The First Trial

As Su Mu was calculating the value of the Dragon Gate in his mind, Ye Qingxue spoke up beside him.

"Dragon Gate Trial." Her voice was clear and cold, but her tone was more serious than usual. "Only by crossing that gate can one truly become the number one in the province."

Su Mu withdrew his gaze and looked at her.

Ye Qingxue didn't look at him, her gaze still fixed on the archway in the sky, and continued, "However, even the top scorer in the provincial capital might not be able to pass through. To truly cross that threshold, one must achieve an extremely high evaluation in the fourth round of assessment."

"The college entrance examination consists of four rounds of assessments." Her tone was calm, as if stating something perfectly ordinary. "The first three rounds are different every year, but the fourth round is the same every year—it's about passing through the Dragon Gate. And to get to the fourth round, you need to reach at least the level required to get into a top-tier university in the first three rounds."

She paused, then added, "It's like those who are even allowed to try are all exceptional individuals, and even then, it's not guaranteed that only one person will pass each year. You could say it's one in a million."

Upon hearing this, Su Mu nodded.

One in a million.

Of the millions of test takers, only a few thousand will ultimately succeed in their attempts to enter the Dragon Gate.

Those who can actually cross the Dragon Gate are extremely rare.

He looked up again at the enormous archway floating in the clouds.

Dragon Gate.

In his past life, he had only read the story of "the carp Leaping over the Dragon Gate" in textbooks. Today, he was going to try it himself.

Another ten minutes or so passed.

On the square, more and more formations were teleported over. Some formations consisted of only a few dozen people, wearing uniform dark school uniforms, and were probably the elite students from a key high school in a small city; other formations had thousands of people, wearing all sorts of different equipment, and were probably students from several top high schools in the provincial capital.

Each teleportation caused a slight commotion.

Some people were sizing up the new faces, some were whispering about the other's school uniforms and equipment, and others were secretly comparing the two sides' auras.

Overall, however, the square maintained a subdued quiet.

Everyone was on edge, waiting for the final moment to arrive.

Su Mu stood at the edge of the Rongcheng No. 1 High School Middle School formation, his gaze occasionally sweeping towards the Dragon Gate in the sky, his mind still considering various possibilities.

Ye Qingxue stood half a step away from him, as quiet as an ice sculpture. Their eyes occasionally met, but neither of them spoke.

Then, a bell rang.

Buzz...

The bell tolled deep and far-reaching, as if it were ringing from all directions at once, penetrating every corner of the square.

The moment the bell tolled, runes lit up on the stone pillars at the edge of the square, and the eerie blue light merged into a huge light curtain that enveloped the entire square.

The transmission has stopped.

In the square, hundreds of thousands of people looked up at the same time.

A voice rang out from the sky.

The voice was devoid of any emotion, clear, precise, and cold, as if some rule itself was speaking.

The assessment has officially begun.

You could hear a pin drop in the square.

Su Mu found himself unable to speak.

He tried, and his mouth could move, but the sound seemed to be swallowed by something.

Every syllable uttered from the throat is cut and swallowed up by an invisible force, making it inaudible even to oneself.

The entire space was devoid of sound.

No one spoke.

It's not a rule, it's a set of regulations.

The voice continued.

"The assessment consists of four stages. The use of any means outside of the individual instance, except for personal soul skills, is strictly prohibited in all assessment stages. This includes, but is not limited to, auxiliary scrolls and temporary buff scrolls."

The first three stages are standard assessments, while the fourth stage is an advanced assessment. To enter the fourth stage, you must be in the top 0.13% of the total points from the first three stages.

0.13 percent.

Of the nearly one million test takers, only a little over a thousand can advance to the fourth stage.

The final grade will be determined by a points system. The points you earn will be your initial points upon entering university. These points have many uses, so please try to earn as many points as possible.

The voice paused for a moment, as if waiting for something. The square was so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat.

Then, the sound continued.

The rules for the first stage of the assessment are as follows.

"Candidates will enter a separate Dungeon Space. The minimum level of the monsters in the nest is ten, which increases with each wave. The first wave has one monster, the second wave has two, the third wave has four, the fourth wave has eight, and so on."

Monsters respawn immediately upon death. The final score is based on the total number of monsters killed; the shorter the time, the higher the bonus.

Su Mu frowned slightly.

Doubled with each wave.

The first wave had one, the second wave had two, the third wave had four, the fourth wave had eight... By the tenth wave there were five hundred and twelve, by the fifteenth wave there were more than sixteen thousand, and by the twentieth wave there were five hundred thousand.

This is exponential growth.

Su Mu quickly calculated in his mind.

This means that the kill rate of each wave determines the respawn time of the next wave.

The faster you kill, the faster the next wave comes; the shorter the time, the higher the score multiplier.

However, it's not always better to kill them as quickly as possible. Later waves are much higher level, and sometimes you need to allow the monsters in the dungeon to recover to their peak condition. Also, the high-intensity combat in the dungeon will quickly deplete your mental energy. So sometimes you need to leave one or two monsters alive and time your attacks.

Therefore, a balance needs to be found between "speed" and "quality".

Thinking about it.

The voice rang out again.

"The assessment is about to begin. Preparation time: three minutes."

As the sound faded, the light screen in the square suddenly exploded.

Everyone transformed into streaks of light and vanished from the spot.

Su Mu only felt a flash of white light before his eyes, and his whole body was enveloped by a force, passing through an invisible barrier.

When he could see his surroundings again, he was already standing in his own Dungeon Space.

Under a hazy gray sky, the three majestic mountains of Flower-Fruit Mountain, Lion Camel Ridge, and White Tiger Ridge echo each other in the distance, while the surface of the Jade Wave Pool shimmers with a faint light. The Stone Left Over from Mending Heaven atop Flower-Fruit Mountain, its surface glowing with a warm luster.

Zuanfeng leaned against the stone tablet on Lion Camel Ridge, White Bone Spirit stood on the mountain path of White Tiger Ridge, and Benbo'erba and Babo'erben tumbled in the Jade Wave Pool.

Everything is as usual.

But Su Mu noticed that there was an extra line of text on his panel.

[College Entrance Examination - First Stage - Nest Trial]

[Preparation time: 2 minutes 57 seconds]

[Current wave: 0]

[Total kills: 0]

[Integral coefficient: 1.0]