25: Chapter 25 Joint Examination of Three Schools

Head Teacher Chen Xingyue clapped her hands to draw the students' attention.

She cleared her throat, her expression becoming a bit more serious.

"Now, I have an announcement to make."

Her words successfully silenced the entire classroom once again. Everyone perked up their ears, and even the students who had been sighing over Lu Hai's SSS-grade rating just a moment ago lifted their heads.

"We have received an urgent notice from the military and the school administration!" Head Teacher Chen Xingyue slammed the stack of documents in her hand onto the podium with a sharp crack, her voice rising to echo throughout the classroom.

"In one week, classes will be suspended, and the school will organize the first Divine Domain combat assessment for the third-year students! Those with the highest scores will be promoted to the elite class!"

"Whoa—" Like a stone causing a thousand ripples, the room instantly erupted into an uproar.

"What? A combat assessment? So soon?"

"Are you kidding me? We've only just awakened our Divine Kingdoms, and we're already doing combat? The few gray wolves in my Divine Kingdom can barely even walk!"

"We're doomed, we're doomed. My believers are still Slimess; how am I supposed to fight with that? Should I just go up there and get eaten like jelly?"

"Elite class? What's an elite class?"

"No idea, but the threshold must be very high."

The classroom was filled with groans, and the students who had awakened low-tier Divine Kingdoms looked particularly ashen.

Beside him, Zhang Chao was rubbing his hands in excitement, while Fang Chuan sat calmly, a faint, imperceptible curve tugging at the corner of his lips.

Fang Chuan was already calculating in his mind whether he should reveal a tiny bit of his strength during this assessment to secure a good ranking and get some good loot.

"Quiet!" Head Teacher Chen Xingyue tapped the table again, her stern gaze sweeping across the room, and the noisy classroom immediately fell silent once more.

She seemed to have anticipated the students' reactions and continued, "I know what you are worried about. Rest assured, this assessment is your initial screening, and the difficulty won't be very high. Even students who have awakened support and lifestyle talents can participate."

"Although it is a combat assessment, the combat intensity will not be high because it will take place on a virtual battlefield provided by the military. At that time, our Qinghe High School will be conducting the assessment jointly with Qinghe No. 2 High School and No. 3 High School.

Ultimately, you will be given a comprehensive score based on your performance on the virtual Divine Domain battlefield, and those who perform exceptionally will receive generous rewards. Furthermore, every student who participates will receive a consolation prize."

Hearing this, the tense atmosphere in the classroom immediately relaxed.

"Oh, a virtual battlefield? That's fine then, you scared me."

"Hey, you should have said so earlier. What's there to be afraid of on a virtual battlefield? It doesn't hurt when believers die; the data just refreshes and they come back."

"Exactly, exactly. Just think of it as playing a massive holographic game, and there are prizes to win. Not bad at all."

Most students breathed a sigh of relief. In a virtual Divine Domain, the death of believers results in no substantial loss; the data is just reset, which completely lifted their psychological burden.

Zhang Chao, beside Fang Chuan, was also full of excitement. He nudged Fang Chuan with his elbow and lowered his voice, saying, "Chuanzi, did you hear that? A virtual battlefield! Now you can really cut loose! I'll carry you then, and the two of us brothers will slaughter our way through them!"

Fang Chuan smiled but didn't say anything.

Carry me? If Chaozi saw those thousands of four-star Goblin Tyrants, he'd probably be scared enough to bite his own tongue.

However, he certainly wouldn't say that out loud; he just nodded.

On the podium, Head Teacher Chen Xingyue watched the students' relieved expressions, a meaningful curve tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Don't be happy too soon, and don't let your guard down." She spoke again, her voice carrying a hint of warning, "This virtual Divine Domain battlefield is a complete simulation by the military of the Divine Kingdom of a peak Demigod powerhouse, which will serve as your assessment battlefield!"

"A Demigod?" "A peak Demigod?!"

The students, who had just relaxed, were once again stunned by this term, looking at each other in dismay.

Divine Being, Demigod, Deity. These are the three major stages that all gods must experience.

A Demigod? That is a terrifying existence that requires ten million square kilometers of territory, a million believers, and even level 50 True Believers to guard it!

Even for the lowest-level Demigod, the standards are this terrifying. So what is the concept of a "peak Demigod"?

I'm afraid there's more than one level 50 believer in their Divine Kingdom, and they might have even formed an organized legion of level 50s!

You have to understand, the path to leveling up believers is extremely difficult. In addition to combat, it requires massive amounts of resources and time to accumulate. Many low-tier race believers have very limited lifespans, perhaps only 150 natural days at most, which is just over twenty days in the real world. Many students' initial believers don't even reach level 20 by the day they die of old age.

Using the Divine Kingdom of a peak Demigod as a battlefield—the difficulty is self-evident.

In the classroom, the atmosphere that had just been joyful instantly cooled down, and many students' faces were once again filled with worry.

"A peak Demigod's Divine Kingdom... the weakest wild monster in there is probably stronger than our strongest believer, right?"

"How are we supposed to fight this? Isn't going in just asking to be mowed down?"

"It looks like we're just going to broaden our horizons this time. The important thing is participating, just participating."

Most students had already defined this assessment in their hearts: it was just a sightseeing tour, and getting a consolation prize would count as a success.

Just as everyone was lost in their own thoughts, Head Teacher Chen Xingyue began distributing an electronic agreement.

"This is the participation agreement for this combat assessment. Students who agree to participate should sign their God Imprint on it."

With almost no hesitation, every student in the class, including Fang Chuan, signed their names on the agreement.

After all, it's a virtual battlefield, there's no danger to life, and there's a consolation prize to be won; it would be a waste not to participate.

After the agreement was signed, Head Teacher Chen Xingyue efficiently created a class group, added all the students, and then dropped an encrypted file package into the group chat.

"This contains some public information about this Divine Domain battlefield. Download and take a look at it after you go back."

"Additionally, I personally suggest that everyone go in teams." Head Teacher Chen Xingyue scanned the class, pausing specifically on a few students with higher ratings.

"Because this is a three-school joint examination, as far as I know, Qinghe No. 2 High School and No. 3 High School have each produced an SSS-grade genius. If you don't form teams and try to fight alone, it will likely be very difficult to get a good result in this assessment."

"However, rest assured that even if you form teams, the main system of the virtual battlefield can accurately track each person's contribution and points, so you don't need to worry about unequal distribution."

SSS-grade geniuses? And two of them? This news caused another small stir in the classroom.

Qinghe City is only so big; it's considered a blessing if even one S-grade appears in a year. To have three SSS-grades pop up all at once this year is like gods fighting among themselves.

Hearing this news, Fang Chuan's eyes narrowed slightly. Lu Hai, plus the other two unknown SSS-grade geniuses... It seems this assessment will be more interesting than imagined.

"Alright, that's enough about the assessment for now." Seeing that the time was about up, Head Teacher Chen Xingyue ended the topic and began today's formal lesson. "Today, our topic is—an explanation of believer talents."