Page 36

Over those two days, Xu Jintang hardly went out. Aside from eating, sleeping, and cultivating, she spent her time making inscriptions.

Gradually, the Inscription Talismans of various types in her bracelet's storage space grew more and more numerous.

Together with her previous stockpile, the Inscription Talismans nearly filled half the space.

After finishing another batch of Inscription Talismans, Xu Jintang let out a breath, rubbed her shoulders, and stretched.

Just then, her communicator vibrated.

It was a call from Song Duoduo.

Xu Jintang answered.

"Class monitor-oh, no, Sister Lanxing, all the examinees have arrived today. The joint examination should officially start tomorrow. How about inviting that new friend you know, and we have one last meal together?" Song Duoduo's voice came from the other end.

Xu Jintang had told her how she and Wei Zixuan had met because of airsickness, then been forced to change their names together.

Song Duoduo also enjoyed making new friends, and in just two days, she had already become well acquainted with Wei Zixuan.

After considering it for a moment, Xu Jintang nodded in agreement. "Sure."

After ending the call, Xu Jintang put away the Inscription Talismans on the table, stood up, and left her dorm room.

Before long, the three of them arrived at Lianxiangzhai Restaurant, the most popular and bustling restaurant in the Federation's main city.

The private room was elegantly decorated, with tables, chairs, and stools made of solid wood. Exquisite carvings adorned the screen and ornaments, creating an unparalleled atmosphere.

"Here is the Fragrant Jade Dew Wine you ordered. It's brewed from sweet mountain spring water and volcanic grapes. Sweet and mellow, it's our bestselling item."

The young waiter brought over three bottles of Fragrant Jade Dew Wine and explained with a smile.

Xu Jintang's curious gaze settled on the little jade wine bottles. "This wine is sweet?"

The young waiter nodded with a smile. "That's right. Every guest who's tasted it has had nothing but praise."

He placed the three bottles on the table one by one, then bowed and quietly left the private room.

The food had yet to arrive, but all three were a little curious about how the fine wine tasted.

Finally, Wei Zixuan suggested, "Shall we try the wine first?"

Xu Jintang and Song Duoduo exchanged a glance and nodded in unison. "Sure."

Wei Zixuan stood up like a gentleman, rinsed the two ladies' wine cups with hot water, and set them on the table. Then he picked up the wine flask on the other side and poured each of them half a cup.

Xu Jintang was the first to lift her cup and hold it beneath her nose for a sniff.

There was indeed a faint grape fragrance.

She raised the cup and took a sip. Rich, fragrant wine flowed into her mouth, its sweetness spreading across her tongue. It really was sweet, without the slightest astringency.

Beside her, Song Duoduo took a sip and nodded in satisfaction as well. "It really is good!"

Not all the dishes had arrived yet.

But the three of them had already begun drinking cup after cup.

Once the alcohol went to their heads, Wei Zixuan and Song Duoduo stood up and cupped their fists, clamoring to become sworn siblings. "Eldest younger brother! Please accept my bow!"

Holding his wine cup in both hands, Wei Zixuan looked drunkenly at Xu Jintang. "Third Sister, join us. From now on, Duoduo will be our second younger sister."

Xu Jintang said, "? What kind of seniority is that?"

"Third Sister, come on! Once we finish this cup, the three of us will be good sisters!" Song Duoduo tugged Xu Jintang over to toast with them.

Left with no choice, Xu Jintang drank a few more cups with the two of them.

By the time she returned to her dorm room, Xu Jintang felt dizzy.

She had no energy left to cultivate and fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

Early the next morning, sunlight shone across the land.

The entire Federation Military Academy Command Center base was covered in a layer of gold.

Standing at the very front of the assembled examinees, Zhuang Silin announced, "I hereby declare the annual All-Star-Region Joint Examination Competition officially open!"

"You should all have seen the Joint Examination Red Ranking hanging above the Federation's main city. That's right. Your final results in this joint examination will be determined by your rankings. Simply put, the higher your final ranking, the more military academies you'll be able to choose from."

"Any student who makes it onto the Joint Examination Red Ranking will have the right to choose any of the five great military academies."

"As for how to improve your ranking, you'll need to explore that yourselves once you enter the joint examination's simulated battlefield."

Zhuang Silin swept her gaze across the crowd. "Now, I'll call your names in order of your rankings in the additional assessment. When your name is called, step forward and prepare to enter the joint examination's simulated battlefield."

"First place, Jing Yuanzheng."

Over the past two days, everyone had thoroughly discussed the information on the examinees listed on the Joint Examination Red Ranking.

Naturally, everyone knew just how formidable Jing Yuanzheng was.

After hearing his name, the examinees visibly grew more wary and tense.

Jing Yuanzheng stepped out of the ranks with a smile and approached Zhuang Silin. "Hello, Teacher. I'm Jing Yuanzheng."

Zhuang Silin glanced at him. "Mm. Go in."

After signing in, Jing Yuanzheng was soon led into a simulated battlefield combat room by a staff member.

