63: Test Round 1

After reading the message from the mechanical assistant, Xu Yan informed his three spirit beasts through their contract that there would be an entrance test in three days, telling them to stay alert for the next two days, before returning to his work in the laboratory.

For Xu Yan, compared to the minor rewards of the entrance test, the inspiration he had just begun to grasp was far more important.

The only reason he bothered to notify his three spirit beasts to prepare well was because Wuxiang had drained his academic credits, and he was keeping in mind that the entrance test rewards could amount to as much as three thousand academic credits.

Three days later, it wasn't until the mechanical assistant had reminded him three times, with less than half an hour left before the test began, that Xu Yan finally put down his instruments, changed out of his lab coat, closed the laboratory door, and began reviewing the details of the test as he walked.

The content of the test was very simple: combat.

The Third Academy recruited over two thousand students across various majors, who would be randomly drawn to battle in pairs.

In the first round, each student had to participate in ten 1+1 battles, meaning one Beast Tamer and one spirit beast fighting together.

After ten matches, the top 256 ranked students would advance to the second round.

Being in the top 256 was also the threshold for receiving rewards in the entrance test.

Afterward, it would be 1+N battles in pairs, determining the top 128, top 64, and so on, down to the final 2, until the ultimate champion was decided.

The rewards for the test would increase along with the ranking.

After roughly scanning the rules, Xu Yan went to the basement of the Experimental Building to pick up his three spirit beasts, then entered the teleportation array to arrive at the training ground for his first battle.

When Xu Yan arrived, on the mimetic arena in the training ground, two people and two spirit beasts were currently fighting in a dense forest.

However, the situation already seemed to be tilting in favor of one side, and it looked like the battle was about to conclude.

And that was indeed the case; not long after Xu Yan found an empty seat and sat down, the battle on the arena was decided.

Shortly after, two more groups of students went up before it was finally Xu Yan's turn.

Hearing the voice of the electronic referee, Xu Yan walked quickly onto the arena.

At the same time, a male student of similar age to Xu Yan also stood on the other side of the arena.

Then, the mechanical voice of the electronic referee rang out in their ears.

"Beep, identity verification passed. Cultivation Department's Xu Yan versus History Department's Chen Lie. Random mimicry: Plains."

As the mechanical voice faded, the environment around them began to change rapidly; the arena floor, originally made of earth and stone, transformed into grass, and a vast plain appeared around them.

The moment the environment shifted, both of them summoned their spirit beasts.

On Xu Yan's side, he chose his old partner, Zhu Yan, while his opponent had a low-grade General Rank Crimson Flame Beast.

As the electronic referee announced the start of the battle, Xu Yan silently thought, "Sorry, classmate, I'm in a bit of a rush," and then signaled Zhu Yan through their contract to strike directly and end the battle quickly.

Looking at Zhu Yan, whose aura was two minor stages stronger than his own Crimson Flame Beast, Chen Lie, who was just about to say something, felt a sharp pain in his chest, and then everything went black.

Before falling, the last thing Chen Lie saw was his own Crimson Flame Beast being pierced through the heart by a spear made of light and pinned firmly to the ground.

Afterward, the arena returned to its original state, and a bewildered and palpitating Chen Lie stood there blankly, clutching his chest, with his Crimson Flame Beast beside him, its eyes filled with fear.

Compared to Chen Lie, those waiting outside to compete saw it much more clearly.

The spider-type spirit beast in front of Xu Yan tapped its legs lightly on the ground, and two spears made of light elements silently shot out from the shadows of the opponent and their spirit beast, piercing both their hearts before exploding, which immediately triggered the arena's protection mechanism.

Such strength, such stealthy methods, and such lethality caused the freshmen waiting below the stage to involuntarily blurt out a series of curses, followed by looking at Xu Yan, who stood at the other end of the arena, with faces full of vigilance.

In a hurry, Xu Yan simply ignored the varied gazes of the crowd, and before Chen Lie or the audience below could step forward to speak to him, he quickly walked off the arena, entered the teleportation array, and headed to the training ground for his next battle.

At around the same time, in another training ground, a boy with a silver rodent spirit beast on his shoulder smiled shyly as he watched his opponent's body be severed by space cutting and dissipate into white light; under the gaze of the crowd, he chatted with the silver mouse on his shoulder while quickly leaving.

In yet another training ground, a cold-faced boy with white hair watched his opponent, who had been completely frozen into an ice sculpture, dissipate, and left in silence, radiating a chill, amid the awe-filled gazes of the crowd.

...

Across the various training grounds of the Third Academy, geniuses from all regions were present.

Some continued to maintain their dominance as geniuses, defeating opponents with calm expressions; some encountered evenly matched opponents and fought with passionate intensity; while others looked on in dismay at the retreating backs of the opponents who had crushed them completely.

In less than half a day, these geniuses from all over the world had re-evaluated themselves and re-evaluated the world.

The strong remained strong, and those geniuses who weren't strong enough could only look up to the true geniuses, just like the mediocre ones who once looked up to them.

Regarding this realization, some people felt ashamed and became courageous, working even harder to try to catch up to or even surpass them, while others were devastated to the point of collapse, giving up or even developing more extreme thoughts.

What these people thought didn't have much to do with Xu Yan.

After defeating Chen Lie, Xu Yan did not choose to rest, but immediately submitted an application for consecutive battles to the academic affairs system.

Under the arrangement of the academic affairs system, Xu Yan fought nine more consecutive battles.

The next nine opponents had strength similar to Chen Lie's, with the strongest only reaching the mid-grade General Rank, and the results for these opponents were exactly the same as for Chen Lie.

As soon as the battle began, before they could even react, they were pierced through the chest by light spears shooting out from the shadows, ending the battle while they were still completely bewildered.

Having quickly completed ten matches, Xu Yan jogged back to the laboratory to continue his unfinished experiment.

The forums of the Eight Great Academies, however, had become lively due to the results of the first day of the uniformly held entrance test.

The geniuses who performed well in each academy and had crushed their opponents to complete ten consecutive battles on the first day began to have their names recognized within the Eight Great Academies, where geniuses gathered.