Chapter 26

Xu Jintang froze for a moment and stopped.

The other examinees had long since walked away, leaving her alone nearby.

She looked at Zhuang Silin questioningly. "What is it?"

Shi Lekang walked over from the side with a smile. "We're all very curious about how you realized you were in a simulated battlefield earlier."

The other three military academy teachers also turned their gazes toward her.

Xu Jintang understood. So that was what this was about.

"Because... I get airsick."

She quickly gave them a brief explanation of her airsickness symptoms.

Zhuang Silin and the others all froze.

"We kept thinking you had some special method. So it was because of this settings bug." Shi Lekang shook his head and gave a couple of helpless chuckles.

"We really were careless. We never thought of that. Once we get back, we'll have to tell the simulated battlefield engineers about this bug," another military academy teacher muttered.

Zhuang Silin also looked torn between laughter and tears. "All right, go back and rest. We'll find someone to fix this bug later."

Xu Jintang nodded politely. "All right."

After she left the hall, a staff member soon came over to guide her to the dormitory where she would be staying temporarily.

That afternoon, five more aircraft carrying examinees arrived in the Federation Star Region.

Examinees from across the interstellar regions gathered here.

To capitalize on the buzz, many businesses hung messages outside their shops wishing the examinees success and offering other blessings. The entire main city became exceptionally lively.

Inside the dormitory.

Xu Jintang sat cross-legged on the edge of her bed, making the most of her time to continue cultivating.

Dense fluctuations of mental power swirled around her, gathering large quantities of the faint spiritual energy between heaven and earth here and channeling it into her body bit by bit.

Every time her mental power circulated through her entire body, the ability power within Xu Jintang grew a little stronger.

She continued until the sky darkened.

Xu Jintang exhaled a breath of turbid air and ended her cultivation session.

She got out of bed and left the dormitory, planning to ask around for news about the joint examination.

As soon as she entered the cafeteria, she heard someone going over information about the top ten examinees in the overall rankings.

Xu Jintang quietly looked over.

To her surprise, Wei Zixuan was among them.

"Lanxing, over here!" Wei Zixuan quickly spotted her and waved to greet her.

Being called Lanxing left Xu Jintang momentarily unresponsive.

Two seconds later, she managed a smile and walked toward Wei Zixuan. "Little Brother Tieniu, you're here for dinner too."

The man sitting opposite Wei Zixuan turned and looked her over curiously.

Xu Jintang smiled at him, then sat in the empty seat beside Wei Zixuan.

"Hello, I'm Xu Lanxing. I'm also here to take the joint examination."

Li Tongfu paused, then quickly replied with a smile, "So you're Sister Lanxing. You and your brother have rather distinctive names."

Wei Zixuan began introducing them. "Sis, this is Li Tongfu, Brother Li. He's a friend I just met today."

Then he said to Li Tongfu, "Brother Li, Lanxing and I both come from lower star regions. There's a lot we don't know, so we'll have to rely on your guidance."

Li Tongfu waved a hand and said heartily, "You're too polite. Sister Lanxing, you've come at just the right time. We're discussing information about the top ten examinees. Have a seat, and we'll share what we know."

Xu Jintang covered her mouth and coughed lightly, glancing at Wei Zixuan out of the corner of her eye.

Only after seeing that he gave nothing away did she nod with a perfectly serious expression. "All right."

Li Tongfu rested a hand on the edge of the dining table, leaned forward slightly, and lowered his voice. "Let's start with Jing Yuanzheng, who's ranked first."

Chapter 26

"Jing Yuanzheng comes from the Empire Affiliated Academy in the Federation Star Region, and he's the strongest student at his academy. His ability is a diagram called the Heavenly Remnant Kan Water Diagram. Apparently, once he unfurls it, he can instantly pull ability users into his Kan Water Formation to fight him. Inside his formation, his enemies' ability effects and physical strength are both greatly weakened. What's more, he's already a tier-two ability user."

Wei Zixuan fell silent for a long time before speaking. "This all-star-region joint examination really is full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. Good thing we met you, Brother Li. Otherwise, my sister and I would be completely in the dark."

Li Tongfu smiled and waved. "Fate brought us together today, so let's call it making friends. If I run into any trouble during the official joint examination, I'll be counting on your help, Brother Tieniu and Sister Lanxing."

Xu Jintang came back to her senses and nodded with a smile. "Of course."

Soon, Li Tongfu continued his introduction. "The examinee in second place is a girl, but you absolutely mustn't underestimate her. Her ability is terrifying too: an ice-attribute Black Armor Turtle, a very powerful defensive ability. She's already a tier-two ability user as well. I've heard that even Jing Yuanzheng is at a loss when he fights her, because no matter how he attacks, he can't break through her defenses."

Xu Jintang nodded, her expression growing grave. "No wonder they took the top two spots."

Of those two, one could be called the strongest attacker, while the other was comparable to the strongest defender.

If she faced them in the future, she really couldn't say she would definitely win.

