Chapter 50: The Exam Requires Brainpower

Boom—

With Master An Lie's declaration of "The exam has begun," countless trees burst forth from the ground before the students, their roots entangling until they formed a network of corridors, dark and deep, leading into Bai Ling Mountain.

At the front of the Nan Feng Academy group, Lin Feng and Xu Xu Shanyue stared at the corridor for a moment, then waved to the students behind them.

"Move out."

As their voices faded, figures around them erupted with colored Xiangli, shooting forward in a rush and plunging straight into the corridors.

Simultaneously, students from other academies surged into motion, the scene instantly boiling over.

The silver-robed instructor from Sheng Zhu Xuan Star Academy entered the central pavilion; Master Viceroy and the old dean both nodded slightly to him and smiled: "Thank you, Master An Lie."

Though An Lie was inferior to them in strength and status, he carried the official role of supervisor sent by Sheng Zhu Xuan Star Academy, so they granted him due respect.

Moreover, An Lie was young and promising; though currently only a Silver Radiance Instructor, he had the potential to rise to Gold Radiance Instructor, and once promoted, he would become a notable figure in the Great Xia Nation.

Within Sheng Zhu Xuan Star Academy, instructors were divided into three ranks: Silver Radiance, Gold Radiance, and Purple Radiance. It was said the minimum requirement for Silver Radiance was reaching the Earth Demon General Realm, for Gold Radiance the Heaven General Realm, and for the top-tier Purple Radiance Instructor, the Marquis Realm. Yet even in the deeply rooted Sheng Zhu Xuan Star Academy, Purple Robe Instructors were exceedingly rare.

An Lie returned their greetings with a smile and sat beside them. "Tian Shu Commandery hides dragons and tigers—this year's exam will surely be fierce. Will Nan Feng Academy continue to lead, or will an outsider emerge?"

Neither Master Viceroy nor the old dean could answer this question; they merely smiled and turned their gaze toward the crystal wall ahead, divided into many panels, where images transmitted by light-shadow stones pre-placed in Bai Ling Mountain would be displayed, alongside real-time updates of every student's score ranking.

As the atmosphere outside Bai Ling Mountain boiled over, Li Luo was swept into a corridor woven from entwined trees along with the crowd, and he noticed that as they advanced, the branching paths multiplied, as if deliberately splitting up the masses.

As waves of students split apart, those around him became strangers, yet Li Luo and Zhao Kuo remained together, along with several other Nan Feng Academy students.

After continuing forward for roughly ten minutes, Li Luo and the others finally saw the corridor end ahead—a wooden door stood before them.

As they approached, the tall wooden door slowly opened.

Li Luo and Zhao Kuo exchanged glances, then cautiously stepped into the crowd entering within.

The moment the last person entered, the door slammed shut with a crash, light flaring outward—then everyone realized they stood inside an enormous hall, constructed entirely of thick, heavy wood.

All remained silent, tense, scanning the surroundings.

Li Luo and Zhao Kuo stood near the edge, eyes sweeping the hall. The Sheng Zhu Xuan Star Academy instructor had said they would face two evaluation trials to determine their base scores—this place must be the first.

But how exactly would the test unfold?

As Li Luo pondered, his ears twitched—he faintly heard sounds, then his gaze snapped upward, where he spotted two dark holes, roughly a foot in diameter.

The sounds came from there.

The noise rapidly grew louder until everyone noticed, all raising their heads in alertness toward the two holes.

Squeak-squeak!

Under everyone's gaze, two black torrents burst from the holes, piercing shrieks echoing endlessly—they were countless black four-winged bats!

These bats were stout, the size of washbasins, with sharp claws and fangs, eyes blazing crimson—terrifying to behold.

Countless four-winged bats flooded into the hall and immediately charged downward at the students.

The students scrambled to activate their Xiangli, employing various methods to fend off the bats' assault; at this moment, all understood: the trial's purpose was to survive these bats' attacks.

Li Luo activated his Xiangli as well, refusing to let the bats get close—he struck from afar, killing approaching bats with ranged Xiangli attacks.

As the four-winged bats multiplied, some students began screaming—they realized that whenever a bat struck their body, the score crystal on their chest flashed red.

"Don't let those bats touch you—otherwise your base score will drop!" someone shouted.

