Chapter 118: Thunder Spell Hunting, Ranking Ninth!

When Lu Bang pressed his hands down, the cloud spell stage examination immediately entered the second stage.

Most people had no intention of considering dealing with others, because resisting Lu Bang's cloud spell was already extremely difficult.

"Hum~"

Everyone's cloud layers, under Lu Bang's pressure, quickly descended in height.

If the cloud layer is lower than one hundred meters, one must be eliminated.

No one dared to be distracted, and they all cast cloud spells to resist the pressure coming from the sky.

"Rush thunder to the nine heavens, rise for me!"

In a corner of the Eastern Suburbs, Yu Chunwu's face flushed red; he had also watched the battle between Li Feng and Zhao Xing just now, and even wanted to personally question Zhao Xing why he had tricked them.

But now, there was no such thought; he was focused on resisting Lu Bang's pressure.

Yu Chunwu was not weak, but even with his full control of the thunder clouds.

The cloud layer still descended toward the 100-meter height bit by bit.

"Sss~"

In the thunder clouds, a wisp of cloud energy dissipated, drifting toward Lu Bang's cloud layer at a height of one thousand meters.

Cloud energy domain!

Although what Lu Bang cast was not the Cloud Swallowing Technique, his cloud energy had already formed a domain, absorbing the cloud energy of the geniuses below bit by bit.

As one grows and the other wanes, the difficulty of resistance became even greater.

"Hum~" The cloud layer finally couldn't resist.

Yu Chunwu felt himself wrapped in a gentle wind, and in the next moment, his vision blurred.

The whole person arrived outside the boundary marker.

"Examination failed, go report to other branch academies," a man in armor looked indifferently at Yu Chunwu. "There will be opportunities to be promoted to the four major academies in the future, no need to be obsessed with the result of a moment."

"Yes." Yu Chunwu nodded respectfully; although he was a bit unwilling, he also knew that an examination is an examination.

As time passed, the number of eliminated people also increased.

Two quarters of an hour later, the 931 people slowly became less than eight hundred.

At this time, Lu Bang's cloud layer also pressed down from a height of one thousand meters to a height of seven hundred meters.

"Still pressing down, how many people does this old guy want to eliminate before entering the next stage?"

Zhao Xing also felt the pressure.

His cloud layer was currently maintained at a height of six hundred meters.

Originally, after swallowing Li Feng, his height had risen to nine hundred meters; at that time, there were only a few people at this height.

However, with Lu Bang's downward pressure, he had to descend as well.

But he still maintained the level of the first echelon.

"The number of eliminated people is still increasing, it’s already below eight hundred."

Zhao Xing scanned the surroundings; every time someone was eliminated, they were moved out of the boundary marker by the wind spell.

Gradually, the people standing around him became sparse.

"Hum!"

Lu Bang's cloud layer pressed down further.

It suddenly descended to a height of five hundred meters!

Zhao Xing was startled.

"The old guy doesn't play by the rules, launching a sneak attack."

"Descending two hundred meters at once, this is going to kill people!"

Zhao Xing cursed in his heart.

His cloud layer almost collapsed from the old guy's collision.

Although it didn't collapse, it was scattered a lot; it was an all-around crushing, and there was no power to resist.

After reacting, he immediately controlled the cloud layer to descend to a height of four hundred meters.

The cloud energy was broken into pieces and then re-absorbed and replenished.

The others were no better off.

The cloud spells of the top-ranked Shiyong, Zhuang Ziqing, Hua Zhilin, Fengqiu, Guan Junyang, and others were all damaged to varying degrees.

As for those lower down, they were miserable.

Those who were barely maintaining a height of one hundred meters, under such fierce downward pressure, suffered heavy losses.

"Swish swish swish swish swish swish~"

Inside the boundary marker, dozens of people disappeared at once.

"Examination over! Everyone, withdraw your cloud layers and rest in place."

Zuo Zijhi's voice came.

The dark golden cloud energy domain in the sky also disappeared immediately.

"Hoo~"

The examinees all breathed a sigh of relief, and some even sat on the ground.

The pressure was too great; Lu Bang was at least a Fifth-Rank powerhouse, and even with so many people resisting together, the pressure shared by each person was not reduced.

"Finally passed, don't know how many people are left?" Zhao Xing looked up at the sky.

"The second stage of the examination, 720 people passed. The rest can rush to other branch academies to report and compete for rankings within the academy."

"Those eliminated need not be dejected; there will still be opportunities to be promoted to the four major academies if you perform well in other branch academies in the future."

Zuo Zijhi's voice spread throughout the wilderness.

"Only 720 people left?" Zhao Xing clicked his tongue secretly.

It was mainly because of that last moment.

Lu Bang suddenly launched an attack.

That wave eliminated at least sixty or seventy people.

The second stage of the examination, the first stage is rising with clouds, competing for control.

