Chapter 247 - 246: Ma Long

Tang Yi looked in the direction of the voices and saw a large group of candidates walking toward them.

A quick count revealed thirty or forty of them, and what’s more...

All thirty or forty of them were candidates from the Three Major Zones!

Yui Mu, Miao Yuan, Jiang Kangcheng, and the others were overjoyed to see these new arrivals.

They had previously worried they couldn’t handle Tang Yi, which was why they’d tried to compromise with him. But who would have thought Tang Yi would turn on them anyway, showing no intention of backing down? A bloody battle seemed imminent, and the situation had not been in favor of the candidates from the Three Major Zones.

But now, with so many candidates from the Three Major Zones present, why would they need to compromise with Tang Yi? Why would they need to care what the North District candidates thought?

In fact, it was now the North District candidates who would have to tread carefully around them.

As these dozens of candidates arrived and merged with the group led by Yui Mu, Miao Yuan, and Jiang Kangcheng, the number of candidates from the Three Major Zones swelled to over fifty. From a distance, they were a bustling crowd, with familiar faces from the same districts greeting one another.

"Miao Yuan?"

A candidate from the East District, who was walking at the front and appeared to be the leader of the new group, called out uncertainly to Miao Yuan.

Miao Yuan turned his head. Recognizing the face of the East District candidate, he exclaimed in surprise, "Ma Long?"

"Heh, it really is you."

After confirming the person before him was indeed the Miao Yuan he knew, the candidate named Ma Long gave a slight smile. He then swept his gaze across the surroundings. His eyes landed on the North District candidates and, not far from them, the bodies of ten candidates from the Three Major Zones. He immediately turned back to Miao Yuan and chuckled, "Miao Yuan, it looks like things aren’t going so well for you over here."

"Not well at all. We’ve run into a very thorny problem," Miao Yuan replied with a nod.

"This is..."

Jiang Kangcheng, standing to the side, glanced at Ma Long and asked with great curiosity.

Although the newly arrived group included candidates from all Three Major Zones, it seemed they were all led by this ’Ma Long.’ Everyone accepted his leadership. This was unlike their own group, where the South District candidates were led by their strongest, the West District by theirs, and the East District by their own.

Yet this entire group was led by Ma Long, which truly piqued Jiang Kangcheng’s curiosity.

’I wonder what kind of ability this Ma Long has to make candidates from all three zones obey his commands.’

After all, forming alliances during the House Entrance Examination was an extremely common practice.

After all, a Level 4 Demon Beast possessed power equivalent to the Battle Spirit Level—some were even stronger than a typical Battle Spirit. How could an ordinary candidate possibly face one alone?

An ordinary candidate who encountered a Level 4 Demon Beast alone was courting certain death.

Of course, some exceptionally strong candidates could take on a Level 4 Demon Beast one-on-one and kill it, but such individuals were exceedingly rare—true geniuses. On the whole, however, candidates were still unable to defeat a Level 4 Demon Beast by themselves.

However, the task for the House Entrance Examination was to slay ten Level 4 Demon Beasts and acquire ten Demon Beast Crystals. Since an individual couldn’t handle a Level 4 Demon Beast, how could anyone possibly complete the mission and obtain the ten required Demon Beast Crystals?

This was where alliances became necessary.

Generally, the safest method was to find ten or more candidates to form an alliance.

To face a Level 4 Demon Beast, a team of at least ten candidates at the Battle Grandmaster level or higher was required. Weaker candidates, such as those still at the Battle Master Level, had to form even larger alliances just to mount a challenge, or even simply to survive.

The task of the House Entrance Examination was not easy.

Slaying a Level 4 Demon Beast was no simple feat.

Of course, there were exceptions, like when Miao Yuan, Yui Mu, Jiang Kangcheng, and the people from the North District had gathered over thirty members and dared to attack a Level 5 Demon Beast.

This was because all thirty-plus of them were at the Battle Grandmaster level or higher, with several having even reached the Battle Spirit Level. It was their confidence in their strength, coupled with a touch of greed, that made them dare to take such a risk.

They simply hadn’t expected the Level 5 Demon Beast’s power to so greatly exceed their calculations, and their challenge ended in failure.

If they hadn’t used the North District candidates as bait, the entire group might have been wiped out.

This just went to show how terrifying Demon Beasts were, making alliances an absolute necessity.

If thirty-plus people couldn’t kill a Level 5 Demon Beast, then perhaps an alliance of fifty, sixty, or even a hundred could.

There was immense power in unity.

The North District’s low success rate and heavy casualties year after year were a direct result of this. Candidates from the Three Major Zones looked down on them and rarely formed alliances with them. At times, they would even target North District candidates, stabbing them in the back to steal their Demon Beast Crystals and so on. This was why the North District’s performance was consistently the worst.

This showed just how crucial alliances were.

Beyond forming an alliance, selecting a Squad Leader to lead the team was also incredibly important. Good command could play a decisive role in the outcome of a battle.

However, every candidate who qualified to enter the West Mansion for the House Entrance Examination was a genius among geniuses, an outstanding individual in their own right. None of them would readily submit to another. Choosing a Squad Leader—a true leader—was an incredibly difficult task.

Take the team formed by the alliance between Miao Yuan, Yui Mu, and Jiang Kangcheng, for example. Though they had allied, none of the three would defer to the others. The candidates from each zone within their team would only obey the strongest expert from their own zone. This resulted in one team having three Squad Leaders.

But such a structure was inefficient and often led to disagreements, a lack of unified opinion, and other problems.

Yet Ma Long’s team of over forty candidates had managed to reach a consensus, with him as the sole leader. This spoke volumes about how formidable Ma Long’s techniques were, and it was exactly what made Jiang Kangcheng so curious.

’He even recognized some of the South District candidates in Ma Long’s group. Their power was considerable. Even people like that are obeying Ma Long’s orders?’

"Oh, I forgot to introduce him," Miao Yuan said to Jiang Kangcheng. "This is Ma Long. He was first place in the qualification exam for Pingnan City in our East District. Among all the East District candidates, his power is ranked thirteenth."

"First place in the Pingnan City qualification exam? And ranked thirteenth in the entire East District?"

Jiang Kangcheng was stunned for a moment.

’No wonder,’ he thought. ’No wonder that team reached a consensus. With Ma Long from the East District leading, not a single candidate from the West or South Districts had any objections. So that’s the reason.’

It was because of his power!

’The man was ranked first in his qualification exam and thirteenth in his entire zone. With that kind of power, if he couldn’t lead the candidates of the Three Major Zones, who could?’