Chapter 460: Chapter 460: The First Round of Assessment
Ye Xuan glanced at him and smiled faintly. "Don’t be discouraged. You may not have age on your side, but the Cultivation Technique I taught you is extraordinary. As long as you give it your all, getting into the academy shouldn’t be a problem."
Ye Xuan’s tone was filled with confidence.
He was impressed by the sheer number of geniuses, but not surprised.
In his past life, he had seen far too many geniuses. The ones from the Dream Realm Plain were hardly top-tier.
While they were talking, Qingfeng explained the first round of the assessment.
"The process for this first round is simple. Like the preliminary selection, it is an Array-based test."
After all, with so many people, assessing them one by one would take forever.
"Here are the specifics of the test. Five identical Arrays have been set up on the plaza. You will be divided into ten groups of over three thousand people each. You will enter the Arrays, specially prepared by Gale Light Academy, in two batches. Members of the same group will enter the same Array. Under the pressure of the Array, the last one thousand five hundred people in each batch to remain standing will advance."
In other words, this first round would eliminate ninety percent of the candidates right off the bat—a truly brutal cut. The remaining three thousand would then proceed to the second round.
"Everyone, draw for your group numbers!" an examiner shouted.
The candidates surged forward. When it was Ye Xuan’s turn, he casually drew his lot: Group Eight. He relaxed. ’It’s not my turn yet. I can rest for a bit and observe the overall caliber of the other candidates.’
He scanned the crowd and spotted Luo Cheng in Group Five. Seeing the worried look on his face made Ye Xuan not know whether to laugh or cry.
Ye Xuan immediately sent a voice transmission, smiling as he said, "Luo Cheng, this first round is likely a test of a Martial Artist’s will. Believe in yourself. With your strength, as long as you’re determined and keep holding on, passing the first round will be quite easy."
For some reason, Ye Xuan’s voice seemed to have a magical quality, instantly calming Luo Cheng’s nervous heart.
"I will." He nodded, a determined light shining in his eyes.
Ye Xuan wasn’t too surprised by Luo Cheng’s anxiety.
Luo Cheng had grown up at a time when the Luo family was being suppressed by the Qu family, facing both internal and external threats. This had left him without a great deal of self-confidence.
Although he had grown much more resilient under Ye Xuan’s guidance.
But a personality forged by one’s upbringing is difficult to change in a short amount of time.
At that moment, Yun Aoxue and Xia Qixi also finished drawing their lots. They were both in Group Three.
It had to be said that the two of them were quite fated to be together; they had traveled all this way side by side, and now even their first-round group number was the same.
Coincidentally, Zhou Qingwei and Murong Yunxiao were also assigned to Group Three.
"Hey, it looks like Group Three has quite a few beauties."
"Almost all of the top beauties in this year’s intake are in this group."
"Tsk, tsk. That Zhou Qingwei is a nineteen-year-old Tier Five First Layer Martial Sect. And Murong Yunxiao seems to be Senior Murong Yunyu’s younger sister. She’s only eighteen and also a Tier Five First Layer."
"Those two should have no problem lasting for an hour."
"Then there’s Yun Aoxue and Xia Qixi from the Thirteen Nations Alliance. They’re only in their early twenties, yet they’re both Tier Five Second Layer Martial Sects. I wonder how long they’ll be able to last."
"The Thirteen Nations Alliance is a minor power outside our Dream Realm Plain. It’s an incredibly remote place with no good cultivation resources, let alone good teachers. I hear that over there, even an Earth Grade Cultivation Technique is considered incredibly rare. So those two probably won’t last very long, will they?"
"You’ve got a point, but no matter how you slice it, they’re both Tier Five Second Layer Martial Sects. Lasting an hour shouldn’t be a problem for them, right?"
"It’ll be tough! This Array doesn’t just test one’s cultivation level; a higher level doesn’t automatically mean you’ll last longer. Take two Tier Five Martial Sects—one who’s been well-taught and one who hasn’t will have completely different combat strength. The same goes for someone practicing a good Cultivation Technique versus a poor one. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many geniuses in the world capable of fighting above their rank."
"I still think those two will do alright."
A large crowd was buzzing with discussion, but most of the attention was focused on Yun Aoxue and Xia Qixi.
The fact that they came from the Thirteen Nations Alliance was so unbelievable that many people didn’t have high hopes for them.
Even Murong Yunxiao and Zhou Qingwei couldn’t help but glance over at the pair.
A flicker of contempt crossed Zhou Qingwei’s face as she scoffed inwardly. ’Just Tier Five Second Layer Martial Sects? What’s so amazing about that? These people have no taste, comparing me to them. I’m from a noble family of the Sky Empire. They’re just a couple of country bumpkins. There’s no comparison at all.’