One man panicked, wailing—he'd been struck repeatedly, clearly unable to earn much base score in this first evaluation.

"So that's how it is."

Li Luo suddenly understood, then pressed close to Zhao Kuo, slashing at the four-winged bats attacking from all directions.

Yet the bats seemed endless, pouring forth without pause.

Eventually, Zhao Kuo couldn't help yelling: "I can't hold on anymore—I'm exhausted!"

Li Luo's eyes darted rapidly—he stared at the endless tide of bats, his gaze flickered, then he suddenly grabbed Zhao Kuo's wrist and retreated swiftly to the edge.

"Don't move. Don't disrupt my Xiangshu."

He spoke, then channeled Xiangli—faint luminescence spread across his body, then flowed onto Zhao Kuo's.

Beneath the luminescence, Li Luo and Zhao Kuo's figures gradually faded.

"Is this the Intermediate Xiangshu, Water Shadow Technique?"

Zhao Kuo stared, stunned, then looked at the charging bats and blurted: "Brother Luo, this won't help—shouldn't we just cut down these bats?"

Li Luo said nothing; the Xiangli covering their bodies shimmered faintly.

Seeing Li Luo didn't reply, Zhao Kuo gritted his teeth, forcing himself to suppress the urge to slash at the incoming bats.

Yet just as Zhao Kuo braced for impact, he suddenly saw the bats charging toward them halt as if losing their target, confused, then turn and attack others instead.

"This—"

Zhao Kuo's eyes widened in astonishment. "You can actually do this?"

He found it hard to believe—an Intermediate Water Shadow Technique could completely evade the bats' perception?

He glanced down and saw his own shadow had vanished—shocked, he exclaimed: "Brother Luo, your Water Shadow Technique is insane—it's practically like the legendary Invisibility Technique!"

"Invisibility Technique? Pfft. It's just light refraction—hiding us beneath the light. A low-level Zhang Yan Fa. Anyone who concentrates can still detect us." Li Luo grumbled.

"Still incredible—I've never seen anyone master Water Shadow Technique this well." Zhao Kuo marveled.

Li Luo smiled. He didn't say that ordinary Water Shadow Technique couldn't achieve this—he could, because his technique was aided by Light Xiangli; the fusion of water and light gave this "Water Shadow Technique" such potent concealment.

"No need to fight now. Just wait here until it ends." Li Luo said calmly.

"Brother Luo, you're not only handsome but also brilliant. Sheng Zhu Xuan Star Academy didn't recruit you? What terrible eyesight they have!" Zhao Kuo gushed enthusiastically.

"Whatever. After all, it'll be our alma mater—we shouldn't be too harsh on it." Li Luo said magnanimously.

"Ah, I never realized Brother Luo had such a broad heart."

Zhao Kuo sighed in admiration—but just as he idly decided to flatter his "Little Brother Luo" further, he suddenly spotted a figure darting and dodging through the bats, rapidly approaching their direction.

"Brother Luo, that guy looks familiar."

Li Luo looked—and his mouth twitched. Who else but that troublemaker, Seeing Yu Lang, was being chased in such a frenzy?

"Ignore him, act like you didn't see him," Li Luo said.

Seeing Yu Lang was a Sixth-Rank Wind Phase, moving at incredible speed; though he shouted in panic, the four-winged bats could not catch him.

"That doesn't make sense, Brother Luo—this bastard is heading straight for us! Does he know we're hiding here?" Zhao Kuo hurriedly said.

Li Luo looked and saw it was true; he couldn't help but feel a headache.

Just then, as Seeing Yu Lang drew near, he glanced furtively toward where Li Luo and the other were hiding, lowering his voice: "Brother Luo, Brother Luo, pull me in quick!"

Li Luo feigned death.

"If you don't pull me in, I'll lure a whole swarm of bats over here and smash you out!" Seeing Yu Lang, seeing no response, immediately threatened.

"Damn it, Seeing Yu Lang, you're so low, you'll get beaten to death with a club someday."

A voice tinged with resignation emerged, followed by a hand suddenly extending from thin air, grabbing Seeing Yu Lang's arm; as light flowed, his figure was concealed.

The four-winged bats charging from behind once again halted, bewildered, then scattered in all directions.

(End of Chapter)