Chapter 15

After a dreamless night, Li Yang did not wander around on the third day either. Instead, she stayed put in the safe zone, determined to root out the flowers and plants that had slipped through the net.

Hard work paid off. With the extraordinary perception granted by her 90 mental power, Li Yang really did root out all the little mutant plants she had missed on the first day.

After a busy morning, Li Yang had gained another year of life.

The examiners in the control room were utterly speechless.

They had thought Li Yang would go sweep through the First Grade mutant plants...

Who would have imagined she would start bullying Gradeless mutant plants in a carpet sweep again?

To be honest, the examiners were starting to feel sorry for those Gradeless mutant plants. One after another, they had been pulled up by the roots before they even had a chance to do anything bad.

By the afternoon of the third day, with the practical exam nearly over, the chief examiner's voice rang throughout the special quarantine zone, reaching every examinee through their rescue devices.

"Please check your rescue devices. We will now announce the current point rankings for the assessment."

Li Yang jumped in fright and hurriedly took out her rescue device.

Though called a rescue device, it was actually a small communicator with a huge red button. Pressing it would summon a proctor to the rescue.

Of course, in special circumstances, rescue could also be summoned with a verbal command.

Besides the red button, the rescue device also had an optical lens like a projector's. As the chief examiner finished speaking, a small screen was projected in front of each examinee.

At the very top was a line in bold: "Donghua Province's 301st class, first-batch practical exam point rankings."

Below it were names and points.

The screen was too small and there was too much text. Before Li Yang could get a good look, she heard the chief examiner continue, "The top twenty examinees in the point rankings will have the right to choose their own schools."

Li Yang: "!" She really had guessed right.

Although the point rankings did not affect whether an examinee passed the assessment, those who made it into the top twenty could choose their own schools!

The top twenty out of two hundred...

Li Yang began to panic. The only mutant creature she had killed in the true sense was the man-eating flower from last night... right?

It had been Grade One High Stage, but there had only been one, and it had taken five people working together to kill it. If the points were divided equally... she definitely would not make the top twenty!

The names of the top three on the leaderboard were hidden. Without a second thought, Li Yang skipped past them, quickly scrolling down to look for her own name.

In tenth place, she saw a familiar name-Fang Chuyun.

Not bad, Huangcheng's number one badass.

In twentieth place, she saw another familiar face-Chen Song.

Chen Song had not been busy for nothing over the past two days. He had managed to kill several mutant creatures.

Li Yang kept scrolling down. She was already certain she was not in the top twenty; she could only hope her ranking was not too low, so that with some effort, she could still climb a little higher that afternoon.

The chief examiner had probably announced the scores now in the hope that the examinees would seize their last chance on the afternoon of the third day, earn a few more points, and climb the rankings.

In 66th place, Li Yang saw another familiar name-Yu Hongyuan.

Young Master Yu, who had gotten this far by popping pills, had a wonderfully neat score: a big, round duck egg.

Yes, Yu Hongyuan had zero points.

A long string of names followed, but they all had big, round duck eggs too, all the way down to around 100th place.

The names after that were grayed out, meaning those examinees had failed to hold out and had been eliminated.

Li Yang's heart went cold. "There's no way I have zero points..."

She went back to 66th place and checked each name from there upward, trying to find her own.

Nothing.

Her name was not there.

Li Yang looked at the top three, whose names were hidden.

"?" Her head was full of question marks. Had she made it into the top three? Did those ugly bushes, shabby little flowers, and rotten little weeds really count for points?

The chief examiner said, "The top three examinees in points have a chance of becoming this year's provincial champion, runner-up, and third-place finisher."

All the examinees in the quarantine zone had finished looking through the leaderboard and were gazing curiously at the three hidden names.

Most of them were thinking, Zhong Qian must be first.

Who's second and third?

Jiang Yuqing is actually fourth...

If they had not all been too afraid to gather in groups, they would have been in the thick of a lively discussion by now.

Of course, none of the names that came to mind would have included "Li Yang."

The chief examiner continued, "The examinee in third place is Lin Zhaoqin. She earned 120 points."

Lin Zhaoqin's name finally appeared on the rescue devices, with her points beside it. At the same time, the chief examiner announced her record: "In two and a half days, Lin Zhaoqin killed twenty First Grade Low Stage mutant creatures, earning 100 points; she killed two First Grade Middle Stage mutant creatures, earning twenty points."

All the examinees who heard this repeatedly sucked in sharp breaths.

Amazing, Lin Zhaoqin!

As expected of a Heavenly Chosen among Heavenly Chosen!

She had actually killed so many mutant creatures!

The chief examiner added, "The examinee in second place is Zhong Qian, with 140 points."

