Chapter 104: Chapter 101: End of the Freshman Trial
"What?!"
Lingyun’s eyes flew open, her rosy lips parted as she stared at Mu Chen’s pale face, completely speechless. ’Slay a King Beast... Slay a King Beast... Slay a King Beast...’ The words echoed endlessly in her mind. Exhaling deeply, Lingyun finally understood why her own instructor valued Mu Chen so highly. To slay a King Beast while in the Martial Master Realm... that was a King Beast! It would take even her so effort to kill one, and what was her cultivation realm? A Seventh-Ring Martial Sect! But what was his? A Sixth-Ring Martial Master! The gap between them made Lingyun shake her head with a bitter smile. ’A monster! He’s a true monster!’
Seeing Lingyun’s helpless expression, Tielin stroked his beard and said, "Actually, you’re exaggerating a little. While the boy is a monster, it’s still within the realm of comprehension. After all, that King Beast had only just advanced, so its realm was unstable and it hadn’t mastered many of its abilities. Furthermore, that King Beast was unfortunately a nocturnal Magical Beast. Under such intense sunlight, its cultivation was reduced by at least half. At most, it could only be considered a Five-Ring Martial Spirit Level Magical Beast. Still, he’s the first person I’ve ever seen kill a Five-Ring Martial Spirit Level beast. No! Perhaps you couldn’t find more than a handful of people like him on the entire continent!"
Tielin’s assessnt was quite fair. It wasn’t just that one would be hard-pressed to find another; even among the great Hidden Clans, there were likely few who could achieve such a feat.
Soon, news that Mu Chen and his team had been brought back by the Elders spread through the camp. Many sighed in dismay. At this point, three-quarters of the students had already been eliminated. Even the strongest among them had been knocked out. How many people could possibly pass this freshman trial in the end?
In truth, only Tie Mu, Tielin, and Lingyun knew that Mu Chen’s team had actually exceeded their mission objectives. Even if they hadn’t been "rescued," no Magical Beast would have dared to venture into that Profound Ice World. But how could they explain this to the other students? This secret belonged to the Xuanling Empire, and to their Outer Circle.
Over the remaining two days, more groups of students were eliminated one after another. However, among those eliminated, the squad leader Qiu He—the only student besides Mu Chen to have reached the Martial Master Realm—was nowhere to be seen.
「Ti passed quietly.」
It was finally the day all the students had been waiting for: the tenth day of the freshman trial. During the past two days, Mu Chen, Little Tiger, Mo Qing, Ye Shuangshuang, and Qing Lei had all fully recovered from their injuries. Little Tiger was as lively as ever. After waking up and learning that they had been eliminated, none of them seed particularly fazed and acted as they normally would. Only Mu Chen felt a pang of guilt. ’If it weren’t for my misjudgnt,’ he thought, ’the entire squad wouldn’t have been eliminated because of it.’
「In the afternoon.」
Instructor Ling Yun called all the eliminated students to gather outside the camp. A mont later, a total of 460 students stood there. This number ant that thirty students had passed the trial. Sure enough, just as the sun was about to set, thirty students, caked in mud with disheveled hair, walked out of the Demon Beast Prison. At that mont, all the students breathed a collective sigh of relief. Five hundred students had entered the Demon Beast Prison, and not a single one had t with a fatal accident. This was definitely more heartening than the news of anyone passing.
Watching the thirty youths standing ramrod straight, both Elder Tie Mu and Elder Tielin revealed gratified smiles. That’s right, this year’s freshman trial was the most difficult one in recent mory, yet surprisingly, the number of students who passed was the highest ever. If Mu Chen’s squad were included, the number of successful candidates this year would be double that of previous years.
Lingyun was visibly excited. She called out in a clear voice, "You all did an excellent job! From this day forward, the thirty of you can choose to enter either the Special Class or the Candidate Class. The difference between these two is that students of the Special Class will be permanently stationed in the academy’s Outer Circle, becoming subjects of focused training. The resources you will possess will not only be no less than those of the Holy Hall Students, but will in fact be double! Furthermore, your instructor will be . And as for my cultivation realm..."
As she spoke, Lingyun’s entire deanor abruptly changed. An incredibly sharp Primordial Power emanated from her body. Its appearance felt like a thousand swords converging, piercing into everyone’s hearts. Within the crowd, only Mu Chen saw it clearly: a golden, sword-shaped aura enveloped Lingyun. This could only an one thing: Instructor Ling Yun was a Gold Attribute Martial Artist, known for having the strongest attack power, and one who cultivated the Sword System at that.
DING!
A crisp chi echoed. A ripple suddenly appeared at Lingyun’s feet, and then, with a low HUM, seven blue Martial Rings flashed into existence. The seven Martial Rings were so solid, so dazzling, that all the students couldn’t help but turn pale. A Seventh-Ring Martial Sect! Even in the Holy Hall, the highest-ranking instructors were rely First-Ring Martial Sects. Those with higher cultivation realms had all beco Elders of the Holy Hall.
"This is my cultivation realm. As my students, I will teach you everything I know. But there is only one thing you must do: constantly improve yourselves. In my class, all kinds of trials will await you at every mont. Don’t think that just because you’ve entered the Special Class you can relax. If you fail to complete the required tasks in any trial, you may be eliminated and demoted to a regular student. In my eyes, there are no weaklings, only the strong!"
