Chapter 47: Your brotherly bond is so deep—I'm unworthy!

The national vocational exam is divided into three stages: the city‑level exam, the county‑level exam, and the Alliance exam! The city‑level exam, also called the "main‑city exam," assesses age‑eligible students within each battle‑ready city under the main city, records the results in the national vocational assessment system, and those who pass advance to the next level.

Ninety percent of the students have only this single assessment; among them, most have no further schooling, while the top few can continue their studies at ordinary universities and receive Alliance resources to aid their advancement.

The remaining one percent who pass must take the county‑level exam, which is held within the roughly thirty main cities of the entire county, where the promoted students undergo a second assessment.

All students taking the county‑level exam have a university to attend, but the first assessment cannot yet make fine distinctions, so it cannot separate true geniuses from merely excellent candidates.

After this assessment, the top one percent advance to a third assessment, the Alliance exam.

The third assessment is used to differentiate geniuses from prodigies!

Before eight o'clock in the early morning, Lu Zheng arrived at Li Yang City No. 1 High School and met class monitor Mu Yunlan again.

Today each student will be issued an admission ticket, and the school will lead the students to the main city; during the exam, the ticket offsets all basic expenses, such as the cost of using the teleportation array, purchase of basic recovery potions, meals, and so on.

When Mu Yunlan saw Lu Zheng, she smiled and said, "Long time no see. I still can't read your level, but I think I now have the strength to give you a fight!"

Lu Zheng glanced at her level—52, quite good! It seems her family has helped a lot lately, and she herself has worked hard enough; her profession is already powerful, so such a level isn't surprising.

But to claim she can actually fight me, that's downright laughable.

Now Lu Zheng is still at level 100, while his three primary battle‑god companions have all reached level 120, the three primary battle‑immortal companions of the second tier have reached level 110, and rare beast companions average level 100; even among 632 elite beast companions, the vast majority are above level 80, with over two hundred above level 90! Not to mention, he also holds a demon banner that contains more than thirty demons of level 80‑90; releasing even half of them could shred Mu Yunlan to pieces in an instant.

Hmm, we're all classmates, so a bit of face‑saving is required, right? "No wonder it's you—you're impressive; even I would have to exert some effort to defeat you."

Lu Zheng praised.

Hearing his former opponent boast like that, Mu Yunlan showed a confident smile.

Although many days ago Lu Zheng could already defeat level‑60 monsters with a celestial‑grade summoned beast, she can now easily slay a level‑60 BOSS; as a sword‑cultivator, she is at the output ceiling, so she feels strong confidence.

And Yang Dong, who happened to walk over, couldn't help but give a slightly odd smile upon hearing Lu Zheng's words.

He is only at level 49 now, but he knows Mu Yunlan's level; after all, one of Lu Zheng's summoned beasts could annihilate a level‑100 BOSS Terror Knight in a single strike, so a mere level‑52 Mu Yunlan should be defeated without needing a second attack, right? That still counts as exerting effort!?

Mu Yunlan looked at Yang Dong, surprised, and said, "Yang Dong, you've already reached level 49! How did you do it!?"

"Of course it's because the boss took me up! The boss thought my level too low, said I didn't even qualify to follow him, and spent over twenty days helping me level up. Sigh, I'm such a useless person, making the boss worry."

Mu Yunlan's eyes widened at the words, and she stared at Lu Zheng in disbelief.

"You really spent more than twenty days solely helping him raise his level? Don't you know that each of the hundred days before the exam is prime time for strengthening?"

Before Lu Zheng could answer, Yang Dong spoke up:

"The boss certainly knows! But our brotherly bond is higher than the sky and deeper than the sea; so that he wouldn't leave me behind, the boss slowed his own leveling speed to specifically help me. I'll remember this loyalty for life!"

Mu Yunlan glanced at the emotionally charged Yang Dong, then finally looked at Lu Zheng, sighed, and said in a somewhat sour tone:

"Yes, your brotherly bond is deep; I'm unworthy."

Having said that, she turned around and no longer looked at the two.

Those words left Lu Zheng feeling baffled; you're not my brother, you're treating me as an opponent—what's this about being worthy or not!?

After the student headcount and admission tickets were distributed, all the students, led by their homeroom teachers, were taken into the exam‑dedicated authorized teleportation array service area; outside the service area stood numerous student parents. Lu Zheng also saw his own parents.

Father Lu Yuantu gave an encouraging speech, and mother Fang Ya finally reminded:

"Be careful not to let Jiao Jiao get hurt! You can skip meals yourself, but you mustn't let our dear Jiao Jiao starve!"

"Got it. At worst, I won't let her go into battle, right!?"

Lu Zheng said helplessly.

"That won't do! I believe Jiao Jiao can definitely protect you; you're a summoner, remember to prioritize protecting yourself above all!"

Fang Ya's earlier words were clearly meant to help Lu Zheng relax, but in his haste he ended up voicing his thoughts directly.

Lu Zheng gave Fang Ya a big hug.

"Don't worry! Dear Mom, just wait for the TV broadcast—Alliance number one, who else but me!"

Having said that, he released Fang Ya, waved his hand, and walked toward the teleportation array.

'All examinees, please note! The exam‑authorized teleportation array will activate in three minutes; please enter promptly. Those who do not enter will be considered to have abandoned the exam!'

The crowd surged as examinees and parents separated, all rather excited.

The vocational exam has no theory portion; it consists entirely of instance combat assessments, where death is a possible outcome.

Accidents are inevitable.

Fang Ya leaned against Lu Yuantu's chest; although the exam's death rate is less than one in one hundred thousand, there is still danger, so she naturally couldn't help worrying.

Lu Zheng stood inside the teleportation array and saw Fang Ya opening her mouth to say something.

He understood.

"Go for it! Son!"

Lu Zheng returned a big smile; the next moment the array activated, all examinees vanished from their spots, and when they regained their senses, they were already inside Fengdu City.

Ordinary vocationalists wishing to move from a level‑4 battle‑ready city to the main city must first go to a level‑3 battle‑ready city, then ascend level by level; this direct teleportation array is usable only by examinees, aside from the city‑privilege administrators.

This shows that examinees of this era hold a very high status within the entire Alliance.

After entering Fengdu City, all students were led to gather on the plaza.

Below Fengdu City lie forty‑three battle‑ready cities; counting the main city's one school, there are sixty‑two senior high schools, each with over three hundred students, so a single main city's examinees total up to twenty thousand! With so many gathered, the scene is massive, bustling, and very lively.

However, when a figure appeared suspended in mid‑air, the entire venue fell silent; it was not someone else but a Saint‑rank vocationalist, the Dragon‑Blood War God, Fu Cangli.

Fu Cangli scanned the crowd, smiled upon seeing Lu Zheng, but said nothing.

Fengdu City's lord Fang Xuanbin, accompanied by deputy lord Chen Dongming and other senior officials, ascended the platform to deliver a few minutes of motivational speech to the students below, after which the exam‑administration head read out the rules for the first round of assessment—the city‑level exam.

(End of Chapter)