Chapter 186: Numerous Thoughts (1)
The examination was finally starting.
Huang Yao acted like he wasn't the one who had said all those words earlier and started focusing on supervising the examination of the junior class. The three Skysoar cultivators were standing near each other. Each of them had arrived with a Mark of Culture.
Wang Peiyuan was in charge of supervising the senior class while Liu Hong was in charge of the intermediate class.
Liu Hong was also acting like nothing had happened. He said, "The three Mark of Cultures contain different Divine Characters, but all three are quite similar as they all create illusions and emit pressure."
"I hope nobody will question the fairness of the exam today. If anyone has an opinion, say it now."
Nobody said anything.
"If there are no questions, let's start the exam now. Students, step into the marked zone and wait."
The students did as told. Each of the three proctors stood in the middle of one public square before taking out a book.
Mark of Culture!
The Divine Characters left behind by dead Mountainsea experts couldn't be preserved for long. These Divine Characters couldn't be turned into secret grottos either. However, they could be passed on as Marks of Culture.
"Begin the test."
With Liu Hong's order, the three Marks of Culture erupted with a faint light. The light spread outward and covered all the students.
...
There was no illusion. There was only pressure, similar to what one would feel when entering the fragment room. At first, Su Yu had thought that he would be faced with illusions. Instead, he only found himself being subjected to an incorporeal pressure.
"Walk forward. The further you go, the better you are."
Liu Hong's voice rang out.
Su Yu was already used to such pressure. In fact, the pressure didn't even feel as heavy as what he was subjected to in the fragment room. He was someone who could last over 40 minutes in the fragment room before reaching the Mental Tempering Stage. He had been improving a lot recently.
He started stepping forward with steady and orderly steps. The pressure was not strong enough to stop him. He soon understood that the monthly examination was actually an opportunity for some of the students to further temper their willpower.
This environment was very similar to the fragment room. Some students couldn't afford to cultivate in such special environments. For these students, the monthly examinations would provide them with a free opportunity to temper their willpower. The longer a student could last, the better the result would be.
"There are no beasts to kill and the pressure is weak. This feels even easier than the entrance examination..." Su Yu muttered to himself.
This pressure was too weak.This felt like a walk in the park for him.
...
Over a thousand students started walking forward.
One minute. Two minutes...
Slowly, some of the students in the junior class started reaching their limit.
One by one, they withdrew.
Some were simply saved by the Skysoar teachers. Those withdrawing this early would get a bad result in the monthly examination. Most of them were from the junior class. A few were from the intermediate class. Those who had withdrawn so early looked dispirited. Not a single student from the senior class had withdrawn thus far.
Under the effect of the Marks of Culture, the students couldn't see or converse with each other. But not everyone could be restricted by the Marks of Culture.
Senior class.
The fake students started conversing among themselves.
"So how far should we walk?"
"This Mark of Culture was left behind by that fellow, right? What a pity. I wonder if I can leave a Divine Character behind after dying as well..."
"I want to leave a Divine Character behind as well, but I want mine to be powerful enough to be transformed into a secret grotto that can be passed on for eternity."
Eventually, their topic reached Huang Yao.
"What's up with Huang Yao?"
"That's probably the counterattack of some people. They're trying to give some pressure to Great Xia and the academy. Just ignore them. If the conflict gets out of control, they will just be thrown at the Allheaven Battlefield."
"True. Everyone would learn to be obedient after reaching that place," said one of them with an amused grin. "It's fine to fight among themselves here, but if they dare to do this on the battlefield, hehe. Those old fossils would teach them a lesson they could never forget."
The people even these elders were calling old fossils were definitely ancient.
At the mention of those old fossils, some of them shivered.
"Those old fossils are inhuman. Back during my first visit there, I only spoke a little too much. In the end, I was dropped alone at the Frost Purgatory. Damn it. I was hunted by over a thousand demon beasts there...
"I was nearly swallowed alive by those beasts. In the end, the fellow who got into an argument with me was the one to save me. I remember the old fossil saying that if I died there, he would die after me. Even now, I still remember that experience."
"Consider yourself lucky," said another elder with a sigh. "Those old fossils are truly heartless. Back then, we got into a conflict with the pillmakers. The old fossil assigned a pillmaker to our team and said that if he dies, all of us will die as well. And damn, all of us nearly died trying to protect that fellow on the battlefield."
