"There are so many people!"
Liu Siyan stared wide-eyed at her surroundings, somewhat surprised.
The huge square was packed with people, and everywhere you looked there were candidates holding bronze medals.
"After all, there are nearly five thousand candidates."
Zhang Xiaoyun said with a smile.
Since their pet successfully evolved and broke through to the second tier, both she and Liu Siyan have been much more relaxed.
I no longer worry about gains and losses like I did before.
In fact, the period leading up to a major exam is often a concentrated period of rapid improvement in a student's abilities.
Many candidates' pets successfully evolved during this period, advancing from Tier 1 to Tier 2.
These lucky students have basically secured their places at Ningjiang College; the only difference is their final grades and which class they will be assigned to.
Those pets that remain at the first level will have to work incredibly hard during the assessment.
It was exactly eight o'clock.
A group of teachers from Ningjiang College walked into the square.
The leader was a middle-aged man in his forties with a dignified appearance.
"Quiet!"
As soon as he stood still, the middle-aged man spoke in a deep voice.
He seemed to have used some kind of soul magic; although his voice wasn't loud, it clearly reached the ears of everyone present.
The noisy whispers in the square immediately disappeared.
"I am Gao Wenbai, the person in charge of this Ningjiang College admissions assessment."
"The admissions assessment will be conducted soon. Without further ado, everyone sit down on the ground, activate the key to enter the virtual realm, and all the instructions regarding the assessment will be given inside."
Gao Wenbo's decisive actions stunned all the candidates.
Everyone immediately did as instructed.
Not long after.
The entire square fell completely silent.
All the candidates sat quietly cross-legged on the ground.
A strange fluctuation enveloped the entire square.
...
When Lin Ze opened his eyes again, he found himself in an open field.
There was no one around, not even a soul in sight; he was all alone.
A hundred meters away is a dense forest.
"Now let's explain the assessment rules."
Gao Wenbo's majestic voice echoed from the void.
"The assessment uses a point system. In the forest in front of you, there are a large number of ferocious beasts ranging from the first to the third tier. You can get different points for each beast you kill, depending on its strength level."
"You can check the specific points for each level later."
"You may encounter other candidates in the forest, but forming teams or intentionally providing any form of assistance to other candidates is strictly prohibited. Violators will be disqualified from the assessment!"
"In addition, you must cross this forest and reach the plain on the other side within five hours. Anyone who fails to cross the forest within the time limit will be deemed to have failed the test, regardless of their score!"
"Once you leave the forest, you can never go back."
"In addition, there is a stone tablet on the plain opposite the forest. Anyone who successfully touches the stone tablet will receive 500 points and a special reward from the academy."
"At the end of the assessment, the top 1,000 students will be admitted to the college, and the rest will be eliminated."
"These 1,000 admitted students will be divided into different classes based on their scores, which will affect your treatment at the college. So, do your best to get more points in the assessment!"
"Now, I declare the assessment open!"
As the words fell, Lin Ze suddenly felt a slight warmth on the back of his right hand.
He looked down and saw that there was a black number on the back of his hand.
'0'
As his gaze focused, a list suddenly popped up in front of him.
Tier 1, Stage 5 Ferocious Beast: 1 point
Tier 1, Stage 6 Ferocious Beast: 2 points
...
Tier 1, Level 9 Ferocious Beast: 5 points
Second-tier, first-stage ferocious beast: 10 points
Second-tier, second-stage ferocious beast: 12 points
Second-tier, third-stage ferocious beast: 14 points
...
Tier 3, Stage 1 Ferocious Beast: 50 points
Tier 3, Stage 2 Ferocious Beast: 60 points
...
"Even the weakest pet beast has a first-tier fifth stage?"
Lin Ze scanned the text quickly, reaching the very bottom.
"The strongest is the third tier, sixth stage, worth 100 points."
"From this perspective, the 500 points reward for touching the stone tablet is quite high, equivalent to hunting dozens of second-tier pets."
However, it's obvious to anyone with a brain that there must be ferocious beasts guarding the stone tablet, or some other trials nearby.
On the contrary, it's unlikely that test takers will easily obtain those 500 points.
besides.
There is also a leaderboard next to the list.
The numbers above are from 1 to 1000, which clearly represent the order of the names.
However, no one has made the list yet.
"Are the rankings updated in real time?"
Lin Ze clicked his tongue.
This way, everyone can see their own score and the scores of others.
Moreover, the ranking is within the top 1000, which means that those who are not on the list will be eliminated.
It is foreseeable that under these circumstances, the intensity of competition will definitely increase significantly.
"Rumors have it that Ningjiang College values competition and encourages students to improve through competition. It seems that this is indeed true. Even the admissions assessment tries to intensify the competition."
Lin Ze muttered to himself, turning his gaze away from the leaderboard and towards the forest.
"We need to find the exit of this forest first."
Without knowing the size of the forest, how long it would take to cross it remains an unknown.
To be on the safe side, it's best to reach the edge of the forest first, locate the exit, and then turn back to hunt the ferocious beast.
If you only focus on hunting ferocious beasts and then find that you don't have enough time to cross the forest, resulting in failure of the assessment, you'll be left with nothing but tears.
Having thought of this, Lin Ze had already made up his mind and immediately summoned Xiao Xue.
Since arriving at the hotel, Xiaoxue has been staying in the pet space.
Having not seen her master for two days, she immediately cheered and rushed into Lin Ze's arms as soon as he appeared.
Lin Ze smiled slightly and affectionately patted her hair.
The girl immediately let out a comfortable humming sound, like a cat.
"Let's go, it's time to start the hunt."
Lin Ze didn't linger for long and strode into the forest with Xiao Xue in his arms.
The view suddenly went dark.
In the blink of an eye, we were surrounded by tall trees.
Sunlight filters through the gaps in the leaves, casting dense patches of light on the ground.
The ground was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, and stepping on it felt as soft as walking on a carpet.
"In a forest environment, there are probably more ferocious beasts of the plant and insect types."
As Lin Ze's mind raced, he casually cast a Soul Protection spell on himself.
This recruitment assessment and internship evaluation are different.
The ferocious beast will not ignore the beast tamer himself.
Without proper protective measures, one can easily be ambushed and killed.
Just then, several dark figures suddenly fell from the trees diagonally in front of him, spitting out clumps of unidentified objects at Lin Ze.
Xiaoxue reacted extremely quickly, raising her hand to conjure an ice shield, which promptly blocked the attacking unidentified object.
Lin Ze looked closely.
However, they were several clumps of white insect silk.
Then look at the attackers, they are three-headed ferocious beasts that look like caterpillars, but with a raincoat covering their heads and below.
The slug is a ferocious insect-type beast whose strength level can reach the seventh stage of the first tier when it matures.