Chapter 28: Black Abyss

The porthole sealed shut.

The Whalefin craft gradually descended.

A few minutes later.

CRASH!

A loud bang echoed.

The Whalefin craft had now docked at the dockyard beside Jiangcheng.

The door to Cabin 1 slowly opened.

“Let’s go.”

Jiang Jian glanced at the students filing out, then stepped outside.

Du Fang and Song Ling had already packed up and hurried after him.

“So cool and fresh.”

Du Fang stood on the double-deck gangway, tilting his head up to gaze at the bustling, vibrant five-layer Jiangcheng.

Song Ling patted his shoulder as she walked past.

Jiang Jian descended the gangway and headed toward Gu Qi.

Several hundred meters away.

Two other Whalefin crafts were docked.

Inside each vessel.

Likewise, several hundred students.

One by one, they descended the gangways and gathered in one place.

“Luoyingzhou, Linchuanzhou, Anhezhou, and five other prefectures.”

“Twenty-two students with Level 3 talents.”

“The rest, seventy-eight students.”

“One hundred in total.”

Gu Qi raised his identity device, tapped the screen a few times, and spoke to the approaching man.

The man looked up, scanned the students behind Gu Qi, and nodded: “Your contract is fulfilled. You may leave.”

Gu Qi smiled: “Teacher Zhang, I’ll head back to campus then.”

Teacher Zhang replied: “Go ahead.”

Gu Qi shut down his identity device and walked toward the left side of the dockyard.

As he passed Jiang Jian’s position.

Gu Qi halted, glanced at Jiang Jian, and smiled: “Junior, be careful during the division exam.”

“Understood.”

Though puzzled, Jiang Jian responded.

Gu Qi’s lips curved as he flicked his wrist lightly.

Several hundred meters away.

A luxury flying shuttle, previously docked, suddenly flared with light.

BOOM!

A beam of light surged forward; the luxury shuttle halted before Gu Qi, its cockpit door auto-opening.

Gu Qi stepped into the cockpit and gave Jiang Jian a thumbs-up.

The next instant.

Dust scattered.

The luxury shuttle shot skyward.

Just seconds later.

It shrank to a speck of light.

Merging with the countless other specks in the sky.

Heading toward the massive five-layer Jiangcheng.

“Jiang Jian, it seems Gu Qi has a special interest in you?”

Song Ling stood beside Jiang Jian and spoke softly.

Jiang Jian shook his head: “I don’t know why.”

As they spoke,

the man Gu Qi called “Teacher Zhang” strode over.

He lowered his arms to quiet the crowd.

“Quiet!”

These students, overwhelmed by the grandeur of five-layer Jiangcheng, had been expressing varied emotions—awe, shock, delight, curiosity.

Now, hearing Teacher Zhang’s voice,

they gradually fell silent.

Teacher Zhang nodded in satisfaction, scanning the group.

“You are three hundred students in total.”

“All new recruits of Linjiang Academy!”

“Now, you may clap to celebrate yourselves!”

“Because Linjiang Academy is the finest Divine Gift university among the seventeen prefectures of Linjiang!”

“The first-year campus lies in the fourth layer of Jiangcheng—vast in scale, rich in resources.”

“Each of you is one in a hundred thousand!”

“Congratulations!”

“Clap!”

As he finished speaking,

the three hundred students burst into applause.

The next instant,

Teacher Zhang changed tone and spoke again: “However, this year’s incoming class totals eighteen hundred.”

“The other fifteen hundred are local students from Linjiang Prefecture.”

“They’ve already completed their entrance exams.”

They have already completed the entrance examination ahead of schedule!

“the overall rankings haven’t been finalized.”

“So, they haven’t been assigned to divisions yet.”

“You three hundred must take the division exam before formal enrollment!”

Teacher Zhang extended his finger toward the distant, abyss-like first layer of Jiangcheng.

“Your division exam score is critical.”

“It determines which division you’ll be assigned to!”

“The better the division, the more resources you’ll receive!”

The better the department, the more support resources it receives!

“I’ve sent the division exam details to your identity devices.”

“Check them yourselves.”

“I’m giving you half an hour to prepare.”

As he spoke,

Teacher Zhang raised his identity device and sent a comm: “Examiners, you may enter early.”

Teacher Zhang directly raised his identity device and sent a communication: “Examiners, you may enter early.”

Simultaneously, all three hundred students’ identity devices chimed with a message alert!

Jiang Jian opened his device, found the new message.

The sender was labeled “Entrance Examination Office.”

He tapped to open it.

The screen instantly displayed the full details of the division exam.

“Year 3227, Linjiang Academy, Division Entrance Exam.”

“Second batch, incoming students from external prefectures: 300 total.”

“Groups of five, divided into sixty teams, randomly assigned to breeding grounds.”

“Use your talents and cooperate with teammates to eliminate non-citizens within the breeding grounds.”

“Exam duration: 120 minutes.”

“Maximum score: 100 points.”

“Examiners will evaluate your performance within the breeding grounds.”

“After the exam concludes,”

“and assign your final score.”

"Give the score."

"After the second batch of 300 students has their scores confirmed, immediately place them in the overall freshman ranking."

"Re-rank all 1,800 freshmen."

"One student with a Level 4 talent: no assessment required, direct admission to the First Academy."

"All other students will be assigned to academies based on their overall ranking."

"Top 49 in the overall ranking."

"Enter the First Academy."

"Rank 50 to 150 in the overall ranking."

"Enter the Second Academy."

"Rank 151 to 250 in the overall ranking."

"Enter the Third Academy."

"Every 100 ranks form one academy, and so on."

"All remaining students will be placed in the Seventeenth Academy."

Seeing this,

Jiang Jian scrolled the screen.

His gaze turned to another document, more important.

"Assessment Guidelines."

"Within 20 minutes, you may use your identity device to form teams."

"After 20 minutes, ungrouped students will be randomly assigned to five-person teams by proctors."

"Proctors will provide constant protection."

"The assessment carries no danger."

"Deploy your talent to its fullest."

"To achieve a higher assessment score."

"Jiang Jian, let’s form a team quickly!"

Du Fang swiftly scanned the assessment rules, then walked over.

Song Ling also approached, raising his identity device.

"Fine."

Jiang Jian made no reply, swiped his identity device.

"Team formed!"

"Current assessment team: 3 members."

At this moment,

Shi Xuan walked over with a boy, smiling: "Jiang Jian, want to form a team?"

The boy seemed shy, murmuring: "Hello, I’m Xu Yu."

Jiang Jian nodded and asked: "What are your talents, the two of you?"

Shi Xuan said: "I’m Level 3 'Martial'—Guiyuan Gang Qi."

He glanced at the shy boy beside him, Xu Yu: "He’s Level 3 'Body'—Strength Like a Bear."

Du Fang raised an eyebrow: "He looks so frail—how is he a passive Body talent?"

Shi Xuan chuckled: "Don’t underestimate him."

"Besides,"

"Strength Like a Bear isn’t a passive talent."

"It’s a rare active talent within the Body category."

As he spoke,

Both men raised their identity devices before Jiang Jian.

The next second,

Each identity device emitted a voice.

"Team formed!"

"Current assessment team: 5 members."

"Assessment team at full capacity."

"Please wait for the assessment to begin!"

(End of Chapter)