Chapter 49：Annual Examination (6) (1/2)
Chapter 49 – Annual Examination (6)
'Here it comes!'
Qing Zhong laughed. The so-called Free-For-All exam he mentioned earlier was this. He had seen his relatives taking similar exams, and he was aware of the true nature of this event.
The fat cultivator glanced at the VIP stand of the mountain goose sect, looking at the top 10 outer disciples. His father had bribed some of them and told them to assist Qing Zhong during this test.
'This round will be simple!'
…
Qing Zhong wasn't the only one with an insider, Wei Yuan also relied on her elder brother, Wei Feng.
The little sister's eyes met with her brother's. They understood what they had to do.
'I don't want to cheat, but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry.'
Living in this world as a female cultivator was hard, especially for a demon like her. Wei Yuan had to protect her body as well as the secrets of the Wei family.
…
From the previous test, 2,000 candidates out of over 6,000 test-takers managed to pass the second round. Now, when they heard that they might also die in the 3rd round, only 1500 candidates decided to continue. They waited for Jian Meng to start the exam.
Jian Meng noticed the crowd in front of the stage. He glanced at the sect master to check if they were ready.
Jia Shan nodded, signaling that everything was set. Jian Meng turned toward the VIP stands and announced.
”Since this round of exam is a joint test, outer disciples will enter the space one hour before other candidates to show how the safe zone and the monster hunt worked. I invite all elites from both sects to the stage and demonstrate how you hunt monsters in the alternate dimension! Oh, by the way, you will be staying in that world for 3 days as well. You need to prove that this round is doable.”
Again, the trial involved the 20 top outer disciples. Xu Miao, Kang Yan, Nie Ping, Wei Feng, and 16 others leaped onto the stage after being called.
But when they got on the stage, Jian Meng reminded them again.
”This exam doesn't allow any candidate to bring a spatial ring, a weapon, or other items other than your clothes and armor. Please leave your items behind.”
Mountain Goose workers walked up the stage with several baskets. They placed them in front of the 20 disciples, so they could deposit their items here.
Xu Miao came here prepared. He already deposited magic weapons, refined Yin stones, refined Yang stones, a barrel of drinkable water, and two packs of dried food into his system inventory.
Refined Yin and Yang stones were stackable, so Xu Miao packed all spirit stones into the system inventory. Unfortunately, magic weapons, water barrel, and food packs occupied one slot each. Therefore, he couldn't bring too many of them.
Obediently, Xu Miao left his spatial ring and a pair of hidden knives in his deposit basket. As for the other disciples, they didn't look too happy with the rules.
The worker didn't take advantage of snooping into Xu Miao's spatial ring or his belongings. They collected them and packed all items in a box with his name. Then, sect elders sealed the packages in an array, making sure that none of them could be stolen.
With all the preparation done, Xu Miao and everybody else entered the circle arrays. As soon as they stood on them, their bodies were teleported into the monster realm. However, a semi-transparent screen appeared above their arrays, broadcasting the actions of each participant in a bird-eye view.
.
.
.
When Xu Miao reopened his eyes again after the nauseous teleportation, he found himself laying on a grassland.
Humongous dead grey trees surrounded the wide area of short weeds. Each of them was at least 10 meters in diameter, and over 100 meters tall. They were dried and withered, making the surrounding environment creepy.
The tree small branches were like hand-made spear tips, which protruded from the main branches, making these dead trees ominous.
Separating the grassland and the surrounding dead trees was a transparent dome, which protected everyone inside. This place was a safe zone that Jian Meng had mentioned.
But something was different than Xu Miao had imagined. The safe zone dome was only about 250 square meters, which was too small for all candidates to live here for 3 days.
As Xu Miao looked around, he couldn't find fellow outer disciples. He was alone in the safe zone.
'I thought some of them entered the arrays before me. Why am I alone?'
Looking around like an idiot for 5 minutes, Xu Miao concluded that they got separated by the exam organizers. He gave up looking for the girls and gazed into the dead forest.
Movements inside the forest were visible, but Xu Miao couldn't confirm what it was. He walked closer to the safe zone border to get a better look.
*Grrr*
The threatening groan of a beast could be heard. As Xu Miao looked closer, he found the red eyes of a 2-meter-tall dire wolf.
Instead of being panicked, Xu Miao snapped his finger, taunting the monster, ”Here, doggy, doggy. Come here. Let me see you.”
*ROAR!*
The monster wolf leaped and tried to bite Xu Miao's neck, but its head slammed onto the invisible wall.
*DONG*
The wolf was repelled and stunned because of its own force. It shook its head a couple times and glared at Xu Miao again.
”Seriously, I don't eat dogs. I'm against eating domesticated animals, you know?”
*GRRRR*