Li Tongfu picked up the cup beside him and took a sip of water. "Third place is even more interesting. You've heard of star-attribute abilities, right? People who awaken abilities like that have a chance to become inscription masters."

This piqued Xu Jintang's curiosity. "Brother Li, are you saying the third-place examinee is an inscription master?"

Wei Zixuan also looked up in surprise.

"You're right, Sister Lanxing." Li Tongfu put down his cup and launched into an animated explanation. "The third-place examinee's ability is the Star Scepter. Through the scepter, he can draw on the power of the stars between heaven and earth for his own use. His ability has very powerful control effects. He can directly control enemies, forcibly freezing them in place and stopping their movements. On top of that, he's also a level-one inscription master."

"Our joint examination allows examinees to use inscription talismans and magical treasures in combat. As an inscription master, he has an almost inexhaustible supply of inscription talismans. If he grabs a handful and throws them out, the attack power is simply beyond what an ordinary person can withstand. And he has his ability's control effects too. Combined, those make it very hard for him to find a match."

A trace of gravity crossed Li Tongfu's face. "Personally, I think he's the most terrifying one."

By this point, Wei Zixuan looked so nervous that he couldn't utter a word for a long while.

Xu Jintang pursed her lips thoughtfully.

She had almost forgotten that inscription talismans were allowed in the joint examination.

"Brother Tieniu, do you know anything about Xu Jintang in ninth place and Wei Zixuan in tenth? They're both from lower star regions. I really hadn't paid attention to their information before," Li Tongfu said, suddenly changing the subject.

Wei Zixuan, who had been drinking to ease his nerves, sprayed out a mouthful of tea and coughed several times.

Xu Jintang calmly patted his back, then replied, "I know Xu Jintang."

Li Tongfu's eyes lit up, and he quickly looked over. "How strong is she?"

Xu Jintang thought for a moment. "Xu Jintang's strength is only average. As far as I know, she only has a support ability, but she's decent in close combat. She probably squeezed into the top ten in the additional assessment thanks to luck."

Having caught his breath, Wei Zixuan quickly chimed in. "Right, I know Wei Zixuan too. His ability lets him summon demonic beasts to fight, but his strength is only average as well. His ability has a flaw: the tier of the demonic beasts he summons isn't fixed. When he's lucky, he can summon tier-four or tier-five demonic beasts. When he's unlucky, he can only summon tier-one demonic beasts."

"I reckon luck was why he made the top ten in the additional assessment too."

Their back-and-forth disparagement left Li Tongfu stunned for quite a while.

Then he said earnestly, "Brother Tieniu, Sister Lanxing, anyone who makes the top ten must have some trump cards. Don't underestimate them just because they're from lower star regions, or you'll suffer badly for it."

Wei Zixuan coughed again and hastily nodded. "Right, right. We'll listen to you, Brother Li."

Xu Jintang remained silent beside him.

After that, Li Tongfu began sharing information about the examinees ranked fourth and below.

They didn't sound as terrifying as the top three, though, and Wei Zixuan finally calmed down a little.

Xu Jintang appeared to be listening attentively, but her mind had long since wandered.

She was planning to hurry and prepare more inscription talismans once she returned to her dormitory.

"Brother Li, thanks for sharing all this today. From now on, you're my brother!" Wei Zixuan cupped his fists and began addressing Li Tongfu as a sworn brother.

Xu Jintang reminded them, "It's getting late. Why don't we call it a day?"

By then, there were very few people left in the cafeteria.

Li Tongfu quickly nodded. "Right. The day after tomorrow, examinees from the other star regions will start arriving too. We should all get some proper rest these next two days and not let it affect the joint examination."

Wei Zixuan said goodbye with a smile. "All right, see you tomorrow."

After parting ways with Li Tongfu, Xu Jintang and Wei Zixuan headed toward the dormitory building together.

"Sis, how did I do today?" Wei Zixuan raised his eyebrows, his expression expectant of praise.

Xu Jintang glanced at him. "When it comes to making friends, Little Brother Tieniu really is beyond reproach."

The name Little Brother Tieniu made Wei Zixuan look embarrassed for a moment.

He really hadn't thought much of it when choosing the name, but only after actually using it did he understand what embarrassment meant.

Xu Jintang turned and waved with her back to him, saying goodbye. "I'm heading back to my room to cultivate."

Once back in her dormitory, Xu Jintang immediately took the remaining attribute-less raw stones and her inscription pen out of her bracelet's storage space, then quietly began making inscriptions.

What Li Tongfu had said today had reminded her that she was an inscription master too. Since inscription talismans were allowed in the joint examination, she couldn't waste this opportunity.

Over the next two days, examinees from across the interstellar regions arrived one after another at the center of the Federation Star Region.

Every batch of examinees entering the city saw the rankings of the additional assessment's top ten hanging above the main city.

The names of Xu Jintang and Wei Zixuan, both from lower star regions, were mentioned again and again.