บท 49: Annual Examination (6)
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*
As if the wolf was provoked, it bared fangs and tried to snap Xu Miao's legs, hands, or neck, but it couldn't get through the dome barrier.
Xu Miao just sat there, looking at the frantic wolf as if he was looking at wild animals in a glass zoo. He recalled YouTube clips of tigers or lions trying to bite children on the other side of the glass.
Curious if he could kill the beast without leaving the safe zone, Xu Miao circulated his yin qi into his feet and tried to send an ice spike to skewer the wolf.
"???"
The Qi circulation got stuck at his feet. Xu Miao couldn't use Qi inside the safe zone.
'What if I use a physical attack instead?'
Instead of using a ranged skill, Xu Miao circulated his Qi and activated a body enhancement skill.
Demonic Body Strengthening!
100 strands of Yang Qi circulated throughout Xu Miao's body, increasing his muscle strength. Different from the last time, his Qi wasn't interrupted by the safe zone since it was an internal circulation.
Qi Circulation techniques were categorized into 5 major types.
The first one was basic manipulation, which was commonly used to open meridians or increase blood flow efficiency. Aside from making a cultivator refreshed, this circulation category was only useful for practicing basic Qi manipulation techniques or warming up the body.
The second type involved conjuring techniques. By sending a batch of qi strands into a cultivator's hands or feet, cultivators could detach their qi from their bodies, creating something with their energy. This type of circulation process was commonly used in many external techniques, such as summoning ice needles, Yang Flame, or conjuring type skills. All ice-based skills that Xu Miao could use belonged to this category.
The third type was an alteration, transformation, and transmutation circulation. This circulation technique could only be used by alchemists and shapeshifters like Xu Xiuying or high-rank cultivators as the complexity of Qi circulation required decades of training. However, once mastered, a cultivator could use their Qi to change material properties and elements. Top skills, such as rapid regeneration, eternal youth, and healing abilities fell into this type of Qi circulation technique.
The innate conversion was the fourth type of Qi Circulation technique. Qi could be converted into a spiritual substance or another sophisticated form of unique Qi, becoming another form of energy. Soul attack, mind attack, illusion, and puppeteering techniques required this type of Qi to fuel its usage. Similar to the third category, the only specialist, such as soul cultivators, necromancers, or spirit summoners could use this ability as it required decades of training and experience to master.
And lastly, the last category was physical enhancement, aura enchantment, and refining. This category was close to the first type as it was the next step of all basics. Cultivators could use their internal Qi to coat their bodies, increasing the strength of muscle and bone, making them faster and stronger. Most basic skills belonged to this category. Even a third-rate thug often used aura or body enhancement skills as these Qi Circulation techniques were useful.
Qi Hong used to teach Xu Miao the difference in Qi categories during the weekly lecture. The latter understood the concept, and he had an idea of how he could exploit the loophole inside the safe zone.
The safe zone blockaded the Qi usage in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th categories. However, it didn't block the internal circulation technique. Even though external aura, such as Qi Barrier, couldn't be used, Xu Miao could still consume his Yang Qi and enhance his physical power temporarily.
Xu Miao's pale skin reddened, and his muscle expanded.
*RIP*
The white robes were torn as they couldn't contain Xu Miao's expanding muscle. He took off his clothes and armor, which was too tight for him at the moment, revealing his bare naked upper body.
The V-shape and 6 packs were visible. The ripped beach body of Xu Miao didn't belong to a sex maniac, who never worked out.
After activating the body enhancement technique, Xu Miao could feel the strength similar to the time when he went berserk in the bar during his early day in this world. It was the same technique that the system activated it for him as a teaser.
"Let's see if I can beat you from here, doggy."
Xu Miao walked toward the monster wolf and threw a punch to its face.
*POEK*
The right hook connected with the wolf's left cheek. The giant monster was flung away by the impact and slammed onto a nearby tree.
