254: Chapter 254, Tenth Floor

"Scholar Mild, Grand Sage Fanaen, since we're idle anyway, why don't we guess who will be the first to break through the first floor?"

On a platform paved with branches, a Paladin wearing bright silver armor asked with an elegant smile.

"Hehe..."

Mild rolled his eyes, gave a cold laugh, and turned his head away.

The Elf Race's Grand Sage looked normal, but the hand gripping the staff tightened, clearly not at peace internally.

Their peripheral vision lingered on one of the projections.

They saw a woman holding a staff trying to adjust the ratio of a certain potion.

She didn't even seem to need to study the medicinal properties; she simply repeated the task requirements and casually added and fused various potions.

A star pattern on her skirt quietly lit up, and an invisible mysterious power rose.

Despite what seemed like a chaotic operation, the aura of the mixed potion grew stronger and stronger.

"Legend has it that when Her Highness was born, she was blessed by the myriad gods, including the deity in charge of destiny... Is this the power of destiny?"

With the keen eyes of Mild and the Elven Sage, they saw at a glance that the ratio was perfectly correct, and they couldn't help but smile bitterly.

How could anyone else compete?

At their level, they naturally knew that luck couldn't determine everything, and they had many means of interfering with destiny themselves.

But for a competition with a level cap of Level 50, the guidance of destiny was almost invincible.

It was estimated that in half an hour at most, the first stage would be cleared.

"Fortunately, in the first stage, an individual can only get a maximum of 50 points. If the others are of average skill, there's still a chance."

The two looked at each other, both seeing the helplessness in their eyes.

In fact, this decamillennial academic competition was not just a battle for honor, but also concerned the allocation of resources for the next ten thousand years.

The Origin Star Sea, the Sea of Time, and the Holy Spirit Realm jointly guarded a seal that required a terrifying amount of resources to reinforce every year.

According to the agreement, the first place only needed to provide one-tenth, the second place provided thirty percent, and the remaining sixty percent was borne by the last place.

"Ding!"

While the two were lost in thought, a crisp sound suddenly rang out between heaven and earth.

On the high-hanging golden list, one of the three names that were originally tied quickly rose to first place, with the points behind it showing as 1.

"Who was so fast!"

A hint of surprise flashed in their eyes. They instinctively glanced at the previous projection, only to see the woman inside still adjusting the potion ratio.

"Zhang Huaiyuan?"

The Paladin, who had an elegant smile on his face, now had a frozen expression.

He stared in shock at the only name on the golden list that had earned 1 point. Ignoring his image, he rubbed his eyes and said absent-mindedly:

"How is that possible..."

"It's Junior Martial Brother!"

In contrast, Mild, having come to his senses, was overjoyed.

He had paid attention to this junior brother before. Seeing him submit a plan, he thought it was just a simple attempt and didn't take it to heart. He didn't expect him to pass on the first try!

"I knew this kid was hiding his strength. Well, a genius chosen by both Teacher and the Myriad Things Tower Master could hardly be ordinary. It seems the outcome of this competition is still uncertain!"

Mild suppressed the joy in his heart and casually turned his head to say:

"Paladin Roderick, what were you saying just now?"

"How is that possible?"

"Not that one, the one before."

"Why don't we guess who will be the first to break through the first floor?"

The Paladin seemed to still be in a daze, answering instinctively.

"Exactly."

Mild nodded with a smile. "It's so hard to guess. Who could it be? Do you know?"

...

Meanwhile, the participants in the tower were also doing their best to climb.

About ten minutes after Zhang Huaiyuan reached the second floor, the woman with the staff from the Holy Light Monastery also successfully completed the task and entered the next floor.

Day twenty-one.

Talix and Fang Qingran from the Time Book House, two missionaries from the Holy Light Monastery, and two chiefs from the Leviathan Laboratory entered the next floor almost one after another.

Day ninety-two.

The last participant from the Time Book House finally solved the problem.

At this point, all participants had successfully entered the next floor.

However, the audience outside had no time to notice them; all attention was drawn to the top two on the leaderboard.

Currently, on the individual points leaderboard, two names were far ahead.

Zhang Huaiyuan: Tenth Floor, Points: 9.

Saintess Jiang Nian: Tenth Floor, Points: 9.

With the others having at most three points, these two were incredibly eye-catching.

As if in a race, they took turns leading, and then both got stuck on the tenth floor.

"Who exactly is this Zhang Huaiyuan? To think he could keep up with Her Highness the Saintess?"

"I heard he's a newly emerged peerless genius from the Time Book House, and has even been taken as a disciple by two Tower Masters..."

The invited audience was abuzz with discussion, mixed with bursts of amazement.

Second in the history of the Scholar examination.

Taken as a disciple by two Tower Masters of Virtual Myriad Things.

Zhang Huaiyuan, who originally only had a reputation in the core area of the Sea of Time, began to be known by more people.

Many people secretly memorized the face in the projection, thinking about how to build a relationship with him.

Zhang Huaiyuan, of course, was completely unaware of the discussions outside.

He was currently focusing all his thoughts on the problem before him.

After entering the tenth floor, the increase in difficulty was palpable.

He was now facing a hybrid practical problem leaning towards energetics.

The main requirement was to reduce energy consumption by at least forty percent without significantly decreasing performance.

"I seem to have seen a similar combination..."

Zhang Huaiyuan quickly recalled in his mind.

The previous match in the Truth Chess Game involved the fusion and complementarity of various types of knowledge. Although the current design was already excellent, it still lacked compared to the perfect combinations contained within the knowledge stars in that game.

"Got it!"

About two hours later, after practicing countless times in his mind, Zhang Huaiyuan's eyes suddenly lit up.

He immediately began the modification according to his concept.

"The Truth Chess Game almost exhausted the variations and combinations of all disciplines. After experiencing its trials, solving this kind of problem is like being given the standard answer; it's truly a dimensional strike."

Zhang Huaiyuan sighed with emotion in his heart and entered the complete plan.

Soon, the familiar voice rang out:

"Detection complete. Performance reduction does not exceed one percent, energy consumption reduced by approximately 56 percent. Pass."

"Now, you may enter the next floor."

...

There's been a lot going on during the New Year, plus some other issues, so I haven't been in the mood to write. Normal update frequency will resume in March~~