The elders started laughing bitterly as they remembered their past. There were barely any inner conflicts among humanity in the Allheaven Battlefield. Why? Those who had been there would understand.
Oh, you didn't get along well with someone? Great! Both of you could go out on a mission together. If one died, the other would be executed. Oh, you were a genius? They wouldn't dare to kill a genius? Dream on!
Why would Invincible experts care about how much of a genius you were? Killing you was the same as killing a chicken for them.
Your factions didn't get along well? Great. Both factions could go on a mission together. If one faction returned with fewer members than the other faction, they would kill the surviving members until both factions had the exact same number of survivors.
That was a bloody lesson. And those old fossils did not care what others thought of them. On the battlefield, everyone needed to be obedient. The Allheaven Battlefield was a battlefield of the myriad realms. It was incomparably dangerous. There was no room for internal conflicts there.
And the old fossils did not have the time to manage all the internal conflicts. Nor would they waste their time placating those who didn't get along well with each other. For them, you either survive or die.
Every single one of these elders had suffered one such baptism in the battlefield during their youth. Without suffering, one would not learn. While they were conversing, more and more students withdrew.
Before reaching the Mental Tempering Stage, it would be hard for one to even walk 10 meters. At this point, more and more students from the intermediate class were starting to withdraw as well. Meanwhile, not a single senior class student had withdrawn.
"Xia Chan has walked 14 meters. That's quite fast."
"Wan Mingze is not bad either. He has walked just as far but he looks like he is still holding back."
"That kid from Zheng Family is quite good. I thought he would be a brute like his grandpa, but look. He has already walked 12 meters. Physical cultivation won't help in this test..."
The elders continued remarking about the students like they were mere observers.
Suddenly, someone berated them, "You! If you keep staying still, all of you will be thrown out of the circle!"
The elders cursed inwardly. Huang Yao was growing more and more gutsy. The only reason they weren't moving was because they didn't know how far they should walk. Forget it. They would be magnanimous and let him off this one time. They started walking and caught up to Zheng Yunhui in no time.
Then, they stopped walking again. "This test is not good enough. We need to let the students see their competitors. Only then would they have the motivation to walk further. If they can't see anyone, they won't feel any pressure."
"That's right."
"Why don't we alter the Marks of Culture?"
"What if they discover us?"
"That's easy. One of you withdraws and returns as an elder. It would be perfectly normal for an elder to alter the test in order to further motivate the students. All of us have forgotten about this after so many years of not overseeing any tests. This test should have changed long ago. If we weren't here, I doubt any of us would remember this."
When they were young, they had thought of this as well. But after growing strong, they had forgotten about it. A short while later, they made their decision. One of them withdrew from the test. They did not care about their placing on the examination anyway.
...
More time passed and more and more students withdrew.
Right that moment, Liu Hong frowned as someone appeared from the sky. That person seemed to be passing by when he curiously said, "Huh? Monthly exam? Why are you guys still doing it in such an outdated manner after all these years?"
Several beams of light descended from the sky. The beams shot into the three Marks of Culture. Next, the world around all the students still in the test changed. Instead of a blank space, they were now seeing other people around them.
They could see their fellow students. They could see the teachers. They could even see the Marks of Culture at the center of the squares. However, the same pressure was still crushing down on them. And they were still within the illusory land. The only difference was that they could see the others around them.
The students were confused, but Liu Hong reacted immediately. He looked at the sky and loudly said, "Thank you, Elder Zhang for modifying the Marks of Culture."
"It's no big deal."
The elder flashed and vanished from the sky. A short while later, a student who had vanished from the group of senior class students who had withdrawn from the test reappeared. However, nobody had noticed his disappearance and reappearance.
Only then did Su Yu and the other students realize that an elder was passing by and had improved the Marks of Culture. This was an understandable change. Only by seeing each other would the students have more motivation and pressure.
Su Yu was initially quite happy with how far he had walked, but now, he discovered that he had only walked over 10 meters. And near him were a few intermediate class students. As for the senior class, there were at least 40 students who had walked as far as him. Xia Chan was already approaching 20 meters.
Instantly, Su Yu felt greatly pressured. The other students were similarly shocked at the number of remaining class students. Some of the genius students had arrogantly believed that they were definitely at the lead. But now that they could see the number of remaining students, their relaxed expressions vanished.
Meanwhile, the fake students in the senior class were laughing secretly. They should have done this long ago. How would these students gain more motivation without sufficient pressure?