Chapter 85 - 78: The Might of a Single Sword, Sweeping the Battlefield

Chapter 85: Chapter 78: The Might of a Single Sword, Sweeping the Battlefield

Inside a massive conference room on the Second High School campus.

Teachers from the three high schools and ten observers from the Daoist Schools had gathered here, intently watching the screens that displayed the students’ performance in the exam zone.

"Ten days in the simulated battlefield is equivalent to one day in reality. Who do you think will last until the end of this joint exam?" A teacher from Second High School watched the students fighting bitterly on the screen and smiled, asking a Third High School teacher beside him.

The Third High School teacher thought for a moment before replying, "First High School’s Mu Xiaoye and Bian Shouyi, your Second High School’s Chu Gucai and Jin Shanli, and our Third High School’s Liu Zhaodao. These few should all have a chance.

"After all, not only has their Cultivation reached the Peak of the Qi Cultivation Stage, but they also each possess their own unique skills.

"Mu Xiaoye has awakened Talent Divine Techniques, Bian Shouyi possesses the Innate Sword Body, and Chu Gucai and Jin Shanli both hail from Cultivator Clans. As for our school’s Liu Zhaodao, that goes without saying.

"If he wasn’t our principal’s biological grandson, he would have been admitted to the Four Great Dao Schools through early enrollment long ago. The college entrance exam is merely a formality for him."

The Second High School teacher nodded in agreement with these remarks.

Although quite a few students in this joint exam had reached the Peak of the Qi Cultivation Stage, as experienced individuals, the teachers naturally understood that there were still vast disparities even among those at the same level. After all, according to the Immortal Alliance’s standards, reaching a Spiritual Power Value of 10,000 marked the Peak of Qi Cultivation.

However, for many geniuses, their Spiritual Power limits during the Qi Cultivation Stage were far from just 10,000 points. Students like Mu Xiaoye and the others just mentioned were precisely that tiny fraction of chosen ones whose limits far exceeded the norm.

While the teachers focused their attention on established geniuses like Mu Xiaoye, a Daoist School observer who had remained silent all along acutely spotted a potential star who wasn’t originally on his radar.

Watching Lu Chen actively seek out Nine Nether Evil Objects on the screen, he felt a surge of astonishment. He had just witnessed firsthand how Lu Chen instantly killed four Nine Nether Evil Objects—Spider-faced Men, to be exact.

Granted, there were quite a few among this batch of examinees who could achieve the same feat. Spider-faced Men were merely low-level grunts among the Nine Nether Evil Objects, posing little threat. But to instantly kill four of them so cleanly in complete darkness required more than just outstanding Power. It also demanded a resolute heart nature, ensuring the student wouldn’t be affected by the harsh environment.

Heart nature was an intangible quality that couldn’t be reflected on paper, yet it was crucially important for Cultivators. Taking everything into consideration, the fact that Lu Chen could pull this off made him quite extraordinary.

Moreover, purely based on his data, this examinee named Lu Chen seemed to have incredible potential as well. The observer wondered, "How strange. Why didn’t I receive any advance notice about a candidate like this from the Ministry of Education? Could it be that he only recently rose to prominence because of some fortuitous encounter?"

The observer lowered his head and earnestly reviewed the data regarding Lu Chen that he had just pulled up on his phone.

[Name: Lu Chen]

[School: Luocheng First High School]

[Cultivation: Qi Cultivation Ninth Level]

[Spirit Root Talent: Top Grade Five Elements Spiritual Root]

[Evaluation: Suspected to possess phenomenal comprehension and extremely high proficiency in the Sword Dao.]

"A Top Grade Spiritual Root, phenomenal comprehension, outstanding Sword Dao proficiency, plus that steady heart nature..." he thought to himself. "No way, how could there be absolutely no news about a kid with such outstanding potential before this? Could he be Luocheng First High School’s long-hidden trump card? Did they refuse to let him take early enrollment so he wouldn’t miss the college entrance exam, hoping he would shine brightly there and make a name for the school?"

With this in mind, the Daoist School observer secretly noted down Lu Chen’s name, preparing to keep a close eye on him. After all, if he could scout a seed candidate worthy of early admission into the Four Great Dao Schools, it would be a significant achievement for his career!

...

The Joint Exam, in the ruins of Jade Mountain City.

A full ten hours had passed since the start of the joint exam.

Even though ten hours in the exam equated to merely one hour in reality, within this short timeframe, over two hundred of the original 875 examinees had already been eliminated, leaving only slightly more than 600. Furthermore, this elimination count was still continuously climbing, clearly illustrating the immense difficulty of the test.

After the baptism of these ten hours, many candidates had preliminarily adapted to the environment of the Alien Race battlefield. They now understood what they needed to do to better utilize their Power. While some might have foolishly wandered the streets in broad daylight at the very beginning, moving forward, the vast majority of the examinees would choose to act with utmost caution.

...

"It’s getting dark soon. It’s about time I make my move..."

Lu Chen stood by the window of an apartment directly above a subterranean parking garage, quietly observing the scene on the street.

Even though he had already verified that killing Evil Objects in this joint exam would grant him Experience Points, as the saying goes, haste makes waste. If he acted too rashly and attracted a massive horde of Nine Nether Evil Objects right from the start, getting bogged down in an endless army of them, he would undoubtedly die—even with his numerous trump cards. Not to mention that there were Foundation Establishment Stage entities hidden among the Evil Objects.

Therefore, his best approach was undoubtedly to ambush isolated Evil Objects as much as possible, moving to a new location after every strike.