The Large-Scale Assessment Begins
Three days later, a total of twenty-five trainees remained, and all of them stood in the plaza at Mingshan Training Ground.
In front of them were dozens of special iron cages, each containing a different exotic beast.
Two of the exotic beasts had reached Level-One Demon Beast status. The rest were all ferocious beasts at the Body Tempering Stage, mostly at the early and mid stages. A dozen or so were at the late stage, and five were at the peak.
Yang Xue and Luo Bin stood beside the cages, watching the trainees with serious expressions.
"Everyone!" Luo Bin suddenly called out. "Today is your first large-scale group assessment since entering the training camp!"
"The purpose of the assessment is simple: to select the most outstanding person to take part in the General Star Selection afterward!"
Everyone listened quietly. They had heard about the General Star Selection, but they all knew it had little to do with them.
Seeing that no one was discussing it, Luo Bin suddenly said in a serious tone, "I know many of you are thinking that this assessment is meant to select the most outstanding person, so it has little to do with you."
"But let me tell you, this assessment has a great deal to do with every single one of you!"
"Do you see them?"
He suddenly pointed at the dozen or so iron cages. "For this assessment, all these exotic beasts will be released into Ming Mountain, and every one of you will enter the mountain's jungle. The assessment won't end until tomorrow!"
"I want every one of you to take this seriously. Otherwise, people will die!"
Luo Bin put particular emphasis on the word "die."
At his words, everyone's expression changed. They immediately understood that this assessment might be a survival game: they had to survive on Ming Mountain, with dozens of exotic beasts roaming it, until tomorrow.
"If you can kill exotic beasts during this assessment, do your best to kill them. This is a chance for real combat, a chance to fight before entering university. That will give you an advantage once you get there!" Luo Bin said.
There was real combat at university, but not much of it. Anyone who had already seen blood before entering university was ahead of ninety-nine percent of the students.
"Of course, don't push yourselves. If you're clearly no match for an exotic beast but insist on throwing your life away, that isn't bravery. It's stupidity!"
"So I'll allow you to run when you encounter an exotic beast. You can run toward the summit or down the mountain, either is fine."
"We already have people stationed at various points at the foot of the mountain to prevent exotic beasts from coming down and harming civilians. If you encounter a beast you can't fight, you can run to them for help."
At that moment, everyone's expression became utterly serious. They no longer felt that the assessment had nothing to do with them.
"Also, aside from the first-place finisher, everyone will receive rewards based on their performance in this assessment. So do your best, young men!" Luo Bin continued loudly.
Next, the trainees saw dozens of soldiers in uniform walk out. They picked up all the iron cages and carried them toward the edge of the mountain.
Then the cages were opened one by one, releasing all the exotic beasts.
The moment the exotic beasts emerged, they knew the summit was dangerous. They immediately ran downhill and plunged into the jungle.
After all the exotic beasts had been released, Luo Bin raised his wrist and checked the time. One minute later, he looked up at the trainees. "Good luck!"
All the trainees scattered and headed for different points along the edge of the summit. Then, one by one, they descended from the summit and plunged into the jungle as well.
After watching all the trainees disappear, Yang Xue and Luo Bin went to the control room.
The large screen in the control room now showed images of the various exotic beasts.
Before the exotic beasts had been brought from the war zone, a small camera had been attached to each one, and each camera also contained a sizable explosive charge.
Although Luo Bin had said that people might die, they had still taken precautions. If a trainee was about to be killed by an exotic beast, they would use the control there to detonate the corresponding camera.
After all, these were all geniuses. They could be injured, and they could be made to face harsh reality, but if they had to die, it should be on the battlefield if at all possible.
"Boss, I'm begging you. Please let me follow you! I'll lend you a hand," Zhou Lei said pleadingly as he trailed behind Qin Chen.
"No need!" Qin Chen said, keeping an eye on their surroundings.
Ming Mountain was neither especially large nor especially small. Even with dozens of exotic beasts released into it, encountering one wouldn't be easy. So this assessment wasn't all that dangerous. With good luck, one might not encounter a single beast before it ended.
But with bad luck, if they encountered either of the two One-Star Demon Beasts, almost everyone except him and Yu Yang would probably die. Even Xu Fei would have no choice but to flee.
"Come on, boss, I can still be useful. We'll be here for twenty-four hours. I can keep watch for you at night so you can get a good sleep. Wouldn't that be great?" Zhou Lei refused to give up and continued following Qin Chen.
Qin Chen stopped and turned to look at him. "Following me is dangerous!"
Zhou Lei was taken aback. Naturally, he didn't believe Qin Chen. If there was anyone it was safest to follow, it had to be Qin Chen.
"I'll follow you even if it's dangerous. I'm your underling. If I refused to follow you because of danger, I'd be a pretty disloyal underling!" Zhou Lei said earnestly.
"Suit yourself!" Qin Chen shook his head, turned, and walked on.
Delighted, Zhou Lei hurried after him.
"Zhao Liang, did you hire someone, or are you coming yourself?" Qin Chen kept watch for any movement around him. He didn't care about the exotic beasts, but he had to guard against the Zhao Family making a move.
If Zhao Liang came himself, he could pose a tremendous threat to him.
But a threat was all it would be.
After cultivating during this period, his Wind Elemental Mark had reached 80 percent, and his ice elemental mark had reached 82 percent.
The progress of his second fire-element divine mark had reached 10 percent.
His combat power had also reached 1,100.
With the Blazing Sun Fist added to that, even if Zhao Liang was a Three-Star Martial Artist, he could forget about killing him.
As long as Zhao Liang couldn't kill him, he could use the training camp to have Yang Xue and Luo Bin kill Zhao Liang.
After all, if Zhao Liang really came in, even if Yang Xue killed him on the spot, the Zhao Family wouldn't dare let out a fart.
"Let's see if you have the guts. If you don't come, I'll punch you to death next time!"
Once his ice and wind elements both broke through, he could kill a Three-Star Martial Artist who had only recently broken through as well.
"Roar!"
Suddenly, an exotic beast sprang out ahead. It stopped in front of the two men and glared fiercely at them.
"Blood Wolf!" Zhou Lei exclaimed in alarm.
Their regular academic classes covered exotic beasts.
Blood Wolves were exotic beasts known for their speed. They were covered in long, blood-red fur and looked much like ordinary wolves, but were a size larger.
"It's at Mid Body Tempering. Boss, let me handle it!"
He felt that if he was going to follow Qin Chen, he had to show at least a little value.
Qin Chen nodded. Zhou Lei had also broken through to Late Body Tempering during his time at the training camp, so he should be fine.
Whoosh!
Zhou Lei immediately charged forward, looking fierce and imposing.
But when the Blood Wolf let out a great roar and charged as well, he instantly let out a strange cry and ducked behind a nearby tree. Using the trunk for cover, he looked for chances to attack, fighting in a thoroughly sneaky manner.
Qin Chen watched for a while and saw that the kid was cautious beyond the ordinary. Sometimes, even when he had a ninety-percent chance of hitting the Blood Wolf, he would give it up, insisting on a hundred-percent chance before actually attacking.
As a result, despite his advantage in cultivation stage, the fight took a full half hour to finish.