The second stage is rising in height, and the cloud layer height also determines the spellcasting range.

The final stage tests the stability of the cloud layer.

Even though these nine hundred-plus people were the best of the best, after the second stage, more than two hundred people were still eliminated.

"The screening of military agricultural officials is truly strict."

The screening of military agricultural officials by the Ten Suns Cave Heaven was, in Zhao Xing's view, quite strict.

"Don't know what the next examination is; eight stages of examination, and only two stages have passed."

Many people were discussing in low voices.

"The first stage is wind, the second stage is clouds."

"The third stage should be thunder or rain?"

Zhao Xing thought silently while resting.

"The four Solar Term spells, cloud spells and wind spells have been tested; there’s no reason not to test thunder spells and rain spells."

"It just depends on how they test it."

"They should all be comprehensive examinations."

The first stage was passing the word, the second stage was cloud pressure.

Both combined actual combat.

The third stage, I’m afraid it’s not as simple as comparing whose thunder spell is at which turn.

"About time." Lu Bang stood on the flying boat and said, "Let the tower ship come over."

"Not letting people rest for a while?" Zuo Zijhi asked. "It’s only been a quarter of an hour."

"A quarter of an hour is already a long time," Lu Bang said coldly. "When a real war begins, having a quarter of an hour to rest is a luxury."

"Fine, you’re the chief officer, you have the final say." Zuo Zijhi was helpless and took out the Earth Mirror to send a message.

"All examinees, please board the Cloud Rain Tower Ship."

"You will go to the [Ten Thousand Beast Garden] area."

"The Ten Thousand Beast Garden is a plain and hilly area that has been enclosed; the number of exotic beasts inside is numerous, and the lowest are all entered-rank, or comparable to entered-rank in some aspects, and of course, the highest is the Ninth Rank."

"Examinees will be dropped into random areas of the Ten Thousand Beast Garden, and the requirement of the examination is to kill exotic beasts."

"The examination will last for four hours, and the ranking will be based on the number of monsters killed."

On the tower ship, Zuo Zijhi announced the rules to everyone.

Everyone listened quietly.

"You can use the standard treasures of agricultural officials, but you are only allowed to use cloud spells and thunder spells, and there are no supplies."

"If you use other spells, you will be eliminated."

"If you encounter life-threatening danger and are saved, you will exit the examination early, and the number of exotic beasts killed at the time of being saved will be the standard."

"Four hours later, the ranking will be announced, and the top five hundred will be able to pass to the next stage of the examination."

After Zuo Zijhi finished announcing the rules, the people below couldn't help but shake their heads.

Another two hundred-plus people to be eliminated!

"Four hours, the exotic beasts are all comparable to entered-rank, or directly entered-rank, and only cloud spells and thunder spells are allowed."

"Thunder spell power is strong, but without supplies, how many times can it be used?"

"Encounter life-threatening crisis and be saved? That is to say, it is possible to be seriously injured."

"This stage is very dangerous..."

Even though these new recruits were mostly not new recruits in the true sense, their faces still changed at this time.

All were entered-rank exotic beasts, or comparable to entered-rank.

Also called the Ten Thousand Beast Garden, presumably the number would not be small.

But having walked to this step, no one wanted to shrink back.

They were all silently seizing the time to rest on the dragon-headed tower ship.

Not long after, the dragon-headed tower ship flew into the Ten Thousand Beast Garden.

Agricultural officials could choose to jump down from any location.

But they had to make a choice within a quarter of an hour.

They could use other spells before landing, but after landing, spells other than thunder spells and cloud spells were forbidden.

Once used, it would count as elimination.

"Hoo-woo~"

Zhao Xing jumped down from the dragon-headed tower ship.

He cast the Small Nine Heavens Gang Wind Technique, extracting gang wind from the sky to surround himself.

Compared to the time he jumped down from the Great Lake entrance.

This time Zhao Xing was much calmer.

Soon, he landed on a wasteland covered with shrubs.

At this time, the sky was dim, and the two suns were setting in the east and west respectively.

"Awoo~"

As soon as he landed, the sound of wild beasts roaring came from all around.

"Swallow Cloud!"

Zhao Xing didn't hesitate and immediately cast the Cloud Swallowing Technique, supporting the cloud layer.

He didn't expand the cloud layer range, only covering a radius of one hundred meters.

"Use cloud spells to sense the existence of exotic beasts, and use thunder spells to kill the enemy."

After Zhao Xing supported the cloud layer, he quickly sensed eighteen exotic beasts around him.

Clearly, there were groups of gregarious exotic beasts around.

"Boom-crack!"

Zhao Xing reached out and pointed, and thunder fell from the cloud layer, striking the exotic beasts in the darkness.

"Swish swish swish~"

The speed of the exotic beasts was extremely fast, making them extremely difficult to lock onto.

