My Soul card is a Reaper

"If you fail to collect ten monster crystals within seven days," Murong Liu said coldly, "even if you survive and exit the Holy Land, you will still be deemed to have failed."

"Additionally," he added, "the more monster crystals you obtain, the higher your entrance examination score will be. Western Mansion has prepared extremely generous rewards for the top ten performers. I hope you will all do your best."

Murong Liu finished speaking and gave a respectful nod toward Gong Liansheng.

Then, standing straight once more, he announced loudly, "Since everyone understands the content of this entrance examination, I hereby declare that the 636th Western Mansion entrance examination officially begins!"

As his words echoed, all eyes turned toward Gong Liansheng.

Under the watchful gaze of countless people, Gong Liansheng raised his hand. A small crystal ball appeared in his palm. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed it into the air.

The crystal ball began to spin rapidly, suspended in midair.

"Eternal light," Gong Liansheng intoned, his voice deep and resonant, "gateway to the polar realm. Holy Land, open!"

A thunderous hum exploded across Shuangyong Square, as if a giant bell had been struck. The sound pierced directly into everyone's ears, causing many to wince in pain.

The crystal ball trembled violently, releasing rings of luminous energy that rippled outward. The sight was dazzling, almost divine.

After several breaths, the crystal ball stabilized.

A beam of light poured downward, spreading across the open space of the square. Gradually, the light condensed, forming the phantom outline of a massive gate.

The gate shimmered, mysterious and magnificent, radiating an aura that made hearts tremble.

Gong Liansheng pointed toward the glowing gate and spoke clearly, "Beyond this Gate of Light lies the Holy Land. All candidates, enter."

At once, the elders from each district moved into action, guiding the candidates forward in an orderly manner.

Only then did many candidates finally understand.

The Holy Land was neither distant nor hidden elsewhere.

It was right here.

Contained within that small crystal ball.

Once activated, it could manifest the entrance to the Holy Land anywhere.

Such means were nothing short of miraculous.

Ryan followed the flow of people and stepped slowly into the Gate of Light.

As the crystal ball transformed into the so-called "Holy Land," he could not help but stare at it with curiosity, his eyes shining like a country bumpkin entering a great city for the first time.

Of course, Ryan was not the only one like this. Almost all the candidates wore similar expressions. Excitement, curiosity, nervousness, and anticipation were mixed together on their faces as they stepped into the beam of light projected by the crystal ball.

Originally, Ryan was walking at the front, with Mu Xianling, Li Wujie, Li Shu, Li Baijie, and the others close behind him. The group entered the Gate of Light almost at the same time.

But the instant Ryan crossed the threshold, everything changed.

The figures around him vanished in an instant. Darkness swallowed his vision, and his body was seized by a violent spinning sensation, as if he were being dragged into a bottomless vortex. The twisting force made his stomach churn, and even Ryan felt a moment of discomfort.

He had no idea how much time passed.

When the dizzying whirl finally faded, Ryan felt his feet touch solid ground again.

Before he could fully steady himself, a ferocious roar exploded beside him.

"Roar!"

A dark shadow lunged toward him at terrifying speed.

"Humph. A beast."

Ryan did not even bother to look. His palm flicked out casually, as if brushing away dust.

With a dull bang, the shadow was sent flying. It smashed heavily into a massive tree, letting out a shrill cry before falling limp to the ground.

Ryan had not used any real strength at all. It was a completely casual strike, yet it directly sent the unknown creature to its death.

A familiar voice rang out in his mind.

"Ding. Congratulations to player Ryan for killing a Level 4 monster beast, Red Bone Wolf. Gained 65,000 experience points. God of War Points: 0."

Only then did Ryan realize what he had just killed.

A fourth-rank monster.

Although the experience gained from a fourth-rank monster was negligible for him now, Ryan's mood was still exceptionally good.

"This feeling… this is the feeling."

