50: The most impossible task

Across the country, there are dozens of Secret Realm Trials specifically for the Monster Taming College Entrance Examination. In the open space before each trial, a crystal screen floats, displaying the task list.

These lists are not only visible to the candidates but are also synchronized to television screens and internet live streams. At this moment, countless people with free time are watching the various lists.

Once each candidate forms a team, they simply accept the task they want to choose at the task list. Once accepted, their names will appear behind the corresponding task. Behind some of the simpler tasks, the names of candidates who have accepted them are so numerous that one would have to click "Next Page" dozens of times.

Currently, Xie Ning and the three girls were standing beneath the task list, looking at the densely packed tasks.

“The tasks on here are ranked from high to low as Silver Rank, Bronze Rank, and Black Iron Rank. The greater the task difficulty, the higher the score obtained.”

After Lu Bingyun finished speaking, Xiao Ya was eager to try. She pointed at the list with a proud face and said, “There's no need to look at Black Iron Rank. Bronze Rank is just a piece of cake. With the four of us together, it would be too boring to still fight Bronze.”

Xie Ning and Lan Yu looked up. Indeed, the Silver Rank tasks offered the highest scores, but among the ten Silver Rank tasks listed, only the bottom four had been claimed.

Lan Yu pushed up her glasses and said calmly, “Tasks aren't necessarily better just because the score is high. Each team can only take one task at a time. If the task fails, the College Entrance Examination also fails. In unfortunate cases, one might even die in the mouth of a Yao Beast. Silver Rank gives a lot of points, but it's also very difficult to fight.”

“Xie Ning, what's your choice?” Lu Bingyun asked.

Xie Ning thought for a moment and tapped the task-accepting machine in front of him. He clicked through several of the top ten tasks before finally locking onto the first one. After clicking, the task displayed a high-definition image of a Yao Beast along with a description.

Task Description: Hunt the Silver Rank Demon Tamers Beast Earth-Splitting Beast. Score: 60-100 points (based on individual combat performance and comprehensive evaluation). Issuer: Lingnan Academy.

“No way, you want to choose the most difficult one?”

Xiao Ya's eyes widened, her brain momentarily freezing up.

Lan Yu also watched in surprise.

Only Lu Bingyun remained relatively composed. Frowning, she asked, “For this task to be ranked first, it definitely isn't an ordinary Silver Rank Demon Tamers Beast. It might even have crossed the Silver Level 6 watershed. The risk is not small.”

“Correct, it's Silver Level 7. But with you all added, I have the confidence to deal with it.”

Xie Ning naturally didn't think he was invincible and wasn't just blindly jumping into Hell mode. Rather, it was after careful calculation and screening, plus being able to see the attributes of the Yao Beast in the picture.

There was another reason: this hunting task was issued by Lingnan Academy.

Only after weighing everything did he choose this Yao Beast that seemed the most impossible to challenge.

Xiao Ya, who was the most shocked, was also the first to react. Her initial surprise gradually turned into excitement. She jumped high and cheered, “Yay! This is great! If we can complete this task, it will definitely shock everyone. My deadbeat dad will surely be proud of me.”

Lu Bingyun sighed and immediately delivered a sharp rap to her head, ignoring Xiao Ya's cries of pain. Instead, she looked at Lan Yu. “What do you think?”

Don't be fooled by Lan Yu's somewhat dorky and airheaded nature as a person without a sense of direction; in fact, she was the smartest and calmest of the three.

Even though she was younger than Lu Bingyun, Lu Bingyun was willing to listen to her opinion on many matters.

“Hmm... Silver Level 7 would be a bit of a risk. But if it's the four of us, even if we can't win, running away won't be a problem.” At this point, Lan Yu paused and clicked on other tasks. “If we can't beat it, we can settle for the next best thing and kill the ones ranked after it. We can just come back and take the task after we're done. It's the same.”

Xie Ning listened and nodded.

This was indeed a very good idea. They could move forward to take a risk or retreat to kill other Yao Beasts for a ranking.

After the four reached an agreement, with Xie Ning as the captain, he performed a few operations on the machine.

On the high crystal screen, the top hunting task turned gray, and the names of the four people appeared behind it.

“What's going on? Someone took the hardest task?”

“This year's batch is so gutsy, they actually dare to take such a terrifying task!”

“It seems to be those four, one guy and three girls. Maybe the guy chose it just to show off in front of his female companions. He probably doesn't know he's chosen a train to Hell.”

“What a pity. Such beautiful female students, and their final end will be to turn into Yao Beast dung and live on in this world.”

The change in the list immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding candidates. Some of these people were from other high schools in Flower City, while others came from high schools in other cities. Most of them did not know the four.

At this moment, the looks everyone cast toward Xie Ning and the others were complex—some were pitying, some were gloating, but no one believed they could achieve victory.

Every year, there are some Genius candidates who think too highly of themselves and take on tasks they cannot complete. In the end, they either die during the hunting task or fail it, obtaining a terrible score and wasting their time in third-rate institutions.

At this moment, Xie Ning and the others were so similar to those candidates.

Xie Ning and the others also noticed the change in the surrounding gazes, but they ignored them. They went to the staff of the Monster Taming Alliance and received four Secret Realm Recorders. These recorders served as tracking devices on one hand and recorded the Yao Beasts they hunted on the other.

The Secret Realm Recorder was like a pendant hanging around the neck, perfectly capable of recording the scene in front of them.

A candidate passed in front of Xie Ning, grinned, and said unceremoniously, “Kid, it's fine if you want to seek death yourself, but you also have to drag three beauties to their deaths with you. Sigh! What a waste!”

“Hey! Did you fall into a toilet or something, coming here to spout filth! Get lost quickly, or else I'll beat you until you can't even hold your poop in.”

Before Xie Ning could speak, Xiao Ya jumped out and retorted with a look of displeasure.

No one expected that such a cute and mischievous-looking young girl would actually speak in such a 'fresh and refined' manner.

Lu Bingyun covered her forehead, speechless. Beside her, Lan Yu covered her mouth and giggled, as if watching a comedy sketch.

“You!” The candidate who had walked into the line of fire was so angry he couldn't even speak. He stuttered “You” for a long time but couldn't follow up with anything.

Xie Ning stepped forward, his hand manifesting the Beast Taming Technique. Borrowing a trace of White Fang's aura, he said coldly, “Get lost!”

The Wolf King's aura scared the candidate until his face turned pale. He muttered a hollow threat and ran away dejectedly.

“Xie Ning is mighty!” Xiao Ya extended two thumbs up, giving Xie Ning a praise.

Xie Ning smiled.

Seeing that the person who went to test them was scared away, the other candidates also realized that this was not a team to be trifled with. For a while, no more idiots came to find trouble with them.

More people were maliciously speculating in their hearts.

The commotion at the scene subsided, but the sensation on the internet had only just begun.

Just as Xie Ning accepted the top-ranked task, millions of eyes on the internet focused on the Flower City Secret Realm.