This was a cheap shot. The wolf couldn't get inside the barrier, but Xu Miao was free to enter and leave any time. Thus, he used the loophole to hunt.
Xu Miao didn't exit the safe zone after delivering the first punch. He walked toward the wolf, but he still hugged around the edge of the barrier, waiting to see what the wolf could do.
The wolf slowly stood up, but its legs were wobbling. It growled and barked at Xu Miao.
The next second, it shot a dark bullet at him.
*DING* *DING*
The shadow bullets hit the safe zone barrier.
Xu Miao laughed. He was glad that he didn't follow up with another attack, or he would have been dead. Xu Miao taunted the wolf again, "Come here, little puppy. Is this all you can do?"
*GROWL*
The wolf leaped at him again slammed its face on the barrier. As soon as the monster got close, Xu Miao threw another right hook to its face, sending it back to the tree.
Xu Miao kicked the ground and left the safe zone. He pulled out the magic dadao and swung it while the wolf was down.
*SWUA*
He beheaded the dire wolf on the spot.
Floating number "540" kept following Xu Miao around and stayed on top of his head. This was the combined score of his previous two test results.
*WHOOM*
After the wolf had been killed, Xu Miao's score was updated. From 540, it increased to 550.
Xu Miao didn't care about the changes. He dragged the wolf's dead body into the safe zone right away, securing the only meat source for himself. He left the wolf's head outside, so the blood scent could attract more monsters to the area. Then, Xu Miao could use this cheap trick to hunt monsters without stepping outside of the safe zone.
'Eep! I don't like dog meat, but I need food. Eh, it's not like I need food, but I can use this to bargain with other test takers.'
Everything Xu Miao had done didn't escape the eyes of the other candidates, who was watching his actions from the very beginning.
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บท 50: Free-For-All Rumble (1)
Chapter 50 – Free-For-All Rumble (1)
Xu Miao and other outer disciples didn't know. There were changes in this exam.
Jia Shan and Xu Xiuying were aware of the deals under the table. To prevent favoritism and unfair advantage, they arranged multiple safe zones instead of one, but they made these areas smaller. Then, the arrays randomized the destination, sending all disciples to a different location.
With this setup, they couldn't band together and took advantage of others like previous tests.
Wei Yuan, Qing Zhong, and all candidates were shocked that everyone would be separated during the test. Moreover, the safe zones were too small for a large group.
Everyone paid attention to how all separated outer disciples fared in the alternate world.
Kang Yan and the Virgin Yin disciples began exploring the outer perimeter and cut down woods with their abilities, trying to secure resources to build make-shift weapons.
Wei Feng, Nie Ping, and mountain goose disciples were all hot-blood youths. They rushed into the wild and hunted nearby monster beasts right away.
But Xu Miao's cowardice tactic attracted all attention from the crowd. His actions revealed an exploitable loophole of the safe zone, which made hunting easy and safe.
Some noble clansmen scoffed as they were disgusted by Xu Miao's slyness. Yet, small families and weak candidates appreciated the hints. Many people admired his intelligence and shrewdness.
"As expected of a genius. This is how you think outside of the box."
"Outside the box, my ass! Xu Miao is a coward!"
"Intelligence is one of a cultivator's skills. You can't look down on his because of his wits."
"But that's totally cheating! There's no honor in that!"
"Honor can't bring food to the table! True cultivators lie, cheat, steal, and kill to make a living!"
Opinions polarized, but the majority of experienced cultivators approved of Xu Miao's way. In real combats and real life, a trivial insight like this could make a difference between life and death.
While they were talking and commenting on Xu Miao's actions, the latter pulled a magic saber out of nowhere and beheaded the wolf monster.
"Huh?"
"I thought spatial rings are prohibited in the test."
"He also snuck in a spatial ring? He's cheating again?"
"So cheating, much hax, 10/10, wow!"
