The Assessment Approaches, Team Formation Trouble

On Friday morning, the senior-year corridors of Linhai No. 3 Middle School were buzzing with activity.

Forming teams for the assessment in Mist Canyon the following week had become the focus of every student's conversations.

"Brother Wang, your second-tier Blazing Flame Tiger hits hard. Take me along! I awakened a healing-type Water Sprite, so I can restore your health!"

"Get lost. My team already has a priest. We need a heavily armored tank!"

"I heard there are peak second-tier polluted beasts in the secret realm this time. It's more than twice as dangerous as previous years. If you don't have a powerful backer to cling to, going in is suicide."

In contrast to the excitement in the other classes, the atmosphere in a corner of Senior Class 7 was somewhat awkward.

Su Bai sat at his desk, leisurely reading a book about the geography of the Great Xia Nation. His deskmate, Fatty Lin Que, was sweating buckets as he carried a team registration form around the classroom, begging everyone he could.

"Li, we usually get along pretty well. How about joining our team? We're only two people short."

"No, no, no, Fatty Lin, it's not that I don't want to do you a favor." A boy backed away two steps as if avoiding a plague god. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Su Bai in the back row and lowered his voice. "Who doesn't know Su Bai is a thorn in the Gu Family's side, and they're watching his every move? Young Master Gu might be crippled, but the Gu Family's lackeys at school aren't all dead."

"There won't be anyone from the City Appearance Bureau watching in the secret realm. The Gu Family will definitely make a move against him. Anyone who dares team up with Su Bai is like the god of longevity eating arsenic-tired of living!"

With that, the boy hurriedly turned and fled, afraid that another word with Lin Que would drag him into trouble.

After making the rounds with a miserable look on his face, Lin Que returned to his desk empty-handed and collapsed into his chair.

"Brother Bai, we're done for. Completely done for." Lin Que looked ready to cry. "There are fifty-five people in the class, and aside from me, nobody dares team up with us. Even the poor students in the next class won't come once they hear it's your team, not even if we pay them."

"The school says a full team of five is required to enter the secret realm. We can't even get enough people. When the time comes, we'll be disqualified outright, and we won't even get a chance to enter the citywide competition."

Su Bai put down his book and couldn't help laughing at Lin Que's utterly hopeless expression.

"Fatty, since you know it's dangerous to team up with me, why aren't you running? There's still time to find another team and cling to a powerful backer."

Lin Que froze, then puffed out his fleshy chest and thumped it until it rang.

"Brother Bai, you're looking down on me! I, Lin Que, might be a coward and weak to boot, but I know who my real brother is! You were in so much danger at Benevolent Heart Hospital yesterday, and you still thought about helping me make a fortune. Even selling you my life would be worth it!"

Warmth flashed in Su Bai's eyes, and he patted Lin Que on the shoulder.

"Don't worry. If we can't get enough people, the two of us will go. Rules are dead, but people are alive. As long as our fists are hard enough, those old fossils at school won't dare stop us."

Just as the two were talking.

A figure as cool and clear as moonlight slowly approached Su Bai's desk.

The previously noisy classroom fell silent for a moment at her appearance.

Shen Yueli.

She still wore the same icy expression that warned strangers to keep their distance. In her blue-and-white school uniform, she radiated a forbidding, inviolable air.

"Does your team still need people?"

Shen Yueli looked at Su Bai, her voice crisp as she got straight to the point without wasting a word.

The entire class sucked in a breath.

The school beauty was asking to join Su Bai's team?!

Lin Que was so shocked his jaw nearly hit the floor, and he almost drooled. "Class... class monitor? You want to team up with us? Haven't you always been a lone wolf, or teamed up with people from the Shen Family?"

Shen Yueli didn't look at Lin Que. Her gaze remained fixed on Su Bai's calm face.

"The team the Shen Family arranged is too noisy. I find them annoying. Besides..." Shen Yueli paused, a complicated glint flashing in her eyes. "Your father saved me back then, and I still owe you a favor. In the secret realm, if the Gu Family gives you trouble, my Moonshadow Elf can help shoulder some of the pressure."

Shen Yueli spoke frankly. She knew how dangerous Su Bai's current situation was, but she was even less capable of standing by and watching someone die. Although her A-rank talent, Moonlight Sacred Domain, couldn't match a berserker's explosive power, moonlight had exceptionally strong purification and healing abilities, making it an extremely rare and valuable combat asset in a secret realm filled with pollution.

Su Bai looked at Shen Yueli, a faint smile curving his lips.

This outwardly icy girl was as passionate and stubborn at heart as ever.

"Sure." Su Bai readily agreed. "With a beautiful school beauty joining us, this trip to the secret realm definitely won't be boring."

Shen Yueli frowned slightly at Su Bai's somewhat flippant remark, but said nothing more. She turned and walked back to her seat.

A boy in the front row saw the scene.

His name was Zhao Qiang, the sports committee member of Class 7 and once one of Gu Chengfeng's most loyal lackeys. Although Gu Chengfeng had been crippled, Zhao Qiang had long since secretly thrown his lot in with other people in charge of the Gu Family.

A trace of cold jealousy and spite flashed in Zhao Qiang's eyes.

He quietly took out his phone, composed an encrypted text message beneath his desk, and sent it.

