Several hidden bolts fired at once, shooting toward the surrounding demonic beasts.
While preparing for the joint entrance exam, she had specifically added fire-attribute attack inscriptions to her Ruby Sleeve Crossbow. Now every bolt inflicted a burning effect, making it more lethal against demonic beasts.
A small burst of flame exploded, killing two demonic beasts in succession.
Only then did Xu Jintang breathe a little easier.
Gradually, fewer and fewer companions remained around her.
Sitting on the back of the rhinoceros he had summoned, Wei Zixuan shouted to Xu Jintang, "Sister Jintang, get up here! My demonic beast can hold out a little longer!"
Sensing that her mental power was nearly exhausted, Xu Jintang stopped forcing herself to keep going. Gritting her teeth, she mustered her last bit of mental power and leaped onto the rhinoceros's back.
Wei Zixuan studied Xu Jintang curiously. "Your mental power reserves are so strong. Are you already a second-tier ability user, Sister Jintang?"
Nearly half an hour had passed since they arrived in the war zone.
Facing the demonic beasts, the examinees burned through mental power almost every second they fought. Those with weaker mental power had long since reached their limits and fallen first.
Only Xu Jintang had held out until now, looking as though she still had strength to spare.
Xu Jintang waved a weary hand. "You're overthinking it. I'm only first-tier."
Then she looked up at Wei Zixuan. "What about you? You can summon a third-tier demonic beast to fight. You must be at least second-tier, right?"
Wei Zixuan gave an awkward smile. "I'm actually still first-tier too. My ability is just a little unusual."
While the two chatted, quite a few more of their fellow examinees fell around them.
The third-tier Three-Horned Rhinoceros Wei Zixuan had summoned exerted a degree of tier suppression over the first-tier demonic beasts. Many did not dare approach at all. Moreover, whenever the Three-Horned Rhinoceros raised a foot, it could crush several demonic beasts to death, frightening the surrounding beasts into constantly dodging away.
Seated on the rhinoceros's back, the two were separated from the densely packed demonic beasts around them by an empty buffer zone.
Wei Zixuan began muttering, "Luckily, the military academy teachers left us a way to survive. The demonic beasts around us are all first-tier, or even a little weaker. Otherwise, if even a few second- or third-tier beasts showed up, we wouldn't have lasted this long."
Xu Jintang gave it little thought and seized the time to recover her mental power, planning to go down and kill a few more shortly.
A few minutes later, having recovered a little mental power, she jumped straight off the rhinoceros's back, stepping on the backs of several demonic beasts for leverage. She raised her arm and activated her sleeve crossbow, firing in every direction.
By then, all the examinees in War Zone No. 11 had been wiped out except Xu Jintang and Wei Zixuan.
After killing several more demonic beasts in succession, Xu Jintang returned to the rhinoceros's back to rest and catch her breath.
"The supplementary assessment for War Zone No. 11 has ended. All examinees will be transported back to reality in three seconds."
An emotionless electronic announcement sounded.
Xu Jintang froze for a moment. "It really was a supplementary assessment."
Before Wei Zixuan beside her could reply, their consciousnesses were swiftly pulled out of the simulated battlefield.
They were back inside the familiar cabin.
Around them were the fellow examinees who had already "died."
"We're not dead! It really was just an assessment!"
"Great! I killed quite a few extra demonic beasts just now. Do those all count toward my score?"
"It really was a simulated battlefield! We're all still alive!"
Just then, the captain responsible for the entire cabin walked over slowly with a smile. "Hello, everyone. I'm Captain Zhao, the captain of this flight. Everything you just experienced was indeed an illusion created by a simulated battlefield. Congratulations on completing this supplementary assessment. Next, we'll be flying to-there won't be any more assessments this time, so you can all rest easy."
An examinee soon asked, "Then how will the assessment scores be calculated?"
Xu Jintang looked up as well.
Captain Zhao kept smiling. "As far as I know, your scores for this supplementary assessment will be calculated based on both the number of demonic beasts you killed and the total time you survived in the war zone. Once we reach the exam venue, the chief examiner will explain the specific rules."
Xu Jintang gradually relaxed.
It was much as she had expected. The number of demonic beasts killed really did matter. Fortunately, she had not slacked off and had kept making the most of her time to kill enemies.
As for the total time she had survived in the war zone, she had ridden along on Wei Zixuan's third-tier demonic beast and lasted until the assessment ended, so her score for that portion should not be low either.
After the supplementary assessment ended, the examinees gradually dispersed, all intending to return to their rooms for some rest.
Xu Jintang turned around, also preparing to head back and recover.
"Sister Jintang, let's exchange contact details," Wei Zixuan called from behind her.
Xu Jintang looked back. "Sure."
After exchanging contact details, they said goodbye and parted, each heading toward their own room.
Before long, the aircraft officially started up, rising into the air and flying toward the galactic route.