The moment experience points flowed into him, Ryan felt a pleasant warmth spread through his body, as if some long-missing nourishment had finally returned. The sensation was intoxicating.

After savoring it for a moment, Ryan finally looked around.

He found himself standing in the middle of a dense jungle. Towering trees rose all around him, their canopies interwoven so tightly that sunlight barely filtered through.

The environment felt strangely familiar.

It reminded him of the Forest of Death outside Fengyue City, though the trees here were taller, thicker, and far more oppressive.

"This is the Holy Land?"

Ryan's lips curved into a faint smile.

It actually looked pretty good.

As he stood there, a distant memory surfaced in his mind. Outside Jiuyi City, there was a vast demonic land known as the Barren Valley.

According to Lan Gengxin, the Barren Valley was countless times larger than the Forest of Death. It housed endless monster beasts, many of terrifying strength, and was the largest monster domain in the entire Western Region.

Back then, one of the reasons Ryan had agreed to come to Western Mansion was precisely because of the Barren Valley.

He wanted to see just how many monsters it held.

He wanted to know how powerful they were.

And most importantly, he wanted to know how many levels those monsters could help him gain.

The more he thought about it, the more excited Ryan became. His blood began to stir, and the familiar itch to slaughter monsters rose uncontrollably within him.

Leveling up was addictive.

Of course, for now, he had more immediate matters to attend to.

The entrance examination.

Ryan walked over to the corpse of the Red Bone Wolf. He drew the Remnant Sword and lightly sliced at its skull. With ease, he extracted a faintly glowing crystal from within.

This was the monster crystal Murong Liu had mentioned.

To pass the entrance examination and enter Western Mansion, one had to obtain at least ten such monster crystals within seven days.

Ryan had barely arrived in the Holy Land for a few minutes, and he already had one in hand.

Simple. Almost laughably so.

Of course, this was not a matter of luck. If it were any other candidate, being ambushed by a fourth-rank monster the moment they landed would almost certainly mean death.

Ryan flicked the crystal lightly in his hand and smiled.

"Interesting. Even if it's not the Barren Valley, there are plenty of monsters here waiting for me to kill."

With that, his figure blurred.

In the next instant, Ryan vanished from where he stood.

…

Back at Shuangyong Square.

After all the candidates had entered the Gate of Light, Gong Liansheng withdrew the crystal ball. He then took out a black box and chuckled.

"I know everyone is eager to see what's happening inside," he said. "So I won't keep you waiting. Let's start the projection."

With a flick of his wrist, the black box rose into the air. Its lid snapped open, and a massive curtain of light burst forth, illuminating the center of Shuangyong Square.

This black box was known as the Illusory Spirit Screen.

Through it, scenes from the Holy Land could be displayed clearly for everyone to see.

The image on the light curtain was extremely sharp. Its size was enormous, allowing not only the elders on the high platform, but also the thousands of disciples seated on the western side of the square to watch comfortably.

This was exactly what they had been waiting for.

Every year, countless Western Mansion disciples gathered here not merely to attend the ceremony but to witness this moment. They wanted to see which candidates would shine, who would rise above the rest, and who might become their future fellow disciples.

Of course, the images shown by the Illusory Spirit Screen were random.

It could not display everyone's performance. Only places where battles occurred would be shown, and if multiple fights broke out at once, the screen would randomly select one to broadcast.

Much like watching a live competition, it was unpredictable and thrilling.

Given that nearly ten thousand candidates were participating, it was entirely possible that some would never appear on the screen at all during the seven-day examination.

Only those chosen by chance would have their deeds witnessed by all of Western Mansion.

And by an extraordinary coincidence, when Gong Liansheng activated the Illusory Spirit Screen, and the first image from the Holy Land appeared…

Ryan's figure was displayed on the screen.

The scene showed Ryan just arriving in the Holy Land, barely having time to steady himself before a dark shadow lunged at him.

Seeing this, many of the Western Mansion disciples and elders watching from Shuangyong Square shook their heads in pity.