This caused an uproar. The examinees scattered throughout the quarantine zone all suspected they had misheard.

What?

Zhong Qian was second?

The chief examiner's calm, even voice continued, "Zhong Qian killed twenty First Grade Low Stage mutant creatures, earning 100 points; he killed two First Grade Middle Stage mutant creatures, earning twenty points; he killed one Grade One High Stage mutant creature, earning twenty points."

Someone cursed from afar. "Holy shit, that's God Zhong for you! He even killed a high-stage one. That's fucking awesome!"

"He wiped out every mutant creature in Group 3, didn't he? If I'd been in Group 3, I'd have fucking won by lying down!"

"There's got to be a mistake. He killed that many and he's only second? Then who the hell is first?!"

On the rescue devices' projected screens, everyone could see that Zhong Qian was only in second place, and they grew even more curious about the hidden first-place name.

Of the nearly one hundred examinees who were about to pass the assessment, only a handful realized the truth.

Fang Chuyun of Group 1 stared intently at the leaderboard, one name lingering in her mind-Li Yang.

Chen Song of Group 8 was hiding in a hollow tree, staring at the leaderboard with his thin lips pressed tight, one name imprinted on his heart-Li Yang.

Yu Hongyuan of Group 20 was lying low in a pile of dry grass, covered in dirt. He had been cursing this damned practical exam for two days and two nights. Now, he stared at the leaderboard in shock and muttered, "No way, no way. Mom couldn't possibly have such a uniquely keen eye!"

The chief examiner finally revealed the name at the top of the leaderboard. "In first place is Li Yang. She..." After a brief pause, the chief examiner announced her score. "Earned 220 points."

Every examinee was: "???"

The control room erupted.

It was not the examiners arguing. Rather, the examinees' voices were being relayed through their rescue devices into the control room, where nearly a hundred people were raising hell from afar.

"What the hell! Who's Li Yang?!"

"Two hundred and twenty points? How could it be that high?!"

"Where did this nobody come from? She actually crushed Zhong Qian, Lin Zhaoqin, and Jiang Yuqing?!"

"What the fuck is with that goddamn score?! Have the examiners gone crazy, or have I?!"

Never mind everyone else; even Li Yang herself was dumbstruck.

Uh...

No way...

Did those ugly bushes, shabby little flowers, and rotten little weeds really all count for points?

The chief examiner pinched the bridge of his nose and steeled himself. "Li Yang killed 100 Gradeless mutant plants, earning 200 points..."

The moment he said that, the uproar in the control room grew even louder.

"Gradeless mutant plants count for points too?!"

"How many! How many did she kill?"

The chief examiner ignored the noise and continued, "Li Yang also killed one Grade One High Stage mutant plant, earning twenty points."

When his voice fell, an eerie silence settled over the control room for two seconds.

Then the noise grew even louder, and the teacher in charge of monitoring had to ask, "Chief examiner, should we turn off the sound?"

The chief examiner had a headache from the noise too. "Turn it off."

The control room fell quiet, but the entire quarantine zone boiled over. Examinees hidden in the shadows burst into curses one after another. If their shock could have taken physical form, it probably would have blown up the whole quarantine zone.

The full point leaderboard appeared on the rescue devices' projected screens.

Never mind anyone else; even Li Yang herself was dumbfounded.

The chief examiner could only continue the announcement, his face expressionless. "There are four hours left until the assessment ends. For the remaining time, we will remove the partition walls between groups. Examinees who wish to compete for a place in the top twenty may cross into other areas to challenge mutant creatures."

Chapter 15

Everything the chief examiner had announced was part of the assessment procedure that had been decided long ago; the examinees simply had not been told all of it.

The practical exam required them to survive for three days.

Killing mutant plants earned points. The top twenty examinees in points could choose their own schools, the top ten could also choose their own departments, and the top three students even had the right to choose their mentors.

Military academies were places that trained the finest Star Wielders.

Naturally, talented and capable students would receive a greater share of resources.

With only half a day left in the practical exam, all twenty groups that had originally been isolated from one another would be opened up to increase competition and draw out more students' potential, giving those with greater ability a chance to do more.

Take Group 3, where Zhong Qian was, for example.

The examinees in Group 3 were both fortunate and unfortunate.

Zhong Qian had slain a great many mutant creatures, which helped them scrape through the three days alive, but... it also made it difficult for them to snatch points from him.

Apart from Zhong Qian, the examinees in Group 3 all had essentially zero points.

Of course, Group 3 also had the lowest elimination rate.

Removing the partition walls between areas would alleviate situations like Group 3's. If they wanted to compete for a ranking, they could go to other areas to snatch points.