52 Special Assessment and Rules
It was a little different from what Lin Shen had expected.
He had originally thought the examination would consist of races like the competition he attended before, but it was far from what he had expected.
The form of this year’s examination was “formation survival”,
and the name of the formation was “fog formation”!
At the start of the examination, all the candidates would enter the formation. What they needed to do was to continuously obtain more points while trying to stay in the formation.
There are three ways to obtain points.
The first was to kill the fog beasts.
The fog beasts were guardian creatures condensed by the fog formation. They would continuously attack any creature in the formation.
The examinee would get one point for killing a Level 1 Qi Transformation fog beast, and two points for killing a Level 2 Qi Transformation fog beast, and so on.
The second method was relatively special. With each minute a candidate stayed in the formation, they would obtain one point.
The last method was to find the altar that existed somewhere in the formation.
There was a formation flag on the altar. Those who held a flag for a minute would get 200 points.
Every examinee who entered the formation would receive a jade talisman in a moment. The jade talisman contained divine intelligence. Not only could it record the number and strength of the fog beasts killed and convert them into points, but it could also sense that the examinee was in fatal danger. When that happened, it could also take the initiative to release a protective wall to protect the examinee and ensure they wouldn’t die.
Of course, once the latter situation occurred, it meant the examinee was eliminated and couldn’t continue to obtain points.
In the end, the candidates who ranked in the top 200 would become disciples of the Nine Yang Academy!
What was worth mentioning was that examinees weren’t allowed to attack other examinees in the fog formation. Violators would be directly eliminated and leave the formation.
The only exception was the area with the altar.
In this area, examinees could attack each other without any punishment.
In addition, the fog formation prohibited the use of all cultivation treasures, talismans, pills, and other external items, excluding storage items and ordinary weapons.
“Formation survival? I’ve never heard of such a form of examination!”
“You can obtain points as long as you stay in the formation? This rule is too strange!”
“Forget about the first two, what’s with the third method? The person who finds the formation flag can get 200 points directly. It’s the same as killing ten fog beasts at the fifth level of Qi Transformation. This is purely a test of luck. Isn’t it unfair?”
“You don’t understand. That’s called one’s fate. Apart from talent and hard work, fate is also a very important factor in the path of cultivation. All the people who can make great achievements will have some great opportunity written in their fate.”
“That’s right. Luck is also a part of one’s strength.”
“We can only attack other candidates in the altar’s area…”
Discussions seemed to go on and on.
The form of the examination this time was clearly beyond many people’s expectations.
Many people, including the disciples of influential families, looked surprised.
Lin Shen saw this and asked Yang Zhongyi, “Didn’t your disciples of influential families get information on the examination in advance?”
“Of course not!”
Yang Zhongyi chuckled.
“The influential families aren’t the only force in the Nine Suns Sect. How can they let us do whatever we want? Moreover, our families disdain doing such dirty things. Don’t think too low of us.”
Only then did Lin Shen understand.
However, he heard Yang Zhongyi say,
“But I’ve heard of this fog formation before.”
Lin Shen’s interest was piqued. “Tell me in detail!”
“I don’t know much either. I only know the main power of the fog formation comes from the ‘treasure fog’ gathered in the formation. This fog can condense into fog beasts that are no different from actual spiritual beasts, which will attack cultivators who enter the formation.
“The fewer people there are in the formation, the more concentrated the treasure fog will be, and the more powerful the condensed fog beasts will become. At first, they’re only at the Qi Transformation Stage. When there are only two or three people left in the formation, perhaps they’ll encounter Long Breath Stage fog beasts!���
Lin Shen was enlightened.
No wonder the second method of obtaining points depended on the time spent in the formation.
The examination this time wasn’t only to test the candidate’s combat ability and luck, but also their survivability in battle.
“Silence!”
A clear shout resonated in the air, suppressing everyone’s discussion.
Ke Ya’s gaze was like a sword as it swept across the crowd. Everywhere it passed, be it ordinary students or disciples of influential families, they all shut their mouths.
“The specific rules are listed in the water screen above. Those who have objections can choose to withdraw!”
Ke Ya’s solemn expression softened after he waited for a moment and saw no one come forward,
“Very good. Since that’s the case, let’s begin the examination. Master Cai, please.”
Cai Zhonggu nodded slightly. With a flip of his wrist, a formation disk filled with talismans appeared in his palm.
Without any movement, the formation disk suddenly emitted a blinding light that instantly filled every inch of the square.
The examinees felt their vision go blank in an instant, and they subconsciously covered their eyes.
By the time the light dissipated, the 500 examinees in the square had already disappeared.
Cai Zhonggu then reached out to fiddle with the formation disk. In an instant, the void in front of him surged and quickly condensed into a huge water curtain that was more than ten meters wide and thirty meters long.
The water screen was divided into small areas, and light and shadow surged on it. It was the scene of the examinees inside the fog formation.
Looking at the image on the water screen, Cai Zhonggu nodded slightly with a smile on his face.
...
“There are many good candidates this year. They’re probably the best batch in the past ten years!”
Ke Ya nodded in agreement.
“Indeed. Zhao Xueying, Yan Xing, Xue Feng, and Chong Yanhe. Any one of these four people is good enough to win first place in the previous exams, but they came together this year.
“This just shows our sect is prospering. The disciples our academy recruits are only getting more outstanding every year. In my opinion, this is a good thing. Our academy will probably be the champion in the next grand competition!”
“That’s true.” A smile appeared on Ke Ya’s face. He suddenly changed the topic. “Who do you think will win first place this year?”
“Well …”
Cai Zhonggu looked hesitant. After thinking for a while, he said carefully,
“These four people are all at the eighth level of Qi Transformation. Their cultivation levels are almost the same. The only thing that differs is their martial arts achievements.
“As far as I know, these four people have all reached Mastery in the Blazing Sun Palm. There’s no difference there. The key is still the level of the other martial techniques they have mastered.”
Ke Ya nodded slightly.
All of these four people were talented, it was indeed difficult to determine the winner without a real battle.
...
However, the only thing they could be sure of was that the top scorer of this year’s exam would definitely be among these four.
“In that case, let’s wait and see.”
Ke Ya didn’t say anything else as he stared at the water curtain.
Cai Zhonggu also collected his thoughts and looked at the water curtain.