Chapter 78: Verification Exam

At this moment, more than thirty people had already passed the Lianxinlu; judging by the remaining time, at most only fifty percent of the candidates would ultimately complete the assessment.

Having to eliminate fifty percent of the candidates in the first assessment is, it must be said, quite cruel.

"If you don't speed up, you're going to be in trouble!" Watching the stumbling Li Jingyi, Li Zhangsheng felt quite helpless; he truly could not help her.

Compared to the three of them, Li Jingyi had had it too easy, showered with love from a young age, never needing to worry about resources or Demon Pets, as her family would handle everything for her. Over time, her temperament and perseverance could be imagined.

However, they were of the same clan after all, and since Li Jingyi was not a spoiled brat, Li Zhangsheng naturally hoped she could pass the assessment.

In this unfamiliar Yuanling Academy, having more clansmen would mean more support in the future.

Soon, Li Jingyi stepped onto the stairs, and unexpectedly, her speed did not slow down; instead, it increased substantially.

Unlike the vast majority of candidates, Li Jingyi's desires were not intense, which was perhaps the main reason for her increase in speed.

The more one restrains their desires, or if they are not intense enough, the easier it is to pass this place called the Desire Stairs compared to the previous illusions.

Time ticked away, and the three of them were all sweating for Li Jingyi, hoping she could successfully reach the finish line.

Fortunately, Li Jingyi did not encounter any major setbacks, and when only one minute remained, Li Jingyi was only a hair's breadth away from the finish line.

Seeing Li Jingyi so close, the three of them all had the urge to pull her along.

Of course, in full view of everyone, they naturally dared not do so, otherwise they would be disqualified from the assessment; they could only hope that Li Jingyi would pull through and reach the finish line in time.

"Ten, nine, eight..." At this moment, the female Instructor looked at the hourglass with little sand left and began the countdown.

Perhaps she heard the sound of the countdown, or perhaps she had just broken free from the illusion; in any case, during the countdown, Li Jingyi's originally dazed eyes became clear and sharp.

Without hesitation, Li Jingyi took the final step, reaching the finish line almost exactly as time ran out.

"Three, two, one, assessment over!" As the female Instructor's voice fell, the Lianxinlu seemed to change, and the candidates who were still struggling forward on the path all broke free from their illusions, their eyes turning from dazed to clear.

Unfortunately, they had not passed the assessment; according to the rules, all candidates who did not reach the finish line were disqualified.

Because there were too many candidates, Yuanling Academy naturally selected the best of the best, keeping only the most outstanding ones.

"All candidates who did not pass the Lianxinlu may leave now!"

As the Instructor's voice fell, those candidates who had not passed the Lianxinlu within the allotted time all looked as if their parents had died, revealing expressions of frustration and pain, with some even streaming with tears.

This was undoubtedly a huge blow to them.

Of course, there were also some rejected candidates who looked at the Instructor with longing, hoping they would rescind the order and give them another chance, but they were destined to be disappointed and could only leave in low spirits.

It was not as if these rejected candidates had no way out; they were all very outstanding to have been able to participate in the Yuanling Academy assessment—either gifted with talent, possessing strong immediate combat power, or having wealthy families. Even if they did not meet the standards of Yuanling Academy, they were still geniuses after all, and for academies of a lower tier than Yuanling Academy, these were all high-quality students, so they would naturally try every means to recruit these rejected candidates.

This was also the "way of survival" for other academies in the Academy District.

The results of the first assessment were lower than Li Zhangsheng had expected, with a total of only 46 candidates passing, a pass rate of less than fifty percent.

Not lingering here, under the guidance of several Instructors, Li Zhangsheng and the others entered a nearby building to begin the second assessment.

The second assessment was called the Verification Exam; simply put, it was to test the candidates' mastery of knowledge regarding Spirit Beasts. Any knowledge related to or derived from Spirit Beasts could be tested.

Li Zhangsheng could not wait, as this was his area of greatest expertise. Perhaps due to a natural talent, Li Zhangsheng could easily absorb and digest various types of Spirit Beast knowledge and apply it.

Similar to Li Zhangsheng, the other three of the Li Clan Four Heroes were also full of confidence.

The reason was simple: the family attached great importance to this, and when they were still learning to read and write, the family had consciously imparted knowledge to them in this regard. As long as nothing went wrong, they were very confident in completing this assessment.

It was not just them; for those candidates who had been receiving Spirit Beast knowledge since childhood, the difficulty of the Verification Exam was not great.

Of course, for beginners, it was another matter entirely; they appeared uneasy and anxious, as if facing a formidable enemy.

Under the guidance of the Instructors, Li Zhangsheng and the others entered a classroom.

The classroom was quite spacious, with a large number of desks and chairs placed inside, and the distance between each desk was large, greatly avoiding the possibility of cheating.

Of course, this did not exclude other means of preventing candidates from cheating.

Under the Instructor's arrangement, Li Zhangsheng sat in his seat, which was located in the middle, and began to wait for the arrival of the Verification Exam.

Although he was full of confidence, the Yuanling Academy assessment meant a lot to Li Zhangsheng, so he dared not have any thoughts of slackening; he also wanted to achieve good results so that he could choose a better Instructor.

"I will state the rules here: in the Verification Exam, any candidate caught cheating or using Mental Power will be directly disqualified! Alright, I announce the assessment has begun!"

After announcing the rules, the Instructors began to distribute the test papers. Once the papers were distributed, they turned the hourglass upside down. Just like the Lianxinlu, the Verification Exam also only had one hour!

At this time, several Instructors stood in different positions, occasionally projecting their Mental Power, not giving the candidates any chance to cheat.

Li Zhangsheng did not start writing immediately; instead, he quickly browsed through the content of the test paper, and only after he had a good grasp of it did he begin to answer.

The Verification Exam had two types of questions: multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank.

Among them, the multiple-choice questions were relatively simple, basically being three-choice or four-choice questions. Candidates could choose based on their mastery of Spirit Beast knowledge; even if they had no clue, they could guess randomly—perhaps they would get it right.

There were many types of Spirit Beasts, with over a thousand common ones alone. Just memorizing their names was enough to give one a headache, not to mention knowledge regarding attributes, characteristics, skills, and other aspects. Even if a Monster Tamer had a strong memory, it would take a great deal of effort to remember all this knowledge.

Question 1: What color are the tail feathers of a Middle-Rank Skylark?

A: Cyan

B: White

C: Blue

If you think it is correct, put a checkmark on it.

"Blue!" Without hesitation, Li Zhangsheng put a checkmark on the third option. This question was too simple; it was no different from a freebie.

The tail feathers of a Lower-Rank Skylark are cyan. Every time a major realm is promoted, the color of the Skylark's tail feathers changes. After advancing to a Middle-Rank Spirit Beast, the color of the tail feathers becomes blue.

Question 2: The Three-Headed Snake is the descendant of which fierce beast?

A: Guiche

B: Jiuying

C: Xiangliu

After just one look, Li Zhangsheng put a checkmark on the second option.

For him, this question still had no difficulty. These three fierce beasts all had similarities; they all had nine heads, but the appearance of the heads was different. Guiche had bird heads, Xiangliu had human faces, and only Jiuying had snake heads.

For the next quarter of an hour, relying on his rich accumulation of Spirit Beast knowledge, Li Zhangsheng would often make a choice after just one look.

(End of chapter)