Meanwhile, Xu Jintang was still fast asleep after getting drunk the night before.

"Xu Jintang, you're going to be late for the joint examination." The Ice Soul Dragon in her sea of consciousness had been keeping track of the time. He knew Xu Jintang cared a great deal about this examination, but despite calling her for ages, he had failed to wake her.

After some thought, the Ice Soul Dragon sighed helplessly and could only forcibly activate his remaining spiritual power.

The powerful fluctuations of spiritual power finally woke Xu Jintang from her sleep.

She sat on the edge of her bed, her eyes a little blank. "What's wrong?"

The Ice Soul Dragon said, "You're going to be late for the joint examination."

After two seconds of silence, Xu Jintang abruptly came to her senses. "I'm already late!!"

She hurriedly dressed, rushed out the door, and dashed out of the dormitory building toward the joint examination's simulated battlefield area.

At that moment, in the joint examination's simulated battlefield area.

"Xu Jintang." Zhuang Silin called her name again. When no one responded, she read the next name. "Wei Zixuan."

Still, there was no response.

The examinees looked at one another, and an unusual silence settled over them.

These two had attracted considerable attention over the past few days for breaking into the overall top ten from a lower-tier star region, but no one had expected them to be so arrogant that they would dare arrive late for the official joint examination.

"Are these two examinees from a lower-tier star region really that bold? This is the official joint examination. Aren't they afraid of being disqualified for being late?"

"How arrogant. Every one of the top eight is outstanding, and none of them dared arrive late today."

Zhuang Silin cleared her throat and looked around. After confirming that Xu Jintang was nowhere to be found, she could only continue with the name in eleventh place. "Next."

By then, Xu Jintang had already raced to the outskirts of the simulated battlefield examination area.

With so many examinees, this joint examination had been divided into five examination areas. Five chief examiners were separately conducting roll calls and sign-ins, with examinees entering the simulated battlefield through different simulation pod ports.

Xu Jintang was in Area One.

After confirming the direction of Examination Area One, she hurriedly turned and picked up speed again.

"Sister Lanxing, wait for me!" Wei Zixuan, who had also overslept, called from behind her.

Xu Jintang had no time to look back. "Wait for what? Hurry up!"

The two sprinted toward Examination Area One, one behind the other.

Finally, two minutes later, Xu Jintang and Wei Zixuan arrived outside Examination Area One.

They quickly explained the situation, and the proctor looked them up and down.

"You two really are something, daring to arrive late for the joint examination. Luckily, you're not too late. But your names have already been called, so you can't cut in now. You'll have to wait until all the examinees in this area have entered before it's your turn."

Xu Jintang let out a breath of relief. "All right, that's fine."

As long as she could still take the joint examination.

Wei Zixuan also patted his chest and began catching his breath.

Something occurred to Xu Jintang. "By the way, is Duoduo awake?" She turned to Wei Zixuan.

Wei Zixuan gave her a reassuring look. "I called her when I left. She's awake too."

Xu Jintang lowered her head and rubbed her brow. "From now on, I absolutely can't touch alcohol before anything important."

"Right, right, right. No more alcohol," Wei Zixuan quickly agreed.

After a wait of a little over an hour, the examinees ahead of them finally finished roll call and all entered the simulated battlefield examination area.

A proctor led Xu Jintang and Wei Zixuan into the examination area.

Zhuang Silin looked the two of them over teasingly. "Daring to arrive late for the joint examination-you two have some nerve."

Xu Jintang forced a smile. "Teacher Zhuang, we were held up by something. We absolutely didn't mean to be late."

Wei Zixuan did not dare speak and could only nod furiously.

"All right, let's not waste any more time." Zhuang Silin put a check mark after their names, then raised a hand and pointed toward the simulated battlefield examination area behind her. "Go in. As punishment for being late, you two will enter an hour later than the other examinees in the top ten."

"As for the other rules of the joint examination, you'll have to explore them yourselves once you're inside."

The earlier they entered the simulated battlefield, the earlier they could gather information and make more plans and arrangements.

Originally, Xu Jintang and Wei Zixuan had placed in the top ten in the additional assessment and could have entered the examination grounds with the first batch.

But because they were late, the two of them were now an hour behind.

With the proctor's help, Xu Jintang and Wei Zixuan put on their interface light brains and closed their eyes, their consciousnesses slowly entering the joint examination's simulated battlefield.

The familiar sensation of weightlessness followed.

After what felt like a few seconds of darkness, a mass of light appeared before her eyes.

Xu Jintang slowly opened her eyes. Wei Zixuan was no longer anywhere around her; he had probably been randomly transported to another area.

A lush forest surrounded her, and the roars of fierce beasts occasionally sounded from the distant mountains.

Birds and beasts occasionally flew across the sky, giving ethereal cries.

She quickly realized that this was the Death Forest frequently mentioned in textbooks.

Aside from Blizzard Forest, which had already been sealed off, there were hundreds upon thousands of forest regions throughout the various star regions, and all the demonic beasts in interstellar space lived within them.