Empowered by Lingyun’s Gold Attribute Elental Power, her final words seed to carry the force of a sword Breaking the Azure Sky, engraving themselves deep into the hearts of every student present.
"However," Lingyun’s tone suddenly shifted, and she spoke with a disdainful look in her eyes, "I will also support you if you wish to enter the Candidate Class. After all, there you will have the opportunity to enter the Holy Hall. I think you all understand what entering the Holy Hall ans, so I won’t say more. Now, you face a choice. Choose to stay in the Outer Circle!" As she said this, a glint flashed in her eyes. "Or, choose to go to the Candidate Class! I’ll give you ten seconds to make your choice!"
With that, Lingyun stepped back. As she did, she glanced toward a group of people standing in a corner—it was Mu Chen’s team, who had been declared eliminated. The instant her gaze fell on them, Mu Chen looked back at her. This sharp Insight startled Lingyun. ’My gaze was extrely subtle,’ she thought, ’yet he still noticed it. And... he did it with his eyes closed.’
Her expression unchanging, she gave Mu Chen a slight nod and turned back around. To her delight, not a single one of the thirty students chose the Candidate Class; they all unanimously selected the Special Class. Seeing this, Mu Chen smiled. He had known this would be the result. ’Anyone who could pass this freshman trial is quick-witted. The resources are better than the Holy Hall’s, the instructor is stronger, and the competition is fiercer. If they still chose the Candidate Class, it would only prove that there’s sothing wrong with their heads.’
Nodding in satisfaction, Lingyun smiled. "You’ve all done well. In the future, you will discover just how right your decision was. Also, I have an announcent to make. The first class of Special Class students requires a minimum of thirty-five people. This is a requirent from the Dean. Given that only thirty students have passed, I will select one team from among the eliminated students to join the Special Class. This team will be the most outstanding among all those who were eliminated."
Lingyun looked at Mu Chen and smiled. "Mu Chen’s squad, step forward!"
Hearing Lingyun call their squad’s na, Mu Chen and his teammates were all stunned. They quickly stepped out from the crowd. The other students began to murmur among themselves, but before the chatter could even start, it was quashed by a single sharp command from Lingyun: "Quiet."
"I know you all have many questions about why I chose them instead of you. I will tell you the reason. Elder Tie Mu, please read out Mu Chen’s squad’s mission!" Lingyun said, looking sternly at the students behind her before turning her head to Elder Tie Mu.
Tie Mu nodded, took out a Scroll from his Storage Ring, and read, "Mu Chen’s squad. The mission trial requirents are as follows: Within ten days, kill one Level 4 Magical Beast!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone gasped. A Level 4 Magical Beast! That was a Magical Beast at the Martial Spirit Level! Was that a mission a person could even complete? It was simply a suicide mission! But before they could even recover from their shock, Elder Tie Mu spoke again.
"Within ten days, kill ten Third-level Magical Beasts!"
"T-Ten Third-level Magical Beasts..."
The students below were completely dumbfounded. Even the thirty who had successfully passed the trial stared at Mu Chen and his team in horror, all traces of pride gone from their faces.
"Third: within ten days, kill one hundred... Second-level Magical Beasts..."
At this point, no one had the slightest doubt anymore. This kind of mission was impossible for anyone to complete. Even Qiu He’s mission had only been to kill one Third-level Magical Beast and ten Second-level Magical Beasts. The difficulty of Mu Chen’s squad’s mission was countless tis greater.
Elder Tie Mu sneered, "I’m not finished. In just eight days, Mu Chen’s squad killed a total of one hundred and thirty Second-level Magical Beasts! And eleven Third-level Magical Beasts! (The bodies of two Greedy Wolves were blown to bits.)"
"One hundred and thirty Second-level Magical Beasts... eleven Third-level Magical Beasts... How did they do that?" one student murmured.
"That’s impossible. The academy must be making up excuses," another said with a sneer.
"Right, how could that be possible? Even if Mu Chen can defeat an Eighth-Ring Great Martial Master, there’s no way he could kill that many Magical Beasts in ten days!"
When a feat is so incredible it invites suspicion, the best way to dispel doubt is to present hard evidence!
Mu Chen remained silent. With a flash from the Storage Ring on his finger, the corpses of more than one hundred and thirty Second-level Magical Beasts—Moon-Loving Greedy Wolves—instantly appeared before the crowd. Staring at the mountain of wolf carcasses, countless people fell silent. Imdiately after, Mu Chen took out the other Storage Ring that held their supplies. Under the control of his Primordial Power, eleven even larger corpses of various Magical Beasts appeared with a deafening THUD. The powerful fluctuations of Primordial Power emanating from them proved that these were, indeed, Third-level Magical Beasts.
This ti, no one looked at them with doubt, no one gazed at them with disdain. A question now ford in their minds: ’Why would a team capable of killing so many Magical Beasts fail the trial? With this kind of power, they should have been more than capable of killing a Level 4 Magical Beast of the Martial Spirit Level.’
Elder Tie Mu’s next words answered their unspoken question. "If they hadn’t encountered a King-level Magical Beast, they absolutely would not have been eliminated. They would have completed their mission more perfectly than anyone! Because under the assault of a King-level Magical Beast, they held on for a full ten minutes, managing to survive until the Elder Council arrived. And the ones who rescued them were none other than Elder Tielin and I!"
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