A student below was no longer able to tolerate it: “Teacher, what exactly is the comprehensive exam testing about?”
Xiao Qi replied indifferently, “I can’t tell you. You can only judge it for yourself.”
A test with details that could not be divulged and only known as being life-threatening.
Lan Xuanyu’s trio was rather calm and collected after inferring from the clues given by Ji Hongbin.
“Alright, you have one hour. After an hour, all of you have to give your answers. But what I can tell you is that this isn’t an act. All of you will have to face a real battle.” With that, Xiao Qi turned and left. The entire screen then blacked out. All of the participants found that their Soul Guidance communication devices had broken down, obviously to prevent them from communicating with their teachers.
Qian Lei leaned both arms on the table and rested his fat face on them. “We still have to wait for an hour. How boring!”
Just then, Bing Tianliang, Lin Donghui, and Yu Tian came over. As Bing Tianliang looked toward Lan Xuanyu, Lan Xuanyu discovered that the current Bing Tianliang was much calmer than before.
“Lan Xuanyu, what do you think?” Bing Tianliang got straight to the point.
Lan Xuanyu reversed the question, “What do you think? Liang Shushi’s team…”
Lan Xuanyu: “Then you…”
Bing Tianliang sighed, “If I was alone, I would have gone with her. However, I have my brothers, too. I can’t abandon them.” While saying that, he turned and looked toward Yu Tian and Lin Donghui.
Yu Tian and Lin Donghui both raised their hands and patted him on the shoulders. They knew the turmoil in Bing Tianliang’s heart for the past two days to the extent that he did not perform as expected in the individual test.
Lan Xuanyu: “We will participate in the comprehensive exam.”
Bing Tianliang: “Yes. I believe our previous agreement still holds.”
Lan Xuanyu nodded his head and replied, “Of course. On the premise that you guys listen to me.”
“Ok.” Bing Tianliang nodded his head. Lan Xuanyu’s reply was enough. He no longer stayed to speak further and brought Yu Tian and Lin Donghui back to their seats.
Lan Xuanyu revealed a smile. It’s definitely a good thing for them as well. Bing Tianliang was strong, while Yu Tian and Lin Donghui were not weak either. Furthermore, they had the foundation of working together before with a degree of trust between each other. The strength of six was definitely better than three.
Right at this time, Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin walked over.
“We are participating, what about you guys?” Lan Mengqin spoke with a hint of arrogance.
“We’re joining as well.” Qian Lei immediately spoke up.
Lan Mengqin glanced at him: “Fatty, are you sure you’re up for it?”
Qian Lei replied without hesitation, “Of course, why can’t I? I’m strong and have my uses.”
Dong Qianqiu turned to Lan Xuanyu: “If the comprehensive exam allows us to form teams, let’s work together.”
“Ok.” Lan Xuanyu admired her prettiness and nodded.
There’s eight of us now. Lan Mengqin, Dong Qianqiu, and Bing Tianliang. They were all very strong. At the very least, they were ranked among the best in the competition. With them around, Lan Xuanyu felt that their safety had increased substantially.
“However, you have to listen to my orders.” Lan Xuanyu added.
Dong Qianqiu frowned slightly and turned to Lan Mengqin.
Lan Mengqin looked at Lan Xuanyu with surprise: “You, command us? Did I hear wrongly? In terms of cultivation, it should be me being in command.”
Lan Xuanyu replied indifferently: “Command capability is unrelated to an individual’s strength.”
Lan Mengqin: “Then what you’re saying is you think that you’re smarter than us?”
Lan Xuanyu: “Something like that. If you’re not willing, then we don’t have to form a team. Otherwise, a team consisting of strong individuals in disagreement will definitely be weaker than a team with weaker individuals but are cohesive.”
He did not conceal his thoughts or made any attempts to be indirect and simply spoke what he thought. Lan Mengqin was definitely strong, but if she was unwilling to take orders because of her strength in an actual battle situation, it would easily cause issues in Lan Xuanyu’s decision making. He would rather not take her along.
Just like how the wingman became a provoking plane…
It was because of his trust in the teacher that caused Lan Xuanyu to fall into the predicament.