Zhou Qingwei was extremely annoyed that people were even mentioning Yun Aoxue and Xia Qixi in the same breath as her and Murong Yunxiao.
In her eyes, she was superior to Yun Aoxue and Xia Qixi from the Thirteen Nations Alliance in every way—be it status, position, or strength.
Hearing the crowd’s chatter, Yun Aoxue and Xia Qixi remained expressionless. The only thing in their eyes was unparalleled determination.
At the same time, they involuntarily glanced at Ye Xuan, only to see him smiling, his eyes filled with encouragement.
’Ye Xuan, rest assured. We *will* get into Gale Light Academy,’ Yun Aoxue and Xia Qixi vowed silently in their hearts.
They knew full well that getting into Gale Light Academy wasn’t just for their own benefit—the future of the Thirteen Nations Alliance was also at stake.
Therefore, they could not afford to fail.
Under Master Qingfeng’s guidance, the crowd arrived at the location for the first round of the assessment.
The test was held in a vast plaza to the left, just outside the academy.
Five dazzling Arrays immediately came into view. Intricate patterns covered the black stone slabs, glowing with an ethereal white light.
"The Arrays are now open! Will the candidates from groups one through five please enter your respective Arrays," Qingfeng announced in a loud voice.
"Excuse me, Master. The people in each group are all different ages. Doesn’t that seem unfair?" someone suddenly spoke up.
"Yeah!" The person’s words immediately found agreement with the surrounding candidates. "Everyone is a different age and has a different cultivation level. But the higher the cultivation, the longer you can naturally hold on. Doesn’t this mean older people have an advantage?"
Gale Light Academy is supposed to be recruiting geniuses, but a test like this makes it impossible to select the *true* geniuses.
"Compare a sixteen-year-old Tier Four First Heaven Martial Artist with a twenty-four-year-old Tier Four Second Heaven Martial Artist. Without a doubt, the sixteen-year-old is far more talented. But because the second one has a higher cultivation level, he’ll probably last longer in the Array. In that case, won’t the more talented person be the one who gets eliminated?"
"Rest assured, everyone. This Array was specially designed by our academy’s Array Master. The pressure you feel inside will vary according to your age, so there is no need to worry about the issue of fairness," Qingfeng explained loudly.
"Oh, so that’s how it is."
"The pressure is different for people of different ages? Such a magical Array actually exists?"
With this realization, the crowd finally understood and began entering the Arrays.
"All candidates, listen up! If you can no longer hold on, immediately crush the jade tablet in your hand. The Array will automatically expel you. Remember, the Array is unforgiving. If you can’t endure it, do not try to force yourself."
Ye Xuan watched as the members of groups one through five entered the Arrays. An invisible light immediately enveloped them, and a layer of white radiance emanated from each person.
He knew then that the Array had been activated.
From the outside, the Array now looked like a transparent, gigantic shell. Inside it were cocoons of light, each one containing a human figure.
Each person’s expression was grim, as if they were struggling to resist something with all their might.
From the moment the Array began to operate, everyone wore a similar expression.
’Looks like Qingfeng was right. The pressure everyone is enduring must be calibrated to their age.’
Ye Xuan could see clearly that the younger Martial Artists weren’t having a more difficult time resisting just because their cultivation levels were lower.
HUMMM!
The Array’s runes flickered, and Ye Xuan could clearly feel the power within them growing stronger.
’The pressure is increasing so quickly. It won’t be long before people start getting eliminated.’
Sure enough, before half an incense stick had burned, a large number of Martial Artists could no longer bear the pressure and were continuously expelled from the Array.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
One Martial Artist after another crushed their jade tablets and were violently ejected from the Array’s space, collapsing to the ground with pained expressions.
The ones being ejected weren’t necessarily those with the lowest cultivation levels; even many Tier Five Martial Sects were forced out.
Time passed, and the number of participants dwindled sharply.
Ten thousand!
Five thousand!
Three thousand!
As the one-hour mark approached, only one thousand five hundred candidates remained out of the five groups in the first batch.
Although they had technically passed the first round by being among the last one thousand five hundred, a longer endurance time would be more advantageous in the next assessment. Because of this, many gritted their teeth and continued to hold on.
However, just persisting this long had already been incredibly difficult, and people were still being constantly ejected from the Array.
This was especially true for Group One of the first batch. In less than an hour, all three thousand-plus members had been ejected from the Array, leaving not a single one behind.
And their detailed rankings were quickly tallied up.
"I can’t believe it. The strongest person in Group One couldn’t even last an hour. Looks like there was no one special in that group," a senior student remarked, shaking his head.
"Senior, what do you mean by that?"
a nearby candidate asked with a fawning expression.
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