"Target team confirmed: Su Bai, Lin Que, Shen Yueli. Three members. Not at full strength. Recommend intercepting and humiliating them at the teleportation array before they enter the secret realm, and initiating the 'Fox Hunt Plan' inside."

After the message was sent successfully, Zhao Qiang sneered.

"Su Bai, you think latching onto the Shen Family's eldest young lady means you can strut around the secret realm however you like? The Gu Family's grand elder paid a hefty price to bring people from the Blood Wolf Mercenaries into the senior-year assessment teams."

"Once you're in Mist Canyon, not even Chen Tianxing himself could save your worthless life!"

Although Su Bai hadn't seen Zhao Qiang's little actions, his keen senses had long since detected that undisguised hostility.

He pretended to glance at Zhao Qiang casually, having already sentenced this jumping clown to death in his heart.

The two days of the weekend passed in the blink of an eye.

For the other students, those two days were spent preparing tensely for battle and frantically buying supply potions.

For Su Bai, however, they were a "major upgrade" behind closed doors.

Inside the twenty-square-kilometer Wasteland Divine Kingdom.

Su Bai crushed every last one of the top-grade resentment crystals worth twelve million that he had obtained on the black market.

A vast tide of gray resentment swept across the entire wasteland like a blizzard.

Hongdou stood at the center of the storm, greedily absorbing the high-purity energy. Her red dress had gone from dark red to a glaring scarlet, and faint, tangible black flames even burned along its hem.

The labyrinth of the Thirteen Steps also expanded from its original three levels to a full five! Every level was filled with even more bizarre illusions and deadly traps.

The steel plates on the Midnight School Bus's body grew heavier and thicker, while the bloodstains on its windows squirmed as though they had come alive.

"Unfortunately, we're still a little short of the foundation needed for Hongdou to break through to a third-tier rule." Su Bai looked at Hongdou, whose aura had already reached the limit of the second-tier peak, and sighed regretfully.

"It seems the only way to help her poke through this layer of window paper is to kill a few more high-tier polluted beasts in Mist Canyon, or... absorb a few more blind assassins."

Monday morning.

On Linhai No. 3 Middle School's enormous athletic field, several thousand fully armed senior-year students stood in neat rows with their respective teams.

At the very center of the field stood a giant teleportation array more than ten meters tall. It connected to Mist Canyon, a moderately polluted secret realm seventy kilometers outside the city.

Principal Chen Tianxing stood on the raised platform and gave a brief, solemn speech to rally them.

"In the secret realm assessment, life and death are up to fate. This is your first step toward becoming true deities. Remember, your greatest enemies are not only the polluted beasts, but also the fear and greed in your own hearts."

"The assessment will last three days. For every beast you kill, your wristbands will automatically record your points. After three days, the teleportation array will open automatically and bring you back."

"Now, teams, enter the teleportation array in order!"

At Chen Tianxing's command, the students began walking toward the teleportation array in an orderly fashion.

Su Bai, Lin Que, and Shen Yueli were in the latter half of the line.

Just as they were about to step into the teleportation array's ring of light.

Several tall boys wearing the black uniforms of the senior-year elite class suddenly cut in from the side, brazenly blocking Su Bai and the others.

The boy at their head had a crew cut and a vicious scar across his face. He didn't look like a high school student at all; instead, he gave off the air of a desperado who licked blood from the edge of a blade.

He sneered as he sized up the three of them. His gaze roamed brazenly over Shen Yueli's breathtaking face before finally settling on Su Bai.

"Well, if it isn't our school's famous student Su Bai?"

The scar-faced boy spoke loudly, deliberately drawing the attention of the surrounding students and teachers.

"What, you think you can enter the secret realm with just three people? The school requires a full team of five. Do you take the academic affairs office's rules for farts?"

The surrounding students immediately stopped and began whispering among themselves.

"Isn't that Wang Meng from the elite class? I heard a major guild affiliated with the military already reserved him in advance. He's outrageously strong."

"Wang Meng is a commoner genius sponsored by the Gu Family. He's obviously here to pick a fight with Su Bai."

The dean of students, who was responsible for maintaining order, frowned and walked over.

"What's going on? Why aren't you going in?"

Wang Meng pointed at Su Bai and declared loudly and righteously, "Dean, Su Bai's team only has three people! That's a serious violation of the assessment rules! For the safety of the other students, I recommend disqualifying them immediately!"

The dean glanced at Su Bai, somewhat troubled. Principal Chen Tianxing had told him to protect Su Bai, but the full-team requirement of five really was a hard-and-fast rule established long ago.

"Su Bai, your team really doesn't have enough people, so..."

Before the dean could finish.

Su Bai suddenly took a step forward, moving right up close to Wang Meng.

He looked at Wang Meng's arrogant face, his lips curving into a cold smile.

"Not enough people?"

Su Bai lowered his voice so that only Wang Meng could hear him.

"No problem. Once we're in the secret realm, I'll borrow a few 'heads' from your side to make up the numbers."

With that, Su Bai paid no attention to Wang Meng's face turning ashen in an instant. He pulled Lin Que and Shen Yueli along and strode into the teleportation array's dazzling blue light.

"This punk has a death wish!" Wang Meng clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking.

He turned and signaled to the men behind him, cruel killing intent flashing in his eyes.

"Follow them in. Notify the Blood Wolf people that the plan is moving forward."

"Today, I'll show this punk what true despair is!"