“Qianyiu, your friend’s ego is rather big!” Lan Mengqin’s glare toward him was no longer as nice.
“Elder sister Mengqin, listen to me first.” Dong Qianqiu looked at her and spoke sincerely, “Elder sister Mengqin, you are undoubtedly the strongest—that, we can all agree. However, I believe in him in terms of command. Don’t be anxious, wait for me to finish. Elder sister Mengqin, think about it, the three of them are all two Soul Rings. No matter how unique their Martial Souls are, how do you think they managed to come so far into the competition just by relying on their strength?”
“But they were able to be the champions in Heaven Luo Planet qualifiers, and they even won over many other powerful Soul Masters in the selections and obtained first place. Is that something achievable with their strength? The crux of their victories lies in Lan Xuanyu’s ability to command. I have once fought alongside them, and he is trustworthy in terms of commanding. Elder sister, do you trust me? If you do, then agree to his request. If we all work together, we will definitely enter Shrek.”
Lan Xuanyu looked at Dong Qianqiu in shock and turned to see Lan Mengqin’s change in expression. In fact, he had thought of giving up on Lan Mengqin and thought of a way to pull Dong Qianqiu over. After all, they could summon her through the Gate of Summoning. But who would have thought that Dong Qianqiu would actually speak up for him with such sincerity.
Lan Mengqin looked at Dong Qianqiu then looked at Lan Xuanyu: “I don’t believe him, but I believe you. So be it, then; I still feel that he is unreliable. Let’s go.”
“En.” Dong Qianqiu looked at Lan Xuanyu once more but did not say anything.
The following hour was rather boring. Many teams established ties with each other. After all, many of the participants all came from the same academies. It was extremely normal that they knew each other.
When Xiao Qi returned and asked if anyone was giving up, no one chose to do so.
After all, they were in Shrek Academy! Who would willingly choose to give up after getting through the difficult tests? Furthermore, many of the students were ignorant and had no fear toward the threat to their lives. This was an academy; would there truly be a life threatening situation for them?
This was the so-called newborn calf being unafraid of the tiger. All of them were proud children that had not even stepped out into the world and did not care much about the so-called threat. They were even eager to try it out.
“Since no one is giving up, then we will move out the day after tomorrow to the testing grounds. Your teachers will stay and wait in Shrek. When you go back, you cannot regret.” At this point, Xiao Qi paused for a moment before continuing his sentence, “Every person has to be responsible for their own choice.”
“All of you must remember Teacher Xiao’s words. Everyone has to be responsible for your own choices. Since all of you have chosen, Teacher can only support you. Furthermore, before the test, I will not tell your parents about your choice, in case it affects all of you.” Ji Hongbin spoke solemnly.
His gaze turned to Lan Xuanyu: “Children, I have to emphasize this once again. Although it is a test, it is no game or play. It will be a real battlefield there with real battles. All of you will experience life and death situations. This is neither a simulated world, nor are you all in simulated cabins. If you die, you die, and there’s no way of reviving.”
“The reason why Shrek Academy has set the comprehensive exam as such is because they are afraid that all of you have gotten used to cultivating and fighting inside the simulation cabin and treat death as nothing. I can assure you with full certainty that every comprehensive exam has deaths. Every person only has a life to live, and if you die, you truly die. Especially for you, Xuanyu. As the team captain, you are not only responsible for yourself but for your teammates. You have to be careful, really careful. Even if you can’t pass the exam, you have to come back alive. Only by living can you temper yourselves once again. Understand?”
“Understood. Teacher, we will definitely be careful.” Seeing how serious Ji Hongbin was, Lan Xuanyu immediately agreed to his request.
Liu Feng’s expression became solemn as well. He had experienced what was called a true battle. He had experienced what was the true reality of breaking bones, and the true pain of being unable to do anything under the impairment. He was now unsure if he could endure the same experience again. He was not even willing to recall the experience.
The next day, the three continued to train. Training in Shrek Academy was much faster than anywhere else. It was especially so for Lan Xuanyu.
Aside from eating, Lan Xuanyu spent most of his time meditating. Meditating for a short period of time here provided him a lot of benefits.