Although the power of the intermediate perfection-level Thunder Induction was great, it only hit half of them with one strike, and the other half were quickly approaching Zhao Xing.

"Relying solely on the Thunder Induction Technique, the consumption is too great, and the efficiency is low."

"Fortunately, I know more than one type of thunder spell."

"Must lower the speed of these exotic beasts, and then attack with Thunder Induction."

Zhao Xing was calm in the face of danger.

This stage also tests actual combat mentality; arriving in a strange and unknown environment, and with so many constraints.

If one gets nervous, the power of the spell might only be two or three out of ten.

It is also possible to encounter danger, and in a hurry, use other spells, leading to elimination.

"Rolling Earth Thunder!"

Zhao Xing reached out and pointed, and golden light entered the ground.

Soon, he guided the thunder element power from the earth veins.

Translucent blue light balls floated around Zhao Xing, numbering more than twenty.

"Scatter!"

Zhao Xing waved his hand, and the Rolling Earth Thunder began to spread around at a height of half a meter to one meter from the ground.

"Awoo!"

"Heh-ho!"

The Rolling Earth Thunder exploded upon hitting the target, and the explosion range was not small; as long as they were affected, the numbness would instantly spread throughout their bodies.

Under the influence of the Rolling Earth Thunder, the speed of the exotic beasts in the darkness plummeted.

At this time, Zhao Xing used the Thunder Induction Technique again, and the efficiency was greatly improved.

For the few fish that slipped through the net and approached.

Thunder chains trapped them to death, and then a thunder palm slapped them; basically, none survived.

"Go, next place."

Zhao Xing cleared this area of exotic beasts and left quickly.

Just as Zhao Xing began to fight with the exotic beasts, on the tower ship.

In a pavilion, a figure was also watching the performance of the people below through an Earth Mirror instrument.

"Eight stages of branch division, the first four are set by my Solar Term Academy."

"As long as you pass the four stages, you can enter my Solar Term Academy, and we can also be the first to pick people."

"Have you all decided on the candidates in your hearts?"

Four figures, all holding important positions in the Solar Term Academy, were also the main figures responsible for training the new recruits of the Solar Term Academy after the branch division.

"Shiyong's wind, cloud, and thunder spells are all excellent; he should enter my Solar Term Academy."

"Hmm, his three spells are all top-notch, and he is very young; it’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a good seedling."

"We can give him A-grade resources for cultivation."

"Agreed."

"Agreed." "Support."

All four nodded, having no objections to choosing Shiyong.

"Fengqiu is good at wind, but this time in the examination, he didn't have a chance to perform. Although his cloud spell is first-class, his thunder spell is average, and his efficiency is relatively slow; he has already started to fall behind. Giving him A-minus grade resources for cultivation is about right."

"Give him at most A-middle; if he wants to choose, he can choose, if he doesn't want to, we won't force him."

"Hmm."

After discussing Fengqiu, the four looked at the next name.

"Zhuang Ziqing, specializes in Geographical Advantage Academy spells; I guess he’s going to enter the Geographical Advantage Academy, but his wind, cloud, and thunder spells are also not bad, all at a first-class level. Should we compete for him?"

"We can't compete with those guys from the Geographical Advantage Academy, and Zhuang Ziqing is the grandson of Marquis Meng; people have already greeted 'Marquis Tian' of the Geographical Advantage Academy, so I guess he won't choose the Solar Term Academy."

"Skip, let’s look at Hua Zhilin and Guan Junyang of the Profound Armor Army."

"Looking at it now, they can only get A-minus treatment; there’s nothing particularly outstanding, let’s see if they can have any special performance in the next stage."

The four observers of the Solar Term Academy evaluated the outstanding batch of people; in fact, for the branch division examination, the Solar Term Academy only looks at the results of the four stages.

The Geographical Advantage Academy looks at the two middle stages, while the Pinghuai Academy and Taicang Academy look at the performance of the last two stages.

After the examinees pass the fourth stage, there is no elimination; they will all have the opportunity to participate in the examination of the later four stages, and according to their performance, compete for different levels of resource cultivation!

Soon, the eyes of several people fell on the name Zhao Xing.

"His cloud spell is first-class, and his thunder spell is also not bad; I’ve already seen that he has three thunder spells above the seventh turn."

"But his wind spell, only the fourth-turn Small Nine Heavens Gang Wind Technique; his current performance can only be given B-plus treatment," one person said his opinion.

"Not appropriate, Lu Bang once told me that this Zhao Xing knows a wind spell, already at the ninth turn, possibly even perfection. Li Feng was tricked by him, so his wind spell talent is actually not weak," another person said.

"Oh? I didn't know that. Then give him A-middle treatment?"

"He turned from a clerk to a regular, still like a blank sheet of paper, with a lot of room for progress; I think we can give him A-plus resource treatment."

