Heaven-Reaching Tower in the Mystic Dream Secret Realm."
"Defeat the guardian beast to ascend to the next level. The preliminary rounds will rank participants based on the number of levels cleared and the time taken."
"Don't worry, everyone. There's no death or injury in the Heaven-Reaching Tower. If you die, you'll be automatically transported to Otherworld. Just fight with confidence."
After saying this, the Ministry of Education took out a light blue stone and embedded it into the groove of the Gate-Sealing Stele.
The next second, the patterns on the Gate-Sealing Stele lit up one by one.
As the final lines were illuminated, a massive spatial vortex appeared, identical to the one that had devoured the alien beast five days earlier.
Qin Ze noticed that his admission ticket lit up, and then all the candidates on site were pulled into a spatial vortex by a huge gravitational force.
The Ministry of Education, who was closest to the Gate-Sealing Stele, and the soldiers maintaining order around them were completely unaffected.
The vision went dark for only a second.
When Qin Ze opened his eyes again, he found himself in an empty room.
There is a staircase leading up to the right of the room, and a large number one is painted on the wall.
"So this is the Heaven-Reaching Tower."
However, at that moment, Qin Ze discovered that all of his clones had disappeared.
(This chapter is entirely foreshadowing.)