Xu Jintang had just returned to her room when she retched. The intense dizziness nearly made her throw up on the spot.
Next door, Wei Zixuan had the same reaction. He immediately ran into the bathroom, bent over, and began vomiting violently.
This time, the aircraft really was flying toward the Federation Star Region.
Inside the advanced simulated battlefield operations room.
Zhuang Silin and the other four stared in surprise at the rankings of examinees' combat results across the war zones.
Every aircraft responsible for transporting examinees had participated in this supplementary assessment, and the resulting scores ranked all the examinees together.
The examinees in the top eight all came from middle star regions or the Federation Star Region, with high numbers of demonic beast kills and long survival times in the war zones.
Yet the next two, in ninth and tenth place, came from the FM795 Lower Star Region: Xu Jintang and Wei Zixuan, respectively.
"Wei Zixuan summoned a third-tier demonic beast, so his result makes sense. But doesn't Xu Jintang have a support ability? How did she make ninth place overall?"
Shi Lekang paused. "I didn't notice. I was watching those top students from the Federation Star Region."
The other two military academy teachers exchanged glances and shook their heads as well. "We weren't paying attention to her either."
After a moment of silence, one of them asked doubtfully, "Could there be an error in the simulated battlefield results?"
Then Zhuang Silin explained, "The data from an advanced simulation pod can't be wrong. Besides, I noticed her just now. Her close-combat skills were outstanding."
Only then did Shi Lekang and the three military academy teachers accept the rankings, though they remained somewhat doubtful.
"Hello, ma'am. How may I help you?" The staff member summoned by the assistance bell stood at the door and asked with a smile.
Clutching her stomach, Xu Jintang said weakly, "Airsickness medicine. Do you have any airsickness medicine?"
The staff member quickly understood. "Do you experience vomiting and dizziness after boarding an aircraft?"
"Yes. I feel sick. I want to throw up." Xu Jintang nodded repeatedly.
The staff member nodded in acknowledgment. "Please wait a moment. I'll ask someone from the medical team to come over right away."
Before long, a medical worker in a white uniform hurried over.
Seeing Xu Jintang slumped on the sofa, she smiled slightly, bent down, and lightly tapped Xu Jintang's forehead.
A gentle stream of mental power slowly flowed into her body.
Xu Jintang, who had been dizzy and nauseated, gradually relaxed. She opened her eyes. "This is..."
The female doctor explained with a smile, "My ability can relieve symptoms such as dizziness. The effect lasts twenty-four hours."
Advanced. So advanced.
Once Xu Jintang recovered, she gave the doctor a grateful smile. "Thank you."
Just then, a pained shout came from next door. "Can someone save me? I'm about to throw up my intestines!"
It was Wei Zixuan's voice.
Hearing him, the doctor quickly stood and said to Xu Jintang, "Call me anytime if you need anything. I'll go take care of the examinee next door first."
With that, she hurriedly turned and left.
Xu Jintang rested for a while. Once her energy returned, she stood up from the sofa and stretched.
Whether she jumped around or spun in circles, she no longer felt the slightest nausea or urge to vomit.
That's a nice ability.
Chapter 25
Night fell, and it was time for dinner.
The staff announced that a buffet dinner would be held in the cabin. From every star region,
delicacies
and drinks would be provided free for the examinees to enjoy.
Now that she was finally free of airsickness, Xu Jintang decided to head out and join the fun as soon as she heard about the dinner.
Following the corridor out of the suite area, she saw an automatic elevator.
Xu Jintang pressed the call button. A red light lit up, and the elevator, which had been on another floor, slowly descended.
With a ding, the elevator arrived, and its doors slowly slid open to either side.
"Sister Jintang, are you going to the dinner too?" Wei Zixuan's voice came from behind her.
Xu Jintang turned to look. "Yes. Want to go together?"
Wei Zixuan hurried over, smiling. "Sure."
The two entered the elevator one after the other and soon reached the cabin's top floor.
The banquet hall was spacious, and quite a few examinees had already gathered in groups to chat.
As soon as they entered, Wei Zixuan said hurriedly, "Sister Jintang, my old classmates are over there. I'm going to say hello."
Xu Jintang replied, "Okay."
Watching Wei Zixuan hurry away, Xu Jintang wandered idly over to a table set with wineglasses, picked one up at random, and took a sip.
The sour, astringent taste of red wine filled her mouth, and Xu Jintang's expression turned a little peculiar.
It really doesn't taste good.
"Class rep!" A familiar voice came from nearby.
Xu Jintang instinctively looked up and saw Song Duoduo running toward her from across the hall, waving.
The cabin had more than a dozen entrance and exit hatches. Examinees in each area had chosen the nearest exit to enter the war zone, and the war zone itself was enormous.
No wonder the two had failed to run into each other throughout the supplementary assessment.
"I knew you'd come join the fun." Song Duoduo folded her arms in front of her, looking every bit the all-knowing fortune-teller.