Not only the spectators were astonished by Xu Miao's cheats, Jian Meng, Jia Shan, Wei Huang, and other elders were baffled how this young master managed to smuggle a weapon in that realm.
Aside from the Mountain Goose elders, nobody was aware that the arrays on the stage could also detect hidden items, such as spatial rings, small weapons, and miscellaneous objects in the clothes of the cultivators inside the formation. It would only teleport test-takers, their clothes, and their armors to the alternate realm. Even if they hid any foreign items inside their pockets or their cavities, none of them could smuggle them into that world.
Jia Shan frowned while he watched Xu Miao's screen.
'That's clearly a low-graded magic weapon. The array didn't detect a spatial ring in his clothes, then how did he smuggle it to that world?'
Even the 7th stage grandmaster didn't know how Xu Miao brought in a weapon. He glanced at Xu Xiuying, who might know something about it.
Xu Xiuying peered at Jia Shan and shook her head. She, too, didn't expect her adopted son to be this capable.
Jia Shan sighed and turned to the screens. Since Xu Miao was capable of smuggling a foreign item into that realm, he couldn't help but consider it as one of the disciple's skills.
'Exploiting the rules, laws, and restrictions is one of a cultivator's skills. It seems that I can't blame him.'
The grandmaster ignored the blatant cheat and continued watching the others.
Since Jia Shan and Xu Xiuying didn't act against Xu Miao's action, the crowd assumed that everything was legal. Everyone tried to find a way to sneak in items, hidden weapons, and spatial rings into the realm.
…
An hour passed.
Jian Meng announced that all candidates could enter the alternate realm now. All contestants got on the stage. Their smiling face revealed their confidence, but their bulk clothes gave away their hidden motives. Everyone carried secret weapons and supplies in their clothes.
When Jian Meng told them to leave their spatial rings and weapons behind, they didn't deposit everything to the staff. Everyone smuggled at least 2 or 3 things, planning to bring them to the other side.
The elders didn't stop them even though their intention was so obvious. They allowed the candidates to try their luck since the arrays would filter out unauthorized items.
Everyone got on the arrays, and they got teleported to the monster realm.
*WHOOSH*
*CLANK* *CLANK*
Several items were left behind after the teleportation. Bags of food, hidden weapons, spatial rings, and mysterious artifacts dropped on the ground.
Seeing the items, Jia Shan shouted, "Confiscate those items! We've told everyone that test-takers must deposit all items and spatial rings before entering the realm. Violators will be punished, and that punishment is item confiscation!"
Sect disciples grinned as they proceeded to collect the leftover items.
The families of the test-takers booed and protested right away.
"Hey! That's my clan's artifact! Leave it or else!"
"Those are my son's items! You have no right to claim it!"
"Return them to me, or I'll kill you!"
"Xu Miao can cheat, but my children can't!? This test is rigged! I demand our items back!"
The crowd was in an uproar, trying to climb the stage and get their items back.
But Jia Shan and Xu Xiuying were there.
*BOOM*
The two masters activated their aura. Their presence terrified the protesting crowd.
In an instant, everything was silent.
Using this opportunity, Jia Shan declared, "Although cheating is one of a cultivator's skills, it also poses risks. Once caught, one should expect a dire consequence. I know that you're upset because Xu Miao could smuggle an item inside the realm, but your children couldn't. Since Xu Miao managed to avoid the array's detection, he earned the right to cheat. As for your children, they got caught by the arrays. Therefore, you should obediently accept the consequences, or I will trap your children in that realm forever."
Like a tyrant, Jia Shan threatened the families and friends of the test-takers.
The threat worked like magic. Everyone was scared of Jia Shan's strength, and they didn't want to lose their children in the monster realm. After all, they sent their children here, hoping to have a connection with Jia Shan's sect or Xu Xiuying's sect. As illogical as it might be, everyone yielded.
The mindset of the local people was different than the modern world's citizens. As long as a cultivator held enough power, no matter how absurd the cultivator demand or lies, the weaker ones had to comply and believe in it. Or else, their lives would perish.
