At the last moment, Yan Yuandong finally came to his senses, activated his protective magic weapon, and blocked Chen Duo's attack.
"This formation cannot be fought head-on, retreat!"
Yan Yuandong shouted sharply, waving his folding fan to shatter the flames that were drifting towards him.
At this moment, the people in the talisman array also realized that something was wrong. Upon hearing the order, they immediately turned around and ran away.
"Haha, do you think you can just come and go as you please with my rune array?"
Five Elements Transformation, Earth Element, Earth Gravity!
Chen Mu laughed heartily, his hand seals shifting, and all the flames within the entire talisman array vanished. Then, all the enemies found their bodies becoming unusually heavy, and their running speed greatly reduced.
" Formation-Breaking Flag! Break it!"
Yan Yuandong used the same trick again, but this time he was not arrogant. Instead, he gathered many array flags together and surrounded them all around himself.
The Formation-Breaking Flag emitted a soft glow, helping him withstand Chen Mu's gravity. With a few leaps, he broke out of Chen Mu's rune array.
"Hmph! You gotta keep your distance!"
Chen Mu needed to maintain the talisman array and did not pursue, while A Huo and Mingye continued to finish off the remaining enemies.
After a fierce battle, of the nearly one hundred people who attacked Chen Mu, only a dozen or so who were on the edge managed to escape.
Inside the courtyard at the center of the formation.
"Junior Brother An, this candidate's skill in formations is quite high, but I wonder why he didn't participate in the professional assessment. It seems he's ambitious and wants to win a ranking in the competition!"
New students who pass the professional exams at the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion actually receive much higher treatment than disciples who enter through the regular martial arts exams. However, occasionally, some new students who have mastered professional skills will participate in the martial arts exams.
If they can rank in the top 100 in the martial arts exam, they will indeed receive better treatment than ordinary freshmen. However, this is actually very risky, and only those who are very confident in their abilities will do so.
In fact, Mo Fei did not think highly of people who cultivated both soul and martial arts, since it was difficult to achieve great things when one was distracted by two different paths.
"Senior Brother Mo, his formation is not as simple as it seems! There are parts of this formation that even I can't understand, and I have a feeling that its power is much greater than that!"
"Oh? Junior brother has such a high opinion of him?"
This was the first time Mo Fei had heard An Ruhai evaluate a new student's formation in this way, and he couldn't help but become somewhat interested.
"Hehe, senior, with him around, I think the results of this year's ranking tournament might be quite different from previous years."
In the center of the gravelly ground, amidst a forest of boulders, dozens of tents were now scattered.
Yan Yuandong rushed into the group of tents in a disheveled state, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the protective array around him.
"Brother Yuan Dong, what's wrong with you?"
Zhou Yu noticed the commotion and came out of the tent to inquire.
Yan Yuandong had no choice but to tell Zhou Yu the truth about his battle with Chen Mu.
"Hmph! This rabble is indeed no match for us! Brother Yuan Dong, I'll go with you now and wipe them out!"
Yan Yuandong shook his head and stopped Zhou Yu.
"No! That person's formation is extremely profound. I don't have the confidence to break it right now. Even if you go, I think it will take a lot of time, which would be detrimental to our plans."
"Wait for me one more day. I'll make more Formation-Breaking Flag, and when my chances are higher, I'll fight them to the death."
Zhou Yu was quite convinced of Yan Yuandong's plan and nodded.
"It's just a pity about those nameplates. I should have collected them all first and given them out the day after tomorrow morning."
For those who did not resist and were directly assigned to the organization, Yan Yuandong did not confiscate their nameplates, but only asked them to hand them over after the assessment. Unexpectedly, they all benefited Chen Mu.
The next day, at nine o'clock in the morning.
In just half an hour, a large number of test takers rushed into the valley in the central area.
These candidates all knew that the central area would be the most fiercely contested area, so apart from a few candidates who were very confident in their abilities, or those who wanted to come in early to make preparations, most of the others arrived right on time.
The entire valley was now filled with the smoke of battle; the slightest disagreement could lead to a fight among the examinees.
Unlike the tense atmosphere outside, Chen Mu and his three companions got up early in the morning. Some meditated, some practiced swordsmanship, and Chen Duo even cooked a pot of porridge for everyone, making it surprisingly comfortable and peaceful.
"Someone else has come in, Duoduo, this one is for you."
"OK!"
Chen Duo skillfully took out her Rune Gun, found a spot to set it up, and fired a shot at a man spinning in place in the distance.
The man reacted quickly and narrowly dodged the shot.
"Come out! What kind of hero hides like that!"
Unable to break through, the man could only curse aloud.
"Hehe, I'm a woman, not a hero!"
Chen Duo continued firing with a grin, turning the person who had mistakenly entered Chen Mu's talisman array into a sitting duck.
That person was also at the peak of the Middle Stage of the Qi Nourishing Realm, but he couldn't exert his full strength if he couldn't break out of the talisman array illusion. Chen Duo fired seven or eight shots in a row, and finally shot him into white light and dissipated.
"Wow, bro, this guy actually has six nameplates."
When Chen Duo went to collect her spoils, she was pleasantly surprised to see the nameplate on the ground.
Those who are still alive are indeed extraordinary. Chen Mu, relying on the talisman array, can earn some extra income from time to time.
Unlike the relaxed atmosphere of Chen Mu and his group, the battle in the valley intensified as the assessment drew to a close. Various small and large groups fought, absorbed, and united with each other, and the number of examinees dwindled.
" Zhou Yu, don't be so arrogant! My three brothers and I will deal with you!"
There was an elite group of more than a dozen people, all of whom were very powerful. Their leader, surnamed Wu, had three brothers who were at the Peak of the Qi Nourishing Realm. The three of them worked together seamlessly and were skilled in combined attacks, which allowed them to hold back Zhou Yu was at the True Spirit Realm.
Yuan-Zhou Alliance fought this elite group several times but gained no advantage, and in the end, they could only coexist peacefully with them.
" The Yuan-Zhou Alliance is here! Let's go!"
"It's the Wu brothers! Hide!"
Apart from these two groups, the other groups were much weaker. After a day of fighting, those who survived all had their own extraordinary abilities, such as being good at stealth, having unparalleled speed, being strong in combat, or being skilled in social maneuvering.
"Alright! Brother Yuan Dong, these people are all running away faster than eels now. We can make our move on that four-man group from last night!"
Zhou Yu had always been thinking about the nameplates in Chen Mu's hands.
Yan Yuandong thought for a long time, closed his folding fan, and shook his head.
"No rush. Based on my past experience, if we acquire too many nameplates, we'll easily become the target of everyone's attacks when we enter the ranking stage. Keeping those people around will help distract us."
Anyway, their rune array can't be moved, so we can go and harvest them anytime. Let's wait until after the assessment competition!
"Oh? That works too!"