"Not appropriate, precisely because he has no experience in office, giving him A-middle is about right."

The three had different opinions, but soon the fourth person said: "Let’s look at the performance of the fourth stage, it’s coming soon anyway."

"Hmm."

Time flew by, and soon four hours passed.

When the time reached the Mao hour of the next day, the [Ten Thousand Beast Garden] examination ended, and everyone boarded the ship.

Zuo Zijhi also sent the hunting ranking of this Ten Thousand Beast Garden to all examinees through the Earth Mirror instrument.

[First Place: Shiyong]

[Second Place: Zhuang Ziqing]

[Third Place: Guan Junyang]

[Fourth Place: Lei Meng]

[Ninth Place: Zhao Xing]

[Tenth Place: Jiang Tianming]

[188th Place: He Zheng]

The ranking changed a lot.

Many people let out exclamations after seeing the results.

"I killed so many exotic beasts, and I only ranked 385th? Damn, the ones in front are too fierce!"

"Shiyong is still first; how is his strength so strong?"

"Zhuang Ziqing is also very powerful, and stabilized in second place again; it seems the top two in the registration examination surpassed the others by a lot."

"Guan Junyang also rose to third place."

"The three of them stabilized, but the top ten changed blood, and the others all dropped."

"Sigh, I reached 700th place, no fate with the four major academies."

"So angry, I know two thunder spells, each reached the seventh turn, and I actually went to over 200th place."

"There are too many geniuses, all Ninth Rank, how are others so strong..."

Zhao Xing also browsed the ranking silently.

"Ninth, better than expected."

He had four thunder spells: [Thunder Induction], [Thunder Chain], [Thunder Palm], and [Rolling Earth Thunder].

Among them, Rolling Earth Thunder was at the fourth turn, Thunder Induction was at perfection, Thunder Chain was at the ninth turn, and Thunder Palm was at the eighth turn!

Knowing many thunder spells and having non-singular attack methods naturally meant high monster-killing efficiency.

After all, there are many types of exotic beasts in the Ten Thousand Beast Garden, and a single spell might not be able to deal with all situations.

Multiple thunder spells, combining positive thunder and negative thunder, using long-range, single-target, and area-of-effect together, meant he wouldn't waste too much time on any one exotic beast race.

That was why Zhao Xing's monster-killing efficiency was quite high.

He rushed directly to the ninth place!

"Compared to the eight people in front, the gap is also very small, only a large gap with the first and second."

The Earth Mirror showed that Shiyong hunted 1534 exotic beasts!

Zhuang Ziqing hunted 1325 exotic beasts!

Both of them broke a thousand; starting from the third-ranked Guan Junyang, there were only 921.

Going down from there, ranking to Zhao Xing.

His hunting count was 825.

"Landing point, the exotic beasts encountered are different; these factors can be attributed to luck. Maybe it’s just a slight difference in luck that led to the ranking gap."

"My luck couldn't be bad, which means there is still some gap in strength between me and the people in front. This gap should appear because I haven't learned the classic secret treasures of the three major schools, and my gathering of vital energy is only at the fifteenth stage," Zhao Xing thought to himself.

Gathering vital energy at the fifteenth stage is considered relatively low; most others are already at the nineteenth stage, one stage away from the twentieth stage of the Eighth Rank. According to the ancient method system, that is Ninth Rank perfection; according to the Great Zhou system, it is regular Ninth Rank upper.

Secondly, there is a difference between having cultivated and not having cultivated the classic secret treasures of the three major schools.

For example, the "Yin-Yang Self-Nature Sutra", cultivating the inner five elements, the recovery speed and total amount of vital energy are much higher, which will be reflected in high-intensity combat.

Zhao Xing felt that he reached the ninth place because he was lucky and encountered exotic beasts that were relatively easy to kill.

"He actually ranked ninth?" Jiang Hai and Jiang He looked at Zhao Xing's ranking with some surprise. The two brothers ranked outside the top twenty this time. "A formidable enemy!"

"Divine Might Army's Zhao Xing, didn't expect his thunder spell actual combat to be so strong." When Zhuo Li checked the ranking, he also noticed Zhao Xing. "I’m only 59th; I originally thought I could catch up to him, didn't expect him to reach ninth."

"Interesting, worthy of being able to defeat Li Feng." Hua Zhilin glanced at Zhao Xing, a strange light in his eyes.

Just then, Zuo Zijhi walked out of the pavilion, interrupting everyone's discussion.

"The fourth stage of the examination, the eliminated can choose to go to other branch academies."

"The remaining five hundred people will start the fourth stage of the examination."

"The fourth stage will only keep two hundred people."

"However, once you pass the examination, there will be no more elimination in the subsequent stages, and you can choose your branch academy. And according to your performance, you will obtain different training treatments..."