.
.
.
Xu Miao had finished draining the dead wolf's blood and dissecting it, securing a mysterious red crystal, a monster core. Like other disciples from the same sect, Xu Miao also started cutting woods to make a shelter.
As Xu Miao had the magic dadao, he easily cut down dead trees. Three giant trees had been chopped into smaller pieces and piled inside the safe zone.
The cheating young master wiped his sweat. Crafting skills in real life was harder than games as it drained his stamina, especially when he processed the giant trees into usable lumber.
*WHOOSH*
*WHOOSH*
*WHOOSH*
While Xu Miao was busy, fifty test-takers appeared in Xu Miao's safe zone. They collapsed on the ground at first, but they regained their consciousness in a minute.
"Blech! The teleport is always nauseous!"
"So, this is the safe zone. Wait, Xu Miao?"
"Wow, I'm in the same zone as Xu Miao. This test will be easy!"
Everyone was happy when they saw Xu Miao's face. On the other hand, the latter's expression distorted as if they had invaded his privacy.
Xu Miao ignored them and continued what he was doing. After all, he needed a proper shelter to sleep, so he could enter the Isolation Training Space in peace.
Unfortunately, the newcomers created a lot of noise and commotion.
"Hey! My items are gone!"
"Huh? Shit! My treasure sword is gone, too!"
"I-I thought I've brought food with me. Where is it!?"
"No! M-My artifact! My family's heirloom!!"
The safe zone got noisy. At first, the commotion only involved the newcomers. Soon, the trouble reached Xu Miao.
A group of five men walked to Xu Miao. They showed respect to Xu Miao by cupping their fists to greet him.
"Young master Xu Miao. My name is Yu Lin, and these people are my friends. I've seen your impressive skills and talent in the previous tests, and I would like to form an alliance with you during these 3 days."
Yu Lin was a thin young man in his early 20s. His clean robes, kemp tied hair, lanky stature, and smooth skin belonged to a scholar rather than a cultivator. Yet, he exuded the air of a 2nd stage cultivator at level 7.
This young scholar was also short as his height was merely 165cm. As for his weight, Xu Miao guessed that it shouldn't be over 50kg. Yu Lin's face was on the ugly side as his ill proportion round nose and red zits ruined his face and charisma.
The four friends behind him were burly men in their late 20s. As the test only allowed people under the age of 30 to enter, Yu Lin's parents sent three hundred young bodyguards to take the same exam and protect him, preparing for this kind of joint test. Unfortunately, only four managed to regroup with their boss. Their cultivation base was level 10 of the 2nd stage.
Xu Miao peered at them for a moment and shrugged, "Suit yourself."
Yu Lin laughed, "Thank you very much for your understanding! Then, let us help you build your new resident…"
"No need. I'm about to finish making my camp. You should focus on building yours instead of mine."
"Oh, of course. But we would like to ask you for a favor."
"What?" Xu Miao didn't look at them anymore. He only concentrated on making pillars with his lumber.
"We would like to borrow your weapon for a moment. You see, we tried to smuggle items to this realm, but none of them was teleported here with us."
Xu Miao waved his hand, chasing the people away, "Can't do that. I'm still using it to cut wood. Use your skill to cut those trees yourself, can't you?"
Yu Lin frowned. He turned toward his bodyguards and gestured them with his hand.
The four bodyguards immediately surrounded Xu Miao. As they had learned of the safe zone's loophole, they activated their inner Qi and strengthened their bodies, preparing for combat.
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice, young master Xu. When I say that I want to borrow your weapon, a weakling 1st stage trash like you should obediently hand it over."
"Oh?"
Xu Miao stopped what he was doing. He turned toward the group.
The murderous spark in Xu Miao's pupils which he had been suppressing since the bar fight appeared again along with the evil crescent smiling face.
"Excuse me, what did you say again?"
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