Chapter 15

The giant snakes on the four pillars opened their mouths simultaneously, spewing out clusters of mist so pale it was nearly transparent. All the examinees felt their consciousness blur for a moment, and when they regained clarity, they found themselves in a lush, verdant valley, surrounded by rolling hills and scattered patches of dense woodland.

The spot where Little Wei Yuan stood was near the foot of a mountain; the terrain ahead was quite open, though it had distinct undulations. The hill behind him was about twenty zhang high, which counted as tall in this small world and served as the high ground for the surrounding area. According to military manuals, this was a place of strategic importance that must be contested.

Without hesitation, Little Wei Yuan immediately ran up the hill to get a clear view of the surrounding situation. During his run, a flash of light passed over his body, and his original clothes transformed into a set of dark yellow combat gear. After reaching the hilltop, Little Wei Yuan could see several dozen other examinees within his field of vision, each separated by several dozen zhang. It seemed that after entering the illusionary realm, all examinees were scattered, and no one knew where they would appear.

The clothes of all examinees were divided into two colors: either sky blue or dark yellow, with teams distinguished by their attire.

At this moment, several examinees suddenly had armor appear on their bodies, in various styles.

An illusory treasure chest also appeared before Little Wei Yuan. Inside, one side held several sets of armor in different styles, while the other side contained various weapons. The armor and weapons looked to be only the size of a palm, but as soon as Little Wei Yuan reached out to take one, it would turn into a real object and be worn automatically. There was also a grid on the chest lid, embedded with an elixir. This elixir could replenish stamina and treat minor injuries; when to use it was entirely up to the examinee.

Before Little Wei Yuan had even chosen his equipment, he saw two pillars of light shooting into the sky, one in the north and one in the south. Beneath each pillar of light was a small mountain; these were the vital locations that the two teams needed to defend. If a vital location was captured and held by the opposing side, the team would be judged as having lost.

With the teams divided and the vital locations revealed, the examinees took immediate action, and those in different colored attire began to gather at their respective vital locations. Those gathering under the red pillar of light in the north were all blue-clad disciples, while those under the golden pillar of light in the south were all yellow-clad examinees. When the two sides met on the way, most simply exchanged cold glances before passing each other by, not engaging in combat midway.

After watching for a while, Little Wei Yuan understood that this was the "way of gathering the masses" that Li Zhi had spoken of. Li Zhi had selected his people before the martial test, organized his team, and upon entering the illusionary realm, immediately gathered and formed up at the southern vital location to decide the outcome through military formations.

But Li Zhi was not the only capable person; the opponent in the north was no less formidable than Li Zhi, and the number of examinees gathered there was even greater. It was just unclear how many people from the opposing side were hidden within each team.

In the blink of an eye, the main forces of both sides had completed their assembly, but several dozen scattered examinees remained in the center of the testing ground, each with a look of bewilderment. At a glance, these people were just like Little Wei Yuan, belonging to those abandoned by both sides. Some of the sharper ones finally reacted and hurriedly moved toward the team corresponding to their own clothing color, while the majority still stood foolishly in the middle, not knowing what they should be doing.

Little Wei Yuan did not immediately choose his weapons and armor, preparing to first see what both sides intended to do before making a decision.

This small hill was considered tall in the vicinity and offered a good view, allowing him to see most of the battlefield, with only the main camps in the north and south being unclear. In this world, people's field of vision was limited; having to cross the central zone to see the opposing side's camp deployment seemed to be an intentional setting of the illusionary realm.

The hill where Little Wei Yuan stood was located on the western edge of the illusionary realm, with a dense forest behind it. Within the forest, a rising screen of light could be seen; that was the boundary of the illusionary realm. There were many rolling mountains in the north and south, but in the flat terrain of the center, there was a small highland that was several zhang higher than its surroundings, which also belonged to the vital ground that must be contested.

At this time, a dozen or so examinees rushed out from both the north and south sides. They were dressed in light armor, agile in movement, and spread out in a fan shape, moving toward each other.

Little Wei Yuan watched from afar and verified it with the military tactics he had learned: "These are the scouts. Right, both sides must first clarify the terrain and the opponent's deployment before deciding on a strategy."

The scouts of both sides occasionally met, but they all cautiously passed each other by without directly engaging.

The rules of the martial test were vague, but one thing was certain: the longer one lived, the higher the evaluation. If one died right at the start, anyone with a brain knew the score certainly wouldn't be high.

Little Wei Yuan was watching the movements of both sides when suddenly a blue figure, swift as a galloping horse, rushed onto the hilltop. This blue-clad disciple was thin and small, wearing leather armor, carrying a long sword, and looking at Little Wei Yuan with a fierce expression. Clearly, seeing that Little Wei Yuan had no weapons or armor, he had developed murderous intent.

Little Wei Yuan raised his eyebrows slightly and watched the man quietly. He was still observing at the moment, but if someone came to throw their life away early, Little Wei Yuan wouldn't mind sending them on their way.

It was just that the man looked at Little Wei Yuan, who was a head taller than him, and felt a tremor in his heart. In the end, he didn't dare to make a move, only glared fiercely at Little Wei Yuan before rushing down the hill and heading south to scout.

No sooner had the blue-clad examinee left than another yellow-clad examinee came up to the hilltop. That man also carried a long sword, looked at Little Wei Yuan's attire, and said politely: "If you don't have a team yet, Brother, you might as well go see Brother Li Zhi. With your bearing, Brother, you should be able to get a position in the team."

The man didn't wait for Little Wei Yuan's answer, said "Take care, Brother," and continued to scout toward the north.

In a short while, four scouts from both sides had passed by Little Wei Yuan.

There was no help for it; this small hill was simply too conspicuous, and scouts passing nearby had to come up to take a look. Naturally, those from the blue team all had murderous intent toward Little Wei Yuan, and those from the yellow team weren't actually any better. However, after seeing Little Wei Yuan's height and build, the scouts of both sides tacitly chose to turn a blind eye to him.

Even counting the Red Tide Sect in this unified examination, the recruitment quota was only equivalent to half the total number of examinees. Those like Little Wei Yuan, who at a glance clearly didn't even have a team, belonged to the batch that had already been eliminated in advance. And scouts counted as a position, more or less, one level higher than the common soldiers in the military formation, so the scouts all felt that their quota was promising, and no one was willing to tangle with a nobody like Little Wei Yuan at this time.

At this moment, Little Wei Yuan felt he had observed enough, so he summoned the equipment treasure chest again. From the start of the martial test until now, Little Wei Yuan had seen more than thirty examinees, and nine out of ten were carrying a long sword in their hands. Zhang Sheng had once taught basic knowledge of weapons, and among them, the evaluation of the sword was: the sword is the weapon of the Son of Heaven, possessing both beauty and majesty, but its symbolic significance is greater than its actual power. When commoners fight on the battlefield, whoever uses a sword is an idiot.

However, clearly, the vast majority of examinees liked the weapon of the Son of Heaven.

So Little Wei Yuan reached out and grasped a long spear.

Once this spear left the treasure chest, it immediately became a zhang and two feet long, with a spearhead a foot and a half long, and two small branches half a foot long extending from where it connected to the shaft, forming a cross shape. The spearhead and shaft of this spear were integrated, and the entire body was engraved with ancient and simple patterns; it was unknown what material it was made of.

As the long spear entered his hand, Little Wei Yuan's arm sank. This spear was quite heavy, weighing several dozen jin, and with Little Wei Yuan's physique, he would have to use sixty or seventy percent of his strength to wield it freely.

(End of chapter)